Three pro-life marches in the state are quickly approaching and to prepare you more for the events, Louisiana Right to Life has released a preview video. The Baton Rouge and Shreveport/Bossier City marches are scheduled for Jan. 23 with a third, which was added just this year, taking place Jan. 30 in Alexandria/Pineville. For more information, watch the video and visit the Louisiana Life March website. https://youtu.be/0UyImJX_NK4 … [Read more...]
Five enemies of religious liberty
By Gerald Harris, Georgia Christian Index Editor During the current legislative session under the Gold Dome, Georgia Baptists will coalesce with a myriad of other groups to attempt to get a strong anti-discrimination Religious Liberty bill passed. This kind of legislation has come to be known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), because many of them are patterned after the federal RFRA that was passed by Congress in 1993 and signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton. In my estimation there are several enemies of religious liberty in America. First there is secular humanism. Although those who espouse this ideology would probably deny it, secular humanism is a religion – a religion that deifies man and humanizes God. Secular humanism puts man at the center of the universe and everything revolves around him. The humanists would embrace with appreciation and affirmation the words of William Ernest Henley, the author of Invictus, who penned, “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” Secular humanism is supported and facilitated by the ACLU, the Atheist Alliance of America, the National Organization of Women, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Freethought Society, Center for Inquiry, and … [Read more...]
Louisiana Guardsmen continue building, monitoring flood barriers
By Spc. Joshua Barnett, Louisiana National Guard Public Affairs Office NEW ORLEANS – Approximately 300 Louisiana National Guardsmen continue working across the state to build protective barriers against the approaching flood waters and to patrol levees in support of local, parish and state officials at the request of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. The 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team has installed more than 2.3 miles of HESCO barriers and is currently filling them with sand to create a levee on Avoca Island to prevent backwater flooding from reaching Morgan City and other towns in south Louisiana. “We had a hard night, it was very cold, it was muddy, but out Soldiers were motivated,” said Lt. Col. Rich Hanes, executive officer, 256th IBCT. “They stayed up all night with no complaints. I’m very proud of them. They’re hard working, great Soldiers and great Americans.” The levee project is part of a larger effort designed to prevent high water from the Atchafalaya River from travelling through Bayou Chene, over Avoca Island and into the Intracoastal Waterway, where it could flood Morgan City and other towns. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working to seal off the waterway, … [Read more...]
La. Guard monitoring levee conditions during river flooding: Guardsmen working alongside Corps of Engineers
By Sgt. Noshoba Davis, Louisiana National Guard Public Affairs Office PINEVILLE – Louisiana National Guardsmen are working alongside the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the 5th Levee District to conduct 24-hour levee patrols in the parishes of Concordia, East Carroll, Madison and Tensas to inspect for any issues caused by the winter river flooding. These patrols started on Jan. 8. “We have the National Guard out here with us to assist with monitoring the territory on the levees since there is so much ground to cover,” said Steven Evans, a construction controller with the US Army Corps of Engineers. Approximately 200 miles of levees are being checked for leaks, sand boils and seepage around the clock. “The younger Soldiers are getting to see and understand exactly what the Louisiana Guard is here for. They get to see it’s about the community and protecting the people, letting them know that we are here for them,” said Sgt. Aerrial Fredricks, of Monroe, a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 528th Engineer Battalion, 225th Engineer Brigade. The Guardsmen, working with the Corps, are learning how to identify problems that may arise during a flood. They … [Read more...]
Homosexual activist group targets Southern Baptist colleges & universities
By Will Hall, Message Editor ALEXANDRIA – The homosexual activist group Human Rights Campaign has targeted 23 institutions of higher learning with Southern Baptist ties in a report that also names 35 other colleges and universities with distinct Christian identities. Released just before the 2015 Christmas season, the report, “Hidden Discrimination: Title IX Religious Exemptions Putting LGBT Students at Risk,” asks Obama Administration education officials to increase reporting requirements for these 58 schools because each was granted “exemptions of interest” relating to either “gender identity” or “sexual orientation” or both. Unlike President Obama’s 2014 executive order on LGBT rights, affecting federal employees as well as contractors, which did not allow exemptions for religious organizations, the Title IX law does not apply to an educational institution “controlled by a religious organization” that has “contrary religious tenets.” However, individual schools must apply for specific exemptions and confirm they are either a divinity school or department, or, an educational institution that requires faculty, students and employees to be members of a specific religion, or, a college or university that essentially is an … [Read more...]
