Dear Louisiana Baptist Family, We are writing from Entebbe, Uganda where we serve with your International Mission Board. We’re Louisiana natives sent out by you and our home church, Dry Creek Baptist Church. The purpose of this letter is to encourage each of you to give generously to this year’s Lottie Moon Mission Offering. Our Chadan Engagement Team (serving South Sudan, southern Chad, and their borderlands) is the beneficiary of your giving. Due to your gifts to both Lottie Moon and the Cooperative Program, our team is able to reach the Least Reached in this challenging part of Africa. We thank you. We urge you to give above and beyond so more willing workers can come to the harvest fields. We have released an ebook, ‘Trampled Grass,’ sharing how God is working along the borders of Uganda and South Sudan. It is filled with stories and images showing how your giving makes a difference on the ground. All proceeds from Trampled Grass go to Lottie Moon. Learn more at Amazon.com or www.creekbank.net Curt and DeDe Iles   To the Editor There is Good News in response to the article that recently appeared in the Baptist Message entitled “The Good News gets the cold shoulder in Portland.” The article reported on the … [Read more...]

Forbes, U.S. Congressman (R-VA) and member of Great Bridge Baptist Church The American government is rooted in the fundamental truth that all are created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our Constitution was uniquely crafted as a democracy designed to protect us from the natural human impulse to crowd out those with whom we disagree. Freedom was won with blood and sacrifice and has been continually defended with the same, but preserving it for future generations requires more than just physical defense. Each generation must be taught anew what our freedoms cost and why we must defend them for everyone. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The first clause of the First Amendment was born out of a deeply divided approach to religious freedom in the American colonies. Some colonies, like Pennsylvania, were founded with an open invitation to people from all religious traditions to be free to live out their faith without restraint. Others had government-established churches consistent with many European traditions. In Virginia, citizens who were not members of the … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Mon, 12/01/2014 - 12:13 Louis Charrier (left) and Buddy Hampton (right) play Cajun music in front of the Engage Acadiana exhibit located in the hallway of First Baptist Church in Lafayette at this year’s annual meting. In addition to handing out goodies and tasty morsels, Louisiana Baptist Convention teams, entities, camps and other organizations handed out valuable information which tied in with the Annual Meeting theme of Engage 2020, which is a goal of the convention to reach the next generation and every people group. By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer LAFAYETTE – With a crowd gathered around, Louis Charrier and Buddy Hampton cranked up their string instruments and began to play a high-energy Cajun tune inside the hallway of First Baptist Church in Lafayette. Just outside, Kevin Billiot and his family from Alpine First Baptist Church posed for a personalized photograph aboard an airboat. The music and airboat were more than just an avenue to have a good time, but were on hand to educate Louisiana Baptists about Cajun country and how they could do their part to Engage Acadiana with the gospel. “This was a way to give people an idea of some of the things we have done here and show our … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ST. GABRIEL – As a drama team performed an interpretive movement to the song “City On Our Knees” during a worship service at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, chaplain Debi Sharkey drew the parallel. “From what I know, the song is about good and evil or light and darkness,” Sharkey said of the drama, which was performed by inmates in the prison who are students at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Extension program there. “In that way, LCIW is like that. “We have some who are believers and some who are not,” she continued. “So, the dance was a way to express that when the two worlds collide, light should overcome the darkness. In the end, the girls would like to see all of LCIW a city unto God – a City on their knees.” The service was part of a recent revival at the maximum security prison about 10 miles east of Baton Rouge and included participation from many Louisiana Baptists. Approximately 175 volunteers from 25 Louisiana Baptist churches participated in the revival, which included a gift box distribution to the inmates, three worship services on Saturday, a worship service on Sunday and a baptismal opportunity on Sunday night. Food was provided for the … [Read more...]

