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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Drive-by prayer ministry a soul-winning mission

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer HAMMOND, La. (LBM) – Door-to-door evangelism has been a way of life for Pastor Les Fogle­man for the last 40 years but in 2023 he felt led to use the parking lot of New Beulah Baptist Church in Hammond as a Gospel tool. Since June 2023, Fogle­man has placed signs on grassy areas near the parking lot to alert motor­ists to the opportunity of sharing their prayer needs. Through this ministry that operates on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons, Fogleman has shared the Gospel with more than 350 people and seen 10 of them surrender their lives to Christ and follow through with bap­tism in a portable baptis­tery on the church parking lot. “A lot of people will honk and wave at me as they see me on the park­ing lot,” Fogleman told the Baptist Message. “I never know what problems and difficulties people may share when they come and ask for prayer. I’m thankful the Lord has allowed me the opportunity and honor to be there to pray with someone in need.” The idea to start the parking lot prayer ministry came to Fogleman while he was praying in front of the church. He noticed 15-45 cars at a time would pass through a red light by the church and knew that the community could … [Read more...]

Masters to retire after 33 years of LSU ministry

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message Staff Writer BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – For the past 33 years, Steve Masters has discipled thousands of students on the Louisiana State University campus, led multiple Baptist Collegiate Ministry disaster relief trips and contributed to collegiate ministry on the national level as a consultant as well as a contributor on collegiate ministry committees. Masters, who is set to retire May 31 from his role as LSU’s BCM director, said he is grateful for the opportunity to build relationships with so many students and see them become faithful servants in their secular and ministry roles. Since graduating from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1982, Masters has pursued God’s call to minister to college students. Before coming to LSU, he served as a BCM intern with University of Arkansas, Little Rock, BCM director with Arkansas Tech University, and BCM director with Oklahoma State University. “I thought I would be at Oklahoma State forever, but my name was given to (former Louisiana Baptist State BCM Director) John Moore by Lynn Hawkins, former BCM director at Louisiana Tech,” he said. “I remember getting a phone call and being asked to consider going to LSU. I had to get out a map … [Read more...]

Louisiana Baptists bring gift of Jesus to Belarusians

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer MINSK, Belarus (LBM) – Tommy Middleton and two other Louisiana Baptists recently traveled to Belarus to give the gift of Christ to those in the country. Middelton, who has now gone on eight mission trips to Belarus, enjoyed delivering an early Christmas present to the people of that country. “We shared the Gospel and tried to get the Gospel in the hands and the hearts of as many people as we could,” Middleton told the Baptist Message. GIVING Andrew Ryzhkov, founder of the Byelorusian Mission in-country ministry, said that in 2023, 5,200 people turned to Jesus through the ministry’s daycare centers, summer camps, youth conferences and distribution of “Good and Evil Illustrated Bibles” (a graphic novel style of presenting the Word). He expects a similar number to profess Jesus this year. He noted that financial gifts from Louisiana Baptists have helped purchase some of the more than 51,000 “Good and Evil Illustrated Bibles” that have been distributed in the country from January through early November, compared to 49,000 Bibles that were handed out in 2023. His goal is to distribute one million copies of this “graphic novel” presentation of the Word by 2035. Ryzhkov said that four … [Read more...]

Peace on Earth

By Will Hall, Baptist Message Executive Editor ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – Today, a bloody civil war is being waged in Syria; Ukraine and Russia are exchanging long range missiles in competing “tactics of terror” against each other; and Israel and Hezbollah continue to launch retaliatory missile strikes for “violations” of a fragile ceasefire agreement reached Nov. 27. Meanwhile, in Haiti, gangs rule the streets; a two-year war has just ended in Ethiopia (with an estimated death toll of more than 500,000); and the last two years in Myanmar have been marred by wholesale “cleansings” of some ethnic groups, and the displacement of as many as 2.5 million men, women and children. Additionally, in Sudan, intense violence between competing governmental factions (fighting to capture the lion’s share of newly discovered gold fields) has driven nearly 11 million civilians from their homes in this war-torn region of Africa in 2024, alone. Indeed, around the world there are 59 active major conflicts, and according to historians, this is the greatest number of simultaneous wars since the end of World War II, in 1945 (which was fought, ironically, a mere two decades after the end of World War I, the “war to end all wars,” in 1918). The earth … [Read more...]

Louisiana Notables

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Baptist Message provides churches an opportunity to share with other Louisiana Baptists an upcoming revival, homecoming, new pastor, new staff member, a community outreach, or a concert in Louisiana Notables. To place your event in the paper, send your information (who, what, where, when, time) to philip@baptistmessage.com or call 318.449.4345. Please submit your information four weeks prior to the event to insure placement in the Message. ON THE MOVE Steve Masters is retiring from the BCM at Louisiana State University on May 31. Blake Grundy to become BCM Director at Louisiana State University after serving as McNeese State University BCM. Walt, wife Gayla, Brown is the new pastor at First Bastrop Baptist Church. He has been serving as interim pastor and also as music minister. Jim Alan Calvert is the new Pastor of Parkview Baptist Church, Metairie, LA. Calvert’s first day in the pulpit was November 3, 2024. Charles Ebarb is the new music minister at South Bossier Baptist Church, Bossier City. Jim Fisher is the new pastor of Gambrell Baptist Church, Starks. POSITION SOUGHT Palestine Baptist Church, Bogalusa: Part-time or bi-vocational minister of music needed for Palestine Baptist Church in … [Read more...]

