ALEXANDRIA – Empowering Kingdom Growth (EKG) is to be a three-year emphasis in Louisiana, LBC Executive Director David Hankins told leaders last week at the annual Associational Leadership Planning Conference, which took place at Calvary Baptist Church. By Karen L. Willoughby Managing Editor ALEXANDRIA – Empowering Kingdom Growth (EKG) is to be a three-year emphasis in Louisiana, LBC Executive Director David Hankins told leaders last week at the annual Associational Leadership Planning Conference, which took place at Calvary Baptist Church. “What do Louisiana churches need?” Hankins asked. He spoke of renewal both in belief and in behavior, and of the need for a sharpened focus. The EKG Louisiana emphasis will have three phases, Hankins said. • Am I a Kingdom person? Is my church a Kingdom church? Holiness, obedience, trust, purpose and passion are involved in this phase. “We want people to get serious about Bible study, Kingdom principles and a refocus on Jesus,” Hankins said. “We are Kingdom people, but I think we’ve lost focus.” • Phase 2, the Acts 1:8 Challenge process, is designed to get churches to develop strategic plans for missions and ministry locally and globally. • Phase 3 … [Read more...]

MONROE – Tall not-yet-varnished doors (and two greeters) welcomed me when I visited Parkview Baptist Church here on Mother’s Day, as did the beautifully landscaped and maintained property strategically located across from a high school. By Karen L. Willoughby Managing Editor MONROE – Tall not-yet-varnished doors (and two greeters) welcomed me when I visited Parkview Baptist Church here on Mother’s Day, as did the beautifully landscaped and maintained property strategically located across from a high school. The people inside were just as friendly, even a woman who wasn’t going to let her portable oxygen tank interfere with her welcoming a guest. Missions and ministry also are important at Parkview Monroe. They have GAs, RAs and Missions Friends, in addition to Baptist Men and Baptist Women. Local ministries include Bible studies at a local jail, involvement with a community-wide emergency needs endeavor, and even a mission house for missionaries on stateside assignment. I visited Parkview Monroe because Pastor E. Whit Holmes invited me, and was blessed to hear one in a series of “Faith and Family” sermons. He reminded us of the value of the people around us and for sure the congregation’s welcome … [Read more...]

NEW ORLEANS – Closed since suffering damage during Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans LifeWay Christian Store, located on the campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, celebrated the store’s recent reopening with a dedication ceremony May 12 attended by seminary officials and students, local officials and pastors. By Keith Manuel Regional Reporter NEW ORLEANS – Closed since suffering damage during Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans LifeWay Christian Store, located on the campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, celebrated the store’s recent reopening with a dedication ceremony May 12 attended by seminary officials and students, local officials and pastors. “What is the significance of opening a bookstore in New Orleans at a time like this?” asked Chuck Kelley, president of the New Orleans seminary, during the reopening ceremony. “This store is a reminder that Jesus is Lord and there is hope. …One of the most important gifts Southern Baptists have given to New Orleans is hope.” The LifeWay store, prominently located in the student union area of the seminary, was spared from the flooding during Katrina’s storms that caused heavy damage to most of the campus. But because of the … [Read more...]

PINEVILLE – Jesus’ Acts 1:8 imperative sends witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and “the ends of the earth.” By David E. Cranford Special to the Message PINEVILLE – Jesus’ Acts 1:8 imperative sends witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and “the ends of the earth.” Geographical, cultural, and linguistic barriers make “the ends of the earth” the most challenging witnessing field. But sometimes the Lord sends “the ends of the earth” to the witnesses. This summer, for the third consecutive year, a group of South Korean children and chaperones will come “from the ends of the earth” to the U.S. and central Louisiana. The two-week event called CampUSA is co-sponsored by the Korean Baptist Church Development Board and the Central Louisiana/Korean Missions Partnership. The Cenla/Korea Missions Partnership is an official International Mission Board sanctioned limited partnership between the Central Louisiana, North Rapides, and Big Creek Baptist Associations, and the Korea Baptist Mission and the Korean Foreign Mission Board. The partnership includes other things such as Louisiana sending volunteer missionaries to South Korea for church crusades each fall. “Korean parents are willing to send … [Read more...]

POLLOCK – In 1999, H.P. Tarpley dreamed of publishing a book of sermons to benefit pastors, especially those ministering in the rural areas with limited training. By Brian Blackwell Staff Writer POLLOCK – In 1999, H.P. Tarpley dreamed of publishing a book of sermons to benefit pastors, especially those ministering in the rural areas with limited training. Seven years later, his dream has come true with the release of A Voice Crying in the Wilderness: Sermons for Country Preachers. Tarpley’s book of 10 sermons includes topics such as heaven, grace, the meaning of Golgotha and God’s response when a person cries for help. “The purpose of this book of messages even though they in no way compare to the messages of the great men of the past is to produce constructive themes or subjects to be used to better declare the word of God,” the retired Louisiana Baptist pastor wrote in the book’s preface. A graduate of Louisiana College in Pineville, Tarpley said the manuscript for the book had been “lying around my house for quite awhile, so I finally decided to let friends and other pastors read them.” In 2005, Tarpley finished the final manuscript and took it to the LifeWay Christian Resources … [Read more...]

