Submitted by philip on Mon, 12/01/2014 - 12:01 Michael Burkhardt (left) and David Abernathy (right) survey the damage to a house caused by a tornado in Northeast Louisiana in early October. A total of 55 volunteers worked over a seven day period with clean up. By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer Despite a relatively quiet year, Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief officials are not letting their guard down for what 2015 may bring. “It was very quiet for our teams,” said Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief State Director Gibbie McMillan. “That makes you a little nervous and wonder what next year will bring to us. “I hear we may be in for a severe winter because of a mild summer that we had,” he continued. “When the time comes, we will be there. The Lord provides the volunteers whenever disaster strikes.” This year, Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief teams responded to two major disasters – in May to a tornado in Mississippi and in October to a tornado in Monroe. Mississippi tornado When Alice Livingston discovered oak and pine trees had fallen on her home, she wondered where the help would come from. That help arrived in the form of a team of Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers. “There couldn’t have been … [Read more...]

By Dan Biser, Pastor of Zoar Baptist Church, Augusta, West Virginia In my Bible reading recently, I read through Song of Solomon (Canticles) and began reading Isaiah. So much is revealed in these pages that speaks to our current plight. Canticles 1:6, “They made me a keeper of the vineyards, [but] I have not kept my own vineyard.” Is this true of you as we approach the final two months of the year? So busy with work, family and other responsibilities that you have fallen behind and forgotten the most important thing, to keep your soul before the Lord? How often do we tend to others and to life itself, and neglect the most important things. We know the Lord is neither happy nor pleased when we neglect the Bible, prayer, fellowship and intimacy with Him. Renew, confess and restore your walk even now and finish the year well. Canticles 3:4, “When I found the one I love, I held on to him and would not let him go.” Here is the clinging passion of a soul that longs after Christ. Find Him, hold onto Him and never let go of Him, the One your soul loves. Reflect on all the ways that the circumstances of your life teach, remind and bring you close to Christ. Canticles 4:16, “Blow on my garden, and spread the fragrance of its … [Read more...]

By Brian Koonce, Staff Writer MBC The Pathway A buddy and I headed to the gun range the other day so I could show off my new rifle. Since I’d spent quite a bit money on the rifle and scope, I decided to save a few bucks by mounting the scope while sitting at the kitchen table instead of paying a professional to do the work. We warmed up with my buddy’s rifle, a tried-and-true beauty built from a 77-year-old German Mauser. My friend is a far better marksman than I am, but I was hitting the target within 2 inches of my point-of-aim at 100 yards, which isn’t too bad for me considering I was using an unfamiliar rifle. Then we tried my new American-made Remington, guaranteed to be tack-driving accurate right out of the box. My first shots were 5-ish inches from hitting my mark. So I dialed in my scope to what should yield dead-on results, concentrated on my breathing and fired another couple of rounds. My buddy peered through the spotting scope to tell me what I knew were going to be stellar marks. Now, he shared, they were 12 inches from the bull’s-eye -- what’s worse, they were 12 inches from the bull’s-eye on the target to the left of where I’d been aiming. My buddy gave my gun a try and hit a grouping about 8 inches from the mark … [Read more...]

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...]