ON THE MOVE Matt Butts new as Minister to Students at Baptist Temple, Alexandria. Tom Hughes new as pastor at Northside Baptist Church, DeQuincy. Herb Cowan new as pastor of First Baptist Church, French Settlement. Caleb Willis new as minister of music at Tioga First Baptist Church. Shane (wife Dena) West new as Youth Minister at North Keithville Baptist Church. James (wife Edwina) Sykes new as pastor at Gospel Light Baptist Church, Shreveport.   REVIVAL Glenmora Baptist Church: Revival, Oct. 12, 19, 26, 6 p.m. Speakers: Rod McLain (Oct. 12), Keith Sheridan (Oct. 19), Wayne Jenkins (Oct. 26). Pastor: Falis Holloway. New Ebenezer Baptist Church, Castor: Revival, Oct. 12-15. Evangelist: Joe Aulds. Pastor: David Savage. First Baptist Church, Jonesboro: Revival, Oct. 12-15. Sunday 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. Speaker: Alan Miller. Worship/Music: Russ Givens. Pastor: Charles Wesley. Reeves Baptist Church: Revival, Oct. 12-15. Sunday 10:45 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 7 p.m. Evangelist: David Hanna. Pastor: Glen Ducharne. First Baptist Church, Slidell: Revival: ‘By Faith,’ Oct. 12-15, 6 p.m. Speaker: Ray Cummings. Worship: Todd Horne. Pastor: Ricky Cummings. Bethel Baptist Church, Colfax: … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Fri, 10/17/2014 - 10:38 Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd will be among the denominational leaders on the schedule for an upcoming prayer gathering Oct. 30 at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer NEW ORLEANS – Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd will be among the denominational leaders on the schedule for an upcoming prayer gathering later this month at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Scheduled for Oct. 30, the Prayer Summit for Spiritual Awakening will begin at 11 am during the seminary’s regularly scheduled service at Leavell Chapel. During that time, Floyd will lead the students, faculty and others in attendance in a focused time of prayer for revival and spiritual awakening. Following the chapel service, everyone will be invited to join Floyd and other Louisiana Baptist leaders in the River City Café from noon to 1:30 pm for a free lunch and additional focused time of prayer. Louisiana Baptist Convention President Steve Horn; Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans and former SBC president; and NOBTS President Chuck Kelley will also participate in this portion of the prayer … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Fri, 10/17/2014 - 10:41 Russell Moore, President of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, talks to Jack Hunter, executive director of missions of the New Orleans Baptist Association, during the recent ‘Challenges to Religious Liberty” conference at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. By Marilyn Stewart, Regional Reporter NEW ORLEANS – A sobering call to defend religious liberty for all was issued by Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, at the recent “Challenges to Religious Liberty” event at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. The Gospel is at stake, Moore said. “Religious liberty matters ultimately because religious liberty is not simply a political issue, religious liberty is not simply a social issue, religious liberty is a Gospel issue,” Moore said. Moore was joined by Mathew Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel and dean of Liberty University’s School of Law, and Carol Swain, professor of law and political science, Vanderbilt University, in addressing challenges to religious liberty in counseling, education, and in the church. In addressing challenges to the church, Moore said … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer Pisgah Baptist Church’s involvement with Operation Christmas Child began ever so small in 1993, with just a few ladies in the church participating individually. However, as the years passed, a growing number of church members became involved and wanted to do more. “The members of Pisgah became greatly interested and excited and from then on, strongly supported Operation Christmas Child,” said Josh Adams, pastor of Pisgah Baptist in Forest Hill. “The church has set high goals for Operation Christmas Child ever since, and God has always met those goal above and beyond.” Adams said he enjoys seeing the entire church involved in Operation Christmas Child. This is the first year the church will serve as one of 57 drop-off sites around the state. Representatives from those locations will take their shoeboxes to any of the 10 major collection centers during national collection week. Throughout the year Pisgah Baptist Church has collected items to be filled in shoeboxes, focusing on one particular item each month. Other efforts have included the youth creating a float dedicated to Operation Christmas Child for this year’s Nursery Festival in Forest Hill and the children’s ministry staging a … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Fri, 10/17/2014 - 10:52 Disaster Relief has sent 51 volunteers to storm ravaged Monroe to help with clean up in the city which was hit by an EF2 tornado. By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – As news of additional cases of the Ebola virus continue to surface, Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief officials continue to monitor the situation and are urging believers to rise up and live appropriately to show Christ’s love. “In these days of insecurity and hardship we encourage you to look to Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith,” said Dr. Charles Rogers, state medical coordinator for Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief. “It is in Him that we will find comfort. We do not understand disease and pestilence that results in massive human loss but we can take comfort in God’s word that tells us in Philippians 1:6, ‘I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.’” As of Oct. 14, the World Health Organization reported total cases of Ebola at nearly 9,000, with about half of those resulting in death. The U.S. saw its first Ebola death on Oct. 8, when Thomas Eric Duncan died at Texas Health Presbyterian … [Read more...]

