Submitted by philip on Mon, 10/21/2013 - 14:07 Louisiana sent two disaster relief teams to assist with the cleanup in Boulder. The first team, which was led by Tom Higginbotham, consisted for 19 members while the second Louisiana Baptist team had 18. A third team of 21 arrived the following week. All in all, the three teams did mud out work, cut down trees and shared the gospel with families. By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer BOULDER, Colo. – It was early July when Tom Higginbotham was cutting down trees and sharing the gospel with families whose homes were burned due to massive wildfires in the Black Forest area. Higginbotham never imagined he would make a return trip three months later to the state, this time about 90 miles north to assist those whose homes were severely damaged by the mid-September flooding in Boulder. “I never even thought about being back here again,” said Higginbotham. “We ran into a lot of people who had no hope. “Out of the 10 homes we worked on, maybe one of those families was going to church,” he said. “The thing we kept hearing is y’all would come so far to help us and we thank you for that.” Higginbotham was a blue hat – team leader – of a Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief team … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Mon, 10/21/2013 - 14:09 By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer For several years Katelyn King included her photo and address in an Operation Christmas Child shoebox she mailed off, but never expected to receive a response. However, to King’s surprise, she received not one but two separate responses, one in 2008 and the other in 2010 from children in India. The 12-year-old girl – who was the same age as King – wrote that she shared the toiletry items with her immediate family and kept the school supplies for herself. The 15-year-old boy she received a response from indicated he did the same as the girl, though he shared his school supplies with his siblings. Both told King that the shoeboxes were indeed a blessing. “In both of their letters they talked about how their family does believe in God and that so many people in India do not get a chance to hear about God and that what we do is awesome,” said King, a volunteer with the collection center at Fair Park Baptist Church in West Monroe. “It was very exciting to receive letters back. They both sent me pictures of themselves and their addresses so I could write them back.” King’s story is not a rarity. In fact, since Operation Christmas … [Read more...]

By Kelly Boggs, Message Editor A recently released book cast doubts on one of the homosexual rights movement’s most venerated icons. It seems likely the story promoted about Matthew Shepard’s murder 15 years ago is primarily a myth. Matthew Shepard died on Oct. 12, 1998, at the Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colo. Five days earlier the University of Wyoming student had been violently beaten, tortured and tied to a fence near Laramie, Wyo. In the hours following the assault on Shepard, two of his friends speculated to investigators that he had been targeted because he was homosexual. Homosexual activists quickly alerted the media and representatives from both descended on Laramie. Even before any real facts had been established, homosexual activists promulgated the narrative that Shepard was the victim of a brutal hate crime. The media swallowed the story and, in short order, Shepard was deemed a martyr in the cause for homosexual rights. It was just a dark twist of fate, many insisted, that caused Shepard to encounter the homophobes who took his life. Many similar beatings would occur, activists insisted, unless hate crimes laws were enacted to protect homosexuals. Since his death, Shepard has been venerated by … [Read more...]

By Jeff Iorg, President Golden Gate Seminary Brian Holloway owns a home in New York and one in Florida. While he was in Florida, a mob of about 300 teenagers and young adults broke into his home and threw a party. The teens did significant damage – initial estimates of about $20,000 – including broken furniture, shattered windows, and graffiti painted inside the house. The party was discovered when the revelers posted the party’s play-by-play on various social media. The police are now using that information to round up the participants. When Mr. Holloway was contacted he took an unusual step. Rather than demand justice, he offered mercy. He offered to forego prosecution of anyone who would come forward, pay for part of the damage, and help with the clean up. Holloway’s offer, along with examples of the damage and some of the social media documenting the participants, is posted at www.helpmesave300.com. So far, only four partiers have accepted his offer. Instead, some of the parents of these hooligans are threatening legal action against Mr. Holloway for posting images of their children and messages written by them on the web. News flash – it’s called “social media” and it was broadcast by your children! So stop your … [Read more...]

By Rob Phillips, Director of Communications Missouri Baptist Convention In 1 Samuel 15:3 God commands King Saul: “Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.” Bible stories like this are fodder for atheists like Richard Dawkins, who writes in “The God Delusion,” “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” Though less strident than Dawkins, other cynics struggle to see God as loving and merciful in light of such Scriptures. So we must ask, “Is God a genocidal maniac?” Hardly. God’s love and wrath are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they are complementary qualities of His divine nature and His plan to rescue humanity. God orders the destruction of the Amalekites and certain other groups for two primary reasons: to punish their accumulated sins, and to prevent their wicked influence from … [Read more...]

