By Jeff Iorg, President of Golden Gate Seminary, Mill Valley, Calif. A family once visited our church for the first time. After the service, during a casual conversation, I discovered the woman in the family was Jewish. Linda had never attended a Christian worship service and seemed quite fascinated by what she had just experienced. As was my custom, I followed up that conversation with a personal phone call early in the week. She agreed to my offer of a pastoral visit with her and her husband. Having limited experience with Jewish guests – not many drop in on a typical Midwestern Baptist church – I spent some time thinking about how to open the conversation in their home. Based on our brief conversation from Sunday, I settled on a question that received a surprising, but delightful answer. My question was, “What was the biggest difference between our worship service and the synagogue services you may have experienced in the past?” Linda said, “Oh that’s easy. In your church, Jesus is the ‘Big One.’” I had never heard it put quite that way before! Having worshipped God all her life, it was striking to her how prominent Jesus was in our worship. We sang about Jesus, prayed in Jesus’ name, talked about how Jesus could change … [Read more...]

By Roger 'Sing' Oldham, Vice President of SBC Convention Relations A mordern-day parody.   It’s beginning to look a lot like X-mas Everywhere you turn; Nativity sets are banned, Carolers cannot stand On public land or in the big parades.   It’s beginning to look a lot like X-mas In many public schools; For the secular world imparts That the Christ within our hearts Is against the rules.   Opposed to biblical roots With a rash of lawsuits Is the wish of Barry and Lynn; Christians that balk And are too scared to talk Is the hope of godless men. And A-C-L-U looks for ways to threaten once again!   It’s beginning to look a lot like X-mas   Our nation will forget That the only way to joy Is when the Christmas Boy Lives within your heart.   Yes, the only way to peace Is when the Prince of Peace Lives within your heart! … [Read more...]

By Argile Smith, Louisiana College The joy of giving characterizes the Christmas season. For that reason, we do well to spend some time with John 1:10-29. It’s a thought-provoking Bible passage that describes God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Reflecting on it will prompt us to rejoice in God’s matchless love that’s been expressed in baby Jesus born in Bethlehem. John pointed to Jesus Christ as the source of new birth. At the very beginning of his Gospel account, John explained that Jesus had come to save us. In his explanation, he made remarkable declaration. He credited Jesus with creation. In fact, he declared that the entire world was made by Jesus Christ (10). Only the Son of God could have done something so magnificent. When Jesus came to the world, however, His own people gave Him an ice-cold reception (10-11). In spite of everything that happened through His life, death, and resurrection, many of them still rejected Him. For generations, the people of Israel had been looking forward to the arrival of the Messiah. But when Jesus came to them, they turned their backs on Him. So did others who could clearly see that He was the source of the new birth, but they rejected Him just the same. For centuries now, … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Mon, 12/16/2013 - 09:56 R. Albert Mohler Jr. (right), president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Mississippi pastor Eric Hankins discuss their divergent views of Calvinism. By James A. Smith, Sr., Baptist Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) – Southern Baptists need to “learn the table manners of denominational life” when discussing Calvinism, R. Albert Mohler Jr. said during a “conversation” with Mississippi pastor Eric Hankins at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Mohler, president of Southern Seminary, and Hankins, pastor of First Baptist Church in Oxford, Miss., co-chaired a 19-member Calvinism Advisory Committee that issued a unanimous report in May to Executive Committee President Frank Page, who assembled the group. While acknowledging tension over Calvinism within the Southern Baptist Convention, the report urged Southern Baptists to “grant one another liberty” on the doctrine while joining arms for the Great Commission. In recent years, a debate about Calvinism, a term associated with the doctrine of salvation taught by 16th-century theologian John Calvin has generated controversy within the SBC, with each side of the debate convening conferences, publishing books and issuing … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message PINEVILLE – The Third Circuit Court of Appeal ruled on Nov. 6 to uphold an earlier decision by Judge Mary Lauve Doggett of the Ninth Judicial Court to dismiss a lawsuit against Louisiana College. The suit was originally filed eight years ago. Third Circuit Judge James T. Genovese affirmed the legal rational and jurisprudence whereby Judge Doggett had arrived at her decision which ruled in favor of LC’s right to determine the content of its faith and curriculum. Judge Doggett’s original ruling to dismiss a lawsuit brought by four former LC professors was issued on March 27, 2012. Carlton L. Winbery, Fredrick L. Downing, James R. Heath and Connie R. Douglas sued the college in Dec. 2005 alleging loss of academic freedom and infliction of emotional distress. Judge Doggett wrote in her March ruling: “Under the establishment Clause, the consideration is whether the issues which the Court will have to resolve will necessarily turn upon competing interpretations of religion, thus resulting in the Court becoming entangled in an ecclesiastical dispute.” The judge continued, “The ‘Entanglement Doctrine’ provides that a court must decline jurisdiction over a lawsuit when the dispute is so intertwined with … [Read more...]

