Eighteen months ago the most visible evangelical “witness” in Portage, Wisconsin, was a fellow who stood on a briefcase-turned-soapbox outside the movie theater and screamed at passersby. His message-all hellfire and damnation-wasn’t well-received. Eighteen months ago the most visible evangelical “witness” in Portage, Wisconsin, was a fellow who stood on a briefcase-turned-soapbox outside the movie theater and screamed at passersby. His message-all hellfire and damnation-wasn’t well-received. “People had a bad taste in their mouths for church,” Bob Turner discovered when he began driving the half-hour from his home in Madison in response to God’s call to plant a church in Portage, population 10,000. Portage had no Southern Baptist church. Of the eight churches listed on the town’s website, only three were evangelical. “They were scared to death of church people,” Bob says. “The reaction of some was, ‘You’re not going to scream at us about going to hell are you?’” Bringing the good news  Bob and his wife, Alisha, weren’t deterred by the town’s reticence. “God told me to bring some good news amid the bad,” Bob says. And so he did. River of Life, a church plant of the Central Baptist Association and the Minnesota-Wisconsin … [Read more...]

A small artificial Christmas tree adorned with ornaments and Hershey Kisses sits on the stand next to one patient’s bed. PINEVILLE – A small artificial Christmas tree adorned with ornaments and Hershey Kisses sits on the stand next to one patient’s bed. There are Christmas cards, candy and cookies, a small framed photograph of family, some plaques, as well as other personal items hanging on the wall. Lying to one side of the nightstand is a well-worn Bible. It’s homey, but it is not home for either Vance Stokes or Carl Hudson, both 82. It is a small room in the Extended Care Unit of the Pineville Veterans Administration Hospital, and while the items do provide a little distraction, they cannot hide the machines, tubes, and monitors. “I’m alone a lot of the time,” Stokes said. “My favorite time of day is early in the morning. I am able to look out my window and watch the sunrise.” In the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season – what with the shopping, the parties, the family gatherings – too often men like Stokes and Hudson, both retired World War II Navy veterans, both Southern Baptist, spend their holidays mostly in solitude. These veterans from the WWII generation are dying at an annual rate of 1,300 per … [Read more...]

Lying in a hospital bed overseas in October – for the second time this year – I wondered what I had done to deserve, first, a bout of food poisoning and, now, an aching appendix. RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – Lying in a hospital bed overseas in October – for the second time this year – I wondered what I had done to deserve, first, a bout of food poisoning and, now, an aching appendix. As a writer for the International Mission Board, I have been blessed by the Lord with the privilege of traveling the world in search of stories about Southern Baptist missions. At that moment, however, I winced in pain and groaned as my Colombian doctor prodded my abdomen and asked in broken English, “Does it hurt more here, or here?” Both places hurt – a lot. Several hours (and several syringes of morphine) later, I calmed down enough for the doctors to explain they suspected appendicitis and recommended surgery, slated for 6 a.m. the next day. Nurses wheeled me into a room on the hospital’s maternity ward (I think they were short on space) and said goodnight. A funny thing happened as I lay there in the darkness staring at the room’s puppy-themed wallpaper – I realized how thankful I was. Thankful for a modern hospital and caring, competent … [Read more...]

Louisiana Baptists targeted missions in a big way in 2007. STATEWIDE – Louisiana Baptists targeted missions in a big way in 2007. In small towns like Amiable/Kentwood/Oak Grove, in big cities like New Orleans/Bossier City/Shreveport, and across the world – Brazil, Korea, Zimbabwe and more, Louisiana Baptists prayed, gave and went out to do God’s kingdom work last year. “People who go on short-term mission projects usually come back more committed than ever to serve God through their time, talents and tithes at their local church and in their community,” Message Editor Kelly Boggs said. “Churches never lose when they get involved in God’s kingdom work.” A January-to-June recap follows of some of the best stories about Louisiana churches on mission that were covered in the Message the first half of 2007. (See the Jan. 10 issue for the second half.) All the articles remain available at www.baptistmessage.com.  Search by a main word in the headline or article. Example: Barnette to read about the Georgia Barnett Offering for State Missions. January: Louisiana Southern Baptists gave more than $176,000 more than the 2006 goal for the Georgia Barnette Mission Offering. “Wimp” Ballard of First Baptist Livingston … [Read more...]

Louisiana College trustees approved two significant advances and heard a variety of progressive reports at their regularly scheduled December meeting in the Granberry Conference Center. PINEVILLE – Louisiana College trustees approved two significant advances and heard a variety of progressive reports at their regularly scheduled December meeting in the Granberry Conference Center. Trustees accepted the donation  of land  (see Dec. 20 Message)  and voted to begin a transfer of title to LC after a phase one environmental study has been completed. Trustees commended the LC Department of Education for recently acquiring national certification through the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. “We are very excited with the accreditation and the speed with which it happened,” said Mark Sparks, chairman of the board and an engineer with Albemarle Corp. in Baton Rouge. “It shows the department produces outstanding teachers of the highest quality.” The Godbold-Ware Plaza “buy a brick” campaign is building steam, trustees were told. The college is adding a plaza outside the front of the cafeteria that is currently being renovated as a gift from Aramark. Donors have until May 15, 2008, to send in $100 per … [Read more...]

