Louisiana Baptist Convention leaders discussed the future last week - and signaled continued commitment to missions by proposing a record state Cooperative Program budget for the upcoming year.   Board members also approved a study committee to look at future budgeting in light of ongoing increases in fixed costs. Louisiana Baptist Convention leaders discussed the future last week - and signaled continued commitment to missions by proposing a record state Cooperative Program budget for the upcoming year.   Board members also approved a study committee to look at future budgeting in light of ongoing increases in fixed costs.   They also approved a proposal to clarify that a church must cooperate "monetarily" with the convention in order to be eligible to send messengers to annual meetings.   Board members approved a proposed budget of $22,750,000 for 2001, an increase of $1,250,000 (5.8 percent) from the current budget. If approved by convention messengers in November, it would be the fifth-straight budget increase for the state.   The proposed budget was approved without debate or dissent. It includes $250,000 to be taken "off the top" to pay for health … [Read more...]

Kangaroos and koalas, "g’day" and "no worries." Ask folks where they most would like to travel, and chances are good they will include a mention of Australia. With its rugged landscape and rugged people, red rock outback and Ocker pride, Australia is the dream adventure for millions of city-bound around the world. Kangaroos and koalas, "g’day" and "no worries." Ask folks where they most would like to travel, and chances are good they will include a mention of Australia. With its rugged landscape and rugged people, red rock outback and Ocker pride, Australia is the dream adventure for millions of city-bound around the world. Bill Whelan is Aussie to the core - and one of his country’s biggest fans. But the spiritual state of Australia brings a particular pain to his heart, he says. Whelan is a deacon at Windsor District Baptist Church and was backbone of the church’s sprawling "Tent City" housing Christian volunteers during the Olympics. He says he desires one thing for Australia - revival. Whelan can give his own testimony to the life-saving power of Jesus Christ. "I was a 19-year-old submariner serving in the Royal Australian Navy. Mine was a non-Christian background, like most Australians. Like … [Read more...]

Boyd Hall does not fit the stereotype of a missionary whacking through the African bush with a Bible in one hand and a machete in the other. Hall carries a basketball. A Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionary in Capetown, South Africa, Hall was one of the 600-plus volunteers staying at Windsor District Baptist Church’s "Tent City" Olympic village. He came to Australia as part of the South African Sports Federation. Boyd Hall does not fit the stereotype of a missionary whacking through the African bush with a Bible in one hand and a machete in the other. Hall carries a basketball. A Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionary in Capetown, South Africa, Hall was one of the 600-plus volunteers staying at Windsor District Baptist Church’s "Tent City" Olympic village. He came to Australia as part of the South African Sports Federation. As a former basketball player and sports coach, Hall spent his days doing a different kind of evangelism - sports evangelism among young people. "Our goal is to teach them good basketball skills and build relationships with them," Hall says of such efforts. "We want to get to know them and see what’s going on in their lives. Then, at the end of the day, … [Read more...]

Thank you very much for your timely and extremely well-written editorial entitled "Bravo for war on tobacco - now regarding alcohol..." Thank you very much for your timely and extremely well-written editorial entitled "Bravo for war on tobacco - now regarding alcohol..."   I believe you hit the nail on the head when you wrote "Our government is addicted to the income from taxing alcohol and from the political contributions of its manufacturers."   I hope your editorial will help us all to realize that as bad as tobacco is for us - alcohol adversely affects, to a greater degree, the health of the user and an untold number of innocent people. It surely is time to go after the beverage industry with the same justification and zeal as we do the tobacco industry.   I appreciate your in-depth and substantive discussion of this important issue. Sam Lane Desoto, Texas … [Read more...]

Being a hero is not easy, but try it parents usually do. The family pooch was heavy with pups. Very heavy.   The mother pup’s family, being the loving sort, wanted to provide the best for its expectant mother. The doghouse was all ready, filled with appropriate materials to make it a birthing place. If that did not suit the dog’s mothering instincts, there were countless other places in the garage, under the carport, on the back porch. Being a hero is not easy, but try it parents usually do. The family pooch was heavy with pups. Very heavy.   The mother pup’s family, being the loving sort, wanted to provide the best for its expectant mother. The doghouse was all ready, filled with appropriate materials to make it a birthing place. If that did not suit the dog’s mothering instincts, there were countless other places in the garage, under the carport, on the back porch. Each location not only provided a wonderful place to birth puppies, but a convenient place at which the loving family could appropriate proper interest and care for the new arrivals.   Maybe that is why the mother chose to make her delivery room a snug place under the front porch of the family’s newly-constructed … [Read more...]

