By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer SHREVEPORT – Just two years ago, little Hayden Heaberlin was facing the fight of his life, one that no four year old should have to face – a battle with cancer. But those days of darkness were pierced by the light of God’s mercy and provision. There was the time when 50 people from his church surrounded his home in a prayer circle while his family was with him in Memphis, Tenn., where he was receiving treatments; and, there were countless times when his family relayed to him text messages, phone calls and letters of encouragement. But not even the news that his cancer was in remission caused him to celebrate like he did Oct. 23 when he was baptized at Calvary Baptist Church in Shreveport. The worship center was packed with happy family, friends and church members, and Hayden was all smiles as Pastor John Lary baptized him. “You are a new person,” Hayden said about his conversion. “You don’t look different on the outside but on the inside.” Hayden said his battle with cancer “was tough, but I got through it because God helped me. “He can do anything,” Hayden added. “God healed me.” His mom April describes the day Hayden gave his heart and life to Christ as the day … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer LAFAYETTE – At an early age, Ed Newton was faced with a challenge few eight-year-old boys deal with – serving as interpreter for both of his deaf parents. In the midst of that adversity, God drew Newton to a personal relationship with Christ and grew him to become the spiritual leader of one of the largest congregations in the U.S. Now, the 40-year-old pastor of the 27,000-member Community Bible Church in San Antonio, Texas, uses those experiences of his early life to help youth who are dealing with difficult circumstances. “I made a commitment to [Louisiana Baptist Youth Strategist] Steve Maltempi several years ago to always pour into the lives of teenagers,” Newton said. “Developing the next generation as strong spiritual leaders is crucial. I am very excited about what God will do at YEC.” Called to the ministry as a high school senior, Newton is no stranger to student evangelism. He has served as a youth pastor, faculty member at Student Leadership University in Orlando, Fla., and executive director of the LIFT TOUR, an extension of Student Leadership University in partnership with LifeWay Students. Newton will share his story with more thousands of students expected … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer RUSTON – The Harvest evangelistic initiative, a two-year statewide soul-winning campaign, will kick off officially at the 2017 Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference with an outreach effort targeting teens and college students. The Evangelism Conference also will feature inspiring messages by speakers from Louisiana and beyond, Jan. 23-24, at Temple Baptist Church. Still, the sessions will focus primarily on the Harvest initiative, which aims to enlist at least 700 Louisiana Baptist churches to “pray for every home and share Christ with every person” in Louisiana. SOUL-WINNING FOCUS Scheduled during the first session of the Evangelism Conference, the kickoff will feature a Gospel presentation by Ed Newton, pastor of Community Bible Church in San Antonio, Texas. Prior to his message, students will gather inside the church family life center for a pizza party and entertainment. Organizers are encouraging churches around the state to host simultaneous similar events – including the showing of the live Internet broadcast of Newton’s message -- to broaden the geographic reach of this initial event. The remaining sessions of the Evangelism Conference will be broadcast over the … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE – Louisiana College president Rick Brewer credits God and GuideOne insurance for the $12 million of ongoing campus improvement projects that stem from an April 2015 hail storm. Since late May, 17 of 18 school buildings have received new roofs, and some facilities have received interior upgrades. Brewer calls all of the improvements a miracle. “How all of this has unfolded is nothing short of God’s work,” Brewer said. “What began as the inspection of one hail-damaged roof led to the discovery of additional damage caused by an April storm, a year ago. We could not be more grateful for the consideration and cooperation of GuideOne insurance.” Louisiana College contacted GuideOne insurance to request an inspection, which revealed the refurbishment would be rather costly but the insurer agreed to cover all the repairs. Additionally, Campers on Mission, a national Christian fellowship, offered to do some repairs and updates in other areas of the campus. They launched the first wave of construction, refurbishing a fountain near Alexandria Hall, the main administration building, and formed concrete steps close to a dormitory. They also painted numerous curbs, … [Read more...]

