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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Jesus’ birth was meant for you and me!

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – When I read the Word, I try to remember that every verse is intended to reveal something about the character of God and to unveil something about the nature of the relationship He seeks with us. This is especially important when we celebrate the birth of our Savior -- He is the reason for the season; and the reason for His birth was to bring hope to you and me. Nothing underscores this fact more than the creation account, which shows that God designed the earth and the things in it and on it to sustain man’s physical existence (Gen. 1:1-31): -- On day 1, God said all that He had created was “good.” He did so again on days three, four and five. All that He had done up to that point He said was “good.” -- Even on the sixth day after creating all the animals on the earth and the creeping things (and before He was done with creation) the Bible records that “God saw that it was good.” -- But it was not until the end of the sixth day, after He had created man and established all of earth to sustain the life of man, that God “saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good,” and then He rested. Man is the crown of God’s … [Read more...]

The soul sustaining habit of scripture memory

By Lane Corley MADISONVILLE, La. - Three years ago, our family was going through one of those down seasons in the ups and downs of life. My mental focus and physical health was declining. I was discouraged and struggling mentally and emotionally. I knew I needed to change a few habits. As part of a recovery process, I deleted a bunch of apps on my phone and dusted off an app I had dutifully downloaded but never utilized: The Bible Memory App. I’m now over three years of daily usage. I have over 1,700 verses mastered and review 25-50 verses everyday. The habit of scripture memory has greatly improved my spiritual and mental health. It’s helped my preaching, speaking, and my discipling of others, as a growing library of verses are easily recalled in conversation and speaking opportunities. While the Bible Memory App has worked for me, I don’t want to recommend that only. I want to recommend the soul sustaining habit of scripture memory. Find a way that works for you to hide God’s word in your heart. Lane Corley is a Louisiana Baptist church planting strategist and pastor of the Bridge Church in Madisonville. … [Read more...]

Five reasons why CP is so important

By Matt Tullos Yes, Southern Baptists are legendary for lots of reasons. We are the largest protestant association of churches. People see our Disaster Relief hats, trucks and chain saws on the news, and traveling down the interstate.  Our seminaries train over 23,000 students every year. And some would say we invented the casserole! But the greatest thing about being a Southern Baptist often flies under the radar. We work together. While each Baptist church is autonomous with no real hierarchy, we realize that the glue of our partnership is cooperative giving.  And because churches give cooperatively, we comprise the greatest missions movement in the long history of the church. We know we can do so much more together, and the Cooperative Program makes it all happen.  It’s been an unofficial tradition that we celebrate the Cooperative Program in October, and this is a great time to cast a worldwide vision for giving. Here are five great advantages of working together: (1) Every church gets in on the action. The genius of the Cooperative Program is that no matter how small or large your church is, you have an opportunity to do missions all over Tennessee and around the world. Is your church planting a church in … [Read more...]

CRT: Three problems that evangelicals must navigate

By Ron F. Hale In times of headlong cultural change and confusion, secular philosophies tend to taint our biblical values and virtues. Distinguishing fact from fiction becomes harder. This is even harder when new media-driven narratives automatically put you in a defensive posture as an oppressor of others due to the color of your skin and gender. To read the rest of the article, click here. … [Read more...]

Value of being a Southern Baptist

By Jeff Iorg More than 25 years as a Southern Baptist denominational executive, preceded by more than a dozen years as a Southern Baptist pastor, has shaped my perspective on navigating the vagaries of working among and with the large network known as the Southern Baptist denomination.  It can be a daunting, and at times disappointing task.  Here are eight perspectives (and one concluding story) which have helped sustain my spiritual, emotional, and strategic equilibrium – and helped me maintain a positive perspective on denominational involvement and leadership. Recognize there will always be imperfection There never have been any “good old days” when the denomination functioned without difficulty, divisions, conflicts, and scandals.  We have lived through moral failures, criminal activities, strategic blunders, and financial disasters throughout our 175-year history.  We have struggled with sins like racism and failures like mishandling sexual abuse.  We have always been, and always will be, an imperfect denomination.  While we must strive to solve pressing problems and build a healthier organization, we must also admit perfection will never be achieved. It is astounding, however, what this imperfect denomination has … [Read more...]

