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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

God’s “Little One’s” in Hillary’s America

By Ron F. Hale If the Obama administration flexed its legal muscle toward the Little Sisters of the Poor, it is not far-fetched to believe a Hillary Clinton administration would launch angrier attacks on America’s first freedom of religious liberty! With a history of serving the poor since 1839, one must ask: What kind of mind considers forcing a group of nuns to provide abortifacient drugs against their will, conscience, and religion? Seriously? The late 60s and early 70s in America saw the convergence of several cultural realities creating a tidal wave of social angst. The sexual revolution was happening just as America’s largest population group, the Baby Boomers, was coming of age. Coupled with that, a nightmarish vision of a worldwide “population bomb” setting off food shortages and global famine fed the idea of population control. As the women’s rights movement demanded abortion rights, some thought it was an idea come of age. During this social upheaval, even many Christians lost the biblical perspective that human life is sacred because we are His special creation. In dealing with America’s moral conundrum concerning abortion many continue to believe our Supreme Court committed judicial activism. The late … [Read more...]

CENLA pro-life prayer breakfast highlights effort to save the unborn

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE – Central Louisiana saw 432 lives lost to abortion in 2015, but Brian Gunter is confident that trend can be reversed, if thousands of believers stand strong in unison. “We need to join together in central Louisiana,” said Gunter, pastor of First Baptist Church in Pollock. “We may have different religious beliefs but we are in full agreement that we must stand up for the unborn,” he told a diverse religious group gathered in Louisiana College’s Granberry Conference Center, Oct. 26, during the CENLA Pro-life Prayer Breakfast. “The 432 lives that were taken in central Louisiana through abortion need to be saved,” he continued. “And we are going to do it.” Gunter is spearheading efforts to bring the first pregnancy care center to central Louisiana. Multiple speakers added to Gunter’s message about how to reduce abortions in this area of the state. Last year, 9,311 abortions were performed in Louisiana, down from 10,211 abortions reported in 2014. The 2015 figure is the lowest number of abortions in the state since 2012, when 9,225 abortions were reported. Hosted by Louisiana Right to Life, the breakfast program increased awareness and raised funds for the … [Read more...]

Pitkin community witnesses Holy Spirit-filled tent revival

By Message Staff PITKIN – The Holy Spirit is moving in the small rural community of Pitkin. More than 250 people gathered for the beginning of a tent revival Sunday, Oct. 16 and throughout most of the week, the crowds did not diminish but grew. The focus of the revival according to a Louisiana Baptist pastor was apathy – a problem facing many Christians today. Branden Martin hoped by the end of the revival those who made a decision to face this problem will commit to a change that he believes could transform Pitkin and surrounding areas. “To me, apathy is one of the major plagues in our churches today,” said Martin, organizer of the revival and pastor of Westport Friendship Baptist Church in Pitkin. “We get in this attitude about church and it becomes routine. We are cold and stagnant as churches as a whole. “Church has to be a place that’s alive when the world walks in,” he continued. “With apathy and any other characteristic in our life that isn’t Godly, it starts with us individually. It has to start with one person. The cure for apathy, the remedy for spiritual awakening, is not in the big steps. It’s not about doing something big. It’s about the small steps of everyday living.” The revival began Sunday, Oct. … [Read more...]