Potpourri ALBANY – Old Zion church:  His By Grace in concert; Nov. 19, 6 p.m.; free admission, love offering accepted; Jerry Chapman, minister of music; Bobby Stults, pastor. BOYCE (Gardner Community) – St. Clair church:  The Greene’s in concert; Nov. 17, 7 p.m.; free admission, love offering accepted; Ronnie Parks, pastor. DRY PRONG – First church:  “Eternity – Will You Be Ready?” drama presentation by Jack and Betty Crosby; Nov. 17, 7 p.m.; free admission; nursery provided for all ages, not recommended for children under the age of six; Lloyd Whitman, pastor. SHREVEPORT – Pinecroft church:  Lane Moore, associate director of missions, guest speaker; Nov. 26, 10:45 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Marty J. Wright, pastor. KURTHWOOD – Sunny Hill church:  Sign, Sealed and Delivered in concert; Nov. 17, 7 p.m.; free admission, love offering accepted; Ricky Carver, pastor. Revivals MONROE – Loch Arbor church:  Nov. 26, 10:50 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Nov. 27-29, 7 p.m.; Jerry Chaddick, evangelist; Charles Canterberry, music; Andy Myrick, pastor. WILDSVILLE – Evangeline church:  “Monday Night Manna’ one night revival; Dec. 4, 7 p.m.; Perry Gardener, evangelist; Dennis … [Read more...]

“Let us always be mindful of the past, living in he present, and preparing for the future,” writes Pastor Dan Glenn in First Vidalia’s newsletter. The Adult 2 class was to gather Nov. 11 for a bonfire and Christmas  in November. The (apparently) year-long World Missions offering receipts exceed more than $15,000. Deacons one recent Saturday helped prepare members’ vehicles for winter. Mitch Harris is pastor at Goodwood Baton Rouge. He writes in a recent newsletter about the need to be watchful in prayer. “Our prayers are often hampered by a dull drowsy frame of mind,” Harris writes. “We must be on the alert. The Greek word for watch means to be awake or vigilant. Webster’s defines watch as ‘keeping awake in order to guard.’” Last year First Jonesboro filled 170 boxes for Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse. This year they want to do even more. Perry Webb is interim pastor. Charles (wife Judy) Wesley apparently has been called as pastor; at any rate, they’re buying property in the area. Grace Baton Rouge provides Daily Bible Readings in its newsletter. Weekly ministries include JOY Club, Ikebana, AA meeting and a mid-month potluck with a Methodist … [Read more...]

Edgewater Baptist Church has done an excellent job embracing their post-Katrina neighborhood. By Tobey Pittman Special to the Message NEW ORLEANS – Edgewater Baptist Church has done an excellent job embracing their post-Katrina neighborhood. Pastors Kevin Lee and Jason Sampler have inserted themselves very effectively as anchor-points for members and  neighbors who want to return. Even though they are meeting in a tent or in cramped quarters inside the partially renewed facility, Sunday attendance is now greater than it was before the storm! Samaritans Purse has installed a wonderful new playground for the children. Bear Creek Baptist in Katy, Texas, recently installed a new fence around the playground. Pastor Ben needed a deep layer of pea gravel along one side of the playground. He did not know how to order a dump truck of pea gravel in New Orleans. Next door a local construction company was rebuilding a house. Who better to ask? Marvin asked how much gravel was needed. He came over to measure the area, called his office and ordered the gravel. Ben asked what the price would be. Marvin said that he was donating the gravel. This is how God’s new economy works in … [Read more...]

ALPHARETTA, Ga. – The North American Mission Board has appointed Vanessa Lynn Kulpa as a Baptist Center missionary, serving in New Orleans, La. Prior to her new post, Vanessa was a sign language interpreter for the First United Methodist Church in St. Augustine, Fla. A Florida native, she earned an A.A.S. degree in sign language at Florida Community College at Jacksonville, Fla., and a B.S. degree in nutrition at the University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Fla. She also attended Saint Johns River Community College, Palatka, Fla. … [Read more...]

A majority of states in America now have adopted constitutional marriage amendments. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – A majority of states in America now have adopted constitutional marriage amendments. Seven states passed amendments Nov. 7 protecting the natural definition of marriage, bringing to 27 the number of states nationwide that have adopted amendments aimed at prohibiting “gay marriage.” An eighth state, Arizona, seemed to be on the verge of becoming the first one to defeat an amendment, although conservatives there still hoped to see the final count yield a victory. The seven states passed the amendments with an average of 63.6 percent of the vote, ranging from 52 percent in South Dakota to 80 percent in Tennessee. In Colorado, conservatives celebrated a double victory, watching the amendment win easily while also helping defeat Referendum I, which would have granted same-sex couples many of the legal benefits of marriage. It was a somewhat stunning loss for Referendum I after it led in pre-election polls. “This shows that, nationwide, Americans still support marriage,” Glen Lavy, an attorney with the conservative Alliance Defense Fund, told Baptist Press. “They know that marriage … [Read more...]

