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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

ECON 2021 slated for Summer Grove in Shreveport

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer SHREVEPORT, La. (LBM) - Following a challenging year dominated by COVID-19, hurricanes and political turmoil, Louisiana Baptists will refocus their efforts to the goal of “winning another person for Christ” at the upcoming state Evangelism Conference, Jan. 25-26, at Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport. “Pastors and laypeople are tired,” Keith Manuel, evangelism and church growth director for Louisiana Baptists, told the Baptist Message. “Decisions pastors make are scrutinized; and, decisions made by other church leaders don’t make some people happy. “People are dealing with disease, death and hopelessness,” he said. “And they need a place to find hope. Jesus is the only answer to find peace. When everything else is changing, Jesus doesn’t.” Manuel said organizers will ensure proper social distancing guidelines are followed. For those unable to attend, the conference sessions will be livestreamed on louisianabaptists.org. PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS The first session of ECON will begin at 6 p.m. and will feature messages by Richard Ross, professor of youth ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Richard Taylor, interim evangelism director and … [Read more...]

Pastor baptizes seven in Dry Creek

By Norm Miller, Baptist Message special assignments reporter DRY CREEK, La. (LBM) -- On the lawn of Cherry Grove Baptist Church in Dry Creek, Pastor Josh Eubanks stood in knee-deep water in a small, round, plastic stock tank, in which he baptized six people, that Sunday morning. “Never take for granted what’s about to happen because there are tens of thousands of churches across this country that may never get to experience what you guys are about to experience in a few moments,” Eubanks said prior to the baptisms. “We don’t decide when people are baptized, God does,” Eubanks noted. “We prayed specifically for God to save some people so we could baptize them. And today is the culmination of our prayers.” LOOKING BACK The church baptized seven new believers total in 2020. But Eubanks is excited about how the harvest of souls in 2020 has set up Cherry Grove for an even greater soul-winning experience in 2021. Already, the church has witnessed attendance grow in Sunday morning services, from 60 in early March to 100 in December. LOOKING AHEAD Josh Boswell, a 40-something husband, a father to five girls, and a former alcoholic who started drinking at age 16, is among those baptized by Cherry Grove in … [Read more...]

Temple Baptist helps relieve $3.2 million of medical debt

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer RUSTON, La. (LBM) – Temple Baptist Church in Ruston helped to clear $3.2 million in medical bills for more than 1,400 residents in a five-parish region during 2020. The church worked with RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit organization that works with debt collectors to resolve medical debt that sits in collections, for people in Bienville, Claiborne, Jackson, Lincoln and Union parishes. Members gave $40,000 and RIP Medical Debt used the collected money to work with creditors to resolve the outstanding amounts. Founded in 2014 by two former debt collection executives, RIP Medical Debt began as a response to the overwhelming impact of debt on the lives of poor Americans. According to ripmedicaldebt.org, since 2014, the group has helped more than 1.8 million individuals and families eradicate more than $2.7 billion in medical liabilities. The company contends that for every $1 raised, it can abolish $100 in medical debt, on average. Minister of Education and Administration Jason Walsworth said this was an opportunity for Temple Baptist to bless others who otherwise might struggle to pay these obligations. “We believe we have been blessed, even during these challenging times, … [Read more...]

Louisiana Notables

EDITOR’S NOTE: Do you have a Revival, Homecoming, a new pastor, a community outreach or a concert? The Baptist Message would love to share your church news with the rest of the state. It is very easy to do, just send in your information (who, what, where and when) to philip@baptistmessage.com or call 318.449.4345. To get your event in the paper, please submit your information three weeks prior to the event. ON THE MOVE Chad (wife Cole) Gilbert is the new pastor at First Baptist Church, New Orleans. Greg Oden is the new worship leader at New Chapel Hill, West Monroe. Jay George is the new associate pastor at First Baptist Church, Swartz. Bodie Spicer has resigned as pastor of Clark Springs Baptist Church, Eros. Cody (wife Francie) Tabor is the new family pastor at First Baptist Church, Blanchard. Eric Zimmer is the interim pastor at Ida Baptist Church, Ida. Lance Rolland resigns as pastor of Westwood Baptist Church, Keithville and David Venable is the interim pastor. REVIVAL Temple Baptist Church, DeQuincy: Harvest Day, January 10. Evangelist: Sam Moore. Pastor: Bruce Austin. Koran Baptist Church, Haughton: Revival, January 10-13. Evangelist: Bill Britt. Pastor Mike Reichard First Baptist … [Read more...]

Seminary presidents’ statement against CRT draws criticism from African American pastors, others

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LBM) – The presidents of the six seminaries of the Southern Baptist Convention signed a statement, Nov. 30, declaring Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality, theories about racism that arose largely from social activists at Harvard University and the University of California at Los Angeles, as “incompatible with the Baptist Faith & Message.” Their statement was released, they said, in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the SBC’s adoption of the Baptist Faith & Message 2000. In a statement to Baptist Press, Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and chairman of the SBC Council of Seminary Presidents, said the seminary leaders were prompted by widespread complaints raised by Southern Baptists. “We felt that because our brothers and sisters in various state conventions have concern about this issue, they would also want to know what their seminaries actually think, and what we are teaching and not teaching,” Akin said. Tennessee Baptists (2019) and Georgia Baptists (2020) adopted resolutions rejecting the controversial “Resolution 9” that was adopted by SBC messengers at the 2019 … [Read more...]

