By Staff, Baptist Message   ALEXANDRIA – The Louisiana Baptist Singing Women, a ministry of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, will kick off their concert tour on Oct. 20 at First Baptist Church in Winnfield.   The group,has two concerts in 2011, and five in 2012.   Here is a complete list of concerts: Oct. 20, 2011 – FBC, Winnfield; Nov. 17, 2011 – FBC, Arcadia; Jan. 19, 2012 – FBC, Baton Rouge; Feb. 16, 2012 – FBC, New Orleans; March 22, 2012 – FBC, Leesville; April 12, 2012 – Pinecrest Developmental Center, Pineville – 1:30, and April 12, 2012 – Alpine First Baptist Church, Pineville.   All concerts begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. … [Read more...]

By Philip Timothy, Message Staff Writer   WOODWORTH – Louisiana Baptists, it’s time to Awaken.[img_assist|nid=7664|title=Awaken Louisiana|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=458|height=640]   Awaken Louisiana is a year-long initiative of the Louisiana Baptist Convention calling on Louisiana’s 500,000 Southern Baptists worshipping in 1,600 churches to pray for a spiritual awakening across the state.   In his report, Executive Director David Hankins gave the LBC Executive Board at its annual fall meeting on Sept. 27 at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center complete details about the initiative, which kicks off at this year’s LBC Annual Meeting in Covington.   The initiative also coincides with the 200th anniversary of Southern Baptists in Louisiana.   “Awaken Louisiana calls Southern Baptists to pray for a spiritual awakening across the state,” LBC Executive Director David Hankins told the board in his report.   “We will not only be asking God for a spiritual awakening, but we will also be asking His blessing on our celebration of our rich past.”   Hankins said the initiative had five components:   n 21 days of prayer and fasting, set for Jan. 2 … [Read more...]

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor   COLUMBIA, Ill. (BP) – Discipleship is the priority at First Baptist Church in Columbia, Ill., and discipleship fuels the church’s passion for cooperative world missions and giving through the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program.[img_assist|nid=7666|title=Mission Outreach|desc=The youth praise team of First Baptist Church in Columbia, Ill., leads worship during the church’s 2011 family mission trip to Chicago.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=427]   “Our passion is to make disciples for Jesus Christ,” said Jonathan Peters, the church’s pastor since 1998. “Our need is to fulfill the Great Commission. God commands us to and, as a denomination, the Cooperative Program is the means by which we do this collectively.   New members are taught they are expected to be true disciples, not just church attenders.   “I tell them, ‘You’re not coming here to sit and soak,’” Peters said. “We are commanded by God to reach the nations for His glory.”   “Reaching the nations” starts locally for the church, which serves in a bedroom community 15 minutes from downtown St. Louis. Columbia is an affluent community with strong German … [Read more...]

By Marilyn Stewart, Regional reporter   NEW ORLEANS – It’s only Wednesday night, but the strip clubs on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street are busy. The crowded street is awash in neon light as tourists, some with children, snap souvenir pictures.   But inside, tears stream down a dancer’s face when the women of Inward step into her dressing room. God has answered her prayer.   “I asked Jesus to send someone,” she said. Tricia [name changed for privacy] needed help in breaking free.[img_assist|nid=7668|title=An Unlikely Place|desc=Inward, a ministry showing God’s love in a place where the need is great, began when women of New Orleans churches felt burdened for the women of Bourbon Street. Without a template and with few ministries for a model, they started by simply taking gifts of chocolate to the dancers. (Photo by Boyd Guy)|link=none|align=right|width=425|height=640]   Inward, a ministry that is showing God’s love in a place where the need is great, began when women of New Orleans churches felt burdened for the women of Bourbon Street. Without a template and with few ministries for a model, they started by simply taking gifts of chocolate to the dancers.   Two years in, Inward is … [Read more...]

By Quinn Lavespere, Message Staff Writer   HAUGHTON – There are those with needs, and then there are those who have different types of needs.[img_assist|nid=7671|title=Vision Gathering|desc=Speaking in public can be one more step toward becoming a fruitful member of society.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]   Led by Pastor Stephen Smith, Vision Gathering Ministry seeks to lead people with special needs in a relationship with Jesus Christ while helping them to overcome the challenges they face daily.   “You can’t find a sweeter group of people anywhere,” Smith said. “We feel that people like these deserve attention and godly help.”   Smith is retiring from the Department of Transportation and Development after 33 years there, to fully dedicate himself to the special needs ministry, he said. The pastor recalled how Vision Gathering came into being.   “Almost five years ago, Evergreen Presbyterian Church asked Eastwood Baptist Church, which is our home church, about doing a shepherd church,” Smith said. “Pastor Scott Teutsch and I talked about the idea, and instead of doing just a Sunday School like Evergreen wanted, we decided to go ahead and do everything, because we … [Read more...]

