As a way of showing appreciation to port workers, the staff and volunteers at Global Maritime Ministries fed about 130 people lunch on Friday, May 11. NEW ORLEANS – As a way of showing appreciation to port workers, the staff and volunteers at Global Maritime Ministries fed about 130 people lunch on Friday, May 11. It was their seventh year to do so. Calvary Shreveport assisted this year. In addition to workers, they provided the meal. In addition to grilled chicken sandwiches, beans and potato salad, the seafarers’ ministry workers and Calvary volunteers passed out Bibles, copies of the Campus Crusade’s Jesus film video, and copies of Rick Warren’s best-selling Purpose Driven Life. For the second year, announcement of the free meal was placed in the paychecks of the port workers. This happened because by law, port employees are to receive an “Employee Recognition Day” but with no funds, port officials were unable to do this. When they heard Global Maritime each year gave an appreciation meal to their workers, port officials offered as their part to let the workers know of the meal prepared for them at the employees’ parking lot, explained Philip Vandercook, Global Maritime director. Tears came to the eyes of one … [Read more...]

There are ominous signs that the Earth’s weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production – with serious political implications for just about every nation on Earth,” is how one article I read recently on global climate change begins. There are ominous signs that the Earth’s weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production – with serious political implications for just about every nation on Earth,” is how one article I read recently on global climate change begins. Later the article asserts, “The evidence in support of these predictions [of catastrophic climate change] has now begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologists are hard-pressed to keep up.” The earth’s climate, we’re told by the story, is undergoing such a dramatic shift that it poses an ominous threat to mankind’s existence. You might easily conclude that the subject of the aforementioned article is global warming, but it’s not. The article in question appeared in Newsweek 32 years ago, April 28, 1975, and was titled The Cooling World. Yes, you read it right. Three decades ago there were scientists … [Read more...]

The public discussion about the power of ultrasound and modern imaging technologies has revealed something fascinating – the pro-abortion movement does not want us peering into the womb. The public discussion about the power of ultrasound and modern imaging technologies has revealed something fascinating – the pro-abortion movement does not want us peering into the womb. The view inside the womb transforms the moral debate over abortion. Once that image is seen, the vocabulary necessarily changes. This gestating creature is a baby, a child, a person – and a wonder to behold. That wonder is beautifully depicted in a book released recently by the National Geographic Society, In the Womb. Put simply – the book is one of the most amazing volumes my eyes have ever seen. The book’s author is Peter Tallack, a geneticist and science writer who, along with scientific modeler David Barlow and ultrasound expert Professor Stuart Campbell, brings together absolutely incredible “four-dimensional” images and photographs of the developing baby. As Tallack explains, “For obstetricians, the development of 3D and 4D scans has been the medical equivalent of the Hubble Space Telescope, allowing researchers to scrutinize fetal development … [Read more...]

Here’s the bottom line at the top: Neither the Southern Baptist Convention nor any other Baptist denominational entity has any standing, any power or any official business intervening between a local church and even the worst minister they employ. Here’s the bottom line at the top: Neither the Southern Baptist Convention nor any other Baptist denominational entity has any standing, any power or any official business intervening between a local church and even the worst minister they employ. I say this in the context of calls for the SBC to address sexual abuse by pastors and other staff members. Christa Brown of Houston claims to be such a victim and has started an organization  aimed at “stopping Baptist predators.” I have no reason to doubt her testimony or to oppose her basic intent.  The abuse Brown suffered obviously left her with pain and a justified anger toward those who took no reasonable action to protect her. Brown’s proposal for Southern Baptists is that we create a database of ministers convicted of sex offenses and that we form an independent committee tasked to investigate charges of such abuse by ministers. Presumably the results of these investigations would also be posted somewhere so that … [Read more...]

On May 3, the United States House of Representatives voted by a substantial margin to approve H. R. 1592 or the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007. This bill, which will soon appear before the U.S. Senate, also expected to give the bill its stamp of approval, will make homosexuals or gender confused individuals federally protected classes under federal law On May 3, the United States House of Representatives voted by a substantial margin to approve H. R. 1592 or the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007. This bill, which will soon appear before the U.S. Senate, also expected to give the bill its stamp of approval, will make homosexuals or gender confused individuals federally protected classes under federal law. If this happens, homosexuals, transvestites, transsexuals and other “sexual orientations” can claim protected minority status. Lou Shelton, director of the Traditional Values Coalition, states, “It (H. R. 1592) will be used to lay the legal foundation and establish a framework to investigate, persecute, and prosecute pastors, business owners or anyone else whose actions are based upon the truths found in the Bible, which have previously been protected by the First Amendment. … [Read more...]

