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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Family Serve weekend a unique chance for parents, children to serve together

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer LAKE CHARLES – Parents and children will have the opportunity to serve alongside one another during the upcoming Family Serve weekend in Lake Charles. Scheduled for Sept. 25-26, Family Serve will encourage families to be on mission through a variety of local ministries in the city. The weekend begins on Sept. 25 at 5:30 pm, with a dinner, opening worship and mission team social at First Baptist Church in Lake Charles. The following day, families will eat breakfast and worship together before heading out to work at mission sites. Mission opportunities on Sept. 26 include sharing the gospel at block parties, prayer walking in neighborhoods, operating free wellness checks at a block party and assisting church plants with outreach. The Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home will have its Mobile Pregnancy Care Center stationed at Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church to offer free ultrasound and pregnancy testing. Family Serve weekend will conclude with a worship celebration, led by Jeff Slaughter who wrote songs for LifeWay Christian Resources’ Vacation Bible School for 16 years. The $40 registration cost per person includes program fee, three meals, church lodging, t-shirt and funds for local … [Read more...]

Faithfulness, courage lift state past Katrina

By Will Hall, Message Editor NEW ORLEANS – A decade ago, it was difficult to see anything more than the devastation that accompanied Katrina as she swept across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. But looking back now, it’s possible to see the triumph that emerged from the tragedy. After passing over the Florida panhandle as a moderate Category 1 hurricane, then weakening to a tropical storm, Katrina grew in ferocity fueled by the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, growing in intensity to a 200-mile wide Category 5 tempest. But before it made a predicted direct hit on New Orleans, dry air from the Midwest absorbed some of its energy, dropping it to a strong Category 3 system and causing it to shift direction, making landfall about 25 miles east of the city, according to the Houston Chronicle. Moreover, the winds over New Orleans (where the weakest part of the storm passed) reached only Category 1 levels and the storm surge failed to top the levees as predicted. But, where a natural disaster of the predicted magnitude failed to materialize in New Orleans a manmade one burst forth. Levees along the Mississippi River held, but some holding back Lake Ponchartrain, Lake Borgne and the waterlogged swamps and … [Read more...]

As for me and my house…

By Diane DuBois   Recent figures from a nationwide study show an alarming increase in a group of people now being referred to as the "nones". They describe themselves as atheists,agnostics or simply of no particular faith. This group has, between the years of 2007 and 2015, grown from 16 percent of the population to a near 23 percent. During this same time frame, the Christian numbers have dropped from 78 percent to just under 71 percent of the population. The Protestant faith which once made this country predominately Protestant now figures in at only 46.5 percent. The "nones" ,however, have grown at an alarming rate totaling 56 million. That makes them the second largest group trailing behind evangelicals who total in at 62 million. What does all that mean to us, as Christians? We, as the church, already know that religion is losing it's influence in public life.  A recent Pew study confirmed that 72 percent of Americans believe that to be true as well. We see the demise reflected in the politics of our country. According to a Gallop poll, there is a striking difference between how the religious and non non-religious vote and the platforms they side with. The first group tends to be more conservative … [Read more...]

Mental health advisory team gives final report

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Noting that we are in "a new day of awareness" about mental health issues, Frank S. Page expressed appreciation to the Mental Health Advisory Group at its culminating meeting and received the group's final report. In response to a motion on mental health ministry and a resolution on mental health concerns introduced at the 2013 SBC annual meeting, Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, appointed the Mental Health Advisory Group to "report and advise [him] on possible ways of better informing Southern Baptists about available mental health service providers and resources." Numerous individuals both within and outside the SBC have been encouraged by the elevation of mental health ministry needs and the work of the advisory group, Page said. Following the group's first meeting in spring, 2014, chairman Tony Rose, pastor of LaGrange Baptist Church in LaGrange, Ky., divided the group into teams to investigate various facets of mental health ministry in SBC life. The full advisory group met again on Nov. 21, 2014 in Nashville to discuss each team's findings and begin the process of collating their findings into its report. Professional and Church Counseling Services The … [Read more...]

Bosnian immigrant finds more than just the American dream

By Karen Pearce, Message Staff Writer SHREVEPORT – Warmth enveloped Jasmine when she came up from the baptismal waters at Broadmoor Baptist Church. “Everything was warm around me and I was feeling happiness and like finally I’m complete,” she said. “I can say it now aloud.... ‘That’s me, that’s what I am, I am Baptist.’” “I can say it out loud now, ‘That’s me, that’s what I am. I am Baptist,’” Jasmine, a Bosnian immigrant, said after being baptized by Donny Durr, minister of business administration at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport. Although being Baptist is a common thing in Jasmine’s current home state of Louisiana, it is quite unusual in her home country. She grew up in Bosnia where Islam, Orthodoxy and Catholicism vie for prominence. She was born into a Muslim family -- her grandfather was an imam. But her father was an atheist and her mother was never willing to be labeled. “She always said there is just one God and God will help you. That was her way – to find God, to believe that He’s a savior, He’s a father,” Jasmine said. Her mother’s faith opened the way for Jasmine to seek. Today, Jasmine knows that she has met the true God, Jesus Christ, and she has taken the brave step to publically declare her faith … [Read more...]

