By Staff, LBC Communications Louisiana Baptists are invited to submit names of nominees for service on state convention boards and committees and to submit resolutions for possible consideration for the 2013 Louisiana Baptist Convention. The Louisiana Baptist Committee on Committees is beginning its work to nominate persons to serve on various state convention committees. Currently, 19 nominees are needed for service on committees on Credentials, Louisiana Baptist History, Moral and Social Concerns, Nominations, Order of Business and Resolutions. Committee on Committees Chair is Lloyd Whitman. In addition, the Louisiana Baptist Committee on Nominations is beginning its work to fill vacancies on state boards. At this point, 29 nominees are needed to serve on the Convention Executive Board and as trustees of Louisiana College, the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home and Family Ministries, the Baptist Message, and the Baptist Foundation. The Committee on Nominations Chair is Richard Blue. As in previous years, persons should submit names of nominees and the committee or board for which they are being nominated. Submissions should include information on the nominee’s church membership and current employment. Nominations should be … [Read more...]

By Kelly Boggs, Message Editor Until recent years the discussion over civil rights in the United States has been focused primarily on inherent, immutable characteristics like sex or race. Both are set realities at birth and, unless there is some invasive interference, they do not change. Courts and legislatures have tinkered with the understanding of civil rights for a few years now by introducing the concept of behavior and self-perception to the discussion. However, when the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on June 26 that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional, it took a giant step toward endorsing the concept of behavior as the basis for civil rights. DOMA was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996 and is a federal statute that allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed under the laws of other states. “DOMA is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the Fifth Amendment,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy who authored the majority opinion in the 5 to 4 vote. “DOMA instructs all federal officials, and indeed all persons with whom same-sex couples interact, including their own children, that their marriage is less worthy … [Read more...]

By James Draper Jr., Former President LifeWay Christian Resources The excitement of independence boiled in the streets of Philadelphia as John Adams rose early on July 2, 1776. He sat at a small desk in his rented room and quickly wrote a note to his wife, Abigail. “The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epochal in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forevermore.” July 2, 1776 was the day for final debate regarding Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence. The document served England notice that America would no longer live under England’s tyranny. It was officially adopted two days later. However, just declaring a separation from England did not make it so. As Congress met in Philadelphia, British warships massed in the harbors of New York waiting for an opportunity to subdue the city and push inland by river to capture … [Read more...]

By Jim Law, Pastor of First Baptist Gonzales Charles Spurgeon in his autobiography tells a story from his youth years that speaks to the priorities in a believer’s life. On one occasion his grandmother promised him a penny for every hymn of Isaac Watts that he could perfectly repeat to her. Possessing a photographic memory, he began to quickly learn the hymns at such a pace that she reduced the price to a half-penny. Spurgeon recalled that even with the reduction in price there was still risk “that she might be ruined by the calls on her purse.” In time Spurgeon faced a lucrative distraction.  His grandfather, finding his home place overrun with rats, promised Spurgeon a shilling a dozen for all the rats that he could kill. With such an offer, his priorities shifted as he gave up hymn-learning for rat-killing. In later years, Spurgeon confessed that memorizing the hymns paid the best, for they fed his young life with God’s truth and in his ministry was able to use them in his sermons. Thinking through the tyranny of the urgent and the cacophony of demands and appeals for our time and energy, we are faced with similar choices as Spurgeon. In the Christian life, often the issue is not between good and evil, but between better … [Read more...]

By Jay Dennis, Pastor First Baptist Church in the Mall, Lakeland, Fla. Exhilarating yet very challenging – that was my experience of the Join One Million Men launch at the Southern Baptist Convention in Houston. The reception to this initiative to combat pornography exceeded expectations. This could not have happened without the enthusiastic endorsement of Richard Land of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and Wanda Lee of WMU. They are heroes. Other heroes are Andrea Mullins of New Hope Publishers who have made Join One Million Men resources available and John Sullivan, executive director of the Florida Baptist Convention, who opened the door for me to discuss the strategy with state Baptist convention executive directors and newspaper editors in Oklahoma City this past February. Now, the heroes will be the pastors and lay leadership who say to their congregations concerning pornography: “Not with our men. Not with our women. Not with our sons and daughters. We will be 1 of 1 million men committed to a pornography-free life. We will be 1 of 1 million women praying for 1 million men to live pornography-free lives.” Thank you, Southern Baptists, for once again leading the way in addressing the hard issues. At the … [Read more...]

