New COVID-19 cases, deaths in U.S. fall to lowest levels in weeks
The gifts of the wise men
Out of their vast treasures of wealth and wonder, the wise men made deliberate choices in the gifts they brought to worship Jesus. Gold was coveted as the most precious of metals. It was the standard by which wealth was measured, and so it was a fit tribute to royalty. Gold was meant to signify that this baby, born in a feeding trough to impoverished parents, was the King. Frankincense is a fragrant milky sap that is harvested from trees that grow mainly in Oman and Yemen in the Middle East. In the Old Testament the hardened sap was used as an incense burned for thanksgiving and praise offerings, and was given to acknowledge Jesus as our High Priest. Myrrh, a bitter herb, was a bittersweet gift. In the first century, it was a spice wrapped in the layers of linen placed on a dead body in order to externally embalm it. Myrrh was presented to confess the infant as our Savior, whose death and resurrection in a mere three decades would bring “salvation to the ends of the earth.” Adapted from David Jeremiah’s “A Spirit of Giving.” … [Read more...]
LBC church planting moves ahead despite pandemic
By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer ALEXANDRIA (LBM) – The novel coronavirus outbreak may have disrupted plans to plant 30 churches in the state this year, but in the midst of challenging circumstances Louisiana Baptists still managed to start 15 new congregations. Next year, the Louisiana Baptist missions and ministry team has a goal to plant 29 churches, which would bring the total of new congregations started since 2010 to 300. “I am glad that we serve an unusual God in these unusual times,” James Jenkins, director of church planting for Louisiana Baptists, told the Baptist Message. “Pandemic or no pandemic, people need the Gospel. Planting 29 churches in the coming year is a God-sized goal that can be accomplished by God’s people working cooperatively to plant churches in every town, every city, every parish, to the very borders of Louisiana.” Planting 300 churches by 2020 is one of 10 action steps identified in the President’s 2020 Commission Final Report, which was affirmed by messengers during the 2013 LBC Annual Meeting. The strategy for church planting has been to target the regions of the state where most Louisianans live, with an emphasis on cities and communities along the I-10 corridor and … [Read more...]
Music minister Ken Fryer passes away at 56
By Baptist Message staff BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – Ken Fryer, minister of music at Riverside Baptist Church, Watson, died Saturday, Dec. 12. He was 56. A native of Delhi, Fryer served at several Louisiana Baptist churches, including as pastor of First Baptist Church, Greenwood, and College Place Baptist Church, Monroe. He also served as an associate pastor at Heritage Baptist Church, Shreveport; Milldale Baptist Church, Zachary; Willow Point Baptist Church, Shreveport; and Broussard Grove Baptist Church, Prairieville. In addition to being on the staff of six churches, Fryer served Louisiana Baptists as a LBC Executive Board member (2007-2011), moral and social concerns committee member (2012-2014), and President’s 2020 Commission member (2012-present), according to the Annual Church Profile. According to his obituary, Fryer taught at Sequitur Classical Academy, University View Academy and Christ Presbyterian Church, as well as teaching voice to numerous private students. He co-authored the book “Virtues of the Great Composers for Children,” and was a contributor to the book “Covenant Theology: A Baptist Distinctive” by Earl Blackburn. He was a graduate of Ouachita Parish High School, Monroe; East Texas Baptist … [Read more...]
Leap for joy at Christ’s birth!
By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – There are a number of firsts celebrated in Scripture. Cornelius, the centurion who served as a commander in the Italian Regiment of the Roman military, generally is acknowledged as the first Gentile convert to Christianity (Acts 10: 44-45) [although some argue the Ethiopian eunuch is deserving of that recognition] – fulfilling the promise of salvation to the whole world prophesied in Isaiah 49:6. He was a God-fearer and did good deeds. But when he heard the Gospel from Peter, he believed in Jesus, not in religion or works, and was saved. Lydia, the seller of purple cloth in Philippi (Acts 16:14-15) is considered the first convert in Europe. Paul found her being an obedient Jew, honoring the Sabbath at a place of prayer by the river. She, too, hearing the Good News “opened her heart” to Jesus; and, Paul, Luke, Timothy and Silas judged her to be a true believer! The church at Antioch was the first group of disciples to be called Christians (Acts 11:26), and it was this congregation who commissioned Paul for his first missionary journey that helped expand the Church to the ends of the world. But, think about the first person on earth to worship the … [Read more...]
