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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

A great value on a special Sunday

By Staff PINEVILLE, La. (LBM) -- Louisiana College, recently named a top 30 Christian College by BestValueSchools.org, will celebrate LC Day in churches across the state on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. Steve Horn, executive director for Louisiana Baptists, noted that LC Day is not intended to be a fundraiser, but an opportunity to expose students and parents to the opportunities and value of the State’s only Louisiana Baptist affiliated college. “One of the greatest ways we can assist our college is to make our high school students and their parents more aware of Louisiana College,” Horn said. “We are thankful for what God is doing in and through LC and encourage our Baptist students, and their parents, to give serious consideration to making LC their college of choice.” Horn joins LC President Rick Brewer in the hope LC Day will be an annual event for churches to observe on the fourth Sunday of September moving forward. “The opportunity to engage and inform Louisiana Baptists through an annual ‘LC Day’ provides another way for us to say ‘Thanks’ to the people in our churches,” Brewer noted. “Their support of Christian higher education through prayer, sending students to LC, and continued financial support via the … [Read more...]

ECON 2021: A time to recharge to do the work of an evangelist

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer SHREVEPORT, La. (LBM) – “We planned ECON with the idea that our pastors and our people needed encouragement,” Keith Manuel, Louisiana Baptists evangelism and church growth team director, told the Baptist Message. “They are fatigued and frustrated. We needed to collectively ‘cast our cares on (God), because he cares for us.’ An estimated crowd of 500 participants attended at least one of the sessions of ECON 2021, which took place Jan. 25-26 at Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport. Another 350 also tuned in online through a live stream of the event. Throughout the two-day conference, pastors heard encouraging music and messages to “press on” during this unprecedented time of challenges for life, work and ministry. SAMMY GILBREATH “We serve the sovereign Lord of the universe. In this room we have the gifts and the talents to change Louisiana. Don’t give up,” was the message from Sammy Gilbreath, evangelism event and training specialist with the Alabama State Board of Missions. He shared his encouragement in the context of his own brush with death in 2004 when his cardiologist told him, “You are going to die and die very quickly.” But surgery corrected his condition and … [Read more...]

Louisiana College to host two events celebrating Black History Month

By staff, Wildcat Media PINEVILLE, La. (LBM) - Louisiana College will host two events to celebrate Black History Month in February. The school will host a symposium Feb. 2 and a Gospel concert Feb. 16. Both events will take place at 6 p.m. inside Guinn Auditorium. “Recently, Niche.com recognized Louisiana College as the second most diverse college or university in Louisiana,” said Louisiana College President Rick Brewer. “The beauty of that fact is that this has happened not by a specific strategy but by people of all ethnicities desiring the Christ-centered educational experience we offer. At Louisiana College we celebrate our diversity by daily living out our Mission and Vision.” “We really have something precious here at LC,” said Joshua Joy Dara, associate vice president for engagement and enrichment. Just look at the facts, our student body is diverse, our faculty is diverse, our staff is diverse, our coaches are diverse, our leadership is diverse and even our SGA is diverse.” Panelists for the symposium will include: -- Juan Castro, professor of finance and economics, from Honduras -- Emmanuel Johnson, associate professor of social work, from India -- Neil Johnson, associate professor of English, from … [Read more...]

Pro-life organizers ‘link together’ for life, instead of marches, due to COVID-19 concerns

By Baptist Message staff ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) -- Despite COVID-19 restrictions, pro-life supporters still found a way to band together at 32 locations statewide Jan. 23 to declare their love for life. Originally, the annual life marches were scheduled to take place around the state over a three-week period in January and February, but novel coronavirus pandemic concerns caused organizers to alter the format to a one-day, social-distanced life chain event for “Stand for Life, Louisiana.” Only the Baton Rouge event included a program that featured messages, music and prayer. Ben Clapper, executive director for Louisiana Right to Life, told the Baptist Message that while they did not have an official attendance count, he estimated more than 1,000 people turned out for the life chains. "Even in the face of the Covid pandemic, pro-lifers in Louisiana cannot sit idly by why abortion continues to take the lives of Louisiana babies,” Clapper said. “It is inspiring that more than 31 groups gathered to stand for life in their communities.  While we couldn't march this year as we normally do, we know that our march continues daily to save every baby and help every mother." Brian Gunter, pastor of First Baptist Church in Pollock who … [Read more...]

