By Message Staff DEVILLE – Grace works. That’s the simple yet life-changing message evangelist Ken Freeman shared with a roomful of students and adults Wednesday night, Jan. 18, at Philadelphia Baptist Church. Citing 1 Corinthians 15:10, Freeman said grace works for us, in us and through us. “Grace is a gift,” Freeman said. “Grace is getting what we don’t deserve. Grace is God’s riches at Christ’s expense.” A product of God’s saving grace, Freeman shared with the students how he accepted Christ during a lonely time in his life. The son of an absentee father and alcoholic mother, Freeman felt as if his life was out of control. He even accepted a friend’s invitation to church 50 years ago, only as a means to meet girls. He found Jesus. And his life has never been the same. For more than 30 years, Freeman has shared the Gospel at more than 3,000 churches and seen more than 200,000 individuals make a decision for Jesus, including 134 who responded to the Holy Spirit during a revival he conducted last October at Tioga High School. Wednesday at Philadelphia Baptist’s Deville campus, another 16 responded to Freeman’s message about Christ. “I say salvation is the greatest of all miracles,” Robertson said. … [Read more...]

By Marilyn Stewart, NOBTS Communications NEW ORLEANS -- A raucous presidential election year turned personal for Lloyd Harsch, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary history professor, when his seminary inbox filled with more than 90,000 emails. Harsch is a member of the Electoral College, and most of the electronic messages, primarily from people outside Louisiana, asked him to flip his commitment from Donald J. Trump, who carried the state with nearly 60 percent of the vote. As Harsch, with wife Jill, prepared for travel to attend the Jan. 20 inauguration ceremony and related festivities in Washington, D.C., emails and letters continued to come in, causing Harsch to pause and reflect. “I had to evaluate [voters’] concerns about the purpose of the Electoral College,” Harsch said. “I had to ask, ‘What was it designed to do?’ and ‘What is my actual responsibility?’” Most of the writers expressed genuine concern, Harsch said, and the few veiled in innuendo or threat were passed on to authorities. Louisiana is one of 21 states whose electors are “unbound,” meaning they are not constrained legally to vote for their party’s nominee, the winner of the state’s popular vote. Phone calls, a fax, and about two … [Read more...]

By Marilyn Stewart, NOBTS Communications NEW ORLEANS -- Abdu Murray was a devout Muslim who rarely encountered Christians who could defend their faith. His nine-year journey from Islam to faith in Christ began after meeting the few “annoying” Christians who could. Murray, North American director for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, told of his journey at Defend 2017, an annual apologetics conference presented by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s Institute for Christian Apologetics (ICA) Jan. 2-6.The conference that hosted 250 participants brought together noted apologists to address issues and worldviews prevalent in today’s culture. “Truth always has a cost,” Murray said. “A lot of Muslims know there are issues with Islam and they know there is a beauty to the Gospel, but they don’t want it because of the price.” Other plenary speakers included Sean McDowell, author of 18 books on apologetics including several co-written with his father Josh McDowell; Braxton Hunter, former president of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists; Craig Hazen, author and renowned apologist at Biola University; Robert Bowman, Jr., Institute for Religious Research; Greg Koukl, Stand to Reason Ministries, and … [Read more...]

By Kaitlyn Moore PINEVILLE (LCNews) - Concluding a months-long, nationwide search, Louisiana College tapped Mr. Howard “Rusty” Tryon Jr as director of the College’s library. “We are blessed to have Mr. Tryon join the LC family as the director of our library,” said Dr. Rick Brewer, president of Louisiana College. “We were keenly interested in adding a Christian leader to our team and someone who was student centered. He has exceeded our expectations because these attributes were obvious from Rusty’s background and interview.” Tryon comes to LC from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., where he was Head of Collection Management for 4.5 years. Tryon told LCNews he is “highly attracted to the Christian identity and mission of Louisiana College.” Previously, Tryon was acquisitions librarian at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo., where he earned a Master of Divinity degree. He also holds a Master of Library Science degree from Indiana University. Tryon also earned an undergraduate degree in German and International Relations from Indiana State University. “We are thrilled to fill this critical role with someone of Rusty’s credentials and heart for academics,” Brewer said. “The vision and … [Read more...]

By Message Staff MONTEREY – First Baptist Church Monterey has nearly 50 reasons to show all who pass by its property why all lives matter. Situated along Highway 129, the church has placed almost 50 crosses on its grounds to represent not only all the lives that have been lost to abortion but to bring attention to the fact that every person has a right to life. Church member Dick Young said the effort began 10 years ago, after he and others in the congregation were led to take a step of action for the pro-life cause. “The first thought we had back then was the large number of abortions that were occurring and we didn’t feel that was a good thing,” Young said. “We wanted to do something that would help people who drove by to recognize abortion affects the unborn and it is terrible. “We knew that not enough of us spoke up back before abortion was legalized, thinking it would never happen in America,” he said. “While it was too late for those who have been aborted in the past, we can at least do our part and take some sort of action step to perhaps correct our past mistakes.” The crosses, which were placed in the ground in mid-January, are expected to remain in place until the end of the month. According to the … [Read more...]

