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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

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. ON THE MOVE Byron Comish is the interim pastor at First Baptist Church, Springfield. Nick, wife Kara, Watts is the new minister to students at First Baptist Church, Lafayette. Juri Thompson is the new youth minister at Cheniere, West Monroe. REVIVAL Sweetwater Baptist Church, Quitman: Revival, February 28-March 3. Evangelist: Bill Britt. Pastor: Wilton Wall. Ouachita Baptist Church, West Monroe: Revival, March 7-10. Evangelist: Bill Britt. Pastor: Mike Holloway. Louisiana College, Pineville: Chapel, March 9-11, Evangelist: Chip Luter. Lonestar Baptist Church, Pitkin: Revival, March 7-10, Marh 7, 11 a.m. & 6 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. Evangelist: Sam Moore. Music Evangelist: Arlen Smith. Lord’s Ambassadors of DeRidder will provide speach music on March 7. Pastor: John Elliott. First … [Read more...]

Johnston launches ministries to offer prayer, hope

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer COVINGTON, La. (LBM) – Jay Johnston, a long-time Louisiana Baptist minister and founder of Jay Johnston Ministry, has launched two webinars designed to encourage others to pray more fervently and to be reminded that Christ is the hope to endure. Launched in early February, both webinars are free and offered on his website, jayjohnston.org. “How to Pray” airs at 8 p.m. Sundays, and “The Hope Call” occurs at noon every Tuesday. “We all face life-dominating issues, and through Christ we can experience hope and victory no matter the problems we face today,” Johnston told the Baptist Message. ““My hope is to share resources and direct people to local churches and get them connected. If God will use this as a force to encourage people, then I am all about it. It’s for His glory. I want to be available to Him as an instrument and be faithful.” Johnston said God created a burden in his heart to start the webinars after frequent visits with others in Louisiana and phone calls with others in surrounding states. Most people he engaged with indicated they were discouraged and needed direction. “Just recognizing a sense of hopelessness among people and being a spiritual leader in … [Read more...]

A love beyond compare on Valentine’s Day 2021

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer WEST MONROE, La. (LBM) – Feb. 14 was more than a holiday for Dustin Lee and his six-year-old daughter, Micah, and greater than the small expressions of love exchanged through cards and small gifts among their family. Instead, it was a day that marked the love of the Father for His child. A month after confessing her sins and asking Christ into her life, the youngster proclaimed that commitment publicly as her father baptized her to affirm her adoption as a child of God. “Micah had questions for a while and on the first Sunday night in January she told my wife, Alisha, and me she was ready,” Lee, minister to children at First West, told the Baptist Message, “Right there in our home, we got the privilege of sitting with her as she said she was a sinner and asked God in her heart. As dads our highest calling and privilege is to pray for our children and walk alongside them in their faith journey. This extends to the time from before they accept him to when they grow more to become a disciple of Him.” Micah was joined by three other children for baptism during “Wear Red Sunday” at First West. During the service, children wore red shirts to proclaim their love for … [Read more...]

Robertson leads new CBN chapter in Louisiana

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor DEVILLE, La. (LBM) — The Conservative Baptist Network announced Feb. 18 the launch of its Louisiana state chapter, with more states soon to launch as it expands as a localized, grassroots effort, according to organizational sources. In a statement released to the Baptist Message, the CBN shared that Philip Robertson, Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee member (2018-present) and two-time past president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention (2004-2005), will serve as the lead state coordinator. Robertson is senior pastor of Philadelphia Baptist Church, Deville, with a campus in Alexandria, and served as a member of the Louisiana Baptist Convention Executive Board (1997-2003), including two years as LBCEB president (2001-2002). He also was a trustee of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (2003-2006). Robertson currently serves in various capacities for his local association and state convention. “I joined the Conservative Baptist Network for two reasons,” Robertson said. “One, because I believe there are important issues affecting our churches and the SBC that need to be addressed, and two, because CBN is a ‘pro’ Southern Baptist Convention movement. I … [Read more...]

Greear’s hiring practices under review after sexual abuse victim complains

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor RALEIGH, N.C. (LBM) – The Houston Chronicle reports that The Summit Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, has launched a review of the hiring of a pastor accused of a sex abuse cover-up at his last congregation. Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear is pastor of Summit and was key in the hiring of Brian Loritts to serve as executive pastor of teaching and development. Loritts previously served as pastor of Fellowship Memphis (2003-2015), a multi-ethnic church in Memphis, Tennessee. His brother-in-law, Rick Trotter began to serve as worship pastor there in 2005 and remained on staff until 2010. According to the Commercial Appeal, a daily newspaper of Memphis, Trotter was caught having placed “a hidden camera in a bathroom where he recorded women—and, reportedly, minors, too.” The news outlet also stated that Fellowship Memphis “didn’t report him [Trotter] to authorities, and he avoided prosecution.” A victim at Fellowship Memphis told the Commercial Appeal,” I asked about pressing charges, but they discouraged us from doing that. They really didn’t give us any of the information.” Trotter left Fellowship Memphis and in 2011 joined the staff of Downtown Church, … [Read more...]

Biden mandates slight women athletes, imperil unborn

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor WASHINGTON (LBM) – Newly sworn in President Joe Biden is on a record pace for signing executive orders, nearly doubling (22) the first week mandates issued by the last seven presidents before him, combined (13), according to the Federal Register. But, more importantly, at least two of the mandates are controversial, with one negatively impacting Title IX, a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination “on the basis of sex” in education programs, a law which has been essential in elevating women’s sports in schools; and another that eviscerates protections of the unborn to people of color abroad, by rescinding what is known as the Mexico City Policy, which prohibited foreign aid from being spent on performing or promoting abortions. Specifically, EO 13988 mandates that biological males who identify themselves as transgender -- without having hormone treatments or other medical procedures -- be allowed to compete against biological girls, stating these transgender athletes cannot be denied “access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports” of girls. A corollary action, EO 14004, overturned a previous military policy that prevented the recruiting of … [Read more...]

What’s your story like?

By Stewart Holloway Everyone has a story. No one’s story is perfect. We’ve all faced disappointments, made bad decisions, struggled with sin, and more. The difference for Christians is we have welcomed God into our story. We have come to a point in our lives where we repented of our sins and received Jesus Christ as our Savior and surrendered to Him as our Lord. Our stories before we met God can run the gamut from G-rated ones of being raised in church and then finally realizing that just church was not enough to R-rated stories with plenty of sin and bad decisions before coming to faith in Christ. Some of us, even after welcoming God into our story, run astray or drift away from Him for awhile, and then turn back. Others are fortunate to begin their God-story early in life but only later discover a deeper relationship with Him that goes beyond a distant God of Sunday School posters and flannel-graphs. Whatever a person’s story with God, it is powerful and needs to be shared. No one can argue with your God-story. When brought before King Agrippa, in Acts 25-26, Paul shared his story. Having broken no Roman law about which he needed to make a defense, Paul used the audience with the king and the surrounding people to … [Read more...]