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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

LCU inaugurates Johnson as president

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE, La. (LBM)  – In a year when Louisiana Christian University is marking its 120th anniversary, the school celebrated the inauguration of Mark Johnson as its 10th president. The ceremony reflected a theme of service to the college, Louisiana Baptist churches and central Louisiana that has been the heartbeat of his first months as president. “My father, being a pastor for over 50 years in ministry and a grandfather in ministry, taught me at an early age, ‘Trust the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and then see what happens,'” (a reference to Proverbs 3:5-6) Johnson shared during the March 26 ceremony. “Because I was supposed to do three things, and the Lord was supposed to do one; He was supposed to direct my path. And so I stayed with that for my whole life. A lot of places where I could have spoken back, I decided not to because I was going to trust the Lord with all my heart, lean not to my own understanding, in all my ways acknowledge Him and He would direct my path." The event, held inside Guinn Auditorium, emphasized the importance of faith, family, business partnerships and educational excellence … [Read more...]

EASTER: When “empty” is good

By John Kyle, Special to the Message NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LBM) – “Empty” – it’s not one of our favorite terms. It’s not one of our preferred greetings. When someone asks you, “How are you doing?” you probably don’t respond by saying. “Empty, thanks for asking!” Yet emptiness is a common experience in our culture. Many popular songs through the years have focused on the empti­ness of life -- “Running on Empty,” “Look at All the Lonely (empty) Peo­ple,” “Empty Spaces,” and “Empty Garden,” to name a few. Largely, the focus on “empty” in such songs includes themes of loss, longing, and emotional voids. For that matter, most thoughts or images relat­ing to “empty” generally are negative: empty gas tank, empty bank account, and broken relationships that lead to empty homes and hearts, to name a few. Empty, exhausted, spent, broke, lonely - what­ever term you choose, “empty” carries pessimistic tones. “Empty” is incon­venient. “Empty” leads to hopelessness. “Empty” offers no alternatives. No one wants to experi­ence “empty.” Yet “empty” is where Easter was born. More than 2,000 years ago, two empty (discour­aged) women went early one morning to visit the tomb where they saw their teacher buried. Empty and … [Read more...]

Governor’s Prayer Breakfast centers on ‘powerful weapon of prayer’

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) — For more than an hour, clergy and public officials prayed 6or Gov. Jeff Landry and other elected officials, the military, law enforcement and the state, March 26, at the Crowne Plaza Executive Center in Baton Rouge, unit­ing 1,020 legisla­tors, pastors, businessmen and others as the body of Christ just days after the start of the 2026 state legislative session. “It is an honor and pleasure to come before the Lord with you in prayer for our state this morning,” said Governor’s Prayer Breakfast Chair Brandi Cummins, a member with First Baptist Church, Covington. “What a privilege that we have been given by our Heavenly Father to bring our needs to Him in prayer. “He told us that He wants us to do this,” she continued. “He says, in His Word through the apostle Paul, not to worry about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, to bring our request to Him and His peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ, Jesus. “As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of this country’s independence, we are thankful to God, who is worthy of all worship and praise, and for the men and women who have made this freedom possible,” she said. … [Read more...]