By Staff, Louisiana Baptist Message MONROE - New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson surprised residents of the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home in Monroe December 6 with 40 all-expenses paid trips to Disney World in Orlando Florida. “I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, and I just want to let you know you are going to Disney World,” Benson said during a special assembly at the Children’s Home. Benson greeted each child in residential care between the ages of five and 17 with an envelope that contained their all-expense-paid trip to Disney World. Twenty-one children were on hand to receive the early Christmas gift from Benson while another 19, who were unable to attend the special assembly, will also being going in the spring. The 40 children are expected to go to Disney World during spring break in March. “Mrs. Benson has given our children a gift that they will remember for a lifetime,” said Perry Hancock, LBCH President and CEO. “We are so thankful for her love and care.” … [Read more...]

By Jerry Love, LBF Planned Giving Director ALEXANDRIA, La. – The Louisiana Baptist Foundation Board of Trustees received good financial news all the way around at its October meeting. In reviewing operations and investment performances for the third quarter of the year, trustees learned the Foundation’s portfolio continues to see positive returns for the year with each component performing well year to date. Fixed income portfolios are performing as should be expected based on interest rate movements.  With rates low the fixed income managers are being more “defensive,” meaning the portfolios have a shorter duration than their stated benchmarks in anticipation of rates eventually moving upward. The alternative investment portion of the LBF portfolio (preferred stocks, convertible securities, MLP’s, covered calls and infrastructure) continued to add value.  All the individual segments had strong returns with the majority showing returns in the teens.  The alternative mix is designed to enhance the overall portfolio while adding diversity and reducing volatility. Equities continue their positive performance for the year with the domestic and international components meeting or exceeding their benchmarks.  Morgan … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer LAFAYETTE, La. (LBM) – Nora Mire knew a great deal about religion as a young adult, but she knew very little about Christ. After losing a spouse to cancer in 2008, Mire was introduced to the living hope found in Jesus. She did not accept Christ at the time, but the seeds that were planted guided her through a journey that ended in Mire’s acknowledgment of her sins. Her desire to become a Christ follower was sparked after hearing the Gospel presented at The Bayou Church in Lafayette, just days into the month of October. “I kept hearing Pastor Sean Walker say that it [baptism] is a symbol, just like his wedding ring, and that it is an outward display of an inward commitment to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior,” Mire told the Baptist Message. “I understood. My parents made the decision to baptize me as an infant ... I am making the choice for myself, professing my faith, my belief that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.” LIVES THAT LAST Mire was one of 67 new believers baptized at The Bayou Church on Sept. 29. The catalyst for the mass baptism service came from the culmination of a sermon series, “Unleashing A Life that Lasts,” in which Senior Pastor Mike Walker … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer HAUGHTON, La. (LBM) –Luke Hockenjos was on a collision course with death until the Holy Spirit intervened and prevented him from killing another man at the end of a high-speed chase near Ruston on Nov. 2, 2014. Hockenjos, now a Louisiana Baptist evangelist, experienced life transformation on the interstate that day, finding hope in Christ. “I had the nose of his truck on the other driver’s side and was going to push him over the guardrail on the interstate and in the process kill myself,” Hockenjos told the Baptist Message. “God intervenes at the perfect moment because He’s a perfect God. “I heard, ‘This is not the plan I have for you, it’s time for you to go.’ So, I put my truck in reverse, got out of there and a few hours later I stopped using drugs and surrendered it all, he recounted. “I told God I would do whatever He wanted me to do. “I went to places and people who had seen me live that false lifestyle and I confessed my sins to all of them,” he continued. “I traveled wherever God led me, which was all over the place.” Hockenjos will speak during the Jan. 27 evening session of the 2020 Louisiana Baptist Convention Evangelism Conference at First Baptist Church in … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – Ed Newton commissioned more than 6,000 students to leave the Rapides Parish Coliseum and be salt and light in their schools, communities and world during the 2019 Youth Evangelism Celebration. “I believe as the world grows darker, the light gets brighter,” Newton told the students. “And I believe God is rallying a group of teenagers who will say ‘We are the salt of the earth! We are the light of the world! God’s got a mission for us!’ “You have a choice to make,” he continued. “Are you going to be a thermostat or a thermometer? God’s trying to raise up thermostats in the world that will change the atmosphere of their campus, that will change the atmosphere of locker rooms, that will change the atmosphere of friendships that you have. God wants you to embrace that you are salt and that you are light.” EMBRACE THE CALL Newton, pastor of the 27,000-member Community Bible Church in San Antonio, Texas, headlined the gathering, Nov. 24-25. Newton challenged Louisiana Baptist teens in multiple sessions to share what Christ has done in their lives, and encouraged them to change the world for the Lord. By the end of the two-day spiritual encounter, 500 … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer MANY, La. (LBM) – Christmas will be merrier in Louisiana and seven other states for more than 11,000 needy families, who have received a backpack filled with gifts and a message of hope for the holiday season. Included in that number are 4,500 backpacks filled with hygiene items, snacks, canned food items, school supplies, clothes, a Bible and a booklet of the Christmas story, contributed by 20 Louisiana Baptist churches and ministries. Throughout December, the Louisiana-based Mississippi River Ministry has coordinated the distribution of the backpacks to families at Christmas parties and other outreach events. Since the backpack giveaway began in 2015, more than 34,000 backpacks have been distributed that have resulted in 1,100 professions of faith in the eight-state region served by the ministry, according to Mississippi River Ministry regional backpack coordinators Marshall and Janell Ingle. Alabama’s Women on Mission has adopted the ministry and provided most of the backpacks since 2015. “The backpacks are more than just gifts to children who are marginalized,” Janell Ingle told the Baptist Message. “The backpacks not only meet physical needs but they are used as a bridge … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer RAYVILLE, La. (LBM)--The community of believers in Rayville has erected a 120-foot cross near Interstate 20 to remind motorists that Jesus watches over them. The cross, which can be seen up to two miles from its location, was envisioned in 2017 by Timmie Ray Thames, a member of the First Baptist Church in Rayville. Thames was inspired after having noticed electrical wires near his backyard form the image of a cross. Several months passed and on Aug. 21, 2017, Thames’s longtime friend, Joe Bruynickx, noticed a giant cross on the side of Interstate 55 in Batesville, Mississippi. The friends previously had discussed different varieties of crosses, but Bruynickx said God revealed to them at that moment they should place the same design in Rayville. “I was on my way back from the solar eclipse in Missouri and called Timmie Ray to help me stay awake on the drive home,” he recalled. “We had finished discussing the eclipse when Timmie Ray made the statement that ‘I just don’t know if God is in this.’ It was at that very moment that I noticed the cross at Batesville, and I was stunned and awe struck, as was Timmie Ray when I told him what I was witnessing. I snapped that picture and sent … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer You are a sleeping giant, the original American. You are now awakening. Just around the corner, you may become a spiritual superpower in this country that could change not only America but the world. -- Billy Graham, 1975, speaking to a group of Native American leaders in Albuquerque, New Mexico God often chooses to use the ‘least’ of the peoples, much like He used the Israelites when He delivered them out of bondage. “These people are connected to indigenous peoples around the world. Should they gain a sense of divine purpose for their lives, they could travel down an established highway to carry the good news around the world. Henry continues to pray that God will begin a revival in a least-likely place among a least-likely people so that God receives all the glory. -- Richard Blackaby, son of Henry Blackaby, founder of Blackaby Ministries, in a 2019 statement to the Baptist Message. ELTON, La. (LBM)–An eight-week camp meeting in Oberlin and Elton has sparked revival in central Louisiana and among the Navajo nation in New Mexico, and there are no signs that it will end soon. The All Nations Camp Meeting kicked off Oct. 2 under a tent on the campus of Oberlin Baptist … [Read more...]

EDITOR’S NOTE: Do you have a Revival, Homecoming, a new pastor, a community outreach or a concert? The Baptist Message would love to share your church news with the rest of the state. It is very easy to do, just send in your information (who, what, where and when) to philip@baptistmessage.com or call 318.449.4345. To get your event in the paper, please submit your information three weeks prior to the event. ON THE MOVE Terrell Suggs is the interim pastor at Calvary Baptist Church, Slidell. Jimmy Pitson is the new pastor at Baskin Baptist Church, Baskin. Cody Roberts is the new youth minister at Red Bluff Baptist Church, Folsom. Nichole Deline is the new music director at Serenity Baptist Church, Tickfaw. Codie (wife Kenzie) Smith is the new youth pastor at Airline Baptist Church, Bossier City. Randy (wife Chelby) Ziegler is the new youth pastor at First Baptist Church, Bossier City. Stephen (wife Amy) Cloud is the new youth pastor at Summer Grove Baptist Church, Shreveport. Tim (wife Casey) Purvis is the new children’s minister at Summer Grove Baptist Church, Shreveport. Chad Jackson has resigned as pastor at Liberty Baptist Church, Calhoun. Eastside Baptist Church, Ponchatoula: Pastor Wayne Hollie … [Read more...]