Submitted by philip on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 18:50 More than 300 students gathered at the concourse between Buckeye Junior High and Buckeye High School to pray and then listen to a brief message by Longview Baptist Church Minister of Youth Josh Sikes. Photo by Jade McEntyre By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer Student-led prayer was the main focus on the final Wednesday in September. Whether they gathered in a group of two or as many as 400, the students’ mission was the same – pray for their families, friends, nation and school in the 23rd annual See You At The Pole. Started in 1990 with 10 students praying at their school in Texas, the grass roots movement has spread to thousands of campuses worldwide. Millions of students in public and private schools and colleges gather each year to pray on the fourth Wednesday of every September around their respective flagpoles. Grant Phillips was one of the more than 100 students who gathered to pray before the school day began at Alfred M. Barbe High School in Lake Charles. The senior from the school and member of Sale Street Baptist Church in Lake Charles said seeing his fellow classmates gather for prayer was a moving experience. “Today God moved in the hearts of … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 18:54 Joe Ricketts and his wife, Marlene, stand with Louisiana College President Joe Aguillard and LC trustee Sam Camp after being presented the Louisiana College Distinguished Service Award during the recent Founders Day chapel service. By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE – Louisiana College recently honored the founder of an education foundation, the owner of the Chicago Cubs and an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder expert. During the college’s annual Founders Day chapel service, LC President Joe Aguillard and board of trustees members presented three men with Distinguished Service Awards. This award is given annually to people who achieve significant accomplishments in the business world. Joe and Jim Ricketts were both honored for their work with Opportunity Education Foundation, based in Omaha, Neb. The brothers in 2005 founded the organization that strives to provide educational opportunities and resources to children and teachers in developing nations. Joe Ricketts is the founder and chief executive officer while Jim Ricketts is president and chief operations officer, as well as owner of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. The foundation and LC formed a … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer MONROE – A dream to build a Louisiana Baptist-sponsored ministry center for orphans and those seeking medical care in Haiti is nearing reality. A partnership between Louisiana Baptist churches, the Louisiana Baptist Convention and the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home, the ministry center will be located on six acres near Port Au Prince, Haiti. The purchase of the property is expected to take place sometime between the end of this year and early 2014, after a foundation is established to handle the transaction. And that’s good news for Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home President and CEO Perry Hancock. “Our churches are very interested and the need is so significant,” Hancock said during a recent board meeting of the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home in Monroe. “There is a tremendous need and opportunity to share Christ.” Haiti was devastated by a Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake that killed more than 250,000 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless. Louisiana Baptists were among those who provided disaster relief soon after the earthquake and that effort has continued with the partnership. The Children’s Home is sponsoring a mission trip to the country Nov. 2-8. Those participating in … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 18:58 Dorothy Patterson, the wife of SWBTS President Paige Patterson, has long had a heart for wives, mothers and homemakers. By Philip Timothy, Managing Editor FT. WORTH, Texas – Dorothy Kelley Patterson, author, speaker, professor of Theology in Women’s Studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the school’s First Lady, has long had a heart for wives, mothers and homemakers. Married to SWBTS President Paige Patterson, she has been a driving force in the advancement and promotion of the school’s homemaking program, which teaches women in the art and skill of homemaking. “Teaching women to be a Proverbs 31 woman is something that is very near and dear to my heart,” she said. “When I was much younger, I had a dream from God that I would one day teach women to be godly wives and mothers.” In the summer of 2007, Patterson’s dream became reality as Southwestern offered a bachelor of arts in humanities degree with a 23-hour concentration in homemaking. The program was, and still is, open only to women. “At first, as we were working on what the homemaking program should have in it, I went to my knees,” Patterson said, “and God started placing in my mind the … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 18:59 LBC Associate Executive Director Wayne Sheppard commends Mission Service Corps Coordinator Julia Parker at her recent retirement party in Alexandria. By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – For seven years Julia Parker coordinated assignments for Baptist Builders, ministry center workers and others serving as Mission Service Corps missionaries in Louisiana. In late August, Parker retired from the position, though her involvement with missions is anything but over. “When I first started, I went and met with missionaries we had in the state of Louisiana so I could put a name with a face, which was enjoyable,” Parker said. “Throughout the seven years I had a chance to participate in ministry with them. I appreciate getting to work with them along with the people at the Baptist Building.” A native of Boyce, Parker participated in volunteer missions since 1983, which included a 13-month stint in London along with other international mission trips. She became a Mission Service Corps missionary in 1990 while in Orange, Texas, and assumed the role of Mission Service Corps coordinator in Louisiana in 2007. As Missions Service Corps coordinator, Parker visited … [Read more...]

