Community Baptist Church, Greensburg: Fall Revival, November 11-16, Sunday 10 a.m. & 6 p.m., Monday-Friday, 6 p.m. Evangelist: Brian Tyndall, serving worldwide with Uttermost Evangelism. Special Music: Gloryland Pickers. Beginning Monday there will be sandwiches and drinks for attendees from 5-5:45 p.m. Pastor: Larry Stewart. … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – Louisiana Baptists are getting ready to celebrate a milestone – planting a church in the 100th community since 2010. On Dec. 2, First Baptist Church in Mer Rouge will be replanted as Bonita Road Baptist Church Mer Rouge, becoming the second campus of Bonita Road Baptist in Bastrop. James Jenkins, director of church planting for Louisiana Baptists, said reaching this benchmark is evidence of a Great Commission fulfillment to start new congregations throughout the state. “It’s a little bit of the early church found in the book Revelation played out right here in the Bayou state,” he said. The achievement will mark a Southern Baptist presence in one-third of towns in the state, according to John Hebert, missions and ministries director for Louisiana Baptists. Also, the replant of First Baptist Mer Rouge will be the 21st church planted in 2018 and the 231st church planted since 2010. “We are excited about this accomplishment because it means that we retain a Southern Baptist presence in Mer Rouge,” Hebert said. “But it is a reminder that we have a significant amount of work to do if we are to reach the other two-thirds of communities in Louisiana. We want a … [Read more...]

By Bob Tompkins, Special to the Message POLAND – Stories of valor in battle are not uncommon on Veterans Day, and two lifelong Southern Baptist buddies and Vietnam buddies from Poland, Louisiana, are key figures in one. Donald Ray Byrd and Charles Lee White, both 74 and friends since they were 6 years old, were drafted into the U.S. Army on the same day and trained together at Fort Polk. They also undertook artillery training together at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. They traveled on the same ship – the USS Upshur – for the 23-day journey from Tacoma, Washington, to Da Nang, Vietnam, and they served virtually side-by-side in the same artillery unit, working the “big guns” – 175 mm M107 self-propelled guns that weighed almost 29 tons and could fire rounds into zone ranges of seven, 15 or 25 miles. Their base camp was at Dong Ha, the capital of Quang Tri Province, then the northern most town in South Vietnam. Byrd was a sergeant, serving as a gun section chief, and White was an E4 specialist, serving as a driver. They were part of an artillery battery of the 4th Artillery, 1st Artillery Group near the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Thirteen soldiers man an M107, with an onboard crew of five – a section chief, driver, gunner, … [Read more...]

Special to the Message JENA – Collection Week during November 12-19 will serve to mark the 25th anniversary of Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Franklin Graham’s Samaritan Purse that takes place the week before Thanksgiving. Churches and individuals will bring gift-filled shoeboxes to relay stations across the country to begin the process of providing local partners around the world with a means of reaching out to children in their communities with the good news of Jesus Christ. These simple gifts – small toys, hygiene items, and school supplies – go to children overseas affected by war, poverty, natural disaster, famine, and disease, and to children living on Native American reservations in the United States. FIRST BAPTIST MINISTERS GLOBALLY The First Baptist Church in Jena has been involved with Operation Christmas Child for 20 years, and since 2005 has been the LaSalle Parish Relay Station, taking collected shoeboxes to Kingsville Baptist Church in Pineville where they are picked up by Samaritan’s Purse 18-wheelers. In 1998, Frances McDonald was asked by First Jena’s Missions in Action Director Ernie Poole to help with a new project. She had no idea then that she would one day be called to head up the … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – The Youth Evangelism Celebration is returning to its traditional home in Alexandria after a four-year run at Lafayette’s Cajundome. Scheduled Nov. 18-19 at the newly renovated Rapides Parish Coliseum, the largest annual gathering of Louisiana Baptists will celebrate its move back to central Louisiana with two concerts, a BMX team, inspiring messages and ample chances for students to gain the necessary tools to share their faith with classmates. YEC had enjoyed a 27-year run at the Rapides Parish Coliseum before renovations of the facilities forced a move to south Louisiana in 2014. YEC will feature evangelist Drew Worsham as the guest speaker for all sessions. The conference also will include award-winning Christian band Rush of Fools, event Master of Ceremonies Joseph Sojourner, event Disc Jockey DJ Vow, a demonstration by the Real Encounter BMX team, testimonies from students and concerts by former American Idol contestant Colton Dixon and the all-sibling band Bonray. The theme, “Change,” is based on Romans 12:1-2. During the Monday afternoon session, Worsham will lead training sessions on how to use the EvangeCard tract to share the Gospel. Students also … [Read more...]

By Kirbi Cochran, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE — What better way to celebrate Louisiana College’s re-opening of the newly remodeled Guinn Auditorium than to have a concert featuring Big Daddy Weave and Brandon Heath, two of the top Christian musical artists in the country. The auditorium’s renovation was made possible after the college made an insurance claim to GuideOne, an insurance company that works primarily with Christian colleges and churches, following a destructive hail storm in 2015. Guinn was one of 18 buildings on campus that received interior and exterior improvements after GuideOne approved a claim for $18 million. At a cost of $6.5 million, work on the 40-year-old facility was finished at the beginning of this school year after almost two years of work. The centerpiece of the campus, Guinn not only received a new roof but also had its interior completely refurbished with a new ceiling, walls, tile, carpet, seats, sound system, HVAC, and an LED lighting system that is capable of illuminating the walls in a variety of colors. While LC students got an early sneak peek by attending weekly chapel services as well as a rededication ceremony on Sept. 30, the public had to wait until the official grand … [Read more...]