Throughout Global Missions Week at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, all the activities and sermons were leading to one moment – a chance for the next generation of missionaries to respond to God’s call. NEW ORLEANS (BP) – Throughout Global Missions Week at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, all the activities and sermons were leading to one moment – a chance for the next generation of missionaries to respond to God’s call. When International Mission Board President Jerry Rankin offered that opportunity, a number of students responded by committing their lives to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Rankin did not mince words in his message: He assured the audience that a call to global missions is no easy task. “God is not primarily concerned about your safety and your comfort and your security,” Rankin said. “God’s primary concern is His glory among the nations.” Rankin noted the paradox facing missionaries today: In a world of increasing turmoil, God is bringing about a great harvest. “We are living in a time of probably the greatest mission advance in history, but our news is just filled with chaos, disaster, warfare, violence [and] political upheaval,” he said. … [Read more...]

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) – Southern Baptists were viewed favorably by 57 percent of adults interviewed as part of recent research conducted by the North American Mission Board’s Center for Missional Research through Zogby International. The positive outlook toward Southern Baptists, United Methodists and the Catholic Church was about the same in the survey, while the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and Muslims received less favorable ratings, 32 percent and 27 percent, respectively. Southern Baptists received unfavorable impressions from 17 percent of the respondents, while another 24 percent said they were not familiar with Southern Baptists. The NAMB research polled 1,210 American adults across the country. Southern Baptists made the best impression where they are most prevalent, in southern ‘Bible Belt’ states. Two out of three respondents in the South expressed a favorable opinion of Southern Baptists, compared to only half of respondents in the West and East, where Southern Baptists have a smaller presence. Catholics were rated more favorably in the East and West, regions where their presence among survey respondents is proportionally greater, according to the … [Read more...]

Gail Ladner is an ambassador of hope. A president or other political person did not appoint her to a prestigious post in a foreign county. Instead, she was commissioned by God to go into Rayburn Correctional Center in November to serve as a mentor to a child who would spend the day with her incarcerated father. ANGIE – Gail Ladner is an ambassador of hope. A president or other political person did not appoint her to a prestigious post in a foreign county. Instead, she was commissioned by God to go into Rayburn Correctional Center in November to serve as a mentor to a child who would spend the day with her incarcerated father. This was Ladner’s third assignment as an ambassador of hope. “I think God’s hand is in this ministry,” Ladner said. “God has a purpose for reaching out to dads in prison and getting them to accept their responsibility.” The ministry is called One Day With God; it is a daylong children’s camp inside the chainlink fence. Forgiven Ministry sponsors camps like these in several states, under the leadership of Scottie Barnes, a woman who knows firsthand what it means to feel abandoned and unloved by an incarcerated father. “Seventy percent of the children of inmates end … [Read more...]

The need for physical rebuilding remained evident in Lake Charles when the Louisiana Baptist Convention held its Nov. 13-14 annual meeting. LAKE CHARLES, La. (BP)--The need for physical rebuilding remained evident in Lake Charles when the Louisiana Baptist Convention held its Nov. 13-14 annual meeting. Numerous blue tarp roofs continue to flap in autumn winds across the city. Located just 30 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico, Lake Charles first was inundated with Katrina evacuees and less than three weeks later with Rita’s 120 mph winds. Randy Roach, mayor of Lake Charles, was added to the annual meeting’s program so he could express appreciation for the thousands of Southern Baptist disaster relief and recovery workers who helped in southwest Louisiana. “I wanted to thank you, to thank Southern Baptists for what you have collectively done,” Roach said during the opening session of the annual meeting. “From my perspective you have made a difference and continue to make a difference. You’re carrying out God’s work and that’s making a difference.... America is who she is and will continue to be who she is as long as we have people like you.” Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist … [Read more...]

From instruction on the gospel itself, to direction on what a man of God is to do, the 2006 Louisiana Baptist State Pastors’ Conference got back to the basics before it looked toward the “A Time to Rebuild” theme of the annual meeting of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. LAKE CHARLES – From instruction on the gospel itself, to direction on what a man of God is to do, the 2006 Louisiana Baptist State Pastors’ Conference got back to the basics before it looked toward the “A Time to Rebuild” theme of the annual meeting of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. Organized by Pastors’ Conference President Sonny Simpson, pastor of Willow Point Shreveport; Vice President Larry Thompson, pastor of First Westlake; and Secretary/Treasurer Frank Breithaupt, retired pastor, the Nov. 13 event drew about 450 people to First Lake Charles. Promise Ministries of Asheville, N.C., provided the music. Messages were brought by five men: Jimmy Millikin, professor of theology and chairman of theology at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary; Roger Haney, pastor of First Stilwell, Okla.; Danny Lovett, president of Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga, Tenn.; Jeff LaBorg, pastor of College Heights Gallatin, Tenn.; … [Read more...]