By Archie England, NOBTS Question: Are all (major) translations of the Old Testament essentially the same? (Or, why should my pastor study the Hebrew and Greek for preaching God’s Word?) Archie England responds: Basically, most major translations sufficiently relay the meaning of God’s word. But at times, some serious understatements or overstatements occur – and the biblically untrained readers can’t see these unless shown by someone knowledgeable in the original languages. Pastors, study the Greek and Hebrew Bible to show yourself approved. Christians, accept nothing less than God’s best from your pastors. Let’s examine a few of these issues. Just one word can make a significant difference. In Isaiah 7:14, most major translations render the baby’s mother as a “virgin.” Though that’s clearly the expectation for a young Hebrew girl about to get married, it’s not the point emphasized by the Hebrew. Avoided here is the specific word for virgin (which fits any female of any age who has never had sexual relations) and uses a far less common word for a girl who’s come of age for marriage. The rendering of this idea as virgin comes from the Greek Septuagint, which was a translation of the Old Testament hundreds of years later, … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Mon, 07/01/2013 - 14:09 By Philip A. Pinckard, NOBTS Jesus made it clear that the cost of discipleship would be high: Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life must lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it – Matthew 16:24-25, NASB. When my wife and I attended orientation for new Southern Baptist international missionaries, little did we realize we would meet a couple who would lose their lives in taking the gospel to the nations. Chu Hon, M.D., and his wife, Kei Yi, a nurse, were charter members of the Tidewater Korean Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, Va. They never had children of their own, but had many friends and neighbors who remember them like family, according to the church’s website: www.tkbcva.org. They attended orientation for members of the Cooperative Services International, a Southern Baptist aid organization, in the spring of 1993. That summer they began ministry in Khabarovsk, Russia, a city in Siberia. Dr. Yi, a retired cardiologist, taught medicine at the Khabarovsk Medical Institute and practiced medicine in a local hospital. Dr. Yi also … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Mon, 07/01/2013 - 14:12 Rev. Larry Badon, interim pastor of Broussard Grove Baptist Church of Prairieville, turns over the keys to incoming pastor Thomas “T” Alan Lusk. The church also voted to merge with Istrouma Baptist of Baton Rouge and will now be called “The Grove.” By Mark H. Hunter, Regional Reporter PRAIRIEVILLE – A new chapter in the 125 year history of Broussard Grove Baptist Church is being written with a new name and a new pastor. In an emotional service on May 26, Rev. Thomas “T” Alan Lusk, 33, was presented with a symbolic shepherd’s staff from Broussard’s interim pastor, Rev. Larry Badon and the church’s name was changed to “The Grove.” The small, aging congregation voted in April to merge with Istrouma Baptist and is now officially a branch campus of the much larger Baton Rouge church. About 50 Istrouma members, many of whom live in Ascension Parish, are now revitalizing the church that had dwindled from nearly 700 several years ago to around 40 in May. “Our vision is the same as Istrouma’s vision: ‘We glorify God by making disciples,’” Lusk said in early June. Lusk preached his first sermon on June 6 and both churches will celebrate an official, public “launch” on Sept. 8. “We want to … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Mon, 07/01/2013 - 14:30 The Louisiana pastor unnamed in the article photographed this Bengali Christian baptizing a new convert in Mumbai. By Mark H. Hunter, Regional Reporter CAPITOL CITY – It was hot, stuffy and crowded in the one-room shack, deep in a labyrinth of slums of Mumbai, India, when the door burst open and angry young Muslim men ordered everyone to get out –  except for one. “You stay!” they told the pastor of one of Louisiana’s largest churches, who was holding a Bible study with a dozen or so Bangladeshi men. As part of its international missions outreach, the church unnamed for security reasons recently adopted Bangladeshi Muslims, an unengaged, unreached people group, who have migrated to India by the millions and are the despised, “illegal immigrants” of that predominantly Hindu nation. This was the second trip for the Louisiana church to meet with “house church” planters evangelizing the vast slums of Mumbai. “The first minute or two my blood pressure rose because I knew they were angry – and I was alone – except for the Lord,” the senior pastor said. “But I felt courage rise. Jesus said, ‘Don’t worry before you go in to testify before kings and authorities, I will give you … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Mon, 07/01/2013 - 14:27 A young girl holds a baby doll at a temprarily-erected memorial at Plaza Tower Elementary School in Moore, Okla., where seven children died after an E5 tornado leveled the school May 20. By Brian Blackwell, Marketing Director MOORE, Okla. – Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief team member Eddie Rhymes will never forget seeing first-hand a temporarily-erected memorial at Plaza Tower Elementary School, where seven children died when a tornado leveled the school May 20. Filled with stuffed animals, flowers, flags and other memorial items, the memorial was located within view from the final site where his team was working before returning to South Louisiana on June 7. “It was tremendously emotional to be there and realize how much death and destruction were all around you,” Rhymes said. “Trying to disconnect your emotions from the task at hand was difficult. “We were literally piling people’s homes, furniture and years of memories on the curbside to be hauled away,” he said. “One lady said she could not bear to even look at what was left; she said she was going to push the remainder of her home down and move everything away.” Such were the scenes that Rhymes and others … [Read more...]