By Staff, Baptist Message   ARRIVALS/DEPARTURES   Perry Sanders died March 26 in Colorado Springs, Colo. He was 84, and pastor at First Baptist Lafayette for 47 years when he retired in 2006. Services were March 28 in Lafayette.   Jimmie Tupper, new as pastor of First Kinder.   Russell Hinson, resigned as pastor of Beech Ridge Walker.   Danny Mann, new as youth minister at Hebron Denham Springs. Pastor: Joe Alain.   J. Russell DeVore, resigned as pastor of Glade Branch Cravens.   Henry (wife Hazel) Laird, new as pastor of Glade Branch Cravens.   Jeff (wife Noel) Brown, new as youth minister at New River St. Amant. Pastor: Wayne Talley.   Ben Clark, new as youth minister at Koran Haughton. Pastor: Mike Reichard.       Needed/Giving/Available   Russell Hinson: available for pastor, supply and interim. 225.567.5217; 225.806.5163.       Homecomings, Anniversaries, Revivals   Calvary Forest Hill: Revival March 30-April 1. Evangelist: Ryan Perry; Pastor: Joel McMickin.   First Hornbeck: Revival April 1-4. Evangelist: David Crain. Pastor: Jack … [Read more...]

By Joe Conway, Baptist Press   [img_assist|nid=8031|title=Church Plant|desc=Church planter Derek Osburn talks with Amy Johnson, a member of The Vine Community Church in Clovis, N.M. The church plant – already with more than 200 in Sunday services – currently meets at a local Christian school until its new building is ready later in 2012.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=471]EDITOR’S NOTE: Southern Baptist churches are engaged in the annual Week of Prayer for North American Missions, March 4-11, in conjunction with the 2012 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. With a goal of $70 million, AAEO gifts help pay the salaries and ministry support for missionaries serving in North America with the SBC’s North American Mission Board. For more information, visit www.      anniearmstrong.com.   CLOVIS, N.M. (BP) – Derek Osburn never set out to be a poster child for missional church staff members but, as a youth minister in New Mexico, God broadened his horizons.   The pivotal decision point for Osburn came at a state evangelism conference where Ed Stetzer challenged the audience. Stetzer, a longtime church planter and church planting advocate, is vice president of research and ministry development for … [Read more...]

By John Kyle, LBC Communications Director   [img_assist|nid=8034|title=Wave of Prayer continues|desc=Inclement weather forced the Rapides’ Awaken Wave of Prayer event inside the Louisiana Baptist Convention Building instead of it being held at the Rapides Parish Courthouse. People are gathering on the steps of courthouses across the state as part of Louisiana Southern Baptists’ ‘Wave of Prayer’ seeking a spiritual awakening in the state. The wave will conclude on April 29 at a bi-centennial celebration on the Capitol steps in Baton Rouge.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=476]ALEXANDRIA – Three weeks and twenty-three parishes later, the Awaken Wave of Prayer has made its presence felt as it rolls across Louisiana to an April 29 bi-centennial celebration on the Capitol steps in Baton Rouge. The April 29 date coincides with the 200th Anniversary of Louisiana’s statehood and 200 years of Baptist ministry in the state.   “We’ve definitely seen God begin to move in the hearts of His people,” said David Hankins, Executive Director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention.  “We’re hearing testimonies from directors of missions, pastors and church members regarding the impact of the initial launch of the 21 Days of … [Read more...]

By Ginger Culpepper, Special to the Message   [img_assist|nid=8035|title=MJAM Lafayette|desc=Worship was as much a part of M-Jam as were the other parts of the annual event: learning about missions, meeting missionaries, making new friends and thinking of ways to be a missionary even before becoming a teenager.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=427]LAFAYETTE – “I’m excited and fired up about what God is going to do in your lives and communities,” Children/Youth Mission Education Strategist Kimberly Aguillard told the girls and boys at M-Jam.   “There may be a day when God calls you to go to a different state or country. Wherever He calls you, you need to be obedient. But you don’t have to be an adult to be on mission.”   That sentiment was relayed again and again by each of the conference speakers at the Missions Jamboree, held two consecutive weekends in March at First Baptist Lafayette and Ridge Avenue Baptist in West Monroe.   M-Jam is an annual event sponsored by the Women’s Missions and Ministry team for Girls in Action and Children in Action groups from around the state.   Almost 700 children – counting both events – were inspired to get “Fired Up” for missions. Both … [Read more...]

