By Jerry Love, LBF Communications ALEXANDRIA – At their final quarterly meeting of 2015, trustees learned the stock market’s decline in late August and September affected the assets under management by the Louisiana Baptist Foundation. Investments During the investment committee meeting Oct. 27, data that was shared about assets under management showed a $9 million decrease in the third quarter, primarily due to market decline in late August and September. Still, assets held by the LBF totaled $164,566,429.39 on Sept. 30, about $3.79 million more than the same date a year ago. Likewise, it was noted that the stock market recovery in the month of October helped to erase most of the losses, with LBC-held assets gaining back about $6 million. Investment Committee Chairman Jim Prince (Aimwell Baptist Church, Aimwell) presented the performance report for the different portfolios managed by the Foundation, and he announced the returns earned by the major components of the LBF portfolio as of the end of this year’s third quarter: Short Term Fund:  0.51 percent Annualized Yield Fixed Income Fund:  1.46 percent Total Return; Equity Fund:  -6.46 percent Total Return The group investment fund which comprises … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Message Editor BOSSIER CITY – California Southern Baptist Convention Executive Director Fermín Whittaker urged pastors and others gathered Nov. 9 to go all in for the Gospel ministry, saying, “We are ambassadors or not; we cannot be 50 percent.” The venerable Southern Baptist leader spoke at the fourth annual Hispanic pastors’ conference conducted during the Louisiana Baptist Convention annual meeting. Cooperation was the common theme among the three sessions, each conducted by Whittaker. Likewise, he offered key advice on the husband and wife partnership in the ministry. “Remember, she is not assistant pastor, she is your wife,” he said, cautioning pastors from putting too much on the shoulders of wives. “I saw a change in my wife when she began to be a woman and not a pastor’s assistant, a woman and not a conference speaker,” he offered. “She began to be a woman, instead of a Sunday school director.” The call of God In the first session, Whittaker spoke on a personal level to the group, encouraging them not to feel inadequate for the task God has called them to undertake. God does not see a person with problems and deficiencies, he said, but He does look for a humble heart. “I have to … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer BOSSIER CITY – Brad Jurkovich believes if they are not careful, pastors can develop a spiritually deadened heart. “When our desire is more of everything else but God, then that is when our heart becomes dull for the Lord rather than on fire,” said Jurkovich, pastor of First Baptist Church in Bossier City. “And pastor, when your heart is dull for God then there will be a lack of passion to live the holy life He is calling you to live.” Preaching from Psalm 51:1-13, Jurkovich spoke to those attending the 2015 Louisiana Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference about how King David’s dulled heart led him to sin. Much like David at one time, pastors who are suffering a lack of passion for God should get to the point that they need the Lord. “When you desire God more and more then you will have a heart that hungers for God then His high call of holiness will be a very real passion of yours,” he continued. “In your heart, do you desire more of God than anything else? Because out of your heart will flow everything else. Out of your heart will flow a desire to live for God and seek to live the Holy Life He has changed you and called you to be. For those pastors with such a dull … [Read more...]

By Philip Timothy, Message Managing Editor BOSSIER CITY – Is this the best Louisiana Baptists can do? THE PLEDGE Louisiana Baptist Convention President Steve Horn believes not and is asking every church in the state to take ‘The Pledge’ – a pastor-driven initiative designed to increase Cooperative Program giving in the coming months. ‘The Pledge’ is a plan challenging churches giving less than 3 percent to the CP to move to 5 percent; churches giving between 3 and 8 percent are encouraged to increase by 2 percent; and churches giving between 8 and 9.9 percent to go to 10 percent. Churches already giving 10 percent of their undesignated receipts through the Cooperative Program will be thanked and encouraged to consider a 1 percent increase or simply reaffirm a commitment to their current level of giving. In his report to the convention, he informed messengers Nov. 9 at First Baptist Church in Bossier City, on the progress the initiative, unveiled May 5, has made so far and challenged those who had not taken ‘The Pledge’ to do so now. “Just across the river from where we are tonight was a pastor named M. E. Dodd, well-known as the architect of the Cooperative Program,” said Horn. “At the 1919 SBC, an SBC … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer HOUMA – Dexter Gaspard isn’t your typical pastor. Wearing gages in his ears and covered with tattoos, Gaspard can be found from time to time riding a skateboard with the teenagers, playing a bass guitar or talking about the eggs that are laid from chickens he raises in his backyard. But every Sunday, Wednesday and pretty much the rest of the week, Gaspard is busy ministering to a homeless man, preaching a message from inside Revival Life Church’s worship center or sharing the gospel with residents of a halfway house, many who live a life of drug use and alcohol that were once common for him. He’s quick to point out this past life is something he now uses to relate to the people he’s trying to reach. “A lot of them tell me later on when they’re clean that I understand where they are coming from,” said Gaspard, pastor of the south Louisiana church. “They tell me that helped them open up to share problems. They know I won’t give them a textbook answer; mine is from experience. “Growing up I knew there was a God,” he continued. “I was just mad at Him. I thought I was dealt a bad hand in life. After I got saved, I realized all that was prepping me to become a minister. Now, … [Read more...]

