By Matthew Fowler, Pastor in Kentucky I was in the first year of my first pastorate when things unraveled. I had experienced a few rough patches in previous ministry roles, but nothing to kill my dreams and make me question my calling. I was familiar with stories of petty pastoral terminations and “difficult deacons,” but I was convinced that it wouldn’t happen to me, at least not at this church. A phone call changed all of that. I was out of town performing a friend’s wedding when a man from my church called very troubled about an issue. “Are you aware that there is a man in leadership at our church that has been sexually abusing his stepdaughter for 16 years?” he asked. I was shocked at the question and informed him that I knew nothing about it. Evidently, the long kept secret had been shared by the victim in a college essay about what sexual abuse had done to her. The man calling me had somehow learned of this essay and had begun his own investigation. He told me that he expected me to accompany him to the police station upon my return home to make a report. I shared with my deacons what I had been told and later told the police. My deacons told me to “leave it alone” and the police said, “We will look into it.” As … [Read more...]

By Darrell Girardier, Digital Strategy Director Brentwood Baptist Church As a kid I grew up listening to preachers on the radio like John MacArthur and Charles Stanley. It wasn’t a weekly thing, but occasionally on the weekend you might find one of their sermons on the house stereo. If I wanted to listen to more of their sermons, I had to either tune in at a certain time or order their sermons on cassette or CD. Fast forward to today and we have a plethora of options to choose from. I can listen to or watch a sermon on a church’s website or download a podcast. Either way, we now have sermons on demand whenever and however we want them. In theory, there’s a lot good that can come from this. First, is the obvious advancement of the Gospel and second is the ability for us to have others speak God’s truth into our lives. However, some of us now have gone beyond just listening to these sermons and we’ve developed our own Internet pastors. By “Internet pastors,” I mean pastors who we follow religiously online. We read their tweets, every blog post they publish, every book they write and we listen to every sermon they preach. We hang on their every word. Before you know it, the Internet pastor replaces our pastor at our local … [Read more...]

By Chuck Lawless, Grad Studies, Ministry at SEBTS Our Southern Baptist Convention president, Ronnie Floyd, has called us to pray for spiritual awakening. This call is the right one for a convention that exhibits marks of decline even as we seek to determine the best steps into the future. The fact that our president must call us to pray for awakening says something about us, however. We do not readily recognize the need for an awakening, and our track record says we need to pray fervently for a mighty move of God. As a long-time Southern Baptist who genuinely loves our denomination, here are my thoughts about why we don’t passionately cry out for an awakening -- and why we must. I trust you will hear these words as both confession and concern, as I count myself among the guilty. We are “revivalistically numbed.” We have heard this call before. In fact, I know of no SBC president in my years of denominational service who has not in some fashion called us to our knees. Sometimes we do not hear what we need to hear because it sounds too familiar. On the other hand, the fact we are numbed is only one more indicator of our need for revival. We are biblically forgetful. Many of us forget (or perhaps do not even know) the stories … [Read more...]

By David Jeremiah, Pastor Shadow Mountain Community Church Do you believe Jesus Christ is going to come to earth a second time? There are many so-called Christians who either don’t know or are apathetic about the subject – something that never ceases to amaze me. How can we believe what Jesus said about the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life if we don’t believe what He said about His ultimate return to earth one day? And he said much about the subject. This article assumes the fact that Jesus is coming again. And it also assumes the absolute necessity, by Jesus’ own words in two of His parables, to work and to watch until He comes. If fictional special agents on television and real-life government agents can work and watch for things that “might” happen, how much more should we be working and watching for something that we know is going to happen. How to work until Jesus returns Jesus told a parable about our responsibility to be at work until He returns. It is found in  Matthew 25:14-30 and known as the parable of the talents. The theme of this well-known parable is “Do business until I come.” It’s a parable about the big picture of stewardship: Stewards are to accomplish the master’s work in his absence. Therefore, … [Read more...]

