By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE – Louisiana College president Rick Brewer credits God and GuideOne insurance for the $12 million of ongoing campus improvement projects that stem from an April 2015 hail storm. Since late May, 17 of 18 school buildings have received new roofs, and some facilities have received interior upgrades. Brewer calls all of the improvements a miracle. “How all of this has unfolded is nothing short of God’s work,” Brewer said. “What began as the inspection of one hail-damaged roof led to the discovery of additional damage caused by an April storm, a year ago. We could not be more grateful for the consideration and cooperation of GuideOne insurance.” Louisiana College contacted GuideOne insurance to request an inspection, which revealed the refurbishment would be rather costly but the insurer agreed to cover all the repairs. Additionally, Campers on Mission, a national Christian fellowship, offered to do some repairs and updates in other areas of the campus. They launched the first wave of construction, refurbishing a fountain near Alexandria Hall, the main administration building, and formed concrete steps close to a dormitory. They also painted numerous curbs, … [Read more...]

By Tammy Sharp, Regional Correspondent SHREVEPORT – Members of Cornerstone Community Church do not see color at all, said Pastor John Anderson. “We see family.” Indeed, the two-year-old church, whose Sunday worship attendance has reached as high as 80, represents a rainbow of races, with membership comprising approximately 60 percent Blacks, 30 percent Whites, and 10 percent Hispanics – a unique mix, especially considering recent racial tensions that have plagued many communities. “Because Christ is the one who breaks down the middle wall, what’s going on in our nation is not affecting our unity at all,” said Anderson. “We realize this is a sin issue, not a white/black issue.” Anderson, who is white, has been pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Bossier City for two years, as of November. But he began planting seeds as early as Oct. 31, 2011, when, as part of his job with the Shreveport-Bossier Rescue Mission, he first set up a tent downtown to minister to gang members, prostitutes and the homeless, baptizing them in the Red River as people came to know the Lord. After three years, he was laid off from the rescue mission, but not from the call to minister. Although he lost all his equipment, including … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer FRANKLIN – Darrell Guy is a big believer that the church should band together and serve outside the walls of its building. He is pastor of Unity One Baptist Church in Franklin, a predominantly African-American congregation, and his members are committed to ministering to the needs of the community. They distribute bags of food and serve lunch plates to residents of Franklin, and the children in the church raised money to purchase an armored vest and donated it to the local police department. Guy said the encouragement that has broken out among the church’s neighbors has been contagious, and the resulting receptivity has helped the congregation to spread Christ’s love throughout Franklin. “We wanted them to know we are praying for them,” Guy said. “Those are the things we are doing that are sticking out in the minds of the community. They are seeing the church is about giving.” The outreach has produced fruits for the congregation, which began with 12 people participating in a Bible study in Guy’s home during the summer of 2015. By that fall, the group had doubled, creating a welcomed problem – the need to find a bigger space to accommodate the growth. The … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – Natural disasters of proportions unmatched in Louisiana’s history required equally historic responses in 2016. Flooding, the likes of which had not been experienced before swept through the state not once but twice this year -- first in March, and later in August, dumped record amounts of rain, causing deaths and enormous property damage. The one-two punch left the state reeling in the aftermath. TRAGEDY & TRIUMPH Yet, through it all, Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief teams, aided by Southern Baptist volunteers from around the country, were faithful to respond – offering the comfort of a helping hand, sharing a message of hope in Christ, and sometimes just prayer-- despite suffering personal losses as well. The spring floods, resulting from more than three feet of cumulative rainfall in 48 hours in some areas, affected more than 18,000 homes and damaged 14 Louisiana Baptist churches. Importantly, an estimated 85 percent of the state’s trained disaster relief personnel were impacted during this time, yet they responded to the many needs of others. Southern Baptists were up to the challenge, too, immediately sending money and hundreds of volunteers to … [Read more...]

By Gary D. Myers, NOBTS Communications NEW ORLEANS – The musty smell of antiquity fills the air as music professor Ed Steele positions an old leather-bound book on an odd-looking scanner. With the press of a button the scanner comes to life, a light passes over the page, and before long a scanned page appears on Steele’s computer screen. Steele, a faculty member at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s Leavell College, spent much of his recent sabbatical scanning and digitizing page after page from rare hymnals. To date, he has scanned and digitized nearly 30 of the seminary’s 400-plus rare hymnals and a few hymnbooks from private collections. The digitized hymns are available in Adobe PDF format free of charge at the seminary’s online home for the new Center for Hymnological Research: http://www.nobts.edu/library/hymnological-research. “Because of their condition and their age, although we have them, the rare hymnals are not usable, or available or accessible,” Steele said, pointing to a shelf full of rare hymnals. “Now the accessibility comes from this scanner.” The Martin Music Library at NOBTS holds more than 5,000 hymnals which were donated by Edmond Keith, a layman who loved hymnody. Most of the … [Read more...]