In the midst of the storm, His grace is sufficient for you!

By Steve Horn ALEXANDRIA, La. - Here we are again. Covid still raging and here comes a hurricane. Is it 2020 or 2021? It’s like Yogi Berra said, “It’s deja-vu all over again.” Saying something like, “Just trust God,” seems so hollow and void of real compassion and solution. And yet, is there any better answer to all of our problems than the answer that Christ gives? Jesus said to Paul and He says to us, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Though theories abound as to what the “thorn in the flesh” was, we really do not know. However, we do know that Paul prayed for the thorn to be removed. Paul’s prayer was not answered with relief from the thorn, but with one of the greatest promises in all of God’s word, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Why could Jesus make such a statement as that? I want to share with you seven reasons why His grace is sufficient for you! Seven Reasons that His Grace is Sufficient for You! The Power of the Cross of Christ "For to those who are perishing the message of the cross is foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is God's power." (1 Corinthians 1:18) The greatest need that any of us have is the need for forgiveness. Every other need, though the need could be met, would not … [Read more...]

Back to school praying

By Steve Horn ALEXANDRIA, La. – Since 1975 when I started kindergarten, every August has meant “back to school.” Every August, I have either been a student, the husband of a school teacher, the pastor of a church with a school, or the parent of a student. That is a lot of back-to-school prayers (and a lot of tuition). For those of us with children, I’m convinced that the first day of school marks the beginning of a new year more so than January 1. As we begin another school year, let me give you a couple of reminders about praying for your child and your child’s teachers. When praying for your child’s teachers: Pray for the teacher’s salvation. This is the most important prayer we can offer for anybody. Pray that your relationship with your child’s teacher can lead to spiritual conversations. Pray for a good relationship with that teacher. Pray that you will model Christ in all of your dealings with your child’s teacher. Pray that the teacher will always be fair. This is not always easy, because they, like you, are human. When praying for your child: Pray that your children will learn this school year. After all, learning is the reason they are going to school. Don’t pray that they will make good grades; pray that they … [Read more...]

September 30 is coming!

By Clark Palmer TIOGA, La. (LBM) – For Louisiana Baptist churches, Sept. 30 is “Numbers Day” – that’s the end of the fiscal year and a calendar reminder for our congregations to submit their individual reports to the Annual Church Profile. And these numbers matter. When I became moderator of my local association, I considered setting some goals for increasing attendance and baptisms. My first step was to look at “the data” to create a baseline, and I discovered the numbers were “off.” What I mean is there were no discernible trends. One year we were up, the next down. Even the numbers from a decade ago seemed suspect because of this undulation. As I dug deeper, what I realized is that several churches were not reporting their numbers every year. And it only took a couple to throw off the numbers for the entire association. I’ve since discovered that 15-20 percent of our churches statewide don’t fill out and return the ACP. Importantly, this is a problem for making decisions about cooperative ministries such as where to plant a church and what congregations might need revitalization assistance. Then I began to wonder if this could also account for at least some of the reported overall declines for the SBC in … [Read more...]

It is time!

By Craig Beeman WINNSBORO, La. – I was thinking about writing a sermon on "Time" and may, still, get that done. In the meantime, I have been looking into some questions that are often asked about time and why we are here. Importantly, time was made for man. God lives outside of time. He is, has been and forever will be. According to Scientific American Magazine, “Aristotle, taking the no-beginning side, invoked the principle that out of nothing, nothing comes. Theologians took another point of view. Augustine contended that God exists outside of space and time, able to bring these constructs into existence as surely as he could forge other aspects of our world. When asked, ‘What was God doing before he created the world?’ Augustine answered, "Time itself being part of God's creation, there was simply no before!” I’ll never forget asking my grandmother, “When was God born?” She answered, “He has always been.” That is a hard perspective to get on God and time. We are used to humans, plants and animals having a beginning and end. God has neither. He has set us in a period of time in a timeline of time. Each of us has a certain number of years of life on this earth known only to Him. Why does God give us time? My … [Read more...]