By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE – Churches throughout the state are encouraged to pray for a great harvest of souls of youth expected to attend the upcoming Student Night Jan. 22 at the Louisiana Baptist Convention Evangelism Conference. One of the first events for 2018 associated with the statewide Harvest initiative to “pray for every home and share with every person” in Louisiana, Student Night will feature a pre-session pizza party, a demonstration by the Real Encounter stunt team and music by Elevate, a travel band from Louisiana College. The main session, which will be live streamed, will feature Ray Jones and the Community Bible Church Praise Team of San Antonio, and, a message by Brent Crowe of Orlando, Fla. Jones is the brother-in-law of Wayne Jenkins, who is retiring as Louisiana Baptists’ director of evangelism and church growth, and Crowe is a vice president with Student Leadership University, which was founded by Southern Baptist evangelist Jack Strack. The pre-session will begin at 5 p.m. inside the Family Life Center of First Baptist Church, Pineville. Steve Maltempi, youth strategist for Louisiana Baptists, said Student Night is a continuation of a challenge to share Christ … [Read more...]
Louisiana Baptist youth leader, NOBTS student, dies on mission field
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer NAKARU, Kenya – Even as family and friends mourn the loss of a loved one, they are celebrating the Christ-honoring legacy left behind by Emily Martin, an interim youth leader at Hebron Baptist Church in Bush, Louisiana, who died Jan. 1 while serving on her third mission trip to Kenya. Martin, 21, passed away following complications from a blood clot that developed inside her lungs shortly after arriving in the country. Martin organized the trip, traveling with her brother, Joshua, cousin, Ashtin Mullett, and friend, Vally O’Connor. While in the country, she worked alongside missionaries Len and Susan Eastwood, who represent Neighbors Outreach Worldwide ministry in Nakaru, Kenya. Her father, Scot, told the Baptist Message that his daughter spent her final days in a place she loved. Even before her first visit to Kenya, Martin had a strong love for missions that began as a teenager with a church evangelistic trip to Oklahoma where she took part in conducting Vacation Bible School. She also took mission trips to Belize and Guatemala in recent years. A student with the Leavell College of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Martin likely would have moved to Kenya to continue … [Read more...]
Johnson, Landry publish guidance on religious expression in schools
By Hayden Haynes, Office of U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson BATON ROUGE – U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry have released the Louisiana Student Rights Review, a publication that provides guidance on prayer and religious expression in public schools. The resource was created to answer many of the most frequently asked legal questions and misconceptions about religion on campus. The Louisiana Student Rights Review is available as a free online resource at:http://www.mikejohnsonforlouisiana.com/religious_expression_in_schools. A hard copy of the publication will soon be mailed to all school superintendents throughout the state. “It is important to remember that our Constitution and laws protect the rights of students to live out their faith on campus," said Johnson, a member of First Baptist Church, Bossier City. "Religious liberty is the first freedom listed in the Bill of Rights, and the next generation of Americans needs to be encouraged to help preserve it." The U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged almost 60 years ago, "The vigilant protection of constitutional freedoms is nowhere more vital than in the community of American schools." “Unfortunately, too many people have been misled into … [Read more...]
New year, new laws: A look at Louisiana’s new rules set to take effect for 2018
Louisiana’s sugarcane harvest better than expected
Louisiana prep school places ten minority students in top tier schools – in one week
Christmas brings a great hope for all
By Eddie Wren For four hundred years there was silence. Darkness, if you will. There was no communication from Heaven as the prophets had no word from God. That sounds very strange to those of us who have a copy, or multiple copies, of God’s Word at our disposal. Even so, that was the situation for the world before the first Christmas. Can you imagine the desperation the world found itself in? Perhaps you can. Maybe you are in such a desperate situation yourself at the present. If so, maybe reflection on the Christmas story will help. The world was in darkness and I am not sure anyone noticed. But then all at once there was light. It began with a visit from an angel to a priest named Zechariah. Luke 1:8ff tells us Zechariah was performing his priestly service to the Lord when the angel of the Lord suddenly appeared. As you can imagine, Zechariah was terrified. But the angel brought news of joy and gladness and informed Zechariah that he and Elizabeth would have a son who would be the forerunner of the Messiah. Then in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, Gabriel appeared again, but this time to a relative of Elizabeth named Mary and then to Mary’s husband to be, Joseph. The angel informed Mary and Joseph … [Read more...]
Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
By Gevan Spinney This past January I found myself in the little town of Bethlehem. As I looked over the fields that lay just outside that city my mind began to wonder a bit as I sang to myself those familiar words, "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie." This very spot has found it’s way onto several pages of our bible. It was in this spot that Ruth gleaned in Boaz' field. It was in this spot that David tended his sheep. It was in this same spot the angels announced to the shepherds the "good news of great joy which will be to all people." In each of those instances God used unlikely people to bring Him glory. Ruth was a Gentile girl from Moab, yet God had a plan to weave her unlikely life into His story of redemption. She would become the great-grandmother of King David and Matthew would later include her in his genealogy of the Lord Jesus. David was the unlikeliest of Jesse’s boys to be anointed king. He wasn’t even invited into the house when the prophet Samuel came. It wasn’t until all of his seven older brothers were paraded by the prophet, that they sent for David in that Bethlehem field. The one anointed that day was the ruddy, bright-eyed, song-writing shepherd; with the heart … [Read more...]
The trouble with “Joy to the World”
By John J. Frady Some of our most beloved Christmas songs, when you stop to consider the lyrics, are not really about Christmas. Jingle Bells, Sleigh Ride, and Winter Wonderland are more about the winter season than they are about Christmas. My Favorite Things is from the musical The Sound of Music and takes place when children are frightened by a storm. Finally, Let It Snow and Baby It’s Cold Outside are about…well…not Christmas, that’s for sure. And then, there’s the beloved Christmas carol Joy To The World, which as it turns out, is not really about Christmas at all. Joy To The World, sung mostly at Christmastime, has more to do with the second coming of Jesus than the first. Isaac Watts, the English poet and originator of the lyrics, draws the song’s initial inspiration, not from the birth of Jesus narrative in Luke 2, but from Psalm 98. He paraphrased Psalm 98 in his collection titled The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of the New Testament. Joy to the World was taken from his portion titled The Messiah’s Coming and Kingdom based on the following from the King James Version: Make a joy noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with the … [Read more...]
I’ll be gone for Christmas?
By Stewart Holloway Home is where Christmas memories are made. Whether it’s at mom and dad’s, grandma and grandpa’s, our in-laws, or someone else’s place, home is where Christmas memories are made. That’s why we want to be home for Christmas. In fact, this longing prompts 100 million Americans to travel every year and inspires artists to write songs and movies about being home for Christmas. Yet, there are challenges with that longing. In 1943, Bing Crosby recorded “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” The short, 8-line song touched the hearts of Americans who had loved ones serving overseas during WWII as well as G.I.’s who heard it around the globe. The promise is made “I’ll be home for Christmas” but then the reality is admitted, “If only in my dreams.” That’s true for many of us – we can’t go home – or we can only do so in our dreams. Maybe you always went to grandma’s house for Christmas – but now grandma has gone to be with Jesus, and you can’t go there anymore. Maybe you moved from the house you called home. Maybe your parents have passed away and there is no home to go back to. Maybe you just can’t go home because of work or you can’t afford to travel. Perhaps you’re on the other side of the issue - someone you want to … [Read more...]
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