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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Family members cause a stir at Lakefront CC

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer CATAHOULA (LBM)- -The simple obedience of one man, by sharing the Gospel in the heart of Catahoula, has reaped a spiritual harvest not experienced before at Lakefront Community Church: seven members of one family were baptized in a single day. As he lowered and raised each new convert in the baptistery, March 3, Pastor Randy Bowman smiled thinking about the faithful witness of Marshall Savoie, and, how this man’s faithfulness led to the most baptisms ever for the congregation, which averages 20 in attendance at Thursday evening worship services. “When you see a family respond, you just sit back and are in awe of what the Lord has done,” Bow-man told the Baptist Message. “This is a testimony to this entire town be-cause everyone knows everybody here and many are not church goers,” he explained. “When they see an entire family step forward and proclaim their faith in Christ, it leaves an impression with other people in this community. We are just excited about how the Lord is going to move next at our church.” The Gospel seeds were planted in early February when Bowman and Savoie ventured out into downtown Catahoula to distribute Bibles and share the Gospel. Savoie, who is a … [Read more...]

‘Dirty Jobs’ star helps ministry transform neighborhood

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer NEW ORLEANS – Brenda Lomax-Brown received the ultimate surprise when television personality Mike Rowe showed up with a film crew to give her a $20,000 check and a new playground for the ministry to use in the Hollygrove-Dixon neighborhood. During the August 5 Facebook- based episode of “Returning the favor: A forgotten neighborhood fights back,” Rowe, former host of the popular TV show “Dirty Jobs,” accompanied Lomax-Brown for a tour of her neighborhood while a team, without her knowledge, built a $30,000 playground in fewer than four hours near the Life Transformation Center, a ministry of Celebration Church with campuses in the New Orleans area, Baton Rouge and the Northshore. Rowe then brought Lomax- Brown back for a surprise unveiling. “All day, driving around with you, was an absolute blast,” Rowe said in the episode. “And the more I got to know you, the more I thought, ‘this really is a woman who will go to city hall and get out the hammer and start making all kinds of trouble.’ But we really don’t want you to have to do that. We really want to do something for the community, and we really want to thank you for everything you’ve done so far.” Nearly speechless, the … [Read more...]

Friendship House to celebrate 75 years in ministry

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer NEW ORLEANS (LBM) -- Pat Shaffer’s childhood memories are filled with recollections about backyard Bible clubs and other special times spent with missionaries who lived at the Baptist Friendship House. She has not lived in New Orleans since her family moved to Kentucky in 1953. But Shaffer’s thoughts are not far removed from the fond times spent there with her parents, Henry and Mildred Stein, who founded the ministry 75 years ago. “I hate to use the word proud, but I am,” Shaffer told the Baptist Message. “I’m proud that it’s still there. I’m proud of Executive Director Kay Bennett; and, I’m proud of all the lives that have been touched through the years at this wonderful ministry – so many lives changed for the better.” Shaffer is among several hundred people expected to take part in a September 28 reunion at the Baptist Friendship House in honor of its 75th anniversary. The event, scheduled from noon to 2 p.m., will feature refreshments and guests will hear testimonies from Shaffer, Carolyn McClendon, former BFH director and Wanda Lee, former WMU executive director. “I want to celebrate everybody who has worked in this ministry,” Bennett said. “Being here for 75 years … [Read more...]

Your state convention helps church’s missional impact on world

By Paul Chitwood, President, International Mission Board My first international mission trip took place on a farm in central Kentucky. As a new pastor in the community, I often found myself interacting with migrant workers from Central and South America. I soon realized that most were spiritually lost. From conversations with farmers, I learned many of them were as concerned as I was about the eternal state of the souls of these (mostly) men who were so far away from their homes and families. As we began to pull together churches in our association and piece together a plan to begin a migrant ministry, we found an organization ready and eager to help us: our Baptist state convention. With the assistance of our state convention staff, we were soon seeing people from all over Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua come to Christ -- though we never left Kentucky. Ministries in our 41 Southern Baptist state conventions vary from state to state, but their mission is the same: help churches reach their state and our world for Christ. As we enter the fall of the year, most of our state conventions are promoting their annual state mission offering to support these vital ministries. My family will be giving to … [Read more...]