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Submitted by philip on Fri, 12/12/2014 - 09:21 George Ross By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer NEW ORLEANS – George Ross understands the God-sized task that is before him in the New Orleans area. From 2013 to 2023, Southern Baptists have set a goal to plant 120 churches in a city where evangelicals comprise 11.6 percent of the 998,644 people who live there. The ratio of Southern Baptist churches for every resident in metro New Orleans is 1:8,011. Those statistics are according to the North American Mission Board, where Ross serves as the agency’s SEND North America city coordinator for New Orleans. New Orleans is one of 32 cities in the US and Canada part of SEND North America, which is NAMB’s strategy to mobilize and assist churches and individuals in hands-on church planting in those cities. Since he arrived in New Orleans on Oct. 1, 2013, 10 churches have been planted, of which one is Hispanic and nine are multi-ethnic. Another 110 churches must be planted in the next nine years – including 10 in 2015 – a goal that Ross believes is possible, but only with prayer and cooperation from Southern Baptists both in the area and around the United States. “This will certainly be a difficult task, but not an … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Fri, 12/12/2014 - 09:23 Ed Stetzer By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer SHREVEPORT – Today, 75 percent of Southern Baptist churches in Louisiana are either plateaued or declining. While this may look like grim news, hope is on the horizon with RESET: a Revitalization Conference, which is the theme of next month’s Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference. Organizers are hoping this conference will help those churches find encouragement and some solutions to grow. “Pastors and staff should load up a van or bus with leaders to come hear speakers and seminar leaders who will instruct and encourage a church that needs to be revitalized,” said Wayne Jenkins, Louisiana Baptist Evangelism and Church Growth Team Director. The two-day event, which takes place at Summer Grove Baptist Church on Jan. 26-27, will feature inspiring messages by speakers from Louisiana and beyond. Headlining the list is Ed Stetzer, executive director of LifeWay Research in Nashville, Tenn.; Leroy Fountain, church health strategist for New Orleans Baptist Association; Gary McIntosh , president of Church Growth Network in Mirada, Calif.; Ted Traylor, pastor of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla.; and Don Wilton, pastor … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Fri, 12/12/2014 - 09:34 Working with the Baptist Union of Bulgaria, Cedar Crest Baptist Church of West Monroe and Blackaby Ministries teamed up to put on a national conference for 127 Bulgarian pastors and leaders in Bulgaria. Among the group making the conference happen were (from left) Tom Blackaby of Blackaby Ministries, Cedar Crest Baptist Administrative Pastor Lynn Wilson, Richard Blackaby of Blackaby Ministries, Senior pastor Greg Clark, and Cedar Crest’s Mission Pastor David Moreland. By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer WEST MONROE – A Louisiana Baptist church has obtained the exclusive publishing rights to the Experiencing God book in the nation of Bulgaria. And by doing so, Cedar Crest Baptist Church in West Monroe hopes this is just the beginning of many changed lives in this East European country. Cedar Crest has been working in partnership with the Baptist Union of Bulgaria and the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention since 2009. The church has taken teams to Bulgaria to conduct pastor training and leadership development, VBS style events for children and sports camps for all ages. The idea to translate Experiencing God into Bulgarian began in 2010 … [Read more...]

By Kelly Boggs, Message Editor America’s slow slide toward secularism has been taking place for some time now. I would argue for at least three decades and the Christmas season has been a clear indicator of our country’s penchant for secular style over traditional substance. The essence of Christmas, the reason for the season, is the birth of Jesus Christ, nothing more and nothing less. It is distinctly and exclusively a religious holiday – a time when Christians around the world commemorate the birth of their Savior, the very reason for their faith. However, in American popular culture the reality of Christmas has not just been lost; it has been discarded like ripped wrapping paper. Christ’s birth is no longer the focus. All things secular trump the sacred as Americans celebrate Christmas in name only. A case in point involved the music popular during the Christmas season. A culture’s music reflects its values. Examine the tunes that are popular and you have a pretty good idea of the orientation of a society’s moral compass. The easiest way to sample a culture’s musical tastes is via the radio. Some radio stations dedicate their entire programming to Christmas-themed music during the month of December. And almost all … [Read more...]