By Mickey Noah, Baptist Press ALPHARETTA, Ga. – It was about 6:10 a.m. CDT on Monday, Aug. 29, 2005 when Hurricane Katrina, a huge Category 3 hurricane, made its monstrous landfall in southeast Louisiana.  Packing 125 mph winds with intense central pressure, Katrina would be the third most powerful storm to ever hit the United States – and one of the deadliest. More than 1,800 would perish directly in the hurricane itself or from the unprecedented flooding to follow.  Eighty percent of New Orleans and surrounding parishes were inundated with 15-20 feet of water when levees broke, and the putrid floodwaters – contaminated with sewage, gasoline, oil and chemicals – lingered for weeks. With some 300,000 homes and businesses damaged or destroyed, Katrina left $81 billion in damages in its wake, the costliest hurricane in U.S. history.  Mississippi beach towns like Gulfport and Biloxi – where the surge flooded inland as far as 12 miles – were devastated. One-third of New Orleans’ population moved away and never returned. Today, the North American Mission Board’s Mickey Caison will tell you that just as things in the U.S. were never the same after Pearl Harbor, JFK’s assassination or 9/11, the Gulf Coast and Southern … [Read more...]

By Polly House, LifeWay Communications RIDGECREST, N.C. – Davis Francis and Bruce Raley had high hopes for “Great Expectations.” It turned out a bigger success than they even imagined. “Great Expectations,” LifeWay’s online Sunday school training event broadcast during Sunday School Week at LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center, had an online viewership of perhaps 12,000 people from around the world, according to Raley, LifeWay’s director of leadership and evangelism training and events and co-host of the event. “We think it’s the largest group ever gathered for Sunday school training,” he said. The training is now archived and available, along with speaker PowerPoints, at LifeWay.com/GreatExpectations. There is no charge for downloading or viewing. Francis, LifeWay’s director of Sunday school, discipleship, church and network partnerships, served as co-host with Raley. Using an agricultural metaphor, he told viewers and live audience participants that to get a “Great Expectations” Sunday school class, seeds have to be planted. Healthy things, whether plants or classes, will grow. Three characteristics of a “Great Expectations” Sunday school are: They expect new people and a great Bible study experience each week, … [Read more...]

By Kelly Boggs, Editor SHREVEPORT – More than one hundred pastors and laymen traveled to Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport Aug. 9 for the specific purpose of learning how to pray more effectively for the lost. The gathering featured Evangelist Lee Thomas teaching the principles presented in his book Praying Effectively for the Lost. Thomas is a former Louisiana pastor having led First Baptist Tullos and Westwood Baptist Church in Westlake. Rod Masteller, president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, and Bill Robertson, director of the Pastoral Leadership Team, spearheaded the LBC-sponsored event. Masteller said he saw the need for the gathering of pastors after conducting seven statewide listening meetings and reading Thomas’ book. “We truly are in desperate times,” Masteller said. “I have listened and I have heard the same from pastors throughout the state. We are past programs to fix our problems. I’m desperate and prayer is really the only answer.” Prior to the meeting, Masteller had never met Thomas, but said, “His book really spoke to my heart.” “Asking is the rule of the Kingdom,” Thomas said quoting Charles Spurgeon. He stressed that the key to winning people to faith in Christ is not just … [Read more...]

By Jerry Love, Louisiana Baptist Foundation Planned Giving Director ALEXANDRIA – The Louisiana Baptist Foundation held its quarterly Board of Trustees meeting on July 27 to review the operations and investment returns for the second quarter of the year. After an opening prayer by Travis Morehart, a trustee from Shreveport, Investment Committee Chairman Brent Cating of Lake Charles turned the meeting over to the Foundation’s investment consultant.  Lee Morris, Managing Director of Graystone Consulting, addressed the Investment Committee via video conference from North Carolina. Morris, who has been the Foundation’s consultant since 2002, briefly reviewed the last several years of fluctuation in the overall stock market. The year 2007 saw good returns followed by the severe downturn in 2008.  The year 2009 presented a nice recovery from the losses in ’08, while 2010 started off positive but suffered a pullback in the second quarter.   The early weeks of July have shown a rally that offset the earlier contraction.  Most of the analysts employed by Graystone expect the remainder of the year to be positive. Morris reported that leading economists disagree on the direction of the market over the next several years.  Some … [Read more...]

METAIRIE – Crescent City Rock was rockin’ today with a great “Back 2 School” Sunday, said church planting Pastor Jim Louviere Aug 9. “The Crescent City Rock Leadership Team works very hard and I’m so thankful for them,” the pastor said. “We had more than 120 moms, dads and kids today, and 85 percent of the people in our worship service accepted my challenge to come back next week for our ‘Get In The Game’ Series that starts next Sunday. “We also are celebrating 14 people in our worship service who accepted Jesus as their Savior,” Louviere continued in a Monday morning email. “More than half the people who came are brand new people!” Louviere preached from Numbers 13 and 14. The title was “Are You in the Game?” It was an either-or question, Louviere said: Are you following God’s exciting plans for your life to the promised land, or are you dying in the desert? TIOGA – Aug. 8 was “a great day” at Faith Baptist Church in Tioga. “It was thrilling and exciting and joyful to be a part of seeing six baptized,” emailed Pastor Clark Palmer to those on the church’s email list. Faith Tioga, where about 130 people attend Sunday morning worship service, baptized 10 people over the last four weeks, Palmer said – six from VBS, … [Read more...]

