By Gevan Spinney “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:7-8... Not long after I was saved in 1992, I was in church one Sunday morning and the music minister said, “turn to page 15.” I was sharing the hymnal with my momma and singing about raising my Ebenezer and I thought, “that is weird”, my mind had a picture of me holding Ebenezer Scrooge over my head. Then we sang the fourth verse and it was if I had written it. I mumbled, “Oh, to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be” that is me. Then I sang, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart Lord take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.” As those words came off of my lips they began ring in my soul. On the outside I looked fine, my shirt was starched and ironed, I smelled of cologne, my hair was nice and neat, I smiled and said hello to those who greeted me. You couldn’t tell from the outside, but on the inside I was prone to wander. For nearly 18 years the devil had control of my life. I filled my life with people and substances that … [Read more...]
Take time to reflect on God’s gift to us this Christmas
By Stewart Holloway Are you going to miss Christmas? It’s only December 2, but the schedule is already busy! If you’re like our family, you’ve looked at your calendar and asked, “What nights do we actually have free in the next 23 days?” The answer? Not many. I even declined an invitation last night because of another obligation already booked! That won’t be the last time that happens. We are so busy with Christmas that it is easy to blow right past it and miss what this season is all about. We ...need to hear again the angels saying, “Hark!” That archaic word means, “Listen! Pay attention! Don’t miss this!” In order to “hark”, you have to slow down, find a quiet spot, and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. When you do, you will hear the gentle whisper, “Don’t miss this!” The “this” is that God came to us! He is Emmanuel, God WITH us! For our church’s Hanging of the Green service this year, I wrote the following poem. Reflect on it as this month begins: Don’t miss Christmas? “How could I?” you say. With the carols, presents, and Santa’s red sleigh? My house is decked out. My schedule is full. There’s no way I can miss Christmas! You must be a fool! Maybe so, I would say. But many have, you know Even … [Read more...]
A lesson on Thanksgiving when the happy ending has not come yet
By Steve Horn Habakkuk ended his prophecy like this: Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18yet I will triumph in Yahweh; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! 19Yahweh my Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights! (Habakkuk 3:17-19) Now, Habakkuk was not always in this praise place. In fact, if you read the whole book of Habakkuk, he was very far away from this place. Habakkuk most likely prophesied just before the beginning of the exile when the sin of Judah is at the peak. Habakkuk questioned God as to how long He would allow sin to reign in Judah (1:1-4). God answered back that He was preparing the Babylonians to deal with Judah’s sin (1:5-11). Habakkuk’s second question concerns how God could use the Babylonians, who were more wicked, to be the instrument of judgment against Judah (1:12-2:1). When God answers Habakkuk’s questions we learn several important truths. God is always at work even if we do not see how He is at work. God will speak at the right time. And so, we … [Read more...]
Louisiana Notables
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. IN REMEMBERANCE Glen Wagnon, 80, a native of DeRidder and resident of Baton Rouge passed away November 3. He also served in full-time ministry for over 40 years in churches throughout Louisiana -- Ludington Baptist, DeRidder; Baptist Temple, Alexandria; Northside Baptist, Lafayette; First Baptist Church, Olla; First Baptist Church, Starks and Emmanuel Baptist Church, Oakdale. He also served on the Board of Trustees for the Baptist Message for a number of years. Following his retirement he continued to preach as an interim and had supply preaching roles for numerous churches. He preached his last sermon only four weeks before his death. In his spare time, he was an avid hunter, fisherman, and LSU sports fan. He was preceded in death by his mother, Elizabeth Sheppard; by his father, Malvin Wagnon, Sr.; and by his sister, … [Read more...]
8. Skills of a church planter: Commitment to church growth
By John Hebert ALEXANDRIA (LBM) – The Scripture has a lot to say about growth of the Kingdom, but perhaps the key passage is Matthew 13 which describes the four soils and the resulting harvest from each. The same chapter also shares a parable that compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a mustard seed, “which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” Both of these references strongly convey the idea that the Kingdom of God should grow, and should convict you that your church should grow. Leaders must be committed to developing key skills and gaining valuable experiences that help them grow their congregations. LESSON LEARNED A key principle about church growth is that it is a function of health. A healthy church will grow almost with little eff ort, and an unhealthy congregation will not grow no matter what you do. These concepts are real to me because of something that happened during my first year of marriage. In fact it was less than a year after Kitty and I had recited our nuptials, and we were living in Lecompte, when I decided I would plant my first garden. I went down to the … [Read more...]
