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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Evangelism conference scheduled for March 20-21 in Cut Off

By Message Staff ALEXANDRIA – Pastor Shane Terrebonne has announced the speakers for the 2nd Annual Gulf Coast Evangelism Conference scheduled for March 20-21 at South Lafourche Baptist Church in Cut Off. On March 20, Titus Terrebonne, associate pastor of South Lefourche, will speak at 10:45 a.m. and Ryan Melson, pastor of West Bank Baptist Church in Marrero, will preach at 6:30 p.m. The following evening, Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans and immediate past president of the Southern Baptist Convention,  will close out the conference by presenting a message at 6:30 p.m. “I’m excited to see how God will use this event to help us grow evangelistically,” Pastor Terrebonne told the Baptist Message. He invited Louisiana Baptists to be part of this special focus on winning the lost in our state.   … [Read more...]

EDITORIAL: When the storms came

By Dr. David Hankins, Executive director for Louisiana Baptists In Luke 6 Jesus makes it clear that it’s not “if” the storms come, but “when” the storms come. For us who call Louisiana home, the storms have come – again. Like many of you, I watched the radars that showed storm, after storm, after storm streaming from south to north. The colors on the radar screen were yellow, orange and dark green indicating heavy rains falling again and again over the same water-soaked areas. Flood watches and flash flood warnings scrolled across the bottom of our screens and lit up our smart phones. Schools began to close as rising waters made many rural roads, and even main highways, impassable. The recent storms did not generate the national media coverage of a Katrina, Rita or Ike, but they’ve affected a much wider area. Across the entire I-20 corridor in north Louisiana, down the western side of the state and stretching through central Louisiana to the north shore, the rain event of 2016 dumped over 20 inches of rain in some places causing rivers, streams and bayous to rise to historic levels. According to recent Baptist Message reports, in excess of 7,000 homes have been affected across 28 parishes. In addition to our … [Read more...]

Flooding cancels First West NELA Egg Drop scheduled to take place on Saturday

In a video posted on Facebook, First West Senior Pastor Michael Wood said the church was canceling the First West NELA Egg Drop which had scheduled to take place on Saturday at West Monroe and Sterlington High Schools because of the flooding. Seventy thousand eggs were to be dropped from a hot air balloon at the two campuses. “I want to let you know that at First West we were scheduled to have our First West Egg Drop coming up this Saturday,” Wood said. “We believe we want to steer all our resources and all of our volunteers to continue to meet needs that are right here in around us because of the flood disaster that’s taken place. “We are going to cancel that for this weekend because we want to continue to meet the needs in our neighborhood. We hate we have to do that but we know this is the right thing to do,” Wood said. “This is the moment God has given us a chance to minister to those in our community. “So, I want to encourage you that if you have not gotten plugged in yet to somewhere to be serving, somewhere to be helping someone. The easiest way to do that is go to firstwest.cc/floodrelief,” Wood continued. “If you will go there, there is a place to sign up to volunteer or maybe you still have a need. If there is … [Read more...]

EDITORIAL: The Flood of 2016

By Waylon Bailey, Pastor First Baptist Covington This last week has been a bad week in Louisiana. First, the northern part of our state suffered catastrophic flooding. Then, the Southeast portion of our state (where I live and serve) has been hit with what has been called an “historic flood.” Saint Joseph’s Abby, a monastery built in the 1800s, has never flooded. But it did this week. That’s how historic it has been. It’s also been a hard week. While I can’t talk specifically about the hurts and needs in North Louisiana, I have seen firsthand the hurt, pain, and loss in southeast Louisiana. The flood came because the area to our north received in excess of 15 inches of rain overnight. Therefore, we had “flash flooding,” a term I’m not sure I understood until I saw it firsthand. I live three-fourths of a mile from a scenic little river called by the Indian name Bogue Falaya. The Bogue Falaya runs through my town of Covington and joins with the Tchefuncte River before it empties into Lake Pontchartrain. (those of you who are reading across the country and around the world can pronounce these names the best you can :). I watched this little river (about 30 feet wide) inundate houses in just a few hours time (my … [Read more...]

Louisiana College signs dual enrollment agreement with University Academy

PINEVILLE - Louisiana College has entered into a one-year, dual enrollment with University Academy. The two schools announced the news during a press conference on March 15 at the LC campus in Pineville. The agreement allows qualified high school students from University Academy to enroll at LC. This will be University Academy's second location. University Academy also uses facilities at LSU-Alexandria. https://youtu.be/fDG4sf9PUmQ … [Read more...]

