Click to Login or Sign Up

Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

IMB baptisms hit lowest level since 1969

By Will Hall, Baptist Message Editor ALEXANDRIA – Overseas baptisms for 2015 dropped to 54,762 from the 190,957 reported for 2014, according to information submitted by the International Mission Board in response to a request by the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. Likewise, the number of new churches fell from 13,824 to 3,842 over the same one-year period. The baptism figure represents the lowest level reported in 46 years. A note explaining the declines states the decrease is “due to one large CPM no longer reported” (CPM refers to “church planting movement”). Since 2009, the IMB has changed data gathering procedures to “no longer include reports from partner conventions and unions,” but to report information about “work related to IMB personnel only,” according to annotations in the SBC Annual. A table provided by IMB, in item 22 of 25 replies to “Ministry Inquiries,” shows an even larger four-year downturn. Baptisms fell by 211,689 since 2012 and the number of new churches declined 20,231 during the same time frame. For perspective about the drop to 54,762 annual baptisms, according to data in SBC Annuals and information posted on the IMB’s website, the 50,003 baptisms for 1969 were achieved with … [Read more...]

Spared from flooding, churches share God’s goodness with communities

By Message Staff Spared by God from the flooding which consumed more than 85 percent of the small rural community of Castor, First Baptist Church has been transformed into a “hub of relief” according to Pastor Preston Young. Floodwaters from Kepler Lake and Black Lake Bayou have consumed more than 85 percent of the homes in Castor, a small rural community of just 252 people in Bienville Parish. The majority of the flooding has taken place on the west side of town while 10 homes on the sparsely populated east side have been damaged by flood waters. “Some homes in our area had six to seven feet of water in them,” said Young. “Some homes that have been elevated for 30 to 40 years and never had water get into them were flooded. We share the same campus with Castor High School. The school was flooded and we had flood waters come up to the concrete slab of our church, but didn’t get inside. “God spared us from the flooding because he had a plan for this church,” Young said. Indeed He did. Beginning on that Thursday and throughout Friday when the rain was non-stop, Young saw how quickly the water was rising. Church members did what they could to help people in the community save what they could but their biggest … [Read more...]

ADF International welcomes State Department’s recognition of ongoing genocide of Christians, other religious minorities by ISIS

By Alliance Defending Freedom staff WASHINGTON – Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that the United States recognizes the atrocities perpetrated by ISIS/Daesh against Yazidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims as genocide. ADF International, which authored an extensive analysis of the issue as part of a report the Knights of Columbus provided to Kerry, says it welcomes this statement as an important first step in stopping the atrocities against Christians and other religious minorities in Syria and Iraq and bringing the perpetrators to justice. “Secretary of State Kerry has recognized an appropriate name for the actions of ISIS against Christians and other religious minorities: genocide. This recognition is an important first step in the necessary process by the United States, the UN, and the international community to stop the killing in the Middle East,” said Douglas Napier, senior counsel and executive director of ADF International, which has been greatly involved in providing evidence and legal analysis to the State Department and U.S. Congress as well as international bodies, including the European Parliament, Council of Europe, and United Nations. “As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the United … [Read more...]

Churches ministering to the needs of the many through prayer, actions

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer Tuesday night, prayers for revival and for the recent flooding in the state took center stage at a three-hour prayer gathering in Many. Nearly 70 pastors and others in District 8 Baptist Associations assembled at Hope Chapel in Many for the ‘Prayer Summit,’ which began with a focus on the record flooding that has engulfed many parts of the state. Prayer Summit organizer Cyle Clayton said, throughout the gathering, different prayers were offered about the flooding and needs were shared related to those affected by this disaster. He said everyone who attended knew at least one person who has been impacted by the flooding. “Everyone is overwhelmed and recognizing the needs,” said Clayton, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Many, who has been praying with other pastors for six years for revival in the US. “Through prayer, the Lord connects our hearts to those situations like the flooding. When the Lord moves in our hearts, He moves our hands and feet. And many in the room by the end of the night were talking about ways they will become involved in helping out those in need.” Timothy Robertson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Logansport, said the ‘Summit’ helped those … [Read more...]

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...]