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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

You can learn a lot about church planting from a greenhouse

By Lane Corley, Church Planting, Mission Strategy, & Life in SE Louisiana I enjoy gardening. Even though I’m not very good at it. Why? I don’t always have the time to do what’s necessary to grow and multiply plants to their fullest extent. The best gardeners know how and put in the time to create the right conditions for growth and multiplication. The very best gardeners will start with a greenhouse to nurse the plants in early stages before they are ever put in the ground. A greenhouse is a tool where you can create the perfect conditions for multiplication & growth of plants at all different stages and with various needs. I enjoy gardening in part because of the many parallels it has to church planting and ministry. I’ve began to see church as a greenhouse – a tool to create the right conditions for multiplication & growth OF DISCIPLES. Here are five truths I’m learning on church as a GREENHOUSE: Disciples must be nurtured. Like plants, like a garden, like a greenhouse, disciples need time and attention. One of the greatest books on discipleship has in its title a reminder we constantly need – Disciples Are Made, Not Born. While we are not completely responsible for the growth of a disciple, part of our … [Read more...]

True Love Waits – It still holds true today

“True love waits for what, dad?” That was the question my son, who was a third grader at the time, asked after a True Love Waits event. When my husband, Glen, was the National True Love Waits consultant for Lifeway he often led rallies and conferences as a part of his job. We traveled with him whenever possible. It should have been no surprise, but my son’s question still caught us off guard. Christian parents want to help their children to understand sexuality within the parameters of a Christian marriage and to teach their children about abstinence prior to marriage as the best choice. The difficulty comes in deciding upon the best time to bring up the subject. At what age are children ready and able to understand the concept of sexual purity? How do we best equip parents and the ministers to students to effectively teach the biblical concept of abstinence to our teenagers? I asked Richard Ross, one of the cofounders of the True Love Waits movement, for any insights that he could offer to better equip Louisiana Baptists to prepare our children and teenagers for success in pursuing a life of that honors God in the area of sexuality. Ross said, “One shift since the earliest days of the [True Love Waits] … [Read more...]