Even as some social commentators question the idea of global mission efforts, Southern Baptist Workers around the world are reporting unbelievable responses to the gospel of Jesus Christ Even as some social commentators question the idea of global mission efforts, Southern Baptist Workers around the world are reporting unbelievable responses to the gospel of Jesus Christ   All over the world, new Christians and new churches are multiplying in number – and changing the face of Southern Baptist missions in the process.   Consider two facts gleaned from Southern Baptist missionary reports on the year just past:   • Three church-planting movements played a major role in fueling a 37.4 percent increase in the total number of new churches during 1999.   • In East Asia, baptisms among just one people group exploded with 114,000 in one year. Just eight years ago, only 85 Christians and three churches existed in the province.   The emergence of church-planting movements - the spontaneous, rapid multiplication of new disciples and congregations - had a dramatic impact on Southern Baptist International Mission Board statistics in 2000. And observers expect even more … [Read more...]

New investment opportunities soon will be available to eligible Southern Baptist Annuity Board participants, including Individual Retirement Accounts and Personal Investment Accounts. New investment opportunities soon will be available to eligible Southern Baptist Annuity Board participants, including Individual Retirement Accounts and Personal Investment Accounts.   The approval of changes to the Annuity Board’s ministry assignment last year paved the way for the introduction of these new financial services.   Since that action at last year’s Southern Baptist Convention, Annuity Board trustees have approved the restructuring of the board’s investment funds to create AB Funds Trust, a family of 13 no-load, registered mutual funds. AB Funds Trust will serve as the investment vehicle for the Annuity Board’s retirement plans.   Arrangements were made for eligible participants to have IRAs and Personal Investment Accounts by purchasing shares in AB Funds Trust through PFPC Distributors, Inc., a registered broker-dealer. SBC Trust Services, Inc., also an Annuity Board affiliate, will serve as IRA custodian.   Launch of the new fund structure and products is anticipated to be … [Read more...]

Arizona Southern Baptists have agreed to restructure their convention, streamlining the staff and reorder- ing the way the denomination carries out its work in the state. Arizona Southern Baptists have agreed to restructure their convention, streamlining the staff and reorder- ing the way the denomination carries out its work in the state. The changes all were approved by more than two-thirds of messengers to a called convention session last month and became effective at the first of this month. Under the approved plans: •  The state convention structure and staff will be streamlined, with the Arizona Church Growth Board and Arizona State Mission Board dissolved at the end of last month. Dismantling those boards means the termination of 16 employees, with another five cut from the state convention staff. • The state convention changes its relationship with Arizona Baptist Children’s Services. The convention will no longer own and operate any agencies but will relate to the child services agency through a cooperative agreement. The agency’s board of trustees will become a self-perpetuating board but is committed to remaining Southern Baptist. Convention messengers also approved cooperative agreements … [Read more...]

Please, do not use the time of public prayer to preach or gripe or make points on your pet peeves. You are speaking to God, not your fellow worshipers. Please, do not use the time of public prayer to preach or gripe or make points on your pet peeves. You are speaking to God, not your fellow worshipers.   When the church gathers to worship, regardless of how small or great the number, participants have no higher calling and no more important task. Everyone participating in this sacred time should strive from beginning to end to invite a vital encounter with the Living God.   Haphazard, lackadaisical, thoughtless leadership in planning and leading worship itself seldom provides a significant encounter with God. Neither does such a poorly-planned and -executed process fulfill corporate worship’s important contingent purposes. Corporate worship, in addition to inviting a God-man encounter for a group of people, serves as a model for private or individual worship.   As part of gathered worship, public prayer should reflect the sacredness of the moment as presented by Jesus’ example and teachings. It should be guided by the examples and precepts of all Scripture.   Nowhere in the … [Read more...]

Anew poll indicates Americans hold an increasingly favorable view of homosexuality - with noteworthy changes on whether it is an acceptable alternative lifestyle and whether it is genetically caused. Anew poll indicates Americans hold an increasingly favorable view of homosexuality - with noteworthy changes on whether it is an acceptable alternative lifestyle and whether it is genetically caused.   The view that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle jumped from 38 percent in 1992 to 52 percent this year, a new Gallup Poll indicates. Americans who say it is an unacceptable lifestyle declined from 57 percent to 43 percent.   For the first time, more people said homosexuality is genetic than said it is caused by factors such as environment and upbringing. This year, 40 percent said people are born as homosexuals, while 39 percent attributed it to other factors. When Gallup first asked the question in 1977, environment and upbringing were favored by 56 percent to 13 percent.   In other questions included in the poll:   • More than half (54 percent) of respondents said homosexual relations between consenting adults should be legal, while 42 percent disagreed. In 1996, only … [Read more...]

