ALEXANDRIA - One would think Cooperative Program giving might be hindered by the major disasters that swept the coast of Louisiana. However, first quarter CP receipts from Louisiana Baptist churches are running 7.18 percent over 2005 first quarter receipts. By LBC Communications ALEXANDRIA - One would think Cooperative Program giving might be hindered by the major disasters that swept the coast of Louisiana.  However, first quarter CP receipts from Louisiana Baptist churches are running 7.18 percent over 2005 first quarter receipts. “We are grateful to be a conduit for our churches’ mission giving,” said Dale Lingenfelter, LBC director of Business and Information Services. “Obviously, the storms served as an Acts 1:8 wake up call for some to be more engaged in reaching their Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth through the Cooperative Program.” The Cooperative Program is the funding mechanism for a worldwide network of mission ministries.   These ministries include the Louisiana State Convention mission work, the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home, Louisiana College, The International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, six theological seminaries, the Ethics and Religious Liberty … [Read more...]

BATON ROUGE – Intercessors for Louisiana (IFL). Join us for prayer at the Capitol on the second Tuesday of each month in Senate Committee Room A, 7 p.m. Next meeting: May 9. By Todd Trahan Special to the Message BATON ROUGE – Intercessors for Louisiana (IFL). Join us for prayer at the Capitol on the second Tuesday of each month in Senate Committee Room A, 7 p.m. Next meeting: May 9. I need to give this report in a form that goes chronologically to do justice to the wonderful thing God did in our midst at the Capitol. We had a short meeting with leadership of IFL before 7 p.m. on April 11 to discuss a few things, along with Roger and Charlotte Mershbrock of Prayer Focus Ministries, who joined us as well. We sensed the Lord wanted to touch two themes in prayer: the Lord as Lawgiver and the abortion issue. Before we began the actual meeting, an intercessor pulled me aside and gave me a small bag with some items in them that she felt the Lord had her buy to give to me. In this bag were: a set of hanging scales that balance and weigh; a framed picture of God’s hand holding a plumb line with the Scripture Amos 7: 7, 8; some chalk powder (high visibility red in color) that you would use to pop a … [Read more...]

GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP) – New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s annual Alumni & Friends Luncheon will be a time of celebration for the renewal of the campus following Hurricane Katrina. GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP) – New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s annual Alumni & Friends Luncheon will be a time of celebration for the renewal of the campus following Hurricane Katrina. The June 14 luncheon will be in the Sheraton Four Seasons’ Guilford F/G Ballrooms immediately following the Wednesday morning session of the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting. NOBTS President Chuck Kelley will report on the progress of the campus restoration, about the return of classes to the main campus and new initiatives the seminary will launch during the coming school year. Kelley also will present the seminary’s distinguished alumni awards. Tickets – at $10 each before June 1, $12 after June 1 – are on sale by mail and online. Tickets also will be available at the NOBTS booth in the SBC exhibits hall. To purchase a ticket before the SBC, mail a check payable to NOBTS to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Attention Alumni Relations, 3939 Gentilly Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70126. For information about … [Read more...]

ALEXANDRIA – Instead of flowers at the annual LBC women’s conference, the platform area at Calvary Baptist Church here was dominated by a full-size cross, bare except for the thorny vine that twined around its center. By Karen L. Willoughby Managing Editor ALEXANDRIA – Instead of flowers at the annual LBC  women’s conference, the platform area at Calvary Baptist Church here was dominated by a full-size cross, bare except for the thorny vine that twined around its center. It was that kind of a “gets you in the gut” event, which included Carrie McDonnall’s gripping story of how a beautiful day in Iraq started with ministry and making new friends, and ended with the bullet-ridden death of three missionary friends as well as her new husband. “We did what God told us to do,” Cindy Townsend told the Message a few minutes after the conference was over. “This wasn’t a feel-good conference. It was more a challenge conference.” Townsend is director of the women’s missions and ministry team at the Louisiana Baptist Convention, which sponsored the day-long event. The challenge was for participants to influence their everyday world for Christ. “I’m going to do better about praying,” said Jennifer Bates … [Read more...]

WESTLAKE, La. (BP)--The revival that drew Larry Thompson to Christ as a 17-year-old continues to influence his ministry long after he left South Carolina for pastorates in four other states. By Ken Walker Baptist Press WESTLAKE, La. (BP)--The revival that drew Larry Thompson to Christ as a 17-year-old continues to influence his ministry long after he left South Carolina for pastorates in four other states. “These are the kind of things I have attempted all through my ministry,” the pastor of First Baptist Church in Westlake, La., said. “I’ve often said that I’ve based my ministry on teaching the principles of revival, just in case the Holy Spirit decides to do it again.” In particular, Thompson retains a strong desire to see others accept Christ. This spark was lit by his conversion in the early days of a revival that began in Easley, S.C., and a youth conference that summer sponsored by the South Carolina Baptist Convention. In addition to lessons from the conference on prayer and personal Bible study, Thompson attended sessions on how to share his faith. By Thursday of that week, he had led his first convert to Christ and by Sunday, two dozen more. And he wasn’t the only person from Easley … [Read more...]