Alabama Pastor Ed Litton to be nominated for SBC president

By Staff SARALAND, Ala. – Ed Litton, pastor of Redemption Church in Saraland, Alabama, will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention, according to a report published in Baptist Press. Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, announced to Baptist Press on Jan. 19 that he would nominate Litton. The 2021 SBC Annual Meeting will be held in Nashville, Tennessee, June 15-16. STATEMENTS OF SUPPORT Luter told Baptist Press he has had a friendship with the candidate since 2001. “I have known Ed Litton for over 20 years. Our relationship started when we preached for each other as part of the SBC Racial Reconciliation Sunday during the month of February,” Luter said. “From there our relationship developed to more than just colleagues to bring races together. We both shared the hope of drawing people closer to a relationship with Jesus Christ and then growing disciples for Christ. In both of our churches our focus has been the same all of these years. “That’s why I am honored to nominate Ed Litton as the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention. With Ed’s commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, he is what our Convention needs to help us … [Read more...]

State executive director Randy Adams to be nominated for SBC president

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor VANCOUVER, Wash. (LBM) – Randy Adams, executive director of the Northwest Baptist Convention, a regional network of 500 congregations across Oregon, Washington and northern Idaho, will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention, according to press releases from multiple sources. Russell Fuller, former Old Testament professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary who has decried the growth of liberalism (specifically, Critical Race Theory) at SBC seminaries, announced via email to the Baptist Message that he would nominate Adams. The 2021 SBC Annual Meeting will be held in Nashville, Tennessee, June 15-16. STATEMENT OF SUPPORT Fuller said he was pleased that Adams “is allowing me to nominate him in Nashville for president of the Southern Baptist Convention," and he emphasized that the SBC is at a point in time when “courageous leadership” was needed to repair the damage done to the work of Southern Baptists. “The SBC has historically been an evangelistic cooperative mission force in North America and around the world, but over the last 10 years experienced both major declines and internal challenges that threaten our future if we do not change,” Fuller … [Read more...]

LACOSBE aligns with Conservative Baptist Network

By Baptist Message staff ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – The Louisiana Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists has voted to align with the Conservative Baptist Network of Southern Baptists. During LACOSBE's annual meeting through Zoom on Monday, Jan. 18, the 12 members in attendance -- of the 15-member body -- unanimously approved the motion. The Conservative Baptist Network is a broad-based grassroots movement of Southern Baptists of all generations who are committed to the sufficiency of Scripture for all facets of life and application. According to Brad Jurkovich, Conservative Baptist Network spokesperson and pastor of First Baptist Church, Bossier City, its 57-member Steering Council includes more than 7,000 pastors and laypeople from across America, including well-known figures such as former Atlanta fire chief Kelvin Cochran, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, past New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Chuck Kelley, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, past SBC President Charles Stanley, and 2021 SBC presidential candidate and immediate past SBC Executive Committee Chairman Mike Stone. “We share the same approach to evangelism and theology as the Conservative Baptist Network,” LACOSBE President … [Read more...]

LC alum, wife aid students with scholarships, support LC with gift annuity

By Staff, Wildcats Media PINEVILLE, LA (LBM) -- An act of generosity that began with a $100 scholarship for one Baton Rouge teenager has multiplied many times over during the last 60 years to affect countless young people at Louisiana College. Don Hill, president of DMH & Associates, a company that provides consulting and marketing services to clients in the financial services industry, said that $100 was enough back in 1960 to tilt the scales for him, and he enrolled in Louisiana College to study math and business. As a high school senior, Hill was given a $100 scholarship to attend Louisiana College, and that settled his college decision. “My whole life has been God leading me,” he said. “Louisiana College was the right spot for me.” Since then, Hill, a 1964 summa cum laude LC graduate, with his wife Terry, have spent their lives giving back. The Hills have been providing scholarships for five LC students each year for several years now through the Board of Visitors Scholarship Fund started by the school’s president, Rick Brewer, in 2015. The Hills were founding members. They also have used various ways to give back to LC from cash donations--from donating appreciated stocks to making Qualified … [Read more...]