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ON THE MOVE James Daniel is the new youth pastor at First Baptist Church, French Settlement. Fred Dyess is interim pastor at Victory Baptist Church, Walker. Matthew (wife Laura) Montgomery is the new pastor at Belcher Baptist Church, Belcher. Autry (wife Kristen) Brown is the new music minister at Oil City Baptist Church, Vivian. Bill Green resigned as pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Vivian. IN REMEMBERANCE Walter P. Cloud, a member of Elizabeth Baptist Church, passed away Oct. 4 following a brief illness. Born May 28, 1935 in Oakdale, Cloud, 81, received a Doctorate in Religion and a Doctorate in Theology. He pastored two churches in West Virginia and five in Louisiana during his 51 years of service to the Lord. He served on the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s Moral and Social Concerns Committee from 1998-2000 and was a chaplain in Gallipolis, Ohio and in Oakdale. He also wrote several religious books and pamphlets. He and his wife did missionary work in Big Falls at Punta Gorda and Belize City, Belize Central America and in Iloilo City, Philippines. He served proudly in the U.S. Army and was a member of the American Legion in Oakdale. Even after his retirement, he continued his ministry work by teaching a … [Read more...]

By Jerry Love, LBF Communications ALEXANDRIA – Tony Branham, a layman from First Baptist Church DeRidder, continued his solid play in the Fall 2016 Baptist Golf Fellowship as he reclaimed individual honors while helping his church to retain the team trophy. Branham shot an impressive one-over par (73) at the 18-hole, par 72 Oak Wing Golf Course facility to earn the title of Grand Champion. Columbia’s Bruce McGee captured the grand champion title in the spring. Last fall First DeRidder lost by two strokes to Unity Baptist Church, Cotton Valley. But the team, which included Branham, Dennis Millsap, Eddie Joslin and Billy Lofton, rebounded by reclaiming the team title in the spring and then cementing their hold on the trophy with a combined score of 307 in this year’s fall classic. First DeRidder Pastor Josh Eubanks has devised an interesting use for the trophy.  The large cup-style trophy is displayed in a prominent place and church members are encouraged to deposit money in it in support of missions.  Several hundred dollars have been received in the last few months. Fifty pastors and laymen enjoyed pleasant weather, good fellowship at the annual fall Baptist Golf Fellowship. Attendance was down as many regular … [Read more...]

By Jerry Love, LBF Communications ALEXANDRIA – The election of new officers, updates on investments and the approval of the 2017 budget highlighted the final quarterly meeting of the Louisiana Baptist Foundation Board of Trustees meeting Oct. 25. Members also learned of almost $900,000 in new donations that would benefit Louisiana Baptists’ ministries. INVESTMENT UPDATES Jim Prince of Lafayette and chairman of the investment committee had Lee Morris of Graystone Consulting bring an update on the management of the LBF’s funds and a general overview of market conditions. In his remarks to the group, Morris noted the equity portion of the portfolio is in positive territory for the quarter, but still lagging its benchmarks year-to-date. Morris said the situation was partially due to the fact that passive management (investing in index funds) had outperformed active management, and he added that he and Foundation Executive Director Wayne Taylor will move to more passive management for the LBF in the near future. He also pointed out that a U.S. Department of Labor ruling, which becomes effective April 2017, will force pension funds to shift to more passive management, causing a passive strategy to continue to … [Read more...]

By Randy Willis Perhaps I should explain in more detail. Without Louisiana College there may never have been the classic hit song "You Are My Sunshine. " The year was 1920 and the son of a poor sharecropper from the now-ghost town of Beech Springs in north Louisiana decided he wanted to get an education. His family was so poor that he did not have a bed in which to sleep until he was nine years old. Upon graduation from high school, he began the task of choosing a college. One of his neighbors had something called a college catalogue. Later he would recall, “I was amazed and believed you could order a college just as you ordered something from Sears. I’d never seen a college, had never been on a college campus, but I read it and it told all about Louisiana College at Pineville. I decided that’s where I would try to go.” The college had been established just fourteen years before in 1906. But how could he pay for tuition, books, housing, and food? He didn't have any money or know anyone that did, so he decided to try and get a job at the college. On his second day on campus he went to the college employment office and found a job in the soon to be named Hattie B. Strother Cafeteria. Hattie was the beloved dean of … [Read more...]