By Laura Fielding, IMB Communications   [img_assist|nid=8037|title=Praying for missionaries|desc=Family and friends gather around the International Mission Board’s newest missionaries to pray for them during a special service March 21 at Trinity Baptist Church in Lake Charles where 61 new missionaries were appointed.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=427]LAKE CHARLES (BP) – He was a rebellious punk rock skateboarder who openly renounced his family’s faith, telling his parents that “God was a joke.”   But God had a plan for Charles Drake*. [* indicates name changed for security reasons.] During college, he met a friend who also listened to punk rock but didn’t act like a punk rocker. He was loving, kind and compassionate – and he invited Drake to join a men’s Bible study group.   “[I] started reading the New Testament and was blown away by Jesus – His power to raise the dead, to calm storms … His compassion to forgive sins, to die on a cross for my sins,” Drake said. “He saved me.”   Charles and Renee* Drake, who now have two children – they plan to live among an East Asian people group – were among 61 newly-appointed missionaries honored March 21 during a service at Trinity Baptist … [Read more...]

By Kalee Christian, Louisiana College Wildcat Media   PINEVILLE – College students are very opinionated. They have their favorite stars, brands, bands, sports teams, fast food, TV shows, iTunes playlists, apps, and a host of other categories that appear important to them. However, Louisiana College students are in the midst of forming more meaningful opinions, different from the relatively insignificant ones previously mentioned.   Three of the four Republican presidential candidates made appearances at Louisiana College during the week of March 19.   When students were asked how they felt about the Republican candidates making stops at LC, Rana Nash, a senior, stated, “It’s a privilege .... We have literally become a part of history.”   LC students formed strong opinions about what the candidates had to say and gave serious thought about who they were going to vote for. As senior Cameron Shull pointed out, the younger generation has “realized we are inheriting a mess from former generations of politics ... and we have to fix it ....”   The first candidate to make an appearance was Newt Gingrich, The former Speaker of the House met with the community in Granberry Conference … [Read more...]

By Tiffany Owens, World News Service   (WNS) – A film adaptation of Donald Miller’s New York Times bestseller Blue Like Jazz is headed to the big screen April 13 and debuted March 13 in Texas at Austin’s “SXSW,” a music, film, and technology festival.   The movie explores themes of forgiveness, authenticity, and the question of God’s existence as it follows one man’s journey to find God, but it struggles to offer a clear explanation of the gospel.   The film is a revised version of Miller’s life in which Don (played by Marshall Allman) appears as a 19-year-old Texan with a Baptist background who tries to ditch God by attending liberal Reed College in Portland, Ore.   Fueled by anger at hypocritical church leaders and his semi-absent father, Don embraces the pluralistic, hedonistic lifestyle at Reed and intentionally makes an effort to identify himself as a nonbeliever.   Miller is faced with unexpected conflict when he befriends Penny (Claire Holt), a Christian student whose friendship causes Don to wrestle with his doubts, his faith, and his responsibility to love his neighbor.   Filmed mostly in Nashville, Tenn., the film incorporates the effective storytelling … [Read more...]

By Gary Meyers, NOBTS Communications   [img_assist|nid=8041|title=A widow's gift|desc=New Orleans Seminary President Chuck Kelley speaks about the new fund to assist deaf students as Janie Powell translates into sign language. The widow of a deaf minister has provided the initial gift to help break down one of the major barriers for deaf students – the added cost of hiring an interpreter.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=412]NEW ORLEANS (BP) –Stephanie Johnson knows the challenges facing a potential seminary student who is deaf: She saw her husband’s perseverance in following God’s call.   Ultimately Daniel Johnson overcame the challenges, attended New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and earned a master of divinity degree. Daniel went on to serve as a minister to the deaf and a North American Mission Board church planting strategist until his death in January 2011 after a lengthy battle with cancer.   Now Stephanie Johnson has given an initial $40,000 gift to establish a new fund at NOBTS – the Accessible Theological Education for the Deaf Fund – to help deaf students receive training for missions and ministry.   “My dream is that the deaf of the world will be … [Read more...]