Waylon Bailey to serve as NAMB’s ambassador to Louisiana Baptist pastors
By Tobin Perry, North American Mission Board communications COVINGTON — The North American Mission Board (NAMB) has asked veteran Louisiana pastor Waylon Bailey to serve as its ambassador to the state’s Southern Baptist pastors. In this role, Bailey will express gratitude to pastors for their churches’ giving to the Cooperative Program and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering®. He will also serve as a resource for pastors who want to get their churches more involved in North American missions. “I have a long association in Louisiana,” Bailey said. “I have a great desire to reach the state for Christ.” Bailey served as president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention between 2011 and 2013. As president, he led the convention to institute the 2020 Commission. The commission evaluated all that the state convention was doing in order to make an assessment of what it should continue to do. Bailey says the commission determined to emphasize reaching two Louisiana demographics in particular—“ethnics and the next generation.” Bailey hopes by serving in this ambassador role with NAMB he can help the state’s churches make progress toward that goal. He hopes to come alongside Louisiana Baptist pastors as they seek to impact their … [Read more...]
President of university challenging Obama mandate to be senator’s guest at State of the Union Address
By Staff, Alliance Defending Freedom WASHINGTON – Dr. Everett Piper, the president of an Oklahoma university that is challenging the Obama administration’s abortion-pill mandate and its religious non-profit compliance mechanism at the U.S. Supreme Court, will be the guest of Sen. James Lankford at President Obama’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday at 9 p.m. EDT. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent Oklahoma Wesleyan University together with three other Christian universities in Oklahoma and a Christian college in Pennsylvania as part of consolidated lawsuits before the high court. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate forces employers, regardless of their religious or moral convictions, to provide abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception through their health plans under threat of heavy penalties. Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Southern Nazarene University, Oklahoma Baptist University, and Mid-America Christian University in Oklahoma, as well as Geneva College in Pennsylvania, specifically object to providing abortifacients. “The reason for our lawsuit is simple and clear: Under the guise of Obamacare, the Obama administration claims it has the right to require Oklahoma … [Read more...]
How to help your family memorize scripture in 2016
By Megan Strain, Published on marriageroots.com A new year brings a sigh of relief for some and a bit of wistfulness for others. Regardless of how you left 2015, a look ahead at 2016 can bring with it a lot of ideas and plans, especially spiritual ones. For many Christians, the do-over of a new year also becomes a bit of a do-over for diving deeper into Scripture, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines like memorizing verses. If Scripture memory is something you are hoping to work on in 2016, check out how a group of families have been working through it together. We talked to Megan Strain about how she and 2 other friends decided to begin a Scripture Memory Club for their families and how they’ve seen the Lord use it to grow them individually, as couples, as families, and as friends. Tell us about your family Scripture Memory Club. Why did you start it, and how does it work? Megan: This past summer our family spent a week at Pine Cove Family Camp in Tyler, Texas (an experience I highly recommend!), and it was here this idea was born. During the weekly Talent Show, a young boy from another family recited most, if not all of Romans 12. It was very impressive and very convicting. I realized I was not doing a great job … [Read more...]
Christian colleges to Supreme Court: government can’t mandate abortion pill coverage
By Alliance Defending Freedom staff WASHINGTON – Several religious non-profit organizations filed an opening brief Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court in consolidated lawsuits against the Obama administration’s abortion-pill mandate and its religious non-profit options, all of which force the groups to violate their faith. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent a Christian college and four Christian universities that asked the high court to review appeals court decisions that upheld the mandate in Geneva College v. Burwell and Southern Nazarene University v. Burwell, two of seven cases that the Supreme Court agreed in November of last year to take up. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate forces employers, regardless of their religious or moral convictions, to provide abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception through their health plans under threat of heavy penalties. Geneva College in Pennsylvania and the four universities in Oklahoma – Southern Nazarene University, Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Oklahoma Baptist University, and Mid-America Christian University – specifically object to providing abortifacients. “The government has no legitimate basis for forcing faith-based … [Read more...]
Free to Believe conference scheduled for Jan. 16 at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church
By Message Staff GREENWELL SPRINGS – The Greenwell Springs Culture Impact Team has issued an invitation for anyone interested in starting a Culture Impact Team at their church to join them for the Free to Believe conference on Jan. 16. Held at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church, the conference will be part of a national simulcast. The Family Research Council will broadcast the event. “This will be a goal-minded simulcast with a post-event strategy,” according to a news release from Walter “Hank” Hankins. “Our mission is to turn the country and culture back to God and to provide the answer to the question, What can I do to turn this country around?” An RSVP is requested to attend the event by emailing CIT@gsbcla.com. … [Read more...]
