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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

The gift with a lot of benefits – a charitable gift annuity

Charitable gift annuities are a great way to enhance your financial picture and take advantage of tax benefits while making a lasting gift to God’s Kingdom work. A gift annuity is a relatively simple contract between you and the Louisiana Baptist Foundation. You transfer cash or other liquid assets, such as stock, bonds, or mutual funds, to the Foundation; the Foundation pays you a fixed income – an annuity – for life. The contract can be written for the life of an individual or for two lives. The gift annuity agreement allows you to name the ministry that will receive the remainder of the fund after your lifetime. That beneficiary can be your church, a Baptist institution or ministry, or divided among several ministries. Creating a charitable gift annuity (CGA) offers several tax advantages to you, the donor. n Gift Annuities qualify for a partial income tax deduction in the year the gift is made. n A portion of each annuity payment is considered to be “return of principle” during your projected life expectancy and is not subject to income tax. n Capital gains tax on appreciated securities can be partially avoided at the time of the gift.  Federal estate and gift taxes are generally avoided on the amount … [Read more...]

‘Tis the season to give thanks

By Jerry Love, LBF Communications The Thanksgiving holiday has just passed when we express our gratitude to God for his care and blessings for the year. The celebration of Christmas is beginning in earnest as we thank God the Father for God the Son – Jesus – and the salvation that was given through His birth, life, death and resurrection. But there are times in our lives that we reflect and give thanks, not because the calendar says it’s time.  We reflect because of the changes in the seasons of life and the effect on our hearts. I find myself at one of those junctures of life.  Recently my dad passed away and joined my mom in heaven where they are eternally praising God and living “true” life. I am grateful that in the last days of his life, my dad repeatedly said he was ready to see Jesus. As I reflect on the past, and the present, I am grateful for many things. I am grateful for parents who served the Lord. My mom and dad didn’t send us to church, they took us every Sunday (both services) and Wednesday. Some of my earliest memories are of dad “leading the singin” and mom playing the piano at St. Rest Baptist Church on the White Lightning Road in northwest Lincoln Parish. Later, at Cook Baptist in Ruston, … [Read more...]

Food distribution event at NOLA Baptist clinic draws huge crowd

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer NEW ORLEANS – Getting in and out of the Baptist Community Health Services clinic was a bit more difficult than usual on a Saturday in late November. For several blocks, cars in this Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood lined the streets to create a traffic jam as they waited their turn to get their hands on a coveted possession – boxes of food to feed their families for up to a week. Some volunteers unload boxes from one of three Feed the Children trucks while others walked the boxes of food to cars as they arrived on a street next to the clinic. By the time all boxes are given out, some 1200 families are served. Provided through a partnership of New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton’s Play It Forward Foundation and the Baptist Friendship House, the boxes were distributed by 40 volunteers who are members of churches from the New Orleans Baptist Association, along with others who helped from Baptist Friendship House and clinic staff. Among the many volunteers who gave of their time was Ken Taylor, pastor of Gentilly Baptist Church not far from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary where he serves as professor of urban missions. “Jesus told us to love our fellow man and of the … [Read more...]

Paris attacks: ISIS trying to goad Jesus’ return and the apocalypse

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor PARIS (LBM) -- Ironically, the deaths of 130 civilians as well as the related stepped up air attacks against Islamic State militants in Syria are both successes for ISIS. On the one hand its strategic objectives have been enhanced by the terror and chaos created within Western nations it considers enemies – France, Belgium, Germany and the United States among them. On the other hand, the severe military response ISIS has provoked fits into the bizarre end time prophecies that are prompting the group to be so barbaric in its atrocities against the countries it has incited. TERRORISM & THEOLOGY Paris was placed under curfew, the first since 1944, after gunmen and suicide bombers coordinated separate attacks targeting restaurants, a rock concert and a sports stadium Nov. 13, killing 130. France’s President Hollande also ordered the country’s borders sealed and lawmakers voted to extend a national state of emergency through at least February 2016. Brussels officials, meanwhile, declared a terror alert Nov. 22, closing schools and putting troops on patrol in the streets while conducting raids (21 arrests so far) to locate suspects connected to the Paris terrorism. The … [Read more...]

Steven Maltempi introduced as LBC’s new youth strategist at YEC

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – A long-time student ministry specialist with strong ties to Baptist life in the state is the new youth strategist for Louisiana Baptists. Steven Maltempi assumes his new role on Dec. 1 and will be introduced during a youth ministers fellowship at next week’s Youth Evangelism Celebration in Lafayette. Most recently the lead associate of student and collegiate ministry for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, Maltempi also served in a similar position at the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia. While attending seminary, Maltempi said God placed in his heart a a calling for student ministry. Though he enjoyed serving in Texas, Maltempi said he is looking forward to what lies ahead in his home state of Louisiana. “As Louisiana Baptists we must have as our goal to evangelize, disciple, and involve students in ministry and missions,” he said. “When they graduate from high school they must be ready to minister at work or college. To prepare them we must capture their imaginations and passions for Christ. “Teenagers are a mission field and a mission force,” he continued. “Our focus must be evangelism; discipleship, much more than a transfer of knowledge; … [Read more...]

