Comings and Goings Kat (husband Ty) Nichols, youth director at Pineville Park, Pineville. Greg Carroll, Pastor. Seeking Staff Pastor, First Lafayette Spanish Mission. Contact Steve Horn, pastor of First Lafayette, atsteve.horn@fbclaf.org or 337-233-1412, for more information. Deaths Lucian G. Conway died April 27 in Pineville. He was 85. A missionary in District 8 for several years, he later was pastor of First Baptist Tallulah for three years before serving as chairman of annuity work for LBC for 25 years. He retired in 1985. Survivors include his wife for 62 years, Evelyn Atkinson Conway of Pineville; two sons, four daughters, 17 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. Revivals and related events Homecoming: Unity Baptist in Cotton Valley, 10 a.m. May 20. Chad Lee will preach. Lunch after. Homecoming: Springhill Baptist, Ringgold, 10:30 a.m. May 6. Evening service is to begin at 1:30 p.m., after lunch under the pavilion. Gary Hahler is pastor. Revival: Trinity Heights Shreveport, May 20-23 with guest speaker Roger Freeman  and guest musician Dave St. Andre. Lane Moore is interim pastor. 10: 45 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday; 6:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday. Revival: Emmanuel Oakdale revival April … [Read more...]

Science, when done right, points powerfully to a designer whose characteristics “just happen to match the descriptions of the God of the Bible,” author and Christian apologist Lee Strobel said during a conference on the theory of Intelligent Design at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.  DALLAS (BP) – Science, when done right, points powerfully to a designer whose characteristics “just happen to match the descriptions of the God of the Bible,” author and Christian apologist Lee Strobel said during a conference on the theory of Intelligent Design at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Once an avowed atheist and journalist who investigated the evidence for Christianity and creation prior to his conversion, Strobel said all materialistic theories have failed to explain the origin of life or how any part of the universe became habitable. “The universe is fine-tuned on a razor’s edge in a way that defies chance. It is better explained by the existence of a Creator,” Strobel said. “It seems logical and rational that, if there is a God, that He would leave evidence behind for us to find Him.” Strobel was joined by noted scientists Stephen Meyer, Jay Richards and Michael Behe for the “Darwin vs. Design” presentation … [Read more...]

From Lakeshore out Interstate 10 east toward St. Bernard Parish, changes are becoming notieceable. What used to be Lake Forest Mall is now a pile of rubble. Apartment complexes damaged by Katrina are now vacant lots. A store is operating here, a tire dealership or automobile agency there, but mostly the place is deserted and shopping centers are defunct. NEW ORLEANS – Tuesday afternoon, I drove from our Lakeshore offices out Interstate 10 east toward St. Bernard Parish. It’s been weeks since I’ve been out this way and the changes are noticeable. What used to be Lake Forest Mall is now a pile of rubble. Apartment complexes damaged by Katrina are now vacant lots. A store is operating here, a tire dealership or automobile agency there, but mostly the place is deserted and shopping centers are defunct. Interstate 510 South to Paris Road leading into St. Bernard, the report is mixed. Some places out of business for nearly two years, a law office in a trailer, the prows of boats still poking out of the canal where Katrina left them, some places doing great business. Some of the fast food restaurants look brand new and were filled at 1:30. Construction trucks speeding up and down a busy St. Bernard Highway. Workers have torn … [Read more...]

Cindy Wilcken warned the congregation at Shadow Mountain Community Church that she might cry as she addressed them on Sunday evening, April 15.  EL CAJON, Calif. (BP) – Cindy Wilcken warned the congregation at Shadow Mountain Community Church that she might cry as she addressed them on Sunday evening, April 15. Her audience laughed when she told them that her third grade students at Logan Elementary School know to expect a few tears from her whenever she tells them stories about her family and other people who are dear to her. And as she spoke to Shadow Mountain, Wilcken cried a few tears of gratitude on behalf of those students, whose lives she says have been impacted by a single day of service. Three weeks earlier, on the morning of Saturday, March 24, more than 500 volunteers from Shadow Mountain arrived at Logan Elementary. They came ready to paint, clean, landscape, hang banners, plant a vegetable garden, build soccer goals, and tackle any other project that needed to be done. The day was an opportunity to put into action the church’s Signs of Life campaign, a six-week series of teaching focused on living like Jesus, with dusty shoes, worn-out knees, rolled-up sleeves, open hands and outstretched arms. Several months … [Read more...]

“It’s our only hope,” Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page said, reflecting on the prevalence of prayer planned for the SBC’s June 12-13 annual meeting in San Antonio’s Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. SAN ANTONIO (BP) – Let us pray. “It’s our only hope,” Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page said, reflecting on the prevalence of prayer planned for the SBC’s June 12-13 annual meeting in San Antonio’s Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Each of the SBC’s five sessions will have a prayer focus: Tuesday morning: Lord, Transform Your Churches. Tuesday afternoon: Lord, Bring Us to Confession and Repentance. Tuesday evening: Lord, Unite Us in a Cooperative Mission Task. Wednesday morning: Lord, Send Revival to Our Convention. Wednesday evening: Lord, Energize Our Evangelistic Efforts. “The central focus for my presidency and therefore for this meeting is to seek from the Lord spiritual awakening – His Holy Spirit’s revival,” Page said. “And that is always prefaced by and enabled by and empowered by prayer.” A second key facet of this year’s convention will be the unveiling of a general outline for a 10-year evangelistic strategy in the SBC, said Page, pastor of First Baptist … [Read more...]

