By Philip Timothy, Message Managing Editor COVINGTON – You would think just about everyone has heard, contributed or volunteered for Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child. Since 1993, the project, which was begun by Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, has collected and delivered more than 124 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 150 countries and territories just in time for Christmas. This year, the project, which has more than 100,000 volunteers involved in collecting, shipping and distributing these shoeboxes, estimates it will collect enough shoeboxes to reach another 11 million children. Yet, there is another ministry, albeit a much smaller one, who will also be bringing plenty of smiles and a lot of memories to several hundred children this Christmas as well. The ministry is Fairhaven Ministries, located just 10 miles outside of Covington in rural southeast Louisiana. For more than 40 years Johnny and Sissie Huffman have been faithfully serving the Lord at Fairhaven Children’s Home by ministering to children in their care – 15 at last count – as well as their community and communities in the Appalachian Mountains, the Mississippi Delta and on Indian reservations in Montana and … [Read more...]
Religious liberty and homeowners’ rights at odds in Louisiana lawsuit
By Message Staff METAIRIE – Vintage Church, a Louisiana Baptist congregation, has filed a lawsuit against the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and Jefferson Parish, because of a dispute regarding sound levels during Sunday worship services conducted in a tent serving as the congregation’s temporary meeting area. The tent, erected in August, is intended to be a short term arrangement while the congregation expands attendance capacity in its permanent building—a project estimated for completion in nine or 10 months. The petition filed jointly by local attorney Roy Bowes and the Liberty Institute, a non-profit law firm which focuses on religious liberty issues, accuses Sheriff Newell Normand and his officers of intimidation tactics in attempting to essentially shut down weekly worship services because of noise complaints by a single individual, and they also describe the noise level ordinances as flawed. On the other side, at least one neighbor in the community claims the church is not being considerate by allowing musicians to warm up as early as 7 a.m. Sundays, and she claims she is not alone in opposing the noise levels coming from the tent. “The 911 calls will show that it’s not just me,” said Lisa Caracci, who … [Read more...]
SLU’s BCM changing lives, renewing spirit on campus
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University student Katie Wimbish told God she could not obey his command to disciple other believers – not long after that she met a student named Allison, a visitor to the Baptist Collegiate Ministry free dinner. Throughout the evening, Wimbish introduced the student to other BCM members, sharing the Good News and Christ’s love, and by the end of the night Allison had accepted Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. The connection blossomed into something Wimbish had rejected days earlier – a mentoring relationship with a new Christian. “Allison came into my life right after I told God no to His call to disciple someone,” she recalled. “I told Him that my life wasn’t good enough yet, that my depression was too bad. No one could ever learn anything from me, etc. but Allison came. She told me I was exactly what she’s been needing. It turns out that she was exactly what I needed as well.” Similar stories of changed lives through Christ are commonplace this semester at the BCM. In late October, three students accepted Christ and another 50 made a decision to share Christ with their friends and families as part of a two-day effort known as … [Read more...]
Students make the most of the moment at YEC
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer LAFAYETTE – The 2015 Youth Evangelism Celebration was all about making the most of the moment. “You have this moment,” Acton Bowen told the 5,900 youth gathered inside the Cajundome for the opening session of YEC Nov. 23. “This is the moment you have right now to say yes to Jesus.” A speaker and New York Times best-selling author who has served in the local church, led a city-wide student Bible study in Gadsden, Ala., and was the host of x|roads TV, Bowen was one of several people who were on stage during YEC. The largest gathering of Louisiana Baptists each year, YEC featured worship, inspiring messages, fellowship, illusions and much more. The theme for this year’s YEC was Moments, based off Psalm 119:32 – I run in the path of your commands, for you have broadened my understanding. Throughout the two-day event, Bowen issued several challenges, including take up one’s cross to follow Jesus. Basing his message off Mark 8:31-35, Bowen told the students and adult chaperons that too many in America are just a fan of Christ. He said Jesus is looking for followers, especially when times get tough. “There is a huge difference between being a fan of Jesus and a follower of … [Read more...]
Cain to retire after 21 years of transforming Angola prisoners’ lives
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ANGOLA – Burl Cain, known worldwide for turning the ‘bloodiest prison in America’ into a ‘model facility,’ is retiring Jan. 1 after nearly 21 years as head of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The 73-year-old Pitkin native, the longest serving warden of any prison in the United States, made the announcement this week. Angola’s unprecedented transformation is credited to Cain, who governed the sprawling 18,000 acre facility that sits next to the Mississippi River with a firm hand and a strong love for Jesus. Indeed, Cain, a Southern Baptist, is quick to tell everyone it was Jesus Christ who pacified Angola. HEARTFELT THANKS As he prepares to leave his post, Cain said he wanted to share with Louisiana Baptists his sincere gratitude for the role they played in making such a lasting change at the prison and in the lives of so many of the prisoners. “Over the years it has been my pleasure to work with so many religious groups of all denominations who have offered their support to our efforts towards moral rehabilitation at Angola,” Cain said in a statement to the Baptist Message. “None have been more supportive than Louisiana Baptists.” “Those who have so … [Read more...]
