For the first time since 1998, Southern Baptists have a presence at the 5,000-student Grambling State University, located five miles west of Ruston in Lincoln Parish. GRAMBLING – For the first time since 1998, Southern Baptists have a presence at the 5,000-student Grambling State University, located five miles west of Ruston in Lincoln Parish. “We are really evangelizing the campus,” said Reginald J. Alford, Baptist Collegiate Ministries director at Grambling. “We have grown up to 150 students on a regular basis.  There have been more than 100 rededications and born-again experiences. To sum it up, there’s a revival on campus.” Alford, who is in his first semester as BCM Director at Grambling, said  students meet every Tuesday night for Bible study in sessions led primarily by student leaders and occasionally by local pastors or Alford himself, who attended New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and spent one year as the BCM Director at Alabama State before coming to Grambling. In addition, Alford meets with student leaders – about  10 – every Monday. “God just worked everything out,” Alford said of his experience at Grambling so far. “It was already set up. The leaders were … [Read more...]

Editor’s note: Tobey Pittman, project manager for Operation NOAH Rebuild, is in the habit of writing one of the following vignettes a day. Rebuilding hope In the heart of the city there are those who have lost heart. Thirty-seven years of living washed down the drain – at least that is how Jean Hebert saw it. His house was half gutted. He was still hoping to salvage a few  pieces of expensive furniture that had been underwater for days. He had worked hard for all that he had and did not want to let go. No one had the heart to give him the bad news: it had to go. Jean recounted how he had raised his family in this house. His son, who is now his neighbor, chimed in, “That was my room there; my sister was there; my parents here. We had a lot of fun growing up here.” Jean hardly remembers the fun – he only experiences anger when he goes into this shell of a house. Jean is asking Operation NOAH to  help him rebuild his house. It is a big project. The bricks and sticks needed for Jean’s house are easy compared to the renewal needed for his heart. Many people have not coped well with their losses. Some languish in despair. The greatest contribution your rebuild team makes in … [Read more...]

f the elegant setting were any indication, the women attending the 2006 Ministers’ Wives Retreat at Tall Timbers knew they were in for a weekend of royal treatment. FOREST HILL – If the elegant setting were any indication, the women attending the 2006 Ministers’ Wives Retreat at Tall Timbers knew they were in for a weekend of royal treatment. Perhaps a dozen walnut rocking chairs with satin-like fuchsia-colored cushions beckoned participants to relax and enjoy their retreat from daily ministry cares. “The Gifts” theme from I Peter 4:10 was carried out visually with a wide assortment of various sized boxes wrapped with gold and glitter. “It was a wonderful weekend to get away and be with people of similar backgrounds and a time to focus on what God is doing and how He is speaking to me,” said Lesley Free, wife of Todd Free, associate pastor of worship and discipleship at Calvary Ruston. Julie Woodruff of Hendersonville, Tenn., was worship leader for the event attended by at least 200 women from across the state. “Playing the role of minister’s wife was one thing, but when the scripture Jeremiah 29:11-13 unlocked the door to my spiritual growth, my motive for ministry changed,” Woodruff … [Read more...]

At what is billed as the world’s largest free fair, Southern Baptist volunteers offer the world’s most valuable free gift. FRANKLINTON – At what is billed as the world’s largest free fair, Southern Baptist volunteers offer the world’s most valuable free gift. For many of the 93 years that the Washington Parish Free Fair has been in existence, Southern Baptists from the area have offered fair goers a free glass of ice water or a cup of coffee in Jesus’ name. While the volunteers quench the fair goers’ physical thirst with their free beverages, it is the spoken testimony and the written tract that are given with the drinks that offer the world’s most valuable free gift. “I can’t tell you what a thrill it was to meet so many people and share Jesus with them,” Michelle Amacker, a volunteer at the coffee booth said. “When they asked me what they owed me for the coffee, I would tell them, ‘You don’t owe me any money. The only thing I ask is that you take the time to read this little book.’ I would give them a tract that included the plan of salvation.” “I had so much fun,” she added. “I plan to go back every year. Just let me know what time our church is supposed to cover the booth and I’ll … [Read more...]

NEW ORLEANS – A large, insulated mug, 2007 pocket calendar, phone card and a Bible or New Testament are to be given to seafarers who connect with Global Maritime Ministries here during the month of December. “Seafarers often have very little to claim as their own,” explains Philip Vandercook, executive director of the center established by his father, John Vandercook, about 50 years ago. “A simple thing like a mug is something they can keep in their cabins for their personal use,” Vandercook said. “The calendar is small enough for them to carry in their pockets; each calendar also includes a complete plan of salvation and a list of other evangelical port ministry centers around the world.” The phone cards will enable the seafarers to call their families, and a Bible or New Testament will be given to them in their heart language, the better for them to understand what God has to say to them, Vandercook said. “We hope to distribute 1,000 gifts this year,” he continued. “We need people to provide the gifts and Bibles.” A signed Christmas card and $8 will provide one gift for one seafarer, not includiing the Bible they also will receive. “We’re really looking forward to holding … [Read more...]

