PINEVILLE – Dennis Dunn never will forget that devastating June day in 1980. PINEVILLE – Dennis Dunn never will forget that devastating June day in 1980. As a recent graduate of Woodlawn High School, Dunn was going about his daily routine when he received a phone call that haunts him to this day. His best friend, Steve Lofton, was dead. “The event was devastating, but it also got me back on track with my relationship with the Lord,” Dunn said of the deadly accident that electrocuted his comrade. “At that time in my young life, it impacted me most for Jesus. I learned just how fragile life was.” Twenty-seven years later, the head football coach of the Louisiana College Wildcats still remembers the impact of the situation and tries to use his position to show young men the importance of life. Born on March 21, 1962, the Ruston native moved to Shreveport with his family when he was six months old. Dunn lived with his parents and one sister. His dad worked two jobs while his mom taught school. When Dunn was not tending to household chores, deer hunting or attending church, the youngster was participating in athletics at Woodlawn High School in Shreveport. A two-sport star, Dunn … [Read more...]
Golf for LBCH learning center
ALEXANDRIA – The Roy O. Martin Lumber Company and the Louisiana Baptist Childrens Home are teaming up to host the second annual Brenda Hall Abney Fall Golf Classic Oct. 2 at Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant, La. ALEXANDRIA – The Roy O. Martin Lumber Company and the Louisiana Baptist Childrens Home are teaming up to host the second annual Brenda Hall Abney Fall Golf Classic Oct. 2 at Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant, La. Proceeds from the event will be used to build a new learning center at the Children’s Home in Monroe, said Jonathan Martin, President and CEO of Roy O. Martin Lumber Company Group. The project will get underway as soon as all funds are secured. “Last year we raised $103,000 towards the goal of $750,000 needed to complete the center,” Martin said. Brenda Hall was five years old when her mother was killed in an automobile accident. Relatives, unable to keep Brenda and her six siblings together, sent them to live at LBCH in 1977 when Brenda was 12. “It was there where she received the Christian nurturing, the loving encouragement and the essential education that would form her character and set her professional goals,” said Martin who, with his wife … [Read more...]
Pastors laud their wives
Pastors/Ministers, if you think your wife’s contribution to your ministry is worthy of note, please contact the Message. Editor’s note: Sept. 24 is Minister’s Wives Appreciation Day. Following are reports of three women married to pastors and vocational staff members, with more to follow in future issues. Pastors/Ministers, if you think your wife’s contribution to your ministry is worthy of note, please contact the Message. SHREVEPORT—Over the years, when the pastor of Trinity Heights Baptist Church, Billy Crosby, would go to a church in view of a call, he always told the committee that his wife is the best part of the team. Crosby’s wife, Annette, contributes greatly to his ability to minister, he said. Early on, she went beyond the call of duty in taking care of their six children alone, when he was called away to minister. “She is truly a dedicated helpmate, an encourager, a supporter and a prayer warrior,” Crosby said of his wife, who leads the Ladies Ministry at Trinity Heights where they have been serving for a little over 6 years and which has an average Sunday School attendance of about 500. The Crosby’s, having just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last December, … [Read more...]
Oberlin rises from arson’s ashes
OBERLIN – The sparkle in church members’ eyes is there because they are seeing God at work, says Johnny Fontenot, member at Oberlin Baptist. OBERLIN – The sparkle in church members’ eyes is there because they are seeing God at work, says Johnny Fontenot, member at Oberlin Baptist. The church was arsoned about midnight on Fathers Day 2005, apparently to cover up a burglary. Three months later Louisiana Baptist Builders were onsite, planning for the construction of a new worship center. “Every one of our church members have grown as they’ve seen what God has done,” Fontenot said. “You can see it in their eyes.” The old building was 10,000 square feet; the new, 16,000. The double wing structure with central sanctuary is nearing completion. Project Manager Steve Hayes’ goal is that the building be ready for occupancy by Thanksgiving. Baptist Builders have saved the church about $650,000, said Pastor Shane Nugent. The church expects to pay off its $200,000 debt within three years; the building a block from the parish courthouse is appraised at $1.3 million. “It’s just amazing the fact people have come from all over the United States to help us,” said Nugent, 27 and, since 2002, in his … [Read more...]
LCBH begins Fall Food Roundup
MONROE—The annual Fall Food Roundup for the Lousiana Baptist Children’s Home started on Monday, Sept. 18 and is scheduled to continue through Oct. 17. MONROE—The annual Fall Food Roundup for the Lousiana Baptist Children’s Home started on Monday, Sept. 18 and is scheduled to continue through Oct. 17. “Cottage dads take trucks across the state to collect food at churches,” said Julie Cupples, Communications Director at the LBCH. “We used to go in a train and pick it up,” said Darrell Washam, Director of Development and Public Relations. Back then, people gave chickens, ducks, and all kinds of food. “Nowadays its canned food,” he said, along with other non-perishables. “The food we pick up will supply us for almost the entire year.” While most churches give food, some give money, which the home uses to buy perishables and to re-stock on other items as they run low. Churches do unique things to gather food for the roundup. Some churches choose one item, for example sugar, and then everyone at the church will bring that item. Some churches have contests between boys and girls in the youth department to see who can bring the most food or have scavenger hunts, while other churches give out paper … [Read more...]
