Louisiana Baptists face concerns and challenges – but they all can be overcome with comitment and a focus on the positive, the new leader of the state convention indicated last week. Louisiana Baptists face concerns and chal- lenges – but they all can be overcome with commitment and a focus on the positive, the new leader of the state convention indicated last week. “When we look at the concerns, we need to remember they are not nothing,” said David Hankins, who arrived as the executive director   of the Louisiana Baptist Convention at the start  of the new year. “They need to be dealt with. Some of them are serious, some more serious than others. So, they’re not nothing. We’re not going to ... put our heads in the sand and just hope they go away by themselves. We’re not going to abdicate leadership responsibilities. “But also remember, they’re not everything. ... And our perspective is – there’s a lot of good things we need to be working on.” Hankins noted his conversations with others have highlighted three major areas of concerns that most Louisiana Baptists readily would be able to identify. He said his conversations have been with “sincere and involved and engaged” people on various sides of … [Read more...]

The events at Louisiana College during the past six months have generated more letters to the editor than any other issue in the 26 years this editor has been with the Baptist Message. The events at Louisiana College during the last six months    have generated more letters to    the editor than any other issue in the 26 years this editor has been with the Baptist Message. And the letters have been stronger in wording and sometimes harsher in tone than letters on any other issue. This certainly demonstrates that Louisiana College is dear to the hearts of Louisiana Baptists and that they care deeply about what happens with the college and at the college. The most recent issue that has sparked widespread response is the called meeting of the Louisiana College board of trustees on January 17. (This editorial is written on January 14, and the publication date is January 20 – thus, the awkwardness of the tenses of the verbs.) The board will meet to consider their newly-constituted search committee’s recommendation to elect Joe Aguillard as president of the Louisiana Baptist school. Actually, the committee was instructed to make consideration of Aguillard its first action after being reconstituted. The Baptist … [Read more...]

About two years ago, a small stone box made a worldwide splash as the reputed final resting place for the remains of James, the brother of Jesus. About two years ago, a small stone box made a worldwide splash as the reputed final resting place for the remains of James, the brother of Jesus. The so-called James Ossuary was acclaimed as a historic archaeological find by many biblical scholars. It also was questioned by other notable researchers and denounced as a fake by Israeli authorities in June 2003. Now, those critics have more weight on their side – the recent indictment of four antiques collectors in Jerusalem, accused of forging biblical artifacts, many so skillfully that they fooled experts. “The entire archaeology community is reeling as a result of these indictments,” Israeli-British archaeologist Shimon Gibson said. “It’s now quite clear that if these allegations are credible, it means that some artifacts which are in museum collections are now known to be forgeries.” That may or may not include the James Ossuary. Indeed, that artifact needs a careful examination to determine whether it is an authentic relic or merely a common first-century burial box with a phony inscription, a Southern … [Read more...]

In the Garden District of New Orleans, students from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary stand with Ken Taylor, associate professor of urban missions, facing one of the many houses in this historic part of the city. In the Garden District of New Orleans, students from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary stand with Ken Taylor, associate professor of urban missions, facing one of the many houses in this historic part of the city. The thing that sets this house apart from the rest is that it stands where one of the seminary’s original buildings once stood. The stone bases that once supported the seminary’s iron gates remain on the sides of the steps leading into the lot’s front yard. The students here are a part of a class which the seminary offers each fall. For five years, through its New Orleans Mission and Ministry class, the seminary has sought to introduce students to the many ministry opportunities in the city. One of the reasons the Southern Baptist Convention founded a seminary in New Orleans was to be a lighthouse to the city. The school still encourages students to be a part of achieving that goal. However, many students face a challenge in learning about the many ministry sites … [Read more...]

Seven of the oldest-surviving biblical scrolls are set to arrive in Mobile, Ala., this week. After successful runs in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Houston, the traveling Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit is scheduled to open at the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center in Mobile on Jan. 20. The Exploreum is set to host the exhibit of 12 authentic Dead Sea Scrolls through April 24. During that time, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary will serve as a sponsoring institution for the event. “The highlight (of the exhibit) will be the Deuteronomy scroll that has the entire text of the Ten Commandments,” said Ellen Herron, curator for the exhibit. “This is such a rare opportunity.” In addition to the Deuteronomy scroll, the exhibit includes six other 2,000-year-old biblical scrolls with the oldest surviving text of Genesis, Leviticus, Numbers, Psalms, Isaiah and Jeremiah. The remaining five scroll fragments are sectarian documents found at the Qumran site in Israel. Discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd boy, the Dead Sea Scrolls are the most famous and important find in the history of biblical archaeology. The discovery, excavations and resulting research has confirmed and helped ensure the reliability of … [Read more...]

Thirty years ago, Cindy Mazza faced a challenge – create a special needs Sunday School class from scratch at Williams Boulevard Baptist Church in Kenner. Thirty years ago, Cindy Mazza faced a challenge – create a special needs Sunday School class from scratch at Williams Boulevard Baptist Church in Kenner. At the time, two families needed a separate Bible study for their four-year-old special needs children. Mazza visited the home of each family, asking the parents to give her a name of one other special needs individual in the New Orleans area that could attend the class. Today, the ministry no longer serves children, ministering instead to almost 200 adults on any given Sunday. The students – whose average age is 45 – are what Roberta Edenfield calls “the pure in heart.” For an hour each Sunday morning, Edenfield and about 15 other volunteers at Williams Boulevard Baptist Church teach between 150 and 200 special needs individuals. Most of the students return to state-sponsored group homes after Bible study, but about 25 remain to participate in the worship service with the entire congregation. That is where a person truly can notice their innocence, says Edenfield, interim director of the … [Read more...]

Minutes after feeling the earthquake Dec. 26, Ibu Tetty was in her house in the small village of Desa Nusa, about 10 kilometers from the coast in Indonesia's Aceh province. Minutes after feeling the earthquake Dec. 26, Ibu Tetty was in her house in the small village of Desa Nusa, about 10 kilometers from the coast in Indonesia’s Aceh province. She was giving thanks that her home was still standing. “But then, I saw the people running up the hill,” she says, pointing at the nearby slope rising. “‘Why are you running?’ I asked them. “They were screaming, ‘Water! Water! Run!’ There was no time to get anything from the house.” Frightened villagers climbed on top of homes at the top of the hill. “When the water came, it was rolling and rolling,” Tetty recalls, spinning her hands frantically. “‘Oh, dear God!’ I was crying. People were screaming and crying, ‘Forgive us, God! Have mercy on us, God!’” Days later, with tears in her eyes, she looks to the ocean, voicing thanks that her family all are still alive. The view from the ridge that saved Tetty’s life – and the lives of her husband and six children – never will be the same. Framed by low mountains in the distance, the vista looking to the sea is … [Read more...]