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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

FBCC’s Bailey to headline E4+ conference

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer PINEVILLE, La. (LBM) – Waylon Bailey, senior pastor with First Baptist Church, Covington, is the keynote speaker for the 2024 E4+ Preaching Conference, scheduled for Sept. 24, in the facilities of the First Baptist Church, Pineville. Bailey, who has served as FBCC senior pastor since 1989, will bring messages during the general sessions of the annual conference. According to the FBCC website, Bailey has seen worship attendance grow from 300 to 2,200 since he became pastor and in 2001 led the congregation to move from a downtown location to the current campus. Since relocating, the church has baptized 2,612, according to the Annual Church Profile of statistics. Bailey, a graduate of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and his wife, Martha, have two grown adult daughters and four grandchildren. “I am excited and thankful to be speaking at the E4 Conference,” Bailey told the Baptist Message. “I learned early in my ministry that I would only be able to speak to most of our people on Sunday morning only. I realized how important it is to preach the Gospel and to make it plain and simple, as well as applicable to everyday life. I am always appreciative of the … [Read more...]

Ministry helps terminally ill ‘gift’ family

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – Patients who receive a terminal diagnosis experience physical and emotional trauma, so one non-profit ministry has created an opportunity for them to record a special message to emphasize something other than the trials to loved ones. Since 2019, Jewels of Remembrance, derived from Malachi 3:16-18, has given families this blessing of a legacy of love. Dianne Miller, a member of Parkview Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, said the complimentary videotaped messages allow the individuals to pass down words that their families will cherish for years to come.  Miller started the ministry after she videotaped a conversation with her dad, Richard, then 96 years old. Her father suffered from multiple health issues and died in 2023 at age 100. She realized the importance of capturing a visual memory of her dad and felt others who had loved ones who received a terminally ill diagnosis could benefit from similar videotaped messages. A year later, Miller started offering to make complimentary recordings for others. Those who participate submit in writing their agreement to being videotaped and participate in two “visitation” sessions before taping. During those … [Read more...]

‘Full circle’ mission trip nets 558 Brazilians for Christ

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil (LBM) – Deanne Denton recently took a mission trip to Brazil that took her “full circle” to the church where she spent a week as a summer missionary 35 years earlier. Denton, previously part of a six-member collegiate team to Brazil in the summer of 1989, worked alongside Igreja Batista Barreiros (Barreiros Baptist Church) in Florianopolis during Beyond the Walls’ (a ministry that equips and enables groups to share the Gospel overseas) 2024 trip. During the recent trip she was reunited with Elizandra, who learned about Christ through the collegiate team’s ministry at the same church more than three decades earlier. “To see Elizandra, who was eight at the time I first served in Florianopolis, stand during our final worship service this summer and share that God used our collegiate team years ago to draw her to the church and tell her about Jesus gave us all such encouragement,” she told the Baptist Message. “To know she is now married to Dario, one of Barreiros’s pastors who served alongside our team this year, further reminded us of what God can do. “Dario will begin leading his church in ongoing ministry with one of the tribes of Guarani … [Read more...]

Revive Summit scheduled Sept. 9-10

By Baptist Message staff LAFAYETTE, La. (LBM) – A weekend aimed at helping Louisiana Baptist churches experience renewal will take place Sept. 9-10 at Open Door Community Church, Lafayette. Revive Summit will feature in-depth Bible study, practical instructions for improvement of biblical preaching and proven steps to renewal. Speakers planned for the event include Mark Clifton, director, North American Mission Board replant team; Jimbo Stewart, associate director, NAMB replant team; Frank Lewis, former pastor, First Baptist Church, Nashville, Tenn.; Joe Crider, worship pastor, First Baptist Church, Benbrook, Texas; Richard Blackaby, president, Blackaby Ministries International; and Rick Fisher, vice president, Blackaby Ministries International. “On average, 25 churches per year close their doors in Louisiana,” Send Network Louisiana Director Lane Corley told the Baptist Message. “The replant rate is about seven per year. The Revive Summit will be a great conference to encourage and equip those serving in a culture where church decline is the norm.” Cost is $15. For more information: https://louisianabaptists.org/event/revive-summit-lafayette/ … [Read more...]

CENLA Pregnancy Center to urge ‘You Are Not Alone’ during upcoming banquet

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – More than 1,000 individuals will gather Sept. 17 inside Alexandria’s Randolph Riverfront Center for the sixth annual ‘Gift of Life’ banquet to hear inspirational testimonies of two women who experienced radical redemption through the ministry of pregnancy centers and pro-life advocates. The largest fundraiser for the CENLA Pregnancy Center’s locations in Alexandria, Marksville and Vidalia will feature keynote speaker and pro-life activist Toni McFadden, who will share how the love of Christ helped her experience redemption from an abortion she underwent as a scared teenager. Additionally, a client of CPC will talk about how the ministry helped save her baby girl through reversal of her chemically induced abortion. “The theme for this year’s event is ‘You Are Not Alone,’ a message known by our team and the many women who have received services from one of our centers,” CPC Executive Director Kim Lyons told the Baptist Message. “This year’s theme focuses on how we all have experienced a season of wandering in the desert. “These pregnant women who come to us may feel as though they are in a desert, with no support, with no one by their side,” she … [Read more...]

Retired LBC ministers harvest souls at Shreveport assisted living center

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer SHREVEPORT, La. (LBM) – Crawford Williams and Price Harris may no longer be sharing the Good News in churches every week, but they stay active in retirement by being on mission in leading chapel services for The Glen assisted living community. Every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Harris leads a time of worship before Williams shares a Gospel-centered message. Through their obedience, the two men since 2021 have seen attendance not only grow from 12 to an average of 40, and some have come to a saving knowledge of Christ. “I’ve always liked and felt the call to preach,” Williams told the Baptist Message. “And that’s been a burden to preach regularly and often. Whenever I have an opportunity, I take it to preach on Heaven, to preach on Hell and to preach on Jesus over and over, and how to be saved, have assurance and to be salt of the earth and light of the world.” Harris added that the opportunity to serve at The Glen has been a joy. “There is a lot of love in this place,” Harris said. “You can feel it each time you walk around here.” Williams, a graduate of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, served as a pastor for 64 years before moving to The Glen in 2019. He … [Read more...]

State missions offering funded a spiritual harvest

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer PATTERSON, La. (LBM) – Ronnie Mabile moved to Michigan from St. Mary Parish in 2018, never dreaming he would return just two years later to the same area for a Gospel harvest. Since then, he has seen first-hand God’s provision and expansion of the Kingdom through Redeemed Life Fellowship, Patterson. “It took a long time for people to understand who we are, what we there for and basically that we just want to be a part of the community and be the hands and the feet of Jesus,” Mabile told the Baptist Message. “And by doing that, we have now become a church where if anything in the community needs to be done, they call us first. “Rural church planning is not for the faint of heart,” he added. “But if you are committed to building those relationships, people will look to you like you have been here forever.” Mabile, who pastored a church located 40 miles from Patterson (St. Mary Parish) before moving to Michigan in 2018, felt called back to Louisiana after passing by a vacant church building in the community when he returned for a visit in the summer. He learned that Gulf Coast Baptist Association planned to sell the property that formerly housed Calumet Baptist … [Read more...]