By Message Staff LAFAYETTE – The 2015 Youth Evangelism Celebration was all about making the most of the moment. “You have this moment,” Acton Bowen told the youth gathered inside the Cajundome for the opening session of YEC on Monday, Nov. 23. “This is the moment you have right now to say yes to Jesus.” A speaker and New York Times best-selling author who has served in the local church, led a city-wide student Bible study in Gadsden, Ala., and was the host of x|roads TV, Bowen was one of several people who were on stage during YEC. The largest gathering of Louisiana Baptists each year, YEC featured high-energy music, inspiring messages, fellowship and much more. The theme for this year’s YEC is Moments, based off Psalm 119:32. Throughout the two-day event, Bowen issued several challenges, including take up one's cross to follow Jesus. Basing his message off Mark 8:31-35, Bowen told the students and adult chaperons that too often in America to not be just a follower, but a fan of Christ. He said Jesus is looking for followers, especially when times get tough. "There is a huge difference between being a fan of Jesus and a follower of Jesus," he said. "In churches across America I am preaching to some of the greater … [Read more...]

By Message Staff LAFAYETTE -  The annual Youth Evangelism Celebration kicks off tonight. The largest gathering of Louisiana Baptists each year, YEC is scheduled for Nov. 23-24 and will feature high-energy music, inspiring messages, fellowship and much more. Due to on-going renovations at the Rapides Coliseum in Alexandria, and an unknown date of completion, the Cajundome will be the home for YEC through 2017. The theme for this year’s YEC is Moments, based off Psalm 119:32. You can follow the event through the Baptist Message's Facebook and Twitter updates. Send any photos to brian@baptistmessage.com and we'll post them on our Facebook page and in our photo gallery once YEC has ended. … [Read more...]

By Marc Ira Hooks NEW ORLEANS (BP) - "When I first heard the news I felt bad, but my heart did not break," Keith Taylor, a Ph.D. student in preaching, said of the 600-800 International Mission Board missionaries preparing to leave their place of service due to budget shortfalls. "I was not broken for these folks who had given their lives for the work of spreading the Gospel around the world. And now their part of that work was coming to an end." Taylor's attitude changed, however, after a chapel message by NOBTS professor Blake Newsom several weeks ago. "It was not even a missions’ message," Taylor said. "It was about stewardship." Taylor and others challenged by Newsom's message created a T-shirt emblazoned with "Not On Our Watch -– Support The International Mission Board" to be sold on campus. After only four days of sales, more than $1,200 was raised for the IMB's Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. The T-shirts reflect a rhetorical answer to the question: "Are we okay with the fact that Jesus told us we are to pray for workers to be sent into the harvest field, and on our watch we are bringing workers in from the fields?" IMB President Platt expressed his appreciation for the Not On Our Watch theme during his … [Read more...]

By Marilyn Stewart, NOBTS Communications NEW ORLEANS (BP) - Giving one's life as a "blank check" to God may seem like extraordinary devotion, IMB President David Platt said, but a commitment to go wherever God leads is the "elementary essence of what it means to follow Christ." Platt spoke in the opening chapel service of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary's annual Global Missions Week Nov. 2-5, which coincided with an IMB trustee meeting in New Orleans and a missionary commissioning service. Before Platt spoke, NOBTS students, faculty and staff gave more than $10,000 in special offerings collected in light of recent IMB financial/personnel cutbacks. During the seminary's missions’ emphasis, IMB personnel spoke in chapel, classes and breakout sessions and met with students over coffee or lunch. Underscoring his meaning of a "blank check," Platt cited flooding in Yemen, fighting in Iraq and persecution of Christians in Pakistan from the day's headlines. "To be clear," he said, "when you say 'wherever' to God, you're saying I'll go and take my family to Yemen, Iraq, and Pakistan. I'll go into the heart of ISIS. I'll go into Boko Haram territory of West Africa. I'll go wherever You want me to go.'" Platt said … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Message Editor BATON ROUGE – Democratic gubernatorial contender John Bel Edwards decided not to join U.S. Senator and Republican gubernatorial contender David Vitter on stage at the historic Jefferson Baptist Church in Baton Rouge Nov. 12 for a debate organized to elicit the candidates’ views on a host of faith and family issues as the two men continue to campaign down to the wire in the race for governor. It was the second night in a row Edwards was a no show. The previous evening he snubbed an audience at the historically black Southern University, even though a regional news outlet described the campus as an Edwards-friendly setting. Vitter not only showed up for the Southern University event, but took on some pointed questioning from the host, not backing down when pressed about using the word “thug” in a campaign ad. Vitter stood his ground and said the word was not racist, and, apparently some of the students agreed with him, according to a report in The Baton Rouge Advocate. The New Orleans Times-Picayune, meantime, reported Edwards was attending a meet-and-greet event of about 200 supporters at the home of Barbara Anne Eaton, a prominent Baton Rouge realtor, at the time of the Southern … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Message Editor NEW ORLEANS – Although State Representative John Bel Edwards skipped out on the family and faith forum Nov. 12 which would have allowed panelists to question him directly about how his claim to be against same-sex marriage would translate into public policy, The Baptist Message has found sources which show Edwards supports transgender rights, and plans to pursue policies granting special rights to lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders. Edwards already is on record  as fighting against  HB707, The Marriage and  Conscience Act, proposed this spring by State Representative Mike Johnson (R-Bossier City), who is an active member of First Baptist Church in Bossier City. In a post on LouisianaforLiberty.com, Johnson identified Edwards as the legislator who “led the dramatic charge to stop my religious liberty bill and get it killed” in committee. The proposed measure would have codified protections for Christians and others who hold the conviction that marriage can only be the union of one man and one woman, and prevented the state from forcing any government employee or official to act in contravention to their beliefs about marriage. The bill also would have kept Louisiana agencies from … [Read more...]