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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Can you see the light?

By Stewart Holloway PINEVILLE, La. (LBM) - For over two months now, my oldest son, my mom, and I have spent most Friday mornings at my mom’s clearing overgrown brush. What was planted as a fruit orchard in an open pasture almost thirty years ago has grown into a wilderness of every kind of vine and tree imaginable. How did the orchard get that way? For one, my dad seldom pruned anything. He liked to plant things and watch them grow. Therefore, the fruit trees and grapevines grew too big. That l...ed to the second problem: procrastination. As other trees started to come up among the fruit trees, even though I mowed the area through high school and college, I was not allowed to cut those trees. “We’ll cut them later.” Well, we never did. Daddy said “later” until he died thirteen years ago. When I moved here, mom said, “Sometime we need to cut those trees.” I too said, “Later.” Now, here we are another twelve years later! Guess what? The little trees aren’t so little anymore and now there are a lot more! We have worked hard cutting down trees, pulling vines, and hauling brush to our now three massive piles. We are nowhere near through. However, when we stopped on Friday, we rejoiced because we could see all the way through … [Read more...]

Skills of a church planter: Resilience

By John Hebert, Louisiana Baptist missions and ministry team leader ALEXANDRIA, LA. (LBM)--Do you know what Winston Churchill, Bill Gates, Walt Disney, and Colonel Sanders have in common? It has nothing to do with their fame or notoriety, I would suggest. Instead, it is the trait that I contend was the cause of their renown -- resilience. I have observed that resilience is a characteristic most successful people possess, and I know firsthand that this is certainly true of successful church planters and church leaders. -- Winston Churchill was defeated in every election for public office until he became prime minister at age 62; -- Henry Ford went broke five different times before founding Ford Motor Company and becoming one of the wealthiest men in history; -- Bill Gates was a Harvard drop-out who founded a failed business (Traf-O-Data) before launching Microsoft; -- Colonel Sanders hawked his secret recipe hundreds of times before he found a restaurant that would accept it; and, -- Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” These men were resilient when they failed and church planters and leaders must be resilient to succeed. There is a rather … [Read more...]

Who can I reach? Discovering new persons of peace

By Lane Corley You have a network of people that only you can influence for Christ. The term used for these people is Persons of Peace. A person of peace is someone who: God is drawing to Himself and opening their heart to the Gospel. (see John 6:44; Acts 16:13-15). Is open to hearing your story, God’s story and the Gospel. Welcomes you. Invites you in to their life and relationships. Has an interest in spiritual things and / or are interested in your life as a believer. Opens doors for you to meet others and gain more opportunities to share your faith. At any given time, we all have in our network persons of peace that we can share with and lead to next steps in their faith. These should be our first priority because we already know them and have a relationship with them. We can also DISCOVER NEW Persons of Peace around us. God is in the world reconciling people to himself (2 Corinthians 5:15-20). He’s always at work around us drawing people to himself (John 6:44). Here are some ways to Discover New Persons of Peace: Pray expectantly to meet persons of peace throughout your week. When we’re praying for opportunities to be a witness, our eyes are more open to the opportunities around us. Pray everyday … [Read more...]

As the church regathers

By Waylon Bailey Soon churches in America will regather for public worship. We can all be thankful that we have done our best to be good citizens who cooperated with those in authority to “flatten the curve” and not overwhelm our healthcare professionals. We can be very proud to have been a part of that. But now we have the monumental task of doing things that go against our nature and all that we have learned. Not only do we have to refrain from a “holy kiss,” we also have to refrain from what we have taught our sons about a firm handshake. Churches and schools have been greatly affected and will require creative ways to fulfill their mission. Thankfully, I can let other professionals deal with how to open schools safely and to do a high quality job of education. Think with me about the church. What will we need to do this? I can’t say it more simply. We will need God. More than anything, we will need to be completely open to God to see how He will lead. I almost want to write “reimagine,” but we don’t have to reimagine church. God will lead His people. We must be open to God’s Spirit as He shows us how to regather and how to effectively serve our communities. We must adapt, and we must be adaptable. … [Read more...]

Re-gathering the Church

By Steve Horn Louisiana Pastors and Church Leaders, We have received a number of requests to help churches interpret the phasing aspects related to the re-gathering of congregations. A wise Seminary professor once lectured, “The definition of a fool is he who tries to guess what is going to be on the test.” Therefore, we have intentionally remained silent on what re-entry means to the churches of Louisiana until we heard from the Governor. As you probably know by now, on April 27 he extended the stay-at-home order until May 15 with an update tentatively targeted for May 11. Suggestions, information and links are currently on our website. You can access them by clicking on the Resources slider and the Re-entry slider. We have intentionally not passed along every article and post we’ve run across. Much of the information is redundant and we’re hoping to avoid information overload. While we’re waiting for specifics from the governor’s office, let me offer several words of general guidance as you peruse the mountain of other suggestions. Re-gathering the church, just like all aspects of our society right now, is likely going to happen in several phases. The governor indicated that congregations may initially be limited … [Read more...]

