They came back, and they brought 7,000 more with them. Organizers reported a capacity crowd of 18,000 college students for Passion 06 in Nashville, Tenn., a substantial increase over last year’s attendance of 11,000 for the four-day worship event. They came back, and they brought 7,000 more with them. Organizers reported a capacity crowd of 18,000 college students for Passion 06 in Nashville, Tenn., a substantial increase over last year’s attendance of 11,000 for the four-day worship event. “We told you at the end of Passion 05 to bring your friends, and apparently you took us up on that challenge because we cannot fit one more person in this building,” Louie Giglio, founder and director of the Passion conference, said at the gathering’s opening session Jan. 2 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. “Passion is a tiny speck in what God is doing among college students in this nation and the world,” Giglio said. “But we have been praying for months that God would change you and that generations from now, people would be talking about what God has done in this town, in these days, in your life.” The conference included messages from John Piper, Beth Moore and Giglio -- three perennial Passion favorites. During … [Read more...]

The Waodani Indians of Ecuador were killing six of every 10 of their tribesmen when American missionaries entered their isolated community in January 1956. Anthropologists say the tribe, identified then as the Aucas, had one of the most violent cultures ever documented and was headed toward extinction. (Editor’s note: The film “End of the Sphere” is set to open in select theatres nationwide Jan. 20. The movie tells the story of a tribe who killed five missionaries in their village but later befriended their victims’ family members. In addition to the upcoming movie, a documentary about the incident has been released and made available to persons free of charge.) The Waodani Indians of Ecuador were killing six of every 10 of their tribesmen when American missionaries entered their isolated community in January 1956. Anthropologists say the tribe, identified then as the Aucas, had one of the most violent cultures ever documented and was headed toward extinction. Missionary pilot Nate Saint had located the tribe in circling the Amazon Basin jungle. Wishing to establish contact, Saint hoped that a slow, circular flying pattern would allow him to stabilize a long rope and basket dropped from the airplane down to … [Read more...]

Week of January 16, 2006 Potpourri WINNFIELD – First church: Extravagant Grace in concert; Jan. 29, 6 p.m.; Lindsey Burns, pastor. DRY CREEK – Dry Creek camp: “Being God’s Kind of Man” men’s retreat; Jan. 27, 5 p.m. - Jan. 28, after lunch; John White and Marvin Douglass, guest speakers; Mackey Willis, music; $50 per person/$35 two-day commuter/$20 one-day commuter; to register, call (337) 328-7531; Curt Iles, camp manager. HOUMA – Grand Caillou church: Jamie Womack, guest speaking at ladies’ luncheon; Jan. 21, 10:30 a.m.; Marcell McGee, pastor. ALBANY – Blood River church: Jamie Womack, guest speaker; Jan. 22, 10 a.m.; Iran Smith, pastor. JONESBORO – First church: Don Piper, author of “90 Minutes in Heaven, guest speaker; Jan. 28, 7 p.m.; Jan. 29, 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.; Matthew D. Wohlfarth, pastor. PIONEER – New Prospect church: Frank Self and Benny Long in concert; Jan. 28, 7 p.m.; Walter Cloud, pastor. HAYNESVILLE – First church: Wild Game Supper; Jan. 28, 6 p.m.; The Stoney Creek Boys, bluegrass group, to perform; for reservations, call (318) 624-0214; Shelby Cowling, pastor. BATON ROUGE – Istrouma church: The Dove Brothers Quartet in concert; Jan. 22, 6 p.m.; H.I.S. By Grace, a local … [Read more...]

Year-to-date contributions through the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program are 1.83 percent below the same time frame in 2004, according to SBC Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Morris H. Chapman. Year-to-date contributions through the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program are 1.83 percent below the same time frame in 2004, according to SBC Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Morris H. Chapman. As of Dec. 31, 2005, the year-to-date total of $45,424,989.76 for Cooperative Program missions is $846,995.90 under the $46,271,985.66 received at the same point in 2004. For the month of December 2005, receipts of $14,622,239.09 were 2.38 percent, or $340,508.45, above the $14,281,730.64 received in December 2004. Designated giving of $10,589,328.46 for the same year-to-date period is 2.05 percent, or $212,872.02, above gifts of $10,376,456.44 received at this point last year. The $3,670,570.04 in designated gifts received last month is $455,314.15 below the $4,125,884.19 received in December 2004, a decrease of 11.04 percent. For the SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget, the year-to-date total of $45,424,989.76 is 95.70 percent of … [Read more...]

Samford University’s board of trustees unanimously elected Andrew Westmoreland Samford’s 18th president Jan. 10. Samford University’s board of trustees unanimously elected Andrew Westmoreland Samford’s 18th president Jan. 10. Currently president of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark., which he has led since 1998, Westmoreland will replace Thomas Corts, who retires May 31. Corts has served as president of the school since 1983. Westmoreland, 48, was recommended to the board of trustees by an 18-member presidential search committee after an eight-month national search involving more than 140 applicants. William J. Stevens, chairman of the board of trustees, introduced Westmoreland at a news conference following his election at a special meeting of the board. “The board is very confident that Dr. Westmoreland is just the person to lead Samford at this point in the university’s 164-year history,” said Stevens. “He comes to us highly recommended not just by the search committee and the constituent reference panels (who met with Westmoreland in December), but by everyone who was contacted about his ability to lead a great university like Samford.” Stevens noted that Westmoreland “brings … [Read more...]

