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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

ANNIE ARMSTRONG EASTER OFFERING: Troy Gause: Raised from the dead

Courtesy of the North American Mission Board MARRERO, La. (NAMB) - Church business meetings are not normally fertile ground for happy accidents. But Ames Boulevard Baptist Church’s tiny remnant of elderly members unintentionally set a miracle in motion when they voted to hire Troy Gause to mow their grass. Every year, 700-800 Southern Baptist Convention churches cease to exist. “That’s how I got to know the church,” Gause said. “I started taking care of their property and learned how they’d dwindled down to just a few faithful members. They were probably just a couple months away from closing their doors.” When longtime Ames’s members like Linda Morrow realized “Troy Gause, landscaper” was also “Troy Gause, church planting missionary,” they began to pray. “He’d just started a church but needed a place to meet,” she said. “When we met, it was so clear God was putting us together to replant something new.” Now, the sign out front says Cross Community Church, and the name is not the only thing that’s changed. “There’s life back in this building,” Gause said. “Baptisms are happening, salvations are happening, and this church has been raised from the dead.” Prayers on multiple fronts are requested for Gause … [Read more...]

Pastor’s daughter leads Parkview Baptist girls’ to state basketball title

By St. George Leader, Special to the Message BATON ROUGE, La. (SGL) -- It’s quite a story! Anna Richerson led Parkview Baptist School to two state championships and was named most valuable player in both games. But these honors are just the tip of the iceberg in the storied high school career of this amazing senior. Her stats include 2,300 career points, 430 assists, 850 rebounds, 400 steals! Plus, she was selected to all-state and all-tournament teams. On top of that, she is a member of Parkview’s state championship track and cross-country teams. Amazingly, she does not attend Parkview. Instead, she is a homeschooler who has been permitted under LHSAA rules to compete for the Lady Eagles. She is the daughter of Lewis Richerson, pastor, Woodlawn Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, and his wife, Erica, and sister to four siblings. HEAVENLY HIGHLIGHTS Richerson has been homeschooled her entire life and completed her junior and senior years as a dual enrollment student with Northwestern State University. She developed a passion for both basketball and serving Christ at a young age, she said, noting that her love for basketball began through Woodlawn’s Upward Basketball program, which taught her the game. Today she … [Read more...]

Louisiana Notables

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Baptist Message provides churches an opportunity to share with other Louisiana Baptists an upcoming revival, homecoming, new pastor, new staff member, a community outreach, or a concert in Louisiana Notables. To place your event in the paper, send your information (who, what, where, when, time) to philip@baptistmessage.com or call 318.449.4345. Please submit your information four weeks prior to the event to insure placement in the Message. ON THE MOVE Matt, wife Whitney, Cate, discipleship pastor with Istrouma Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, is the new Louisiana Baptist Sunday school/discipleship strategist. He began on April 20. Gene Gibson is the new pastor at Beech Springs Baptist Church, Minden. Mickey Christy is the pastor at Gardiner Baptist Church, Gardner. Mike Schultz is the new senior pastor at Woodland Park Baptist Church, Hammond. Chuck Foy is the new pastor at Aimwell Baptist Church, Aimwell. Clayton, wife Gracie, Bryan is the new pastor at Cheniere Baptist Church, West Monroe. Britney Allen is new minister to children and families at First Baptist, Ponchatoula. HOMECOMING Centerville Baptist Church, St. Landry: 100th Anniversary Celebration, July 26, Sunday School, 9:30 a.m., … [Read more...]

Cate excited to help churches make disciples

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – Matt Cate, discipleship pastor with Istrouma Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, has been tasked with a new mission: to champion discipleship on a state-wide level. Cate, whose first day as Louisiana Baptist Sunday school/discipleship strategist was April 20, said he is excited to work with churches toward the goal of helping others become disciples and then in turn make disciples. “My philosophy of discipleship is pretty much Matthew 5 to 10, where Jesus reached large groups with the Sermon on the Mount, and then also smaller groups with His disciples,” Cate told the Baptist Message. “One of the parts we often look over in discipleship is that Jesus eventually sends them out. And I am going to help Louisiana Baptists accomplish that.” The son of an Air Force master sergeant, Cate moved with his family around the country as a youngster. During a youth Bible study taught by his parents, Ed and Linda Cate, at Cannon Air Force Base chapel in Clovis, New Mexico, Cate trusted in Christ at age 10. He sensed a call to ministry nine years later while at a discipleship group at First Baptist Church, Bossier City. Six other young men in that group, too, … [Read more...]

