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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Louisiana Baptists continue to respond with disaster relief

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer Weeks after a pair of hurricanes hit the U.S. mainland, Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief teams still are responding with aid to churches and individuals in affected areas of Florida and Texas. As of late September, Eastern Louisiana Baptist Association’s chainsaw team was in Jacksonville, Fla. (where Hurricane Irma swept through Sept. 11). Meanwhile, the Rolling Hills Ministry’s feeding and shower units from Ruston were working in Houston, Texas, not far from where Hurricane Harvey made landfall (Aug. 26 and continued to drop record rains through Aug. 28), Louisiana Baptists State Disaster Relief Coordinator Gibbie McMillan told the Baptist Message. No Louisiana teams had been activated yet, as of Oct.4, to serve in Puerto Rico which was devastated by Hurricane Maria, Sept. 20. However, McMillan said plans are being implemented for trained disaster relief volunteers to go to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico beginning Oct. 10. The response plan calls for volunteers to deploy for a two-week period. The work will include assisting congregations in feeding operations and water purification, McMillan said, with the goal of helping individuals restore order so they can return to … [Read more...]

Acadian Baptist Center to celebrate 100 years of ‘a God thing’ there

Bt Staff, Baptist Message EUNICE (LBM) – Acadian Baptist Center is preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary, with activities that include a reunion of former students who attended Acadia Baptist Academy, the school that existed before the campus became the ABC in 1975. The reunion begins at 6 p.m., Oct. 13, and the anniversary celebration will take place the next day from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. One of the most notable ABC alumni is Jimmy Warren, the father of Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren. The elder Warren attended the camp in the 1930s. “They sent him down here where he surrendered to the ministry and got on fire for God,” said James Newsom, director of Acadian Baptist Center. “He started preaching in an area of mission sites and churches. “He stuttered,” Newsom elaborated. “And one of the old preachers told him, ‘Maybe you should look into another line of work,’ because of his speech.” “So he quit preaching for a while but he couldn’t stand it,” he continued. “He started preaching again and was faithful for many, many years as a pastor and as a director of missions and he raised Rick and a daughter and he touched a lot of lives.” Since becoming a camp in 1975, ABC has experienced significant changes, … [Read more...]

Louisiana Notables

If you have an upcoming event – homecoming, revival, concert, conference or a new staff member –please aloe the Baptist Message to share it with others in the state. In order to do so,  let us know at least three weeks prior to the date to make sure it makes our print deadlines. You can e-mail your info to philip@baptistmessage.com or call 318.449.4345.  ON THE MOVE Robert Daniel, Director of Missions for Big Creek, Central Louisiana and North Rapides Baptist Associations is retiring October 31.  A reception will be held at the Baptist Mission Center, which is located at 2201 Melrose St, Pineville LA  71360, October 29, 2-4 p.m. Thomas Walker is the new pastor at First Baptist Church, Boyce. Johnny (wife Kathy) Dammon is the new pastor at First Baptist Church, Lake Charles. HOMECOMING Main Street Baptist Mission, Pineville: 30th Homecoming, October 15, 10:30 a.m. There will be testimonies, singing and a message from God’s Word. We will be celebrating what God has done and what God is going to do at the service followed by a time of fellowship. Anyone who has ever been involved in the Mission or who is interested in getting involved is welcomed to come. Pastor: Sam West. Gilgal Baptist Church, Minden: 175th … [Read more...]

LC enrollment continues to climb

By Norm Miller, LC News PINEVILLE (LCNews) – For two years running, Louisiana College’s upward trend in enrollment continues, with a 24 percent increase in 2017's freshman class. Last year’s saw a 14 percent increase, reversing a five-year downward spiral that began in 2010 under previous school leadership. Louisiana College began its fall semester welcoming 310 freshmen and a 9 percent overall enrollment increase. Since becoming president in April 2015, LC President Rick Brewer is continually "pressing on," as his team often hears him say. He immediately began revitalizing the school's standing in the community to ensure its future, by creating the Louisiana College 2020 Vision with a primary goal of raising enrollment to 1,500 students. "When our Board of Trustees unanimously elected Brewer as president, we did so in the confidence that his previous 28 years of leadership success in Christian higher education would continue at Louisiana College," said Dr. Randy Harper, Chairman of the Board of Trustees. "We believe it has because the significant increase in enrollment is directly due to Dr. Brewer and his leadership team who has implemented his vision." Professor of English and Coordinator of Academic Advising … [Read more...]

Kennedy: We need to rebuild the middle class

By U.S. Sen. John Kennedy It doesn’t take an expert to see that something is stalling the American economy. Last year, for the 11th year in a row, America failed to achieve 3 percent annual growth. We’re not achieving that average benchmark, much less the growth that Americans truly deserve. Times are especially hard in Louisiana. Good-paying jobs are too scarce. They were scarce before the energy market downturn and the BP oil spill. If you’re a middle-aged man with a wife and two kids in Louisiana, you’re probably wondering how your parents were able to raise four kids on a single salary. Sure, they didn’t drive a Cadillac and they ate a lot of tuna casserole, but they sent those kids to college and retired at a decent age. The sobering truth is that government is regulating and taxing people half to death. We’re chasing our ideas, our jobs and our investors into the open, waiting arms of foreign countries. In the process, we’re killing our middle class, which is the primary vehicle for economic growth. I like to speak my mind so I’ll be blunt. Ordinary people need a tax cut. Too many undeserving people at the top are getting bailouts. Too many undeserving people at the bottom are getting … [Read more...]