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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Online tools aid small church, bivo pastors

By Jon D. Wilke, Baptist Press   [img_assist|nid=7462|title=Gary Mitchell|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=88|height=100]NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – Gary Mitchell spent 20 years as a pastor in small, rural congregations. Like many church leaders across the country, Mitchell held a full-time job to support his ministry.   “I’ve been bivocational my whole life,” said Mitchell, who is 68 and “retired.” He now trains, equips and networks with the nearly 1,000 bivocational pastors in the Louisiana Baptist Convention.   “The vast majority of churches are led by a bivocational pastor,” Mitchell noted. Nationwide, the Bivocational Small Church Leadership Network estimates there are about 37,000 smaller church pastors, most of whom are bivocational, within the Southern Baptist Convention’s 45,727 churches.   Bivocational pastors are full-time pastors who have a secondary income stream. That might be a second job, retirement income, working wife or other possibilities. In other words, their time is stretched thin.   “Most bivocational pastors are looking for affordable study tools to assist them in their sermon preparation,” Mitchell said. “They are starved for information and resources. I … [Read more...]

Sadly, 163 million girls have been aborted in Asia

By Kelly Boggs, Baptist Message Editor   The term “pro-choice” in relation to abortion was first used in the mid-1970s, it was the result of “sloganeering to avoid the harness of ‘pro-abortion,’” observed journalist and columnist William Safire.   Supporting a woman’s ability to “choose” sounds much better from a public relations standpoint than arguing for her right to an abortion. The most ardent advocates of abortion believe a woman should be able to “choose” an abortion for any reason and at any time during pregnancy – no limits.   After more than 30 years, the mantra of “choice” has not only gone around the world, but with the advent of amniocentesis and ultrasound, the reasons women “choose” abortion have greatly expanded.   In the U.S., around 90 percent of babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome in the womb are aborted. Meanwhile, some women pregnant with multiples now choose to abort one or more of the babies, even if all are healthy.   Another troubling trend is sex-selective abortion. In many countries, healthy unborn baby girls are having their lives snuffed out because, according to their parents, they are the wrong sex.   The consequences of sex-selective … [Read more...]

Got an enemy? God commands us to love, do good by them

By James Law, Pastor First Baptist Church Gonzales   Do you have an enemy? One who has expressed great hatred toward you? Like the Apostle Paul, do you have an Alexander the coppersmith in your life who is committed to your misery (2 Timothy 4:14)? If you do, maybe you are struggling with what obedience to Christ looks like in the face of such adversity.   Charles H. Spurgeon once gave the following counsel, “Get a friend to tell you your faults, or better still, welcome an enemy who will watch you keenly and sting you savagely. What a blessing such an irritating critic will be to a wise man, what an intolerable nuisance to a fool! “   At first glance this doesn’t sit well.  Spurgeon sounds like a masochist who enjoys arming his enemies in order for them to inflict personal pain. This counsel seems on its head because enemies are those we want removed from our lives.   However, we can mistakenly think that enemies are solely the work of the devil, when in reality they come from God’s gracious hand to show us our sin, teach us humility, and drive us to seek the face of God.  God uses enemies in a “Romans 8:28 fashion” for the purpose of conforming us into the image of the One who has many … [Read more...]

The Mideast: What are uprisings all about?

By Mike Edens, Professor of Theology and Islamic Studies at NOBTS   EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second but last of a three-part exploration of events in the Middle East by Mike Edens, professor of theology and Islamic studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and an emeritus missionary who served 25 years in the Middle East with Southern Baptists’ International Mission Board.   NEW ORLEANS (BP) – ”What are the uprisings all about?”   This question regarding the Arab world, posed in a theology class I have been teaching in a Southern Baptist church, is complex enough and entails somewhat of a guess on my part. But we need to start with a different question: What is God up to in the Mideast and North Africa?   We believe that the God of the Bible is the author of all humanity, composed of our families, nations, cultures and history. He currently is bringing all things to the proper conclusion according to His judgment and timing.   God is working in various ways to reveal Himself and His will to all people primarily through His church, the Bible and His presence – the Holy Spirit. Also, He increases in every person a hunger which can only be satisfied by a relationship … [Read more...]

Questions We’ve Pondered

By Archie England, Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at NOBTS   Question: How did Isaiah perceive the future Messiah and the (messianic) age that he would inaugurate?   Archie England responds: Following the powerful portraits of “the servant of the Lord” (Isaiah 42-53), Isaiah drives forward his message of comfort and hope (Isaiah 40). Though the righteous are perishing (Isaiah 57), all they must do is “come, seek, call (upon the Lord), and live righteously” (Isaiah 55:1,6; 56:1f) because the mighty arm of God is bringing salvation (Isaiah 59:1,15-20). Even the nations will witness this light of God (Isaiah 60) and be blessed by the outpouring of His Spirit (Isaiah 61), which Jesus applied to himself, (Luke 4:18f).   What might be the name given to this One sent from God? Well, in Isaiah 2 He’s implicitly the day of reckoning; in Isaiah 4, the branch of the Lord; and in Isaiah 5, the well-beloved tending his vineyard.   In Isaiah 7, he’s revealed as the virgin-born child named Immanuel; in Isaiah 9, the young son who governs and rules from David’s throne, bearing four divine names: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. In Isaiah 11, he’s both “the shoot … [Read more...]