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has honored the life and ministry of Perry R. Sanders, pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church in Lafayette, La., with the naming of the new Perry R. Sanders Center for Ministry Excellence.  NEW ORLEANS (BP)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has honored the life and ministry of Perry R. Sanders, pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church in Lafayette, La., with the naming of the new Perry R. Sanders Center for Ministry Excellence. A host of visitors, including members of Sanders’ family and church, former fellow staff members and Louisiana Baptist Convention Executive Director David Hankins, were on hand for a ribbon-cutting at the new center April 11. The Perry R. Sanders Center for Ministry Excellence, located on the west side of the seminary’s Leavell Chapel, will house the seminary’s doctor of ministry and doctor of educational ministry programs. “It was a while back on the old campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary when a young kid showed up and wanted to be a seminary student, and he was told that he was too young to be enrolled in seminary,” NOBTS President Chuck Kelley recounted, That young kid was Sanders, and though he was a year too young to enroll … [Read more...]

Walking down the aisle with a graduation gown on and an inch of red hair peaking from the sides of the cap—no hints of gray—73 year old senior Sue Miller will walk a 56 year journey to grasp the degree she has long awaited for. PINEVILLE – Walking down the aisle with a graduation gown on and an inch of red hair peaking from the sides of the cap—no hints of gray—73 year old senior Sue Miller will walk a 56 year journey to grasp the degree she has long awaited for. Miller has metaphorically worn out dozens of pairs of shoes on her 56-year journey during which she cared for an elderly parent, her husband, as well her three children, all the while serving in the Pineville community and at First Baptist Church of Pineville. Her mother had always talked about coming back to college, but before anything, her family had always been her first priority, said Miller’s daughter, Susan Nixon, office manager to LC President Joe Aguillard. “She talked about it, but she was always so busy,” Nixon said. “My father was a physician, so she was busy raising her kids and her family. She was a caregiver for my grandfather who was sick.” Several years after she began caring for her father, Sue Miller’s husband became ill. She took on his … [Read more...]

The theological and political debate within the Southern Baptist Convention about private prayer languages came to the fore April 27-29 at the “Baptist Conference on the Holy Spirit” at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas. ARLINGTON, Texas (BP) – The theological and political debate within the Southern Baptist Convention about private prayer languages came to the fore April 27-29 at the “Baptist Conference on the Holy Spirit” at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas. Pastor Dwight McKissic repeatedly affirmed at the conference his conviction that he has been gifted with a private prayer language. “God just showed up in my prayer closet,” McKissic said April 28 during a panel discussion. “I’ve asked the Lord to explain what I am saying, but as of yet I cannot understand it.” McKissic went on to say that his understanding of private prayer languages was that they were for personal edification and not for public display unless there are interpreters, and then no more than two or three. Bart Barber of First Baptist Church of Farmersville, Texas, presented a case for semi-cessationism, or the belief that some of the gifts (including speaking in tongues) ceased with the early church. Specifically … [Read more...]

Listen. Do you hear it? Want to know what it is? It’s the sound of silence. Listen. Do you hear it? Want to know what it is? It’s the sound of silence. Specifically, it’s the sound of liberal groups not protesting a prayer offered by a Muslim imam that opened a recent session of the Texas legislature. Yusuf Kavakci of the Dallas Central Mosque was invited to open the Senate session with prayer April 4. The imam’s appearance occurred on the Jewish holy day of Passover and just four days prior to the Christian observance of Easter. The imam was invited to pray by Republican state Senator Florence Shapiro of Plano, who happens to be Jewish. Kavakci strode onto the dais in the Texas Senate and prayed. And it was not one of those watered-down, wishy-washy, weak non-sectarian prayers so favored by liberal jurists. No, Kavakci boldly voiced an Islamic prayer. Prior to the prayer, the imam explained what was going to take place. “We will pray by reading from first chapter, opening chapter, Al-Fatiha, from holy Quran, followed by recitation – traditional way of recitation from holy Quran – with an addition.” The content of Kavakci’s prayer is as follows: “In the name of god, Allah, the beneficent, the merciful. All … [Read more...]

Words, according to England’s Lord Chesterfield, are “the dress of thoughts; which should no more be presented in rags, tatters, and dirt, than your person should.” Words, according to England’s Lord Chesterfield, are “the dress of thoughts; which should no more be presented in rags, tatters, and dirt, than your person should.” I find it somewhat satisfying that just days after I wrote a Baptist Press column concerning obscenity in the arts, a radio shock jock was fired for expressing hate and bigotry through words. Not that I want to see any man lose his job, but the media aftermath of Don Imus’ fall has furthered the discussion of artistic expression, with many reexamining the crudeness of that expression. It’s dawning on some that there really is power in language and that we should take care in how we use it. Still, others justify its abuse. And they just happen to be the ones making all the money. Go figure. At times the entertainment industry professes to have an influence on our society, while at other times its members maintain that they only reflect the culture. The truth is, it’s a community that embraces any illustrative conduct, so long as they can say at the end of the day, “Show me the money.” But … [Read more...]