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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

M-JAM prepares youth to live ‘Life on the Edge’

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer LAFAYETTE/WOODWORTH (LBM) – More than 700 children and adult leaders met separately at two locations for the recently completed M-JAM conference, but both groups experienced a transforming day of learning how to live “Life On The Edge” for Christ. The day-long event featured the Real Encounter Outreach team from Branson, Missouri, and Louisiana and international missionaries, with all the speakers centering their messages around the conference theme, based on Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Participants also enjoyed music by worship leaders from central Louisiana and breakout sessions about the plan of salvation, compassion ministry, BMX stunt tricks, church planting, and IMB missions. Attendance was 178 at First Baptist Church in Lafayette March 10 and 519 at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center May 5, with the dual locales allowing participating first-through-sixth graders and their leaders to attend M-JAM closest to where they live. “M-JAM at Tall Timbers went wonderfully well,” said Jess Archer, children/youth mission strategist for Louisiana Baptists. “We had an exciting day of meeting missionaries, hearing the Gospel message, … [Read more...]

Learning Scripture is not a ‘drill’ but a key life skill for youth

By Holly Jo Linzay PINEVILLE (LBM) - It is all about the Word for the youth who took part in the State Bible Drill competition, April 28, at the First Baptist Church in Pineville. “I didn’t take reading the Bible very seriously until I started competing in Bible Drill. But being in the Bible Drill has helped me to hide the Word of God in my heart,” Hannah James said. She is a ninth-grade homeschool student from Fellowship Baptist Church who attended the State Tournament for Youth and High School Bible Drill & Speakers’ Tournament for the sixth time. “But learning the Scripture has made a huge impact in my life. Bible Drill is not just about memorizing Scripture or the competition. It’s about life. Learning Scripture has helped me to witness and to live for God,” James, the first-place winner in the 9th grade Drill-off, added. Participants in the Bible Drills and Speakers’ Tournaments have gone through two other levels of competition, church and district, before reaching the state events. Bible Drill is part of a discipleship program designed to assist youth in developing useful skills and knowledge of the Bible. They must know the books of the Bible; find common Scripture references; know different approaches to … [Read more...]

Ken Hemphill: twelve indisputable strengths

By Michael A. Cox Ken Hemphill is a candidate for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2018, the fact of which most who will read this are already aware. This highest of offices in the SBC will be decided on Tuesday June 12 in Dallas by a vote scheduled for about 1:50 P.M. Here are twelve significant strengths many have observed in Ken’s life and ministry which advise that he would be an outstanding president. He is a man of integrity. Honesty, transparency, truthfulness, and faithfulness seem to be in short supply in America, even in the church of the Lord Jesus, and, sadly, even within our own Southern Baptist denomination. Paul admonished Timothy to entrust his apostolic teachings “to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:1 NASB). Ken is a man who is above reproach, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach… (1 Tim. 3:2). He is a man of his word; and his word is plain and dependable. His “yes” means “yes” and his “no” means “no” (James 5:12). Yet, nobody is claiming that Ken Hemphill is sinless, or even faultless. But what we are saying is that the trajectory of his life has been characterized by honesty, transparency, truthfulness, and faithfulness. He is a man of … [Read more...]

What if your Mother’s Day is not a Hallmark movie?

By Steve Horn What if your Mother’s Day is not a Hallmark movie? Naomi, the mother-in-law of Ruth, had every right to ask that question. Ruth could too for that matter. After a couple of names and places in the opening verses 1-3, verses 4 and 5 have a staccato-like feel filled with a series of events that could simply be labeled, “Bad News.” The Bible tells us that at some point in this time of the judges, there was a famine in the land of Promise.  (Ruth 1:1). Living in Bethlehem (a town that means by the way, the house of bread), there was a man by the name of Elimelech (God is my King) and his wife, Naomi (Pleasant or Sweet One). They had two sons — Mahlon and Chilion. By the way, Mahlon means “sickly” and Chilion means “frail.” Can’t you see it? It’s a rather sad tale. “Hello, my name is ‘God is my King’ and this is my wife, ‘Sweet One.’ We are from the ‘House of Bread,’ but we left there, because there was a famine in the land, and we were about to starve to death. Meet our two kids, ‘Sickly’ and ‘Frail.’” The old line, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all” comes to mind. We might laugh, but believe me, they weren’t laughing. It could be that their move to the land of Moab was … [Read more...]