By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor   [img_assist|nid=7335|title=Flag of My Father|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=70|height=100]MONROE – On the heels of its top prize win at the May 18 GI Film Festival in Washington DC, Flag of my Father is to air May 30, Memorial Day, on Legacy Television Network.   The television debut of the feature-length, faith-based film produced by R-Squared Productions of Monroe – which touts the values of family, country and strong moral character – also follows Flag of my Father’s May 1 national/international release on DVD through Bridgestone Multimedia Group. The DVD is on sale at LifeWay Christian Stores through the end of the month, and online at r2films.net.   On May 18, Flag of my Father was honored as the Best Narrative [feature] Film of 2011 at the GI Film Festival in Washington D.C. One of the film’s stars, Hollywood Actor William Devane, was presented the Choice Award earlier in the week-long festival for his positive portrayal of a GI character – Vietnam veteran Jake in Flag of my Father.   “To go and actually win was indescribable,” said writer/director Rodney Ray, a member at First Baptist Church of West Monroe and owner of R-Squared … [Read more...]

Compiled from State Baptist Newspapers   [img_assist|nid=7337|title=A tear and a hug|desc=More than 150 Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Chaplains are deployed in Alabama.|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=66]Monday morning’s destruction in Joplin, Mo., with three-quarters of the town gone in the wake of a 6 p.m. Sunday tornado, follows on the heels of a series of tornados in late April that left more than half of Alabama reeling.   Other states dealing with tornado damage include at least Mississipi, Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Wisconsin.   Flood damage starts with the Ohio River Valley and flows into all the states connected to the Mississippi River.   In addition, heavy rains in eastern Montana and western North Dakota have put those two states into flooding conditions. Making the situation worse, neither state has a Disaster Relief mud-out unit, so Southern Baptists won’t be able to provide assistance in this area.   What does the national picture look like as the Baptist Message goes to press? Following are some examples, as space is available.       ALABAMA       [img_assist|nid=7338|title=A Solemn … [Read more...]

By Kelly Boggs, Editor Baptist Message   PINEVILLE – Interested individuals and potential students from Central Louisiana attended an open house held by Louisiana College May 12 in the school’s Granberry Conference Center. The event was designed to provide details about LC’s new divinity school.   [img_assist|nid=7341|title=Chuck Quarels|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=78|height=100]Chuck Quarels Ph.D., dean of the new Caskey School of Divinity, presided over the meeting that provided specific information about program offerings, admission procedures and finances.   The Caskey Divinity School, which is being funded primarily by an anonymous donor, is slated to begin operation in August. “By the time the school opens,” Quarels said, “it will have received $4.1 million dollars from the donor’s foundation.”   Joe Aguillard, president of LC and who is recovering from heart surgery, made an appearance at the gathering and welcomed those in attendance. “I’m so glad you’ve come this evening,” he said. “We are looking to train warriors for the Lord at the Caskey School of Divinity.”   During the informative meeting, Quarels said  the school of divinity will focus on five areas and … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   PINEVILLE – In the course of two semesters, Loving Care, a nurse-led clinic open to the community and staffed by nurse practitioners, emerged from nursing faculty conversation to full-blown endeavor at Louisiana College.   [img_assist|nid=7342|title=Ribbon Cutting|desc=Kimberly Sharp, dean of the LC School of Nursing and Allied Health, leads the ribbon-cutting ceremony May 12 for the new Loving Care nurse-led clinic at Louisiana College.|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=67]A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility, located in the front portion of the LC Nursing Skills Lab, took place May 12, with Mayor Clarence Fields and the Pineville Chamber of Commerce on hand to mark the occasion.   “This is a gift from Louisiana College to the community,” said LC President Joe Aguillard, in one of his first public appearances since his heart bypass surgery in early April. Looking a bit frail – but exhibiting a burst of resonant energy when it was his time to speak – Aguillard spoke of his appreciation for being part of the Pineville community, and of the benefit the Nurse-led clinic will be to Central Louisiana.   “We’re bringing the world to Pineville,” the LC … [Read more...]

By Staff, NOBTS Communications NEW ORLEANS – After a half century of service to the church and the academy, renowned New Testament scholar Gordon D. Fee has donated his specialized textual studies library to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS). Designated as “The Gordon D. Fee Collection on the New Testament Text,” this significant donation contains books that Fee amassed in his half century of textual studies as well as extensive files with Fee’s notes and data for textual projects realized over the years. An internationally acclaimed textual scholar and passionate evangelical, Fee has contributed significantly to ensuring the accuracy of the New Testament text. His studies led him to oppose various viewpoints in the field that he saw as inadequate for explaining the history of the transmission of the New Testament text. Two such examples were his opposition to those preferring the less well-attested texts and those overplaying the role of theological motivation in explaining the rise of variant readings. His methodological contributions to the study of the New Testament text in the writing of the Church Fathers have paved the way for many advances in that field, and the text-critical notes in his articles and … [Read more...]

