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By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer Volunteers are pouring into Louisiana by the droves. Some have given up their spring break while others have taken time off work to offer a helping hand and share Christ’s love with thousands of flood victims. Since historic storms dumped record amounts of rainfall over the state causing widespread flooding in early March, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams from 16 states have answered the call for help and those volunteers have been working tirelessly to help victims get back on their feet. And to compound matters, another round of severe weather is expected beginning late Wednesday evening. The National Weather Service (NWS) indicates every region of the state is under a slight to marginal risk for severe weather through Thursday. According to the NWS, large hail, damaging wind gusts and isolated tornadoes are possible during this event.  Forecasters say up to four inches of rain could fall in certain areas causing flash flood concerns across the state. With more than 13,000 homes already flooded, it is not the type of news that rain-weary Louisianans want to hear. BY THE NUMBERS After the first incident command center was established on March 14, SBDR … [Read more...]

By Bradley Welborn, LCWildcats.net PINEVILLE -- On every baseball team across this country from high school to the major leagues there is that one special players who contributes more than just numbers to a team. What they provide is more than just stats -- an at bat, innings pitched or on base percentage. They are a sounding board for the younger players on the team, which at times, can be far more important than driving in a winning run or pitching a perfect game. Louisiana College’s Tyler Dixon is one of those special players. His contributions show in the influence and the relationships he has cultivated over their years with his teammates. “I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to play college baseball until going into my senior year of high school. I played summer ball and went to a lot of showcases and stuff, but I think God orchestrated everything the way He did for a reason for me to come here,”  Said Dixon, an accounting major who will be graduating this May from LC. “When he leaves this program it’s not going to be about statistics. It’s going be about what he was able to teach our young players,” said head baseball coach Mike Byrnes, “and what he was able to learn from our older players when he … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – A Louisiana Baptist music minister is thankful to be alive after surviving a terrorist attack March 22 at a Brussels, Belgium airport. Jeff Slaughter, an interim music minister at First Baptist Church in Greenwood, told the Baptist Message that he had just walked into the airport departure area to check-in for his return flight back to Shreveport when he heard the first explosion, just 200 feet away. Moments later, a second bomb exploded. “That's when the ceiling tiles began raining down and all I could think was 'get out,'” he said. “I was spared so much more than others were. I'm thankful for that but all the more aware of what others are going through.” For the remainder of the day Slaughter said he felt numb and even now the tragedy still seems unreal. “It's hard to believe that what I'm seeing on the television is what was behind the walls of the airport after I walked out,” he said. “It looks like a war zone - with smoke filling the room, debris all over the place, dead and injured littered about and children crying for their parents. “It was a surreal experience,” he continued. “You know what's happening but you just don't believe it. I've … [Read more...]

By Philip Timothy, Managing Editor Getting a firm handle on the size of the problem Louisiana Baptists’ recovery efforts are facing is almost as frustrating as actually dealing with the aftermath of the floodwaters, according to David Abernathy who serves Louisiana Baptists as disaster relief incident commander. It can be very frustrating at times, he said. But, he said the pieces are starting to fall into place with regard to operations prompted by the historic rainfalls that hit the state the last two weeks. Abernathy said “20 to 24 inches of rain fell” in some areas but some spots “received up to 30 inches in less than 48 hours” and up to 30 parishes, so far, have been impacted by flooding. To date, “13,000 homes have been damaged in some way by the flooding,” Abernathy added. “But those numbers are going to grow because there is still flooding and a lot of backwater in many areas of the state.” According to the National Weather Service, the Red River and the Ouachita River have both crested but neither has really fallen. “There is no place for the water to go. I checked today and the Ouachita River has not fallen at all and the Red River is the same,” said Abernathy. “We received another ½- to 1 inch of … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer More than 120 students from Baptist Collegiate Ministries throughout the state are forgoing a spring break trip to the beach in order to volunteer for disaster relief work in response to the overwhelming need to help out those impacted by recent flooding in Louisiana. Among the BCMs already committed to participate next week with Louisiana Baptists’ disaster relief operations are University of Louisiana-Monroe, McNeese State University, Northwestern State University and Southeastern Louisiana University. Students at LSU-Alexandria are preparing for spring examinations next week, and members of that BCM will join ongoing recovery efforts later. BCM state missions coordinator Jamey Gilliland said being engaged in missions is a core value of all the BCMs in Louisiana and explained that campus ministers and state BCM leaders focus on getting students a missions experience multiple times throughout the year, including spring break, Christmas time and summer. Gilliland and other campus ministers felt it was important this year to respond to this specific need right in their own backyard, he said. “Often, our missions emphasis is on going to a different context to inspire a … [Read more...]

