By Norm Miller, LC News PINEVILLE (LCNews) – Louisiana College President Rick Brewer’s alma mater, Charleston Southern University, honored him as distinguished alumnus of the year May 5. “Dr. Brewer received the highest honor bestowed upon a graduate from Charleston Southern University,” said LC’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees Randy Harper, who is pastor of Bellaire Baptist Church, Bossier City. “Dr. Brewer more than fulfills Charleston Southern’s parameters for this singular and noteworthy honor.” CSU’s website states its distinguished alumnus of the year award “is the most prestigious award given by the Alumni Association and is the hallmark of an alumnus who strives for excellence in all endeavors. It honors the person who has distinguished him or herself in three areas: service to the university, service to the community and achievement in his or her field of endeavor.” “Cathy and I are as grateful as we are humbled by this thoughtful recognition,” Brewer said.  “While God gets all the glory, I must express how gratifying it is to be recognized by my peers and fellow alums for the career investment we made at CSU.” While at the South Carolina Baptist Convention-affiliated school, Brewer helped double … [Read more...]

By Craig Sanders, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Two students with ties to Louisiana graduated from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in its recent spring commencement ceremony. Southern Seminary conferred degrees to 317 Southern master’s and doctoral students on May 19, and 149 Boyce College students May 12. A news release about the 158th commencement ceremony is available at news.sbts.edu. The commencement address delivered by President R. Albert Mohler Jr. is available at the seminary website. A manuscript is also available at seminary President Al Mohler's website. Students with Louisiana ties receiving their degrees were Chad M. Chauvin, a member of Trinity Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, graduating with a Master of Divinity, and Kyle D. Claunch, a member of First Baptist Church in Slidell, graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy. … [Read more...]

Louisiana College has released a draft version of its Vision 2020 plan to move the university forward toward the ultimate goal of enrolling 1,500 students by the year 2020. In a four-page letter e-mailed to the Baptist Message, LC President Rick Brewer outlined how he believes God has blessed the Louisiana Baptist entity since August 2016. Brewer shared in the letter some highlights for LC in the areas of faith integration, academics, student life and enrollment, athletics and institutional advancement. “Transformation continues to be Louisiana College’s reality,” Brewer wrote in the letter. “From the campus to classrooms to curb appeal, transformation is the watchword. Guiding us toward a transformational future is our VISION 2020 Strategic Plan. A product of collaboration among faculty, staff, administration, Board of Trustees and Board of Visitors, VISION 2020 cites the myriad of methods to move LC toward the plan’s ultimate goal: enrolling 1,500 students by the year 2020. Still in draft status, you may view VISION 2020 under the news heading at LC’s website (lacollege.edu). “VISION 2020 is the proposed forecast, but as you read the remainder of this report, you will easily see how God has blessed the College since … [Read more...]

By Gary Myers  May 21, 2017 Set-up days are necessary, but not necessarily fun. Hours are spent filling sandbags, raising shade cloth, cutting weeds, running electrical wires, installing safety barriers, and preparing each site for excavation. There are no Indiana Joneses on set-up day, just dusty grunts lugging gear and getting the job done. Today was one of at least two set-up days. Sadly, many of those dusty grunts – missing luggage lost by the airlines – had to work in clothes they had not planned to get dirty. As far as set-up days go, this one was a good one. Much work is left for tomorrow, but much work is complete. If all goes well tomorrow, we could be digging new material in some of our locations by Tuesday. The Whirlwind Something weird happened today. The Old Testament often speaks of whirlwinds – Elijah was taken to heaven in a whirlwind and God’s judgment is said to come like a whirlwind. What is the whirlwind in the Bible? A tornado, tempest, or a water spout – maybe. Could it be one of the whirlwinds that we called a “dust devils” in parts of the United States?  This biblical word picture of a fast-moving whirlwind appearing without warning came to life for us today. Just as we were beginning to … [Read more...]

