This month, we grapple with the riddle of how to increase resources for statewide, national, and international missions. My small grandchildren enjoy watching “Blue’s Clues” on TV. The youthful host and his preschool viewers, with the help of the “Handy Dandy Notebook,” solve riddles by deciphering the rather obvious clues left by the faithful dog “Blue.” Thus, the name of the show. In recent days, we have been analyzing clues to solve the www riddle (not world wide web but world wide witness). We are trying to fulfill the strategy Jesus gave in Acts 1:8. How can that be done? We’ve noted that Southern Baptists discovered one clue over 80 years ago called cooperative missions giving. The creation of the Cooperative Program has allowed our churches to experience great advance in world wide witness. Through the Cooperative Program, we are able to share the gospel everywhere all the time at the same time. The next riddle we studied concerned how to expand our mission reach from Louisiana to the ends of the earth. We found a clue in a strategy called the “CP Advance Plan” (see last month’s article) which will move fully 50 percent of all future CP increases to our national and international Southern Baptist … [Read more...]
‘Hands-on’ supports CP Missions
Members of Amite Baptist Church believe in missions because they do missions, pastor Terry Booth says. DENHAM SPRINGS, La. (BP) – Members of Amite Baptist Church believe in missions because they do missions, pastor Terry Booth says. “It is my conviction that we [the Southern Baptist Convention] will not be able to sustain Cooperative Program support without direct involvement,” said Booth, pastor of the Denham Springs, congregation since 1985. “There’s just a difference when people come back from mission trips; it puts a fingerprint on their giving.” Amite Baptist gives 13.5 percent of its undesignated offerings through the Cooperative Program because it’s a loyal Southern Baptist church with a strong belief in missions, Booth added. “The connection is pretty easy for the congregation to grasp,” Booth continued. “As [former Amite member] Derrick Thornton plants churches among Muslims in Atlanta, our CP missions dollars are helping him.... When our members see this, it’s easier for them to digest the concept of giving to missions, and to capture it and support it.” Booth said he returned in 2000 from a mission trip to Thailand with a fresh understanding of the need for personal involvement in … [Read more...]
Lebanese Christians serve Muslim refugees
The frightened, protective Muslim mother finally agreed to let Christian medical workers take her sick 2-year-old daughter to the hospital. BEIRUT (BP) – The frightened, protective Muslim mother finally agreed to let Christian medical workers take her sick 2-year-old daughter to the hospital. “If you send me with one of your people, I am ready to go with her,” the Shiite woman told the Christians at Beirut Baptist School, where she has found shelter for her family from the fighting that raged near her home. Then, from behind the black veil that completely covered her face, she quietly spoke these words: “Please, pray for my daughter.” Amid the darkness and suffering of war, a ray of light is shining in Lebanon. For weeks, Lebanese Baptists and other Christians have been housing, feeding – and loving – hundreds of mostly Shiite Muslim families driven from their homes in Beirut’s southern suburbs and towns farther south by the battles between Hezbollah guerrillas and the Israeli military. During normal times, the two groups might never encounter one another, much less form friendships, in Lebanon’s uneasy mix of religious and ethnic factions. But these aren’t normal … [Read more...]
Workers repair landmark steeple
NEW ORLEANS (BP) – The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary steeple is down, but only for a season. The aluminum-clad steel steeple, which stretched 170 feet above the seminary campus, remained in place during Hurricane Katrina and suffered only minor external damage. But ... NEW ORLEANS (BP) – The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary steeple is down, but only for a season. The aluminum-clad steel steeple, which stretched 170 feet above the seminary campus, remained in place during Hurricane Katrina and suffered only minor external damage. It became a beacon for hope in the devastated city, the only light at night more miles around. During inspection this summer, though, the internal steel structure was found to be damaged beyond repair; seminary officials opted to remove the steeple so it can be replaced. For the next four to six months Leavell Chapel will be without its steeple. Patterned after the steeple of the first Baptist church in America, First Baptist Church of Providence, R.I., the NOBTS steeple was installed atop Leavell Chapel in 1975. Over the years the steeple became a symbol of the seminary’s mission to be a “lighthouse” for the Gospel in the city of New … [Read more...]
Special Notice
The Message plans a special Katrina issue Aug. 31, and a special Rita issue Sept. 29. Please send in your stories and photos about how you survived or served through the hurricanes, and how your life is different as a result. Email: news@baptistmessage.com or mail to PO Box 311, Alexandria LA 71309. The Message plans a special Katrina issue Aug. 31, and a special Rita issue Sept. 29. Please send in your stories and photos about how you survived or served through the hurricanes, and how your life is different as a result. Email: news@baptistmessage.com or mail to PO Box 311, Alexandria LA 71309. … [Read more...]