By Message Staff BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Family Forum is urging all pro-life advocates to send an e-mail to Gov. John Bel Edwards, thanking him for reaching a resolution on how to move forward on a lawsuit that challenges several abortion restrictions. Edwards has agreed to allow state Attorney General Jeff Landry use noted attorney Kyle Duncan, a nationally-recognized conservative litigator from Washington, D.C. to defend against a challenge to the restrictions on abortions that take place in Louisiana, according to a story in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. These include new requirements to force women to wait 72 hours and agree to an ultrasound before they have an abortion. The state also is partially banning the dilation and evacuation procedure, an abortion that occurs during the second trimester of pregnancy. Edwards has signed those restrictions into law. The Times-Picayune reported that Edwards was reluctant to approve the previous contract hiring Duncan because he did not agree to Edwards’ executive order, which would have provided protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the workplace. Edwards wanted state contractors, including attorneys such as Duncan, to prohibit workplace … [Read more...]

By Message Staff BATON ROUGE – The search is on yet again for Louisiana's longest married couple. The Louisiana Family Forum is holding its annual contest to find the top 10 longest-married couples in the state, who will be entered into the family advocacy group’s Marriage Hall of Fame. “Sharing these stories of life-long faithfulness encourages the next generation to understand that being happily married still happens and still lasts a lifetime. We are honored and obligated to communicate these stories of enduring love,” said Louisiana Family Forum President Gene Mills. “Many have been told that marriage cannot last, that it is too difficult, but our longest married honorees demonstrate that being a ‘Covenant Keeper’ is a life-long commitment.” Those eligible for the contest must have been married for at least 70 years before Feb. 5. Eligible couples must submit their contact information and wedding date before Feb. 5 to info@lafamilyforum.org. Last year, Louisiana Family Forum named Lawrence and Varrie Player of Benton as the state’s longest-married couple at 81 years. The contest is held each year during National Marriage Week USA, which is Feb. 7-14. The week is an effort “to strengthen individual … [Read more...]

By Message Staff BOSSIER CITY – Former LSU soccer player Mo Isom and First Baptist Bossier City Pastor Brad Jurkovich are among those scheduled to speak during the upcoming Feugo Frio student conference. Scheduled for Feb. 10-11 at First Baptist Bossier City, Fuego Frio will feature eight pastors from throughout the U.S., each speaking for 10 minutes on a variety of topics. Other highlights of the weekend include illusionist Danny Ray of Yucaipa, Calif., comedians 321 Improv of Boca Raton, Fla., and musical guests the Hardcastles of Austin, Texas. “What we’ve got is these eight speakers who represent some of the largest churches in America do 10 minute talks,” said Jeff Luce, director of Camp Fuego. “We have these guys who are really solid communicators commanding an audience of so many on Sundays and they’ve agreed to come in for this short blast to talk to students about their passion.” Last year, 1,594 youth from at least five states attended Fuego Frio. By the end of the conference, 72 of them made a first-time decision to follow Christ as their Lord and Savior. “That’s the purpose of this whole weekend,” Luce said. “In the end, we come together to see major moves in people’s lives, which is the real benefit of … [Read more...]

By Message Staff A contest that allows winners the opportunity to gift their favorite Louisiana Baptist ministry is getting a makeover. Launched in 2016, the Give-A-Gift campaign awards one person – whose name is drawn among names submitted either online at baptistmessage.com or through the mail – the honor of giving a monetary prize from the Louisiana Baptist Foundation to a Southern Baptist church, ministry or organization of their choosing in the state. Last year, a $1,000 gift was given monthly to a church or ministry, as directed by the person randomly chosen in the drawing. In 2017, the award amount has been increased to $1,500 and will be given out quarterly. The name of the ministry receiving the gift will be published in the Baptist Message, who is partnering with the Louisiana Baptist Foundation for this contest. “Give-A-Gift illustrates one of the primary functions of the Louisiana Baptist Foundation – assisting Baptists with gifts to support Baptist ministry,” said Jerry Love, director of planned giving for the Louisiana Baptist Foundation. “We started Give-A-Gift in 2016 to raise awareness of the Foundation and the service we provide to God’s Kingdom work through.  In addition to several million dollars … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer Since the historic 1,000-year flood hit southern Louisiana, Leo Miller’s time has been split between two roles – pastoring First Baptist Church Denham Springs and rebuilding his own home that took in 2 feet of water. Though he has received financial assistance from churches, the Louisiana Baptist Convention, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and North American Mission Board, Miller has completed most of the work on his house himself during his free time, mostly at night and on weekends. Sheetrock has been installed and soon he hopes to begin putting in floors, doors and cabinets. Progress is slow, but Miller is hopeful he can move back into his house by March. First Baptist Denham Springs took in 10 feet of water and is worshiping at Denham Springs Junior High School until they move to another area of town in late 2017. “The entire area was devastated, so it makes the resources very limited so you do what you can when you can,” Miller said. “When the opportunity presents itself, you try to do things in your personal dwelling. You just realize it’s a marathon and not a sprint.” Indeed, Miller is not stressing about the situation but is embracing what God is teaching him … [Read more...]