By Jeff Iorg, President Golden Gate Seminary I need your help. If you can explain the following, please let me know. It really has me stumped. [img_assist|nid=6111|title=Jeff Iorg, President Golden Gate Seminary|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=80|height=100]Recently, I heard a wonderful testimony of a believer who had overcome his struggle with alcohol. He told the story of how he initially got involved with alcohol, how it became more and more of a problem, the high price he paid in lost relationships and health struggles, and the victory he finally won through prayer, counseling, and tough choices. He concluded by declaring he would never touch alcohol again. When he finished, he received a nice ovation – deservedly so. It is always good to hear a touching story of redemption and recovery. Shortly thereafter, I was part of another conversation in which a person told a different story. She reported she had never had a drink of alcohol; having decided at an early age drinking made no sense on any level. She also concluded by declaring she would never touch alcohol. But the response to the second person was quite different than the first. The second person was called a “legalist” who “doesn’t understand … [Read more...]

By Jeff Iorg, President Golden Gate Seminary I need your help. If you can explain the following, please let me know. It really has me stumped. [img_assist|nid=6111|title=Jeff Iorg, President Golden Gate Seminary|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=80|height=100]Recently, I heard a wonderful testimony of a believer who had overcome his struggle with alcohol. He told the story of how he initially got involved with alcohol, how it became more and more of a problem, the high price he paid in lost relationships and health struggles, and the victory he finally won through prayer, counseling, and tough choices. He concluded by declaring he would never touch alcohol again. When he finished, he received a nice ovation – deservedly so. It is always good to hear a touching story of redemption and recovery. Shortly thereafter, I was part of another conversation in which a person told a different story. She reported she had never had a drink of alcohol; having decided at an early age drinking made no sense on any level. She also concluded by declaring she would never touch alcohol. But the response to the second person was quite different than the first. The second person was called a “legalist” who “doesn’t understand the … [Read more...]

By Bill Warren, Ph.D., New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Professor of New Testament and Greek Question: Is it okay for Baptists to pray the Lord’s Prayer, and if so, why don’t we use it more often in our churches? [img_assist|nid=6120|title=Bill Warren NOBTS Professor of New Testament and Greek|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=75|height=100]Bill Warren responds: To begin with a generalization, praying what Jesus taught us is always okay.  Christians have treasured this prayer throughout the ages and used it in worship as well as personal devotional lives. This has been the single most commonly used prayer among Christian groups throughout history, so using it in worship and private devotional life is definitely okay.  To be sure, in Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus is teaching the disciples how to pray rather than actually voicing a prayer. But very early the church began using this teaching of Jesus as actual prayer, as seen in the Didache, a Christian document from the late first to early second century, which right after giving the text of the Lord’s Prayer states: “Pray like this three times a day” (Didache 8:3). Apparently the Christians addressed in the Didache (mostly Jewish Christians who continued to maintain a … [Read more...]

By Al Quartemont, Special to the Message PINEVILLE – LC football coach Dennis Dunn remembers well the first time he met Bill McCartney. The encounter with the man who led Colorado to a National Championship in football in 1990 and would eventually start the Christian ministry, Promise Keepers, came in February 1992, when Dunn and his assistant coaching staff at Evangel High School of Shreveport made a trip to Boulder, Colo. [img_assist|nid=6122|title=Coach Bill McCartney, Founder of Promise Keepers|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=82|height=100]“Coach McCartney took us to his house and said ‘Guys, I want to show you my room,’” Dunn recalled. “So we thought he was taking us to his trophy room. But we walked through that room and went into a small, unassuming room facing the Rocky Mountains. It had a plate glass window and a kneeler in front of that window. He said, ‘Men, this is where I meet Almighty God every morning. God has shown me he’s going to fill Boulder Stadium with 50,000 men who are going to go back to their homes and be the fathers and husbands God has called them to be.’” Six months later, Boulder Stadium was filled with 50,000 men and the Promise Keepers ministry was underway. On Friday, March 5, the … [Read more...]

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor ALEXANDRIA – Little is said about it, though those who happen to be in the Baptist Building Wednesday mornings are invited to participate in the staff’s weekly prayer gathering. If he’s in town, Louisiana Baptist Convention’s Music Leadership Strategist Randy Turner starts the 9:30 a.m. prayertime with a song. One recent week it was He is Jehovah, followed by All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name. [img_assist|nid=6124|title=Randy Turner LBC Music Strategist|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=79|height=100]Each week, in rotation, a different strategist leads the prayertime, and prayertime it is. One of the state’s vocational evangelists is named each week – and prayed for. This week it was Jack Daniels, since he was attending the prayertime. Maybe this indicates if you feel the need of prayer, come to the Baptist Building on Wednesday mornings! One of the Baptist Associations in Louisiana is named – it, its director of missions, and each of its churches, missions and ministries is prayed for. This week it was Delta Baptist Association of 17 churches, which functions without a director of missions. Special prayer was given to First Baptist Vidalia, which is between pastors. One of … [Read more...]

