As others have noted, it is difficult to identify one biblical book, chapter and verse as favorites. As others have noted, it is difficult to identify one biblical book, chapter and verse as favorites.   However, when it comes to books of the Bible, Habakkuk has to rank as a favorite. In it, the writer issues the ultimate challenge to God - why are you allowing the world to be like this? He dares God to answer him. The answer he receives is clear - that God is in charge, and one simply must live by faith, unclear of the workings of the divine but understanding that God is all there is to hold to in life. It is a book that speaks to the modern mind struggling to understand - reminding us that we are not called to see and know all but to move and live within the darkness of faith.   As for chapters, Psalm 139 is a wonderful reminder that God is intimately involved in our lives - is ever-present, ever reaching for us, ever willing to work to recreate us.   When it comes to verses, Matthew 22:37-40 comes to mind, in which Jesus identifies the two great commands. They remain the two great commands - and the two great challenges of life - to love God with everything one has and to love … [Read more...]

For the week of February 15, 2001 Potpourri •ALEXANDRIA - Calvary church: Sandi Patty in concert; Feb. 24, 7 p.m.; tickets are $10 and are available by calling the music suite at (318) 445-5640; Sam Jones, minister of music; David Brooks, pastor.   •FARMERVILLE - First church: Concord Association Music Festival; Feb. 26, 7 p.m.; Roger Johnson, pastor.   •JENA - Fellowship church: Layman’s Soul-Winning Rally; Feb. 27; fish fry and fellowship, 5:30 p.m.; conferences, 6:30 p.m.; rally, 7 p.m.; Chuck Kelley, speaker; Phil Smith, music; reservations for fish fry needed by Feb. 22; call (318) 339-9974; Randy Ray, pastor.   •LAFAYETTE - First church: The Miracle Singers in concert; Feb. 25, 8 and 11 a.m.; Luther Burney, minister of music; Perry Sanders, pastor.   •MORGAN CITY - Bayou Vista church: Gulf Coast Evangelism Rally; Feb. 25, 6 p.m.; Richard Harris, speaker; Charles Gilder, pastor.   •WOODWORTH - Tall Timbers Conference Center: Bivocational Evangelism Conference; Feb. 23; registration, 5 p.m.; meal, 7 p.m.; worship, 8 p.m.; Feb. 24, 8:30 a.m. - 12 noon and 6:30 p.m.; Feb. 25; breakfast, 7:30 a.m.; worship, 9 a.m. - 12 noon; Darrell Robinson, speaker; Jimmy … [Read more...]

They are essential, but folks tend not to want to mention them by name. Euphemisms are used in familiar company rather than using the appropriate name. Polite company generally banishes even the surrogate words. They are essential, but folks tend not to want to mention them by name. Euphemisms are used in familiar company rather than using the appropriate name. Polite company generally banishes even the surrogate words.   Even their place of residence is a sensitive matter. Water closet. Powder room. Necessary room. Little girl’s room. Sensitive, indeed. Why, if you are of true Southern heritage and politeness, you may experience chill bumps when reading even these euphemisms.   The centerpiece of this place unspoken, except by necessity or inference, that is located in 99.44 percent of American homes, is, well, that object polite company banishes from conversation.   Imagine the dilemma when at about the same time both of ours needed replacing.   The first one was removed. It was singular in construction, and as heavy and awkward as–well, it was heavy and awkward. Only a significant struggle got it out through the door onto the carport. The next phase was to lug it out to … [Read more...]

The incident was typical of many encountered by Rob and Sandra Stip at the Pago Pago Seafarer’s Center. The incident was typical of many encountered by Rob and Sandra Stip at the Pago Pago Seafarer’s Center.   A ship’s owners had a reputation for having "never paid a penny to anyone - and when the crew complained they were thrown off the ship, arrested and deported," Rob Stip recounts.   But a group of the seafarers from the ship found shelter at the Seafarer’s Center and became involved in intense Bible Study and prayer. After 10 days, a fishing agent brought $35,000 to the center and paid the men, saying: "What is it with this God of yours? I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. ... What is it going to take to make you guys happy?’   As directors of the center from 1998 until early this year, the Stips learned their ministry would be much more than passing out Kool Aid and pool sticks to idle seafarers. Indeed, they say they soon saw how God had uniquely equipped them for ministry in ways they had never imagined.   The seafarer’s center in American Samoa has been operated by the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board and the Hawaii-Pacific Baptist Convention since 1995. It … [Read more...]

Isaiah Mejia understands the stakes are high in Las Vegas. Indeed, six-figure numbers race through his mind nearly every day. Isaiah Mejia understands the stakes are high in Las Vegas. Indeed, six-figure numbers race through his mind nearly every day.   However, one will not find Mejia pulling levers on slot machines, rolling a pair of dice in a game of craps or anxiously hovering over a spinning roulette wheel. "I can’t forget 777,000," Mejia explains. "I can’t forget that number."   That is the number of people in Las Vegas who profess no religious preference or affiliation whatsoever. "The only way that they know God is in a curse word," Mejia says.   Of the city’s 1.5 million inhabitants, only five percent claim to be Christians. About 1 percent are Southern Baptists.   However, as a Southern Baptist North American Mission Board missionary, Mejia still likes his odds. "Our churches here live on the cutting edge, meeting people where they are," he says. "It’s the law of survival - if you don’t, you die.   As a ministry evangelism specialist with the Southern Nevada Baptist Association, Mejia coordinates evangelistic outreach ministries at Las Vegas sites. … [Read more...]

