FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH CARLYSS Carey Baptist Association CARLYSS – First Baptist Church Carlyss is in need of some manual labor (some experienced carpentry) for repairs caused by Hurricane Ike. Fellowship Hall roof needs to be removed and new trusses installed. Insurance not covering because of deductible and the church is having to do all the work. “We have most of the materials, and we are trying to raise money for remainder,” said Roger Holloway. “Any assistance would be a tremendous help. Please contact Roger Holloway at 337.287.3473. Bayou Vista Baptist Church Gulf Coast Baptist Association MORGAN CITY – God has been using the congregation at Bayou Vista to reach people in unique ways. According to Pastor Charles S. Gilder, his church family started an “English as a Second Language” program back in February. “Initially, we had two classes during the day with 18 [people] enrolled,” he said. Recently, a few more people have been trained in his congregation to teach the classes, and so a night class has recently started. Nine men from the community are taking part in the evening class. “It’s a slow-go,” the pastor said. “It’s laying a foundation.” A woman from one of the day classes has started … [Read more...]

Submitted by Staff on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 02:00 COMINGS AND GOINGS -Hershel Clanton retires as pastor, Faith Baptist, Clayton. -Loyd Sowers (wife Linda), new as pastor, Kaplan Baptist, Kaplan. -Monica Skiles, new as Children’s Director at First Baptist, Lafayette. RETIREMENTS -SPRINGHILL –  Temple Baptist: Wayne Reeves retirement luncheon, recognition and celebration 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26. NEEDED -Pastor at Tioga First Baptist, Pineville. Send resume to Tioga FBC Pastor Selection Team, 1309 Singer Drive, Pineville LA 71360. -Pastor at Start Baptist, Start. Send resume to Pastor Search Committee, Start Baptist Church, PO Box 219, Start LA 71279. AVAILABLE -Hershel Clanton for pulpit supply; call 318.723.4660 ANNIVERSARIES AND CELEBRATIONS -MANGHAM – Calvary Baptist: Homecoming Celebration 10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 26; Three for Him, music; Gerry Courtney, speaker/pastor. REVIVALS -RUSTON – University Baptist: 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26; 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, Oct. 27 – 29; Tim Post, music; Mac Brunson, evangelist; John Martin, pastor. -JONESVILLE – First Baptist: 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26; 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, Oct. 27 – 29; Joe Aulds, … [Read more...]

The Louisiana Baptist Convention Missions and Ministry team has added a partnership missions mobilization strategist. ALEXANDRIA – The Louisiana Baptist Convention Missions and Ministry team has added a partnership missions mobilization strategist. Wayne J. Sheppard started Oct. 1 as an integral part of the missions and ministry team, said Team Leader Mike Canady. “We wanted to find just the right person with extraordinary gifts, skills and experience to maximize the effectiveness of our churches with partnership mission opportunities,” Canady said. “Wayne has business and ministry experience. He was a bi-vocational mission pastor in Arizona. Consequently, he knows firsthand what it feels like to have partners come along side your ministry and make a difference.” Sheppard is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with both a Master of Divinity (1984) and Doctor of Ministry (‘88.) He graduated from University of Texas Arlington, Texas with a B.S. in Accounting (‘73.)  For ten years, he was in management with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Texas. He was pastor of four churches in Texas. One was a church plant in Katy. In 2002, he moved to Gilbert, Ariz., to launch a new congregation. He has led … [Read more...]

Only 17 percent of Protestant churchgoers in America demonstrate a “decent” level of spiritual maturity, but a widespread recommitment to biblical standards has the potential to ignite revival, says a new book by Brad Waggoner, vice president of B&H Publishing Group. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – Only 17 percent of Protestant churchgoers in America demonstrate a “decent” level of spiritual maturity, but a widespread recommitment to biblical standards has the potential to ignite revival, says a new book by Brad Waggoner, vice president of B&H Publishing Group.  The 17 percent represents those who scored the equivalent of 80 percent or higher on a spiritual formation survey designed to measure key areas of Christian discipleship.  “Let’s not make things look worse or better than they are,” Waggoner writes in The Shape of Faith to Come: Spiritual Formation and the Future of Discipleship, just released by B&H Publishing Group, the publishing arm of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.  “We must embrace the truth. We must set aside whatever self-centered or self-serving, biased filter we look through,” Waggoner writes. “No one is helped by our dodging or spinning the truth. Let’s own up to … [Read more...]

The American Family Association announced Oct. 9 an end to the boycott it had organized against McDonald’s, citing the restaurant chain’s willingness to “remain neutral in the culture war regarding homosexual marriage.” NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – The American Family Association announced Oct. 9 an end to the boycott it had organized against McDonald’s, citing the restaurant chain’s willingness to “remain neutral in the culture war regarding homosexual marriage.” “McDonald’s said McDonald’s Vice President Richard Ellis has resigned his position on the board of [National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce] and that his seat on the board will not be replaced,” AFA founder and chairman Don Wildmon wrote in an e-mail alert to the pro-family organization’s 2.4 million supporters. “McDonald’s also said that the company has no plans to renew their membership in NGLCC when it expires in December.” The alert went on to say that McDonald’s sent an e-mail to its franchise owners, stating, “It is our policy to not be involved in political and social issues. McDonald’s remains neutral on same sex marriage or any ‘homosexual agenda’ as defined by the American Family Association.” “We appreciate the decision by McDonald’s to no longer … [Read more...]