Compiled by Joanne Brechtel COMINGS & GOINGS Thomas Walker (wife Gabrielle), new as pastor at Calvary Baptist, Bayou Chicot, from Bridgedale Baptist, Metairie. DEATHS SULPHUR – Sharon “Sheri” Miles, 63, wife of Carey Association Director of Missions J. P. Miles, died Monday, Aug. 2. AVAILABLE Steve Miller available for supply or interim pastor; call 318.793.4032. Oscar Saffel available for full-time or interim pastor; call 318.576.3032. NEEDED Bi-vocational pastor at Marksville Baptist; call 318.253.8724 or 318.253.8185; send resume to PO Box 442, Marksville LA 71351 or email myranch@bellsouth.net. DEDICATIONS METAIRIE - Celebration Church dedicated its newly-renovated worship and ministry facilities Sunday, Aug. 1; Dennis Watson, pastor. ANNIVERSARIES AND HOMECOMINGS PITKIN - Occupy II Baptist: Homecoming 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 5; Michael Evans, speaker and pastor. HORNBECK – First Baptist: Homecoming 11 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 22; dinner on the grounds; Jack Bell, pastor. SAREPTA – New Sarepta Baptist: 100th Anniversary celebrated Aug. 7-8; Mike Richardson, pastor. REVIVALS PITKIN - Occupy II Baptist: 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3 through Saturday, Sept. 4; Jason Townley, evangelist; Michael Evans, … [Read more...]

METAIRIE – Two years ago the Celebration Congregation partnered with other Christians and churches from the New Orleans region to prayerwalk through the Central City area of New Orleans. “At that time, Central City was the most crime-filled, violence-prone area of our region,” wrote Pastor Dennis Watson of Celebration Church in his Aug. 10 newsletter. “During one of our monthly city-wide pastors prayer gatherings, the Lord had spoken to us and communicated to us that He wanted us to prayer-walk through Central City. So, on Saturday, June 30, 2008, almost 1,000 people from our various churches showed up to begin what would become a several-week long prayer-walking effort. Nine months later, then-Chief of Police Warren Riley was meeting with our Pastor’s Coalition. He shared with us that in 2008 New Orleans was again the murder capital of the U.S., but that surprisingly the murder and violence rate had declined significantly in the last half of 2008, especially in the Central City area. “One of our pastors said, ‘I know why the crime and violence rate went down so significantly in Central City in the last half of 2008. It’s because we prayerwalked through that area for a number of weeks.’ And Chief Riley responded, ‘Can I … [Read more...]

By Quinn Lavespere, Message Summer Staff Writer BOSSIER CITY – Jerome Stockert learned a long time ago that coffee could be used for other purposes than just quenching the thirst of others. Called by God to start a new coffee and tea shop, Stockert has used Ethnos Coffee and Tea in The Villaggio, a new, upscale, 64-acre community reminiscent of an Italian town square, to provide customers who enter its doors with relaxation and pleasure while teaching them about Jesus by accommodating customers in a godly manner. [img_assist|nid=6622|title=Jerome Stockert uses Ethnos, his new coffee and tea shop in the Villaggio, to provide relaxation while teaching them about Jesus|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=75]“We want people to come here and be able to relax and enjoy themselves,” Stockert said. “At the same time, we want that to serve as an example of godly behavior so these people can see Jesus at work.” Stockert said the vision for Ethnos Coffee Shop first originated in the spring of 2005 when he was metro director for Baptist Collegiate Ministries in Pittsburgh, Pa. “It was the end of a spring semester in 2005 and I was spending a week reflecting and praying about what we were doing and what was effective and … [Read more...]

By Bill Warren, Ph.D., NOBTS Professor of New Testament and Greek Question: What are the differences between “pastors,” “overseers,” and “elders” in the New Testament, and are these different types of church leaders or just one? Bill Warren responds: For Baptists, the traditional terms for church leaders have been “pastors” and “deacons,” with the ministerial staff being placed under the larger category of “pastors” (increasingly with titles such as “Associate Pastor of” attached to staff positions). On the other hand, some groups such as Presbyterians have traditionally included “elders” among the church leaders, often with three groups resulting (pastors or “teaching elders,” elders or “ruling elders,” and deacons) rather than just two. Some Baptist churches have also gone to having a group called “elders” as part of the church leadership structure, with some confusion resulting as to how the “elders” fit into the traditional Baptist understanding. As for the New Testament, some books like Hebrews and 1 John don’t address these offices, while others only mention them in passing. The Gospels and Acts, however, speak quite often about elders as Jewish leaders, so that term is not restricted to the church in … [Read more...]

By Quinn Lavespere, Message Staff Writer COLFAX – Many fishing tournaments are held mainly for competition. A fishing tournament recently held in Colfax had much more noble aims. The inaugural K & M Take-a-Kid fishing tournament was held July 31 at the Colfax Recreation Area located on Lock and Dam No. 3. [img_assist|nid=6626|title=Young boy shows off a bream he caught and trophy he received for participating in the K and M Take a Kid fishing tournament.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=75]“It was great that we could do something so fun and also so noble for these people,” said tournament director Keith Delaney, a member at First Baptist Church of Pollock. “We’re glad we were able to do it.” Delaney explained the main purposes behind the Take-a-Kid fishing tournament, which was for children 16 and under. “The main thing is to get the parents and the children out together so they can spend time with each other,” Delaney said. “No matter how many children we have here, if we can get them out and either fishing or in church, that’s the whole purpose. If we can touch one child’s life, that’s the reason for doing it. “We are also holding this tournament so we can raise money for the Louisiana chapter of … [Read more...]