ON THE MOVE Brent Shoalmire is new as pastor from laity at Oak Hill Baptist Church, Plain Dealing. David Savage has resigned as pastor at New Ebenezer Baptist Church, Castor. Nancy Huey is the new children’s minister at First Baptist Church, Calhoun. Johnny (wife Penny) Miller is the new pastor at Downsville Baptist Church. Marcelle Ronquille is the new pastor at Bosco Baptist Church, Monroe. Craig West resigned as pastor at First Baptist Church, Monroe. Daryl Purpera is the new pastor at First Baptist Church, Central. IN REMEMBERANCE A.L. Palmer of Ponchatoula passed away Oct. 28 at the age of 93 following a brief illness. Memorial services were held on Oct. 31 at the First Baptist Church of Ponchatoula. He served as a “Seabee” in the United States Navy during World War II. After the war he was a welder before entering the ministry. From 1986 into 1988, he served as pastor of First Baptist Church of Opelousas. In March of 1988, Palmer, a native of Perrysville, Ohio, retired from full-time ministry and relocated to the Hammond/Ponchatoula area. He then began a very active and fruitful 27 year period of ministry as an interim pastor, supply preacher and mentor to younger pastors.  He preached in over 100 … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer BOSSIER CITY – With a decrease in baptisms across the Southern Baptist Convention and the reality of the International Mission Board cutting back its missionary force, SBC President Ronnie Floyd believes he knows what the No. 1 need is for Louisiana. “We need the power of God upon our churches and upon our ministries,” said Floyd, pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas. “We have too many pastors and churches that are contented to go forward, doing ministry without the power of God.” Speaking to messengers during the final session of the Louisiana Baptist Convention Annual Meeting at First Baptist Church in Bossier City, Floyd said he is convinced Southern Baptists are moving away from the mission of God. “When we move away from the mission of God, you also move away from the power of God,” he said. “And when you move away from the power of God, you don’t have a heart to move toward the mission of God.” For God to move, Floyd said, prayer must be at the forefront. Preaching from Acts, Floyd recounted how the disciples gathered in the upper room soon after Jesus’ resurrection and called out to God, as one body. Then, God answered their prayers. Just like the … [Read more...]

By Marilyn Stewart, NOBTS communications NEW ORLEANS – Coinciding with its “every member a missionary” focus and Cooperative Program emphasis this month, First Baptist Church Minden, donated gift cards totaling nearly $5,400 to international women students and to the homeschool community at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Leland Crawford, pastor, and wife Rose Crawford delivered the cards along with canvas school bags filled with school supplies for each of the 93 homeschooled children while visiting the seminary campus for the Oct. 14 fall trustee meeting. Leland Crawford, an NOBTS alumnus, currently serves as a trustee. Eleven countries – South Korea, Egypt, Romania, India, Colombia, El Salvador, Brazil, Taiwan, Argentina, Burkina Faso and Haiti – were represented at a reception for trustee wives and international students and international student wives hosted by Rhonda Kelley, president’s wife. “My international friends and I were super excited and thankful for the gift cards. They were such a blessing and came at the right time,” Tone said. “We praise God for always providing.” The 218 “Cards of Blessing” marked the third year First Minden has provided gifts to students. The gift cards were valued at … [Read more...]

By Gary D Meyers, NOBTS communications NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary trustees approved a five-year strategic plan for the seminary and voted to establish a new extension center in Columbus, Ga., during their fall meeting. Seminary President Chuck Kelley also shared news of the record enrollment of 3,952 students. In his report to trustees, Kelley recounted the ways in which God provided for the seminary following Hurricane Katrina. In the 10 years after the storm NOBTS has witnessed the restoration of the campus and the launch of numerous new programs and scholarship initiatives, he said. For Kelley, the most exciting post-Katrina news came at the end of this summer when he learned of the record-setting enrollment of students during the 2014-2015 school year. Kelley said the Katrina experience helped the seminary learn to be a more resilient institution. Defining resilience as “the ability to continue when normal dramatically changes,” Kelley listed four keys to NOBTS resiliency: a comprehensive curriculum (featuring both traditional and distinctive programs); multiple delivery systems (main campus, extension, online, mentoring, travel courses); enhanced fundraising efforts; and a faculty … [Read more...]