Your child doesn’t have to be a statistic
Parents: This column addresses a sexual topic of sensitive nature. Parents: This column addresses a sexual topic of sensitive nature. “At 50 percent, we’re talking about a major social norm,” Claire Brindis said. “It’s part of kids’ lives.” The professor of pediatrics at the University of California at San Francisco was not talking about braces or cell phones; she was speaking about oral sex. According to a report released in the fall of 2005 by the National Center for Health Statistics, slightly more than half of American teenagers ages 15 to 19 have engaged in oral sex. That number jumps to 70 percent for 18 and 19 year olds. Another NCHS report, based on the same research, showed that slightly more girls than boys have had intercourse before they turn 20. Also, the number of high school girls who have engaged in casual sexual encounters now equals that of boys. “The data are now coming out and roiling the idea that boys are the hunters and young girls are the prey,” said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth. “It absolutely defies the stereotypes.” The study also found that nearly 11 percent of young women ages 15 to 19 indicated they had some kind of sexual experience … [Read more...]
Don’t stop preaching just yet
RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – The sky is falling – again. “Is this how Armageddon begins?” one worried pundit asked about the rapid escalation of combat between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – The sky is falling – again. “Is this how Armageddon begins?” one worried pundit asked about the rapid escalation of combat between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. The same question arises with every major flare-up in the Middle East because of the region’s volatility and its role in biblical prophecy about the end times. It was asked in 1948, 1967 and 1973 when Israel fought wars for survival with the wider Arab world, and in 1982 when Israel invaded and occupied southern Lebanon. The current Israeli-Hezbollah conflict appears more limited, despite its heartbreaking human toll and its potential to draw in other regional powers. Intensive efforts to end the fighting quickly –- either by military action, diplomatic means or both -– have begun. Yet a sense is growing among some uneasy observers that events in the wider Middle East and beyond are spinning out of control. Among the alarms and warnings from various quarters: Hezbollah wants to draw Israel into a long, costly ground war in Lebanon, … [Read more...]
Frank Page discusses theological issues
Frank Page, pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C., who was elected as president of the Southern Baptist Convention in June, talks about his views on women in ministry, concerns about narrowing boundaries of theological cooperation, an SBC resolution calling for abstinence from alcohol and the debate on Calvinism. TAYLORS, S.C. (BP) – In 1980, SBC President Frank Page completed a doctor of philosophy degree in Christian ethics at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with the acceptance of his dissertation, “Toward a Biblical Ethic of Women in Ministry,” which strongly advocated unlimited roles for women in ministry, including serving as church pastors. In an extensive interview with the Florida Baptist Witness, Page said he recanted those admittedly “radical” and “extreme” views shortly after earning his Ph.D., and he has repeatedly asserted his support of the Baptist Faith and Message statement concerning the matter. Page, pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C., who was elected as president of the Southern Baptist Convention in June, spoke at length in the interview about his views on women in ministry, concerns about narrowing boundaries of theological cooperation, an … [Read more...]
GuideStone resource helps
DALLAS (BP) – GuideStone Financial Resources has released a new online resource, “Planning Financial Support,” for use by church personnel and finance committees in planning staff members’ compensation packages. DALLAS (BP) – GuideStone Financial Resources has released a new online resource, “Planning Financial Support,” for use by church personnel and finance committees in planning staff members’ compensation packages. The presentation, along with a workbook by the same name, are being offered at no charge by the Southern Baptist entity. “Our goal with this new presentation is to help churches provide for their pastors in a comprehensive, holistic manner,” said Chris Elkins, a finanal solutions and services staff member at GuideStone. “Sometimes a church tries to pay its pastor in a lump-sum, or ‘package’ approach,” he explained. “That forces a pastor to absorb ministry expenses into his income, cutting his take-home pay.” The presentation’s launch comes on the heels of the release of the 2006 SBC Compensation Study, which showed the average salary and housing allowance for fulltime Southern Baptist pastors was $49,952, an increase of 7.4 percent since 2004. Income statistics for other … [Read more...]
LBC adds staff
ALEXANDRIA – The Louisiana Baptist Convention recently added two people to its staff: Alberto Rivera and R. Michael Stewart ALEXANDRIA – The Louisiana Baptist Convention recently added two people to its staff. New Orleans pastor Alberto Rivera (wife Romy) was called to serve as the New Orleans Metro regional missions strategist. Rivera is the first Hispanic in North America to serve in this capacity. “The rapid increase in the Hispanic population in the “new” New Orleans clearly justifies the call of Alberto Rivera to lead our church planting and church revitalization ministries in this region and the state,” said Mike Canady, LBC director of missions and ministry. Although Rivera’s position is focused on the New Orleans area, he will also be the state’s consultant for Hispanic outreach and church planting for the whole state. R. Michael Stewart (wife Joanna) was called as the Cooperative Program/Stewardship strategist. Stewart previously served Lake Charles, Trinity, as the minister of evangelism. The Cooperative Program/Stewardship strategist is part of the communications team led by John L. Yeats. “Stewardship directly impacts local church ministries and the Cooperative Program is the method … [Read more...]
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