TO THE EDITOR   I do not believe there is “Baptist Theology”! We as Baptist should believe and hold to BIBLE doctrine. If St. Augustine, Martin Luther, or John Calvin have revealed truth concerning Bible doctrine I will hold with them. Where any stray from such truth, I will part their company. Those who call people who hold to the truths, of Total Depravity, Unmerited Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace and Perseverance of the Saints, “Calvinist,” are referring not only to myself but to “Baptist” men of God such as Charles Haddon Spurgeon, as well as our first President of the Southern Baptist Convention, William Bullein Johnson, P. H. Mell, James P. Boyce, Ernest C Reisinger, Basil Manly Sr. and Basil Manly, Jr. I for one am proud to stand with such company. Southern Baptist Seminaries have held to and taught these doctrines from the beginning, though we certainly have strayed from those foundations over the past one hundred years. Saying that our Seminaries were not founded by men who held to these doctrines, is either ignorant or blatantly dishonest! By a simple reading of the Abstract of Principles, adopted in 1858, which currently serves along with the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 as our doctrinal … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Mon, 10/21/2013 - 14:20 By Philip Caples, Louisiana College The first time that the status of Southern Baptist churches startled me was during a chapel service at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Chuck Kelley, President of New Orleans Baptist Seminary, stated around 70 percent of all Southern Baptist churches were either in a state of plateau or decline. When I heard this statistic, I wondered about the future of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). To strengthen the convention, SBC leaders have been planting churches and developing strategies to improve church health. However, several friends have said to me more emphasis needs to be placed on church revitalization. In light of current discussions on this topic, why is church revitalization so important in Southern Baptist life? Church revitalization helps congregations to redefine and embrace their mission for Christ. Congregations should be reminded that Jesus said: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations” (Matt. 28:19). To make disciples emphasizes the importance of both evangelism and discipleship. Local churches cannot be healthy if they are not reaching the lost, but the task of the church, along with … [Read more...]

By Archie England, NOBTS Question: If God is on the side of His people, why do they sometimes suffer defeat or disaster? Let’s examine 1 Samuel 4-6 for answers. Archie England responds: Israel rallied at Ebenezer to repulse the Philistine army encamped at Aphek (1 Sam 4:1). The ensuing battle left 4,000 Israelites dead. Shocked, the elders asked: “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines?” (4:3). Concluding that if God were “more present” Israel could defeat their enemy, they brought the Ark from Shiloh. Unfortunately, 30,000 more died, the Ark was taken, and the high priest family-Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas-all perished. Great, indeed, was the devastation. Israel’s defeat by the Philistines that day was, first, the result of disobedience-which brought judgment. Eli had failed to lead Israel or his sons, so they desecrated the offerings and committed immoral indulgences (1 Sam 2:12-17; 3:22-26). Second, Israel wrongfully employed the Ark: they treated the “presence of God” as an iconic symbol to be used to win a battle. God would not allow such superficial handling of His Presence to rescue Israel! Once the Ark had been returned to Israel (at Beth-shemesh, 1 Sam 6:1-12), further disaster occurred: 50,070 more … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Mon, 10/21/2013 - 14:23 David Denton By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer NEW IBERIA – David Denton, pastor of Highland Baptist Church in New Iberia, will be nominated for the office of first vice-president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention during this year’s LBC’s annual meeting according to Lindsey Burns, pastor of First Baptist Church, DeRidder. Denton confimed to the Baptist Message the expected nomination. Denton said he welcomes the opportunity to serve alongside potential president First Baptist Lafayette Pastor Steve Horn, who is the only candidate, thus far, who has announced he will allow his nomination for LBC president. Besides being members in the same association and serving in churches about 30 minutes apart, both men have served at Highland Baptist. Horn was pastor of the church before Denton came on board in April 2006. Also, Horn’s mother-in-law and father-in-law are members of Highland Baptist. “I am looking forward to the opportunity to serve the Louisiana Baptist Convention,” said Denton, the only announced candidate for first vice-president. “Steve Horn and I have known each other for a long time and I, if we are elected, will help him implement whatever he has … [Read more...]

ALEXANDRIA – This year’s annual meeting of the Louisiana Baptist Convention will be held at the Alexandria Riverfront Convention Center on Nov. 11-12, 2013. In order for a church to participate in the business of the convention, they will need to elect messenger(s) to represent them. Messengers elected by their respective church are then able to register as messengers and participate in the business of the convention. The Credentials Committee oversees the registration process for the annual meeting. LBC Credentials Committee Chairman Todd Free notes that there are five ways that messengers may be certified to participate and vote at this year’s annual convention. The first and simplest way is for messengers to pre-register using the LBC online program, print out their registration card, and bring the card to the annual meeting. Pre-registration in this way allows messengers to be certified within a matter of minutes, Free said. Second, if messengers have not pre-registered, bringing a letter from their church on church letterhead stating that they are elected messengers will allow them to register and be certified to vote. Third, a church officer can phone in the names of elected messengers. Fourth, verification by a fellow … [Read more...]