By Kelly Boggs, Message Editor You can count your burdens or you can count your blessings. It is your choice. But take care; your decision will have consequences. If you focus only on what is wrong in your life, you will likely feel discouraged and defeated. Your attitude will probably be characterized by extreme negativity. You might wind up sounding like the pessimistic Disney character Eeyore of Winnie the Pooh fame. A scene from one episode sums up the gray donkey’s outlook on life: “Good morning, Pooh Bear,” Eeyore said, “if it is a good morning, which I doubt.” If you obsess over burdens, the chorus made famous on the once popular country variety show “Hee-Haw” might start playing in your mind: “Gloom, despair and agony on me. Deep dark depression, excessive misery. If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all. Gloom, despair and agony on me.” You can choose to count your burdens or, instead, you can focus on the positive things in your life. You can, in the words of the well-known hymn penned by Oatman Johnson, Jr., “Count your blessings” and even “name them one by one.” Be like Paul Smith, a blessing counter who died in 2007 at age 85 after a lifelong battle with cerebral palsy which made even routine tasks … [Read more...]

By Frank Page, President of the SBC's Executive Committee The longer we live, the more we realize that actions or decisions have consequences – sometimes unintended consequences that absolutely cannot be foretold or foreseen. But more often they are foreseeable. Scripture instructs the wise person to “count the cost.” This exhortation aptly applies to conversations concerning the continuing value of the Cooperative Program within the Southern Baptist Convention. In recent years, some within our convention have suggested new funding modalities for our mission work. I understand why they do so. Support for our current methods of cooperative giving and special mission offerings has failed to raise the kind of dollars needed to propel an aggressive global vision while simultaneously maintaining a strong home base of ministry. Even when dollars increase annually, they have not kept up with inflation and certainly not with population growth. Therefore, we find ourselves in a day and time when people are looking for new ways to raise mission dollars to distribute for global missions and North American evangelism and church planting. This question is: Do we give up on a cooperative model which has brought us to this point? It’s a … [Read more...]

By Hal Ostrander, Professor of Wayland Baptist San Antonio Campus Meet Derek and Cynda, wealthy Chicago couple, pillars of Windy City society – he, a successful senior VP of a thriving corporation; she, a dutiful wife; proud parents of one grown son, Jared, privileged and bred for business savvy. Both genuinely saved at an early age, Derek and Cynda met at a Christian college and married soon after graduate school. But the years passed and their lives together somehow came to reflect an “I’ll do it if it benefits me” approach to life – and their faith. ––––– Meet Khalid, an Indonesian rice farmer with a wife and four children. Saved only a year ago, emerging from an atheism he had kept to himself, his Muslim wife Liana and four children soon came to faith in Christ because of his godly example and the patient work of other believers. Khalid loved the Lord Jesus with the kind of fervor common among newfound believers. But now he suddenly finds himself hiding from persecutors, alone and cowering in fear, somewhere in the Sumatran rainforest near the sloped shores of Lake Toba. ––––– Let’s listen in on Derek and Cynda’s brief conversation this evening, the night before the luncheon where Derek is to receive yet another … [Read more...]

By David Crosby, Pastor of First Baptist Church New Orleans Thousands of Kurdish children have joined the millions of children worldwide who are crossing national borders seeking refuge in difficult times. Having neither the desire nor capacity to inflict harm on others, the children join their mothers and others in flight from harm. Communities like the Kurds in Syria and Iraq, trapped in economic and political violence, push their children to the relative safety of the shadows. They end up being uninvited guests in host nations that have plenty of difficulties of their own -- like Turkey. According to the United Nations, more than 8 million children in the world are refugees in countries other than their own. Every single day, 32,000 people in our world leave their homes and seek protection elsewhere. Pakistan currently hosts the largest number of refugees, most of them from Afghanistan. Who really wants these displaced children? They are a burden on the host governments. They cannot work, fight or contribute much in any other way. They need food, shelter, education and medical attention. At the outset, they are takers rather than givers. Policies and procedures in the United States are noted and often mimicked around the … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Fri, 10/17/2014 - 11:01 Students lift their hands up to heaven during a time of worship at last year’s Youth Evangelism Celebration which was held in the Rapides Parish Coliseum in Alexandria and drew a record crowd of 7,942. Due to renovations on the Coliseum, YEC is relocating to the 12,000-seat Cajundome in Lafayette for the next two years. By Staff, LB Communications LAFAYETTE – “Live Sent” is the theme for this years Youth Evangelism Celebration (YEC), Nov. 23-24 at the Cajundome in Lafayette. Headlining this year’s celebration are the musical group For King and Country, worship lead by Finding Favour, illusionist Jared Hall and communicator Wes Hamilton. “The key to ‘Living Sent’ is knowing that, thanks to the gospel, you have nothing to lose. It sets us free from the world's value system,” according to Hamilton, pastor of Hulen Street Church in Fort Worth. Launched in 1987 in New Orleans, YEC has always been produced from the desire of youth ministers around the state and reflects what they would like to see happen in the lives of their students notes Louisiana Baptists Youth Ministry Strategist, Kevin Boles. “YEC is a great mid-year ‘shot-in-the-arm’ for teenagers,” said Boles. “It’s … [Read more...]