By Stewart Holloway PINEVILLE, La. - Do you have hope? Yesterday, I heard a judge say that everyone needs hope. She was right. The hope the judge encouraged was a hope for a better life. Everyone needs a vision for their future, something to look forward to, the feeling that a better day awaits. “To live without hope is to cease to live,” wrote Fyodor Dostoevsky. “What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life,” wrote Emil Brunner. While the judge focused on the need for hope, I’d like to focus on the source of hope. You will never have lasting hope without going to the source of hope. That source is Jesus. I recently read, “Many people see only a hopeless end; but with Jesus you can enjoy an endless hope.” More money will not bring lasting hope. Once you get more, you’ll just need even more. That relationship will not bring lasting hope. At some point, that person will disappoint you. That possession will not bring lasting hope. It will get a scratch, break, or grow old. Nothing will bring lasting hope except Jesus. Everything else is a dying hope. Jesus is a living hope. Fix your eyes on Jesus - not your circumstances. He will bring you hope no matter where you are or what you are going … [Read more...]
LC unveils new computer science classroom
By Norm Miller, LC News PINEVILLE, La. (LCNews)--Thanks to the generosity of alumnus Don Hill and Terry, his wife, Louisiana College in Pineville unveiled a newly equipped and remodeled Computer Science classroom, Oct. 18. “I am deeply grateful that Don and Terry recognize the importance of Louisiana College’s mission and vision and have demonstrated such loyalty to Don’s alma mater,” said Dr. Rick Brewer, president of Louisiana College, told about 50 members of Louisiana College’s Board of Visitors gathered for its annual fall meeting. Hill, a 1964 graduate from LC, is an entrepreneur and restaurateur from Dallas who co-founded Saltgrass Steak House and the more recent Texas-based Lupe Tortilla. He is a member of LC’s Board of Visitors, whose combined annual gifts of more than $200,000 solely and wholly support qualified student’s scholarships. “This gift provides a huge lift to our emerging Computer Science major and our commitment regarding STEM becoming STEAM,” said Dr. Rick Brewer, president of Louisiana College. “I want to say thank you to Louisiana College because the four years I spent here were the four most important years in my entire life,” Hill said. “LC was the spring board for me to go on and have … [Read more...]
Baptist Friendship House: 75 years of changing lives
By Marilyn Stewart, Regional Reporter NEW ORLEANS, La. (LBM) -- Baptist Friendship House celebrated 75 years of changing lives with a special celebration at the New Orleans Center, Sept. 28. Festivities included longtime friends, past memories, and a look to a future full of hope. “Baptist Friendship House is committed to continuing its legacy of meeting needs through love, action, and in truth,” said Kay Bennett, executive director. “Sharing Jesus with people in need will always be the top priority of our ministry for generations to come.” Baptist Friendship House supports women and children in transition by providing housing, job training, and education in computer skills and reading. More than 100 women are enrolled in the center’s weekly Bible study. Bennett praised all who had come before her and noted that while much has changed since the center’s earliest days, the mission remains the same. “We still let anybody walk through our doors,” Bennett said. “It does not matter where they’ve been, what they’ve done, or what’s going on in their lives, we love them.” Bennett introduced the event’s speakers as “three special ladies” who had impacted her life—Pat Shaffer, daughter of the center’s founders Henry and … [Read more...]
Set free in Angola!
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ANGOLA, La. (LBM)—Shoneray O’Haver has been serving a 75-year term at the Louisiana State Penitentiary since 2014. But on Sept. 19, at the prison known simply as Angola, formerly the bloodiest prison in America, the 36-year-old convicted armed robber gained a permanent reprieve from a spiritual death sentence by being set free in Christ. “Asking Him to be my Savior and Lord is the best decision I have made,” an emotional O’Haver told the Baptist Message. O’Haver responded to a Gospel invitation offered by Jamie Dew inside Tudy Chapel on the main prison campus. Dew, the newly inaugurated president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, led O’Haver in a prayer of repentance after sharing a message of hope based on 1 Corinthians 1:26-31. SPIRIT-LED VISION Dew’s sermon at Angola was part of a one-day, multiple chapel, revival service organized by Keith Manuel, Louisiana Baptists’ director of evangelism, in part as a tribute to NOBTS as a follow-up event to the centennial anniversary the seminary celebrated last year. The school and the prison enjoy a strong bond from a four-year NOBTS degree program – established in 1995 at the request of then-warden, Burl Cain, a … [Read more...]
Native Americans seek revival for the country in Oberlin
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer OBERLIN, La. (LBM)—Native American pastors began a multi-week tent camp meeting with nightly evangelistic messages on the grounds of Oberlin Baptist Church, and organizers are optimistic that God may use the event to bring about revival across America. The All Nations Camp Meeting kicked off Oct. 2 and is scheduled to continue through at least early November. Native Americans from 15 states already have committed to supply guest evangelists, and, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Henry Blackaby Ministries also are assisting. “Small numbers are coming right now but we are not discouraged,” Tony Robinson, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Oakdale and a member of the camp meeting planning committee, told the Baptist Message. “We feel like it will gain momentum as the word gets out and we feel like God’s in it. I don’t know when the last time was someone planned a meeting that went six weeks or indefinitely. We are just going to keep doing it until we feel like it has run its course or God says shut it down.” The camp meetings have brought hope to a community that saw more than 50 homes flooded after Hurricane Barry dumped nearly 20 inches of rain in Oberlin in … [Read more...]