Maria Teresa "Tess" Castaneda had plenty of cause to grieve in 1999. The United Nations employee suffered the death of her father and the loss of her possessions in an Manhattan apartment fire. Maria Teresa "Tess" Castaneda had plenty of cause to grieve in 1999. The United Nations employee suffered the death of her father and the loss of her possessions in an Manhattan apartment fire.   However, in December 1999, Castaneda accepted Christ after hearing the gospel at a special event for United Nations staff members sponsored by Christian Ministries to the United Nations Community. Now, she praises God for his mercy - not only her father before his death but also several family members in the Philippines have come to Christ.   "I know I have lost my home, but I still have a peace and joy that I never had when I had my material possessions," Castaneda says after a Bible study group session.   Such stories are part of what motivates Southern Baptist missionary Ken Welborn as he directs the Christian Ministries to the United Nations. Through special events and personal visits, Welborn helps present an evangelistic witness to the United Nations community - and through them, to the … [Read more...]

All across North America, Southern Baptists are working in order to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ - and they know their efforts depend on the prayers and gifts of others All across North America, Southern Baptists are working in order to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ - and they know their efforts depend on the prayers and gifts of others   Editor’s Note: March 4-11 has been scheduled as the 2001 Week of Prayer for North American Missions. The following articles focus on missionaries featured during this year’s week of prayer and giving through the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American missions. The theme of this year’s emphasis is "On Mission Together." The goal for the 2001 offering is $50 million.   Just one block away from New Orleans’ glitzy French Quarter district and glamorous Canal Street is the last place most thrill-seekers would step into when visiting the Louisiana city.   After all, this is "the city that care forgot."   This is where "laissez les bon temps roullez" ("Let the good times roll") is the death-defying guiding force behind the actions of some men and women.   Many come only to indulge themselves completely in this … [Read more...]

There is a favorite cartoon panel that shows a pair of spiders sitting near the bottom of a playground slide. They have constructed an elaborate web across the bottom of the slide and now are admiring their work.   One is turned to the other, offering an excited opinion.   "If we pull this off, we’ll eat like kings," he says. There is a favorite cartoon panel that shows a pair of spiders sitting near the bottom of a playground slide. They have constructed an elaborate web across the bottom of the slide and now are admiring their work.   One is turned to the other, offering an excited opinion.   "If we pull this off, we’ll eat like kings," he says.   Forgive Southern Baptists if they feel the cartoon panel sums up the challenge of reaching the United States with the gospel. In many aspects, it is as unlikely a task as spiders trapping a youngster in a playground web. After all, probably at least half of the nation does not profess personal faith in Jesus Christ. And no one can say modern culture is working in favor of the gospel.   But also consider that the cartoon panel offers a hint at how the task can be accomplished - by working together, just as … [Read more...]

When Jim Futral visited an adult mental facility near his chuch, he was taken to see certain patients, who could not see, hear or talk. When Jim Futral visited an adult mental facility near his chuch, he was taken to see certain patients, who could not see, hear or talk.   In the building where the patients with the most extreme needs were housed, Futral watched as a man – unable to do anything else but lay on his cot – had a seizure. A nurse knelt down beside the screeching and shaking man, took him in her arms and held him close to her, rubbing his back.   When the screeching subsided and the trembling stopped, the nurse helped the man back down to his cot.   "Not one person in this room can see anything, say anything, or get up and do one thing for themselves," the facility director explained to Futral, executive director of the Mississippi Baptist Convention. "They only know one thing ... they know that we love them."   The show of love was inspiring, Futral noted during a chapel address at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.   "When Jesus stepped down here out of heaven and came and sat down beside you in your pew and to walk with you and me, he came … [Read more...]

What better way to honor a hymnologist than to present him with a hymn written in his honor? What better way to honor a hymnologist than to present him with a hymn written in his honor?   Such was the case Harry Eskew, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary professor of music history and hymnology and music librarian. Eskew was honored during a recent banquet at First Baptist Church in New Orleans. The banquet was part of the seminary’s 26th annual Church Music Symposium - and it featured a hymn written for the longtime professor.   "Give Us Courage," was written by Terry York, associate professor of Christian ministry and director of the doctor of ministry program at George W. Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas.   The hymn tune, "ESKEW," was composed by Benjamin Harlan, dean and associate professor of church music at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.   The song’s dedication described the professor as an esteemed teacher and an exemplary Christ-follower.   The words also celebrated Eskew’s willingness to follow the Lord.   "Give us courage, Lord, to learn, the courage to teach, the courage to move when you say, … [Read more...]