In the aftermath of severe storms that swept across central and southern Louisiana last week, Gibbie McMillan, director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s Men’s Ministries/Disaster Relief program, activated three chainsaw teams and placed a feeding team on standby. STATEWIDE – In the aftermath of severe storms that swept across central and southern Louisiana last week, Gibbie McMillan, director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s Men’s Ministries/Disaster Relief program, activated three chainsaw teams and placed a feeding team on standby. Heavy storms swept across central and southern Louisiana Thursday, packing damaging winds, spawning reports of possible tornados near Folsom and Pontchatoula, killing at least one person in Grosse Tete. On Tuesday and Wednesday in northwest Louisiana, officials reported more than 10 inches of rain deluged the Shreveport area, flooding at least 125 homes. In addition to the wind and rain, golf ball-sized hail also was reported as a line of thunderstorms moved across southeast Louisiana, said Phil Grigsby, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “It’s one of the most intense storms we’ve had down here in quite a few years,” he said. Thursday’s storm, which packed winds of … [Read more...]

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. So begins the story of Elmer and Minnie Hammons. QUITMAN – It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. So begins the story of Elmer and Minnie Hammons. Elmer, 73, and Minnie, 64 reside in Quitman and are members of Beech Springs Baptist Church. One year ago, on May 27, they joined hands in holy matrimony. Both had previously lost a spouse through death. This union began a new page in their storied lives. The wedding ceremony was picture perfect. Afterwards, Elmer and Minnie hit the road. They not only hit the road in a figurative manner, they literally hit the road. Tears of joy were replaced with tears of sorrow. Traveling in a Coronado Motor Home, they set their sights on Colorado. The quest for the perfect honeymoon had begun. After driving a while, Elmer handed the wheel to his new bride. Cruising along Highway 287, towards Amarillo, Texas, something went wrong. In an attempt to pass someone, Minnie lost control of the motor home. At highway speed, the motor home flipped over and landed in the median. It was totally destroyed. The only things left intact were the two seats holding Elmer and Minnie. Soon thereafter helpers arrived at the scene. … [Read more...]

n college, Yong* learned the questions to ask when he met a foreigner: “What is your name? What do you do for a living? What is your religion?” NORTH KOREA (BP)--In college, Yong* learned the questions to ask when he met a foreigner: “What is your name? What do you do for a living? What is your religion?” He asks questions to get a glimpse of life beyond the borders of one of the most isolated countries in the world. A citizen of North Korea, Yong asks tourists one more question: “Do you believe in God?” In his years of asking, no one had said “yes” to that last question. Until now. The young father has never seen a Hollywood movie, talked on a cell phone or surfed the Internet. Working at a government-assigned job, he goes home each night to the three-bedroom apartment he shares with his parents, brother, wife and child. He doesn’t own a car. To get to work he stands in a queue with his fellow North Koreans, waiting for an old-fashioned, electric bus. He wears a portrait of his country’s “eternal leader” Kim Il Sung pinned over his heart, a sign of allegiance to a man dead for 13 years. In many ways, Kim still reigns over the land Yong repeatedly refers to as “my country.” Yet, even while the portrait of … [Read more...]

Flicking ashes from his Chinese cigarette, Yong* contemplates a visitor’s question: Do North Koreans have lucky numbers? *Name disguised. NORTH KOREA (BP) – Flicking ashes from his Chinese cigarette, Yong* contemplates a visitor’s question: Do North Koreans have lucky numbers?  *Name disguised. As my husband, Thomas,* explains the significance of the No. 7 in gambling to him, I break out laughing. “Here you were thinking about casinos, and I was thinking about the No. 7 relating to religion and Christianity.” “You’re a Christian?” Yong asks, swiveling his head in my direction. “Yes,” my husband and I reply.       He quickly surveys the other foreigners. Each answers with a resounding “No.”  “Do you believe in God?” I ask him.  “No,” he replies quickly. “Do you?” It isn’t the conversation I’d envisioned having in P’yongyang, capital city of North Korea – the isolated, communist country known officially as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Yet, as we shuttle from restaurants to monuments during our strictly guided tour, the impact of that short conversation colors my view of a nation one guard proudly calls “the last true socialist country in the world.” On the second day of our three-day tour … [Read more...]

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary celebrated its spring graduation service in centennial fashion, May 9. FORT WORTH, Texas – Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary celebrated its spring graduation service in centennial fashion, May 9. Hundreds of guests, students and faculty members gathered on the lawn in front of the B.H. Carroll Memorial Building “as a salute to all of those who have gone before and made an immeasurable contribution” to the seminary. In honor of the seminary’s western heritage, faculty members traded in their academic caps for black, beaver felt cowboy hats. During this spring 2008 commencement service, the seminary conferred degrees on 239 students from 26 states and 12 countries, including Korea, Indonesia, Zim-       babwe and Germany. In a last word to these students, President Paige Patterson pointed to the heart of service displayed by the seminary’s founder, B.H. Carroll, and ultimately by Jesus Christ. He urged graduates to leave Southwestern not with the desire for a career and financial gain but with the desire to serve and proclaim the Gospel. As they go into the world to fulfill this call, they will face many trials, but Patterson reminded them of God’s … [Read more...]

