By First Baptist Pineville PINEVILLE, La. - First Baptist Church Pineville, 901 Main Street in Pineville, will host former prison inmate Gene Garland in special July 4 services at 8 and 10:30 a.m. During the service, Garland will sing some of his music written while in prison and share his testimony message entitled “Wouldn’t Change It If I Could.” Garland was convicted of securities fraud, money laundering and mail fraud in 2000 and was given a 23-year sentence. After serving 18 years in federal prison, most recently in Pollock, Garland was released in 2019. Since being released, Garland has married, launched his own landscaping business and started serving a church in Texas, where his son also is on staff. He enjoys ministering to nursing homes by singing and preaching. Stewart Holloway, pastor of First Baptist Pineville, first met Garland while teaching a class for Louisiana College at the Pollock prison. “Gene was assigned to me to make sure I had anything I needed and to answer any questions I might have," Holloway said. "Having him by my side also made me more comfortable during my first few weeks walking into a prison environment. “We became fast friends as I learned of his love for the Lord and watched him … [Read more...]

EDITOR’S NOTE: Do you have a Revival, Homecoming, a new pastor, a community outreach or a concert? The Baptist Message would love to share your church news with the rest of the state. It is very easy to do, just send in your information (who, what, where and when) to philip@baptistmessage.com or call 318.449.4345. To get your event in the paper, please submit your information three weeks prior to the event. ON THE MOVE Michael (wife Tammy) Wilkinson from Macedonia Baptist Church, Effie to become pastor at East Jena Baptist Church, Jena. Sam Haggard is the new youth minister at Bethany Baptist Church, Bethany Kirk (wife Jordan) Talley is the new music minister from Open Door, Ragley to Blanchard Baptist Church, Blanchard. Joshua (wife Rebekah) Timothy will be ordained to the Gospel ministry on June 27 at 6 p.m. He is the pastor of Esler Baptist Church, Pineville. Will Simmons is the new discipleship pastor at Calvary Baptist Church, Shreveport, from North Keithville Baptist Church, Keithville. Austin Eaken is the new youth pastor at Calvary Baptist Church, Shreveport from Grawood Baptist Church, Keithville. Chris Keeny is the new pastor at Westlake Baptist Church, Shreveport from Mooringsport Baptist Church, … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – The 2021 Louisiana Legislative Session was designated a budget session, so each lawmaker was limited to submitting five bills each that did not deal with state finances. However, it was those other bills, most involving vices, that seemed to dominate headlines across the state. PROSTITUTION Rep. Mandie Landry (D) of Orleans Parish, submitted H.B. 67 which would have legalized prostitution, elevating it to the same status as any line of work in the state. Witnesses in support of the bill mocked “morals” and urged members of House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee “not to look to your pastor” for guidance about prostitution. But opponents argued that legalizing prostitution would contribute to more human trafficking and greater exploitation of sex workers – because the bill also decriminalized “pimping” and brothels and these two activities are used to keep women captive in sex trafficking. In the end, Landry voluntarily withdrew her bill when it became apparent from comments by committee members that it was going to be voted down. Meanwhile, the House soundly defeated a resolution (H.R. 136) by that committee’s chairman, Rep. Ted … [Read more...]