Action concerning the Bayou DuLarge Baptist Church is long overdue. Action concerning the Bayou DuLarge Baptist Church is long overdue.   The LBC Executive Board’s lack of decisive action has placed great hardship on a godly man, his family and an entire LBC church who are attempting to do what God has called them to do.   I have known Brother Jerry Moser for 18 years and have been closely involved in the work on Bayou DuLarge. I have watched the Bayou DuLarge church grow and mature under Jerry’s leadership. Mr. Fontenot’s assessment of him was vindictive and largely untrue.   Christ Baptist Church has no moral, ethical, or legal right to seize the Bayou DuLarge Baptist Church building. They did not build the building and, to my knowledge, did not contribute money or labor for its construction. Broadmoor Baptist Church, Shreveport, was very involved in the construction of the building. Thousands of dollars and untold man-hours were contributed by members of Broadmoor Baptist Church to build a church house for our Christian brothers and sisters on Bayou DuLarge. Now, they have been denied the use of their building by the actions of a "sister church."   Our LBC Executive … [Read more...]

Re:June 14, 2001 issue of the Baptist Message and the fine article about Louisiana College. Re:June 14, 2001 issue of the Baptist Message and the fine article about Louisiana College.   My appreciation of the leadership of Dr. Rory Lee to Louisiana College grows with each passing year. It is clear that he is being a good conductor and engineer of the LC railroad as it runs on both rails and seems to be building up steam each new year. His statement that "the bottom line has to do with only one thing - being a student college," certainly focuses on the right target. To help students to grow both intellectually and spiritually is a worthy goal of a Christian college.   He establishes a worthy goal for an enrollment of 1,500 students. It is good that we have a leader at Louisiana College who genuinely realizes that the college exists for the good of students and turns the focus in that direction. It will not be easy to reach 1,500 students. A factor that has entered the picture just recently is the growth of a four-year public university in central Louisiana. This means that to reach this total, Louisiana Baptists will need to make Louisiana College known throughout the state to our finest … [Read more...]

For the week of July 12, 2001 •STERLINGTON - First church: Souled Out in concert; July 16, 7 p.m. Al Bohl, chalk artist; July 23, 7 p.m. Dennis Hackler, pastor.   •EUNICE - First church: Higher Faith in concert; July 22, 6 p.m.; Michael DeRosier, pastor.   •HODGE - Hodge church: Down East Boys in concert; July 28, 7 p.m.; Dwayne Boudreaux, pastor.   •NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans Seminary: "Hand in Hand" Childhood Education Workshop; July 30-31; Tommy Sanders, speaker, July 30; Ann Parnell, speaker, July 31; sponsored by LBC; for information, contact the childhood education department, LBC, at (318) 448-3402 or 1-800-622-6549.   •ZWOLLE - Toledo Bend Resort Ministry: open house; July 14, 2 - 4:30 p.m.; hamburgers and hotdogs provided; for information, contact Mary Gore, missionary, at (318) 645-6601. Homecomings •JONESBORO - McDonald Memorial church: 63rd; July 15; Sunday School, 10 a.m.; worship service, 10:45 a.m.; Morris Goins, speaker; Shawn Masters, music; Higher Faith in concert, 2 p.m.; Terry Mims, pastor.   •PIONEER - New Prospect church: July 15; Sunday School, 10 a.m.; worship service, 11 a.m.; Don Slack, speaker; dinner to follow; fellowship and singing … [Read more...]

With the recent execution of two fed- eral inmates and cries from some that there are racial and economic disparities in the use of capital punishment, debate on the issue has been reignited. With the recent execution of two fed- eral inmates and cries from some that there are racial and economic disparities in the use of capital punishment, debate on the issue has been reignited.   Much discussion was prompted by the recent execution of convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh - the first federal execution in more than three decades.   However, debate also has been fueled by the recent release of a Justice Department report on the equity of the punishment.   U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said the report shows whites are more likely to face the death penalty than minorities. "There is no evidence of racial bias in the administration of the federal death penalty," he said.   The report concluded that once people were charged with federal capital crimes, race played little, if any, role in whether they faced death. It also noted that whites charged with capital crimes were twice as likely as minorities to enter into a plea bargain, freeing them from facing the … [Read more...]

It is boring to achieve the pinnacle of success and have no more heights to climb.   It also is frightening. It is boring to achieve the pinnacle of success and have no more heights to climb.   It also is frightening.   "I had to cling to the walls just to walk down the hallways," says John Tatterson, who was highly respected as a dentist and a businessman before he walked away from it all and into the arms of God.   He and his wife, Doris, had built the dental practice from three employees to 22 in 25 years. In addition to all the trappings of material success, Tatterson says he was the envy of his peers for his business acumen.   However, success in business was a hollow victory stresses the man who now is an energized member of the missions committee and co-chair of the deacons at Riva Trace Baptist Church in Annapolis, Md.   "No matter how much I accomplished, I always strived for a little more," Tatterson says. "It was pride. It was futile."   Tatterson relates how he took time to change the rolls of toilet paper at the office and to fluff pillows in the waiting room - but neglected his son and daughter.   "Our children paid … [Read more...]