By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – The first-born is always a special blessing to parents and, for Louis and June Charrier, Nicole is no exception. Born Feb. 21, 1980, Nicole was a healthy baby girl, bubbling with excitement, and charming her parents, family and friends, alike, the Charriers said. A month later, tragedy struck and her life dramatically changed. Some said Nicole “took a turn for the worse,” but not Louis and June. June was a half-mile from their home, she told the Baptist Message, when she and Nicole were involved in a serious automobile accident. Momma escaped with minor injuries, but her daughter sustained a severe head trauma, causing her to go blind and leaving her with Cerebral Palsy-like symptoms: She was unable to speak, walk or eat without assistance. Now at age 36, Nicole still is unable to do anything for herself. Yet, she has impacted a number of others for Christ. Louis explained that Nicole requires in-home care, giving him and June the opportunity to share Christ with Nicole’s medical team. Health professionals come to the house to tend to Nicole’s physical needs, he said, and they leave having received a Gospel presentation and attention to their spiritual … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Message Editor ALEXANDRIA – Take a good look at Jacob Barker Hall. Whether in person or by photo it’s hard not to see his bright eyes and engaging smile and not know the joy and the zest that define this 19-year-old’s life. His speech and his physical awkwardness give glimpses of his Down syndrome, but any signs of motor or mental difficulty are overshadowed by the special person he is as a child of God. Jacob is a great name for my youngest son. Roughly translated into “supplanter,” a more practical definition for his personality would be “steals the show,” but not in a bad way. He showers others with love and encouragement, likely to say “good job” loudly to the choir or the pastor (along with a visible “thumbs up”) – without concern for when he says it during the service (I finally figured out it’s his way of saying “amen”). He runs to give hugs to old and young alike, but he especially delights in carefully approaching a baby, gently cupping his hands along the child’s jawline and slowly, tenderly stroking forward until the heels of his palms meet at the baby’s chin. His affection is authentic and so are his prayers, and he’s likely to pray anytime, anywhere. One of the most memorable times was … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Message Editor WASHINGTON — Louisiana Baptists in the nation's capital say the atmosphere is “absolutely electric” as they await the official ceremony marking the transfer of power between Barack H. Obama and Donald J. Trump. Patti Hankins, wife of Louisiana Baptist Convention Executive Director David Hankins, said the crowds at purposely Christian activities were enormous, including a line more than two blocks long to attend a special prayer service Thursday at Greater New Hope Baptist Church – an event sponsored by Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, a Louisiana Baptist who is interim pastor of Greenwell Springs Baptist Church, Greenwell Springs. But even just visiting congressional offices in the Capitol and taking part in festivities around the city, she said, “The Christian presence here is so strong, you can feel it!” … [Read more...]

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...]