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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Temple Baptist helps relieve $3.2 million of medical debt

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer RUSTON, La. (LBM) – Temple Baptist Church in Ruston helped to clear $3.2 million in medical bills for more than 1,400 residents in a five-parish region during 2020. The church worked with RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit organization that works with debt collectors to resolve medical debt that sits in collections, for people in Bienville, Claiborne, Jackson, Lincoln and Union parishes. Members gave $40,000 and RIP Medical Debt used the collected money to work with creditors to resolve the outstanding amounts. Founded in 2014 by two former debt collection executives, RIP Medical Debt began as a response to the overwhelming impact of debt on the lives of poor Americans. According to ripmedicaldebt.org, since 2014, the group has helped more than 1.8 million individuals and families eradicate more than $2.7 billion in medical liabilities. The company contends that for every $1 raised, it can abolish $100 in medical debt, on average. Minister of Education and Administration Jason Walsworth said this was an opportunity for Temple Baptist to bless others who otherwise might struggle to pay these obligations. “We believe we have been blessed, even during these challenging times, … [Read more...]

Louisiana Notables

EDITOR’S NOTE: Do you have a Revival, Homecoming, a new pastor, a community outreach or a concert? The Baptist Message would love to share your church news with the rest of the state. It is very easy to do, just send in your information (who, what, where and when) to philip@baptistmessage.com or call 318.449.4345. To get your event in the paper, please submit your information three weeks prior to the event. ON THE MOVE Chad (wife Cole) Gilbert is the new pastor at First Baptist Church, New Orleans. Greg Oden is the new worship leader at New Chapel Hill, West Monroe. Jay George is the new associate pastor at First Baptist Church, Swartz. Bodie Spicer has resigned as pastor of Clark Springs Baptist Church, Eros. Cody (wife Francie) Tabor is the new family pastor at First Baptist Church, Blanchard. Eric Zimmer is the interim pastor at Ida Baptist Church, Ida. Lance Rolland resigns as pastor of Westwood Baptist Church, Keithville and David Venable is the interim pastor. REVIVAL Temple Baptist Church, DeQuincy: Harvest Day, January 10. Evangelist: Sam Moore. Pastor: Bruce Austin. Koran Baptist Church, Haughton: Revival, January 10-13. Evangelist: Bill Britt. Pastor Mike Reichard First Baptist … [Read more...]

LSU prof sounds alarm on Critical Race Theory

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – Randy Trahan, a tenured 24-year professor with the Paul M. Hebert Law School at Louisiana State University, has publicly denounced Critical Race Theory as a threat to society at large and warned of the risk it poses to evangelicals. Trahan, a member of Woodlawn Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, described himself as an active advocate for Black civil rights, especially as a member of the admissions committee for the LSU law school, and, a former supporter of Critical Theory (the foundation for Critical Race Theory). Trahan decried Critical Race Theory for what he said was its assault on the “sufficiency of Scripture” -- a critical doctrine that says “Scripture itself is supposed to be the sole and final authority to which nothing needs to be added nor may be added” in understanding the human condition and God’s desire for moral behavior. He also dismissed criticisms that this doctrine is “too narrow” -- that it does not allow for general revelation (learning that can be achieved though nature, specifically by observing human nature). He said that these criticisms simply are strawmen arguments to justify what adherents purport are observations about human … [Read more...]

Seminary presidents’ statement against CRT draws criticism from African American pastors, others

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LBM) – The presidents of the six seminaries of the Southern Baptist Convention signed a statement, Nov. 30, declaring Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality, theories about racism that arose largely from social activists at Harvard University and the University of California at Los Angeles, as “incompatible with the Baptist Faith & Message.” Their statement was released, they said, in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the SBC’s adoption of the Baptist Faith & Message 2000. In a statement to Baptist Press, Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and chairman of the SBC Council of Seminary Presidents, said the seminary leaders were prompted by widespread complaints raised by Southern Baptists. “We felt that because our brothers and sisters in various state conventions have concern about this issue, they would also want to know what their seminaries actually think, and what we are teaching and not teaching,” Akin said. Tennessee Baptists (2019) and Georgia Baptists (2020) adopted resolutions rejecting the controversial “Resolution 9” that was adopted by SBC messengers at the 2019 … [Read more...]

ERLC shifts stance on federal embryonic stem cell lines

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor ALEXANDRIA (LBM) – The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention has shifted its position on a decades-old policy opposing the use of federal embryonic stem cell lines in medical research. The SBC’s public policy arm has published or promoted multiple position statements in recent weeks, all offering a similar view that it is not morally wrong to take a COVID-19 vaccine developed or tested using established government embryonic stem cell lines. However, Southern Baptists voiced strong opposition against the use of human embryos to advance medical knowledge when in 2001 President George W. Bush allowed federal funds for research on 60 existing stem cell lines that had been produced from human embryos. These no longer contain any of the original tissue taken from the aborted babies that were used to start each respective stem cell line. Instead, generations of new tissue have been grown in laboratories from the original human cells. Then-ERLC President Richard Land said the decision to fund even limited embryonic stem cell research crossed a fundamental moral line. “We must always remember that these existing stem cell lines are … [Read more...]