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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

My father’s final prayer – is it yours?

By James Dobson In August 1977, my wife and children joined me on a trip to Kansas City, Missouri, for a short visit with my parents.  We enjoyed several days of family togetherness before it was time to leave. As we drove to the airport where we said good-bye, I asked my father to pray for us.  I will never forget his words. He closed with this thought: And Lord, we thank You for the fellowship and the love that we feel for each other today. This has been a special time for us with Jim and Shirley and their children. But Heavenly Father, we are keenly aware that the joy that is ours today is a temporal pleasure. Our lives will not always be this stable and secure. Change is inevitable and it will come to us, too. We will accept it when it comes, of course, but we give You praise for the happiness and warmth that has been ours these past few days. We have had more than our share of the good things, and we thank You for Your love.  Amen. Shortly thereafter, we hugged and said good-bye, and my family boarded the plane. A week later, my father has suddenly grabbed his chest and told my mother to call the paramedics. He left us on December 4 of that year. Shortly after, my mother joined him in heaven. How quickly … [Read more...]

2018 ECON scheduled now available

By Message Staff PINEVILLE – The schedule for the 2018 state Evangelism Conference is now available. Known as ECON, the conference will take place Jan. 22-23 at First Baptist Church, Pineville. ECON will feature inspiring messages by speakers from Louisiana and beyond. Each message will center around the theme verse, John 4:35. ECON will serve as the official launch for the Harvest, an initiative to “pray for every home and share Christ with every person” began in the fall of 2015 with a small group of leading pastors. Strategy development and the enlistment of churches were undertaken in 2016.  Statewide evangelism training sessions were held in 2017 and different methods were piloted. Now, there will be a concerted push by nearly 900 Louisiana Baptist churches in concentrated prayer and soul-winning activities. The cooperative effort includes a diversity of approaches such as multi-church crusades, door-to-door outreach, one-on-one evangelism, single-church revivals and other activities which leverage compassion ministries to share about the love of Christ. The vision has caught on, with church participation far-exceeding the original goal of 700 partnering congregations. Ray Jones will return to the ECON for a … [Read more...]

Herrod takes passion for training pastors to ends of the earth

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE – Ron Herrod has traveled the world and trained thousands of pastors but none of his ministry experiences have been more pivotal than the teenage years that fundamentally shaped his spiritual journey. Saved at age 15 during a youth camp in Macon, Miss., just two months later Herrod committed his life to the Gospel ministry just two months later. Then just shy of turning 16 years old Herrod started serving as pastor of his first church, Lambert Grove Mission in Chickasaw, Ala. It would be his first pastorate during 36 years of ministry to congregations in Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana. Herrod, founder of Ron Herrod Evangelism Ministries Association in Knoxville, Tenn., will speak during the Jan. 22 morning session of the 2018 Louisiana Baptist Convention Evangelism Conference at First Baptist Church in Pineville, as part of a two-day program of speakers. He will be joined in the program by Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, New Orleans, and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention; Brent Crowe, vice president of the Student Leadership University, Orlando, Fla.; Rick Gage, founder of GO TELL Ministries, Atlanta, Ga.; Sammy Tippit, founder … [Read more...]

Louisiana brothers bring ‘amazing grace’ to ‘The Amazing Race’

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer GONZALES — Louisiana natives Daniel and Eric Guiffreda have teamed up for the ultimate road trip as one of 11 teams featured on the show “The Amazing Race,” which is airing for the next two months on CBS. The twins are determined to survive the weekly elimination challenges and win the various legs of a race around the world in order to take home the first-place prize of $1 million. Filming for the show began in late September and wrapped up a month later, however, the first episode only aired Jan. 3. The brothers prevailed in the first elimination contest, advancing to round two, which will air Jan. 10, 7 p.m. While the brothers – both firemen in Gonzales – were unable to share with the Baptist Message details about what happened during the filming, they said the experience was among their most memorable together. BROTHERS IN CHRIST Daniel, a member of First Baptist Church, Gonzales, and Eric, a member of Cross Point Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, said that after they served together as Marines in Iraq and started families of their own, they thought their brother-to-brother traveling days were over. Then they received a call Sept. 11, informing them they had been chosen to … [Read more...]

Louisiana Family Forum opens contest for state’s longest married couple

By Louisiana Family Forum 2018 is the year of honor at Louisiana Family Forum. In February, Louisiana Family Forum will honor marriage by celebrating the 2018 Longest Married Couple. We will also recognize the Top-Ten Longest Married couples in Louisiana in the organization’s 2018 Marriage Hall of Fame. To be eligible, couples must be married for at least 70 years. Applications must be submitted to Louisiana Family Forum by Feb. 7 to info@lafamilyforum.org or call the LFF office at 225-344-8533 or 800-606-6470. Information needed in each application is the nominee's contact information, story and a key contact person's email address and phone number. … [Read more...]

House committee passes Johnson’s bill to streamline environmental approvals

By Ainsley Holyfield, Office of U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson The House Natural Resources Committee has passed H.R. 3133 the Streamlining Environmental Approvals Act of 2017, known as the SEA Act). The SEA Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson (LA-04) in June of last year, reduces duplicative government regulations in the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act while maintaining marine mammal protections and setting firm permitting deadlines for coastal initiatives. “Washington bureaucrats should never have the authority to halt coastal initiatives based on their own politically biased agendas," said Johnson, a member of First Baptist Church, Bossier City. "Yet many permit approvals are prolonged, including coastal restoration efforts and critical naval operations, specifically for that reason. The SEA Act takes important steps to implement strict deadlines for agencies while maintaining appropriate permitting standards, allowing projects to move forward only if they meet the highest requirements. I applaud the Natural Resources Committee for recognizing the importance of this commonsense legislation and my colleagues for moving it forward.” Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop released the … [Read more...]

GuideStone announces relocation to new office space in Dallas; current headquarters building sold

By Roy Hayhurst, GuideStone Financial Resources public relations GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention will relocate in late summer 2018 to 115,000 square feet of new leased offices at Pinnacle Tower. The new offices are located at 5005 LBJ Freeway in North Dallas, about 10 miles north of its location in Dallas’ Uptown district. GuideStone has occupied its current home since 1989. GuideStone’s headquarters building has been sold, but will be leased back until the move can be completed in the third quarter of 2018. GuideStone trustees have worked closely with staff as it undertook a study in early 2017 to assess its facilities needs in light of its long-range goals. The move will occur as GuideStone celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2018. It has been based in Dallas since its founding in 1918. “The move is part of our Vision 20/20 and GuideStone 100 long-range strategic plans,” GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins said. “Part of our commitment in our strategic plan is to aggressively manage costs to remain competitive for the benefit of our participants. This relocation is one of many changes, along with technology solutions and headcount reductions, that we’ve made over the last three years to … [Read more...]