For the week of December 7, 2000 Christmas Programs •ALEXANDRIA - Calvary church: Calvary choir presents " A Christmas to Remember," Dec. 10, 6 p.m.: Dec. 11, 7 p.m.; Sam Jones, minister of music, David Brooks, pastor.   •PINEVILLE - Pineville Park church: "Sing We All Noel" musical; Dec. 10, 10:45 a.m.; Thomas E. Lott, Jr., minister of music; Herb Dickerson, interim pastor.   •BATON ROUGE - Woodlawn church: "A Christmas to Remember" musical; Dec. 16-17, 6 p.m.; Brian Jemison, minister of music; Tommy Middleton, pastor.   •WEST MONROE - Ridge Avenue church: "A Night Before Christmas" musical; Dec. 16-17, 7 p.m.; David McCormick, minister of music; David Maxwell, pastor.   •BATON ROUGE - Goodwood church: "Loves Transcending" musical; Dec. 17, 6 p.m.; Richard Stevenson, minister of music; David H. Campbell, pastor.   •ZACHARY - First church: "A Christmas Celebration" musical; Dec. 16, 4 p.m.; Dec. 17, 7 p.m.; Billy Causey, minister of music; Wayne Barnes, pastor.   •SULPHUR - First church: "Christmas Fantasia" musical; Dec. 9-10, 6:30 p.m.; Donald W. Dukes, music minister; Ronnie Burke, interim pastor.   •BASTROP - First church: adult choir … [Read more...]

They are just well, just kids, teenagers. Imagine how incredibly difficult their lives have become since that vision. They are just well, just kids, teenagers. Imagine how incredibly difficult their lives have become since that vision. He is a day laborer and days are tough. Besides eking through a hardscrabble existence, he has to pay all those taxes. And now, he discovers his fiancee is expecting a baby and they have never been together. An angel appeared explaining the pregnancy to him and his fiancee, but they were private audiences. People talk, even good people, church people. O, sure, they can tell about the angel, but that just seems to compound and complicate the talk. At the time she should be resting for the delivery of her baby, word comes from the government that they have to travel from the north part of the country to the south part. And he is a day laborer; if he doesn’t work, he doesn’t get paid, and things are already tight, real tight. They had been saving to buy a tiny house, but this trip knocks that out of the picture. Every cent they have this trip takes. They get there, and are fortunate to find a man who will let them stay in a cave with his animals. They are thankful; most people who … [Read more...]

Aman stands in a darkened street in the fall of 1969, looking up at the sky above his home. Magic is at play there as waves of color ripple and weave across the nightscape. The aurora borealis – luminous bands of light sometimes visible in northern skies – has begun. Aman stands in a darkened street in the fall of 1969, looking up at the sky above his home. Magic is at play there as waves of color ripple and weave across the nightscape. The aurora borealis – luminous bands of light sometimes visible in northern skies – has begun.   But for this man, the magic of the sky is the mere beginning of wonder. In a few minutes, he will walk inside his home and begin to talk on the ham radio with his son.   It will not be the seven-year-old son sleeping in an upstairs room. Well, it will be – except it will be the seven-year-old son grown up to be a thirty-something-year-old man, the seven-year-old son whose father died when the boy was just a child, the seven-year-old son who is grown and living in the same desk as his father in 1969, talking on the same ham radio.   Confused? Never fear. It is the magic of film – and the mystical storyline of the movie, "Frequency."   The plot … [Read more...]

By the time this issue of the Baptist Message arrives in your mailbox, the United States Supreme Court will have ruled on the Florida recount of the votes cast in the presidential election. By just about all accounts, this should end the uncertainty of who will be the next president of the United States. By the time this issue of the Baptist Message arrives in your mailbox, the United States Supreme Court will have ruled on the Florida recount of the votes cast in the presidential election. By just about all accounts, this should end the uncertainty of who will be the next president of the United States.   While the ordeal of the presidential election and ensuing recounts and court cases have been tiring, frustrating and aggravating, we can take great encouragement at the way such disagreements are settled in this country.   There are many countries in this world that would settle such disputes not with the suit but with the sword. Presidential candidates would line up divisions of the nation’s armed forces and try to take by power what seemed uncertain by vote. And, too often, the armed forces would be for sale to the highest bidder. One has only to travel to a number of foreign countries to … [Read more...]

At this year’s Louisiana Youth Evangelism Celebration, the youth of your state convention under the leadership of Kevin Boles took up a love offering to assist the Baptist youth of Nevada. At this year’s Louisiana Youth Evangelism Celebration, the youth of your state convention under the leadership of Kevin Boles took up a love offering to assist the Baptist youth of Nevada. This love offering was collected to help the Nevada Baptist Convention hold an additional State Youth Evangelism Conference in 2001. The Louisiana Baptist youth gave an astonishing $3,112.72. Due to the size and poor road conditions of our state, our churches have difficulty financing and traveling to our YEC every year. This money will provide the financial resources necessary to help us begin having two annual State Youth Evangelism Conferences.   Being a native of Louisiana and having served the Louisiana Baptist Convention, I was very proud to announce to Nevada Baptists the good news of this generous gift. We look forward to seeing the great things God does with our youth in 2001. Tim Robinson Evangelism Associate Nevada Baptist Convention … [Read more...]

