By Philip Timothy, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE – They bring the food we eat; the clothes we wear, and countless other items we use in our everyday lives. In other words, “if you bought it, a truck probably brought it.” Trucks, and the estimated 3.5 million men and women who drive them, play an invaluable role in keeping the U.S. economy running. In order to do so, many of these men, and women spend long, lonely hours away from home and their loved ones. The trucker’s big rigs, which command the road, offer little in the way of creature comforts. Trucking is a hard, demanding job that offers these men and women very little thanks or notice. [img_assist|nid=6334|title=Libby Lingenfelter, member of Kingsville Baptist Pineville, has made truck drivers into a mission field.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=66]Libby Lingenfelter, a member of Kingsville Baptist Pineville, has made changing these truckers’ plight into her mission field. Kingsville Baptist Church sits next to a sprawling industrial park, where Procter and Gamble towers over the church, while PlastiPak, Dis-Tran, Calvary Industries, Williamette Valley, and Eclectic Products – 10 in all – are just a stone’s throw up the road. There are also … [Read more...]

By Jerry Love, Louisiana Baptist Foundation ALEXANDRIA – Continuing on its wave of good news this year, the Louisiana Baptist Foundation Board of Trustees met April 27 for its quarterly meeting. Trustee Wayne Hunt, pastor of Coteau Baptist Church in Houma, opened the meeting with a brief devotional. His text from Colossians 3:2 revealed that, if we are raised with Christ, then we are to set our minds on things above. We should stop dragging around the sin and the old ways of the life we lived prior to knowing Christ as our savior. “Leave those things at the foot of the cross and walk with joy and victory and peace,” Hunt said. “And you’ll see others’ lives changed because of the change they’ve seen in your life.” The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ was followed by good news from the Foundation’s investment consultant. Investment Committee Chairman Brent Cating introduced Lee Morris, managing director of Graystone Consulting, to report on the assets held by the LBF. The return for the equity portfolio was 4.72 percent for the first quarter of 2010, while the fixed income investments earned just less than 3 percent for the period. Morris reviewed current economic data and trends with the board. His … [Read more...]

By Al Quartemont, Special to the Message PINEVILLE – For the 173 graduates of Louisiana College, Saturday’s commencement ceremony, the 148th in LC’s history, carried one clear message: Go out and impact the world for Christ. At a packed Guinn Auditorium, the graduates and their families heard that message from several speakers, including Tony Perkins, president of the Washington D.C.-based Family Research Council, who delivered the commencement address. “There is a world out there that is hoping that you and I as Christians will just pack up and leave,” Perkins said. “It is essential that we as believers make a commitment to Jesus Christ that we’re not going anywhere.” Perkins pointed out that Christ’s first disciples were a small group in number, and yet, as the Book of Acts records, went out and “turned the world upside down.” “That handful of young men literally changed the face of the earth, “Perkins said. “Can you not turn the world upside down, too? Or should we say right side up?” Perkins, who is a former member of the Louisiana Legislature, has been one of the leading voices in Washington on issues pertaining to family and and Christian values. His message seemed especially appropriate on a day where … [Read more...]

By Steve Lemke, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Provost PART ONE From time to time, many Christians struggle with the issue of the assurance of their salvation. Often these doubts arise out of a sense of unworthiness when the believer becomes aware of stubborn sins in their own lives that hinder their fellowship with God. Some other denominations teach that even true believers can lose their salvation. Does the Bible teach that once we are genuinely saved, that we are saved forever? Or can we lose our salvation? [img_assist|nid=6339|title=Steve Lemke, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Provost|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=75|height=100]Southern Baptists have always believed in what is known variously as the security of the believer, the perseverance of the saints, or “once saved, always saved.” Each of these three names brings out a different aspect of the doctrine. Article V of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 words our Baptist belief in assurance of salvation in this way: All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin … [Read more...]

By Archie England, PH.D., NOBTS Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew With such strong emphasis upon Heaven and Hell in the New Testament, where does one find the concept of “Hell” in the Old Testament? From its beginning, the Old Testament focuses upon the heavens (421 times), the earth (2,505 times); the heavens and the earth (15 times); but, not upon Heaven and Hell. [img_assist|nid=6013|title=Archie England PH D NOBTS Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=73|height=100]Only a handful of texts place these concepts together (Psalms 139:8; Isa 7:11; 14:11-15; Amos 9:2) – but none do so in an obvious manner to address the New Testament contrast of Heaven and Hell. Instead, it’s Heaven and Sheol that exist as spatial realities that God alone can span. From the heavens, God can penetrate into the realm of both the living (the earth) and the dead (Sheol). No person or power in realms above the earth, upon the earth, or below the earth can resist God. He is able to claim whatever or whomever He desires – from wherever. When God intervenes even Sheol must return its holdings (Deuteronomy 32:22 and elsewhere in other scripture references). Sheol (65 times) is translated by the Greek word … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Press ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) – Churches whose members participated in the pre-Easter GPS (God’s Plan for Sharing) evangelism outreach will be logging results for months to come, but even initial reports received at the North American Mission Board indicate that lives were touched and changed by the effort. An estimated 15 million pieces of literature were distributed in neighborhoods throughout the United States and Canada as Southern Baptists fanned out across their communities the week before Easter. In previous weeks, congregations prayerwalked neighborhoods near their church. The emphasis also included more than 24,000 airings of a NAMB-produced television ad, 7,000 radio spots, print ads, yard signs and banners. The literature and advertisements pointed viewers to a website – www.findithere.com – and a toll-free phone number – 1.800.JESUS20 –with a focus on connecting unchurched people with a local Southern Baptist congregation. From reports received from churches throughout the United States, that’s exactly what happened. “Based on what we’re hearing from our partners in the churches, associations and state conventions, GPS has gotten off to an amazing start,” Frank Page, vice president for … [Read more...]