ON THE MOVE Shane Terrebonne new as pastor at South Lafourche Baptist Church. Frank (wife Melaney) Dudley new as interim pastor at Erath Baptist Church. He replaces Marty Melancon who departed in July for full-time ministry on the mission field. Cullen Clark (wife Kara) new as pastor at First Baptist Church, Crowley David Whitehead new as pastor at Beech Ridge Baptist Church, Walker. Gary (wife Pam) Richerson new as pastor at First Baptist Church, Walker REVIVALS/HOMECOMINGS First Baptist Church, Head of Island, French Settlement: Homecoming Singing Service, Oct. 12, 6 p.m. with a fellowship following. Any musical groups or singers are invited. Contact Terry of Sharon Simoneaux at 225.698.6654. Pastor: Rocky Brown. First Baptist Chatham: Homecoming, Oct. 13, 10 p.m. Lunch will follow after services at the church. Speaker: Dominic DiCarlo. Music: Brothers in Christ. Pastor: Royce Strothers. First Baptist Church, Patterson: Revival Oct. 13-16, Sunday, 10:30 and 6 p.m. Oct. 14-16, & p.m. Speaker: Joe Aulds. Music: Price Harris. Pator: Joe Thibeau. Horseshoe Baptist Church, Mer Rouge: Fall Revival, Oct. 13-16. Sunday services will be at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday-Wednesday at 7 p.m. Evangelist: Don Walker. Pastor: Bob … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 19:08 Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter reads from Ezekiel 37 in delivering his sermon “How to Revive Dry Bones,” during the Sept. 16 plenary session of the SBC Executive Committee meeting. “Many of us are like dead men walking,” he told the crowd, encouraging the preaching of Scripture as an antidote to dry bones, and a pathway to revival. By Diana Chandler, Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) -- Preaching the Scripture, not politics or even “Duck Dynasty,” will bring revival to the Southern Baptist Convention and the nation, SBC President Fred Luter said in his address to the SBC Executive Committee at its Sept. 16-17 meeting in Nashville. Revival birthed through the SBC and its entities is still his heart’s desire, Luter said, drawing comparisons to what he termed the “sad story” of the prophet’s vision of dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-10. “My ultimate goal is, prayerfully, that we can pray that God will send revival across America and particularly among our SBC churches,” he said, “because it’s so easy to get sidetracked. It’s so easy to get comfortable where we are. It’s so easy to rest on our laurels and all of the past things that we’ve done. “However, I am … [Read more...]

By Frank McCormack, NOBTS Communications NEW ORLEANS (BP) – Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, was honored for 30 years on the faculty during the seminary's fall convocation service. Kelley, who also serves as an evangelism professor at the seminary, was recognized Sept. 3 along with Gerald Stevens, professor of New Testament and Greek, who marks 25 years at the seminary, and several others. Tom Harrison, chairman of the NOBTS board of trustees and executive pastor of Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport, offered a special word for Kelley and other faculty members celebrating anniversaries. "As part of the trustees, it's a great pleasure to recognize these men and women who have served here so faithfully," Harrison said. "These men and women have sought to do that in each of our lives so that we can go out and be a greater part of the Kingdom of God." During his tenure at NOBTS, Kelley has served as professor of evangelism, chair of the division of pastoral ministries, director of the Leavell Center for Evangelism and Church Health and now president. He challenged those present to remain faithful to God's call, even when that call is different than expected. Kelley shared his personal road … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Mon, 10/21/2013 - 14:00 Jeff White (center), a cardiologist who chairs a Louisiana health system’s medical ethics committee, listens as Catholic priest Jose Lavastida (right), representing the Archdiocese of New Orleans, responds to one of the case studies at a panel discussion on medical ethics at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. By Frank M. McCormack, NOBTS Communications NEW ORLEANS (BP) – With major portions of the Affordable Healthcare Act, also known as Obamacare, now being implemented, issues of medical ethics and care continue to be debated across the United States. Recognizing the ongoing national debate, New Orleans Baptist Seminary’s Institute for Faith and the Public Square and NOBTS’ Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry hosted a panel discussion on end-of-life health care issues in conjunction with the Louisiana Right to Life Federation. Panelists, speaking on “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides,” included Steve Lemke, NOBTS provost and ethics professor who also has served as a chaplain in a hospital setting and on bioethics committees for hospitals; Marie Wirfs, nursing education professor at Southern University; Catholic priest Jose Lavastida of Blessed Francis Xavier … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Mon, 10/21/2013 - 14:04 Members of Good Shepherd Hispanic Baptist Church in Metairie recently participated in training to host Matthew Parties as part of the My Hope evangelistic outreach event. By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer METAIRIE – The much anticipated My Hope with Billy Graham event will take place in homes, businesses and churches throughout the United States in early November and among those Louisiana Baptist congregations participating are members from at least eight Hispanic churches. Good Shepherd Hispanic Baptist Church in Metairie has organized 80 Matthew Parties, where the gospel will be presented to their friends, neighbors, co-workers and family using a message by Graham along with music and testimonies. “God has manifested himself in a powerful way in the Good Shepherd Baptist Church, as he has awakened the congregation to engage in the My Hope America campaign,” said Gonzalo Rodriguez, pastor of the church. “We have a total of 80 Matthews willing to proclaim the good news of salvation. We are super excited about the harvest of souls that is drawing near. Blessed be God.” Carlos Schmidt, Hispanic catalytic church planter strategist for the Louisiana Baptist … [Read more...]