A flurry of church relocations and new starts set the stage for the New Zion Missions Incubator, one of the newest ministries in the Northwest Louisiana Baptist Association. BOSSIER CITY – A flurry of church relocations and new starts set the stage for the New Zion Missions Incubator, one of the newest ministries in the Northwest Louisiana Baptist Association. The incubator – a place for newer congregations to grow – is anchored by New Zion Baptist Church, an African American church pastored by Philip Williamson, said Eddie DeHondt, director of missions for the association. “Over the years our world view has been broadened as we moved beyond being a small inner city church to a church that now participates in missions,” writes Williamson on New Zion Baptist’s website: www.newzionbaptist.org. The idea for the New Zion Incubator was born from another incubator begun two years ago, the Meadowview Mission Center (MMC), DeHondt said. MMC’s building is used by four fledging congregations: Faith Baptist Fellowship with Pastor Larry Black, Common Ground Fellowship with Pastor Jessie Colston, Iglesia Bautista Antioquia with Pastor Virgillio Tuñon, and Christ Fellowship with Pastor Uriah Oxford. New Zion Baptist, an … [Read more...]

Serving about 115 churches and missions throughout Bossier and Caddo Parishes, this ever-changing association finds its mission statement in Ecclesiastes 4:9-11, which proclaims two are better than one, and a three-fold cord is not quickly broken, said the association’s Director of Missions, Eddie DeHondt. NORTHWEST BAPTIST ASSOCIATION – Serving about 115 churches and missions throughout Bossier and Caddo Parishes, this ever-changing association finds its mission statement in Ecclesiastes 4:9-11, which proclaims two are better than one, and a three-fold cord is not quickly broken, said the association’s Director of Missions, Eddie DeHondt. The two parishes that make up the association have a combined population of close to half a million people, according to a 2005 U.S. Census estimate. Tourists from around the world visit the area for attractions such as festivals, nationally-acclaimed sporting events, art galleries, shopping, specialty foods,  horse racing, riverboat casinos, and more. In addition, the area is a duty station to a significant military population serving at Barksdale Air Force Base in South Bossier. The variety of people groups in the area makes for a variety of missions and churches, DeHondt said. “We … [Read more...]

Truth from God’s Word – specifically Romans 12:21 – has served Director of Missions Eddie DeHondt well in the 43 years he’s been in the ministry, he said. SHREVEPORT — Truth from God’s Word – specifically Romans 12:21 – has served Director of Missions Eddie DeHondt well in the 43 years he’s been in the ministry, he said. The Northwest Baptist Association in the northwest corner of the state has presented DeHondt with a large and ever-changing mission field for the past nine years, he said. The area includes two of Louisiana’s largest cities – Shreveport and Bossier City – and also some of the most rural areas. It’s a part of the state that stretches north to the Arkansas border, and west to the Texas state line. But God’s unchanging Word provides the DOM with the truth and wisdom he needs. “I had a number of families who were once faithful in the church I was pastoring,” said DeHondt, remembering an incident that illustrated God’s truth to him early on. For some reason, the families had ceased to come to church at all, prompting DeHondt to plan a “confrontational visit” with each of them, encouraging them to either become faithful or to find another place to serve, he said. However, before the DOM had gotten through … [Read more...]

More than 170 senior adults from throughout District Eight Baptist Convention in west-central Louisiana gathered May 10 in the late morning cool at Clara Springs Baptist Encampment for fellowship and to honor senior pastors, their wives, and widows of senior pastors. PLEASANT HILL – More than 170 senior adults from throughout District Eight Baptist Convention in west-central Louisiana gathered May 10 in the late morning cool at Clara Springs Baptist Encampment for fellowship and to honor senior pastors, their wives, and widows of senior pastors.  The guest of honor for the event was Arnold Nelson, 96, the first director of missions for the district which includes DeSoto, Red River, Natchitoches, Sabine, and North Sabine associations. “I love you, my friend,” said DOM Lee Dickson to Nelson, noting that the elder missionary is not only his predecessor but his mentor as well. Dickson’s words were full of nostalgia as he recounted to the crowd how Nelson had served and continues to serve the district and local churches. In the early years of the LBC, missionaries were supported by the associations they served. Nelson chaired a committee that brought DOMs under the umbrella of LBC, and Nelson in 1963 became the first … [Read more...]

Several founding and longtime members of the BEL Federal Credit Union fellowshipped with a new generation of members at the April 24 annual meeting. ALEXANDRIA – Several founding and longtime members of the BEL Federal Credit Union fellowshipped with a new generation of members at the April 24 annual meeting. The gathering took place at the Baptist Building. Credit Union Manager Matt Marcantel reported that the credit union began with a small number of members who pooled $5 each to begin the process of setting up the operation in 1975. He praised the loyalty of members who have served on the board and all members who have maintained a superior record of repayment of loans since those early years. “Since its inception, the credit union has made 11,979 loans totaling over $42 million, and the number of loans made in 2006 totaled close to $2 million. And all of this has been accomplished with a staff of only three,” Marcantel said. “The credit union has a remarkable history of minimal charge-offs and/or bankruptcies which have been limited to less than one-half of one percent,” he reported. The institution’s financial report as of December 31, 2006, showed assets of $4,402,542. The Nominating Committee – … [Read more...]