This latest convention was confusing for me. It was confusing for me, because I didn’t know every Baptist in Louisiana. This latest convention was confusing for me. It was confusing for me, because I didn’t know every Baptist in Louisiana. So, when nominations were made, I really didn’t know who the person was and what they stood for. I and the messengers from our church had to depend on the labels all these nominees had assigned to one another.   It was confusing to sing great hymns of praise to the same God and Lord of us all and then walk into the hallways and side rooms and hear hushed conversations about "them" and "us." Of course, I’m always surprised when children of the same father can, because of conflict, decide they don’t belong to that same father.   I would love to have the time to go to all the meetings, meet all the Baptists, learn who is who and who is not, but I have been called to a ministry that takes all the time I have. I have been called to pastor a great church in a great part of our state.   One thing was not confusing. It was not confusing when a man stood and preached the Good News of Jesus Christ. That man was David Uth. I want to thank him and those of … [Read more...]

I hope that I did not read too much into the statements that were quoted in the November 21 issue of the Baptist Message from LBC President Tommy French. "Anyone who seeks to bypass the local pastors is acting like a pope." I hope that I did not read too much into the statements that were quoted in the November 21 issue of the Baptist Message from LBC President Tommy French. "Anyone who seeks to bypass the local pastors is acting like a pope." Then he says to pastors and church members (probably primarily pastors) "You lead them. They don’t lead you. You teach them. They don’t teach you."   This language disturbs me. I have been a Baptist all of my life and have known lots of preachers — many of them good and Godly men; but I have never known one who knew all of the truth. I taught school for a short time and I have taught Sunday School for approximately 40 years. I feel I have learned a great deal from those in my classes and, hopefully, they learned a little from me. The very best scenario is when we work together and learn from each other for none of us is completely whole. I believe that Paul described the relationship as "fellow-servants in the Lord." We all have our strengths and, unfortunately, … [Read more...]

Louisiana Baptist churches that wish to obtain a motion picture license to shows movies, videos and video clips at church events have to the end of the year to take advantage of a reduced-rate offer. Louisiana Baptist churches that wish to obtain a motion picture license to shows movies, videos and video clips at church events have to the end of the year to take advantage of a reduced-rate offer.   The Louisiana Baptist Strategy Coordination Office has been offering churches a chance to obtain a license with the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation at an annual fee of $70.   The license is important because of copyright law, which forbids a video intended for personal home use from being shown in public gatherings. That prohibition extends even to churches and non-profit groups, even on videos that are purchased instead of rented and even when one is not charging admission for persons to view the video.   Showing of such videos in public gatherings for "purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain" is a federal crime, current law stipulates. However, even innocent showings could result in civil penalties, including fines of up to $20,000, federal law sets … [Read more...]

How many people attend church services in a given week in the United States? How many people attend church services in a given week in the United States?   For decades, Gallup polls have indicated about four out of every 10 American adults attend a weekly church service.   It is reliable research.   Or is it?   Actually, if one wants to start a polite fight, put a group of religious researchers in a room together and ask them to discuss the whole area of church attendance.   Are the polls accurate?   Are the figures overstated?   Is there any way to find the truth?   It depends on who one asks.   At the annual meeting of the Religious Research Association in Houston this fall, plenty of religious researchers were talking - many with differing theories.   And then there were those who do not even agree that there is a problem with determining American church attendance.   For many years, that was the prevailing view. Indeed, hardly anyone even suggested there was a problem until 1993, when two Southern Baptists and a Catholic took the unprecedented step of actually counting heads in every congregation … [Read more...]

Many studies have shown that women are more religious than men - and at least one researcher is convinced there is a biological reason. Many studies have shown that women are more religious than men - and at least one researcher is convinced there is a biological reason.   Rodney Stark is urging his colleagues to track down the connection between gender and spirituality. "This is a big can of worms, and I think it’s time we open it," said Stark, a University of Washington professor.   The evidence of this gender disparity can be seen in most any church across the nation, Stark said at a Religion Research Association convention this fall.   Churches are filled with more women than men - and always have been, he noted. The trend is found in nearly every other country he has studied, Stark said.   Various non-biological reasons for this disparity have been put forward in the past, Stark said. Some have suggested the gender gap was created because fewer women than men worked outside the home or because they took more responsibility in childcare.   However, no significant difference can be found between the religiosity of working women and stay-at-home women, Stark … [Read more...]