By Staff, World News Magazine ATLANTA, Ga. – Abortions are on the decline in the United States, though numbers remain shockingly high in New York City, according to a CDC report released over Thanksgiving. The study used voluntary data from 44 states, New York City, and the District of Columbia. The states not included in the study didn’t provide data for each of the ten years. From 2001 to 2010, the number of reported legal abortions in the United States fell by 9 percent. The number of teenagers getting abortions dropped most significantly, probably due in part to the overall drop in teenage pregnancies. For that 10-year period, the abortion rate among teenagers fell about 30 percent. The number of abortions in New York City alone remains incredibly high: 83,750 in 2010. That amounts to 694 abortions for every 1,000 live births. No other jurisdiction approaches that high of an abortion ratio. Other city health reports have shown that almost 40 percent of pregnancies in New York end in abortion. Most shocking in the CDC’s New York numbers: 82 percent of abortions in the city were performed on African-American or Hispanic women. The authors noted that the CDC numbers, because they are voluntary, significantly underreport … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer A group of Southern Baptist pastors have formed a ministry fellowship they view as an alternative to Calvinist-leaning groups. Launched this past summer, Connect316 is a group of like-minded believers committed to promoting the doctrines and principles of the Hobbs-Rogers theological tradition. “E.Y. Mullins, Herschel Hobbs and Adrian Rogers were the three pastor-theologians who served as chairmen of the committees which created or revised the Baptist Faith and Message in 1925, 1963, and 2000,” wrote Malcom Yarnell in an article that appeared in a 2006 issue of SBC Life. Yarnell, Chair of Systematic Theology at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, continued, “All three of these founding Confessors held views contrary to classical Calvinism.” “Mullins objected to the errors of Calvinists, whose doctrines are based on a ‘false premise’ about God’s character, leading them to proceed ‘by a rigid logic to their false conclusions.’ Mullins concluded, ‘God elects men to respond freely,’ Yarnell wrote. “Hobbs decried the ‘error that election relates to certain individuals, with some destined to salvation and others to damnation.’ Rogers, a well-known opponent of ‘wine and cheese’ … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message ON THE MOVE Brian Gunter is new as pastor at First Baptist Church Pollock. Tyler (wife Allison) Saucier new as pastor at Erwinville Baptist Church, Erwinville. Thomas Aaron Chapman has been ordained to the gospel ministry at Red Oak Baptist Church, Livingston. David Gray new as student minister at First Baptist Church, Haynesville. Stephen Morgan has resigned as minister of youth at Riverside Baptist Church, Denham Springs. Tim (wife Shera) Dye new as pastor from laity at Central Baptist Church, Bossier City. Kenneth Nutt has retired after 58 years of service and was honored on Nov. 24 with a luncheon and a plaque after the worship service Harold (wife Lori) Ashcraft is new as associate pastor/music at Kingston Road Baptist Church, Shreveport. Christopher Paul Lee ordained to the gospel ministry at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Jonesboro. Kevin (wife Kristen) Smith new as interim Pastor at Northwoods Baptist Church, Shreveport   LAGNIAPPE   Mooringsport Baptist Church: Voices of Glory will present “A Branson Christmas” in Mooringsport Dec. 22, 10:30 a.m. Satsuma Baptist Church, Livingston:  “Emmanuel, Celebrating Heaven’s Child” will be presented by the Adult Choir on Dec 22, 6 p.m., … [Read more...]

By David Roach, Baptist Press ATLANTA (BP) – Building from a prayer gathering of senior pastors this fall, a group of Southern Baptist pastors is inviting pastors, other ministers and ministry students to participate in a two-day prayer meeting in Atlanta Jan. 13-14. Labeled “A Call to Pray for Revival and Awakening,” the gathering “is time for us to pray in an extraordinary way, to seek the God of heaven to revive His church and awaken our nation,” Ronnie Floyd, senior pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas, said in a written statement to Baptist Press. Floyd, a primary organizer of a 42-member invitation team, announced the gathering on the meeting’s website, www.praying-pastors.com. Information about the gathering at the Westin Atlanta Airport Hotel also is being disseminated via Twitter using the hashtag #prayingpastors. Each member of the invitation team has committed to attend the event in its entirety, Floyd said on the website. “We had a fabulous response to our Dallas prayer gathering,” he said. “We did not have any plans to do another gathering but wanted only what God wanted. There was a real desire to do something again [and] many who were not able to attend Dallas. “Additionally, there was a cry for it to … [Read more...]