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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Hankins announces retirement plans

By Staff RUSTON, La. (LBM) — David Hankins, executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, announced his plans to retire during the pre-convention meeting of the Convention’s Executive Board in Ruston Monday afternoon. “At the close of this annual meeting, I will be giving Dr. Bailey, president of the Executive Board, official notice of my intention to retire,” said Hankins. His retirement will be effective June 30, 2019. “The theme of this year’s annual meeting is “Marking the Next Generation,’” Hankins told the board. “I have great confidence in the future generation of leaders God will choose to lead Louisiana Baptists.” According to the Convention’s by-laws, Hankins announcement will initiate a process in which the Executive Board will form a search committee. Once formed, the search committee will elect its own chairperson to begin a search for a new executive director. Hankins has served as executive director since 2005. He is a California native who was reared in Texas. He is a graduate of Dallas Baptist University as well as Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he earned both a masters and doctoral degree. In a statement on his resume, Hankins indicates he was exposed to … [Read more...]

Louisiana Baptists celebrate unity in Christ during bi-lingual Pastors Conference opening session

By Message Staff RUSTON – Louisiana Baptists came together with their Hispanic brothers and sisters to celebrate their unity in Christ during the opening session of the Pastors Conference, Nov. 11 at Cook Baptist Church in Ruston. In step with the conference theme “Whole: Equipping the church to love the whole church,” the session featured music led by Fellowship Church in Prairieville and Istrouma Espanol in Baton Rouge, and a message shared by Louisiana Baptist Church Planting Strategist Carlos Schmidt. “Since we are all in Christ, all ethnic, social, economic and gender barriers have crumbled,” Schmidt said during his message. “He does away with it. Christ is all in all. We can truly say we are one family in Christ. “Therefore, in our relationships with one another, they should be saturated with kindness, mercy, humility and forgiveness,” he continued. “There is no place for un-forgiveness in the Christian life. As you have been forgiven by Christ, therefore you should also forgive one another. “All of us might be different but the scripture says there is none good enough, there is none righteous,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you are white or Hispanic in God’s eyes, we are all sinners and Christ paid the … [Read more...]

Revival at Washington Baptist Church

Washington Baptist Church, Washington: Revival, November 16-18, Friday and Saturday, 6 p.m. Sunday, 10:30 a.m. Dinner on the grounds will follow morning worship. Evangelist: Lyndon Longoria. Special Music: Brad Mount. Pastor: Louis Charrier. … [Read more...]

Louisiana Baptists win big in midterm elections

By Message Staff By large margins, Ralph Abraham, M.D., and Mike Johnson retained their seats in the U.S. House, following the midterm elections held Tuesday, Nov. 6. Abraham won 67 percent of the vote in the 5th Congressional District race and Johnson garnered 64 percent in the 4th Congressional District election. Abraham is a member of Alto Baptist Church and Johnson is a member of First Baptist Church in Bossier City. “Representing Louisiana’s 5th District has been an incredible honor, and I am so grateful to the people for allowing me to continue to serve,” Abraham said in a written statement. “Regardless of what party controls the House, I will always vote for the conservative principles and Louisiana values that Washington still desperately needs.” Johnson said he is looking forward to serving his second term in Congress. “I hope that the Democrats if they’re in charge will be willing to work with the Republicans and continue the great strides that we’ve made over the last two years – reducing taxes, reducing regulations, rebuilding the military, putting originalist judges on the federal court,” Johnson told KALB-TV in Alexandria. “These are all things the American people deeply care about. We’ve got big … [Read more...]

Tyndall to speak at Community Baptist revival

Community Baptist Church, Greensburg: Fall Revival, November 11-16, Sunday 10 a.m. & 6 p.m., Monday-Friday, 6 p.m. Evangelist: Brian Tyndall, serving worldwide with Uttermost Evangelism. Special Music: Gloryland Pickers. Beginning Monday there will be sandwiches and drinks for attendees from 5-5:45 p.m. Pastor: Larry Stewart. … [Read more...]

