BOSSIER CITY – Christian Contemporary artist Jeremy Camp is coming to Bossier City April 21 for his “I Will Follow Tour.” A Dove award-winning and Grammy nominated artist, Camp has garnered 37 No. 1 radio hits during his career. With a career that has seen him on tour in more than 32 countries, Camp said on his website that he is a “minister who happens to play music as a way to minister.” Away from the music stage, Camp has experienced his own set of heartaches. At age 21, Camp lost his first wife to cancer and a baby to miscarriage with his current wife, Adrienne. Camp said the first song “He Knows” off his latest record is one God used to bring him comfort from his past. “When I sat down with this record, I just said, God, ‘I feel like I still have a song pertaining to all that. Just give me wisdom,’” he said. “I was drawn to the Hebrews 4:15 scripture where it says that we have a high priest that can empathize with our weaknesses. Jesus Christ is our high priest. Jesus is my everything. “The whole concept of the song is saying, Listen, in the midst of all these pains and wounds that may come up, He knows,” Camp continued. “Christ knows every single thing. We have to come to that peace and that rest of just going … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE – Louisiana College celebrated several “firsts” Monday, April 10. During a press conference, the school announced a new degree, new scholarship and the grand opening of its first engineering classroom. To equip young men and women called to be marketplace missionaries from central Louisiana to the ends of the earth, LC will offer a new bachelor’s degree in missions and ministries. Those who qualify as freshmen will automatically receive $6,000 annually through the Dr. Fred Lowery Scholarship, named after the retired pastor of First Baptist Church in Bossier City. The degree will be offered through the School of Missions and Ministries, formerly the Division of Christian Studies. This school will have emphases on apologetics, biblical studies, church planting, evangelism, missions and pastoral ministry. “I see God raising up even in this room young people who say I want to be like Paul, to be a tentmaker,” said LC President Rick Brewer. “To go to an Omaha, a Kansas City, a Houston, a Dallas, a Los Angeles and plant churches and share the Gospel, but not to have to count and depend upon income from those people you are trying to reach. “I believe there’s a … [Read more...]

By Joseph Willis Spring, 1780 Present-day Kingston, Tennessee The confluence of the Tennessee River and the Clinch River It was in the Spring of 1780, that Richard Curtis and others left South Carolina and traveled by land to the northeastern corner of Tennessee, to the banks of the Holston River. There they built three flat boats, and when the Holston River reached sufficient depth toward the end of that year, they set out for the Natchez country of Mississippi by way of the Holston, Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers. When they reached the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Clinch River (near present-day Kingston, Tennessee) they were attached by Cherokee. The first two boats escaped, but the third, which was traveling at a distance from the other two, was captured. The price paid for this attack was high, for the  Cherokee contracted smallpox from them and many died. Those on the first two boats continued on their voyage and landed safely at the mouth of Cole's Creek about 18 miles above Natchez. Twelve years past, in 1792,  before Fort Southwest Point was built at the location of this attack.  Fort Southwest Point was situated on a hill overlooking the confluence of the Tennessee River and … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer HAMMOND – Revival came to the Southeastern Louisiana University campus in early April but is expected to continue in nearby communities for the foreseeable future. Held at the campus’ University Center April 3-5, the Hope, Love and Freedom crusade featured messages by Walt Barnes, associate pastor of student and discipleship ministries at New Palestine Baptist Church in Picayune, Miss. It also included testimonies from SLU students and music by praise and worship bands from Natalbany Baptist Church, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the school’s Baptist Collegiate Ministry. The revival is one of 10 Harvest events planned in 2017, according to Wayne Jenkins, evangelism and church growth director for Louisiana Baptists. Harvest officially launched Louisiana Baptists’ campaign to “pray for every home and share Christ with every person” in Louisiana. Attendance ranged from 200 the first night to more than 700 the final night of the crusade. Lonnie Wascom, director of missions for Northshore Baptist Association, said an estimated 30 of the 90 churches in his association had members in attendance the last evening. Wascom said even though he did not see many step forward during a … [Read more...]