By Kelly Boggs, Baptist Message editor   A California law recently went into effect that bans minors, defined as anyone under the age of 18, from using a tanning bed.   The prohibition is absolute and there is no provision for parental permission.   Lawmakers say the tan ban is necessary in order to protect the health and well-being of young people. California is the only state thus far to have a complete ban on tanning for minors. Other states allow the practice with a parent’s permission.   The Golden State has other laws intended to safeguard the health of young people.   If you are under 18 in California, you are forbidden from getting a tattoo. Like the tan ban, the law is absolute. A minor cannot get inked even with a parent’s permission.   A person under 18 can get his or her ear or ears pierced. However, piercing any other body part will require a parent’s approval. A minor is also allowed to take an aspirin at school but only with a parent’s permission.   For the record, I’ve no problem with laws that require parental permission for practices or procedures that could have negative health repercussions or life-long consequences for a … [Read more...]

By James B. Law, Pastor First Baptist Church Gonzales   “Jerry Springer” has become the buzzword in our culture for trashy, raunchy television. It is a program in which the show’s producers seek out the most deviant behavior, and then bring these shameful, hurtful situations to television screen as entertainment.   During a scheduled oil change for my car I was in the waiting room and caught a brief excerpt of the show. The topic of the program was twisted, profane and without shame. The theme seemed to capitalize on the ignorance of the guests and the foolishness of the audience.   The Jerry Springer Show represents a genre of television that seems to thrive in our culture. At one time, Springer was even paid $6 million a year to host the hour-long anarchy. Such programming seems to flesh out the devastating progression of sin described in Romans 1.   However, let me be clear, my purpose in bringing this up is not to throw rocks at Springer and his ilk.  I’m not railing against the culture.  As author and preacher John Piper has wisely stated, “Salt doesn’t mock rotting meat.” Believers are called to be light and salt in a world careening out of control in a downward spiral to … [Read more...]

By Michael B. Shepherd, Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Louisiana College   Bible teachers and preachers feel an incredible amount of pressure to make the Bible relevant and practical. For many, a Bible lesson or sermon is a failure unless it comes complete with a set of instructions or list of things to do.   Every verse or paragraph of the Bible must have three or four such applications whether or not the biblical author himself makes them explicit.   The danger, of course, is that those who hear this kind of Bible teaching leave with the impression that the application produced by the teacher/preacher is the word of God when in fact it is the biblical text that constitutes the word of God.   The problem begins with an overly simplistic hermeneutical approach that pastors usually learn in their seminary training. They are told that the first step in interpretation is to determine what the biblical text meant to the original readers.   The second step is to determine what the text means today, which is application. In other words, their task is to contextualize the Bible to the readers.   But this approach overlooks the clues within the biblical text that … [Read more...]

By Archie England, Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at NOBTS   Question: In what way does, A little with righteousness is better than a lot of gain without justice (Proverbs 16:8), impact our contemporary assessment of capitalism or socialism?   Archie England responds: Proverbs 16:8 focuses on the individual’s responsibility in the arena of social justice. The “haves” must recognize and address the needs (not wants) of the “have-nots.” This verse informs us that a little is better than a lot when the little is maintained by a righteous lifestyle. It also presses the metaphor that having an abundance (a lot of gain) is not worth the trouble when it is associated with injustice. Doing what’s right always trumps having more.   In other words, social justice demands citizens recognize, respond, and take care of the needs of those less fortunate. Socialists typically equate this with welfare, which then functions as a necessary, and fair, (re)distribution of wealth. Some further press Acts 2:44-45 as a New Testament affirmation of this, as well. This derives from the idea that wealth is intended to be generously shared.   Proverbs 16, however, doesn’t affirm the distribution or sharing … [Read more...]

By Quinn Lavespere, Message Staff Writer   TALISHEEK – When Julieto “Lito” Magbanua saw the stunning disappearance of God’s work in Talisheek, his broken heart knew God had led him there for a reason.   Led by Magbanua, Light by the Lake Church not only reaches out to the community of Talisheek, but it also preaches the Gospel to the Filipino and Asian communities in Louisiana while stretching across three states and a number of metropolitan areas.   “It had broken my heart to see the ministry just stop in Talisheek, and I knew we had to do something for God there,” the pastor said.  “Likewise, the Filipinos and Asians in this state must not be neglected either, and we must also be active in other places as well.”   Magbanua and the people of his church typically preach the Gospel to others through house meetings held on “any given Sunday or Saturday.”  They gather in the living room of someone’s house and sing and share prayer items.   “Usually, me or somebody else will open the Bible and share the Word of God, and then we pray,” the pastor said.  “Somebody will then bring in some refreshments or bring us to the kitchen, where we’ll have a meal. Typically, we have three to … [Read more...]