You are invited to join a special retirement celebration

Please make plans to come and celebrate the retirement of Eugene and Debi Morris who have faithfully served at the Judson Baptist Retreat Center for the past 39 years. The event will take place at the Judson Baptist Retreat Center, which is located at 10330 Peterson Rd, Saint Francisville, LA, on Saturday, November 17 at 11 a.m. A little lunch will be provided. Please RSVP to 225.634.7225. … [Read more...]

Louisiana Baptists approach church planting milestone

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – Louisiana Baptists are getting ready to celebrate a milestone – planting a church in the 100th community since 2010. On Dec. 2, First Baptist Church in Mer Rouge will be replanted as Bonita Road Baptist Church Mer Rouge, becoming the second campus of Bonita Road Baptist in Bastrop. James Jenkins, director of church planting for Louisiana Baptists, said reaching this benchmark is evidence of a Great Commission fulfillment to start new congregations throughout the state. “It’s a little bit of the early church found in the book Revelation played out right here in the Bayou state,” he said. The achievement will mark a Southern Baptist presence in one-third of towns in the state, according to John Hebert, missions and ministries director for Louisiana Baptists. Also, the replant of First Baptist Mer Rouge will be the 21st church planted in 2018 and the 231st church planted since 2010. “We are excited about this accomplishment because it means that we retain a Southern Baptist presence in Mer Rouge,” Hebert said. “But it is a reminder that we have a significant amount of work to do if we are to reach the other two-thirds of communities in Louisiana. We want a … [Read more...]

Lifelong friends share tale of valor for Veterans Day

By Bob Tompkins, Special to the Message POLAND – Stories of valor in battle are not uncommon on Veterans Day, and two lifelong Southern Baptist buddies and Vietnam buddies from Poland, Louisiana, are key figures in one. Donald Ray Byrd and Charles Lee White, both 74 and friends since they were 6 years old, were drafted into the U.S. Army on the same day and trained together at Fort Polk. They also undertook artillery training together at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. They traveled on the same ship – the USS Upshur – for the 23-day journey from Tacoma, Washington, to Da Nang, Vietnam, and they served virtually side-by-side in the same artillery unit, working the “big guns” – 175 mm M107 self-propelled guns that weighed almost 29 tons and could fire rounds into zone ranges of seven, 15 or 25 miles. Their base camp was at Dong Ha, the capital of Quang Tri Province, then the northern most town in South Vietnam. Byrd was a sergeant, serving as a gun section chief, and White was an E4 specialist, serving as a driver. They were part of an artillery battery of the 4th Artillery, 1st Artillery Group near the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Thirteen soldiers man an M107, with an onboard crew of five – a section chief, driver, gunner, … [Read more...]

Operation Christmas Child set for 25th anniversary

Special to the Message JENA – Collection Week during November 12-19 will serve to mark the 25th anniversary of Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Franklin Graham’s Samaritan Purse that takes place the week before Thanksgiving. Churches and individuals will bring gift-filled shoeboxes to relay stations across the country to begin the process of providing local partners around the world with a means of reaching out to children in their communities with the good news of Jesus Christ. These simple gifts – small toys, hygiene items, and school supplies – go to children overseas affected by war, poverty, natural disaster, famine, and disease, and to children living on Native American reservations in the United States. FIRST BAPTIST MINISTERS GLOBALLY The First Baptist Church in Jena has been involved with Operation Christmas Child for 20 years, and since 2005 has been the LaSalle Parish Relay Station, taking collected shoeboxes to Kingsville Baptist Church in Pineville where they are picked up by Samaritan’s Purse 18-wheelers. In 1998, Frances McDonald was asked by First Jena’s Missions in Action Director Ernie Poole to help with a new project. She had no idea then that she would one day be called to head up the … [Read more...]