By Kelly Boggs, Message Editor You can count your burdens or you can count your blessings. It is your choice. But take care; your decision will have consequences. If you focus only on what is wrong in your life, you will likely feel discouraged and defeated. Your attitude will probably be characterized by extreme negativity. You might wind up sounding like the pessimistic Disney character Eeyore of Winnie the Pooh fame. A scene from one episode sums up the gray donkey’s outlook on life: “Good morning, Pooh Bear,” Eeyore said, “if it is a good morning, which I doubt.” If you obsess over burdens, the chorus made famous on the once popular country variety show “Hee-Haw” might start playing in your mind: “Gloom, despair and agony on me. Deep dark depression, excessive misery. If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all. Gloom, despair and agony on me.” You can choose to count your burdens or, instead, you can focus on the positive things in your life. You can, in the words of the well-known hymn penned by Oatman Johnson, Jr., “Count your blessings” and even “name them one by one.” Be like Paul Smith, a blessing counter who died in 2007 at age 85 after a lifelong battle with cerebral palsy which made even routine tasks … [Read more...]

By Frank Page, President of the SBC's Executive Committee The longer we live, the more we realize that actions or decisions have consequences – sometimes unintended consequences that absolutely cannot be foretold or foreseen. But more often they are foreseeable. Scripture instructs the wise person to “count the cost.” This exhortation aptly applies to conversations concerning the continuing value of the Cooperative Program within the Southern Baptist Convention. In recent years, some within our convention have suggested new funding modalities for our mission work. I understand why they do so. Support for our current methods of cooperative giving and special mission offerings has failed to raise the kind of dollars needed to propel an aggressive global vision while simultaneously maintaining a strong home base of ministry. Even when dollars increase annually, they have not kept up with inflation and certainly not with population growth. Therefore, we find ourselves in a day and time when people are looking for new ways to raise mission dollars to distribute for global missions and North American evangelism and church planting. This question is: Do we give up on a cooperative model which has brought us to this point? It’s a … [Read more...]

By Hal Ostrander, Professor of Wayland Baptist San Antonio Campus Meet Derek and Cynda, wealthy Chicago couple, pillars of Windy City society – he, a successful senior VP of a thriving corporation; she, a dutiful wife; proud parents of one grown son, Jared, privileged and bred for business savvy. Both genuinely saved at an early age, Derek and Cynda met at a Christian college and married soon after graduate school. But the years passed and their lives together somehow came to reflect an “I’ll do it if it benefits me” approach to life – and their faith. ––––– Meet Khalid, an Indonesian rice farmer with a wife and four children. Saved only a year ago, emerging from an atheism he had kept to himself, his Muslim wife Liana and four children soon came to faith in Christ because of his godly example and the patient work of other believers. Khalid loved the Lord Jesus with the kind of fervor common among newfound believers. But now he suddenly finds himself hiding from persecutors, alone and cowering in fear, somewhere in the Sumatran rainforest near the sloped shores of Lake Toba. ––––– Let’s listen in on Derek and Cynda’s brief conversation this evening, the night before the luncheon where Derek is to receive yet another … [Read more...]

By David Crosby, Pastor of First Baptist Church New Orleans Thousands of Kurdish children have joined the millions of children worldwide who are crossing national borders seeking refuge in difficult times. Having neither the desire nor capacity to inflict harm on others, the children join their mothers and others in flight from harm. Communities like the Kurds in Syria and Iraq, trapped in economic and political violence, push their children to the relative safety of the shadows. They end up being uninvited guests in host nations that have plenty of difficulties of their own -- like Turkey. According to the United Nations, more than 8 million children in the world are refugees in countries other than their own. Every single day, 32,000 people in our world leave their homes and seek protection elsewhere. Pakistan currently hosts the largest number of refugees, most of them from Afghanistan. Who really wants these displaced children? They are a burden on the host governments. They cannot work, fight or contribute much in any other way. They need food, shelter, education and medical attention. At the outset, they are takers rather than givers. Policies and procedures in the United States are noted and often mimicked around the … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Fri, 10/17/2014 - 11:01 Students lift their hands up to heaven during a time of worship at last year’s Youth Evangelism Celebration which was held in the Rapides Parish Coliseum in Alexandria and drew a record crowd of 7,942. Due to renovations on the Coliseum, YEC is relocating to the 12,000-seat Cajundome in Lafayette for the next two years. By Staff, LB Communications LAFAYETTE – “Live Sent” is the theme for this years Youth Evangelism Celebration (YEC), Nov. 23-24 at the Cajundome in Lafayette. Headlining this year’s celebration are the musical group For King and Country, worship lead by Finding Favour, illusionist Jared Hall and communicator Wes Hamilton. “The key to ‘Living Sent’ is knowing that, thanks to the gospel, you have nothing to lose. It sets us free from the world's value system,” according to Hamilton, pastor of Hulen Street Church in Fort Worth. Launched in 1987 in New Orleans, YEC has always been produced from the desire of youth ministers around the state and reflects what they would like to see happen in the lives of their students notes Louisiana Baptists Youth Ministry Strategist, Kevin Boles. “YEC is a great mid-year ‘shot-in-the-arm’ for teenagers,” said Boles. “It’s … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Fri, 10/17/2014 - 11:12 By Kelly Boggs, Message Editor Many pundits believed General Norman Schwarzkopf would parlay his success as the Commander of Coalition Forces in the Persian Gulf War into a political career. However, when the general was asked about his political aspirations following the war that ended in 1991, he responded by saying, “I do not want to be a pawn in a political campaign.” I share General Schwarzkopf’s sentiment. I don’t want to be manipulated by any political campaign. I don’t think you want to either. But here we are in the midst of election season being bombarded with campaign ads. “Winning an election is not about pretty images. It is about being a credible candidate who projects a clear rationale as to why you should win and your opponent should lose,” said political observer Jim Farwell. Candidate A says his opponent, Candidate B, is backed by special interests.  B counters and says A has repeatedly voted against the best interests of his constituents. Candidate A calls B a liar; B insists A is dishonest. The aforementioned characterizes too many campaigns because, as one cynical political insider has quipped, “One thing I’ve learned in grade school has helped … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – Louisiana Baptists have taken up residency in the social media and online world and don’t plan on moving anytime soon. Over the past two years, the communication team has created a new logo, launched a new website, produced a new-look e-newsletter and established a new social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and recently Pinterest. The driving force behind the change is the desire to be a go-to place for pastors, staff members and lay people are looking for resources that will increase their effectiveness week in and week out, said John Kyle, Louisiana Baptists communication director. “We understand that pastors, staff, and church leaders are looking for resources, ” noted Kyle. “God has brought together a talented team that has raised the creativity and quality of what’s produced and made it available via the most current communication platforms. “There is some good stuff here,” Kyle continued. “If you haven’t checked out what’s available, you owe it to yourself and your congregations to do so.” According to the members of the recently revamped communications team, its reach via these newer visual efforts is quite large, statistically. The new-look e-newsletter is … [Read more...]