SACSCOC removes ‘probationary status’ from LC’s accreditation
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE – Louisiana College received an early Christmas gift Dec. 8 and LC President Rick Brewer wanted to share it with everyone. After 18 months, probationary status was removed from the school’s accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. Since June 2014, LC maintained its accreditation but remained on probation most recently because the SACSCOC Board of Trustees surmised from materials submitted by the previous administration that the school’s governing documents had holes relating to administrative procedures for identifying and addressing incidents of undue external influence from political, religious, or other external bodies. Surrounded by students, faculty, alumni and community leaders, a smiling Brewer expressed gratitude for his administrative team and the board of trustees for their work in formalizing controls that ensure the school complies with every accreditation standard. He learned of SACSCOC’s decision that morning and returned in the afternoon from SACS’ annual meeting in Houston, Texas to report the good news. Brewer said he was grateful to his senior administrative team for responding with a fix for the … [Read more...]
LC commencement to confer 135 degrees on Saturday
By Norm Miller, LC Communications PINEVILLE (LCNews) – Louisiana College is set to confer 135 degrees at its 159th commencement ceremony on Saturday. The ticketed event begins at 10 a.m. in Guinn Auditorium. The keynote speaker is Rev. David Edwards, president of David Edwards Publications. Edwards - an ordained and licensed preacher - is a professional speaker and author, who travels full-time speaking in schools and churches. He holds a BA in Religion with a minor in Mass Communications and Art from Oklahoma City University. He has completed additional graduate work at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. An approved speaker for many school boards in 16 states, Edwards has spoken at seminars and chapel services at colleges and universities. He has spoken at Pride World Drug Conferences, Youth Evangelism Conferences (Y.E.C.), and Xtreme Winter Youth Conferences. Edwards has served as a mission minister in Brazil, Switzerland, Belgium, Amsterdam, Jamaica, and South Korea. Having written 23 books, Edwards formed David Edwards Publications in 2005 with a mission statement of “Meeting people where they are in life and bringing them one step closer in the process of knowing Jesus … [Read more...]
COMMENTARY: University president rebukes ‘self-absorbed, narcissistic’ students
By Todd Starnes, Fox News BARTLESVILLE, Okla. (Christian Examiner) — A chapel sermon on love left a student at Oklahoma Wesleyan University feeling "offended" and "victimized." But instead of capitulating to the offended young scholar, OWU President Everett Piper pushed back with a blistering rebuke of what he called "self-absorbed and narcissistic" students. "This is not a day care. This is a university," he wrote in a blog that has since gone viral. Back home in Tennessee, we call that a "Come to Jesus" moment. To read the rest of the story, click here. … [Read more...]
Court says cross-shaped memorial not a violation of Constitution
By Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner BALTIMORE (Christian Examiner) - The U.S. District Court in Maryland, in a decision almost certainly to be appealed by secular humanists, has ruled that a cross-shaped war monument on public land can remain. On Nov. 30, the district court rejected the claim of the American Humanist Association that the cross on public land – funded by the American Legion in honor of Prince George's County residents who died in World War I – represented any establishment of religion or the preference of Christianity over other religions. The court said in its ruling that while the construction of a Latin cross can be for a religious purpose, it can "also be motivated by 'the sea of crosses' marking graves of American servicemen who died overseas. The Monument's secular commemorative purpose is reinforced by the plaque, the American Legion's seal, and the words 'valor,' 'endurance,' 'courage,' and 'devotion' written on it. None of these features any religious reference." To read the rest of the story, click here. … [Read more...]
Backlash brewing against same-sex marriage, gay leaders fear
By Michael Foust, Christian Examiner WASHINGTON (Christian Examiner) – Supporters of same-sex marriage are warning about a backlash against this summer's landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, and a prominent Christian sociologist says they have reason to be concerned. The anxiousness on the part of LGBT leaders follows the defeat of a transgender equal rights ordinance in Houston as well as the widespread support among Christian conservatives for Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who refused to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples if her name was on them. Additionally, the Alabama Supreme Court in September ruled that the state doesn't have to recognize the adoption of children by a lesbian woman in a custody dispute across state lines. She lives in Georgia, while the biological mom and the children live in Alabama. The controversy began when the two women ended their relationship. "We are in the middle of a full-throated backlash. ... We are just seeing the beginning on the backlash. It will get worse before it gets better," Kate Kendell, the executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, was quoted as saying in Time magazine. For the rest of the story, go to the Christian Examiner website. … [Read more...]
