By Lane Corley A troubling trend I’ve noted among church plants in Louisiana. Since 2012, professions of faith are down 86 percent and baptisms are down 66 percent in Louisiana church plants. It’s not just church plants. The decline in evangelism outcomes is well-noted across North America. It’s most surprising among church plants, because church planting is supposed to be for the purpose of evangelism. Why the decline? Some possible reasons to note: Contacts and evangelistic contacts are down 52 percent. Church planters should aim for 200 contacts and 50 Gospel conversations per month. 2022 numbers were 81 and 20 per month. We reap what we sow. Sowing the Gospel broadly should be priority No. 1 for church planters. And these should multiply exponentially as team members are added and begin to learn the habits of evangelism and disciple making from the church planter. It’s definitely a changing missional landscape. Evangelism may be harder today than it was 10 years ago. The pace of evangelistic responses may have slowed. This is more reason to share the gospel more broadly than ever before. Ecclesiological issues have taken precedence. Our organizations, logos, websites, and by-laws are in better order than they … [Read more...]

By Lane Corley ALEXANDRIA - In the beauty of the Christmas season, don’t forget the messy reason that it came about. The reason for the season and the savior was to deal with the sinfulness of humanity. … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) -- I tend to mentally “default” to Luke 2:1-20 when anyone refers to the “Christmas Story.” But that tendency to narrow the “Christmas Story” to this relatively short passage diminishes the eternal nature of God’s extensive plan of redemption which was in place before the foundations of the world. Indeed, the title “Christmas Story” almost demeans both the historical truth and the prophetic certainty that defines the account of past and future events tied to the birth of Christ. Through Isaiah, God explained that His plan to redeem Israel as well as the entire world was the essence of the “Christmas Story” (Isaiah 49:6). Meanwhile, Genesis 3:15 (specifically when read in conjunction with Galatians 3:16) shows that the plan of salvation, the catalyst for the “Christmas Story” was revealed as early as in the Garden of Eden. The “Christmas Story” includes God’s promise to Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation and that through him “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12). A promise repeated to Abraham’s son, Isaac (Gen. 26) and to His grandson, Jacob (Gen. 28). God’s sparing of Noah, bringing him and his family … [Read more...]

By Louisiana Baptist Executive Director Steve Horn ALEXANDRIA, La. – Horatio Lord Nelson lived from 1758-1805. The son of a clergyman, he joined the British Royal Navy when he was 12 years old. He became a Captain when he was 20. He was heralded as a daring leader who won many a victory for the British. One of his greatest victories was over the French during the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon planned to invade Egypt so to restrict Britain’s trade routes. On August 1, 1798, Nelson came upon the French Navy in the waters near Alexandria, Egypt, in what would later be referred to as the Battle of the Nile. Upon spotting the French warships, one of Nelson’s men said, “If we succeed, what will the world say?” Nelson immediately responded, “There is no if in the case. That we shall succeed is certain!” As believers in Jesus Christ—that we will succeed is certain! There is no “if.” But, we live like there is an “if.” We act like there is an “if.” In Ephesians 6:10-18, we are reminded that we are in a battle. The battle is real. The battle is intense. The battle is with a powerful enemy, Satan, who is out to destroy us. But, I don’t see the “if.” I see the victory, and the source of our victory is our faith. According to verse 16, we are … [Read more...]