By Steve Horn, Louisiana Baptist Convention Executive Director I have said through the years that my most memorable time of worship ever was the Sunday after 9/11. The crowd was larger. We sang louder. We had a greater sense of desperation. That’s the way I feel today. The crowds likely won’t be as large this Sunday, March 15, because of fears of gathering in large crowds and the need for many elderly to stay home, but if you are well and can gather, I sense that this will be a special day of worship. I am joining the call of our Southern Baptist Convention leaders in asking every church in Louisiana to have a special moment of prayer in your worship this Sunday. You can view and share their call using this link. Some of you may even be led to dedicate your entire worship service just to prayer. As a pastor I did this on a number of occasions. This was always a meaningful time of worship. Pastors, you can use these suggestions to guide your praying. Send it out to those members who might choose not to attend. Whatever you decide to do Sunday, let us pray in focused, concentrated prayer. As we prepare to pray, I think of these Scriptures . . . Luke 18:1-8, the Parable of the Persistent Widow—Luke introduced this … [Read more...]

By Norm Miller, LCNews PINEVILLE, La. (LCNews) - Louisiana College’s annual God in the Workplace series continues March 23 at 6 p.m. in Guinn Auditorium. Addressing the topic “Socialism or Stewardship? Doing Business God’s Way,” will be Dr. Jay W. Richards and Mr. Earl B. Heard. Dr. Richards is a Research Assistant Professor at Catholic University of America/Busch School of Business in Washington, D.C. He is the 2010 Templeton Enterprise Award winner, a best-selling author, and co-author of “The Privileged Planet.” Mr. Heard is CEO/Founder of BIC Alliance in Houston and author of seven books. He is also a Louisiana College alumnus. “We are pleased to have such qualified and accomplished speakers to keynote this year’s God in the Workplace Series,” said Dr. Rick Brewer, president of Louisiana College. “With all the contemporary talk regarding Socialism, I am sure these men will bring a balance as they highlight God’s plan of stewardship not only for business, but for the totality of life.” Pastors, church members, business leaders, and the general public are warmly invited to attend this free, yet valuable event.   … [Read more...]

Greetings, Louisiana Baptists. Whether you believe that decisions regarding the Coronavirus Disease 2019, COVID-19, are disproportionate to the real threat or believe that not enough actions are being taken, you have to agree that these are unprecedented times. Whether we see widespread outbreak in Louisiana is yet to be known, but the likelihood we will see effects, both economic and life disruption, are almost certain.  Your state missions staff are monitoring information on a daily and even hourly basis. We have not cancelled any events as of this writing with the exception of BCM events in the New Orleans area. One of our commitments to our churches is to be a resource provider. We want to be available to our churches to provide the best information and best practices as they are released.   LifeWay has prepared a thorough, helpful, free resource that can assist you and your church to prepare in case the coronavirus spreads across the state: https://ministrygrid.com/coronavirus. You can also visit the government site, www.cdc.gov, for additional information.   Here are some common sense suggestions we’ve pulled together for your consideration:  • Have plenty of hand sanitizer and wipes available for your people. • … [Read more...]

By Norm Miller, LCNews PINEVILLE, La. (LCNews)—Anyone who claims the name of Christ is called to ministry and must settle who is in control. “We must confess, ‘God is God and I am not,’” said John Fream, pastor of Cypress Baptist Church in Benton. Continuing Louisiana College’s semester-long academic study of 1 Peter, Fream drew from 1 Peter 5:6-14 in the Feb. 26 chapel service and asked, “Who’s your boss? Who is in control and in charge of your life? It is important to be humble under the hand of God.” “My friend John Fream preached our campus revival last Spring,” said Louisiana College President Rick Brewer. “His rapport with our students remains effective, and his sermon content is both contemporary and convicting. John has become one of our students’ favorite chapel speakers.” In addition to submissive humility, Fream emphasized trust in “the God who spoke the galaxies into existence. That same God knows the number of hairs on your head.” Such divine power and intimacy fosters trust, as does knowing the rest of the story. “The fix is on. Christians win in the end,” he exclaimed. Believers are told to be “sober” in verse eight, which, in addition to the literal meaning, also means to be vigilant and watchful … [Read more...]

