By LBCH Communications   [img_assist|nid=7723|title=Beth Green|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=76|height=100]MONROE – Beth Green is the new Director of Church and Community Ministries for the Children’s Home and is responsible for coordination of the Louisiana Baptist Foster & Adoption Network.   The vision of the Louisiana Baptist Foster & Adoption Network is to connect all Louisiana foster children to Christian families and churches and to minister to orphans worldwide.   Beth worked in the state foster care system for more than 19 years and has two nephews adopted through the state foster care system.   She has seen both professionally and personally the positive impact that Christian foster families have on the lives of vulnerable children.   “Not only are children safe and cared for in a physical sense, but children placed in Christian homes can experience the unconditional love of Christ that will make an eternal difference in their lives,” Green said.   A concern that Beth often hears from families considering foster parenting is their fear of becoming too attached to the children because many foster children eventually return … [Read more...]

By LBCH Communications   The Louisiana Baptist Foster & Adoption Network is partnering with churches and families across the state to equip them in establishing and providing support ministries.   The Gathering Place, a Southern Baptist church in Tioga, La., recently hosted a special service and church-wide luncheon to learn about the many ways churches and families can reach out to children in need.   Through this event, numerous families expressed interest in serving as foster and adoptive parents and several families will begin the certification process for foster care and adoption in the coming weeks.   Another church in the Central Louisiana area plans to establish a support group for foster and adoptive parents and is also providing a meeting room for foster parent training.   A church in the Monroe area is beginning a prayer support ministry to pray specifically for children available for adoption who need an adoptive family. A church in New Orleans has developed plans to build its first foster home and establish a multifaceted foster care and adoption ministry.   There are many ways Louisiana churches can bridge the gap between the heart of God and the … [Read more...]

By LBCH Communications   [img_assist|nid=7726|title=The McGrews|desc=Erin and Meredith McGrew, who have been foster parents for more than a year, have three children of their own: Katie, 19, Peter, 17, and Caroline, 14.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=380]GOLDONNA – Erin and Meredith McGrew, members of Goldonna Baptist Church in Goldonna, La., have been foster parents for a little over a year.   The McGrews have three children of their own: Katie, age 19, Peter, age 17 and Caroline, age 14.   “The Lord led us to foster through a young man at our church,” Meredith McGrew said. “We were shown through him that there are many children out there whose lives need a touch from the Savior. God uses us, His children, to touch them.”   The McGrews began their foster care experience by contacting Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home to learn more about the process.   “We were excited to be able to work with a Christian ministry in that capacity,” Meredith McGrew said.   God taught them many lessons through the foster care certification process, the McGrews said.   “The Lord showed us through the training we were required to take that we would not only be … [Read more...]

By LBCH Communications   Louisiana Baptist Foster & Adoption Network will have a booth at the Louisiana Baptist Convention Annual Meeting at First Baptist Church of Covington, Nov. 14-15. Information about foster care, adoption, and orphan care will be available. Stop by and learn how your church can become a “Network” church and start making a difference in the lives of God’s most vulnerable children. … [Read more...]

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor   [img_assist|nid=7733|title=Dr. Masteller|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=427]It’s time to wake up. I believe we sense it has to be time. I pray … that together we could see revival and awakening.   – Rod Masteller   We can do far more together than we can individually. The Cooperative Program is a key.   – Craig Price.   We’ve heard it. We’ve seen it. We’ve sensed it. If not now, we might miss it. … I plead with you to understand: It’s time.   – Rod Masteller   We are God’s temple and He’s not going to put up with anything but purity.   – Rod Masteller.   We must stand on the principles this convention was founded upon. As a convention, are we ready to go wherever He leads?   – Joe Aguillard.   More than anything else, we need to return the Word of God to the church house.   – Chuck Quarles   The law is a culture-making profession.   – Michael Johnson   When we hear reports … of the decline in our culture, the problems in our marriages, the challenges in our legal system and the problems in our churches, we may be … [Read more...]

