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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Celebration Church mourns sudden death of Westbank campus pastor

Dear Celebration Church Family, As many in our Church family know all too well, life is filled with unexplainable tragedies. Last night such a tragedy occurred when our Celebration Westbank Campus Pastor, Claude Williams, was taken from this life in a traffic accident. As far as we can tell, Pastor Claude and his long time friend Jeff Leinart stopped on the elevated Westbank Expressway to assist someone who had a flat tire. While they were assisting the person someone else hit them and the car they were working on, and their lives and another person’s life were ended. Pastor Claude’s wife, Twila, and their boys (Emmett, Elijah and Emory) were in Knoxville, Tennessee visiting her mother. They and Pastor Claude’s mother have been told about what has happened. Let’s pray for them constantly, asking the Lord, the “God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3) to help them process through their pain and sorrow in the coming weeks, month and years. We will stand with them and assist them in every week in the coming days. We also need to pray for our Celebration Family, especially our Celebration Westbank Members. Pastor Claude was greatly loved by all who knew him. He has been a faithful, faith-filled, godly and loving leader and a … [Read more...]

Living blessed

By Waylon Bailey Several years ago John Ortberg wrote a book on spiritual disciplines entitled, “The Life You’ve Always Wanted.” It deals with prayer, Scripture, solitude, and other practices which will bring us the kind of life and relationship with God we’ve always wanted. That seems to be the same kind of message Paul gave to the Church at Colossae. He encouraged those new believers to set their minds on the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. He also encouraged them to leave earthly things (meaning things of the flesh which are opposed to God) behind. He gave them a list of things to “put on” and a list to “put off.” He then told them to live according to who they are in Christ. What can we do to have a life that pleases Christ and by extension gives us “the life we’ve always wanted?” Paul reminded them of the virtues which are uniquely Christian but which non-Christians appreciate and desire to see in those who believe. Paul gave eight areas where we should live according to our new life in Christ and endeavor to let the Spirit of God work in our lives. These areas are compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, and love. Who would ever … [Read more...]

Celebrity bodyguard joins body of Christ

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer CENTRAL – Hadley James had served as a bodyguard for high-profile celebrities around the U.S., and was awash with all the perks that came with the job; but, he found true satisfaction and returned to his walk with Christ after watching live worship services broadcast by Greenwell Springs Baptist Church. A few months later James experienced another spiritual watershed moment when he was baptized alongside his daughter, Nicole, in front of the Greenwell Springs congregation. “It was one of the most exciting experiences in my life,” James told the Baptist Message. “My daughter was lost and is now alive in Christ.” SEEDS, SON & HARVEST A number of divine appointments led up to the Feb. 10, 2019, celebration for the James family, with the first Gospel seeds planted in early 2016. James had retired from the bodyguard profession in 1995, ending his behind-the-scenes with the rich and famous, to take a position as director of security and loss prevention for a national construction company in Las Vegas, Nevada. He also began breeding Great Danes as a side venture. Hadley had become a child of God as a sophomore in high school, but he had drifted away from the Lord in the … [Read more...]

Legislature 2019: Key wins on moral issues, social concerns

BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – Key protections for children, born and unborn, highlighted the 2019 Louisiana Legislative Session, but other moral issues and social concerns were in the spotlight, too, and most were decided favorably with regard to the consensus views of Louisiana Baptists regarding these matters. LIFE In 2018, Louisiana Baptists overwhelming approved a resolution declaring their “unwavering commitment to rescue and protect life from the womb through eternity,” and pro-life legislation approved in 2019 included multiple bills championed by Louisiana Baptist lawmakers. Rep. Katrina Jackson (D-Morehouse, Ouachita), and Sen. Beth Mizell  (R-St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington, Florida), a member of the First Baptist Church in Franklinton, sponsored a state amendment in their respective chambers. Approved by two-thirds votes in the House and Senate, the Love Life Amendment (H.B. 425) offers to add a simple statement to the Louisiana Constitution, declaring, “To protect human life, nothing in this constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion.” This measure protects against a rogue state judge ruling that an abortion right exists that is not explicitly … [Read more...]