By Jeff Pate, Associate Pastor Canal Street Church, New Orleans In 1 John 3:11-12 we read, “For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.” Continuing we read that if the world hates us for our love, we know we have passed from death into life, while “he who hates is a murderer and does not have eternal life in him,” but rather death. Presently in Iraq, the Muslim extremist group ISIS is murdering innocent people of all ages, including Christians. William Barclay, in his commentary on 1 John, tells the story of Aristides from ancient Athens who was unjustly condemned to death.  When one of the jurymen was asked how he could cast a vote against an innocent man, he said he was tired of hearing Aristides called “The Just.” Continuing Barclay writes,” The hatred of the world for the Christian is an ever present phenomenon, and it is due to the fact that the worldly man sees in the Christian the condemnation of himself…he seeks to eliminate the man who reminds him of his lost goodness.” It seems that the terrorists, … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer Shortly after Hurricane Katrina made landfall near New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2005, some Louisiana Baptist churches in that area lost important historical and financial printed documents. However, all was not lost as those churches were able to contact Louisiana Baptists business office to retrieve identical information that was stored in the archives through the Annual Church Profile, or ACP. The affected churches were then able to submit the information to various entities as part of the claims process. That’s just one example of the value of the ACP which is Louisiana Baptists/Southern Baptists process for gathering information related to local churches missions and ministries. State conventions work in conjunction with local associations to request and collect the information which is then forwarded to the SBC. The final report provides a snapshot of the average Southern Baptist church as well as the larger work of Louisiana Baptists and Southern Baptists. “Your ACP is your congregation’s story, its testimony,” said Shana Johnson, information services support supervisor for Louisiana Baptists. “This fall every congregation gets to tell how God is using them to accomplish his … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message Pastor Appreciation Month is just around the corner and the Louisiana Baptist Pastoral Leadership Team is providing church members with a list of ways to encourage their church staff and their families. Held every year in October, Pastor Appreciation Month is a time set aside to honor ministers during that period. Louisiana Baptist Church Administration Strategist Stacy Morgan said encouragement is something ministers need and Pastor Appreciation Month allows church members to show that gratitude. “The key thing is church members should recognize that pastors are a gift from God to the church,” Morgan said. “They are not merely an employee or hireling, based on Acts 20:28 and Ephesians 4:8-10. The Bible also says we are to honor those who serve among us and to give honor where honor is due.” Honoring a pastor also has the practical benefit of encouraging him to serve the congregation and community well, Morgan said. “Everyone wants to be appreciated for what they do,” he said. “As a result, whenever a church honors their pastor they are honoring God because it was the Lord that sent him to them. When you criticize your pastor, unduly you may be criticizing God and His provision for the church.” The … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Fri, 09/19/2014 - 10:45 Phil Robertson may have been the headline speaker of the evening but Jesus was the main topic of the Duck Commander’s message during the recent Outdoor Extravaganza in Bossier City. The outreach event was primarily sponsored by First Baptist Bossier City and Cypress Baptist in Benton, though many other churches and businesses in the area also helped out with the evening. By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer BOSSIER CITY – Duck Commander Phil Robertson, wife Kay and son Alan returned to Bossier City for a homecoming of sorts recently, complete with duck calls and a call to salvation before more than 8,000 people. “It’s good to know we’re among friends,” Alan Robertson told the crowd gathered at the Century Link Center for the first ever Outdoor Extravaganza. “We travel around the country and we see crowds but I tell you what, Dad and I are excited because we are right here in our home base. This is where mom and dad are from, is Caddo Parish, so we’re home.” A former Church of Christ minister in West Monroe and now a cast member on the popular reality TV show Duck Dynasty, Alan Robertson and his mom, commonly known as Miss Kay, shared thoughts about how the Duck … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Fri, 09/19/2014 - 10:49 Since Fairbanks Baptist Church in Sterlington became a multi-site campus of First Baptist Church West Monroe in January 2012, the church has baptized 64 people. The name of the Sterlington church was changed to First West Fairbanks when the merger took place. By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer Each month approximately two Louisiana Baptist churches close their doors. According to former Fairbanks Baptist member, and current member of First West Fairbanks, Cheryl Spence, they were faced with the question, “How do you close God’s church?” However, one West Monroe-area church and another Baton Rouge area church didn’t want to be a part of that statistic. Recently, Fairbanks Baptist and Broussard Grove Baptist decided that rather than die, they would allow a nearby church to become their supporting church. So far, those members who chose to remain have been supportive of the move – a key ingredient in the health of the revitalized congregations. First West Fairbanks First West Fairbanks’ story began in early 2011, which was a critical time for Fairbanks Baptist in Sterlington. Faced with the reality of not having enough young families to sustain, the congregation … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer WOODWORTH – God’s grace is ever-present, a concept that Louisiana Baptist women’s missions and ministry strategist Janie Wise feels is a concept important enough to center an entire conference around for minister’s wives in the state. “Where Grace Abounds” will be the theme for this year’s Louisiana Baptist Minister’s Wives’ Retreat. Based off the biblical passage 1 Timothy 1:14, the annual conference will take place Oct. 17-18 at Tall Timbers Conference Center in Woodworth. “One morning my personal Bible study led me to the thought that God’s grace is over everything,” Wise said. “It’s the challenge of not taking His grace for granted.” Registration for the conference opens at 3 pm on Oct. 17, with a meal served at 5 pm. Other highlights of the evening include two breakout sessions with such topics as self-defense, how to make meals to place in a freezer and ways to design coffee mugs, as well as a worship time. Lifeway Ministry Multiplier Karen Alexander-Doyel of Knoxville, Tenn., who was a pastor’s wife for 28 years before her husband died, will deliver the message while Tracy Orr, a ministry worship assistant at Philadelphia Baptist Church in Deville, will lead the music. The … [Read more...]