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor   SULPHUR – It’s not just teenagers who are enjoying the new community basketball court at Nahodishgish, N.M. Little kids like it too. So do moms and dads.   [img_assist|nid=7345|title=Play Ball|desc=Members of a prep team from First Baptist Church Sulphur drove 2,200 miles round trip to prepare the ground for a concrete foundation for a basketball court on a Navajo reservation in northern New Mexico in mid-April.|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=75]First Baptist Church of Sulphur, La., made it possible. David Holder is pastor.   “God amazingly provided the right experts in the field at the right time who became available to travel out there with us to donate their time and efforts to do the job with excellence,” said Tom Bruce, who celebrates 10 years with the church May 29. He was minister to youth and families for eight years, and minister of education, missions and outreach the last two.   God also provided a congregation where about 300 participate in Sunday morning worship to give, over and above their regular tithes and offerings, $30,000 over the course of a year – the initial goal was $12,000 – for construction of the … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   Comings, Goings   Jeremy (wife Melissa) Breaux, new as pastor at Erwinville Baptist, Erwinville.   Charles Rogers MD, new as pastor at St. Clair Baptist in Boyce, from Bogalusa.   Needed/Giving   Oak Hill Baptist Church in Many is looking for a pastor. Send resumes to Russell Peace, PO Box 108, Negreet LA 71460 or email auntcarol53@hotmail.com.   Columbia Heights Baptist Church needs a pastor. Send resumes to PO Box 1627, Columbia LA 71418.   Ferriday First Baptist has a few 10-foot pews for sale at $250. Call 318.757.4524. Pastor: Wayne Gray.   Revivals, Anniversaries   First Converse: Seder supper 4-6 p.m. May 29. Revival May 29 – June 1. Speaker: Reggie Lisemby. Music: Paul Burnitt. Pastor: Weyland Gauntt.   Enon Franklinton: Revival June 5-8. Speaker: Jack Daniels. Pastor: Michael Cooke.   Church events   New Hope Monroe: Testify in concert at 6 p.m. May 29. Love offering. Pastor: Johnny Bunting.   Midway Baptist Church: Fifth Sunday Singing May 29. Pastor: Brad Bunting.   First Hornbeck: 172 people participated in a prayer walk May 5 for the … [Read more...]

By Mark Kelly, Baptist Press   NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – “A Great Commission People with a Great Commandment Heart” will provide the focus for a June 14-15 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Phoenix.   A broad range of auxiliary activities also will be held, from Crossover 2011 evangelistic outreach events to the annual Pastors’ Conference and Woman’s Missionary Union annual meeting and missions celebration.   The SBC’s business sessions in the Phoenix Convention Center will include messengers’ consideration of recommendations from the SBC Executive Committee’s review of ethnic church and ethnic church leader participation in the convention.   [img_assist|nid=7348|title=SBC Phoenix|desc=The Phoenix Convention Center will provide the venue for this year’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Phoenix on June 14-15. The SBC’s business sessions in the Phoenix Convention Center will include messengers’ consideration of recommendations from the SBC Executive Committee’s review of ethnic church and ethnic church leader participation in the convention.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=427]Bryant Wright, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said last year’s … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Press   LAS VEGAS (BP) – A renewed passion for planting churches in North America and taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth will provide the focus for the 2011 SBC Pastors’ Conference, the president of that organization said.   In a seven-minute video posted at www.sbcpc.net, Vance Pitman, church planter and lead pastor of Hope Baptist Church in Las Vegas, Nev., said he is praying 1,000 churches will commit themselves during the conference to plant churches in “pioneer areas” of North America. He also announced that part of the annual offering taken during the gathering will be used to finish translating the JESUS Film into the language of an unreached people group in the Arabian Peninsula.   The conference, which is to take place June 12-13 in Phoenix, Ariz., will meet under the theme of “Aspire: Yearning to join God’s kingdom activity.”   The Pastors’ Conference is an annual two-day experience held prior to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, to provide encouragement, training and networking opportunities for church leaders.   Pitman said in the video that he sees “a renewed sense of urgency [among Southern Baptists], a renewed passion like … [Read more...]

By Sarah Palmer Goff, LifeWay Communications   NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Iranian boy and his family left their home to escape conflict and persecution. They sought a better life in Greece, but it wasn’t the dreamland they envisioned. The family is stuck “living in limbo” -- they can’t leave the country, but are unrecognized by the government.   Lost in the system, illegal citizens with no rights or a way to work, they are “non-persons.” The boy’s parents have no way of gaining income, and he can’t attend a Greek school. He could get an education through a nearby co-op, but his family can’t even buy the basic school supplies needed for that.   Sadly, this boy’s plight is all too common. Children across the globe can’t afford the simplest of supplies needed to attend school. Young girls in the urban slums of Bangladesh. Children in a Turkish orphanage. Poor farmer’s children in the rural Philippines. Poverty and AIDS-stricken young in Botswana. All are underprivileged and from low-income families, and their lack of money for school supplies keeps them from attending school.   They yearn for a better life, but opportunity requires an education -- and the kids can’t get an education without … [Read more...]