By Tammy Sharp, Regional Correspondent SHREVEPORT – Members of Cornerstone Community Church do not see color at all, said Pastor John Anderson. “We see family.” Indeed, the two-year-old church, whose Sunday worship attendance has reached as high as 80, represents a rainbow of races, with membership comprising approximately 60 percent Blacks, 30 percent Whites, and 10 percent Hispanics – a unique mix, especially considering recent racial tensions that have plagued many communities. “Because Christ is the one who breaks down the middle wall, what’s going on in our nation is not affecting our unity at all,” said Anderson. “We realize this is a sin issue, not a white/black issue.” Anderson, who is white, has been pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Bossier City for two years, as of November. But he began planting seeds as early as Oct. 31, 2011, when, as part of his job with the Shreveport-Bossier Rescue Mission, he first set up a tent downtown to minister to gang members, prostitutes and the homeless, baptizing them in the Red River as people came to know the Lord. After three years, he was laid off from the rescue mission, but not from the call to minister. Although he lost all his equipment, including … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer FRANKLIN – Darrell Guy is a big believer that the church should band together and serve outside the walls of its building. He is pastor of Unity One Baptist Church in Franklin, a predominantly African-American congregation, and his members are committed to ministering to the needs of the community. They distribute bags of food and serve lunch plates to residents of Franklin, and the children in the church raised money to purchase an armored vest and donated it to the local police department. Guy said the encouragement that has broken out among the church’s neighbors has been contagious, and the resulting receptivity has helped the congregation to spread Christ’s love throughout Franklin. “We wanted them to know we are praying for them,” Guy said. “Those are the things we are doing that are sticking out in the minds of the community. They are seeing the church is about giving.” The outreach has produced fruits for the congregation, which began with 12 people participating in a Bible study in Guy’s home during the summer of 2015. By that fall, the group had doubled, creating a welcomed problem – the need to find a bigger space to accommodate the growth. The … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – Natural disasters of proportions unmatched in Louisiana’s history required equally historic responses in 2016. Flooding, the likes of which had not been experienced before swept through the state not once but twice this year -- first in March, and later in August, dumped record amounts of rain, causing deaths and enormous property damage. The one-two punch left the state reeling in the aftermath. TRAGEDY & TRIUMPH Yet, through it all, Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief teams, aided by Southern Baptist volunteers from around the country, were faithful to respond – offering the comfort of a helping hand, sharing a message of hope in Christ, and sometimes just prayer-- despite suffering personal losses as well. The spring floods, resulting from more than three feet of cumulative rainfall in 48 hours in some areas, affected more than 18,000 homes and damaged 14 Louisiana Baptist churches. Importantly, an estimated 85 percent of the state’s trained disaster relief personnel were impacted during this time, yet they responded to the many needs of others. Southern Baptists were up to the challenge, too, immediately sending money and hundreds of volunteers to … [Read more...]

By Gary D. Myers, NOBTS Communications NEW ORLEANS – The musty smell of antiquity fills the air as music professor Ed Steele positions an old leather-bound book on an odd-looking scanner. With the press of a button the scanner comes to life, a light passes over the page, and before long a scanned page appears on Steele’s computer screen. Steele, a faculty member at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s Leavell College, spent much of his recent sabbatical scanning and digitizing page after page from rare hymnals. To date, he has scanned and digitized nearly 30 of the seminary’s 400-plus rare hymnals and a few hymnbooks from private collections. The digitized hymns are available in Adobe PDF format free of charge at the seminary’s online home for the new Center for Hymnological Research: http://www.nobts.edu/library/hymnological-research. “Because of their condition and their age, although we have them, the rare hymnals are not usable, or available or accessible,” Steele said, pointing to a shelf full of rare hymnals. “Now the accessibility comes from this scanner.” The Martin Music Library at NOBTS holds more than 5,000 hymnals which were donated by Edmond Keith, a layman who loved hymnody. Most of the … [Read more...]

… [Read more...]

ON THE MOVE James Daniel is the new youth pastor at First Baptist Church, French Settlement. Fred Dyess is interim pastor at Victory Baptist Church, Walker. Matthew (wife Laura) Montgomery is the new pastor at Belcher Baptist Church, Belcher. Autry (wife Kristen) Brown is the new music minister at Oil City Baptist Church, Vivian. Bill Green resigned as pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Vivian. IN REMEMBERANCE Walter P. Cloud, a member of Elizabeth Baptist Church, passed away Oct. 4 following a brief illness. Born May 28, 1935 in Oakdale, Cloud, 81, received a Doctorate in Religion and a Doctorate in Theology. He pastored two churches in West Virginia and five in Louisiana during his 51 years of service to the Lord. He served on the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s Moral and Social Concerns Committee from 1998-2000 and was a chaplain in Gallipolis, Ohio and in Oakdale. He also wrote several religious books and pamphlets. He and his wife did missionary work in Big Falls at Punta Gorda and Belize City, Belize Central America and in Iloilo City, Philippines. He served proudly in the U.S. Army and was a member of the American Legion in Oakdale. Even after his retirement, he continued his ministry work by teaching a … [Read more...]