By Baptist Message staff BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – Early voting has begun for the Nov. 3 election. Louisiana citizens have until Oct. 27 (excluding Sunday) to cast their ballots in person. Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day at the parish registrar of voters office or other designated locations. In addition to casting their vote for president and congress, Louisianans will have the opportunity to approve a number of amendments, including one that would help to protect pro-life laws in the state. Known as the Love Life Amendment, the change to the state constitution is needed because of developments in 14 other states, where in each case a state court ruled that in the state constitution there was a right to abortion or the right to force the state to pay for abortions – but based on a creative interpretation of a general phrase or vague wording and not on anything that specifically stated such rights. The Love Life Amendment does not outlaw abortion or address such controversies as exceptions for rape and incest. The language simply makes clear that there is no stated right to abortion in the Louisiana Constitution: Amendment #1: Do you support an amendment declaring that, to protect human life, a right … [Read more...]

By Aaron Quartemont, Wildcats Media PINEVILLE, La. (Wildcats Media) - Louisiana College’s Preview Day is going virtual for the second time this year. Virtual Preview Day, scheduled for Oct. 24 from 1-3 p.m., will offer prospective students a virtual tour of the school’s campus and provide interview opportunities with professors. Prospective students also will hear from current students and learn more about student clubs and organizations, athletics and residence life. The college held a similar event April 17. “Following on the success of a virtual preview day this past April we trust hundreds of prospective students and their families will join us Oct. 24 to learn more about LC’s distinctive student learning experience,” said President Rick Brewer. “Indeed, we look forward to being able to host families on campus in 2021, but until then a virtual approach will have to suffice. We also encourage individual campus visits by prospective students seeking more information and connection with faculty, current students, coaches and financial aid.” “We try to recreate the in-person preview day as much as possible,” added Rose Smoak, north Louisiana regional admissions counselor and an LC 2017 theatre graduate. Two students … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Message executive editor ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM)—Voters will be offered the opportunity to protect state pro-life laws by approving Amendment #1 on the ballot, Nov. 3. Known as the Love Life Amendment, the change to the state constitution is needed because of developments in 14 other states, where in each case a state court ruled that in the state constitution there was a right to abortion or the right to force the state to pay for abortions – but based on a creative interpretation of a general phrase or vague wording and not on anything that specifically stated such rights. The Love Life Amendment does not outlaw abortion or address such controversies as exceptions for rape and incest. The language simply makes clear that there is no stated right to abortion in the Louisiana Constitution: Amendment #1: Do you support an amendment declaring that, to protect human life, a right to abortion and the funding of abortion shall not be found in the Louisiana Constitution? Please protect the unborn and vote “yes” on Amendment #1. … [Read more...]

By Baptist Message staff ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – The 2020 Youth Evangelism Celebration is going on the road this year for three one-night events called “YEC: Limited Edition.” Originally, YEC was scheduled to convene at the Rapides Parish Coliseum in Alexandria, Nov. 22-23, but novel coronavirus pandemic attendance restrictions caused the event to move to a regional format. First Baptist Church in Haughton will host the first of these smaller gatherings, Nov. 8, 6-8 p.m. Eddie Briery, pastor of The Church at Red River in Shreveport, will be the main speaker. Louisiana College will host the second in the series, Nov. 11, 6-8 p.m. Derek “Griff” Griffon, student pastor at The Bayou Church in Lafayette, will be the main speaker. This event also will be livestreamed on the Louisiana Baptist website for groups who can’t attend. First Baptist Church in Lafayette will close out YEC: Limited Edition, Nov. 15, 6-8 p.m. Shane Pruitt, National Next Gen Evangelism Director for the North American Mission Board, will be the guest speaker. Nick Parish, interim worship leader at Grawood Baptist Church in Keithville, will provide music at all three regional events. All participants will be required to wear a mask at the three … [Read more...]

By John Kyle Louisiana Baptist communications director ALEXANDRIA, La. – Without the Georgia Barnette State Missions Offering, the multi-media outreach, “Here for You,” would not exist. That’s according to John Kyle, director of communications for Louisiana Baptists. “In a sense, Georgia Barnette and ‘Here for You’ are a marriage made in ‘missions heaven,’” Kyle noted. “Missions mean go – go to places and people who need to hear the Gospel. That’s exactly what “Here for You” is doing. Only we’re doing this inside the borders of Louisiana.” Launched in the summer of 2014 as part of the President’s 2020 Commission, “Here for You” is attempting to impact the estimated 2 million people in Louisiana who do not have relationships with Christ. “We talk a lot about those two million people and occasionally we’ll pray for them. ‘Here for You’ is an intentional effort to consistently go where they live and work, and creatively seed God’s truth in their hearts.” Georgia Barnette gifts supported pilot campaigns in three of Louisiana’s seven markets from 2014 – 2018. “Here for You” launched statewide in February 2019. Kyle says much was gleaned from the pilot campaigns. “‘Here for You’ started out as the tagline for the … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message staff writer MERRYVILLE, La. (LBM) – Michael Burgess prayed for God to move when he accepted the call in July to pastor his first church, Green Oak Baptist Church in Merryville, but he never imagined the revival the Lord would bring among the congregation and a community of 1,100 in the weeks following Hurricane Laura. Since the August storm, the church has grown from 20 in Sunday morning worship to 75 in late September and has baptized five new converts, with additional baptisms scheduled in the coming weeks. Many days, whether from the pulpit or at a feeding line for those impacted by Laura, Burgess marvels at how God has breathed life into the church within a short time. “When I pull onto the church grounds I know this is where God is working,” Burgess told the Baptist Message. “I’ve seen Him multiply our congregation and have seen people who left come back. “One of my prayers to God when I took this church was ‘let me see you work. If I preach, let me be good at it for you. But let me see this through your lens.’ I thought it would be in baptisms but never knew it would occur out of a hurricane. Never did I think I would see it in lives turned upside down.” UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS … [Read more...]

By staff reports ATHENS, Texas – James Larry Ramsour, a former pastor of several Louisiana Baptist churches, died Saturday, Sept. 19. He was 84. He was born in Brownwood, Texas on July 6, 1936, to Lee and Audrey Mae Ramsour. His father was a Southern Baptist minister and the family lived in several places during his formative years. Larry graduated from Tahoka High School in 1953 and attended Baylor University, where he married Valetta Stripling. He received his Bachelor's degree from Baylor University and his Masters of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and Valetta moved to Navarro Mills in 1961, where he pastored his first church and she taught school. His daughters, Michelle and Marcelyn, were born in 1964 and 1968. From her Daddy, Michelle inherited his love of photography, plants, flowers and piano, his sense of creativity, attention to detail and prankster tendencies. Marcelyn inherited from her Daddy his sense of optimism, his patriotism, his spirit of determination, his love of music and animals, and his talent at Words with Friends. They both learned from him that in every situation, there is always something for which to be grateful. When their husbands, Jeff and Carl, became … [Read more...]