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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Archives for November 2017

Sutherland shootings: And darkness did not overcome it

By Gary Ledbetter John’s prologue is my favorite Christmas passage. John shows us in theological outline what happened in Bethlehem’s stable. We know that Jesus is, “the Word,” the light that shines in the darkness, but with somber joy we read that the darkness could not resist or defeat the light. I thought of that passage this week as I considered the darkness manifested November 5 at Sutherland Springs Baptist Church. As I write this, hours after the event, pundits are talking in the background about causes and solutions—“coming together” as a nation, gun laws and our culture of violence. In due respect to those wiser than I, there is no solution by means of inspiration or policy. The darkness hates the light; the darkness hates life; the darkness really hates churches that celebrate the risen Savior. That is not new. And it will not change. But we grieve. My heart lurches within me at the grief of a pastor and his wife who lost their precious daughter to the darkness or the grandparents who never met their unborn grandchild and lost their pregnant daughter. I try to imagine the picture of an entire congregation shot down—wounded or killed. It’s just too horrible. I look ahead to the grief the entire congregation will … [Read more...]

LBF: $600,000 in gifts; prepped for hinted Fed rate hikes

By Jerry Love, LBF Communications ALEXANDRIA (LBM) – The election of new officers, updates on investments and the approval of the 2018 budget highlighted the final quarterly meeting of the Louisiana Baptist Foundation Board of Trustees, Oct. 24. Members also learned about almost $600,000 in new deferred donations benefiting Louisiana Baptists’ ministries, as well as steps taken with regard to its fixed income portfolio to protect against potential rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. INVESTMENT UPDATES E.L. Paulk, chairman of the investment committee, and Lee Morris and Susan Taylor, both of Graystone Consulting, updated trustees about the management of LBF’s funds and gave a general overview of market conditions. In his remarks, Morris described the equity markets as “having a very good year.”  The Foundation equity portfolios are doing well in light of the market’s upward push, he said, adding that international equities are performing better than the domestic markets as was predicted earlier in the year. Other issues he addressed: -- Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee projects that equities will continue to outperform fixed income securities. -- All parts of the LBF portfolio are in compliance … [Read more...]