By Tammi Reed Ledbetter, Special to the Message   GRAPEVINE, Texas – Bible drill and speakers’ tournament participants will rely on either the King James Version or Holman Christian Standard Bible when they compete next spring in regional and statewide competition.   The decision to drop the New International Version as one of the options resulted from concern that the 2011 NIV translation features extensive gender-neutral language left over from the controversial TNIV, published in 2005.   This shift in translation principles sets a potentially dangerous precedent in biblical interpretation, said Kenneth Priest, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention church ministries associate, who announced the decision in a letter to Texas pastors.   Louisiana Baptist Convention and Georgia Baptist Convention leaders indicated they also are removing the NIV as a translation used in Bible Drill and Speakers’ Tournament.   After studying press releases from the NIV’s Committee on Biblical Translation and consulting with Southern Baptist scholars and the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, a recommendation was made against using the new NIV.   The 2011 NIV is an updated … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   PINEVILLE – Louisiana College appears in the D3football.com top 25 for the first time. The Wildcats are currently ranked No. 19 in the poll released Sept. 26 by the consummate web site for NCAA Division III football.[img_assist|nid=7636|title=Darnell Williams|desc=Louisiana College senior wide receiver Darnell Williams works for extra yards in LC’s 52-17 win over No. 23 Mississippi College.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=424]   Colleges and universities that compete in DIII athletics participate in the NCAA subdivision, which is defined by being non-scholarship. Players competing at the DIII level do not receive athletic scholarships.   LC broke in the D3football.com poll by virtue of its 3-0 start that includes convincing wins over Millsaps College and conference rival Mississippi College. The Wildcats beat Millsaps in the second game of the season 56-0 and defeated MC 52-17 on Sept. 24.   The Wildcats opened the season with a win over Belhaven University of Jackson, Miss. Belhaven competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and, as such, is able to offer athletic scholarships. LC outscored Belhaven 32-24 in the drenching rain of … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   ARRIVALS/DEPARTURES   Charles Marceau: new as pastor at Big Cane in Big Cane/Morrow.   Myron Turner: new as music minister at Oak Grove Eros.   Rayland Trisler: new as interim pastor of Oak Ridge Baptist in Oak Ridge.   Freddie (wife Elaine) Arnold: new as interim minister of education at First Livingston.   Lavelle Spillers: new as pastor of Pleasure Point Homer.   Needed/Giving   Coldwater Baptist Church needs fulltime or part-time minister. Send resume to 6558 Hwy. 6, Natchitoches, LA 71457. Call 318.352.3251 or 318.355.1777.   Ed Baldwin is available for interim, supply, bivocational or full-time pastorate in Central Louisiana. Call 337.378.4823.   Bayou Baptist Association churches without pastors: Little Caillou, South Lafourche, First Raceland, First Thibodaux. DOM: Joe Arnold. 985.868.7352.   Northeast Louisiana Baptist Association churches without pastors: Bethel, Jerusalem, M cClendon, Parkview. DOM: Jerry Price. 318.537.9548.   Morehouse Baptist Association churches without pastors: Antioch, Cherry Ridge, Collinston, Grace, Horseshoe, Oak Hill, Riverside, White … [Read more...]

By Emily Stockton, IMB Communications   WESTERN CHINA – A four-lane expressway has replaced the ancient Silk Road I half-expected to see.   I travel southward down this road in western China, and in the beginning I feel strangely at home. The pristine air and gorgeous mountain scenery allow me to pretend I’m passing through Colorado and New Mexico until the sun reflecting off of something catches my eye. Minarets atop bright metal domes come into view.   Mosque after mosque, as ubiquitous as little country churches in the Bible belt of the southern USA, dot the countryside, causing me to sit up and pay attention. I’m in western China’s Gansu Province, a place largely unchanged by the Gospel of Jesus Christ because, like most places in western China, it has been largely overlooked by the Christian community.   Quite a few of the cities and pathways along my western journey were part of the ancient Silk Road, and Jesuits carried the Gospel to these areas 400 years ago. But as trade routes changed, the people became more isolated. Access to outside cultures became more limited. Most of the people who live here today have never had opportunity to hear of Jesus Christ’s offer of … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   BATON ROUGE/WEST MONROE – Two cities in Louisiana are among four across the nation in October to bring a fresh focus on East Asia.   Louisiana Baptists across the state are invited to participate in one or both of the identical day-long conferences on how to impact East Asian Peoples with the Gospel: Oct. 18 at Zoar Baptist Church in Baton Rouge; Oct. 20 at First Baptist Church in West Monroe.   “Worldwide there are 1.6 billion East Asian people, 1.3 billion of whom are still unreached with the Gospel,” said an East Asia worker with the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board. “IMB’s East Asian Peoples Affinity Group will be conducting two EA1Day gatherings in Louisiana for individuals and churches that desire to see those numbers change.   “Special emphasis will be on how to impact China’s western cities, Japan’s unreached millions, Tibetans, Hui and Mongolians for Christ,” the IMB representative said.   The event, to start at 9 a.m. and conclude by 4 p.m. are to include four workshops:   n The unfinished task   n Barriers and bridges to the Gospel   n Engaging mega cities   n Embracing … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Press   NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – Southern Baptist Convention President Bryant Wright has announced the appointment of a presidential task force to study the prospect of changing the 166-year-old convention’s name.[img_assist|nid=7641|title=Bryant Wright|desc=Southern Baptist Convention President Bryant Wright announced the appointment of a presidential task force to study the prospect of changing the 166-year-old convention’s name.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=482]   Wright, who was re-elected to a second one-year term during the SBC annual meeting in Phoenix this past June, said he believes the study will be helpful for two main reasons.   “First, the convention’s name is so regional,” he said. “With our focus on church planting, it is challenging in many parts of the country to lead churches to want to be part of a convention with such a regional name. Second, a name change could position us to maximize our effectiveness in reaching North America for Jesus Christ in the 21st century.”   Wright announced the task force during the opening session of the SBC Executive Committee’s Sept. 19-20 meeting in Nashville, Tenn.   Wright said Jimmy Draper, … [Read more...]

By Don Graham, Baptist Press   MARIETTA, Ga. (BP) – It’s a problem many pastors wish they had.[img_assist|nid=7643|title=EMBRACE|desc=Nearly 500 representatives from churches across the United States gathered at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga., Sept. 7 for the International Mission Board’s Embrace equipping conference.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=427]   About a year ago Chris Roberts started Bridge Community Church in Blackshear, Ga., with just 36 people. The congregation has since swelled to an average of 280 in Sunday morning worship. The rapid growth has sent Roberts scrambling to lay groundwork for what he hopes will become one of Bridge Community’s hallmarks – missions.   “We already have a heart to connect with an unreached people group,” Roberts said, explaining that his church has the passion but not the know-how. That’s what brought him to the International Mission Board’s first Embrace equipping conference Sept. 7 in Marietta, Ga.   Roberts was one of nearly 500 pastors and church leaders who packed the Atlanta-area Johnson Ferry Baptist Church for the all-day event, a starting point for churches willing to explore the challenge of taking the Gospel to … [Read more...]