I had taught a prayer meeting message one evening based on the passage in John 4 (“being wearied from his journey” – verse 6), using Jesus as an example of: a) one who tired; He was just like us. b) one who would not use fatigue as an excuse for missing an opportunity to serve; He was teaching us to go against our self-centeredness. c) one who was energized by such labor; He was showing us the fruits of such faithfulness. I had taught a prayer meeting message one evening based on the passage in John 4 (“being wearied from his journey” – verse 6), using Jesus as an example of: a) one who tired; He was just like us. b) one who would not use fatigue as an excuse for missing an opportunity to serve; He was teaching us to go against our self-centeredness. c) one who was energized by such labor; He was showing us the fruits of such faithfulness. Not two minutes after the closing prayer, a young woman walked up with her two small sons. I recognized her as a single mother we had frequently given assistance to in the church office. To the best of my knowledge, she was a hard worker and was trying to get her life together. “I need to move tonight,” she told me. I said, “How’s that?” “I’ve rented a better apartment and I’m … [Read more...]

In almost 30 years as a minister, I have changed my perspective on many aspects of church life. One of the most significant changes is my perspective on conflict. In almost 30 years as a minister, I have changed my perspective on many aspects of church life. One of the most significant changes is my perspective on conflict. When I first started out in ministry, my perspective was conflict is always bad, must be avoided, is a sign of sin in a church, and is always detrimental to God’s work. What changed my mind? First, actually studying the Bible and learning what it says about church conflict. We often assume we know what the Bible says, but when we actually study it the results are surprising. Second, experiencing some church conflict and helping many other leaders through other conflicts. While experience must be interpreted in the context of Scripture, reflecting on and learning from experience is a valid method of understanding God’s works and ways. Over the next few issues, I will share some insights about “when conflict comes to church” based both on insights from the Bible and my experience as a leader. My early perspective on conflict can be summarized as follows, what I call my five myths of church … [Read more...]

Cross Point Baptist Church has prospered before and since it was chosen as a 2008 recipient of the Georgia Barnett Offering for State Missions. BENTON – Cross Point Baptist Church has prospered before and since it was chosen as a 2008 recipient of the Georgia Barnett Offering for State Missions. Started early this decade as an outgrowth from another church in the area, it constituted, floundered and had reverted to mission status when Tony Meinhardt was called as pastor of 20 people in 2007. With the financial support of Northwest Louisiana Baptist Association and the Louisiana Baptist Convention, the church bought 10 acres of land that geographically is in the center of the fastest-growing parish in the state, the pastor said. “We’re in a wonderful location,” Meinhardt said. “There are about 16,000 family units [houses and apartment dwellings] within a seven-mile radius.” Louisiana Baptist Builders led by Project Coordinators Steve Hayes and Jim Wyble managed construction starting in 2008 of a 10,000-square-foot building that today is well-used, the pastor said. “Our folks really had a heart to do this,” Meinhardt said. “They sacrificed, they gave and they worked hard. God honored it.” More than 100 … [Read more...]

When the Louisiana Department of Education chose its three [one each in the fifth, eighth, and twelfth grades] Students of the Year, they could not have expected two of those students to live in the same city. And what are the chances they also would attend the same church? SHREVEPORT – When the Louisiana Department of Education chose its three [one each in the fifth, eighth, and twelfth grades] Students of the Year, they could not have expected two of those students to live in the same city. And what are the chances they also would attend the same church? Henry Lin, Louisiana Middle School Student of the Year, and Nick Taylor, Louisiana High School Student of the Year, attend Ellerbe Road Baptist Church in Shreveport.            Taylor, a 2009 graduate of Byrd High School, said he particularly enjoys working with youth and children. In summer, when most of his church activity picks up, he works at the various camps and Vacation Bible Schools. “It’s fun being able to work with them,” he said. “They start looking up to you.”    Lin, also an active youth group participant, uses his gift for piano to minister in the church, sometimes for the youth praise brand and others for the church offertory.  When asked why … [Read more...]

The rural Fairview Baptist Church is a church with an outsize heart for missions. COUSHATTA – The rural Fairview Baptist Church is a church with an outsize heart for missions. Matt (wife Jana) Endris is pastor. Richard (wife Pam) Waters is chairman of the missions committee. “The Lord has blessed our church,” Endris said. “I began praying, about how God would have us use the resources He has blessed us with. He impressed on me that we need to be a conduit of these blessings. We want to be Acts 1:8 in the way we contribute our money and the way we involve our church in mission work.” Acts 1:8 in the Holman Christian Standard Bible reads: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth. About 180 people attend Sunday morning worship at Fairview Coushatta, which is about an hour from Shreveport and 20 minutes from Natchitoches. “People come here from four parishes,” Endris said. “It’s a regional church.” It’s a giving church. Twelve percent of its offerings go to missions through the Cooperative Program, Southern Baptists’ method of supporting missions and ministries of state conventions and the … [Read more...]

