By Jerry Love, Director of Planned Giving Louisiana Baptist Foundation [img_assist|nid=6266|title=Jerry Love, Director of Planned Giving Louisiana Baptist Foundation|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=75|height=100]Imagine for a minute that it is early on the morning of Christmas Eve.  Your spouse has a fever. Your infant son is also ill and in need of medical care. You’re in an unfamiliar country and you don’t speak the language. This is where Elizabeth Keene found herself some 14 years ago. She and her husband, Randy, had traveled to Paraguay to finalize the adoption of their son John. With Randy running a fever and John’s lungs rattling, she set out to find medical care for her new 1-year-old son. During her journey she met an angry cab driver who spoke no English, an American Embassy Marine guard who directed them to a hospital, and finally a crowded, noisy emergency room. At the point where Elizabeth despaired that adequate care was not available for John, she was approached by a tall, fair skinned gentleman who simply asked, “May I help you?” in perfect English.  He introduced himself as Dr. Tom Kent, a medical missionary from Louisiana and Director of Emergency. At this time Dr. Kent and his wife, Judi, had … [Read more...]

[img_assist|nid=6251|title=Baptist encampments offer plenty of summertime fun like sliding in the mud on a hot day.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=75]     [img_assist|nid=6252|title=Learning how and playing a game of softball|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=76]       Harris Baptist Assembly Mike Latham, Director 2800 Harris Road Minden, LA 71055 318.927.3706 mail@harrisbaptist.com www.harrisbaptist.com Camp Bethany[img_assist|nid=6254|title=Learning how to work with others on the ropes course|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=82] Robert Cole, Director 9766 Hwy. 679 PO Box 250 Bethany, LA 71007 318.938.1221 www.campbethany.com campbethany@aol.com Friendship Baptist Camp[img_assist|nid=6253|title=Holding a retreat for your church or for your church staff in special cabins|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=67] 16507 Highway 4 Beinville, LA 71008 318.259.9369   Clara Springs Baptist Encampment Jack Mills, Director 4420 Hwy 177 Pelican, LA 71063 clarasprings@cp-tel.net www.clarasprings.com Tall Timbers Conference Center Sam White, Director 10218 Hwy 165 South Forest Hill, LA … [Read more...]

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor FERRIDAY – It was more a “no-brainer” than it was a “clever idea,” says Chase Weeks, family minister at First Baptist and founding director of REAL Ministries. “Teenagers text; that’s what they do,” Weeks said after a late-winter Youth Blast that drew perhaps 250 area youth and 50 leaders to the church for a concert by the Alexandria-based, Christian heavy-metal band Altar’d, and preaching by Weeks. In addition to the deafening sound of the band, t-shirts being thrown out like nerf balls and a variety of other high-energy hi-jinks designed to appeal to the under-18 crowd, the teens were given the opportunity to win an I-pod. All they had to do was to come to the front of the worship center and correctly – without any punctuation or letter error – key into their cell phones the scripture displayed on an overhead screen. About 12 teens at a time could text from the platform, but dozens were doing the same from the pews they were sitting in, and nearly everyone was reading the words displayed on the screen. The competition was a bit like a formalized, twenty-first century Bible drill, which as a bonus included time for contemplation by the congregation of several texts straight … [Read more...]

By Mickey Noah and Karen L. Willoughby STATEWIDE – Baptists stepped forward to forego their normal Saturdays in March in order to blanket their communities with the Gospel and with an invitation to be in church Easter Sunday. [img_assist|nid=6257|title=A young boy places a Find It Here packet on a front door as part of Southern Baptists God s Plan for Sharing campaign|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=73|height=100]Wayne DuBose, director of missions for the Northwest Baptist Association in Shreveport, was at the Southern Baptist Convention in 2008 when NAMB announced GPS. “I was excited then and I’m excited and proud now that we have some folks who are really fired up about GPS,” Dubose said. The Louisiana Baptist Convention tweaked the GPS name to includethe state’s theme of “Sharing the Peace of Jesus.” The Northwest association, which covers Caddo and Bossier parishes, includes 120 churches and missions and is the largest association in Louisiana. While Dubose ordered 6,000 door-hangers for the association, many local pastors ordered their own materials. Louisiana churches – large or small – customized the GPS program for their particular church’s use. Lighthouse Church in Shreveport, pastored by Tommy Allen, may … [Read more...]

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor SLIDELL – The Louisiana Baptist Mission Builders recently turned half of an old grocery store into a new church house for Northshore Baptist, where Larry McEwen is pastor. The congregation met in it for the first time for worship on Palm Sunday. “This is the third building we’ve built up,” McEwen said. “And, it’s the third time it has worked out that we’re ready to go in it on Palm Sunday. That’s amazing!” [img_assist|nid=6259|title=Congregation of Northshore Baptist Church in Slidell moved to its third building in nine years all three on Palm Sunday|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=75] Northshore’s building history is as interesting as is its missions involvement. The church started in 2001 as a core group of 17 members meeting for weekly Bible studies in the pastor’s home. Its first official home was an old gymnastics building in Old Town Slidell that members renovated and moved into on Palm Sunday 2002. “We grew to about 230 in that building, in two services,” McEwen said. “Outgrew that and moved into 16,000 square feet of the old Factory Outlet Mall. The week before Hurricane Katrina, we had 393 in worship, in two services.” The storm left more than five … [Read more...]

