By Staff Vote TODAY, Saturday, Oct. 12 for the election of the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, insurance commissioner, commissioner of agriculture and forestry, supreme court justice, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, sheriff and all state legislative seats. There are local races as well. Visit VOTER'S GUIDE to learn about the candidates and the issues. Additional information about the election process and voting places can be found by clicking HERE. … [Read more...]
A 9/11 remembrance
By Steve Horn Near the end of the Old Testament, we read the prophecies of Amos, Obadiah, and Jonah. Read together, these three Old Testament Prophets challenge us to think about our national enemies as we once again commemorate the tragedy of 2001 that will forever be called “9-11.” Amos, like all other prophets, prophesied of the coming judgment against Israel and Judah. Amos’ message of judgment starts against the enemies of Israel and gets increasingly tighter until the message “zeroes” in on Israel. The significance of this progression is that judgment is certain. The opportunity for repentance has passed. However, there is the hint that Israel could have avoided judgment if they would have heeded God’s seriousness toward sin. Likewise, the message for America today is “We must learn from the mistakes of our enemies.” Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament. We know very little about Obadiah or the exact perspective from which he wrote. We do understand that his prophecy targeted Edom—an enemy of Israel. Obadiah’s preaching was likely a message to encourage Israel during the days of exile or immediately following exile. His preaching would have pointed to God’s judgment against Israel’s enemies. As we … [Read more...]
The courage to stand
By Kelvin J. Cochran ATLANTA (BP) - Many Christian Americans in today's culture are faced with a choice whether to live out their faith or keep their jobs. We are living in a season where one week we are receiving accolades for what God is doing through us in our careers, and the next week we are facing termination for expressing what we believe about the Bible. This same bipolar culture existed when Paul and Barnabas were preaching in Lystra (Acts 14:8-20). As a man who had been lame from birth was listening to the Gospel message, Paul perceived that he had faith to be healed. So he called out to the man and said, "Stand up!" The man leaped to his feet and started walking. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they concluded that he and Barnabas were gods and wanted to worship them. Paul and Barnabas were vehemently agitated, telling the crowd, "We are human beings just like yourselves." Shortly thereafter, some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and turned the exact same crowds into a murderous mob. They stoned Paul, dragged him out of the city and left him for dead. Here's the disturbing part. Verse 20 says believers were in the crowd. They were apparently afraid to speak out on Paul's behalf for fear that … [Read more...]
9/11 anniversary: Trump says day is ‘seared into our soul’ as nation remembers 18 years later
California passes bill to force companies like Uber and Lyft to treat contract workers as employees
3. Skills of a church planter: Create ownership (Part One)
By John Hebert, Team Leader, Louisiana Baptist Missions and Ministry ALEXANDRIA (LBM) – The Book of Esther is the account of God’s remarkable rescue of the Jewish people from annihilation in a foreign land: A story of intrigue played out by larger-than-life characters. The cast includes a beautiful woman, an evil villain and a godly man; and the plot, a man’s quest for power, takes place on the world stage within a power struggle among nations. There are a number of spiritual lessons embedded within the larger context, but there is a study on “creating ownership” nestled within them that when teased out provides some important insights on leadership. A little historical context helps highlight the key points: -- Assyria had conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C. taking captive the 10 tribes of Israel living there. -- Then Babylon defeated Assyria in 612 B.C. and completed the destruction of Israel by invading Judah three times, ultimately plundering and tearing down the temple in Jerusalem in 586 B.C., and deporting the tribe of Judah and the Levites. -- In 539 B.C. Persia overthrew Babylon, and later when Darius was king, Persia’s world conquest was halted by defeat at the hands of the … [Read more...]
Family members cause a stir at Lakefront CC
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer CATAHOULA (LBM)- -The simple obedience of one man, by sharing the Gospel in the heart of Catahoula, has reaped a spiritual harvest not experienced before at Lakefront Community Church: seven members of one family were baptized in a single day. As he lowered and raised each new convert in the baptistery, March 3, Pastor Randy Bowman smiled thinking about the faithful witness of Marshall Savoie, and, how this man’s faithfulness led to the most baptisms ever for the congregation, which averages 20 in attendance at Thursday evening worship services. “When you see a family respond, you just sit back and are in awe of what the Lord has done,” Bow-man told the Baptist Message. “This is a testimony to this entire town be-cause everyone knows everybody here and many are not church goers,” he explained. “When they see an entire family step forward and proclaim their faith in Christ, it leaves an impression with other people in this community. We are just excited about how the Lord is going to move next at our church.” The Gospel seeds were planted in early February when Bowman and Savoie ventured out into downtown Catahoula to distribute Bibles and share the Gospel. Savoie, who is a … [Read more...]
‘Dirty Jobs’ star helps ministry transform neighborhood
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer NEW ORLEANS – Brenda Lomax-Brown received the ultimate surprise when television personality Mike Rowe showed up with a film crew to give her a $20,000 check and a new playground for the ministry to use in the Hollygrove-Dixon neighborhood. During the August 5 Facebook- based episode of “Returning the favor: A forgotten neighborhood fights back,” Rowe, former host of the popular TV show “Dirty Jobs,” accompanied Lomax-Brown for a tour of her neighborhood while a team, without her knowledge, built a $30,000 playground in fewer than four hours near the Life Transformation Center, a ministry of Celebration Church with campuses in the New Orleans area, Baton Rouge and the Northshore. Rowe then brought Lomax- Brown back for a surprise unveiling. “All day, driving around with you, was an absolute blast,” Rowe said in the episode. “And the more I got to know you, the more I thought, ‘this really is a woman who will go to city hall and get out the hammer and start making all kinds of trouble.’ But we really don’t want you to have to do that. We really want to do something for the community, and we really want to thank you for everything you’ve done so far.” Nearly speechless, the … [Read more...]
Biblical town of Emmaus may have been found
13-year-old boy solves 27-year cold case in Canada
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