Louisiana Notables

ON THE MOVE Harold (wife Brooke) Brown is the new pastor at First Baptist Church, Ringgold. Aaron (wife Sharron) Dickinson is the new pastor at Swartz First Baptist Church, Monroe. Jordan Doyle is the new pastor at Pine Grove Baptist Church, DeQuincy. Larry (wife Sue) Anderson is the new worship leader and music director at Ouachita Baptist Church, West Monroe. Emily Funderberg is new children’s director at Ellerbe Road Baptist Church, Shreveport. Ralph Hines has retired at Ferry Lake Baptist Church, Oil City. Chris Willcutt is new as pastor at Grawood Baptist Church, Keithville. Tom Cole is new as minister of music at Shreve City Baptist Church, Shreveport. Hardy Yeats is new as minister of music at Kingston Road Baptist Church, Shreveport. Calep (wife Robin) Lewis is new as senior adult/associate pastor at Trinity Heights Baptist Church, Shreveport. HOMECOMING Hillcrest Baptist Church, Franklinton: Church anniversary celebration, July 19, 11 a.m. at the Education Building at the Washington Parish Fair Grounds. Attendees will meet in Education Building for a brief program and then proceed to the newly renovated Flower House for a pot luck meal/picnic. Pastor: Andrew Voss. Beech Springs Baptist … [Read more...]

Disaster relief volunteers lead three to Christ during flood cleanup

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer SHREVEPORT – Two Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers were nearly speechless recently and for good reason. While cleaning out of homes that were damaged by recent floodwaters of the Red River, Freddie Arnold and Ginger McBride witnessed first-hand to others who subsequently accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior there. “It adds a spark of enthusiasm,” said Arnold, a white hat with Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief. “And it encourages everyone to be evangelistic.” Arnold’s conversion experience was with a then-Mormon who worked with a friend from First Baptist Church in Franklinton on a mud-out team. After suffering from overheating, the man stayed behind for a couple of days, which led to a series of conversations about Christ with Arnold and others at the host site of Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport – before eventually converting from Mormonism to Christianity. “He came to tell me he was saved and I told him that was fantastic,” Arnold recalls. “Before he could even get across the room where we were, I heard him call his wife over the phone and others there his news.” Meanwhile, McBride was assessing flooded homes with Virginia Disotell, another … [Read more...]

Rousing patriotic salute at University Baptist packed out

By R.C. Miller, Regional Reporter BATON ROUGE – Randy Gurie isn’t claiming any out-of-body experiences, but he does own up to a vision that eventually filled University Baptist Church’s sanctuary to capacity on July 4th. Because for Gurie, it wasn’t a matter of “seeing is believing.” “For me, it was ‘believing is seeing,’” Gurie says. “From the beginning, I literally saw everything about this program, from the lighting to the music performances.” And it resulted in the community program, “A Patriotic Salute to America.” The red-white-and-blue program featured performances by the Baton Rouge Concert Band, a community choir and a group of soloists that included one by the now retired “Voice of the LSU Tigers” Jim Hawthorne and narration by Louisiana Public Broadcasting President and CEO Beth Courtney. That’s not forgetting performances by the five-member gospel group Celebration, which hosted the event.  Gurie and fellow vocalists Kevin Hambrice, Fred Dressel, Lionel Bailey and Trippe Hawthorne have been performing in this group for 20 years. They perform year-round at churches and events in the Baton Rouge area, sometimes traveling around the state and in Mississippi. Those programs have always been made up of … [Read more...]

We do not embrace a lifestyle that contradicts the Bible

By Tom Shepard It is a defining, sad statement I must acknowledge that the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled this month that same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states. I would remind people, and indeed of this country, the Supreme Court did not define marriage, and nor is it entitled to re-define it. Marriage was created by God in the Garden of Eden. This is the same God who created man and woman. God’s decisions are neither up for review nor revision by any man-made court in the land. God makes a clear statement about the definition of marriage in the Holy Scripture: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Many mighty nations including the Greek and Roman empires have all disappeared when they walked down the road of blatant rejection of God’s moral absolutes. We need to pray for our nation. If we continue to reject God’s principles and precepts we cannot expect to have His hand on this country. The President made a statement in his gay pride event he hosted in the White House last week. He said, “There has been an incredible shift in attitudes across the country.” What the president does not understand is the … [Read more...]

Bosnian immigrant finds more than American dream

By Karen Pearce, Baptist Press SHREVEPORT (BP) - Warmth enveloped Jasmine when she came up from the baptismal waters at Broadmoor Baptist Church. "Everything was warm around me and I was feeling happiness and like finally I'm complete," she said. "I can say it now aloud.... 'That's me, that's what I am, I am Baptist.'" "I can say it out loud now, 'That's me, that’s what I am. I am Baptist,'" Jasmine, a Bosnian immigrant, said after being baptized by Donny Durr, minister of business administration at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport. Although being Baptist is a common thing in Jasmine's current home state of Louisiana, it is quite unusual in her home country. She grew up in Bosnia where Islam, Orthodoxy and Catholicism vie for prominence. She was born into a Muslim family - her grandfather was an imam. But her father was an atheist and her mother was never willing to be labeled. "She always said there is just one God and God will help you. That was her way -- to find God, to believe that He's a savior, He's a father," Jasmine said. Her mother's faith opened the way for Jasmine to seek. Today, Jasmine knows that she has met the true God, Jesus Christ, and she has taken the brave step to publically declare her … [Read more...]