This time of year we enjoy two of the best holidays that cause us to think about gifts and giving. At Thanksgiving we focus on what we have and the One that provides all of it. When we actually stop to be thankful, we realize how much we are truly blessed. This time of year we enjoy two of the best holidays that cause us to think about gifts and giving.  At Thanksgiving we focus on what we have and the One that provides all of it.  When we actually stop to be thankful, we realize how much we are truly blessed. At Christmas we focus on Jesus, the gift of God that provides forgiveness of sins and eternal life.  We also think about what gifts we want to bless others with. The Louisiana Baptist Foundation exists to help facilitate giving.  Here are some thoughts and ideas about giving. Start by assessing how God has blessed you and decide what needs God would have you meet now and /or in the future.  Giving this late in the year can be tricky.  If you want the contribution to be deductible on your 2007 income taxes there are some deadlines to meet before Monday, Dec. 31.  The basic concept is that a charitable contribution is not complete until the donor has irrevocably given up possession and control of the gift.  The … [Read more...]

The Life Clock was a device sold through The Sharper Image stores a few years ago. It was no ordinary timepiece. The Life Clock was a device sold through The Sharper Image stores a few years ago. It was no ordinary timepiece. Triangular in shape with a digital display, it had a unique feature whereby the owner of the clock would enter his or her date of birth. A computer chip would then calculate, based on actuarial tables, how much time remained in the owner’s average life expectancy. You then could literally watch the seconds of your life ticking down. The Life Clock never was a big seller. It became apparent that few people were interested in watching their life count down before their very eyes. Even though we begin the process of dying at the very moment we are born, it seems no one wants to be reminded of this fact. In researching The Life Clock, I came across a web site that will perform the same calculations. I entered my birthday and learned that, at the time, the clock speculated that there were 25 years, 10 months, 23 days, 19 hours, 30 minutes, and 22 seconds left of my life. Of course, there is no way to know with certainty how much time any of us really have left in life. Anything can happen on any … [Read more...]

“The church is looking for better methods. God is looking for better men,” pastor and author E.M. Bounds once wrote. “The church is looking for better methods. God is looking for better men,” pastor and author E.M. Bounds once wrote. There has never been a time in Southern Baptist history where we’ve had more methods to reach the lost. Yet when we look statistically at the impact we are having on our nation for Christ, we are losing the war. I’ve asked my friends at the North American Mission Board to confirm these statements. They did. We are a people with many strategies and yet the gates of hell are standing strong. I know that is not the final result. Jesus made a declaration of the ultimate defeat of those gates. Yet I’m not so sure the American church is causing the gates to bow. What are some of the reasons we are not taking the gates? One reason is a lack of urgency. When we live like there is a tomorrow, we always have one more day. We are supposed to be alert for the imminent return of Christ. Doesn’t that mean today? I think another reason we are not bowing the gates of hell is apathy. If a church of 100 committed followers of Christ rose up and collectively decided to affect their community of 1,000, … [Read more...]

Imagine you are a man who hasn’t attended a church in years. You enjoy such activities as golfing, hunting and fishing on Sunday mornings. You think it’s more beneficial to spend time outdoors with a few of your closest friends than it is to be cooped up in a church building.  GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP) – Imagine you are a man who hasn’t attended a church in years. You enjoy such activities as golfing, hunting and fishing on Sunday mornings. You think it’s more beneficial to spend time outdoors with a few of your closest friends than it is to be cooped up in a church building. Now imagine that your wife has asked you to try going back to the local Southern Baptist church one more time. Do you think the average worship experience will entice you to come back? Upon entering the service, worshippers sing what sound like sappy love songs to Jesus. The lyrics say things like, “Hold me close, let your love surround me,” “Jesus, I am so in love with you” and “I’m desperate for you, I’m lost without you.” After the singing, church attendees hold hands for prayer and hear a sermon emphasizing concepts such as a “personal relationship” with Jesus, having “intimacy” with God and “sharing” their feelings with other … [Read more...]

Giving helps to open doors in the former Soviet Union RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the Soviet Union collapsed two years later, the world changed. Southern Baptists responded rapidly, sending hundreds of missionaries and thousands of volunteers to spread the Good News and help local Baptists. Hundreds of millions in the former Soviet Union search for God but are ignorant of His love and mercy. Their hearts have been brutalized and corrupted, first by communism and later by the free-for-all greed that swept post-Soviet Russia and its satellite nations. Hearts literally are starving for the story of Jesus and the liberation that faith in Him can bring. Fifteen years after its fall, many doors remain open. But they could close at any moment. Some doors already are shutting as governments in the region restrict ministries, deny visas and send foreign workers home. Yet more than 280 million people in 350 unreached people groups – more than 90 percent of all people groups in the vast region – still don’t know Jesus is Lord and Savior of all peoples, including them. ACTION NEEDED The time to pray passionately, to give sacrificially, to act boldly is now. Southern Baptist … [Read more...]