Lightning struck a cabin about noon Monday, May 11, at Camp Bethany, starting a fire that raced through the building in a matter of minutes. SHREVEPORT – Lightning struck a cabin about noon Monday, May 11, at Camp Bethany, starting a fire that raced through the building in a matter of minutes. The cabin was empty of guests, and no one was injured in the lightning strike or fire, said Camp Manager Robert Cole. As noon neared, Melinda Mendenhall, bookkeeper, was the only one in the office, everyone else was at lunch.  The impact of the lightning strike reverberated through the office, she said. She could tell it hit something; she just didn’t know what. “I looked out to see if I noticed anything unusual, but I didn’t,” Mendenhall said. A few minutes after the boom sounded, some of the cleaning staff came to tell Mendenhall they could smell smoke. Originally they thought the office might be on fire, because the smell seemed so close, Mendenhall said. When they investigated, they saw the fire raging in a cabin behind the office. She said they immediately called 911, but by the time the fire department arrived, flames were rolling out the sides of the building. The fire demolished half the cabin and smoke damage … [Read more...]

With the goal of finding ways Southern Baptists “can work more faithfully and effectively” together in fulfilling the Great Commission, messengers to the convention’s annual meeting June 23-24 gave the green light to a task force to examine the denomination for one year and report back to the 2010 annual meeting in Orlando Fla, which will be held June 15-16. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) – With the goal of finding ways Southern Baptists “can work more faithfully and effectively” together in fulfilling the Great Commission, messengers to the convention’s annual meeting June 23-24 gave the green light to a task force to examine the denomination for one year and report back to the 2010 annual meeting in Orlando Fla, which will be held June 15-16. Debate over the proposed Great Commission Task Force and an Internet document dubbed the “Great Commission Resurgence Declaration” had dominated pre-convention talk, with some Southern Baptist leaders backing it and others expressing concern. In the end, though, the 8,700-plus messengers at the annual meeting overwhelmingly supported the task force via a motion that gave Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt authority to appoint the panel – something he did on the meeting’s final … [Read more...]

On the second day of the Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville June 22, speakers exhorted pastors to lead with “One Love,” “One Spirit” and “One Purpose.” LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) – On the second day of the Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville June 22, speakers exhorted pastors to lead with “One Love,” “One Spirit” and “One Purpose.” Passionate, funny, pleading – speakers at the annual Pastors Conference referred to the Great Commission, tertiary issues, humility, and accountability. The pastors also elected officers for the 2010 Pastors’ Conference in Orlando, Fla.: Kevin Ezell, pastor of Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., president; Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of First Baptist Church, West Palm Beach, Fla., vice president; and Ben Mandrell, pastor of Englewood Baptist Church, Jackson, Tenn., secretary-treasurer. ONE LOVE Mike Landry, pastor of Sarasota (Fla.) Baptist Church, pointed to the Book of Jonah for a lesson on maintaining the same love of Christ the Apostle Paul mentioned in Philippians 2:2. A lack of love, Landry said, turns a Christian into a judge as displayed in Jonah, judging the people of Nineveh and … [Read more...]

A bread loaf bank for missions made its debut during the Woman’s Missionary Union report at the annual meeting. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) – A bread loaf bank for missions made its debut during the Woman’s Missionary Union report at the annual meeting. The bank, a new resource for the World Hunger Offering, will replace the plastic, disposable rice bowls previously used by churches to collect funds, Wanda S. Lee, WMU’s national executive director, told messengers. “Southern Baptists have demonstrated concern for the hungry throughout our history, and food banks and hunger projects are vibrant ministries in many of our churches,” Lee said. WMU, an auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention, introduced the bank as a resource to encourage giving to the World Hunger Fund, established by Southern Baptists in 1974. WMU is working on the project in partnership with the North American Mission Board, International Mission Board, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, LifeWay Christian Resources and Baptist Press. Kaye Miller, WMU’s president, said the banks, manufactured by a Southern Baptist family, are reusable and affordable and “serve as a visual reminder to help those who do not have enough food to eat.” They can be … [Read more...]

People visit the Louisiana College (right) and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (below) Booths at the 152nd annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Louisville, Ky. … [Read more...]