Click to Login or Sign Up

Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

‘Compassion’ to show and share the Gospel

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer RAYVILLE – Deep in the Delta farmland, Deanna Corbett battles hunger. Most days she works alongside volunteers to plant vegetables in a community garden or stuff backpacks with food for the impoverished in Richland Parish. Her end goal is to plant seeds that reap a harvest for Christ. According to statistical data, Richland Parish is one of the poorest parishes in the state. U.S. Census information shows that 27.8 percent of Richland Parish residents live below the poverty level, ranking it ninth out of 64 parishes in Louisiana. COOPERATIVE COMPASSION Through her work, Corbett, endorsed by the North American Mission Board as a Mission Service Corps missionary and funded in part by Louisiana Baptists as an association compassion ministry, is doing her part to meet a physical need and give parish residents hope in Jesus. “The projects give us a strong presence – the people know why we are there and what we are doing,” Corbett said. “The plight of the impoverished is massive.” Corbett founded Shade Tree Missions shortly after she surrendered to full-time missions in May 2015. With assistance from a volunteer base of nearly 25, Corbett conducts a backyard Bible club in a … [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. ON THE MOVE Larry Baldridge, pastor of Bayou Life Baptist Church, Cottonport, is the new worship pastor at First Baptist Church, Abbeville. HOMECOMING Westside Emmanuel Baptist Church, Bogalusa: 70th Homecoming, February 9, 10:30 a.m. Dinner on the grounds will follow the morning worship service. Speaker: Marcus Rosa. There will also be testimonies by charter members and former staff. Music: Waylon Mills and the Westside worship band. Special Music: Reunion choir and orchestra. The day will include celebration of baptisms. Pastor: Marcus Rosa. REVIVAL First Baptist Church, Haynesville: Revival, January 27-30, Sunday, 10:45 a.m. & 7 p.m; Monday-Wednesday, 7 p.m. Meals each night will be in the Family Life Center at 6 p.m. Evangelist: The Lisembys. Bring your friends, family and the lost for a week of … [Read more...]

Gunter: my pro-life testimony

By Brian Gunter Ten years ago, I witnessed the tragedy of fifteen mothers walking into a Fort Worth abortion clinic to take the life of their unborn child. I pleaded with them to reconsider as they went in pregnant, then a few hours later came out broken and full of regret. I spent my first morning outside an abortion clinic with my Hebrew professor from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Eric Mitchell, who had been to that sidewalk many times before. We shared the gospel with those women and prayed for God to turn their hearts away from death to life. I went home and tried to clear my mind, but I could not erase the memory of what I had seen that day. I wondered who those fifteen little boys and girls would have grown up to be. I asked myself: What would I do if I knew that some crazed mass-murderer would walk into my local elementary school tomorrow and murder fifteen children? Would I try to stop him? And then I asked myself: Is there any real difference between a school shooting and that abortion clinic where another fifteen children will be slaughtered tomorrow? Every day in America, three thousand babies are torn to pieces in abortion clinics in our communities. That is about the same number of people … [Read more...]

Cassidy, Kennedy co-sponsor bill that would prohibit taxpayer funding of abortion

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Louisiana’s two U.S. senators have co-sponsored a bill that would establish a permanent, government-wide prohibition of taxpayer funding for abortion. The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act (S. 109) is co-sponsored by Sens. John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy, MD, and 31 others in the Senate. Similar policies, such as the Hyde Amendment, currently require annual passage and do not apply to Obamacare, according to a news release from Cassidy’s office. “Louisiana families should not be forced to give their hard-earned tax dollars to abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood,” Cassidy said in the news release. “This measure protects babies and taxpayers.” Kennedy added that “taxpayer dollars should never be used to fund abortions, either directly or indirectly. It’s that simple. Life is formed in the hand of God.  Life is precious, and it’s our job to protect those little lives with our nation’s laws. This legislation protects lives.” In addition to establishing a government-wide ban on federal funding for abortion, the legislation would: Prohibit funding for health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion with funds authorized or appropriated by … [Read more...]

Count the sheep

By David Jeremiah EL CAJON, Calif. (BP) - The late-1960s TV comedy "Get Smart" featured a lovable, bumbling secret agent, Maxwell Smart, and his partner, Agent 99. Agent 99 was smart and classy, yet humble, and was always there to rescue Smart when he bumbled himself into a predicament. Although Maxwell Smart was the comedic star of the show who always managed to blow his cover and reveal his presence to the enemy, Agent 99 was the true secret agent who got the job done in a professional way. I want to use this image to ask you to become a different kind of agent: God's "Seekret" Agent. The number 99 plays a notable role in one of Jesus' parable of the lost sheep (Matthew 18:12-14; Luke 15:1-7). Jesus introduces us to a shepherd who has a flock of 100 sheep. When he counts his flock, he discovers one is missing. So he leaves the 99 sheep and goes in search of the one lost sheep. God wants each of us to be that kind of "Seekret" Agent who is continually aware of the need to seek out those lost sheep that have not yet made it into the sheepfold of God's safety and salvation. Two important lessons can be drawn from the parable of the lost sheep. It is not just a parable about evangelism. It is also a parable about … [Read more...]