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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Churches make last-minute push to put Suburban Baptist back in worship center

By Message Staff NEW ORLEANS - Five months after a powerful tornado damaged several buildings of Suburban Baptist Church, the congregation is just hours away from getting back into its worship center. Teams from First Baptist Church in Haughton and Grace Baptist Church in Springfield, Tenn., have spent the last two weekends performing a flurry of work to finish the flooring, ceiling, painting and plumbing it the worship center. They plan to hold their first service since before an EF-3 tornado touched down in the area Feb. 7 this morning (July 30). More than 100 churches from across the U.S. have responded in the months following the tornado, helping rebuild the facilities. In the past week alone, teams from Metairie Baptist Church, Level Ground Church in New Orleans, First Baptist Church in Lockport and Vintage Church in New Orleans have provided food and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary provided housing. First Baptist Church in Rayville also donated funds to the rebuild. "The journey has been more exciting than destination," said Jeffery Friend, pastor of Suburban Baptist. "Since the tornado I've met so many wonderful people that I wouldn't have had it not been for the storm. So, my list of friends increased … [Read more...]

What if you don’t live “happily ever after”?

By Waylon Bailey Recently, I wrote about “Once Upon A Time” and living “happily ever after.” The whole point was to make us conscious of God’s desire to bless us and for us to live obediently to Him. We can’t expect God’s blessings without following His plan for how the world works. It’s not luck or our effort or smarts; it’s God’s goodness. He is the giver of every good and perfect gift. But there’s another side to this. We all know what that side is. A number of our reading community pointed it out yesterday. It’s the whole issue that Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Job, and Jeremiah faced (and a host of other faithful people as well). What do you when “the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls?” This was the dilemma of the prophet Habakkuk. He looked for God to work, but he could not see God at work even though God assured Him that He would indeed do what He had promised. This is the way Habakkuk came out: “yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the … [Read more...]