By Joanne Brechtel, Administrative Editor ARCADIA – The Rolling Hills Ministries grand opening event took place April 16. Bids have been opened for a new Ruston Thrift Store and construction could begin as early as June. TROUT – Ron Nation, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist, and Lucas LaCour, pastor of Mt. Sinai Baptist, recently completed a mission trip to Malawi, Africa, in May. ALEXANDRIA – Calvary Baptist’s “Missions Out of this World” event took place on May 5. A Preschoolers Missions Recognition Service took place in April. SHREVEPORT – Northwest Louisiana Baptist Association reports that World Changers is expecting 200 young people in the area the last week of July and churches are being asked to serve in meeting their needs while the World Changers serve in the community. A Women’s Prison Ministry is in the process of starting again in the Northwest Louisiana Baptist Association. The association is sponsoring a special ministries camp at Camp Bethany Friday, May 14 and Saturday, May 15. Northwest Louisiana Baptist Association reports that 40 association churches prayerwalked during the week before Easter. MANY – First Baptist furnished 200 dozen cookies to nursing home residents. Garage sale and car wash … [Read more...]

By Philip Timothy, Message Staff Writer DEVILLE – For the moment, Stuart Sasser isn’t out to change the world, but he is out to change the way youth are perceived in churches. And then, with their help, he wants to change the world. Minister of students at Philadelphia Baptist Church in Deville, Sasser believes the youth in so many churches today are just “tolerated.” They’re not expected to serve, and the church’s youth ministry is considered nothing more than a “glorified baby-sitting service.” [img_assist|nid=6344|title=Youth lead worship at Philadelphia Baptist Church in Deville|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=75]“For too long, I think we have had low expectations of these students,” Sasser said. “We need to change those expectations, because the youth are very much a part of the working body of Christ. Also, part of the problem is once we have the right attitude of wanting them to step up and be leaders, we then fail at giving them an opportunity or outlet to do so.” With the help of the students at Philadelphia, Sasser hopes to be able to motivate other churches how they can help their youth step up and assume their place within the body. “Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could inspire other … [Read more...]

By Philip Timothy, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE – Camille Perkins needed a topic for her English IV senior project. No problem, she would do it on dance. After all, Perkins, a Pineville High School senior, was captain of the school’s award-winning Dixie dancers, and has been involved in dance and theater throughout junior high and high school. Everything seemed set until last December. “I really thought I had my topic,” Perkins said. “But then I began to learn about missions in church. My church’s mission focus sparked my interest. The more I learned and read, the more my heart became broken. I began to feel a deep urgency to bring more awareness to missions. [img_assist|nid=6349|title=Camille Perkins shows her senior project about missions to Pastor Stewart Holloway and Sara and Terry Iles|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=67]“I really felt God was leading me to do something with my life,” Perkins said. “Then it came to me: I would do my project on missions.” A member of First Baptist Church Pineville, Perkins learned of the shortage of missionaries, the lack of money to send more, and the number of people groups who are unsaved and have not heard the Gospel. “I wanted to find a way to raise money to … [Read more...]

By Carol Pipes, Baptist Press NEW YORK (BP) – Squeezed between the Harlem River and the old Yankee Stadium lies the mostly forgotten neighborhood of Mott Haven. For decades, this South Bronx community has borne the brunt of crime, drugs and poverty in a city known for its luxuriously rich and desperately poor. Mott Haven is a hodge-podge of storefronts, public housing, abandoned buildings and turn-of-the-century brownstones, and recently was ranked by the Daily News as one of the worst neighborhoods in New York City to raise kids – based on statistics for education, crime and health risks such as asthma, diabetes and teenage pregnancy. It’s because of the depth of these problems that the red brick building with the bright green door at Brook Avenue and 141st Street stands out amid similar structures. It’s home to Graffiti 2 Church and Community Ministries, and on this particular Monday morning, the building is quiet. It’s the calm before the storm of activity here every afternoon. As soon as the last bell rings at the elementary school around the corner, some 25 first- through fifth-graders will fill the room for Graffiti 2’s after-school program. Missionary Andrew Mann takes advantage of the quiet to prepare for … [Read more...]