YEC 2024: 501 students made decisions for Christ

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – Organizers and participants of the 2024 Youth Evangelism Celebration praised God for the 501 students who made decisions for Christ, Nov. 24-25, at the Rapides Parish Coliseum in Alexandria. They also were grateful to Him for the 5,325 teens and their adult sponsors who attended YEC (the largest annual gathering of Louisiana Baptists). “This event had so many moving parts, from the exceptional work of our Evangelism and Church Growth team, to every department of Louisiana Baptists, even to each individual church and adults who lead students,” Louisiana Baptist Youth Ministry Strategist Lee Myers told the Baptist Message. “It doesn’t happen without them, including my ministry assistant Julie Mitcham and the others on the planning team. “Hopefully it’s a start of a spiritual movement in our churches,” he continued. “The great thing is, it’s an example of what can happen when we all come together and when we pray for God to move in a mighty way.” SHINE YOUR LIGHT Zane Black, evangelist and tour pastor for Winter Jam 2024, told students God has a purpose for their lives. Basing his message on Ephesians 2, Black encouraged the students trust in … [Read more...]

Summer Grove celebrates 175 years of ministry

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer SHREVEPORT, La. (LBM) – Summer Grove Baptist Church will kick off the holiday season with a celebration of its 175th anniversary. Scheduled Nov. 24, the special day will begin with life groups at 9:15 am and a worship service and cupcakes at 10:30 a.m. Following the service, members and other guests will gather for a Thanksgiving meal. “For God to use us here in Northwest Louisiana for 175 years is just exciting,” Senior Pastor Heath Peloquin told the Baptist Message. “Our church is very loving and cares about reaching our community for Jesus. Serving Shreveport for Christ is part of our DNA. “The incredible men who have pastored Sumer Grove have been very faithful and that’s been an important part too of our church continuing for so long,” he continued. “God still uses this church and I rejoice in that. This is the greatest church who love Jesus, love each other and love our community. We are looking forward to celebrating that on November 24.” Reisa Johnson, who has been a member since she and her husband, Glenn, relocated to Shreveport from the Bahamas in 2017, said the church has become their family. “When we attended Summer Grove we felt the love and it was so … [Read more...]

Messengers adopt four resolutions, reject one

By Baptist Message staff SHREVEPORT, La. (LBM) – Messengers approved four resolutions during the 2024 Louisiana Baptist Convention Annual Meeting: celebrating the centennial anniversary of the Cooperative Program; supporting volunteer chaplains in schools; awareness on human trafficking; and expression of appreciation of those who helped make the Annual Meeting possible (read these in full in the Oct. 31 edition of the Baptist Message, print and online). However, the Committee on Resolutions reported it had declined to recommend a resolution it had received, “The Abolition of Self-Managed Abortion in Louisiana,” from Brian Gunter, a messenger and pastor with First Baptist Church, Livingston. DEBATE During a time of discussion about the resolutions report, Gunter asked messengers to vote to pull his proposed resolution out of committee, leading to a floor debate. Gunter shared that this is the third year he had come before the messengers, asking them to adopt a statement on the matter. “I’m going to bring this matter to your attention year after year, because some in our state convention of churches have repeatedly opposed our efforts to unify our churches in calling for the abolition of all abortion in our state,” … [Read more...]

Speakers press messengers to connect

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer SHREVEPORT, La. (LBM) – David Goza charged pastors to be unified and preach the grace of God in a godless culture in his presidential address during the 2024 Louisiana Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, Nov. 12, hosted by Broadmoor Baptist Church, Shreveport. “We are the light of Christ for this world,” he said. “We have to be united; we have to be thinking alike; and we have to be going in the same direction. “Obviously, we’re going to have some times of disagreement. But we have to be able to come together for the sake of the lost,” he continued. “Our mission is the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to the Church, and we’re a Convention of Bible believing churches.” Drawing from Titus 2:11-14, Goza said God’s grace teaches churches to deny self, live a godly life and look for the return of Jesus. “These are dark days. We are the Church of this age. God has saw to it that we are the keepers of His Word for this generation, and I believe, for one, that we are the end time Church. It falls on us in this dark hour to preach the Gospel.” BIBLE STUDY Hance Dilbeck, president and CEO with GuideStone Financial Resources of the SBC, reminded messengers that a Kingdom … [Read more...]

HORN: Connect, obey Commission, cooperate, commit

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer SHREVEPORT, La. (LBM) – Louisiana Baptist Executive Director Steve Horn, during the 2024 Louisiana Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, Nov. 12, hosted by Broadmoor Baptist Church, Shreveport, urged messengers to connect, cooperate, follow the Great Commission and commit for the Kingdom. CONNECTION “We are a connected force for good,” Horn said. “But if we cease to be connected, we will lose or at least diminish our ability to be a force for good. Just as we are a force for good at the national level, I believe we are a force for good in Louisiana.” Horn said the Baptist Message, Louisiana Baptist Foundation, Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home and Family Ministries, Louisiana Christian University and Executive Board all play a part in that connection. Importantly, he shared how the Executive Board has responded to the church insurance crisis that is pressing on congregations across the state, approving a motion, Sept. 24, that would loan $250,000 from the Disaster Relief Restricted Fund to help cover initial costs of a newly formed church self-insured organization. The money would be used for the establishment and administration of the self-insurance trust, also known as … [Read more...]