NWLBA Mission Strategist urges prayers after Shreveport mass shooting

By Baptist Message staff SHREVEPORT, La. (LBM) – Lane Moore, Northwest Louisiana Baptist Association Mission Strategist, asked for prayers after an individual killed eight children in a domestic violence incident in Shreveport early April 19. “This is tragic evidence of the complete breakdown of the nuclear family in our society, coupled with the inability to resolve disagreements without resorting to violence,” Moore told the Baptist Message. “The answer is not passing another law, but the Church, the true Body of Christ, presenting a model for what a godly home should look like and raise Christ-like men to be the protectors and providers of the home, not a threat to the home. But today, church leaders will pray and give counsel to the hurting as the community pulls together as everyone tells their children and grandchildren how much they love them.” According to the Shreveport Police Department’s Facebook page, the children ranging from ages one to 14 were killed inside a home in the 300 block of West 79th St. in Shreveport on Sunday morning. Additionally, two adult females were treated at a local hospital for serious injuries. A teenage victim also sustained injuries during the incident, but police indicated those … [Read more...]

West CENLA GO TELL Crusade yields 527 spiritual decisions

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer LEESVILLE, La. (LBM) – A small town crusade yielded big time results for Christ during the West CENLA GO TELL AMERICA Crusade, April 12-15. By the end of the four-day spiritual encounter, 527 persons had made decisions for Christ, including 279 individ­uals stepping forward to accept Christ, 151 seeking restoration with the Lord, 35 seeking God’s will and two expressing a call to ministry, according to Chris Palmer, GO TELL director of ministry out­reach.  Other commitments were made away from the four-night services but were part of the GO TELL strategy. They included: -13 at a pre-crusade rally at Family Training Christian Academy, Leesville, March 28; -10 during morning services at First Baptist Church, Anacoco, and five at Good Hope Baptist Church, Anacoco, April 12; -100 at men’s and women’s detention centers in Vernon Parish, April 13-14; and -50 at Family Training Christian Academy, April 14. “The fruit that we witnessed is the result of the strong leadership and the preparation of all the hundreds of volunteers,” Evangelist Rick Gage, founder of GO TELL Min­istries in Duluth, Georgia, told the Baptist Message. “It was a work of God. We had been praying and … [Read more...]

Edmonds leads state Senate recognition of prayer warrior group

By Baptist Message staff BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) -- Sen. Rick Edmonds (retired LBC pastor; current pastor, FBC McComb, Miss.) was joined by fellow Louisiana Baptist Sen. Stewart Cathey (FBC West Monroe) and three other Christian lawmakers Sen. Heather Cloud (One Life Church, Alexandria), Sen. Valarie Hodges (LionGate Church, Baton Rouge) and Sen. Gregory Miller (St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, Destrehan) to celebrate Senate Resolution 52, that commends “the Intercessors for America for their Spiritual Heritage Project and to acknowledge Almighty God as the Author of liberty on the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of the founding of these United States of America,” authored by Edmonds. … [Read more...]

LBC president opens LA Senate session with prayer

By Baptist Message staff BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – Opening the Louisiana Senate with prayer, Kirk Jones, president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention and pastor with Fellowship Church, Prairieville, asked God to give wisdom, strength and safety to these state leaders. “Father God, we thank you for this day,” he prayed. “I thank you for these who serve the people of Louisiana. Lord God, your Word tells us that if anyone lacks wisdom, that we can ask you for it and you will give it to us graciously. So, Lord, I know that they need wisdom and guidance and insight into the things that they’re deciding. So Lord, I pray that you would provide that for them. “Give them the strength and stamina to do the job,” Jones continued. “Lord God, I pray that you would watch over them and keep them. I pray that they would be able to hear your voice in the midst of all the things that they’re working on and doing. “Lord, I know there’s a lot of voices,” he said. “Father, I pray that they would know the voice of the Shepherd, and the voice of a stranger they would not follow. Lord God, I pray that you would keep watch over their families while many of them are away serving here. Lord, we thank you for the sacrifices they make in that. … [Read more...]