SBC President Frank Page has named the members of the Resolutions Committee who will serve during the June 12-13 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas. SAN ANTONIO, Texas (BP) – SBC President Frank Page has named the members of the Resolutions Committee who will serve during the June 12-13 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Page, pastor of First BaptistChurch in Taylors, S.C., appointed Gerald Harris of Georgia as committee chairman. Harris is editor of The Christian Index, newsjournal of the Georgia Baptist Convention, and a member of EphesusBaptist Church in Atlanta. Page’s other appointees, in alphabetical order, are: David George, director of missions of Chugach Baptist Association in Anchorage, Alaska, and member of First Baptist Church of Eagle River. Al Gilbert, senior pastor of Calvary BaptistChurch in Winston-Salem, N.C. Robin Hadaway, associate professor of missions at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and member of Pleasant ValleyBaptist Church in Kansas City, Mo. Galen Jones, African American church planting strategist in Tuscaloosa, Ala., under dual appointment of the North American Mission Board and the Alabama Baptist State … [Read more...]

You have the computer in a very public area of your home so you can monitor its use, and you’ve subscribed to the best Internet filtering system available. Think you’ve safeguarded your family against the threat of pornography? Think again. You have the computer in a very public area of your home so you can monitor its use, and you’ve subscribed to the best Internet filtering system available. Think you’ve safeguarded your family against the threat of pornography? Think again. New technology allows users to download material from the Internet directly to wireless handheld devices, such as the new generation of cell phones and iPods. This “third generation” of mobile devices provides access to digital video content including games, real-time news, and entertainment options, among other advanced features. To make this development even more harmful, it is typically young people who are the most technically sophisticated and the prime users of such equipment. The technology itself is not dangerous; the danger is that there are no regulations or safeguards in place to protect children and teens from being exposed to unwanted, explicit pornographic content that is downloadable to these wireless handheld … [Read more...]

What happens when two fires merge? A church on the grassy plains of the Texas panhandle is finding out. PAMPA, Texas (BP) – What happens when two fires merge? A church on the grassy plains of the Texas panhandle is finding out. When First BaptistChurch in Pampa burned to the ground in 1973, the congregation rallied to rebuild -– and found a new energy for reaching out to people in their community and, through the Cooperative Program, around the world. Johnny Funderburg, First Baptist’s pastor since August 2004, was a pastor in Whitesboro, Texas, when his home burned to the ground in 1997. “When you lose everything, it just humbles you,” Funderburg said. “I think God used that opportunity of my being tender, needy, to draw me to Him. A passion for God came out of that ... and what naturally flowed from that was to begin to pray and just trust Him.” First Baptist eagerly embraced Funderburg’s commitment to prayer when they called him as pastor, coupling it with their commitment to reach out with God’s love, including the Cooperative Program channel of combining the efforts and resources of local Southern Baptist churches to make a difference in the lives of people across the nation and around the world. “The … [Read more...]

Kaleidoscope- a time for worship and Bible study for all women is set for April 28 at Calvary Baptist Church here. ALEXANDRIA – Kaleidoscope- a time for worship and Bible study for all women is set for April 28 at Calvary Baptist Church here. Registration is to begin at 8:30 a.m. The program starts at 9 a.m. and is to conclude at 3 p.m. “Walk Worthy" is the theme for the annual women’s event, organizers say. “Paula Hemphill, Women’s mobilization consultant, International Mission Board will lead us through Bible Study and we will explore what it means for us to walk worthy of the Lord,” said Janie Wise, the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s director of women’s missions and ministry. “Joining us to lead worship is Lisa Pierre, a gifted musician who has led worship for Living Proof Live with Beth Moore in Houston, Texas.” In addition to powerful speaking and worship, breakout conferences throughout the day are to feature the following topics: --“Life BC and AD: Before Cancer and After Diagnosis,” --“Building Faith Foundations for Your Children,” --“Stepping Out of Your Past,” --“Meeting God in the Inner Sanctuary,” --“Intentional Living,” --“Lost in My Space,” --“The 25th Hour,” and more. Registration deadline has … [Read more...]

The first steps of a 15-year plan were taken at the Louisiana Baptist Convention building April 12. ALEXANDRIA – The first steps of a 15-year plan were taken at the Louisiana Baptist Convention building April 12. The LBC-elected History Committee strategized the development of its next project, which is to focus on gathering stories from the 2005 hurricanes that pummeled the southern half of the state, and that involved the northern half of the state in relief efforts. “We are building a file to publish a book about the Katrina/Rita experience while it’s still fresh on peoples’ minds,” said Chairman Diane “Pinkie” Reeder, a member at Westlake Baptist, Shreveport. “This is one of the most important events in Louisiana Baptist history – how our cities were hit and how we [Southern Baptists] responded – and we need to record it now.” LBC Executive Director David Hankins would like to see a book that would include the catastrophic events and the relief efforts that followed, published in conjunction with the state convention’s 175th anniversary, which is to be in 2022, Reeder said. “There were so many victories, so many salvations,” said Leon Terrell, a committee member and pastor at Calvary Baptist in … [Read more...]