The Louisiana Baptist Convention began pilot-church training sessions Oct. 30 for a new strategic initiative called EKG-Louisiana. The new endeavor – Empowering Kingdom Growth-Louisiana – is a trilogy of special emphases designed for the local church to implement one after another, within a calendar year. SHREVEPORT – The Louisiana Baptist Convention began pilot-church training sessions Oct. 30 for a new strategic initiative called EKG-Louisiana. The new endeavor – Empowering Kingdom Growth-Louisiana – is a trilogy of special emphases designed for the local church to implement one after another, within a calendar year. Ken Hemphill, Southern Baptist’s Empowering Kingdom Growth national strategist, explained to church leaders from the pilot churches that “EKG is not a program but a passion. “At its heart is a desire for revival and thus it is based on prayer and dependent on God’s power,” Hemphill said. “EKG is a divine passion with a clear and comprehensive strategy.” LBC Executive Assistant Beau Colle led a team of trainers in EKG-Louisiana at Shreveport, West Monroe, Baton Rouge, Mandeville, Opelousas and Pineville the first nine days of November. “Our goal is that EKG-Louisiana will … [Read more...]

Despite losing three of his most precious valuables – his wife, his church, and his city – Pastor Bill Rogers, 76 and coming up on his 30th anniversary as pastor of Grace Baptist, is set to receive his Doctorate of Ministry Dec. 8 from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. NEW ORLEANS – Despite losing three of his most precious valuables –  his wife, his church, and his city – Pastor Bill Rogers, 76 and coming up on his 30th anniversary as pastor of Grace Baptist, is set to receive his Doctorate of Ministry Dec. 8 from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. On Sept. 15, 2004, Rogers and his wife returned from an out-of-town trip, said Les Scharfenstein, brother-in-law to Rogers and a deacon at Grace Baptist. After pulling into their driveway, Pastor Rogers entered the house to open it, while his wife checked on her flowers outside. When Pastor Rogers came back down, she had fallen and was not breathing. EMT’s were not able to revive her. “It almost killed me for a while,” said Pastor Rogers, who said he suffered intense loneliness after his wife’s death. “We had been married 51 years. But thank God everybody’s blessed me and helped me.” Rogers, who … [Read more...]

NEW ORLEANS – Beyond bricks, mortar and wood soaked in saltwater for weeks on end, another kind of disaster engulfed most of Louisiana between Mississippi and Texas, from the Gulf Coast to well north of Interstate 10. That disaster: the trauma of loss. It’s a subject that’s been touched on in many articles over the last year in the Message but not really dealt with, in the same way that pastors and the remaining members of chuches across the southern part of the state have avoided the subject while concentrating on tangible objectives. But the trauma of grief has a way of surfacing at the oddest times, such as during a shopping trip for a toilet seat. That nearly unseated the pastor who could barely keep from crying as he talked about it. Joe Williams knows. Joe Williams understands. He’s an FBI chaplain, assigned to minister in the aftermath of the bombing of the Federal Building in Okahoma City in 1995. From there he went to 16 months in New York City after the terrorist atttack on the World Trade Center in 2001. And for the last year, he’s been assigned by NAMB to the Gulf Coast area. Willliams is a certified compassion fatigue specialist and certified field traumatologist. He’s … [Read more...]

It’s not enough for the church to grow if church members do not grow in their relationship with Christ, said leaders at a recent National Discipleship Conference. By Andrea Higgins Baptist Press RIDGECREST, N.C. -- It’s not enough for the church to grow if church members do not grow in their relationship with Christ, said leaders at a recent National Discipleship Conference. “We are in desperate need of discipleship in our churches,” said Ergun Caner, president of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Va., and speaker at the conference sponsored by LifeWay Christian Resources. The problem today, particularly for young people, is that Christianity is “trendy,” and “they are spiritually passionate and biblically illiterate,” said Caner, whose presentation ranged from cutting comedy to chilling commentary drawn from his expertise in church history, world religions and apologetics. “They love Jesus. They just can’t spell Jesus.” People today have a sound doctrinal foundation and are attracted to “touchy, feely, scratch and sniff” teaching, Caner said; but the church can guide them better. “I think we’ve made a serious mistake in Christian discipleship in that we are … [Read more...]

I’ve come close to tweaking scripture from where it reads, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine,” to “A merry heart IS medicine.” When New Orleanians ask about dealing with stress, I often recommend laughter. It’s such a stress reliever that I’ve come close to tweaking scripture from where it reads, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine,” to “A merry heart IS medicine.” I’ve mentioned in this website before that I frequently am invited to address groups on laughter. One of the exercises we perform is to make ourselves laugh for two minutes at a time. Right. Make yourself laugh. You can do this. It’s not nearly as hard as it sounds. It feels fake at first--after all, you’re forcing it – but the effect is past in a moment. You start feeling so silly that the very act of laughing makes you laugh. At the end of two minutes, you’re glowing. It’s like you have had a tonic. Now comes reports of others, professionals, doing the same thing. An article in the Sunday, October 8, Times-Picayune, a reprint from the Washington Post, tells of laughter therapy classes in the George Washington University Center for Integrative Medicine. According to reporter Anita Huslin, research from the … [Read more...]