By Matt Tullos, Louisiana Baptists Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way,” says the Lord of Hosts. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.” Malachi 3:10 ALEXANDRIA -- So your pastor preaches on giving? Thank him! He’s giving you some important news about one of life’s greatest secrets. A pastor who invites members to tithe invites them into a life-changing, soul-transforming experience that affects every area of their lives. In truth, it’s unfair to you if he’s not teaching you about this principle that’s changed history in ways we’ll never completely know until we get to heaven! So here’s the short list of reasons you should be giving a tithe (10% of your income) to your local church. It’s worship Whether you’re in a church with electric guitars or pipe organs, everybody should have an opportunity to give because from Genesis to Revelation, giving is true worship. Think about what you are doing when you illogically say goodbye to a large slice of your income that you could be using somewhere else, doing something else. You are saying, “Lord, above everything, I believe in You. It all belongs to … [Read more...]

by Norm Miller, LCNews PINEVILLE (LCNews)--Louisiana College’s inaugural C3 Conference April 8 will focus on the necessity for Christians to discern among the world’s competing philosophies, and to proclaim the superlative character of biblical truth. “In a culture where truth claims are as variant as they are plentiful, there has never been a more critical need for the singularly exclusive truths of Christianity to be taught and told,” said  Rick Brewer, president of Louisiana College. Featuring a professor and a pastor, LC draws keynote speakers from the academy and the church for the conference, which is part of the college’s Great Commission Seminar. Rhyne Putman, assistant professor of Theology & Culture at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, will present a biblical view of sexuality with his topic: “Identity & Faithfulness in a Gender-Confused Culture.” “Sexuality is one of those issues that Millennials naturally feel very different about than previous generations. We are the grandchildren of the sexual revolution,” Putman said. “Sex outside of marriage is so normalized in our cultural programming, as is every sexual preference under the sun. The problem, even for many Christians, is that it … [Read more...]

By Marvin Jones PINEVILLE - Death by crucifixion was a public spectacle and a huge crowd had gathered on a small hill just outside of Jerusalem that day. Roman soldiers, politicians, common people, a few followers of Jesus, even Mary, his mother, and John the Apostle were there to witness the death of Jesus the Christ on a cross. Normally, onlookers observed a public display meant to symbolize justice was being served yet again. But this time witnesses experienced an act of justification that would not need repeating. THE KING’S PUBLIC EXECUTION Matthew 27:36 states “sitting down, they watched him there.” A few saints and many sinners sat down as the Savior died. Some were mocking him, some were laughing, some were contemptuous, and some were indifferent. But a few were grieving Him as He took His last breath. Importantly, all of them saw a man suffer a torturous punishment, although He had committed no crime. Already, he had been beaten with whips designed to tear the skin from the body, and the trauma to the muscles was so intense that he could not walk steadily. His veins were bared; His scalp pierced with thorns; and, His back was nothing but quivering ribbons of flesh ripped by the beatings. They saw Him … [Read more...]

By David Lane WALKER —“20,000 eggs from a helicopter,” said the younger pastor from another church in our association. I questioned, “What?!” in my head. Someone had told me all the younger pastors were Calvinists. I don’t know if he was a Calvinist, but he was crazy! While we’ve been putting our eggs out with a wheel barrow, they’ve been using a helicopter. Maybe that’s why we had a hundred people at our egg hunt last year and they had a thousand! There were about ten churches at the meeting and I committed Judson. “We’re all in!” I said. “Just don’t put me in the helicopter dropping eggs.” I did something “non-mid-fifty years old” in a “warrior dash” last fall and broke my wrist. I have a big scar on my arm to prove it – which makes a great witnessing tool: “Look, I broke my arm, did you know the world is broken?” So I am semi-crazy already, just an older crazy. This would not be the first “crazy” event I had experienced with this younger pastor and some of the other church leaders gathered in the room. Last August, Livingston Parish flooded – all of it. News reports claimed a rainfall of about three times the volume of Lake Pontchartrain. It was a crazy time and these were the same churches who came … [Read more...]

By Gevan Spinney HAUGHTON - With Easter just a couple weeks away, every Christian church is gearing up to herald the greatest message concerning the greatest event in human history: God Himself stepped out of Heaven, came to this rotten world, died on a Roman cross, was buried in a borrowed tomb and was raised alive to offer all sinful humanity grace rather than judgement. The message of Easter is the message of God’s amazing grace offered to His creation. GOD’S AMAZING SAVING GRACE “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I am found, was blind, but now I see.” John Newton wrote these words in 1772 after receiving that grace. Newton was right – the grace of God is amazing! Do you remember when you received the grace of God for salvation? I do. I was a senior in high school and my life was as good as it could be from my perspective. I was seventeen years old and living for every minute. I was raised in a home where both of my parents were very involved in my life. We were a good, law-abiding, tax-paying family that was respected in our little town. However, it often seemed as though something was missing in my life. Like many of my friends, I filled my … [Read more...]