Baby Sawyer: A true miracle in the making
By Will Hall, Message Executive Editor NEW ORLEANS, La. (LBM)—Sawyer was an answer to prayer for his parents Yalonda and Louis Terry. He was the brother they had hoped for their then 18-month-old son Callan and 11-year-old sister Kacie. Her nephew Daniel (11) also lives with them. But on August 18 tragedy struck the Terry home when Yalonda discovered four-month-old Sawyer was not breathing. “I did CPR for 11 minutes before the ambulance arrived,” she told the Baptist Message. “I knew it was bad at that moment, because they did not even try it [CPR] in my house, but instead picked him up and ran straight to the ambulance.” Sawyer was rushed to Byrd Regional Hospital in Leesville and shortly after he was ventilated they flew him and Yalonda to Rapides Women and Children’s Hospital in Alexandria. “I was in the waiting room for six hours,” Yalonda recalled. “I received some updates and at times reports about him seizing. By that night they said they had him stabilized.” For days it seemed all the news was bad news, and Yalonda finally put down her foot to tell the medical staff not to discuss anything negative in front of Sawyer, insisting they talk positively when around him or not at all. She said the most … [Read more...]
6. Skills of a church planter: Partnering with your wife in ministry
By John Hebert, Louisiana Baptists missions and ministry team director ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM)--In 1985, I was a happily married father of five and in sales management. I was 30 years old and making a good living. My wife Kitty was a “stay at home” mom, although certified as a high school science teacher. We became involved in Evangelism Explosion, a method of sharing the Gospel with others, through our church, Parkview Baptist in Alexandria. It was the first time we had partnered in a ministry effort. The next year I became convicted that God was calling me to the ministry, coming to that realization clearly on a Sunday morning during the worship service, although I had sensed it for a long time. I knew I would need to go to seminary to prepare for ministry, but I was overwhelmed with questions about the transition: How would I provide for my family? Would Kitty be willing to teach and be the bread winner for our family while also raising the children? Would she make enough to support so large a family? How would all this work? Would she even be willing to give up her comfortable life to take on so much responsibility? After all, the oldest of our, then, five children was 10 and the baby was six months old. These … [Read more...]
LBC celebrates 250th church plant
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – Church planters and state missions staff gathered in the Louisiana Baptist Building Oct. 9 to commemorate the 250th church planted since 2010. The achievement moves Louisiana Baptists closer to the goal of planting 300 churches by 2020 as part of one of the 10 action steps identified in the President’s 2020 Commission Final Report, which was affirmed by messengers during the 2013 LBC Annual Meeting. Planting healthy, biblically sound, multiplying churches is a key component to the seven-year-strategy which seeks to engage two audiences – the next generation and every people group – in reaching Louisiana with the Gospel. James Jenkins, director of church planting for Louisiana Baptists, told the Baptist Message the reception to mark the occasion was a celebration of partnership among church planters, sponsoring churches and directors of missions. “This celebration, and the ones we have had along the way to the 300th church plant, is a way of thanking God for his grace and Louisiana Baptists for their giving,” Jenkins said. PRESSING TOWARD THE GOAL Hope Church in Baton Rouge was recognized as the 250th new church plant, and Pastor Jeff Vincent … [Read more...]
What will your legacy be?
By Jerry Love, LBF director of planned giving Isaiah 40:8 tells us: “The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever” (CSB). There also are times the grass grows up in the cracks, and the flowers and shrubs overtake structures that we would call permanent. A pastor friend who now lives in Virginia relayed a story in a recent blog post about a walk in the woods with his wife. As they strolled around a local lake they came upon the remains of a cabin that had become an overgrown pile of rubble. My friend wrote: “This rubble is hidden... you might walk right by it without even being aware of its presence. Someone once lived here. They worked hard to gather heavy rocks to line the foundation and walls. They farmed, they hunted, and they walked around the same lake we were now walking around. They had dreams, plans, and a vision to build something and make a living. They may have even died here. “Who were they? What were their dreams? Did they leave any relatives to carry on the legacy?” The more important question for me is “What kind of legacy did they leave?” I recall a particular song from years past titled “Only One Life” by Lanny Wolfe. With a little digging (thanks, Wikipedia) … [Read more...]
SCOTUS to decide fate of two Louisiana laws
By Will Hall, Message Executive Editor WASHINGTON, D.C. (LBM)—The Supreme Court has accepted two cases that will determine whether Louisiana laws are constitutional. One case deals with a pro-life issue and the other involves non-unanimous juries in felony cases. ADMITTING PRIVILEGES In 2014 Louisiana legislators passed Act 620, requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges in a nearby hospital in case of complications during an abortion. Lawmakers concluded this requirement would ensure “continuity of care, qualifications, communication, and prevent abandonment of patients.” Critics of the law say it is just an end run to close the only three abortion clinics in the state, and argue the matter was settled when the Supreme Court invalidated the portion of a Texas case that required doctors performing abortions to maintain patient-admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their abortion facility – the issue being contested in the Louisiana law. U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles, an Obama appointee, ruled against the Louisiana law, but the largely conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit overruled him. The Supreme Court will hear arguments during the 2020 … [Read more...]
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