Budget time should mean the time to make sure your church does not short-change its staff in salary and benefits. Every church needs a committed group of advocates for adequate staff member benefits, regardless of how large or small the staff may be or whether or not the staff members are full-time or part-time. Budget time should mean the time to make sure your church does not short-change its staff in salary and benefits. Every church needs a committed group of advocates for adequate staff member benefits, regardless of how large or small the staff may be or whether or not the staff members are full-time or part-time. Ideally, such a group will be the personnel committee or whatever group serves in that capacity. But, if the official committee does not function as an advocate for employees, another unofficial group may need to take up the mantel.   One of the items such a group should be sensitive to is inflation. Because inflation has not been at a rapid rate for the last few years, some churches have tended to cut overall budget expenses by ignoring inflation when figuring staff salaries.   But inflation at a 3 percent a year rate cuts staff salaries if raises are not given at least … [Read more...]

He looks to be about 15 years old. He tries to keep a stern, defiant glare on his face as he shows off his weapons of war - a quiver of homemade arrows tipped with rusty nails, cardboard for the feathers.   His eyes reflect fear. One wants to grab him and say: "You know you’re not going on a turkey-shoot, don’t you? These are people with guns, and they’re shooting back." He looks to be about 15 years old. He tries to keep a stern, defiant glare on his face as he shows off his weapons of war - a quiver of homemade arrows tipped with rusty nails, cardboard for the feathers.   His eyes reflect fear. One wants to grab him and say: "You know you’re not going on a turkey-shoot, don’t you? These are people with guns, and they’re shooting back."   But looking in his eyes, one is pretty sure he understands.   The week has been spent in Ambon, the seat of Indonesia’s Spice Islands. A three-person team - photographer, videographer and writer - spent the time searching for the truth behind the clashes between Muslims and Christians in the Maluku Islands, which have been raging for nearly two years.   It is difficult to prepare oneself for this type of … [Read more...]

Abanner at the airstrip on Ambon, a tiny dot in Indonesia’s Maluku island chain, quotes passages from both the Christian Bible and the Muslim Koran calling for peace.   However, one looks into the charred face of Frendy Nunemete and sees that peace is a concept far from being realized here in the cradle of the Spice Islands, where Muslim-Christian battles have raged for nearly two years. Abanner at the airstrip on Ambon, a tiny dot in Indonesia’s Maluku island chain, quotes passages from both the Christian Bible and the Muslim Koran calling for peace.   However, one looks into the charred face of Frendy Nunemete and sees that peace is a concept far from being realized here in the cradle of the Spice Islands, where Muslim-Christian battles have raged for nearly two years.   The assault on his Christian village happened quickly June 15. Village defenders immediately were overrun by attackers wielding automatic weapons, mortar rounds and grenades.   As his brother fell dead from a gunshot, Nunemete climbed onto a roof to hide. The attackers searched for him below, then tossed grenades into the house and set it afire. To escape the flames, Nunemete dove into a … [Read more...]

On the islands of Indonesia, violence between Christians and Muslims rages on - as observers worldwide wonder what can be done to stop the mayhem and bring peace Christians are being killed in Indonesia - just because they are Christians. They are being beaten and tortured. Their homes are being burned. And it is not just in Indonesia. It is in other places as well. Christians are being killed in Indonesia - just because they are Christians. They are being beaten and tortured. Their homes are being burned. And it is not just in Indonesia. It is in other places as well.   But what does that mean to American Christians, who argue for an equal place in the public square, who look to legislation to ensure a level playing field for competing philosophies, who decry adverse court rulings as signs of bias against them? What can safe - even spoiled - American Christians do?   • Pray. However prayer works, a fundamental belief of Christianity is that it is effective. Prayers are not invalid. They do not represent wasted time.   • Talk. Much of the time, the world hurries on its way, unheedful of the victims lying on the roadside. Christians can change that by telling the story of … [Read more...]

On the sixth day, the Bible says, God made man. Today, scientists say they have put together a book of life roughly mapping out how God accomplished that miracle.   However, by cracking the human genetic code, the line between knowing God and playing God is radically altered. For the first time in human history, scientists can look down the road to the possibility of creating human beings in their own image rather than the image of God. On the sixth day, the Bible says, God made man. Today, scientists say they have put together a book of life roughly mapping out how God accomplished that miracle.   However, by cracking the human genetic code, the line between knowing God and playing God is radically altered. For the first time in human history, scientists can look down the road to the possibility of creating human beings in their own image rather than the image of God.   Not since Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution were introduced has there been a moment in time so rife with the possibilities of tension between religion and science.   "This is a crossroads moment for the human community," said Marvin McMickle of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio. "What I … [Read more...]