By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer WOODWORTH – More than anything, God wants a personal relationship with every person through His Son. However, many times satan brings about distractions that can hinder that connection from happening. By focusing on Jesus Christ and resisting evil, man can grow in a relationship with God, a heavenly Father. It begins, Andrew Orr said, when a person accepts the free gift of salvation by grace through faith. “We run so hard that we sometimes lose focus,” Orr said during his message at Kids Camp on Aug. 2. “Some of you have been saved or baptized. When you get up every morning, you forget other people are watching you and you forget to focus on God. “Some of you are resisting or holding back or don’t know if God can save you,” he continued. “The Bible says He’s the only one who can save you.” Orr shared such messages of hope found in Christ during the third and final Kids Camp of 2016 at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center, which began Aug. 1 and ends today, Aug. 3. Nearly 400 children and adult leaders from 22 churches took part in worship sessions, Bible studies, recreational activities including a ropes course, bazooka ball, archery and basketball, and tracks such as … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer WOODWORTH – Curt Iles had a clear message for a room of 20 boys attending Royal Ambassador Camp this week – become a missionary, even if it means going to places that may be difficult and where they don’t know about Jesus. “As missionaries, we go to where people haven’t heard about Jesus and are hurting. We go to the difficult places,” said Iles, who served alongside his wife DeDe as missionaries with the International Mission Board in Uganda from 2013-2015. “We must as followers of Jesus go help them. Our job is to bring them the Gospel.” Iles, who previously was director of Dry Creek Baptist Camp, led individual breakout sessions on missions during RA Camp, which started July 27 and continues through Saturday. The camp drew 147 participants from a total of 14 churches. As of July 28, four young men had made professions of faith. The boys and their leaders took part in worship led by Kellie and Kristen Fuselier of Pineville and heard challenging messages from Brandon Digalormo of Haughton. The theme of the camp was ‘Running the Race,’ based on Hebrews 12:1. When they were not in worship sessions, the campers took part in recreational activities, including crafts, BB gun … [Read more...]

By Philip Timothy, Managing Editor JACKSON, Miss. – ‘What an awesome God we serve’ is such a simple yet profound statement. Shane and Kelly Kiper Longoria can attest to it. Eleven days ago, 22-year-old Kelly was abducted at a convenience store on her way to work, shot in the head by her assailant and left for dead in a Winnsboro graveyard. When she was airlifted to the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit at Jackson Memorial in Jackson, Miss., the doctors told the family the chances were very high Kelly would not make it as they could not remove the bullet. They were concerned what the adverse effects would be by leaving the bullet. Word quickly spread about the tragedy and people immediately began to pray. The prayer chain began slowly, just in the community, but it quickly expanded through family and friends to small groups, Sunday school classes and entire congregations. In less than two days, hundreds and then thousands were lifting the couple up in prayer. “So many people know Shane and Kelly. They are both great kids … well liked and well loved. And, so many people know Miss Lisa (Lisa Kiper is Kelly’s mother) and the Kiper family,” said Craig Beeman, pastor of First Baptist Church in Winnsboro. “They, … [Read more...]

By Norm Miller, Louisiana College communications PINEVILLE (LC News) - If you ask Mark Rodie why he and four other men from First Baptist Church Bossier City would give up a Saturday to labor in landscaping at Louisiana College under the sultry July sun, within about a minute he will tell you about Men of Courage. Inspired by the movie “Courageous,” Rodie helped form Men of Courage as part of the men’s ministry at FBC Bossier, where he heads up the church’s ministries to men. “Where are you men of courage?” is a line from the movie that shot through Rodie’s heart a few years ago, but not without leaving the conviction to not only be a man of courage but to lead others to join him. What started as Rodie and his mentor meeting every Friday morning has grown into hundreds of men gathering for breakfast and “a time of rejoicing in the joy of our salvation -- you know, men sharing testimonies of what the Lord is doing in their lives,” Rodie told LCNews. “We will sometimes reference 20 to 30 passages of Scripture. The Bible is our workbook. It really encourages us when we leave to be the Church.” Inspiration from the Bible study moves men like Rodie and those who tore out overgrown shrubbery at LC and who will come back … [Read more...]

