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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

An encouraging word about the church

By Steve Horn But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5:39 NIV) In case you haven’t heard, many people, including some who claim to be Christians, are rather down these days on the church. But, we have an encouraging word about the church from someone who was definitely not a believer in Jesus. His name was Gamaliel, and he was a respected Pharisee and teacher of the law. The Book of Acts reveals the story about the history of the early church. Starting with a small group in the beginning of Acts, the book ends with the Gospel being preached throughout the world. Luke, the author, gave repeated summary accounts of how many were being added to the church. The early days of this Gospel progress and church expansion is the context of Gamaliel’s assessment: “But if it is from God.” We now have two thousand years of testimony that the church is “of God.” What does this mean for us who are part of the church? We cannot be silent regarding the life-changing message of Jesus. This is the church’s mandate. Indeed as Peter and the other apostles declared to those who tried to shut them up, “We must obey God rather than man.” (Acts 5:29) We … [Read more...]

Why the Lord gives us appetizers of heaven

By Joe McKeever Often, as we serve Him on earth, the Lord gives us these little glimpses of Heaven, special moments when we know “the Lord is in this place!” Pastor Perry Sanders decided to witness to his seatmate on a plane bound for Richmond.  “Do you know the Lord?” he asked the elderly gentleman.  “I sure do!” the man said.  “I’d love to hear about it,” said Perry.  The man said, “Years ago, I was traveling the highways of South Carolina in sales. As lost and miserable as it’s possible to get. And one day I picked up a hitchhiking college student.  He told me about Jesus and led me to the Lord.”  Perry said, “Sir, do you recall where you let that student out?”  “Yes sir.  He got out in Bamberg, South Carolina.”  Perry Sanders, longtime pastor of Lafayette’s First Baptist Church, said to him, “Sir, I’m that boy. I was a student at Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC and always tried to share my faith with anyone giving me a ride to my parents’ home in Bamberg.”  A little foretaste of Heaven. In Heaven, they ‘re going to be coming up to you: “Do you remember that time you witnessed?  Preached a sermon? Prayed a prayer?  Gave an offering?  Wrote a note?”  And God used it.  So, He lets that happen just a little in this … [Read more...]