ALEXANDRIA – The Louisiana Baptist women’s missions and ministry team is sponsoring a bus trip to the “Experience the Joy of Missions” conference this fall. By Janie Wise Special to the Message ALEXANDRIA – The Louisiana Baptist women’s missions and ministry team is sponsoring a bus trip to the “Experience the Joy of Missions” conference this fall. The bus will leave from Alexandria, while making one pick-up stop in Monroe, for the national Woman’s Missionary Union conference on Sept. 28, and return to Louisiana on Oct. 2. “As women, we need refreshment, relationships, renewal and time to experience personal revival,” said Cindy Townsend, LBC women’s missions and ministry team leader. “The Ridgecrest trip will offer all this and more. Come and refocus your ordinary life to His kingdom work in extraordinary ways.” During the weekend, participants will hear and meet Southern Baptist missionaries and authors and attend a concert with the Annie Moses Band.  Planned workshops will cover such topics as witnessing with confidence, families on mission, drama and prayer. The total cost for the bus trip is $520. This includes conference registration and housing, transportation, hotels en route and a … [Read more...]

ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Louisiana natives A. Ray and Christine Campbell are serving in Ormond Beach, Fla., where Ray has been appointed as a church planting missionary by the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board; they join 5,300 NAMB missionaries. By Mickey Noah NAMB Communications ALPHARETTA, Ga. –  Louisiana natives A. Ray and Christine Campbell are serving in Ormond Beach, Fla., where Ray has been appointed as a church planting missionary by  the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board; they join 5,300 NAMB missionaries. Before his new post, he was regional director of the church planting division for the Florida Baptist Convention in Jacksonville, Fla. A native of Baton Rouge, Ray and Christine, have one child, three-year-old Jamel. … [Read more...]

Several years ago, I ran into a gentleman who had been one of my high school football coaches. We had only talked for a moment when he said, “Boggs, I hear you’ve become a Baptist preacher.” I said, “Yes sir, a Southern Baptist preacher.” He replied, “What’s the difference between a Southern Baptist and any other ol’ Baptist?” I said, “The Cooperative Program!” By Kelly Boggs Editor Several years ago, I ran into a gentleman who had been one of my high school football coaches. We had only talked for a moment when he said, “Boggs, I hear you’ve become a Baptist preacher.” I said, “Yes sir, a Southern Baptist preacher.” He replied, “What’s the difference between a Southern Baptist and any other ol’ Baptist?” I said, “The Cooperative Program!” I went on to share how the Cooperative Program worked and explained that, in my opinion, it was the best way to advance the Kingdom of God both locally and around the world. I was attending the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, a small Baptist college in Central Texas, when I first grasped the significance of the Cooperative Program. As a ministerial student, I qualified for a scholarship generated from the Cooperative Program gifts of Texas Southern Baptists. In … [Read more...]

NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana pastor David Crosby intends to present a proposal at the upcoming Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting that will ask messengers to change the location of a future annual meeting site. By Kelly Boggs Editor NEW ORLEANS  – Louisiana pastor David Crosby intends to present a proposal at the upcoming Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting that will ask messengers to change the location of a future annual meeting site. “I plan on making a motion from the floor at Greensboro that in 2008 we change the location of the annual meeting from Indianapolis to New Orleans,” the pastor of First Baptist of New Orleans told the Message in a telephone interview on May 24. According to Crosby, the motivation for the motion is spiritual.     “I think this would be a strategic move by the Southern Baptist Convention to make a significant impact on not only the city of New Orleans, but the entire region,” Crosby said. “Many of us have ministered here faithfully for years and it has been a difficult city to reach. However, since the hurricane things have been different.” New Orleans is “a city on its knees,” the pastor said. “People have been significantly impacted by the disaster … [Read more...]

ARABI – God was with them in the midst of 14 feet of floodwaters, and He’s going to be with them as they serve Him anew in St. Bernard Parish, Cindy and Craig Ratliff say. By Keith Manuel Regional Reporter ARABI – God was with them in the midst of 14 feet of floodwaters, and He’s going to be with them as they serve Him anew in St. Bernard Parish, Cindy and Craig Ratliff say. The retelling of their “hurricane story,” and of the destruction and rebirth of the church they served, First Baptist Church of Arabi, fit together in this summer’s season of rebuilding. Cindy’s day on Monday, Aug. 29, started at 5 a.m. At 8:10 a.m. she got up from the couch to see what Hurricane Katrina was doing to her neighborhood, and stepped into water an inch deep in her living room. Two hours later, Cindy and Craig were standing in two inches of water, but this time the couple were on their second-floor balcony developing a plan to escape. Very soon, the water would be thigh deep and at its maximum would reach a height of 14 feet. Craig had served as youth minister for two and a half years at First Arabi before the hurricane struck. A few months after the disaster, 93 members of the New Orleans-area church met in … [Read more...]