LCIW Revival brings freedom to 32 behind bars

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ST GABRIEL – Inmate Chelsea Daigle had decided to follow Christ during one of the revival services at Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women the day before when she went forward with a request. “I want to be baptized tonight,” she proudly exclaimed. For Janie Wise, those words represented a beautiful picture of Christ’s love and forgiveness, a freedom found in a place where many inmates spend many years behind bars. “The tears, joy and the women saying, ‘Thank you, Jesus,’ made this a special weekend,” said Wise, women’s missions and ministry strategist for Louisiana Baptists which co-sponsored the revival at the prison. “The women who followed through with baptism knew what they were doing. It was a step that said to their peers right there, I have decided to follow Jesus.” During four revival services from Oct. 3-4 at the maximum security prison about 10 miles east of Baton Rouge, 32 women made professions of faith and 28 of them were baptized. Approximately 160 volunteers from 28 Louisiana Baptist churches participated in the revival, which included a gift box distribution to the inmates, three worship services on Saturday, a worship service on Sunday and a … [Read more...]

Healing souls in Haiti: October mission trip allows team to minister to Haitians in need

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer HAITI – Lane Howe and his interpreter had just entered the 8 x 10 foot home when they were offered the only food the 28-year-old Haitian woman named Garline had in her entire house – eight bananas. Though she owned very little and had lost 17 family members during a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated the country on Jan. 12, 2010, Garline demonstrated she had all she needed – a relationship with Jesus Christ. The encounter forever etched in Howe’s mind a picture of Christ-likeness, and is a constant reminder of why he and 42 other Louisiana Baptists went to Haiti for a mid-October mission trip. “She had it all figured out and showed me it’s not about the material things that matter,” said Howe, a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Alexandria. “Here was someone who had lost 17 family members and still had some injuries visible from the earthquake, yet she showed me how we are supposed to live our lives – devoted to Christ and excited to have Him in us. “Just like she wanted to share all the food she had, we should be willing and excited to share what we have as Christ-followers,” he continued. “It’s our obligation because Haiti is in need. “How can they hear the Word … [Read more...]

Youth Evangelism Celebration all about moments

By Message Staff LAFAYETTE – The 2015 Youth Evangelism Celebration was all about making the most of the moment. “You have this moment,” Acton Bowen told the youth gathered inside the Cajundome for the opening session of YEC on Monday, Nov. 23. “This is the moment you have right now to say yes to Jesus.” A speaker and New York Times best-selling author who has served in the local church, led a city-wide student Bible study in Gadsden, Ala., and was the host of x|roads TV, Bowen was one of several people who were on stage during YEC. The largest gathering of Louisiana Baptists each year, YEC featured high-energy music, inspiring messages, fellowship and much more. The theme for this year’s YEC is Moments, based off Psalm 119:32. Throughout the two-day event, Bowen issued several challenges, including take up one's cross to follow Jesus. Basing his message off Mark 8:31-35, Bowen told the students and adult chaperons that too often in America to not be just a follower, but a fan of Christ. He said Jesus is looking for followers, especially when times get tough. "There is a huge difference between being a fan of Jesus and a follower of Jesus," he said. "In churches across America I am preaching to some of the greater … [Read more...]

Youth Evangelism Celebration kicks off today

By Message Staff LAFAYETTE -  The annual Youth Evangelism Celebration kicks off tonight. The largest gathering of Louisiana Baptists each year, YEC is scheduled for Nov. 23-24 and will feature high-energy music, inspiring messages, fellowship and much more. Due to on-going renovations at the Rapides Coliseum in Alexandria, and an unknown date of completion, the Cajundome will be the home for YEC through 2017. The theme for this year’s YEC is Moments, based off Psalm 119:32. You can follow the event through the Baptist Message's Facebook and Twitter updates. Send any photos to brian@baptistmessage.com and we'll post them on our Facebook page and in our photo gallery once YEC has ended. … [Read more...]

Egyptian church, destroyed by terrorists, rebuilt by Egyptian army

By Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner CAIRO (Christian Examiner) – A Coptic Christian Church in Minya, Egypt, burned down by the Muslim Brotherhood in the wake of the Arab Spring riots, has been rebuilt by the Egyptian military, the Egyptian news source Watani has reported. Parishioners gathered at the church of Amir Tadros, or St. Theodore, to celebrate the church's reopening Nov. 14. It was one of 100 Christian churches, houses and Christian establishments firebombed in the country during riots there in 2013, shortly after the Muslim Brotherhood took power – and then lost it after failing to provide essential civil services and wreaking havoc on the nation's non-Muslim minority communities. Muhammad Morsi, who led the Muslim Brotherhood, was recently charged with torturing his political opponents, but he also has been found guilty of helping more than 100 militant Islamists escape from prison during the 2011 revolts that ushered him into power. For that crime, Morsi has been sentenced to death. Morsi deposed then President Hosni Mubarak, a long-time ally of the United States and a peacemaker with Israel. In August 2013, the Algemeiner, a Middle East news source, said its Investigative Project on Terrorism had … [Read more...]