By Message Staff WOODWORTH – The site of the new Georgia Barnette Conference Center is anything but quiet this week. Volunteers from throughout the state are busy laying concrete on the front sidewalk of the building, digging drain and fire water lines for the sprinkler system and building cabinets for the coffee bar. Some workers are as young as elementary school age while others are in their 70s. But all have the same goal and mission – contribute to the construction of a center that will house information about influential early-day Louisiana Baptists and become a state-of-the art training facility for the future of missions in Louisiana. Among the volunteers onsite this week is Mackenzie Aymond, who came with fellow youth group members from Calvary Baptist Church in Woodworth. She counted it joy to brave the humidity and follow the example of others who have worked for months on the project. “I have seen all these people sweating and working out here before, so when I heard I would have an opportunity to help out here, I immediately agreed,” Aymond said. “After spending a few hours working on the building, I appreciate what all they have done.” Glorida Beasley came with others from First Baptist Church in … [Read more...]

ADDIS - What is the key to healing following the recent deaths of three law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge? Loving people where they are, said Thomas Shepard, pastor of the Church at Addis. And showing Christ’s love can be as simple as picking up the telephone to offer support or bringing the hurting individual a meal Shepard believes. Once those physical needs are met, then the opportunity to share the gospel is much greater. “To make them wonder why somebody would want to do that is key in healing a community because they do not see an agenda at that point,” Shepard said. “There is no agenda other than this person is loving me unconditionally, which is exactly what Christ commanded us to do.” Such was the case on July 16, when members of his congregation spent the afternoon ministering to the family of Baton Rouge Police Officer Matthew Gerald, who was the uncle of children who had attended Vacation Bible School recently at the church. The church, which includes some law enforcement officers, prayed with the fallen officer’s sister-in-law and let them know they were available for counseling or other needs. Preparing his congregation to minister to the family of Officer Gerald is a byproduct of training his members to … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message BATON ROUGE – Tommy Middleton understands the value of a consistent prayer life but events of the past few weeks in Baton Rouge have reminded him of its importance. Middleton, who is director of missions for the Baptist Association of Greater Baton Rouge, said more intentional prayers are needed for each other and on the issue of racial tension. To that end, 30 churches from the BAGBR and that National Baptist Association gathered at First Baptist Church in Baton Rouge on July 24 to pray for a variety of topics, including law enforcement, government officials, churches, pastors and the nation. The event drew more than 300 people also featured small group prayer time and the gathering joining hands to sing “Amazing Grace.” “I think what we see in our culture especially in Baton Rouge is the coming together of all our churches with the expressed purpose of not only working together in unity but also for the advancement of the gospel,” Middleton said. “Because the real issue here is a spiritual need and hopefully a spiritual awakening in our area to the need for Christ. And when that comes, unity will come as well.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL8yw6TdNIA … [Read more...]

BATON ROUGE – The city of Baton Rouge is at a crossroads. For some time now,  the issue of race relations has been the elephant in the room, according to Lee Wesley. It was a problem nobody wanted to discuss. He believes recent tragic events have opened a channel for such dialogue. Now is the time to capitalize on a positive end result, Wesley said, to help bring about unity throughout the city. “There’s an opportunity now to have serious dialogue about how we will overcome this racial divide,” said Wesley, pastor of Community Bible Church in Baton Rouge. “Not only are we divided by race, we are divided by denomination, we are divided by economics, we are divided by geography. And Baton Rouge really is two cities, one city on the north side of Florida Boulevard, another city on the south side of Florida Boulevard. So the challenge is how do we bring those cities together and make them as one, so we will be a unified Baton Rouge.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWnWKFcz_-E … [Read more...]

By Message Staff BATON ROUGE - The gospel was presented – and accepted by many – at Istrouma Baptist Church during the funeral of East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Garafola. Held on July 23, the service to remember one of three fallen law enforcement officers from the Baton Rouge area drew a crowd of 3,000 from the community, state and nation. When Istrouma Baptist Pastor Jeff Ginn offered the chance for anyone in attendance to accept Christ, he heard many voices across the worship center publicly declare out loud their intention to follow Jesus. “We wanted to be a part of that and the Lord allowed us to wrap our arms around all who attended,” Ginn said. “It was an unparalleled opportunity to share the hope that is found in Jesus. Many prayed to receive Christ and we believe eternity was changed.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ-6uXziPoo   … [Read more...]