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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Former federal prison inmate to speak at First Baptist Pineville

By First Baptist Pineville PINEVILLE, La. - First Baptist Church Pineville, 901 Main Street in Pineville, will host former prison inmate Gene Garland in special July 4 services at 8 and 10:30 a.m. During the service, Garland will sing some of his music written while in prison and share his testimony message entitled “Wouldn’t Change It If I Could.” Garland was convicted of securities fraud, money laundering and mail fraud in 2000 and was given a 23-year sentence. After serving 18 years in federal prison, most recently in Pollock, Garland was released in 2019. Since being released, Garland has married, launched his own landscaping business and started serving a church in Texas, where his son also is on staff. He enjoys ministering to nursing homes by singing and preaching. Stewart Holloway, pastor of First Baptist Pineville, first met Garland while teaching a class for Louisiana College at the Pollock prison. “Gene was assigned to me to make sure I had anything I needed and to answer any questions I might have," Holloway said. "Having him by my side also made me more comfortable during my first few weeks walking into a prison environment. “We became fast friends as I learned of his love for the Lord and watched him … [Read more...]

Send Conference draws 10,000 for Gospel training, Crossover enlists 92 volunteers for Gospel work

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LBM) – The 2021 Send Conference, jointly sponsored by the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, attracted 10,000 participants from across the nation, June 13-14, for general sessions and breakout meetings headlined by Southern Baptist celebrities such as football coaching legends Bobby Bowden (Florida State University) and Mark Richt (Georgia University). Meanwhile, according to Baptist Press, the North American Mission Board was able to enlist 92 volunteers, largely comprising seminary students, who conducted four days of door-to-door outreach, June 13-16. SEND CONFERENCE Billed as a “gathering of pastors, families and churches across North America learning and celebrating what it means to be on mission together, for the sake of the gospel’ the Send Conference offered “specialized tracks for every member of the family” providing “the tools and connections to become a movement of people — the Church — sharing the gospel with a world in need.” Participants were blessed during the Sunday night opening session by worship music led by Michael W. Smith and CeCe Winans, and a concert by (Steven … [Read more...]

2021 regular legislative session dominated by ‘vice’ bills

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – The 2021 Louisiana Legislative Session was designated a budget session, so each lawmaker was limited to submitting five bills each that did not deal with state finances. However, it was those other bills, most involving vices, that seemed to dominate headlines across the state. PROSTITUTION Rep. Mandie Landry (D) of Orleans Parish, submitted H.B. 67 which would have legalized prostitution, elevating it to the same status as any line of work in the state. Witnesses in support of the bill mocked “morals” and urged members of House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee “not to look to your pastor” for guidance about prostitution. But opponents argued that legalizing prostitution would contribute to more human trafficking and greater exploitation of sex workers – because the bill also decriminalized “pimping” and brothels and these two activities are used to keep women captive in sex trafficking. In the end, Landry voluntarily withdrew her bill when it became apparent from comments by committee members that it was going to be voted down. Meanwhile, the House soundly defeated a resolution (H.R. 136) by that committee’s chairman, Rep. Ted … [Read more...]

Biden budget refers to ‘moms’ as ‘birthing people’

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor WASHINGTON (LBM) – Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Baptist, challenged Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra about the choice of language in the Biden Administration’s $6 trillion budget request that refers to “mothers” as “birthing people.” During a Senate Finance Committee hearing, June 10, Lankford conducted a blunt interview, pressing Becerra to explain the unusual phrasing. But Becerra dodged even repeating Lankford’s use of “mother.” “I was a little taken aback when I just read it and saw that the term ‘mother’ was gone in spots, and it was replaced with ‘birthing people,’” Lankford said. “Is this a direction you are going—regulatory changes that are happening or what the purpose of that is? Becerra told Lankford, “I think it’s probably—and again I’d have to go back and take a look at the language that was used in the budget—but I think again it simply reflects the work that’s being done.” But Lankford pushed back, asking Becerra to “admit that calling a ‘mom’ a ‘birthing person’ could be offensive – that they don’t want to get a ‘Happy Birthing Person’ card in May.” However, Becerra declined to answer the question, telling Lankford, instead, … [Read more...]

Louisiana ministry touches needy in Israel

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer COVINGTON, La. (LBM) – Johnny Huffman, founder of Fairhaven Ministry in Covington, has issued an ur-gent call for donations that will be placed in a 40-ft. container and shipped to Israel. “Recently, as I have watched the news, I watch people here in the US, as well as countries around the world, turning against Israel,” Huffman told the Baptist Message. “The Lord has impressed on me that if there was ever a time that Christians need to stand with and support His people, it is now. It is my opinion that the Lord gives us these opportunities. What we do with them is our decision.” Fairhaven Ministry, through a partnership with God’s Warehouse that is operated by Nolachucky Baptist Association in Morristown, Tennessee, is collecting items that will be shipped to and distributed by the non-denominational Joseph Project in Israel. According to its website, since 2000, the Joseph Project has received nearly 800 containers and provided more than $100 million in humanitarian aid to Israelites. Israel experienced 11 days of fighting between the country’s army and terrorists in the Gaza Strip before a cease fire was in effect, May 20. At least 230 Palestinians were killed, … [Read more...]

Congresswoman Letlow says faith is critical during challenging times

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer MONROE, La. (LBM) – U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow won Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District seat in March, only three-and-a-half months after her husband, Luke, died from COVID-19 complications, Dec. 29, 2020. He was just five days from taking office after he had won the election the month before to succeed Ralph Abraham, who retired from Congress. She told the Baptist Message that the prayers of others helped her during that difficult time. “It’s hard for me to put into words how overwhelmingly beautiful and impactful and precious those prayers were to me,” Letlow said. “Even while we were in the hospital and Luke was in bad shape, we treasured those intercessory prayers that people were saying on his behalf and on ours. I know that they enveloped him, and he wasn’t alone, and he was at peace, and he had hope. To feel that on a visceral level -- thou-sands if not many thousands of prayers going up -- I will never be able to put into words what that means to me and my family.” Her husband’s death was not the first loss of a close loved one, she said. When she was a junior at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, her brother, Jeremy, 17, died from injuries sustained in a … [Read more...]

PHOTO GALLERY: Louisiana Baptists at the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting

By Baptist Message staff NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Louisiana Baptists gathered in Nashville, Tenn., for the 2021 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting. While 633 registered as messengers, many more came as guests for a time of fellowship, business meetings and even a Youth On Mission experience. Their time in Nashville was captured in photographs submitted to the Baptist Message. … [Read more...]