You are equipped

By Rebecca Holloway PINEVILLE, La. - When we first received Evan’s diagnosis of Down Syndrome, I was in my 5th month of pregnancy. One of my first thoughts when we received this news was, “This cannot be. I am not equipped to be a special needs parent!” Yet here we are 6.5 years later. We have read a lot, gotten guidance from doctors, and I have received a lot of advice from other special needs parents. However, most days we still feel ill-equipped for the job. There is a steep learning curve and much on-the-job training. But one thing I have realized over the years is that I was indeed equipped for this. My maternal grandmother was sick on and off most of my growing up years. Once my parents divorced when I was in high school and my mother went back to school to become a nurse, I helped care for her a lot – even taking her to doctor’s appointments and buying groceries for her when she was in the nursing home. As I said, my mother went back to nursing school when I was in high school, and I felt like I went to nursing school with her! She would teach me what she was learning, and after she was working full time, I got to hear many stories about her patients and how the doctors would treat them for various illnesses. Ten … [Read more...]

Where the rubber meets the road

By Lane Corley Obedience is where the rubber meets the road in the Christian life. The Wheel Illustration was a tool a friend used to help me grow in my faith. If you’re unfamiliar with it, it is a simple way to help someone solidify the basics in the Christian life, identifying two verses with six topics that are must for believers. It’s the start of the Navigators Topical Memory System. Jesus is the Center of the Wheel. Fellowship, Witnessing, The Word of God, and Prayer are the spokes. But where the rubber meets the road is OBEDIENCE. It’s not enough just to know truth about Christianity. Putting it into practice through obedience is where the Christian life takes off. This is what I found out as I grew in my faith as a young believer. I struggled to make sense of church, as many do. But when I combined what I was learning, with active doing, the lights began to come on. Now, we don’t obey, so that we can be accepted by God. We’re accepted by God, because of Jesus’ work on the cross. We also don’t obey and work in our own power. We’re empowered by a resurrected and ascended Christ, who has sent His Spirit to be present with us as we follow him. The work of Christ and the power of Christ is promised to us when we believe … [Read more...]

Skills of a church planter: building team cohesion

By John Hebert ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) — Unity is a key spiritual principle expressed in the Bible: two who walk together are in agreement (Amos 3:3); it is better to have two working together so that one can pick up the other if the other stumbles (Ecc. 9-12); and, a strand of rope consisting of three cords has great strength (Ecc. 3:12). Cohesion, working together for a single purpose, is an element of unity, which Jesus prayed about in His plea to the Father for you and me, living today (John 17:20-23). Building cohesion within a group is a primary task every leader must perform, so it is critically important to learn and develop this leadership skill. POWER OF COHESION Draft horses are a good example for explaining the power that is created by building cohesion. These animals are bred especially for pulling heavy loads. They are amazing beasts of burden with huge muscles, large hearts and lungs. A single draft horse weighing about 1,700 pounds can pull almost five times his body weight or 8,000 pounds. Moreover, yoked together, two of these herculean creatures can pull even more. Most people likely would guess the tandem could pull up to 16,000 pounds, but they would be wrong. Typically, two good draft … [Read more...]

You are doing great, Louisiana Baptists!

By Steve Horn ALEXANDRIA, (LBM)--You might be tired of hearing that we are living in unprecedented days, and, of listening to endless reports about the crisis, quarantine, social distancing, stay-at-home orders, and flattening the curve. I know I am. So, how about some good news? Our churches are responding to the challenge with online worship, online giving, online Sunday school, and online prayer meetings. [I haven’t heard of an online dinner on the grounds, but I’m ready when someone tries that!] Others are doing drive-in church. We are at our best when our motto is: “Whatever it takes!” And you know what? You are doing great Louisiana Baptists! Louisiana Baptists also are providing real solutions to real problems in other ways: -- Louisiana College’s Pre-Engineering Department is making protective face shields and masks for hospitals. -- Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief has established a prayer line, distributed at least 24,000 N-95 respirators, and are participating in food distribution. -- Our Business Office, in cooperation with our Office of Public Policy and Communications Team, is helping associations and churches interpret the CARES Act which provides financial assistance for churches. You … [Read more...]

Shreveport abortion clinic refuses to close amid statewide order

By Brian Gunter POLLOCK, La. - Churches and businesses across Louisiana have complied with the Governor’s order to close all non-essential businesses. We are taking this global pandemic seriously because millions of Americans are expected to be hospitalized with COVID-19 and hundreds of thousands of Americans are expected to die. One pastor in the entire state of Louisiana refused to close his church, and yesterday law enforcement issued a summons for him to appear in court for violating the Governor’s order. To be clear, Pastor Tony Spell has been foolish and reckless by continuing to gather large crowds into his church during a pandemic. And yet one abortion clinic in Louisiana, Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, is still open today and performing elective non-emergency surgeries with zero consequences, eleven days after the Louisiana Department of Health has ordered all such procedures must be postponed! Why aren’t Governor John Bel Edwards and the Louisiana Department of Health equally enforcing their emergency order? The only thing Louisianans can conclude is that our state intends to unequally enforce the stay-at-home order by closing down churches while allowing an abortion clinic to stay open! This … [Read more...]