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...]
Louisianans among the fall graduates of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
NEW ORLEANS - The state's only Southern Baptist seminary held its fall commencement on Dec. 19, with 224 graduating. The following is a list of some of the graduates from Louisiana. Others with Louisiana ties are not released publicly, for reasons such as for security due to leaving to serve overseas. Bachelor of Arts in Christian Ministry Daniel Guagliardo Tickfaw Master of Theological Studies Nicholas Taylor Shreveport Stephen Partain Shreveport Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Counseling Skylar Artigue Collinston Master of Arts (Theology) Michael Steinmetz Shreveport Master of Music in Church Music Michael (Benjamin) DeCou, Sr. Houma David LeCompte Houma Master of Divinity Larry Johnson Kenner John Lary Sibley Tyler Moore Shreveport Master of Divinity with Specialization in Apologetics Daniel Currie New Orleans Master of Divinity with Specialization in Expository Preaching Keith Goodson Denham Springs Russell Zwerner Walker Master of Theology Karla McGehee New Orleans Doctor of Educational Ministry Billy Williams Winnfield Doctor of Ministry Tim Moffett Eunice … [Read more...]
Humanist group appeals federal court ruling declaring World War 1 Veterans Memorial constitutional
By Liberty Institute staff Bladensburg, Md. – On November 30 the United States District Court for the District of Maryland ruled that the Bladensburg World War I Veterans Memorial, built in the shape of a cross, is constitutional. Today, the American Humanist Association appealed the District Court’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The group alleges that the cross-shaped memorial violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The group demands that the monument be demolished, altered or removed. Law firms Jones Day and Liberty Institute represent The American Legion, the largest veterans service organization in the country, which erected the monument 90 years ago in honor of 49 men of Prince George’s County, Md. who gave their lives during the First World War. The Legion is committed to defending the honor of the nation’s military veterans and the memorials that honor their service. Noel Francisco, lead counsel for The American Legion and chair of Jones Day’s Government Regulation Practice, says, “This veterans memorial has stood in honor of the fallen for almost 100 years and should be allowed to stand for 100 years more. We stand ready to defend the memorial and the men it honors … [Read more...]
Pharmacists ask US Supreme Court to weigh in on Washington state law that Planned Parenthood wrote
By Alliance Defending Freedom Staff WASHINGTON – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing a pharmacy and two pharmacists are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on Washington state rules that force pharmacy owners and pharmacists to stock and dispense drugs contrary to their religious beliefs instead of allowing them to refer customers to other pharmacies and pharmacists as they are allowed to do in all 49 other states. The state allows referrals for a variety of reasons but singles out religiously motivated referrals as prohibited. In July of last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit reversed a district court’s decision against the rules, which Planned Parenthood drafted at the behest of former Gov. Christine Gregoire. Gregoire publicly campaigned for the rules and replaced members of the state’s Pharmacy Commission after it initially voted unanimously in favor of such referrals. The American Pharmacists Association and the Washington Pharmacy Association also oppose the rules. “No one should be forced to choose between their religious convictions and their family businesses and livelihoods, particularly when the state allows referrals for just about any other reason,” said ADF Senior Vice … [Read more...]
GuideStone, Lifeway, state conventions launch 2016 SBC Church Compensation Survey
By Roy Hayhurst, GuideStone Financial Resources DALLAS — GuideStone Financial Resources, along with LifeWay Research and Baptist state conventions, will open the biennial SBC Church Compensation Survey in 2016. Ministers and church employees are invited to participate in the survey, a resource used by churches of all sizes to determine fair wages and benefits. Survey participants will have the opportunity to enter for a chance to win an iPad®. The survey and complete contest rules are available at GuideStone.org/CompensationSurvey. The survey’s results will be made available in the early fall, in time for many churches considering their 2017 budgets. The survey is the largest free, church compensation study conducted in the United States. The most recent survey results — conducted in 2014 — have been visited almost 55,000 times. “GuideStone works tirelessly to be an advocate for pastors and church staff, ensuring that they are compensated fairly,” said O.S. Hawkins, President of GuideStone Financial Resources. “The surveys can help churches benchmark their own salary and benefits packages against churches of like size within Southern Baptist life.” Survey results are not reported individually. Compensation and benefit … [Read more...]
Start the new year off right by praying it forward
By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – Amid those New Year’s resolutions of losing weight, spending more time with family and watching less television is another one that Louisiana Baptists leaders have issued as a challenge – start the first 21 days of 2016 praying intentionally for the Next Generation. To help make that happen, the Louisiana Baptists Evangelism & Church Growth Team in partnership with the Pastoral Ministry Team has released the journal “Pray It Forward: 21 Days of Prayer for the Next Generation.” Each day of prayer focuses on three areas – reading God’s Word, reflecting on God’s Word and responding to God’s Word. Every day of focus has a verse, devotional thought and action steps to follow. Louisiana Baptist Convention team members along with pastors and Baptist Collegiate Ministry directors authored the prayer guide. Louisiana Baptist Evangelism and Church Growth Director Wayne Jenkins hopes those attending the Evangelism Conference at First Baptist Church in Lafayette will complete the journal by the time the event takes place on Jan. 25-26. A focus of the Evangelism Conference will be reaching the Next Generation. “Pray it Forward is the latest in a series of 21 day prayer and … [Read more...]