ON THE MOVE Kenneth (wife Stephanie) Whitfield new as Family Pastor at First Baptist Church, St. Francisville. Billy (wife Stephanie) Stevens new as pastor at Willow Point Baptist Church, Shreveport. Wilton McMorris new as assistant Pastor/Youth Pastor at Milldale Baptist Church, Zachary. HOMECOMING Bayou Vista Baptist Church, Morgan City: 50th Anniversary, Oct. 25-26, Saturday, Oct. 25, 6-8 p.m. pot luck dinner. Sunday, Oct. 26, 10:30 a.m. dinner on the grounds will follow the service. John Lee, Bayou Vista’s founding pastor, as well the only two other pastors the church has had will be there. Pastor: Steven Kelly. Mound Baptist Church, Tallulah: 56th annual Homecoming, Oct. 26, 10:30 a.m. Speaker: Pat Lostin, former Director of Missions for Madison and Bayou Macon Association. Dinner on the grounds will follow the service. Pastor: Doug Hughes. Greenacres Baptist Church, Bastrop: Homecoming, Oct. 26, 10 a.m. concert featuring Brenda Copeland followed by worship services at 11 a.m. Dinner on the grounds will follow services. Pastor: Tony Campanabe Bluff Creek Baptist Church, Clinton: Homecoming service, Oct. 26, 10:15a.m. Speaker: Matt Chance. Dinner on the grounds will follow the service. Pastor: Joe Baugh. Mulberry … [Read more...]

By Staff, World News Magazine A global network of extremists is working to undercut the rights of LGBT people around the world, according to a Sept. 15 report published by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). According to its website HRC is “the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.” The culprits opposing LGBT people, according to HRC, are twelve leaders of pro-family organizations, including legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and Americans for Truth about Homosexuality (AFTAH). Complete with pencil-sketched portraits, the report lists leaders who are the “most vitriolic American activists promoting anti-LGBT bigotry abroad,” HRC said in a press release. Conservatives liken the report to a hit list. “It’s like the only things missing are the words ‘wanted dead or alive,’” said Peter Sprigg, senior fellow for policy studies at the Family Research Council (FRC). HRC did not respond to requests for comment for this story. Scott Lively, the first activist listed in the report, claims he received death threats following the report’s publication. Lively believes HRC published the list to incite murder against the people named, especially in light … [Read more...]

NASHVILLE (BP) – During October’s Cooperative Program Emphasis Month on the Southern Baptist Convention’s calendar, churches are encouraged to use the “1% Challenge” video as an educational and motivational tool. “The 1% Challenge has been promoted for the last several years across the SBC,” said Michael Stewart, Louisiana Baptists CP and Stewardship Strategist. “It’s a current example of how any increase in gifts can translate into more missions and ministries. If a church doesn’t have a plan to intentionally increase its world-wide missions imprint through CP, the 1% challenge provides a good starting place.” The 1% CP Challenge “is a succinct way to do something more – an understandable way to say, ‘Yeah, we can do that,’” added Frank S. Page, SBC Executive Committee president. “It is understandable, is easily acted upon, and can be done without shifting major sections of a church’s finances.” The month-long emphasis spurs churches to learn about the Cooperative Program and prayerfully consider increasing their contributions to its work. In 2012, 7 percent of cooperating Southern Baptist churches reported they had accepted the 1% CP Challenge in support of missions and ministries led by their state conventions and the SBC, … [Read more...]