I am in the gambling business. I don’t like it, and I want to stop. I am in the gambling business. I don’t like it, and I want to stop. But I am a citizen of Louisiana . My state is reaping a financial windfall from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Some of the FEMA checks and insurance money that were given to help our citizens recover are pouring into the state treasury by way of our state-sponsored gambling business. As a citizen of this state, I am prospering in some measure because 200,000 of my fellow citizens have a serious problem with gambling. And I am profiting because the gambling addiction is even more pronounced in the wake of the storms. The fact that Louisiana encourages and sponsors this predatory business makes me sad. I’d rather we paid for state government in some other way. State-sponsored gambling is a regressive tax that funds government largely through the broken dreams and financial distress of our poorest citizens. As citizens of The Bayou State, we promote the financial ruin of vulnerable individuals in times of crisis with alluring television advertisements that promise big rewards for gambling. Most of us know, including the gamblers, that the odds of attaining wealth through … [Read more...]

Being both a servant and a leader seem to contradict each other. LAFAYETTE – Being both a servant and a leader seem to contradict each other. But the Servant Leader is exactly what Jim Hunter is teaching to professionals around the world. Hunter will hold a Servant Leadership Workshop Friday May 4 from 8:30 - 11:30 a.m. at East BayouBaptist Church located at 2234 Kaliste Saloom RoadinLafayette. “When we talk about servant leadership, Jim is the expert on that,” event coordinator Brad Price said. “He is similar to John Maxwell, maybe just not as well known.” Price said the event is designed to reach those in the “marketplace, those people that are in positions to lead others including Presidents of companies, CEO’s, Managers, Supervisors, Teachers, Coaches, Parents - virtually anyone in a leadership position. Power versus authority, is one of the areas that Hunter will discuss according to Price. “It is relationship and character based,” he explained, “it is based on patience, kindness, humility, respect, forgiveness, honesty, selflessness and commitment.” Hunter has authored two books on the subject including The Servant, subtitled A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership with more than 1.8 … [Read more...]

Much as I love visiting all the wonderful churches in Louisiana, there is even more to see and do in this great state. LONG LEAF – Much as I love visiting all the wonderful churches in Louisiana, there is even more to see and do in this great state. One of the neatest places might be less than an hour south of Alexandria, just off Hwy. 165. It’s the Southern Forest Heritage Museum, and it’s even more spectacular than usual this next Saturday – April 21 – with Heritage Day at Long Leaf. This is where the timber industry began in the 1890s in Louisiana. A water-powered circle saw started up in 1896, and the company-owned town of Long Leaf grew up around it. The mill ceased operation Feb. 14, 1969, and everything basically is still as it was then. The museum opened in 1996. It’s like walking into your childhood. Posters, pictures, artifacts and information that brings history and memories to life – and that’s just inside what used to be the commissary. On the rest of the museum’s 57 acres is a treasure-trove of machinery that men will remember their dads using. The mill, of course, is still standing, with all its saws and equipment. The belt-and-shaft-driven machine shop, built in 1915, still works – that was too … [Read more...]

I recently read the book Letters to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris. It is an evangelistic masterpiece. Harris has invested years of his life preparing to write this book. But Harris is an atheist and one of the leading “evangelistic atheists” of our day. I recently read the book  Letters to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris. It is an evangelistic masterpiece. Harris has invested years of his life preparing to write this book. He is so passionate about sharing his faith with others that he took the time to write a defense of his beliefs and publishing it for the whole world to read. Letters to a Christian Nation is a national best-seller. Within its pages, Harris is bold. He realizes that everyone is open to talk about faith these days, and while most of us stay silent, he speaks loudly and clearly about his faith, which he says is intellectually defensible and exclusive. Isn’t this wonderful? Well, not really. You see, the faith that Sam Harris is presenting in his book is actually no faith at all. Harris is an atheist and one of the leading “evangelistic atheists” of our day. Harris is passionately committed to leading everyone he can to believe that they have no eternal purpose. According to him there … [Read more...]

f children are indeed the future of this country, then the nation’s highest court will soon decide how much protection our future deserves. If children are indeed the future of this country, then the nation’s highest court will soon decide how much protection our future deserves. After a disturbing decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, the Supreme Court has agreed to review next term whether a child pornography law -- the PROTECT Act of 2003 -- is unconstitutionally overbroad or vague. The 11th Circuit put the future of our children in jeopardy when it reversed the conviction of child pornographer Michael Williams. The court said, “Non-commercial, non-inciteful promotion of illegal child pornography, even if repugnant, is protected speech under the First Amendment.” In essence, the court expressed trepidation that the PROTECT Act would criminalize the pandering of material as “child pornography” when in fact it did not meet the legal definition of that term. But it’s a classic case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. As an example, the court expressed concern that a “proud and computer savvy grandparent” might be subject to prosecution under the PROTECT Act, simply for … [Read more...]