[img_assist|nid=7472|title=2011 Mid-Year Report of Cooperation|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=458|height=640] … [Read more...]

[img_assist|nid=7480|title=Hebert's Coffeehouse|desc=Mark Hebert and his wife Terry – on leave from their responsibilities with the International Mission Board in Central Asia – use Hebert’s Coffeehouse in Baton Rouge both as a means of making money and also as a way of sharing the Gospel with others while providing them with coffee.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=480]By Quinn Lavespere, Message Summer Staff Writer   BATON ROUGE – Mark Hebert and his wife Terry have made the Gospel of Jesus Christ tasteful in more ways than one.   The couple – on leave from their responsibilities with the International Mission Board in Central Asia – use Hebert’s Coffeehouse in Baton Rouge both as a means of making money and also as a way of sharing the Gospel with others while providing them with delicious coffee.   “We want people to come in here and enjoy themselves,” Mark Hebert said.  “At the same time, we feel it necessary to tell them about Jesus.”   The idea for the coffeehouse first occurred to the Heberts about four or five years ago, Mark Hebert said.   “We started thinking about what we’d do once we moved back from overseas,” Hebert said. “About three years ago, I … [Read more...]

By Quinn Lavespere, Message Summer Staff Writer   BLANCHARD – It doesn’t look like a place that houses a bunch of ministries. Then again, God always did use the humble to bring about the greatest things.   [img_assist|nid=7482|title=First Blanchard's Orchard|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=75]First Baptist Church of Blanchard’s off-campus ministry “The Orchard” has provided tremendous lifeblood for the church in its drive to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.   “What God has allowed us to do with this building is just incredible,” said First Blanchard pastor Doug Allen. “It’s allowed for so many opportunities for us to minister to others.”   Allen said The Orchard was given to First Blanchard by God after he and his congregation sensed a need to be actively involved in the community.   “God gave us the opportunity to have and renovate a building that someone in the community provided,” the pastor said. “It now houses a coffeeshop that’s open six days a week and gives out free coffee, a clothes closet that provides free clothing and school uniforms to young children, a tutoring service provided free of cost after school to children, a computer … [Read more...]

By Al Quartemont, Special to the Message   NORTHSHORE – Having a heart for the lost takes some men and women across the world. For others, it brings them home[img_assist|nid=7484|title=Lane Corley|desc=Church planter Lane Corley and his wife Heather live and work in St. Tammany Parish with their two sons: 5-year-old Hudson and 9-year-old Jackson.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=427].   That is the story of Lane and Heather Corley.   Having been raised in LaSalle Parish, upon his graduation from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, Lane and Heather both felt a call to move back to their home state of Louisiana to help plant churches.   After consulting with state strategists from the Louisiana Baptist Convention, the Corleys found themselves in St. Tammany Parish, one of the least “churched” areas in Louisiana, where they are currently working on their second church plant, Bridge Church in Covington.   “We just completed a probe of the Northshore Baptist Association area and found that less than 4 percent of the population are attending Southern Baptist churches on any given Sunday,” Corley said. “We also discovered that the population has grown … [Read more...]

By Quinn Lavespere, Message Summer Staff Writer   [img_assist|nid=7486|title=Kingdom Builders|desc=Members of Kingdom Builders for the Lord, a non-profit organization, built a mission house called the Refuge Prayer and Care Assembly for the Refuge Baptist Church of Echo.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=480]ECHO – A group whose goal is to expand the Lord’s kingdom found a perfectly named church to do so with.   Led by vice president Randy Ray and building coordinator Buddy Willis, Kingdom Builders for the Lord built a mission house called the Refuge Prayer and Care Assembly for the Refuge Baptist Church of Echo in what was a four-day construction effort.   “It took a lot of collaboration and work,” Ray said. “Since it was for the Lord, it was worth it.”   Kingdom Builders for the Lord is a non-profit organizations consisting of more than 200 volunteers.   Over the last several years they have built churches in Oklahoma, South Dakota, Arkansas and numerous projects in Louisiana.   “At Kingdom Builders, we like to take on anything that we feel is a worthy cause,” Ray said. “We feel that God has blessed us in many an effort.”   The building of Refuge’s … [Read more...]