LBC’s Horn ‘thrilled’ appeals court allows state to defund Planned Parenthood
By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NEW ORLEANS, La. (LBM) – Steve Horn, executive director for Louisiana Baptists, said he was thrilled the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that Louisiana can cut off funds to Planned Parenthood. “We are a staunch pro-life state and we do not believe our healthcare dollars should support abortion providers,” he told the Baptist Message. Horn made his statement after the federal appeals court in New Orleans voted 11-5, just days before Thanksgiving, that Louisiana and Texas could ban Planned Parenthood from receiving government money. The majority included five judges appointed by President Trump. The full court overturned a three-judge panel that had ruled against Louisiana’s ban, upheld by a 7-7 deadlock of the full court in 2017. Planned Parenthood is the largest single provider of abortions in the United States, performing 40 percent of all abortions in the country, nearly 346,000, in 2018 (most recent available data). The organization received more than a third of its $1.6 billion budget in Medicaid reimbursements and Title X grants, $616 million (or 38 percent) in 2019, although that money could not be used directly for abortions. The Louisiana law to … [Read more...]
6th US Circuit panel’s ruling supports Louisiana’s ‘Jacob’s Law’
By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor CINCINNATI (LBM) – A three-judge panel of a federal appeals court has ruled, 2-1, that a “reason ban” that prohibits abortion based on a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome is valid while other pro-life provisions in the Tennessee law are awaiting a ruling. The panel included 2 Republican-appointed judges (one nominated by President Trump), and a Democrat appointee. The panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also allowed a reason ban in the Volunteer state based on abortions sought because of the race or gender of the unborn child. The ruling means Louisiana’s 2016 “Jacob’s law,” named by its House sponsor after Jacob Hall (Philadelphia Baptist Church Horseshoe Drive in Alexandria), will not be challenged for the moment. Officially registered as Act 563, the legislation was championed by Rep. Rick Edmonds, retired pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Shreveport and former vice president of Louisiana Family Forum. As he was pushing the legislation through committee, Edmonds asked the then 19 year old and his father, Will Hall, director for the Office of Public Policy for Louisiana Baptists, to testify. His legislation prohibited the abortion of an unborn baby … [Read more...]
Louisiana’s Barrett key to SCOTUS ruling against shutdown of NY churches
By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor WASHINGTON (LBM) – Amy Coney Barrett, a native of New Orleans, joined her fellow Trump-appointed U.S. Supreme Court associate justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, to rule against New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, who had set a 10- and 25-person cap on attendance at houses of worship in COVID-19 hotspots according to the severity of the public outbreak as indicated by a color-coded map developed by his office. The case, brought by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and the Orthodox Jewish group Agudath Israel of America, asserted that the governor’s restrictions violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and treated houses of worship more harshly than comparable secular facilities. The two religious organizations testified “without contradiction,” according to the 5-4 decision, that they have complied with all public health guidance, have implemented additional precautionary measures, and have operated at 25% or 33% capacity for months without a single outbreak.” Agudath Israel also produced evidence that Cuomo had drawn the map intentionally to include the Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn without cause. The decision was announced the night … [Read more...]
Skills of a church planter – practicing financial integrity
By John Hebert ALEXANDRIA (LBM)--Adrian Rogers, deceased pastor of the historic Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis and a past president of the Southern Baptist Convention who helped lead a grassroots movement to return the denomination back to its conservative biblical roots, told a story about the importance of financial integrity that I still reference in sermons today. “I heard about a man who was an executive in a company,” Rogers said (now archived on lwf.org). “They were going to move him up and make him one of the chief executives. The board of directors had talked it over, and it was a done deal. It was a monumental advancement. But in the company cafeteria one day, the owner of this company just happened to be behind this man in the cafeteria line. Unbeknownst to him, the CEO saw him take a pat of butter costing about 3 cents, then put a slice of bread over the butter so the cashier couldn’t see it. The CEO went back to the board and told them they had the wrong man—he didn’t have integrity. And for 3 cents, the man lost a monumental promotion and multiple thousands of dollars!” MORAL OF THE STORY I don’t accept that the man was simply a few pennies short of what he needed at check-out. Neither do I believe he … [Read more...]
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