Couple heaven-bound after Gospel dial-up
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer LEESVILLLE, La. (LBM) – For many years Gil James and his wife, Karen, believed they were Heaven bound based solely on their good deeds. But on a late July evening, during a phone call with Karen’s brother-inlaw, Eric Jarell, the couple finally accepted that they could enter Heaven only through a relationship with Christ. Moments later, they prayed to receive Christ in their living room, and months later they publicly declared their faith through baptism at Canaan Baptist Church in Leesville. “We had been going right along with our regular life for quite a few years and knew something was missing,” James told the Baptist Message. “One night it hit us we needed to change our life. The morning after we gave our lives to Christ we both woke up with this feeling of newness. Months went by and we realized that we needed to take that next step of obedience through baptism in front of our family members. Both of us lived all these years without Christ and now we can’t get enough of serving Him every day.” SOW AND REAP The Jameses were among four people baptized Sept. 8, and nine since January, at Canaan Baptist Church. Pastor Jason Nolde said the baptisms reflect an increased … [Read more...]
WRAPUP: Resolutions, motions, budget and elections
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – Louisiana Baptists enjoyed fellowship and worship during the LBC Annual meeting, but also conducted important business, passing resolutions, addressing motions, approving a budget and electing leaders. RESOLUTIONS Messengers approved four consensus statements, with three offering respectively: a statement of appreciation to the Randolph Riverfront Center in Alexandria for hosting the annual meeting and to individuals who contributed in important ways to the production of the twoday event; a declaration that being transformed from sinner to believer means our “old selves have passed away” as well as our old identity with those sins; and, a call for Louisiana lawmakers “to provide legal relief for churches to allow them the freedom to share information reasonably believed to be a true allegation about an individual to prospective employers or other congregations – as a means to prevent predators from continuing to harm others.” But the fourth stated Louisiana Baptists’ support for the proposed “Love Life Amendment,” slated to be on the statewide ballot in 2020. The resolution gives “our strongest possible endorsement of the Love Life Amendment and the … [Read more...]
Tennessee Baptists reject controversial SBC resolution
By Will Hall, Message Executive Editor KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (LBM)—Tennessee Baptists have broken with Southern Baptists with regard to two controversial concepts creeping into Southern Baptist seminaries, passing a rival resolution at the recently held state annual meeting that condemns Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality. The consensus statement said that Tennessee Baptists “are deeply troubled that some are injecting CRT and Intersectionality into theological context” and that the state convention’s members “strongly denounce CRT and Intersectionality as inconsistent with the Biblical worldview and theology.” The Tennessee declaration stands in stark contrast to a resolution passed in June by Southern Baptist messengers that endorsed Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality as “a set of analytical tools” which provide “selective insights … to understand multifaceted social dynamics.” Critical Race Theory can be traced to Derrick Bell, formerly of the Harvard Law School, who insisted that all formal structures in our country such as “the law” perpetuate “white privilege.” Meanwhile, Kimberlé Crenshaw, of the UCLA School of Law, coined the idea of Intersectionality to claim every intersection in life creates … [Read more...]
Chick fil-A drops 2 Christian charities, denies caving in to LGBT demands
By Will Hall, Message Executive Editor ATLANTA (LBM) — Chick-fil-A has announced it will drop the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Salvation Army from its foundation’s charitable giving program after completing multi-year commitments to both. The move comes as the Christian-founded company has endured severe attacks from homosexual groups that attack the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Salvation Army as anti-LGBT because both ministries champion marriage as a covenant relationship between one man and one woman. According to public records, in 2018 the Chick-fil-A Foundation contributed $1.65 million to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and $115,000 to the Salvation Army. The attacks on Chickfil-A include denials in recent years by airports and universities to prevent the company from opening stores on their respective premises. In reporting the change in its charitable giving policy, the Chick-fil-A Foundation announced its plans for “a more focused giving approach” in distributing $9 million in 2020 “to a smaller number of organizations working exclusively in the areas of education, homelessness and hunger.” In an email to the Christian Post, a Chick-filA spokesperson stressed, “No organization … [Read more...]
STUDY: Homosexuals made, not born, that way
By Will Hall, Message Executive Editor CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (LBM) – In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers found that from 75 percent up to 92 percent of homosexual behavior is the result of the environment, not genetics. In other words, cultural and social influences have an overwhelmingly greater impact on same-sex behavior than biology. Importantly, the genome study of nearly half a million participants from the U.K., U.S. and Sweden determined “there certainly is no single genetic determinant (sometimes referred to as the ‘gay gene’ in the media).” Of particular interest, the 8 percent to 25 percent of (minimal) genetic influence on same-sex sexual behavior was tied to genetic indicators which also predict behaviors “such as smoking, cannabis use, risk-taking, and the personality trait ‘openness to experience’” as well as “sexual behavior, attraction, identity, and fantasies.” Likewise, same-sex sexual behavior was “genetically correlated with several psychiatric or mental health traits” such as depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Of special significance, the study did not examine sexual identity but instead focused on sexual behavior. In July 2014, the CDC reported 1.6 percent of U.S. … [Read more...]
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