GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP) – Messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention referred a motion to the International Mission Board raising concern over the appointment of trustees, alleged coercion of IMB staff and the narrowing of doctrinal parameters for missionary appointees. The board is to issue a report at the SBC’s 2007 meeting in San Antonio. By Gregory Tomlin Baptist Press GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP) – Messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention referred a motion to the International Mission Board raising concern over the appointment of trustees, alleged coercion of IMB staff and the narrowing of doctrinal parameters for missionary appointees. The board is to issue a report at the SBC’s 2007 meeting in San Antonio. The call for an investigation of alleged impropriety among IMB trustees was made by Wade Burleson, an IMB trustee from Oklahoma and pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, whose motion called for the SBC Executive Committee to handle the matter. Burleson has been at the center of controversy with the board for several months, but controversy at the SBC was quickly diffused when both Burleson and convention President Bobby Welch said they saw wisdom in waiting a year for the findings of an … [Read more...]

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans nine months ago, Fred Luter has learned there is a blessing in waiting on God. By Brian Blackwell Staff Writer GREENSBORO, N.C. – Since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans nine months ago, Fred Luter has learned there is a blessing in waiting on God. “But that’s our problem,” Luter told messengers last week during his sermon at the Southern Baptist Convention. “We don’t like to wait for anything. I have come to discover during these last nine months the value of waiting on Him.” Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, where Luter serves as pastor, was underneath eight feet of water when Katrina flooded the city on Aug. 29. As a result, its members were scattered to various parts of the country. Rather than disband, Franklin Avenue Baptist has met at locations in Houston, New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Since September, Luter has traveled to those cities on a rotating basis to preach to his congregation. While much progress has been made, Luter said his congregation has a long way to go before worshiping at its original location in New Orleans. “Continue to pray with us and for us that God will continue to use us in a … [Read more...]

GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP) – Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, praised God’s provision and sacrificial giving by Southern Baptists during his report to messengers at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention June 13. By Gary D. Myers NOBTS Communications GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP) – Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, praised God’s provision and sacrificial giving by Southern Baptists during his report to messengers at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention June 13. Kelley told messengers the seminary is not going to give in and leave the area despite the difficulties it has encountered in the past 10 months since its campus was inundated with floodwaters after levee failures in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The storm put a new semester on hold and dispersed the student body to 29 states and the faculty to nine states. “I’m very happy to tell that New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is going to remain New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary,” Kelley said. “Our churches are not pulling out of New Orleans and neither are we.” Kelley said the seminary will continue to reach out to its community. “We will not … [Read more...]

GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP) – Messengers to the 2006 Southern Baptist Convention adopted resolutions on such currently controversial topics as immigration and the environment June 14, but the debate time was dominated by an issue addressed repeatedly in the convention’s 161-year history – alcohol. By Tom Strode Baptist Press GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP) – Messengers to the 2006 Southern Baptist Convention adopted resolutions on such currently controversial topics as immigration and the environment June 14, but the debate time was dominated by an issue addressed repeatedly in the convention’s 161-year history – alcohol. A lengthy debate on a recommendation concerning the use of alcoholic beverages consumed the Resolution Committee’s report in the morning session. In a departure from recent years, the committee needed the evening session to complete its report. When the back-and-forth on alcohol finally ended, the messengers passed with about a four-fifths majority a resolution not only opposing the manufacture and consumption of alcohol but urging the exclusion of Southern Baptists who drink from election to the convention’s boards, committees and entities. Like other resolutions, it is not binding on SBC churches … [Read more...]

Attempting to analyze any annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention is a bit like trying to nail Jell-O ® to a tree. With that said, allow me to share my perspective on one aspect of the SBC Annual Meeting held at Greensboro, NC. Attempting to analyze any annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention is a bit like trying to nail Jell-O ® to a tree. With that said, allow me to share my perspective on one aspect of the SBC Annual Meeting held at Greensboro, NC. Discussion concerning the Cooperative Program took center stage on opening day of the annual meeting. The morning session saw messengers debate whether or not a report from an Ad Hoc CP Committee should include language that would encourage churches to give at least 10 percent of undesignated receipts to the CP. Discussion on the subject was passionate, but respectful. Most of those  who opposed including the language that would encourage 10 percent as a benchmark did so on the grounds of the autonomy of the local church. The consensus was that no one should try to tell a local church how much it should give to the Cooperative Program. Those in favor of the language encouraging the 10 percent goal for churches agreed that Southern … [Read more...]

GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP) – When I was 12 or 13 years old, usually before going to sleep at night, I began to wonder if I would ever know God. By Art Toalston Baptist Press Editor GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP) – When I was 12 or 13 years old, usually before going to sleep at night, I began to wonder if I would ever know God. I believed He existed, but I did not know how to meet Him. There was no one in my life who talked about knowing God. My mother and father didn’t, nor did the people in my neighborhood. No one ever tried to help me learn what the Bible says about how God would change my life. It was a very hopeless feeling and it continued for seven or eight years. When I was a young man, I happened to meet a pastor who asked me if I was a Christian. I told him I wasn’t, that I had heard people say that Jesus Christ is God’s Son, but I had never been told any reason to believe in Him. But when I met the pastor that day and was open to him helping me, I learned that when Jesus was born, God came to earth and that Jesus died on the cross so that I could be forgiven of the sinful things I had done that had separated me from God. I learned that Jesus rose from the dead and will send His Holy Spirit into … [Read more...]

GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP) – In an annual meeting marked by repeated calls for cooperation in evangelism and missions, Southern Baptists June 13-14 in Greensboro, N.C., elected a new president, stressed increased giving through the Cooperative Program and remembered the late Adrian Rogers, whose widow urged the denomination to ‘graciously work for unity in the body of Christ.’ By Michael Foust Baptist Press Assistant Editor GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP) – In an annual meeting marked by repeated calls for cooperation in evangelism and missions, Southern Baptists June 13-14 in Greensboro, N.C., elected a new president, stressed increased giving through the Cooperative Program and remembered the late Adrian Rogers, whose widow urged the denomination to ‘graciously work for unity in the body of Christ.’ The meeting marked the final one for SBC President Bobby Welch, whose ‘Everyone Can’ emphasis set a goal of baptizing 1 million in one year. The 12-month push through the final week of September, which marks the end of the SBC’s church year. For the second straight year, more than 11,000 messengers attended the meeting. The unofficial total of 11,639 would be barely under last year’s total of 11,641. "We will baptize … [Read more...]

ALEXANDRIA – Louisiana College ran out of t-shirts. By Amy Adams Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – Louisiana College ran out of t-shirts. College officials ordered 200, but with several unexpected “walk-ons” who dropped by to check out the stately campus, more than 210 incoming freshmen showed up for Freshmen Registration Orientation Summer Head start – FROSH – June 15-16. All students who visited during FROSH will receive a Louisiana College t-shirt by the end of the month, LC President Joe Aguillard promised. FROSH is a two-day event to assist incoming freshmen and their parents in the enrollment process and to get them better acquainted with the campus, professors and other students in their class, said Byron McGee, director of enrollment management. One incoming freshman said her main reason for coming to LC FROSH days was to get her classes right. This is a common concern, McGee said. “For a lot of students the process of enrolling is an uncertainty,” the enrollment manager said. An LC grad, McGee has been in his position for more than 20 years. “They want to know, ‘What do I do, how do I take a class, how do the classes work?’ All these questions and more are answered during the day and a … [Read more...]

ALEXANDRIA – He may well be the most famous player in Louisiana State University baseball history. By Brian Blackwell Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – He may well be the most famous player in Louisiana State University baseball history. Ten years ago, Warren Morris, who battled through a hand injury that kept him sidelined most of the season, accomplished a feat that most Little League baseball players only dream of – hitting a home run to win the College World Series. “By far, that was the highlight of my baseball career,” the Louisiana Baptist said of his home run, which earned ESPN’s ESPY award for showstopper sports event of the year in 1996.  “Still, a week doesn’t go by that someone asks me about the home run.” One month after hitting the mammoth home run, Morris suited up for the U.S. Olympic baseball team, which won a bronze medal in Atlanta, Ga. Three years later, he began his rookie year with the Pittsburgh Pirates, finishing third in voting for the Rookie of the Year award. With the success he attained during the 1996 College World Series and in the professional ranks, a person would have been hard-pressed to predict this church kid from Alexandria would one day suit up for the LSU … [Read more...]

STATEWIDE – Vacation Bible School is the biggest outreach of the year for many churches across Louisiana. By Karen L. Willoughby Managing Editor STATEWIDE – Vacation Bible School is the biggest outreach of the year for many churches across Louisiana. “I could stay here all morning and tell you the good it does in church,” said Edwin Fuller, pastor of North Central Baptist in Delhi, where about 55 people attend Sunday worship. Their VBS is set for July 10-14; last year was the first time they’d had VBS in 20 years, but then their congregation had dwindled to eight people when Fuller – bivocational as a bank loan officer – was called in 2002 as pastor. “VBS brings a certain amount of excitement to a church,” Fuller said. “It gives us some exposure.” It’s also a great way for inexperienced workers to receive a week of on-the-job training, said Carolle Green, childhood strategist for the Louisiana Baptist Convention. Trinity Baptist Lake Charles hosts one of the largest VBS’s in the state: more than 1,100 youngsters attended June 19-23. They raised nearly $4,800 they are contributing to a church building fund in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where the church is going on a mission trip later this … [Read more...]