A small church pastor in Texas is encouraging other small churches not to limit God after his congregation committed themselves to prayer and then saw God bring substantial results. NIXON, Texas (BP) – A small church pastor in Texas is encouraging other small churches not to limit God after his congregation committed themselves to prayer and then saw God bring substantial results. “I believe that there is a mindset now that if I’m not a mega-church pastor, I don’t count,” Kenny Rawls, pastor of First Baptist Church in Nixon, Texas, told Baptist Press. “I want the nation to understand that the majority of churches that are Southern Baptist are smaller-population churches. “God has planted that church there for a reason, and every pastor who carries the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a mega-church pastor,” he said. “I want the smaller churches to realize they can reach people and make a difference to the Kingdom of God.” Rawls points to his own small congregation in a community that is 85 percent Hispanic, about 45 miles east of San Antonio. More than two years ago, the church decided to designate a prayer time each Tuesday morning. “We really didn’t have a big turnout,” said Rawls, a master of divinity student at … [Read more...]

To emphasize the value he places on volunteerism, President George W. Bush likes to honor an outstanding volunteer at every locale he visits in the United States. PINEVILLE – To emphasize the value he places on volunteerism, President George W. Bush likes to honor an outstanding volunteer at every locale he visits in the United States. Since 2002, he has met with and given a President’s Volunteer Service Award pin to more than 650 Americans. Marion Harrison, a member at First Baptist Montgomery, received one on Monday, Oct. 20, when President Bush visited Alexandria to talk with community and business leaders about the economy. The two met on the tarmac of Alexandria International Airport, in the shadow of Air Force One, and far from anyone except the official White House photographer and two Secret Service agents assigned to protect Harrison. The president reached out to Harrison; both said it was an honor to be with the other. They hugged. “He said, ‘I want to congratulate you and the hours you’ve spent helping the veterans,’” Harrison said during a Friday afternoon interview at the Alexandria VA Medical Center, where she volunteers 30 hours a week. “I have something for you,” she said President Bush said. He … [Read more...]

Beginning at 15 minutes past noon on Thursday, Oct. 30, the gospel will be preached weekly via radio to a wide Cenla audience. ALEXANDRIA – Beginning at 15 minutes past noon on Thursday, Oct. 30, the gospel will be preached weekly via radio to a wide Cenla audience. According to an announcement made by Oasis HealthCare, Pastor Dennis Snoddy of Cloverdale Baptist Church will be the voice behind a 15-minute program entitled “A Weekly Walk Through the Word” on AM Station 840, KWDF. “Pastor Dennis is our chaplain,” said Marketing Director Cheryl Crooks. Snoddy provides the hospice patients and staff with spiritual education, encouragement and chapel services. “He’s got the greatest laugh,” she said. “Because of Dennis, we keep rejuvenated.” When Crooks found out that for the same amount of money that Oasis HealthCare was putting into radio ads they could provide a weekly radio program, she asked Snoddy if he would be willing to give a weekly 15-minute sermon on the radio, since he was their chaplain. He reluctantly agreed. “It makes me nervous,” Snoddy said. “But it’s a way to get the message out. [Plus], I have the support of the church.” In addition to his church supporting him, Snoddy’s wife, Benita, and … [Read more...]

SHREVEPORT – The reason Southern Baptist churches today can’t account for 52.48 percent of their members is that they aren’t praying for the new and immature believers in their midst, says Roy Fish, professor of evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.   The reason the church is losing ground is because leaders are concentrating on numbers – baptisms/membership – rather than on developing more leaders, says Robert Coleman, author of The Master Plan of Evangelism. Fish and Coleman shared a podium at Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport, where Ron Masteller is pastor, Oct. 18, for The Jesus Way to Develop Leaders, an evangelism and discipleship seminar co-hosted by Community Renewal International. “When it comes to praying, not much in the New Testament is about praying for the lost,” Fish said during his hour-long address. “In the New Testament, for every one verse of praying for people who are lost, there are 30 for those who are saved. “Prayer is vital – essential! – for the growth of new or immature believers,” Fish continued. “Our churches have never realized this. We have never seen our responsibility to pray for new and immature believers. … And when you pray, don’t just pray, ‘God, bless our … [Read more...]

Political historians tell us that presidential campaigns in America have always possessed a negative side. However, these same observers of elections agree that this year’s contest for the White House seems to be of a geometric configuration that has multiple sides that are downright ugly. Political historians tell us that presidential campaigns in America have always possessed a negative side. However, these same observers of elections agree that this year’s contest for the White House seems to be of a geometric configuration that has multiple sides that are downright ugly. The case could be made that the present presidential campaign gives character assassination a good name. Dubious reports and questionable – not to mention unnamed – sources all seek to impugn the character of each candidate. If you live in one of the so-called battleground states the mud never seems to stop slinging. And campaign consultants all agree as to the reason for the current crass campaigning – negative politicking works. Understanding the reason the electorate relishes sleaze is no easy chore. However, it seems to fit a trend that is reflected in broader society. In the past decade, American popular culture has begun to resemble a dog … [Read more...]