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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Lord, that’s not how we do things!

By Joe McKeever “‘…your ways are not my ways,’ saith the Lord.”  (Isaiah 55:8) Keep an eye on how the Lord works in your life. You might learn something useful for the next time He wants to use you. This little couplet seems to sum up 90 percent of what Scripture and life teach us concerning the operation of God in this world…. When God gets ready to do a thing, He loves to start small Using ordinary people With whatever methods He chooses, And take HIs own good time about it. Only people of faith will still be standing there at the end To see what He has done And to behold His glory. That’s how He does things.  You can see it all through Scripture and by looking back over your lifetime. But here is the problem.  His ways are not our ways.  His thoughts are different from ours.  He is in fact light years above and beyond us and our techniques. (He said that very thing in Isaiah 55:8-9.) For instance, using the formula (above) as our guide….. God loves to start small; However we don’t like little things.  (Matthew 13:31-32) We keep asking God to do big things, and think we’re complimenting Him by such prayers.  “Do a God-sized thing,” I prayed for years. We complain if our numbers … [Read more...]

The gifts of the wise men

Out of their vast treasures of wealth and wonder, the wise men made deliberate choices in the gifts they brought to worship Jesus. Gold was coveted as the most precious of metals. It was the standard by which wealth was measured, and so it was a fit tribute to royalty. Gold was meant to signify that this baby, born in a feeding trough to impoverished parents, was the King. Frankincense is a fragrant milky sap that is harvested from trees that grow mainly in Oman and Yemen in the Middle East. In the Old Testament the hardened sap was used as an incense burned for thanksgiving and praise offerings, and was given to acknowledge Jesus as our High Priest. Myrrh, a bitter herb, was a bittersweet gift. In the first century, it was a spice wrapped in the layers of linen placed on a dead body in order to externally embalm it. Myrrh was presented to confess the infant as our Savior, whose death and resurrection in a mere three decades would bring “salvation to the ends of the earth.” Adapted from David Jeremiah’s “A Spirit of Giving.” … [Read more...]

LBC church planting moves ahead despite pandemic

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer ALEXANDRIA (LBM) – The novel coronavirus outbreak may have disrupted plans to plant 30 churches in the state this year, but in the midst of challenging circumstances Louisiana Baptists still managed to start 15 new congregations. Next year, the Louisiana Baptist missions and ministry team has a goal to plant 29 churches, which would bring the total of new congregations started since 2010 to 300. “I am glad that we serve an unusual God in these unusual times,” James Jenkins, director of church planting for Louisiana Baptists, told the Baptist Message. “Pandemic or no pandemic, people need the Gospel. Planting 29 churches in the coming year is a God-sized goal that can be accomplished by God’s people working cooperatively to plant churches in every town, every city, every parish, to the very borders of Louisiana.” Planting 300 churches by 2020 is one of 10 action steps identified in the President’s 2020 Commission Final Report, which was affirmed by messengers during the 2013 LBC Annual Meeting. The strategy for church planting has been to target the regions of the state where most Louisianans live, with an emphasis on cities and communities along the I-10 corridor and … [Read more...]

Music minister Ken Fryer passes away at 56

By Baptist Message staff BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – Ken Fryer, minister of music at Riverside Baptist Church, Watson, died Saturday, Dec. 12. He was 56. A native of Delhi, Fryer served at several Louisiana Baptist churches, including as pastor of First Baptist Church, Greenwood, and College Place Baptist Church, Monroe. He also served as an associate pastor at Heritage Baptist Church, Shreveport; Milldale Baptist Church, Zachary; Willow Point Baptist Church, Shreveport; and Broussard Grove Baptist Church, Prairieville. In addition to being on the staff of six churches, Fryer served Louisiana Baptists as a LBC Executive Board member (2007-2011), moral and social concerns committee member (2012-2014), and President’s 2020 Commission member (2012-present), according to the Annual Church Profile. According to his obituary, Fryer taught at Sequitur Classical Academy, University View Academy and Christ Presbyterian Church, as well as teaching voice to numerous private students. He co-authored the book “Virtues of the Great Composers for Children,” and was a contributor to the book “Covenant Theology: A Baptist Distinctive” by Earl Blackburn. He was a graduate of Ouachita Parish High School, Monroe; East Texas Baptist … [Read more...]