Kurtiss Ewell received one Christmas present a few days late this year, and it came from someone he met last fall while volunteering in a Franklin, Tenn., shelter for Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Kurtiss Ewell received one Christmas present a few days late this year, and it came from someone he met last fall while volunteering in a Franklin, Tenn., shelter for Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Ewell, a diabetic who suffered from kidney disease, received the gift of a kidney from Audrey Dean Jan. 3. Dean, who attends Tennessee Valley Community Church in Paris, and Ewell, a member of Northside Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tenn., received Tennessee Baptist disaster relief training in September. They met Sept. 30 on their first ministry assignment. The two believe God called them into disaster relief ministry, and they believe their meeting at the shelter did not happen by chance – it was a divine appointment. Dean said they spent part of the day working together on inventory in the trailers. While she knew nothing of Ewell’s medical problems, she did notice that he had to stop periodically to rest. The next day Dean and others asked Northside volunteer Sarah Beth Miller about Ewell when he didn’t return to … [Read more...]

There is no better expert on the late Adrian Rogers than his wife and lifelong sweetheart, Joyce. There is no better expert on the late Adrian Rogers than his wife and lifelong sweetheart, Joyce. Through grade school, high school, college and 54 years of marriage, she experienced the highs and lows of life alongside him and was the sounding board for his deepest thoughts. She has recorded her unique perspective in “Love Worth Finding: The Life of Adrian Rogers and His Philosophy of Preaching,” a biography released by Broadman & Holman Publishers prior to Rogers’ death Nov. 15 after a battle with cancer. Joyce Rogers lovingly recounts her husband’s beginning in the ranks of the ordinary, where in junior high school he was known as “unruly and belligerent.” “He had an overdose of courage and the ability to fight with his fists,” she wrote in the book. “He had gained a reputation of being one of the toughest kids in school. He would challenge others to a fight just for an expression of what must have been an inner turmoil.” The third child of working-class parents, Rogers yielded his life to Jesus at age 14 after some neighbors invited his family to a crusade at a local Baptist church in his … [Read more...]

Trustees of the International Mission Board have initiated an action to ask the Southern Baptist Convention to remove one of their members. Trustees of the International Mission Board have initiated an action to ask the Southern Baptist Convention to remove one of their members. The board’s chairman, Tom Hatley, issued a three-paragraph statement Jan. 11 following a trustee vote the previous night in executive session, or closed session, to terminate the term of Wade Burleson, senior pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Okla., who served as president of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma from 2003-05. The full statement reported: “The trustees of the International Mission Board voted to recommend to the Southern Baptist Convention that Wade Burleson of Oklahoma, be removed by the convention as a trustee of the International Mission Board. “This difficult measure was not taken without due deliberation and exploration of other ways to handle an impasse between Wade Burleson and the Board. In taking this action, trustees addressed issues involving broken trust and resistance to accountability, not Burleson’s opposition to policies recently enacted by the board. “The trustees consider this … [Read more...]

International Mission Board leaders reaffirmed their commitment to theological education overseas during the recent board of trustees meeting, saying that discipleship and leadership training are essential to fulfilling the international missions task. International Mission Board leaders reaffirmed their commitment to theological education overseas during the recent board of trustees meeting, saying that discipleship and leadership training are essential to fulfilling the international missions task. During the meeting, trustees approved an additional 12 missionaries who were appointed Jan. 10 at Staples Mill Road Baptist Church in Glen Allen, Va. Those new missionaries join 383 long-term personnel appointed last year, including 175 appointed in the September and November appointment services in Pensacola, Fla., and Huntsville, Ala., respectively. Statistical Gains Trustees also received the Annual Statistical Report showing substantial growth in international missions causes in 2004. Trustees learned IMB leadership had planned to present the 2005 report during the board meeting last November but needed additional time to verify reports from a church-planting movement in South Asia. Three primary entity … [Read more...]

Beginning next week, readers of the Baptist Message will find ScriptureCrypto in the place of Bibliocipher, which had been a weekly feature of the newspaper. Beginning next week, readers of the Baptist Message will find ScriptureCrypto in the place of Bibliocipher, which had been a weekly feature of the newspaper. Created by Cheryl Vaughn, circulation manager for the Baptist New Mexican, ScriptureCrypto, like Bibliocipher, offers readers an opportunity to exercise their knowledge of the Bible through the use of cryptography. Bibliocipher was provided free of charge to the Baptist Message, and other state Baptist papers, by Charles Marx of Hattiesburg, Miss., who died Feb. 29, 2004. Since his final illness and death, the newspaper had continued publishing his puzzles in the Baptist Message until two weeks ago, when the supply on hand was exhausted. According to the Baptist New Mexican, Marx provided the inspiration for ScriptureCrypto. That also has been communicated with his widow, Ernestine, who expressed her pleasure that his legacy would continue through a similar puzzle with a different name. Marx, a Mississippi Baptist who held doctorates in both law and political science, served as a college … [Read more...]