Pray for a Jubilee beginning
The passion of my heart as president of this great convention has been to see us experience a year of Jubilee. By Bill Robertson President, Louisiana Baptist Convention The passion of my heart as president of this great convention has been to see us experience a year of Jubilee. In the book of Leviticus, every 50 years was to be declared a year of Jubilee. To begin the year, a ram’s horn was sounded to signal the release of every slave from indebtedness. The past was forgiven and everyone had a new beginning. My prayer for Louisiana Baptists is that we would experience a new beginning. A new beginning occurs when we forgive the past, embrace in the present and labor together for the future. To forgive means that I will not seek revenge for any wrong suffered. It means that I won’t bring it up to you or anyone else. I won’t even bring it up to myself. It is over and we will move on together for the glory of Christ alone. Why should we have a year of Jubilee? Why should I be willing to forgive and move forward? Paul gave several reasons in the book of Philemon. Paul reminded Philemon that he should forgive Onesimus because he owed Paul more than Onesimus owed him. In other … [Read more...]
We must become faithful stewards
Now, for the last part of this formula for success. One. Fifty-fifty. Eighty-twenty. Ten. What do these numbers represent? No, it is not the signal for a football play. It is a formula that can help Southern Baptists fulfill the mission our Lord gave us when he told us to be “witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” In my last several articles, I have been outlining a process that has the potential for unleashing a flood of support for worldwide witness. Let’s review. One. We have asserted that we can accomplish more together than we can separately. That’s why Southern Baptists created the Cooperative Program, a common funding method that allows all our work to receive sufficient financial support from one regular monthly gift from all the churches. The CP continues to be the most effective, efficient, comprehensive mission-support mechanism we know. Fifty-fifty. Louisiana Baptists are launching the CP Advance plan because we want to reach the goal of forwarding fully 50 percent of our Cooperative Program contributions to our national and worldwide Southern Baptist causes. We are committed to moving more and more resources into reaching the lost peoples of … [Read more...]
Deacon blesses volunteers
NEW ORLEANS – A burgundy pickup loaded with food, cleaning supplies and bottled water lumbered through the Lower Ninth Ward in late January. NEW ORLEANS – A burgundy pickup loaded with food, cleaning supplies and bottled water lumbered through the Lower Ninth Ward in late January. A disaster relief volunteer from Denham Springs, La., and her partners from Benton, Ark., were on mission to meet the needs of whomever they might meet in that hurricane-devastated area. “Even if it was just a bottle of water, shared in Jesus’ name, we felt compelled to be there,” said Sandra Watson of Arkansas. “God had called us out of our comfort zone with one simple instruction: “Be my hands, my arms, my feet; minister in my name.” During their six-hour stint spent in the Lower Ninth Ward that January day, the DR team saw unimaginable destruction coupled with the brilliance of God at work. The Lower Ninth Ward looked every bit like a war zone: Homes were flattened, cars toppled. Some homes were sitting in the middle of what had once been the roadway; some homes were sitting on top of cars. A total sense of devastation had become evident: The heavy odor of mold, dust, wet wood and rot hung over the … [Read more...]
Prayed-over quilts minister to recipients
GUEYDAN – The warmth that emanates from Susan Owen doesn’t originate in the quilts she’s continually making. It starts with the relationship with God that led her to start Lagniappe Prayers and Squares Ministry earlier this year. GUEYDAN – The warmth that emanates from Susan Owen doesn’t originate in the quilts she’s continually making. It starts with the relationship with God that led her to start Lagniappe Prayers and Squares Ministry earlier this year. Already she and her ministry team have prayed over the 11 body-sized quilts that now warm the lives and hearts of their recipients. “God laid it on my heart that this would be an awesome way to reach out to others in the community, along with the help of fellow members here in this church,” Owen said, referring to First Baptist of Gueydan, where her husband Jesse has been pastor for six years. At the minister’s wives’ conference last year, she participated in a prayer quilt for a seminary professor’s wife. Owen checked out the website – www.prayerquilt.org – and saw the potential for a ministry that fit her crafty nature. “What separates a prayer quilt from other quilts is that from beginning to end it is made with prayer, intention … [Read more...]
Louisiana’s People, Places and Events
Check it out! Potpourri SHREVEPORT – Emmanuel church: 8th Annual Women’s Conference; Oct. 14, 8:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.; Cindy Townsend, guest speaker; Judy Caplinger, praise/worship; $10 per person/includes lunch; for information or to register, call 318-686-7548; Bill Stowell, pastor. ZACHARY – First church: Joe Aguillard, guest speaker; Oct. 1, 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.; Reggie Bridges, pastor. COLFAX – Bethel church: Freddie Arnold guest speaking on “Rebuilding New Orleans: Baptist Missions in Action,” Sept. 24, 10:45 a.m. – noon; Robert Daniel, pastor. MONROE – Loch Arbor church: The Dixie Echoes Gospel Quartet in concert; Sept. 24, 10:30 a.m. with potluck lunch to follow; to honor pastor’s anniversary; Andy Myrick, pastor. WILDSVILLE – Evangeline church: Kingdom Bound in concert; Sept. 30, 7 p.m.; Dennis Baker, pastor. WEST MONROE – McClendon church: Legacy Five in concert; Sept.30, 7 p.m.; $12 for ages 12 and up/$6 for ages 3-11; for ticket information, call 318-322-2782; Rick Crandall, pastor. BOSSIER CITY – Central church: Leadership Conference; Oct. 1, 10:45 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Oct. 2-7, 7 p.m. nightly; Oct. 8, 10:45 a.m.; Jerry and Donna Williams, conference … [Read more...]
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