By David Roach, Baptist Press ST. LOUIS (BP) - Louisiana pastor David Crosby will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention, fellow Louisiana pastor Fred Luter announced today (March 24). "I have watched David the last 10 years here in New Orleans as he has taken the leadership of all the churches and pastors of our city in helping to rebuild New Orleans, which everybody knows was totally destroyed [in 2005] in Hurricane Katrina," Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, said in an interview, telling Baptist Press of his intention to nominate Crosby during the SBC annual meeting June 14-15 in St. Louis. "I saw how he was able to get a lot of things done to get the city back up and running," Luter said, noting Crosby's "passion for the Body of Christ and for our convention." "I can see that same passion he had for our city leading the Southern Baptist Convention." During the 20 years Crosby has pastored First Baptist Church in New Orleans, the congregation has given between 7 and 15 percent of its undesignated receipts through the Cooperative Program despite a major relocation effort and $3.5 million of damages sustained from Katrina, Luter said. During the fiscal year that … [Read more...]

By LC News PINEVILLE --The Louisiana College Division of Nursing will host a Healthcare Expo in its Nursing Skills Center on April 14, 4:30 to 7 p.m. The event offers detailed information about careers in healthcare.  Attendees will: - tour LC’s Nursing Skills lab; - observe high-tech demonstrations; - get hands-on experience with an EKG; - gain insight to med school preparation; - observe/engage in physical therapy skills; - meet personally with LC professors; - learn more about: Bachelor of Science / Nursing Associate Level / Physical Therapist Assisting. For more information, please call 318.487.7127. … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE – With Easter just days away, students, staff and faculty at Louisiana College took a little journey Wednesday. It was a time of reflection and remembrance. On a picturesque Wednesday, students traveled on the self-guided “Road to Gethsemane Prayer Journey” through seven stations, each one focusing on a specific area of prayer. The self-guided prayer journey began by encouraging students and other participants to take a moment and be still in Christ’s presence, remembering his death and glorious resurrection as the greatest moment in history. Other stations included reflections on praise and thanksgiving, confession, intercession for ministers and missionaries, intercession for authorities and the nation and the LC campus. One of the stations even included a presentation of the gospel and an invitation to accept Christ as personal Lord and Savior. By the first hour-and-a-half, the prayer journey had drawn 25 participants. The event continues through 3 p.m., and is open to the public. Thomas Worsham, who recently became director of the LC Baptist Collegiate Ministry which sponsored the prayer journey, said the day allowed students, staff and faculty and any others … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Message Editor ALEXANDRIA – In many ways the Gospel message is a simple one. Indeed, John 3:16 captures the hope and promise in a single verse: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Regardless of what Bible translation you use, the meaning is clear. God has a plan for saving you and me for eternity. BASICS OF BELIEF There are a number of passages which explain what it means to “believe in Him.” Romans 10:13 announces that “whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” and Luke 18:13 demonstrates such a plea must be made in a spirit of repentance, recording how a tax collector, eyes down and beating his chest, cried out, “O God, have mercy on me a poor sinner!” Other texts detail how repentance, a change in life’s direction, begins with a heartfelt profession of Jesus as Lord of your life based on an authentic belief in His physical resurrection (Romans 10:9-10). In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God reveals one must humble himself before seeking repentance. The sequence of His instruction is clear … before praying or seeking God’s face, and in order to be strengthened to turn from … [Read more...]