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor   LORANGER/HAMMOND – The hay is gone; the money is gone.[img_assist|nid=7736|title=Haylift|desc=Sonny Ridgedell carefully drops a round bale of hay onto a tractor-trailer that will be taking the donated hay to drought-stricken Texas owners of 50 head (or fewer) of cattle, for a ministry from Woodland Park Baptist Church in Hammond and friends in Loranger.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=480]   Both ran out at the same time, said the Loranger man who ramrodded a four-month-long disaster relief operation that aided the cattle owned by Texans with ranches of fewer than 50 head of cattle.   The retired state highway worker who asked that his name not be used linked Louisiana farmers and ranchers with hay they were willing to donate, and Texas Baptist churches willing to help get the hay to those who needed it most during the state’s worst-ever season of extended drought.   “I would just like to thank everyone,” the mission project catalyst said. The church where he’s a member – Woodland Park Baptist Church in Hammond – plus Northshore Baptist Association, and the Louisiana Baptist Convention all put money into what was determined by LBC Men’s … [Read more...]

[img_assist|nid=7738|title=Flooding the Altar|desc=Hundreds streamed forward to the altar Monday evening during the Sacred Assembly to pray for an Awakening in Louisiana that would not only sweep the state but sweep throughout the nation. More than 500 of the 1,000 people in attendance came forward filling the altar to capacity and going 10 rows back in the sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Covington.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=427]       … [Read more...]

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor   [img_assist|nid=7740|title=Mike Walker|desc=East Bayou Pastor Mike Walker served as this years LBC Pastors Conference president.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=427]COVINGTON – The annual Pastors Conference that preceded the annual meeting of the Louisiana Baptist Convention provided encouragement, inspiration and motivation for pastors of churches large and small as well as urban and rural.   When Waylon Bailey was introduced as pastor of the host church – First Baptist Church of Covington – he spoke to the need for churches. The Northshore town of Covington was established in 1813, but there was no Baptist church in the steadily-growing community until 1904.   “This reminds us how far the Lord has brought us,” Bailey said. The Louisiana Baptist Convention celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2012. About 1,600 churches today are part of what was started in 1812. Some are large, some, small – and all sizes inbetween. Some are in the country; some, big cities – and all locales inbetween.   Mike Walker, pastor of East Bayou Baptist Church in Lafayette, and president of the 2011 Pastors Conference, referenced Nehemiah 2:12 as he explained the … [Read more...]

By Kelly Boggs, Editor of the Message While a battle concerning the legal status of pre-born children may have been lost with the defeat of Initiative 26 in Mississippi on Nov. 8, the war over the definition of personhood is far from over. Initiative 26 was a ballot initiative that would have amended The Magnolia’s State constitution so as to define life as beginning at conception. The simple 21-word amendment stated: “The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.” Mississippians defeated it, 58-42 percent. Abortion advocates saw the initiative as a threat to abortion access throughout the U.S. and pulled out all the stops in seeking to beat it. The opposition, however, skirted the issue of personhood and instead focused on possible problematic ramifications if the initiative was passed. It was speculative fear-mongering at its best. It seems to me that the issue at the heart of Initiative 26 was not really adequately addressed. The critical question that must be answered is: “When does personhood begin?” Is it at conception? Perhaps it is during gestation? Does it occur at birth? There are some so-called bioethicists and … [Read more...]

By Curt Iles, Author, Dry Creek, La.   It’s a beautiful word that gently rolls off the tongue: gratitude.   It’s also a visible word: You can see gratitude when a person is full of it.   The best lessons I’ve ever learned on thankfulness are from two unlikely teachers: a southern guitar picker and an African orphan teen.   First, let me tell you about my lifelong friend Vance Gill. (I always tell my guitar-playing friend that he is only ‘one vowel’ away from being famous.)   Vance once related this story: “I had a water leak at my well and spent all morning digging and repairing the pipe. Kneeling there in the mud, I just stopped and thanked God I had running water.”   Now that is gratitude.   It’s an attitude. Thanks, Vance, for the lesson.   Like Vance, we’re to look for the blessing in every occurrence. The Apostle Paul, who often wrote from jail cells, said, “In everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).   Just like any good habit, living with gratitude takes practice. Someone like Vance Gill – who can be thankful while kneeling in mud fixing a PVC water line – has practiced it. It doesn’t come easy or … [Read more...]