By Derek Brown, Adolescent/Family Counselor Celebration Church, Metairie What is Sexting and Should I Really Be Concerned About My Teen or Pre-teen Actually Doing This? In recent decades, teens would pile into skating rinks and football games to meet their needs for social belonging. In today’s world, technology has become the primary venue for communicating with peers. Whether by internet, cell phone, or some other multimedia device, teens are meeting their social and relational cravings through the digital world. When you were an adolescent, it may have taken a lot of bravery to sneak under the bleachers or around the corner to catch a kiss from your big crush, but a teen in this generation has the means to virtually communicate those feelings in a matter of seconds through multimedia messages. Sexting, the transmitting of personal images that are sexual in nature, has become a new trend among teens and even pre-teens. A recent survey from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy reveals that approximately one in five teens report sending nude or semi-nude images of themselves via text messages. Legal Consequences Obviously, sexting is a concern for you as a parent. To complicate matters, … [Read more...]

By J. B. & Shugie Collingsworth, Home Life Magazine What is compassion? What does it mean to be compassionate? It refers to empathy, concern, or kindness. What can it mean in a marriage? Much! We have compassion for children who live in terrible circumstances, people who are sick, people with disabilities, right? [img_assist|nid=6128|title=Couples Compassion|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=75|height=100]The part compassion plays in our lives can be huge. It causes us to sponsor a child in a third world country for dollars per month, send money to missions, give to the needy in our own backyards, and makes us stop and think when we see the less fortunate. The Necessary Nine “Remember, LORD, Your compassion and Your faithful love, for they have existed from antiquity” (Psalm 25:6, HCSB). Should we not be compassionate to people the same way that He, in His mercy, has given us so much more than any of us deserve? Can compassion that comes from Him keep us going when we sometimes get to the end of our rope? Can it help us when we have no other way to go? Yes! Why do spouses get so exasperated that they fight the very one they should love the most? Is Satan having fun or what? Yes, he is! As … [Read more...]

By Bethany Hales, Special to the Message NEW ORLEANS – A church that was decimated by Hurricane Katrina is now rebounding in a big way. First Baptist Chalmette, averaging 300 or more in Sunday School attendance before Hurricane Katrina, lost 97 percent of its membership after the storm. [img_assist|nid=6130|title=First Baptist Church of Chalmette is on the rebound since being decimated by Hurricane Katrina|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=67]Since the reopening of the sanctuary in October, the church has had at least one baptism every Sunday except one. In the last four months, First Chalmette has baptized more than 60 people and seen about 110 professions of faith. Worship attendance has grown from an average of 50 to an average of 150. “Since Hurricane Katrina, God has done so many wonderful, powerful things at just the right time. I call these movements of God ‘Divine Kisses,’ and goodness, I have Divine Lipstick smeared all over me,” said Pastor John Jeffries. “For a period of time we were described as a ‘church on the bubble’ because some who were aware of our membership loss felt that the church would not survive.” Until recently the church had been averaging about 50 people in worship. In … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message LORANGER, RUSTON – Tsunami: American Samoa; earthquake: Haiti, earthquake: Chile. These are the current international needs for disaster relief volunteers. And over the course of the last year, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief engaged in more than 170 disaster responses – feeding, plus clean-up following floods, fires, storms, and other types of disasters. [img_assist|nid=6132|title=Gibbie McMillan with Disaster Relief award winners|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=67]The details are significant: In 2009, more than 29,523 volunteer days produced 291,922 meals; completed 7,895 recovery jobs; made 12,137 ministry contacts; and recorded 661 professions of faith. Nationwide, more than 88,000 people have completed Disaster Relief training. In Louisiana, 4,124 volunteers are in the LBC Disaster Relief database. That’s a huge jump from pre-K – before Hurricane Katrina. It was the tremendous needs of Louisiana residents as a result of Katrina that Louisiana Southern Baptists escalated their disaster relief presence, from 16 DR units pre-K to 74 today, said Gibbie McMillan, Disaster Relief director for the Louisiana Baptist Convention. Trained DR volunteers know how to work together … [Read more...]

By Karen Willoughby, Managing Editor LORANGER – A caring heart, listening ear and willing spirit are about all that are needed by people wanting to be trained as disaster relief chaplain volunteers. Everything else can be added during two days of training. [img_assist|nid=6135|title=James Carson is Disaster Relief Chaplains Coordinator and Chaplain Trainer|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=83|height=100]“It’s a magnificent ministry,” said DR Chaplains Coordinator and trainer James Carson. “We have a lot of people saved because of Disaster Relief responders.” Angie Hurst of Kentwood was one DR chaplain with a story to tell, Carson said. She led one flood-stricken, 89-year-old man to the Lord, and the man led her to his wife. He wanted her to make the same decision, he said, so Hurst repeated her words to the woman and she too put her life in God’s hands. Chaplaincy was one of several Disaster Relief training options that took place at Camp Living Waters in Loranger in late January and again at Temple Baptist Church in Ruston in early February. Everyone sat in on the Basic Disaster Relief training, and then spread out to learn about his/her specific area of interest. DR volunteers can specialize in food preparation, … [Read more...]