Southern Baptists must rescue the American family from the precipice of peril, the first report from a convention task force asserts. Southern Baptists must rescue the American family from the precipice of peril, the first report from a convention task force asserts.   "Families will not be rescued simply because we hope so," warned Tom Elliff, chair of the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life. "Families will not be rescued because we think God owes it to us. Families in America - and families in our convention - will be rescued because we decide to do something about it."   The Council on Family Life is designed to help Southern Baptists do just that, noted Elliff, pastor at First Southern Baptist Church of Del City, Okla. The council was formed last year and charged with making recommendations to the convention in 2002.   However, it offered a preliminary report at last week’s Southern Baptist Convention, one of several instances that the issue of families arose during the annual meeting. Messengers to the convention also approved a strong resolution on covenant marriages - and several speakers alluded to the need to address the peril facing the family.   "We believe … [Read more...]

Ending a human life will likely not bring "closure" for the victims of the the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrall Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Ending a human life will likely not bring "closure" for the victims of the the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrall Federal Building in Oklahoma City.   United States citizens riveted their attention to the execution of Timothy McVeigh. The crime McVeigh fomented and committed in Oklahoma City was one of the truly gripping tragedies in the history of our nation’s internal affairs.   We can hardly believe that one man could callously take the lives of 168 fellow citizens, three of whom were pregnant, whose worst offense on that day was being in a federal office building.   For three years, the media presented the graphic images of mangled, often dead, bloody bodies coming from the building Timothy McVeigh decimated that day. For three years, we heard from the people whose lives were torn by either direct contact with the explosion or having a loved one severely injured or killed in the massive explosion or by working amidst the rubble to extricate bodies, some dead, some barely alive.   Timothy McVeigh was quickly captured, then … [Read more...]

Mark Wingfield Texas Baptist Standard   It is a question some longtime Baptists have been heard to ask during more than 20 years of denominational fighting among Southern Baptists - "Whatever happened to Bold Mission Thrust?" It is a question some longtime Baptists have been heard to ask during more than 20 years of denominational fighting among Southern Baptists - "Whatever happened to Bold Mission Thrust?" The 25-year plan to take the gospel to every person on earth by the turn of the century sometimes appeared to take a back seat to controversy in the years after its launch in 1976.   But despite those appearances, denominational officials continued to keep track of goals and measure successes and failures.   Still, finding an answer to whether Bold Mission Thrust was a success or a failure is not so easy. That is due in part to a labyrinth of goals set during the 25-year period and to the difficulty in tracking numbers related to some of those goals.   The overarching Bold Mission Thrust goal was adopted in 1976 - to pray, give and work so that "every person in the world shall have the opportunity to hear the gospel of Christ in the next 25 … [Read more...]

The recent Southern Baptist Convention and its related meetings in New Orleans featured numerous Louisiana Baptists - as speakers, workers and participants The recent Southern Baptist Convention and its related meetings in New Orleans featured numerous Louisiana Baptists - as speakers, workers and participants   God wants his children to move "beyond belief" and add godly living and Christian service to their faith, Rhonda Kelley stressed recently.   "I understand how important it is for each one of us to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, to accept him by faith," Kelley said in an address at the 2001 Southern Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union annual meeting in New Orleans.   "But we then must move beyond belief and add to our faith godly virtues, add to our faith Christian service."   By doing so, one follows in the steps of the Samaritan woman Jesus met at the well, said Kelley, an author and wife of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Chuck Kelley. She reminded Woman’s Missionary Union participants that the Samaritan woman followed up her belief by leaving her water jar at the well and running to town to tell others about … [Read more...]

C. Lacy Thompson LBM Associate Editor   The gospel of Mark tells the story of the four men who carried their paralytic friend to Jesus, only to find they could not reach Christ because of the crowd gathered around him. The gospel of Mark tells the story of the four men who carried their paralytic friend to Jesus, only to find they could not reach Christ because of the crowd gathered around him.   As a remedy, the four men tore up the roof of the house where the crowd was gathered and lowered their friend down to Jesus, who both forgave and healed the man in need.   It is a story modern Christians must heed if they hope to reach lost people, Philip Robertson said in an address at the 2001 Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference in New Orleans.   "I can’t take a heart that’s broken and make it over again," stressed Robertson, pastor at Philadelphia Baptist Church in Deville and current president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention Executive Board.   "I can’t take a soul that’s sin-stained and wash it white as snow. ... But I know a man who can. And his name is Jesus Christ. And he has the authority to forgive sins.   "And he is the … [Read more...]

