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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Goza to be LBC president nominee

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – David Goza, pastor of the Jefferson Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, will be nominated for president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. Tommy Middleton, director of missions for the Baptist Association of Greater Baton Rouge, notified the Baptist Message, June 27, of his intentions to make the nomination, calling Goza “a faithful man of the Word, who loves his family, his church and the Louisiana Baptist Convention.” Louisiana Baptist messengers will vote for officers and conduct other business matters during the 2023 LBC Annual Meeting, Nov. 14, in the facilities of the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church of New Orleans. STATEMENT OF SUPPORT Middleton said he has known Goza for more than 15 years, and he shared that they have worked together in missions overseas and co-labored to share the Good News in the capital city. He told the Baptist Message his friendship with Goza and their work together for the Gospel has grown, and he emphasized that “after I became director of missions, my wife and I joined Jefferson Baptist so that he would be our pastor.” “David has been leading Jefferson Baptist for almost 15 years,” Middleton added. “When you … [Read more...]

EDITORIAL: Hallowed be thy name

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – The 10 Commandments may be viewed from several perspectives: -- Some believers see them simply as a list of dos and don’ts. -- Others consider them in the context of their origins: As the first formal instruction to the Hebrew nation after escaping from Egypt, these were something of a primer for Israel to transition from being a people of Pharoah for 400 years to becoming the people of the one true God in perpetuity. -- More, still, look at these basic tenets in terms of how they are grouped (the first four address a relationship with God; the fifth involves family relationships; and the last five broadly describe relationships with everyone else). Together, these commandments reveal a hierarchy of relationships within the relational world God created for us as relational beings. In other words, God tells us to make Him the priority in our relationships, then family (and by inference, marriage) and, finally, yet importantly, our neighbors. Regardless, in all three perspectives, the stricture in the third commandment is the same: Do not use God’s name in vain. It is a key to obedience. It is an essential element of how we set ourselves apart … [Read more...]