By Dennis Clark, First Baptist Lafayette First Baptist Lafayette voted Sunday, March 8, to call James Pritchard as their next senior pastor. The vote by church members concludes a nine-month long nationwide search. Pritchard has served as the teaching pastor at First Baptist Church of Forney, Texas, since 2015. Prior to that he pastored three churches in Texas and Oklahoma. He holds a B.A. from East Texas Baptist University with a major in Christian ministries and the M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a major in evangelism. Pritchard will begin his ministry in Lafayette on Easter Sunday. … [Read more...]

By Message Staff MANY, La. (LBM) – Evangelist Sammy Tippit urged hundreds of people attending the opening night of the Sabine 2020 revival services to find hope in a relationship with Christ. “Hope is here because Jesus is here,” Tippit told 1,000 people gathered inside Many High School’s gymnasium Sunday, March 8. “There is life in Jesus. “He gives abundant life,” he continued. “Do you have the son living in you?” At the invitation, three people came forward to declare Christ the Lord of their lives and 17 others made other decisions for Jesus. Crusade leaders will contact all those who came forward to connect them with the pastor of a local church. Tippit shared how Christ transformed his life when he was a freshman at LSU in 1965. While he was raised in church, Tippit had not surrendered to Jesus at that point in his life, and he eventually chose a life of partying. But during an evangelistic harvest event at Istrouma Baptist Church, Tippit turned to Christ and surrendered to preach two nights later. Since then, he has conducted evangelistic crusades and other events in more than 80 countries. Ron Thompson, associational mission strategist for District 8 Baptist Convention, said that pastors have prayed for … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer BROUSSARD, La. (LBM) – Mike Thibodeaux struggled with alcohol addiction and nearly lost his marriage when his wife, Jessica, and children began attending First Baptist Church in Broussard in 2017. But, even though he refused to attend worship services while the rest of his family faithfully went every Sunday, they never stopped praying for the Holy Spirit to open his heart to hear the Gospel. Their prayers were answered Oct. 27. Although he rejected coming to Sunday worship, he did take his children to weekly worship rehearsals with Associate Pastor Adam Whitney. The Gospel seeds planted through this interaction produced a spiritual Harvest when he publicly professed his faith in Christ and subsequently was baptized Jan. 4. He has continued growing in his faith through a weekly discipleship meeting with Whitney and one of his co-workers. “As I began helping out at the rehearsals, Scripture verses that I had studied in the past started popping back into my head like it was yesterday. I realize now the Lord had been leading me to that moment for a very long time,” Thibodeaux told the Baptist Message. “I became more and more active with my kids with their ministry with the … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer FISHVILLE (LBM) – Lloyd Whitman remembers the day he preached a revival at Friendship Baptist Church and the pews were filled with a congregation passionate for spiritual renewal among them and hungering for a spiritual awakening within the community. The church eventually dwindled to just a handful of members and closed its doors in June 2019. However, Whitman did not forget how God moved during the revival service in 1982. Consequently, he began to pray, asking God to return the church to its former strength of service to the Kingdom -- and it appears his pleas have been heard. Whitman stood before a worship center filled with 143 people, Feb. 2, for the first service of the congregation as the New Friendship Baptist Church, a cooperative effort by the First Baptist Church in Dry Prong, the primary sponsor, and other churches in the Big Creek Baptist Association. “I had 100 bulletins printed up because I figured we would only need that many, but God showed up by bringing in even more than I could have imagined to the point where we ran out of bulletins,” Whitman told the Baptist Message. “When I looked across the church and remembered how I had stood there many years ago, … [Read more...]