EASLEY, S.C. (BP)--For layman Terry Ballenger, a gratifying result of the revival that broke out in Easley, S.C., in the early 1970s is hearing the preaching of those who were called into the ministry and how their spiritual gifts have developed over the years. By Ken Walker Baptist Press EASLEY, S.C. (BP)--For layman Terry Ballenger, a gratifying result of the revival that broke out in Easley, S.C., in the early 1970s is hearing the preaching of those who were called into the ministry and how their spiritual gifts have developed over the years. Ballenger, communications manager at Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, is equally pleased with the vast numbers now serving as deacons, Sunday School teachers and Christian influences in the workplace. After listing examples in nursing, accounting and the federal government, Ballenger said, “You’ve got folks like that I can name right and left who went into secular work like me. “In 1970 I saw myself going to seminary. I told my boss when I came here, ‘I’m giving you one year and if I feel the Lord calling me, I’ll have to go.’ But I never felt the Lord calling me.” Ballenger isn’t fond of the notion that God’s call refers primarily to becoming a pastor, … [Read more...]

NEW ORLEANS – Trustees at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary elected six professors to the faculty, promoted three faculty members and granted tenure to four professors during their meeting April 12. By Gary D. Myers New Orleans Seminary Public Relations NEW ORLEANS – Trustees at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary elected six professors to the faculty, promoted three faculty members and granted tenure to four professors during their meeting April 12. Benjamin Harlan, who served on the NOBTS faculty from 1989-95, was elected as professor of church music. He served at the seminary as a presidential appointment during the 2005-2006 school year. A respected composer/arranger and experienced music minister, Harlan served music professor and dean of the school of church music at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas from 1995 to 2005. Harlan served six years as a church minister and his choral, keyboard and handbell works have been released by several major music publishers. “Adding Dr. Harlan enhances what we believe is one of the best church music programs in the country,” NOBTS Provost Steve Lemke said. “He is one of the most prolific composers in the … [Read more...]

NEW ORLEANS – Trustees at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary set a course for the seminary’s future by establishing two degree-granting extension centers, restructuring undergraduate and church music degrees and launching new doctoral specializations during their spring meeting April 12. By Gary D. Myers New Orleans Seminary Public Relations NEW ORLEANS – Trustees at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary set a course for the seminary’s future by establishing two degree-granting extension centers, restructuring undergraduate and church music degrees and launching new doctoral specializations during their spring meeting April 12. The meeting opened with an encouraging report from NOBTS President Chuck Kelley. In his remarks, Kelley presented a positive picture of the seminary’s recovery and future. He called attention to the assistance of Southern Baptists in the seminary’s recovery process. “We are very grateful for the difference the Cooperative Program made in the New Orleans Seminary Hurricane Katrina experience,” Kelley said. “Southern Baptists kept a challenge from becoming a crisis.” “We are no longer in survival mode. We are in growth and opportunity mode,” he said. “The SBC threw … [Read more...]

NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary alumnus and current trustee Mitch Hamilton saw his beloved seminary campus at its worst when he helped students, professors and staff members sift through their belongings following Hurricane Katrina. By Gary D. Myers New Orleans Seminary Public Relations NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary alumnus and current trustee Mitch Hamilton saw his beloved seminary campus at its worst when he helped students, professors and staff members sift through their belongings following Hurricane Katrina. “My memories are all in black and white … they are all gray with cloudy skies … [and everything] is covered with a gray sludge,” Hamilton said of those five difficult days on campus. That was October 2005 – just five weeks after levee failure inundated the campus with water. During a recent trip to campus in April, Hamilton encounter a renewed campus, filled with new life and hope. “There is green grass, the grayness of the sludge is gone and the buildings are being rebuilt,” he said. Hamilton recalled walking up and down the gray streets back in October. Everywhere he turned he saw the broken pieces of homes and personal items – ruined … [Read more...]

HUBER HEIGHTS, Ohio (BP) – Planting churches and giving to the Cooperative Program are two sides of the same coin, pastor Ron Mitchell said. By Karen L. Willoughby Managing Editor HUBER HEIGHTS, Ohio (BP) – Planting churches and giving to the Cooperative Program are two sides of the same coin, pastor Ron Mitchell said. “We’ve become focused on planting churches, but we’ve done this with a firm commitment that we not reduce our CP giving,” Mitchell said of First Baptist Church of Huber Heights’ support for Southern Baptists’ worldwide missions and ministry. “And now we’re in a building program that’s costly for us but we’re also not going to reduce our missions giving because of it. “We go on mission trips,” he said. “We’ve gone to Brazil, Uganda, Russia, the United Kingdom and Romania since I’ve been pastor here, but the only way to fulfill the Great Commission – to go into all the world – is through the Cooperative Program. “We’re partnering together with other Southern Baptists and extending our mission throughout the world with CP Missions, and we can do that without taking special offerings,” Mitchell said. “When we bring our tithes and offerings every Sunday, that makes us part of a … [Read more...]