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor JONESBORO – A new major event for teens across the state is erupting in Jonesboro. It’s Youth Explosion 2010, set for the evenings of Aug. 8-11 at Jonesboro-Hodge High School. Accompanying the event, will be a Youth Ministers Fellowship – with lunch provided – set for Aug. 9 in the Family Life Center at First Baptist Jonesboro. Please RSVP by Monday, August 2. Clay Smith, minister of youth and education at First Baptist Jonesboro, and a team from Jackson, Shady Grove and Winn Baptist Associations, invited “big names” in summer camp ministry for the back-to-school event. “There are a lot of churches that can’t afford to go to youth camp – or that do mission projects instead of going to youth camp,” Smith said. “The guys who will be here, they’re the guys you’d see at a big youth camp. We were very blessed to get all of them at the same time.” Youth Explosion 2010 will be a free event, Smith added. Love offerings will be taken each night to offset expenses. Evangelistic t-shirts, artist CDs and other promotional material will be available for purchase. The Aaron Ivey Band, Speaker Wade Morris and Illusionist Drew Worsham are set to headline the three-day event, and to … [Read more...]

By James B. Law, Senior Pastor First Baptist Gonzales A friend described a wedding he recently attended. A pastor conducted the ceremony that lasted about ten minutes. [img_assist|nid=5978|title=Jim Law, Senior Pastor First Baptist Church Gonzales|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=94|height=100]No Scripture was read and no prayer was offered. The vows were so vague he scarcely could tell whether or not it was a Christian gathering. The ceremony seemed totally disconnected from any biblical foundation. Could it be that pastors and churches have contributed to the marital malaise of our generation because of a lack of diligence in upholding biblical standards for marriage and weddings?  Sadly, many weddings – like the one described above –  have become nothing more than perfunctory ceremonies devoid of preparation, reverence or significance. Of all human commitments – second only to following Jesus Christ – if any deserves the taking off of our shoes because we are on holy ground, it is the occasion when a man and a woman unite before God in the covenant of marriage. Tragically, however, marriage is esteemed lightly even in the church. Pastoral responses to weddings have been all too accommodating in a culture that is … [Read more...]

By Andy Johnson, Pastor Cross Roads Baptist Church, Farmerville Think back to the time that you accepted Jesus Christ into your heart. [img_assist|nid=6053|title=Andy Johnson, Pastor Cross Roads Baptist Church, Farmerville|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=75|height=100]Can you remember it? Do you remember the weight of sin being lifted from you as you slowly began to realize you were forgiven? Did you cry tears of joy as God revealed to you that you had become a child of the King? Were people there to help you celebrate your decision? How about that smile on your face that just wouldn’t go away? Salvation is the single most wonderful miracle that God performs in the life of an individual. We should never forget what it felt like when we chose to follow Christ. But what happens after that? Just as a new-born babe cannot grow without the loving care of his or her parents, new believers need guidance and instruction from God-loving people as well. Paul told the Corinthian Christians that believers are literally brand-new creatures in Christ. From the time of the initial decision to follow Christ, there should be an ongoing process of growth rooted in discipleship. But many times the aforementioned … [Read more...]

By T. Preston Pearce, Missionary in residence Louisiana College Editor’s note: All Scripture references are from HCSB. In my previous article, I described eternal security, perseverance, and assurance as a “cord of three strands.” Scripture teaches that we must persevere to the end to be saved (that is, faith is proven genuine by endurance); and we will persevere (we are secure) and cannot be lost because God keeps us. I would like now to explain briefly the biblical basis for assurance of salvation, the third strand in our cord. In my next and final article I will show how these three relate to each other. Assurance of salvation is our confidence that we possess eternal life here and now. We can be certain that we are indeed children of God and need not fear banishment at the final judgment. We are assured we will spend eternity in heaven. Assurance has two aspects. The first is related to the object of our faith. It is confidence that Jesus can save us. The second is connected to the reality of our faith. It is confidence that Jesus has saved us because our lives give evidence that we have been born again and that our faith is genuine. I will focus primarily on the second aspect, because it seems many … [Read more...]

By Archie England, PH.D., NOBTS Professor of Old testament and Hebrew Question: What does the Old Testament say about the resurrection of the dead? And, what about the resurrection of the Christ? [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]Archie England responds: Though no form of the word resurrection appears in the Old Testament, the concept does occur. One of the most notable examples, albeit highly figurative, is that of Ezekiel’s vision of the Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37). By the power of God’s breath, bones re-assemble, tissue and flesh form, blood flows, and life reanimates those formerly dead corpses. Those long-dead (very dry bones) were raised back to life. Despite the absence of special terms, the Old Testament writers employ simple words, “raised” or “caused to stand,” to convey the concept of resurrection. Two examples illustrate this. First, Elisha stretches himself – mouth to mouth, hands to hands, and body to body – upon the corpse of a recently deceased child, and life returns to the boy. Though the child had not been dead long (several hours, not days), the text states that the lad died (2 Kings … [Read more...]