On behalf of FamilyNet, the Southern Baptist television network, I want to commend Dr. David Uth and the First Baptist Church of West Monroe. On behalf of FamilyNet, the Southern Baptist television network, I want to commend Dr. David Uth and the First Baptist Church of West Monroe. This pacesetting Louisiana Baptist church is featured on this month’s Great Churches of America Series on FamilyNet. Contacts received by the church since the first program aired on June 5 indicate that people are being won to Christ and others are being touched as well.   R. Chip Turner Fort Worth, Texas … [Read more...]

Re: Kentucky preachers who "experimented" with being homeless Re: Kentucky preachers who "experimented" with being homeless I was never chronically homeless, but from the ages of 12 to 24, I was on the borderline. Too physically ill to work or to have my own place, attempting to make it through school, with a family full of drunks and druggies. More than once I woke hungry on a muddy sidewalk on Sunday morning, walked home for a shower and a change of clothes (no one knew I’d been gone); and have my temporarily sober Dad drive me to a Southern Baptist church. Anyone I reached out to, usually ignored me, thought I was lying or said stuff like, if only I were a better Christian, my dad wouldn’t drink and my Mom wouldn’t hit me. Certain church elements (generally older men) warned me away from foster homes, Al-anon and any sort of support group or psy- chological counseling. The article hit the nail on the head about what it is like out there. Sometimes in summer I was "homeless" for a couple of weeks at a time, and without any sack lunch or any money, I’m lucky I don’t have AIDS from how I had to survive, lucky I didn’t die out there. I am born again and know I cannot lose my Christian salvation, but I left the … [Read more...]

This is in response to the article abut the counseling ministry of the Children’s Home. As a recipient of counseling I want to thank them for this much-needed service. This is in response to the article abut the counseling ministry of the Children’s Home. As a recipient of counseling I want to thank them for this much-needed service. I was full of hopelessness and despair. I didn’t know how I was going to be able to go on. Then I read in our church newsletter about this new service provided in our area. I called, made an appointment, and found that it was something I could afford. I went every week for awhile, finding only love, acceptance, and the much-needed help. After a year or so, my family and I are being restored and healed. I urge anyone who needs help with some problem that seems too big to handle, to take advantage of this wonderful resource. It will put you on the road to recovery if you really want to work on it! Thank you again for such a great ministry.   Name withheld Winnsboro … [Read more...]

For the week of June 28, 2001 Potpourri •LAFAYETTE - First church: "His Truth is Marching On" patriotic musical presented by sanctuary choir and orchestra; July 1, 8:30 and 11 a.m.; Luther Burney, minister of music; Perry Sanders, pastor.   •LECOMPTE - Lamourie church: Bruce and Beth Roach, medical missionaries, to speak July 8, 9:45 and 10:45 a.m.; Joe Kite, pastor.   •LIVINGSTON - Doyle church: Marty Haggard, son of Merle Haggard, to share testimony and minister in music, during the worship service, July 15, 11 a.m.; Yancy Wilmot, interim pastor.   •SHREVEPORT - First church: "Hand in Hand" childhood education workshop; July 27-28; registration, 7:45 a.m.; sessions, 8:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.; lunch, 12 p.m.; general session and keynote speakers, 12:45 p.m.; sessions, 2 - 4:15 p.m.; Tommy Sanders, speaker, July 27; Ann Parnell, speaker, July 28; for costs, registration or for other information, contact Childhood Education Dept., LBC, at (318) 448-3402 or 1-800-622-6549; Jon Stubblefield, pastor.   •WEST MONROE - First church: 2001 Single Adult Conference; July 13; supper, 5 p.m.; Big Session 1, 6:30 p.m; 4HIM in concert, 8 p.m.; Dennis Swanberg to speak, 10 p.m.; July 14; … [Read more...]

Richard Land did not present the typical agency report to messengers at the recent Southern Baptist Convention in New Orleans. Richard Land did not present the typical agency report to messengers at the recent Southern Baptist Convention in New Orleans.   Instead, Land recognized several Louisiana Baptists as "champions for the faith" during his report as president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.   "How will our less fortunate neighbors know that we truly love them while we often ignore their struggle with gambling, drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness and hunger?" Land asked during his report. "How will underprivileged children ever know the rich promise of this great nation while they languish in the despair of abject poverty, oblivious to the hope found in the gospel of Jesus Christ?   "How will we ever transform families, churches and communities while our nation is held hostage by a contemporary ‘culture of convenience,’ where the sanctity of human life is wantonly discarded and the very foundation of the family - the covenant of marriage - is crumbling?"   The task will be accomplished through the efforts of champions for the … [Read more...]