By Jennifer Davis Rash, Special to the Message   NEW ORLEANS – While some Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) seminary leaders are launching new building programs and adding new faculty members, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary officials have found themselves in an opposite position.   Their most recent move was to lay off three professors, move four professors from full-time to part-time status and eliminate six ministry-based faculty positions.   “The core issue we face is that we have more full-time faculty members than our Cooperative Program (CP) income will allow us to support,” New Orleans Seminary President Chuck Kelley told The Alabama Baptist prior to the seminary trustees meeting April 12–13.   “There are two reasons for this,” Kelley said. “First giving to the Cooperative Program is in decline. It has been down for two consecutive years. Indications are it will be down for a third year. … A decline of CP income for the SBC means a smaller CP budget for SBC entities, including New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary,” he explained.   “Second our portion of the SBC operating budget is smaller due to the lingering effect of Hurricane Katrina [which devastated … [Read more...]

By Staff, NOBTS Communications New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) recently announced the Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 class schedules for graduate and undergraduate students studying at the seminary’s Louisiana extension centers. Central Louisiana extension center NOBTS will offer the following graduate courses at its Central Louisiana extension center, which meets on the campus of Louisiana College. Classes meet on Mondays: • Fall 2011 — Spiritual Formation 1 (8 to 9 a.m.), Greek Grammar (9 a.m. to 12 p.m.), Adult Ministry (10 a.m. to 12 p.m.), Exploring the Old Testament (1 to 4 p.m.), Baptist Heritage (4 to 6 p.m.) • Spring 2012 — Intermediate Greek Grammar for Exegesis (8 to 11 a.m.), Pastoral Ministry (12 to 3 p.m.), Exploring the New Testament (3 to 6 p.m.), Spiritual Formation 2 (6 to 7 p.m.), Teaching the Bible (7 to 10 p.m.) North Louisiana extension center NOBTS will offer the following graduate courses at its North Louisiana extension center, which meets at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport. Classes meet on Mondays: • Fall 2011 — Greek Grammar 1 (9 a.m. to 12 p.m.), Spiritual Formation 1 (12 to 1 p.m.), Exploring the Old Testament (1 to 4 p.m.), Baptist Heritage (4 to 6 p.m.) • Spring 2012 — … [Read more...]

By Mickey Noah, Baptist Press ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) – As part of its expanding emphasis on church planting, the North American Mission Board is dedicating up to $15 million for financing new church plants across North America. The new church plant loan initiative was approved by NAMB’s board of trustees at their regular meeting on May 11. The board’s church finance ministry will continue to make loans to established, existing churches. “We are serious about planting new churches and giving church planters all the tools and resources they need to be successful,” NAMB President Kevin Ezell said. “The new church plant loan program, recently approved by the trustees, is just another example of that.” NAMB and its predecessor, the Home Mission Board, have been making loans to established churches since 1900. But this marks the first time NAMB has utilized its church loan resources specifically for creating new loan products for church plants, said Karl Dietz, director of church finance ministry for NAMB in Alpharetta, Ga. Interest income from the loans flows directly back to North American missions. As of April 30, Dietz said NAMB had $135 million representing 428 outstanding church loans on its books. Dietz, whose team consults … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   JONESBORO – After last summer’s successful “first-ever” Youth Explosion, the second-annual no-cost event has been set for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 7-10 at the Jonesboro High School gymnasium. Teens across the state are invited.   Last year, about 2,800 teens and their leaders participated in the four-night, high-energy event.   “We wanted to be able to provide a pretty huge event that would bring our teenagers back right before school starts,” said Clay Smith, youth minister at First Baptist Church of Jonesboro. The “we” in his statement includes seven or eight youth ministers from three associations, Smith explained.   “We want churched kids to bring lost kids, and to fire up the Christians to share Christ with their classmates and friends,” Smith said. “We got so much positive feedback and response last year that we knew no doubt we would have to do this again. ...   “This year we have a total different line-up,” Smith said.   Ed Newton, a youth evangelist from Tennessee has been tapped as each night’s main speaker. Newton was guest speaker last November at the Youth Evangelism Conference and in March at the Pre-teen Invasion. Read more about … [Read more...]

[img_assist|nid=7492|title=Shoes for souls|desc=The youth of Faith Baptist Church in Tioga recently led the way in planning and promoting an effort to raise dozens and dozens of pairs of shoes for children in overseas orphanages. “Foot protection is a key issue in preventing injury and disease in developing countries and often these shoes are in short supply,” says Faith Tioga Pastor Clark Palmer. The shoes were taken to the Dallas headquarters of Buckner Benevolences, a well-known ministry organization. Mission teams from other churches will travel to developing nations to distribute the shoes in the near future. “By participation in efforts such as these we educate ourselves about the depth of need in other parts of the world,” Palmer says. “While no person or church can address every need, we can add to what we are already doing through the Cooperative Program and our IMB/NAMB/Georgia Barnette giving, and make a difference in yet another area.”|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=427] … [Read more...]