‘Nobody fully understands how big this thing is yet and it is still going on’

By Philip Timothy, Managing Editor The enormous scope of the damage that flooding has inflicted on Louisianans has left many in the state shaken but yet resolved to overcome. Still, people are going to need a lot of help in order to recover, according to disaster relief experts in the state. Floodwaters have damaged more than 7,000 homes in Louisiana, affecting 28 parishes, but that number likely will rise because many of the state’s biggest rivers have yet to crest. Louisiana Baptists’ disaster relief units, joined by Southern Baptist crews from 10 other states, already are fanning out to minister and help where they can, even as they wait for the waters to recede. “Nobody fully understands how big this thing is yet and it is still going on,” said John Hebert, director of missions and ministry for the Louisiana Baptist Convention. “All of our state assets have been deployed and we are barely scratching the surface. The magnitude of this flooding is just unbelievable as there are very few places in the state that have not been affected by it,” Hebert said.   https://youtu.be/XLsq1qMCVJs David Abernathy, Louisiana Baptists’ northern region disaster relief coordinator, told Hebert, “We need all the … [Read more...]

Banding together, churches join forces to minister to flooded communities

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer Jason Womack has issued a challenge to area churches – instead of holding normally scheduled activities on Wednesday, join him and his congregation at Goldonna Baptist Church as they become the church to those affected by recent record flooding. Like so many other churches in the state, Goldonna has altered business as usual for a little while to minister to its members and others from the community affected by flooding throughout Louisiana. Instead of holding its usual Sunday night service, Goldonna members traveled to flooded areas and passed out food items, bottled water and other essential items. “Our plan for Wednesday is to team up with any area churches and individuals who desire to be the Church and deliver more food, water and other items,” Womack said. “The office of Homeland Security delivered two pallets of M.R.E.s and bottled water for this area. Anyone wanting to be the Church with us is welcome.” More than two feet of rain has fallen in some areas of the state, leading to flooded homes, impassable roadways and even four deaths. Various organizations such as Samaritan’s Purse and Southern Baptist Disaster Relief both in Louisiana and outside the state have come to … [Read more...]

Help arrives; relief is coming to Louisiana Baptist churches in all forms

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer Since its first Bible study last August, The Bridge Church in Covington had planned having several big outreach events this spring as a lead up to its launch of worship services this fall. Now, like so many other Louisiana Baptist churches, those planned outreaches for Bridge Church have turned into flood relief opportunities – even as its pastor Kirk Strawbridge and his family lost most of their furniture as their home took on 10 inches of water on Thursday. Now living in a parsonage belonging to First Baptist Church in Mandeville’s Barker’s Corner campus, Strawbridge is optimistic about the future. “It has been awesome to seen the flood of love from God’s people trump the damage of an earthly flood of water,” Strawbridge said. “He has a plan through it all.” Strawbridge’s church did not sustain any water damage and plans to hand out food boxes to those in need. Lane Corley, pastor of the sponsor church, said Strawbridge and his wife Susie lost nearly everything they owned during Hurricane Gustav in 2008. He expects the couple to come out strong once again. “This hardship is not new to them,” said Corley, pastor of the Bridge Church in Madisonville. “They’ll bounce … [Read more...]

EDITORIAL: Religion of peace or new narrative?

By Ron Hale If Islam’s testimony is one of peace, then please explain why cartoonists in the 21st century are petrified of dying brutal deaths if their published caricature crosses some forbidden line? Just over a year ago, Islamic extremists killed 12 people after violently assaulting the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical newspaper in Paris. Is this violence a modern phenomenon or is there a trail of blood stretching back to antiquity? Crusade historian Thomas F. Madden enlightens us to the ancient reality that Islam has always possessed a brooding and bloody side. In fact, he declares that the Crusades were in every way a defensive war -- the West’s belated response to the Muslim conquest of fully two-thirds of the Christian world. Madden is the former Chair of the History Department at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, and Director of Saint Louis University's Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. He believes the Crusades are quite possibly the most misunderstood event in European history. The history of the world shows that Europe was busy defending itself against Arab invaders beginning in the seventh century and through the tenth, a 300-plus year siege of the West. The Turkish … [Read more...]

GuideStone trustees hear reports, congratulate retiring CFO

By Roy Hayhurst, GuideStone Financial Resources DALLAS — Referring to 2 Corinthians 10:13, GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins told trustees that each person is assigned an area of influence by God. To be a person of influence, one must possess vision, integrity and purpose. With that in mind, Hawkins declared 2016 the “year of influence” at GuideStone. In addition to the annual theme, trustees heard reports from ministry areas and celebrated the retirement of Jeff Billinger, who leaves GuideStone after 22 years of service, primarily as chief financial officer. Trustees met February 29–March 1 in Dallas. “Every one of us has been assigned an area of influence,” Hawkins told trustees. “To be people of influence, we must possess a clear, God-sized vision, be people of integrity in all that we do and have a God-ordained purpose.” The verse and the theme are two-fold in importance, marking the annual theme that guides GuideStone’s work in 2016, as well as the subject of a new book, VIP: How to Influence with Vision, Integrity and Purpose, released March 8, whose proceeds benefit Mission:Dignity. In his report to trustees, Chief Operating Officer John R. Jones described 2015 as a challenging year. “Even so, … [Read more...]