By Message Staff WALKER – Responses to flooding and high winds in the state along with delivery of bottled water to Mississippi has made for a busy May for Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief workers. In late April, 60 and 70 homes, as well as First Baptist Church Mamou, flooded in the southern and western parts of the town. This sparked a response from Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams. For nearly three weeks volunteers assessed and completed mud outs of homes, as well as removed pews and cleaned the carpet inside First Baptist Mamou. Joining the North Eunice Baptist Church and Natchitoches and Eastern Louisiana Baptist Association teams, along with churches from other denominations in the community, was a group from Huntsville, Ala. During that time, Acadia Baptist Center in Eunice provided lodging and area churches provided meals for the disaster relief workers. Meanwhile, 15 members of the Eastern Louisiana Baptist Association chainsaw crew spent time in mid-May helping homeowners near Walker clear debris after a powerful storm damaged seven homes near Highway 449 and Courtney Road. The volunteers cut trees that fell in yards and driveways in the clean-up effort. “The homeowners were excited we were there and … [Read more...]

by David Roach and Marilyn Stewart RIDGELAND, Miss. (BP) -- Grady Cothen -- the former chief executive of a state convention, a Southern Baptist university and two Southern Baptist Convention entities -- died May 19 at The Orchard retirement home in Ridgeland, Miss. He was 96. Among his service to Southern Baptists, Cothen was executive secretary of the Southern Baptist General Convention of California (1961-66), president of Oklahoma Baptist University (1966-70), president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (1970-74) and president of the Baptist Sunday School Board (1974-1984). The California convention has since been renamed the California Southern Baptist Convention, and the Sunday School Board has become LifeWay Christian Resources. LEFT A DEEP MARK "Few Southern Baptist leaders have made so deep a mark in so many different places as did Grady Cothen," New Orleans Seminary President Chuck Kelley said in a news release. "He came to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary when it was in a crisis. He brought stability and a foundation upon which our future was built. We thank God for giving our convention such an excellent leader." When Cothen arrived at New Orleans Seminary, it was experiencing "depleted … [Read more...]

PINEVILLE (LCNews) - Louisiana College students will serve for a week this summer among the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Omak, Washington, located in the north central part of the state. Joining the combined ministry efforts of the Twin Bridges and Parkview Baptist Churches of Alexandria,  are LC students Katherine Boswell, sophomore Social Work major; Morgan Carlock, sophomore English major; Jonathan Clark, sophomore and Social Work major and worship leader at Twin Bridges; David Kim, junior Christian Studies major; and John Phillips, junior Christian Studies major and youth minister at Twin Bridges. The June 3-10 mission trip includes 21 people sharing responsibilities in Vacation Bible School, where volunteers will be teaching children songs about Jesus, sharing the Gospel with stories, showing God’s love through creative crafts, and unifying the group through recreational activities. The team will lead a teen Bible study each night. LC students will serve food to the homeless each morning. John Phillips, one of the student leaders of the mission trip, has a heart for those in need of encouragement, saying that the Native Americans in this area “are a people group living in spiritual darkness, … [Read more...]

By Message Staff COUSHATTA – Richard Kaufman values the power of prayer so strongly that he is joining other churches Saturday, May 20, for a prayer walk the day before the Red River Association Crusade begins. By gathering for corporate prayer, Kaufman believes God can use the seven-day crusade to unify the churches and change the parish forever. “We don’t work revival up,” said Kaufman, pastor of Martin Baptist Church in Coushatta. “He sends it down. We’re praying not only for folks to be saved but for people to get involved in evangelism and people to get revived. “The two greatest needs in churches today beside revival are repentance and evangelism,” he continued. “There is no time like the present.” Scheduled for May 21 at Social Springs Baptist Church in Ringgold and May 22-27 at the Red River Parish fairgrounds in Coushatta, the crusade will feature evangelist Sam Moore of Bentonville, Ark., and musical guest Donna Weaver of Tuscaloosa, Ala. A meal will be served at 5:30 p.m., followed by the service at 6:30 p.m. For several months, a team from six churches has worked to bring together the crusade. In addition to three planning meetings, the team has scheduled a prayer walk for 10 a.m. May 20 at the Red … [Read more...]