By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer JONESBORO – Organizers of the North Central Baptist Association crusade are citing focused prayer gatherings as a key factor for nearly 60 people making spiritual decisions. Held April 30-May 3 at Jonesboro-Hodge High School and Winnfield Middle School, the Real Hope Crusade drew around 700 people each night. By the end of the four-day revival, 25 people made a first-time public profession of faith in Jesus, another 35 recommitted their lives to Christ and two others surrendered to ministry. Leading up to the crusade, churches in the association participated in eight prayer rallies that totaled a combined attendance of around 1,000 at various locations in Jackson and Winn parishes. Many of the association’s 54 churches took part in one of the prayer gatherings that were held from the summer of 2016 until just before the crusade began. Director of missions Marty Black said prayer was a solid foundation for a mighty movement of the God throughout the four-day crusade. “What I have seen these past few months is churches willing to come together to pray,” Black said. “Just watching their desire to do so and then to see barriers come down and spiritual decisions made during … [Read more...]

By Holly Jo Linzay, Regional Reporter PINEVILLE – Imagine if you only had just one month to live. Would you spend the time to please yourself or make a lasting impact after you have gone? Maddi Stennett, a 17-year-old junior from First Baptist Church, Covington, posed the question in her speech during the State Youth & High School Bible Drill and Speakers’ Tournament April 29 at First Baptist Church, Pineville. Stennett, who placed first in the 11th-grade competition, received a $4,500 annual college scholarship. Although it was her first year to compete in the tournament, Stennett said the experience has impacted her life by inspiring her to share her faith in Christ more openly. “I want to share my faith with an urgency now,” Stennett said, adding that the months of preparation for the tournament made her grow spiritually. “It made me think in a way that I don’t normally think. I think, ‘Is my life lining up to what I’m telling people?’ I can’t tell people about Jesus, without living for Him,” she added. “One month to live” was one of 15 different topics participants in the Speakers’ Tournament could select to prepare a 4 to 6 minute speech. About 360 children and youth competed in the annual State Bible … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer WOODWORTH – Jared Greer, a former contestant on the TV show American Ninja Warrior, had just breezed through the obstacle course at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center. He stopped and posed a question to the crowd, the largest to ever attend an event at the center, “Have you overcome the ultimate obstacle in life? “Today is all about overcoming obstacles,” Greer told more than 600 children and adults at Missions Jamboree, also known as M-JAM, Saturday, May 6. “You can overcome any obstacle with Jesus. He overcame the biggest obstacle – death,” he continued. “Do you believe Jesus to forgive you? Have you asked Him to do that?” In the end, a dozen children indicated their desire to follow Christ. Since May 2016, Greer has traveled the country telling his story about how God has allowed him to use his skills displayed on the TV show to share the Gospel. He told the kids, first through sixth graders, Saturday that when he did not complete the obstacle course on the show in 2014, he felt crushed and defeated. “I was so frustrated and God whispered to me what do you do when you fall down?” he said. “You get back up.” In 2015, Greer was allowed a second chance at … [Read more...]

By Message Staff ALEXANDRIA – Louisiana College bestowed degrees to 114 graduates and awarded Pineville Mayor Clarence Fields an honorary doctorate for public administration during its commencement May 6 at Calvary Baptist Church in Alexandria. The school gave 33 students degrees with honors, seven as cum laude with a 3.5 GPA, 15 as magna cum laude with a 3.7 GPA, seven as summa cum laude with a 3.9 GPA, and four graduated with a 4.0 GPA. “I can say with confidence that these young people are the leaders of the 21st Century,” noted Brewer, referring to LC’s entire Class of 2017. Before Fields’ keynote address, Brewer read a resolution noting the mayor’s leadership, civic commitment and numerous accolades, noting the school has a wonderful relationship with the city of Pineville. In his keynote address, Fields challenged the graduates to be servant leaders. “In today’s world traditional leadership is about my goal, my dream, my vision, my ideas,” he said. “But servant leadership is bout empowering others. And it’s about a jointly owned dream and vision and it celebrates the ideas of others. Servant leaders are more others focused than me focused.” Fields encouraged the graduates to follow the greatest example … [Read more...]

By Joe McKeever JACKSON, Miss. (BP) – Most pastors I’ve known have admitted that they were particularly blessed by their mothers. I certainly was. Lois Jane Kilgore McKeever grew up in church, met my dad when she and her sister were singing in church, and kept her six children in church until they were grown. Of her four sons, two became preachers. Ron and Joe (me) together have logged more than a hundred years serving the Lord. In those early years Mom got no encouragement from her husband (my wonderful dad), but she had us all ready on Saturday nights. My older brothers would pull out that number 2-1/2 washtub and fill it up. We all bathed in the same water. The joke was that the last kid died in quicksand. Sunday mornings, we would walk a mile from our house to the church. We were poor, but we were freshly scrubbed and our clothes were clean. Lois McKeever was forever cooking and washing clothes and cleaning house. She kept the radio on to gospel singing and preaching, and could sing the prettiest alto you will ever hear. When I was 7, we moved from rural Alabama to the coal fields of West Virginia. The one church in the mining camp was Methodist, and that’s where we went. I was too young to notice these … [Read more...]

PINEVILLE (LCNews) - Louisiana College President Rick Brewer has promoted Norm Miller to vice president for communications and integrative marketing, effective immediately. Originally employed in August 2014 for the communications and marketing role, Miller maintained that role as assistant to President Brewer within two months of his arrival at LC in April 2015. “Norm brings to our efforts at Louisiana College decades of journalism and public relations experience, as well as life-long affiliation with Southern Baptist churches,” Brewer said. “With his years of professional experience, he understands the goals of Christian higher education and the aspirations of Christian parents who want the most for their college-bound children.” Miller’s responsibilities include oversight of the College’s external communications, website and social media, as well as multi-media advertising and internal communications support related to other LC initiatives. “In my years of professional experience, few, if any leader I have met or served demonstrates such a high level of integrity as Dr. Brewer,” Miller said. “For Dr. Brewer, integrity is not an article of clothing to be donned as a situation may demand, but is what defines him as a … [Read more...]