ERLC shifts stance on federal embryonic stem cell lines

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor ALEXANDRIA (LBM) – The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention has shifted its position on a decades-old policy opposing the use of federal embryonic stem cell lines in medical research. The SBC’s public policy arm has published or promoted multiple position statements in recent weeks, all offering a similar view that it is not morally wrong to take a COVID-19 vaccine developed or tested using established government embryonic stem cell lines. However, Southern Baptists voiced strong opposition against the use of human embryos to advance medical knowledge when in 2001 President George W. Bush allowed federal funds for research on 60 existing stem cell lines that had been produced from human embryos. These no longer contain any of the original tissue taken from the aborted babies that were used to start each respective stem cell line. Instead, generations of new tissue have been grown in laboratories from the original human cells. Then-ERLC President Richard Land said the decision to fund even limited embryonic stem cell research crossed a fundamental moral line. “We must always remember that these existing stem cell lines are … [Read more...]

Lord, that’s not how we do things!

By Joe McKeever “‘…your ways are not my ways,’ saith the Lord.”  (Isaiah 55:8) Keep an eye on how the Lord works in your life. You might learn something useful for the next time He wants to use you. This little couplet seems to sum up 90 percent of what Scripture and life teach us concerning the operation of God in this world…. When God gets ready to do a thing, He loves to start small Using ordinary people With whatever methods He chooses, And take HIs own good time about it. Only people of faith will still be standing there at the end To see what He has done And to behold His glory. That’s how He does things.  You can see it all through Scripture and by looking back over your lifetime. But here is the problem.  His ways are not our ways.  His thoughts are different from ours.  He is in fact light years above and beyond us and our techniques. (He said that very thing in Isaiah 55:8-9.) For instance, using the formula (above) as our guide….. God loves to start small; However we don’t like little things.  (Matthew 13:31-32) We keep asking God to do big things, and think we’re complimenting Him by such prayers.  “Do a God-sized thing,” I prayed for years. We complain if our numbers … [Read more...]

The gifts of the wise men

Out of their vast treasures of wealth and wonder, the wise men made deliberate choices in the gifts they brought to worship Jesus. Gold was coveted as the most precious of metals. It was the standard by which wealth was measured, and so it was a fit tribute to royalty. Gold was meant to signify that this baby, born in a feeding trough to impoverished parents, was the King. Frankincense is a fragrant milky sap that is harvested from trees that grow mainly in Oman and Yemen in the Middle East. In the Old Testament the hardened sap was used as an incense burned for thanksgiving and praise offerings, and was given to acknowledge Jesus as our High Priest. Myrrh, a bitter herb, was a bittersweet gift. In the first century, it was a spice wrapped in the layers of linen placed on a dead body in order to externally embalm it. Myrrh was presented to confess the infant as our Savior, whose death and resurrection in a mere three decades would bring “salvation to the ends of the earth.” Adapted from David Jeremiah’s “A Spirit of Giving.” … [Read more...]

Music minister Ken Fryer passes away at 56

By Baptist Message staff BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – Ken Fryer, minister of music at Riverside Baptist Church, Watson, died Saturday, Dec. 12. He was 56. A native of Delhi, Fryer served at several Louisiana Baptist churches, including as pastor of First Baptist Church, Greenwood, and College Place Baptist Church, Monroe. He also served as an associate pastor at Heritage Baptist Church, Shreveport; Milldale Baptist Church, Zachary; Willow Point Baptist Church, Shreveport; and Broussard Grove Baptist Church, Prairieville. In addition to being on the staff of six churches, Fryer served Louisiana Baptists as a LBC Executive Board member (2007-2011), moral and social concerns committee member (2012-2014), and President’s 2020 Commission member (2012-present), according to the Annual Church Profile. According to his obituary, Fryer taught at Sequitur Classical Academy, University View Academy and Christ Presbyterian Church, as well as teaching voice to numerous private students. He co-authored the book “Virtues of the Great Composers for Children,” and was a contributor to the book “Covenant Theology: A Baptist Distinctive” by Earl Blackburn. He was a graduate of Ouachita Parish High School, Monroe; East Texas Baptist … [Read more...]

LBC’s Horn ‘thrilled’ appeals court allows state to defund Planned Parenthood

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NEW ORLEANS, La. (LBM) – Steve Horn, executive director for Louisiana Baptists, said he was thrilled the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that Louisiana can cut off funds to Planned Parenthood. “We are a staunch pro-life state and we do not believe our healthcare dollars should support abortion providers,” he told the Baptist Message. Horn made his statement after the federal appeals court in New Orleans voted 11-5, just days before Thanksgiving, that Louisiana and Texas could ban Planned Parenthood from receiving government money. The majority included five judges appointed by President Trump. The full court overturned a three-judge panel that had ruled against Louisiana’s ban, upheld by a 7-7 deadlock of the full court in 2017. Planned Parenthood is the largest single provider of abortions in the United States, performing 40 percent of all abortions in the country, nearly 346,000, in 2018 (most recent available data). The organization received more than a third of its $1.6 billion budget in Medicaid reimbursements and Title X grants, $616 million (or 38 percent) in 2019, although that money could not be used directly for abortions. The Louisiana law to … [Read more...]