“I couldn’t see a thing, and now I can see an eagle in the sky. ”With these words, a 30-something woman in a once-brightly flowered sundress at a makeshift medical/eye clinic thanked Americans on a short-term mission trip for giving her what most Americans take for granted: the ability to see clearly. BELO HORIZONTE, Minas Gerias, Brazil – “I couldn’t see a thing, and now I can see an eagle in the sky. ”With these words, a 30-something woman in a once-brightly flowered sundress at a makeshift medical/eye clinic thanked Americans on a short-term mission trip for giving her what most Americans take for granted: the ability to see clearly. Her home in one of Belo’s shabbiest parts of town would now be brighter, and her heart would be lighter, because she could see the beautiful hills covered with the ramshackle no-longer-red brick and once-white stucco buildings that surround her. In addition to the hope that life could be better – which was given her with the gift of clear vision – was the gift of the life-empowering hope of Jesus that she also heard about. The woman was one recipient of the ministry of a 162-person team of people (99 from Louisiana) who all converged for the 25th annual mission trip to a city in Brazil … [Read more...]

The weather was hot, the music was loud, but the message was clear and to the point for the thousands of teenagers who gathered on the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge Saturday, July 18. BATON ROUGE – The weather was hot, the music was loud, but the message was clear and to the point for the thousands of teenagers who gathered on the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge Saturday, July 18. A crowd of 11,000 [officially 10,998] packed the grounds on the levee lots at LSU for an evangelistic summer concert series featuring seven hours of Christian rock and hip-hop music plus brief challenging messages by skateboarding minister Jonny Nelson of JSAW [Jesus, Snow, Asphalt and Walter], Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Franklin Graham. Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, was the catalyst behind this four-city tour. It was an exciting kickoff to this brand new evangelistic summer concert series. “It was totally awesome,” Junior Castillo, festival organizer for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association wrote.  “We believe many seeds of gospel truth were sown and that the harvest will come in on every wave … day after day, week after week until Jesus returns … [Read more...]

The need is great, and Louisiana College is hoping it can fill that need. PINEVILLE – The need is great, and Louisiana College is hoping it can fill that need. It is estimated that by 2020 to 2025 there will be a shortage of doctors, not only in Louisiana but also throughout the United States. Simply stated thenation does not have enough family practice physicians. According to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, 86 percent of Louisiana parishes have a health professional shortage. Louisiana ranks among the worst in the nation in percent of population lacking access to primary care, which is due to a critical shortage of primary care doctors. On Thursday, July 23, LC President Joe Aguillard took a giant step toward addressing those needs by formally announcing the school’s plans to establish a new multi-million dollar medical school. Using funds from an anonymous donor, a feasibility study was commissioned by the school using Tripp Umbach, a strategic planning firm, and an economic impact report by Baton Rouge-based Flood International Consulting Agency, to determine the feasibility of establishing a medical school at Louisiana College. After studying the report, the LC Board of Directors voted … [Read more...]

The Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Louisville, Ky., voted overwhelmingly to approve the motion to allow our president, Johnny Hunt, to appoint a task force to assist Southern Baptists to become more intentional and more effective in fulfilling the Great Commission. The Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Louisville, Ky., voted overwhelmingly to approve the motion to allow our president, Johnny Hunt, to appoint a task force to assist Southern Baptists to become more intentional and more effective in fulfilling the Great Commission. On the positive side, the enthusiastic response to this motion tells us that the heart of Southern Baptist people is to link arms in taking the Gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. Further, it demonstrates the willingness of Southern Baptists to rigorously evaluate everything they do in the light of Kingdom priorities. On the negative side for me was the vast exodus of people from the hall after the vote was taken. This was a negative because the centerpiece of Tuesday night’s schedule was the report of the International Mission Board and most of the messengers had “left the building.” One would have thought that those who were enthusiastic about … [Read more...]

One church sign revealed, “Today’s sermon: What is hell like?” Underneath the sermon title were the words “Church business meeting tonight.” One church sign revealed, “Today’s sermon: What is hell like?” Underneath the sermon title were the words “Church business meeting tonight.” Some church business meetings have been alarmingly similar to the place of torment. In Dr. W.A. Criswell’s famous sermon, “The Old Time Religion,” he tells about a church conference or church business meeting he had in the church he served as pastor when he was a student at Southern Seminary. Criswell reported, “We had a man in our church who was born in the objective mood, negative case. No matter what we were considering he was ‘agin it.’ Your church probably doesn’t have anyone born in the objective mood and negative case, but I have encountered a few people like that in the course of my ministry. I have presided over heated discussions regarding who should be in charge of the thermostat in the church worship center, the color of the carpet in the church, and whether or not to buy an electric typewriter or just keep the old manual Underwood typewriter for the church secretary. The minutes of one church business meeting recorded … [Read more...]

In the last two issues we have considered the issue of conflict in church. My perspective on this problem has changed significantly over the past 30 years in ministry. In the last two issues we have considered the issue of conflict in church. My perspective on this problem has changed significantly over the past 30 years in ministry. Some of my former perspective was summarized in five myths about church conflict (July 9). Then, in the last issue (July 23), we started considering biblical examples of church conflict. The first one was conflict between church members. Now, let’s consider a second example of conflict in the Bible: Conflict between church leaders. Peter and Paul are two titans of the New Testament. They stand above everyone else as preachers, writers, and leaders. They are the pre-eminent leaders of the early church, more responsible than any other leaders for the advance of the church in the first generation after Jesus’ ascension. It may surprise you to learn they had an intense, open, public conflict. Paul told the story in Galatians 2:11-14. In summary, Paul heard Peter was contradicting the gospel by his behavior among the Gentiles. Peter had stopped eating with Gentiles, thus withdrawing … [Read more...]