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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Easter Reflections – Day 23

As Easter approaches, the Baptist Message team invites you to pause daily from the hustle and bustle of life to focus on the days leading up to Easter or Resurrection Sunday. Join us in this challenge to read through the Gospels to get a greater understanding of Jesus’ birth, ministry, death and resurrection. Day 23: Matthew 21-22 (NKJV) ========================= (Matthew 21) The Triumphal Entry Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to [a]Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” 4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ” 6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. 8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut … [Read more...]

How to select your ‘life verse’

By Joe McKeever “Lord, to whom shall  we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).   Your life verse is not just a cute, catchy line that looks good on a bumper sticker. Your life verse understands you.  It sums up a lot about your life.  It has your number. Your life verse knows your deep, dark secrets. When you were young, you were still finding out who you were and had yet to encounter life’s bruises and hurts. You could not have found a verse that “fit” since you didn’t know “what size you were,” to stay with the metaphor.  But by this time, you have lived enough to carry scars from disappointments and battles.  You have failed and sometimes failed bigtime.  You have hurt and cried and cried out to God.  And now you are ready to find your life verse. Your life verse won’t necessarily make you happy.  It may be a reminder of the scars you wear and a few you have inflicted. Here’s mine. Job 4:4.  The odd thing is that I remember it in a way that I cannot find in any version of the Scripture.  The way I recall it is: Your words have stood men on their feet.  The NKJV reads: “Your words have upheld him who is stumbling; You have strengthened the feeble knees.” Most translations have a … [Read more...]

Easter Reflections – Day 22

As Easter approaches, the Baptist Message team invites you to pause daily from the hustle and bustle of life to focus on the days leading up to Easter or Resurrection Sunday. Join us in this challenge to read through the Gospels to get a greater understanding of Jesus’ birth, ministry, death and resurrection. Day 22: Matthew 19-20 (NKJV) ========================= (Matthew 19) Marriage and Divorce 19 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there. 3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” 4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who  made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said,‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” 8 He said to … [Read more...]

Easter Reflections – Day 21

As Easter approaches, the Baptist Message team invites you to pause daily from the hustle and bustle of life to focus on the days leading up to Easter or Resurrection Sunday. Join us in this challenge to read through the Gospels to get a greater understanding of Jesus’ birth, ministry, death and resurrection. Day 21: Matthew 16-18 (NKJV) ========================= (Matthew 16) The Pharisees and Sadducees Seek a Sign Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed. The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees 5 Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” 7 And they … [Read more...]

Steve Horn ‘a leader who loves Louisiana Baptists’

By Will Hall, Message Editor ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – Steve Horn is a leader among leaders in the Louisiana Baptist Convention and someone who loves Louisiana Baptists, Waylon Bailey shared with the Baptist Message in announcing Horn as the candidate the search committee will present May 7 to the LBC Executive Board for a vote. If elected, Horn will replace David Hankins who is retiring June 30 as LBC executive director. “He lived in the northern part of the state early in his life and has served in the southern part of the state, so he understands the great uniqueness among Louisianans and has a deep appreciation for the great variety among the congregations that make up the fellowship we call a ‘Convention,’” said Bailey, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Covington and chairman of the search committee. “Likewise, he has been an exceptional friend and leader to other pastors on a personal level and in how his congregation has participated in the cooperative missions and ministries of the LBC during his entire tenure.” Horn has served as pastor of the First Baptist Church in Lafayette since 2005. The database of the Annual Church Profile shows his congregation has baptized 775 new believers since then and … [Read more...]