Ben Stein’s movie “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” has been out less than a month but apparently already is having a significant impact in the debate over the teaching of evolution in public schools. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – Ben Stein’s movie “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” has been out less than a month but apparently already is having a significant impact in the debate over the teaching of evolution in public schools. Legislatures in three states – Louisiana, Michigan and Missouri – are considering academic freedom bills that would give teachers greater protection and freedom in teaching the strengths and weaknesses of Darwinian evolution. Passage of any of the bills would be a first for any state, according to officials at the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think tank that supports the bills. Similar bills in Alabama and Florida died this month, although the ones in the other states, particularly Louisiana, seem to stand a better chance. “There has definitely been a raising of consciousness among people that there is a problem of censoring scientific information that challenges evolution,” the Discovery Institute’s Casey Luskin told Baptist Press. “I think “Expelled” definitely has played a role. However, … [Read more...]

COMINGS AND GOINGS -Adam Cooper, summer intern at First Baptist, Homer. -Kelly Tingle resigns as pastor of New Ebenezer Baptist, Castor. -Dan Lynch (wife Jennifer), new as minister of students, Superior Avenue Baptist, Bogalusa.  DEATHS -Forrest Pollock and his 13-year-old son, Preston, died May 12 in the crash of a single-engine plane he was piloting in North Carolina. Pollock, who was pastor of Bell Shoals Baptist in Brandon, Fla., near Tampa, since 2002, previously had been pastor of Istrouma Baptist in Baton Rouge for about five years. For a more complete report, see www.bpnews.net – seach for “Pollock.” NEEDED -Pastor needed at Jerusalem Baptist, Hammond. Call 225.294.2001 or email pcmikhan@netscape.com. -Associate pastor of education and administration needed at First Baptist, Zachary. Send resumes to Wayne McElroy, 4200 Main St, Zachary LA 70791. -Full-time pastor needed at New Ebenezer Baptist. Send resume to Pastor Search Committee, Chairman, Sonny Wilson, PO Box 221, Castor LA 71016. AVAILABLE -G.R. “Pete” Nolan available for supply or interim. Call 318.992.2982. -Paul Carter available for revivals or preaching. Call 318.368.0240 or 318.381.1315. REVIVALS -ROBELINE – First Baptist, 7 p.m. Sunday through … [Read more...]

Friendship Baptist, Many North Sabine Baptist Association A small church with a bivocational pastor nonetheless found a way to be actively involved in missions. About 55 people attend Sunday morning worship at Friendship Baptist, which started in the 1960s as the result of a church spilt. The church meets in its white vinyl-over-wood church building graced by a tall steeple; Friendship is located seven miles north of Many. Friendship Baptist is a country church in the woods, says Gary Allen, pastor for three years at Frienddship, and in the ministry for 17 years. His secular job is managerial: purchasing agent for three Cenla plants owned by Boise Southern. “Probably my biggest challenge starts with me,” Allen said. “It’s creating a deeper concern and desire to reach the lost not only in our community, but world-wide. I want to be able to not only speak but also to demonstrate the love of Christ so that others might truly see Jesus in me.” While members are actively involved in the House of Hope community ministry, they haven’t seen much that stirred them beyond the church walls, the pastor said. Until they heard Steve Speer, a former Friendship pastor, had become a church planter, that is. “I shared Steve’s vision one … [Read more...]

In November 1977 a group of conservative Christian leaders signed a full-page advertisement in The New York Times expressing their concern over international negotiations surrounding the permanent boundaries of Israel and the apparent pro-Arab tilt of American foreign policy. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – In November 1977 a group of conservative Christian leaders signed a full-page advertisement in The New York Times expressing their concern over international negotiations surrounding the permanent boundaries of Israel and the apparent pro-Arab tilt of American foreign policy. To the evangelical leaders, among them the famed pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, W.A. Criswell, all of the land west of the Jordan was Israel’s. The land was theirs by “divine right,” not because they had seized it in the Six Day and Yom Kippur wars. God had promised the land to the people of Israel. The statement was not Criswell’s first in support for Israel, and it would not be his last. In 1988, he was honored by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin for his steadfast support of the Jewish people. Almost immediately after the publication of the advertisement in 1977, Criswell and other evangelical leaders were rebuked by the senior … [Read more...]

In Asia, Africa and Latin America more than 500 million people live in “absolute poverty.” STATEWIDE – In Asia, Africa and Latin America more than 500 million people live in “absolute poverty.” One in 12 people – 1.3 billion – worldwide are malnourished, including 160 million children under the age of 5. More than 850 million people around the world barely have enough to eat to sustain life, and annually, more than 10 million children under the age of five die from diseases and malnutrition as a result of hunger. It is almost incomprehensible, especially to many who live in the United States; such conditions could exist in the world today. But world hunger does exist, and it is 100 percent preventable. On the weekend of April 19, 21 members of the youth group of Hebron Baptist Church in Bush learned firsthand what it would be like to go without food by participating in a “30 Hour Famine.” The participants – four boys and 17 girls – ranged from 12 to 17 years of age. “I originally heard about this event through the seminary (New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary), and again when I was a youth intern in Athens, Ga. Using the guidelines of the World Vision Organization the kids got a taste of what many people go … [Read more...]