PreTeen Invasion: 13 surrender to Christ

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE – Thirteen preteens responded to Keith Badgett’s invitation to become followers of Christ during Preteen Invasion, Saturday, Aug. 24. “We are sinners and we are broken,” Badgett said during the annual evangelism conference attended by more than 600 fourth, fifth and sixth graders at Louisiana College in Pineville. “And (God) brings us back together with the shed blood of Jesus. I’m going to give you the opportunity to follow Jesus. Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Have you cast your cares upon Him? Jesus is all that matters right now.” Badgett, children’s pastor at the First Baptist Church in Jenks, Oklahoma, was the main speaker for PreTeen Invasion. The event inside Guinn Auditorium at Louisiana College also featured music by the Crowe Brothers from Franklinton and jump roping demonstrations by Guinness World Record champion Peter Nestler from Juneau, Alaska. Badgett, who based his message on Matthew 28:19-20, told the preteens to see the power of the Lord and hear the calling of God. He also challenged the youngsters to share Christ at their school, and to be open to doing so one day in another country. “Are you a disciple of Jesus?” he asked the … [Read more...]

EARL HEARD: From LC dropout to media mogul

By Will Hall, Message Executive Editor LEAGUE CITY, Texas (LBM) – When Earl Heard dropped out of Louisiana College in 1962 he could not have imagined that he would be a featured speaker at a Texas A&M leadership symposium in 2014. But his dramatic change of fortune and the 52-year period in between reveal something about his struggles and successes as well as his unyielding drive to succeed. What is not evident from these bookends to this part of his life story is that he was successful in building his business and media empire only after finally surrendering his all to the Lord. Now, he spends a good deal of his resources creating faith-friendly books and films in his effort to promote greater faith and to support healthy, growing families. HARD LESSONS Heard’s departure from Louisiana College was set in motion while he was on semester break, when a roommate’s brother robbed the school bookstore and then hid the ill-gotten textbooks in Heard’s room. Neither Heard nor his roommate knew anything about the theft. But when the student body returned to campus, the discovery of the books put the thief, his brother and Heard under suspicion. “We got back up there and were guilty by association. I learned to … [Read more...]

Louisiana Notables

EDITOR’S NOTE: Do you have a Revival, Homecoming, a new pastor, a community outreach or a concert? The Baptist Message would love to share your church news with the rest of the state. It is very easy to do, just send in your information (who, what, where and when) to philip@baptistmessage.com or call 318.449.4345. To get your event in the paper, please submit your information three weeks prior to the event. HOMECOMING Second Baptist Church, Jackson: 60th Homecoming, September 15, 10 a.m. Pastor: Clark Fooshee. New Zion Baptist Church, Kentwood: 150th Homecoming Celebration, September 15, 10:30 a.m. A covered dish meal will follow the worship service. Speaker: Gibbie McMillan. Special Music:  Jimmy Falker. Pastor: Larry Blades. Christian Harmony Baptist Church, Natchitoches: 103th annual Homecoming Celebration, September 22, 10:30 a.m. Guest Speaker: George Holland. Special Music: HIS. Pastor: David Matlock. First Baptist Church, Anacoco: Homecoming, September 22, 10:30 a.m. There will be covered-dish lunch on the grounds following the worship service. Guest Speaker: Jason Nolde, Leesville. The congregation invites everyone to attend. The church is located at 4813 Port Arthur Ave, Anacoco. Pastor: Will Hall … [Read more...]

God’s Spirit guides us through the trails of life

By Jeff Ginn When I was in graduate school in Memphis many moons ago, a friend of mine and I decided to take a spring break trip. We planned to travel to the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee to do a multi-day hiking and camping trek in the “backcountry.” For weeks in advance we planned our trail itinerary—how many miles we would cover in a day and where we would camp each evening. Our schedule was aggressive but we felt that we could do it. The national park required that a ranger sign off on our plan. The ranger assigned to our case looked over our plan and promptly denied it. She said that it was out of the question. Too ambitious. She implied that we were incapable of doing what we’d outlined—that the demands of the backcountry at that pace might even put us into danger. We were ticked! We insisted that we see her supervisor. He looked over our plan and—to add insult to injury—he completely agreed with her! Our choice was simple: cut back on the itinerary per their suggestions or tuck tail and head back home. We reluctantly bowed to their demands. Once we got out into the back country and came face-to-face with the challenges of the trail, we realized pretty quickly that she was right! We even said that, if we ever … [Read more...]