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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

What are you watching?

By Steve Horn If you live in my part of the world (Louisiana) you likely have seen a headline in recent days that indicated, “All Eyes on Gulf” or “Watching the Tropics” or something similar. We are waiting to see how much rain we get with a Tropical System. After a similar system in August 2016 which flooded us to the point that some never returned, we tend to get a little jittery with such headlines. Maybe the headline is not “All Eyes on Gulf.” It might be “All Eyes on Trump” or “Russia” or “North Korea” or “Iran.” The truth is we wait for the next news. Some wait for the next episode of their favorite show. Some watch their online bank account for the next automatic payroll “drop.” We live in a day when we “watch” Facebook or Twitter for our “friend’s” (or “enemy’s”) next post. The point is we live “to watch.” The writer of Proverbs gave us a wise word about watching. As wisdom is personified, the writer of Proverbs said, “Anyone who listens to me is happy, watching at my doors every day, waiting by the posts of my doorway.” (Proverbs 8:35) I have learned through the years living in Louisiana that updates from the National Hurricane Office comes every four hours so we wait for the next update. As I wait, I … [Read more...]

Louisiana braces for storm emergencies

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) -- Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced today, July 10, that he will declare a state of emergency ahead of a storm that may significantly impact the state. A broad area of low pressure may become a tropical depression later today or Thursday and could make landfall in the state Friday or Saturday. “Obviously we are not sure yet of the exact track of the storm or the strength of the potential tropical system once it makes landfall,” Edwards said during a press conference Wednesday morning. “However, we are confident that there will be widespread heavy rainfall and coastal flooding. We also know that the Gulf of Mexico, because it is so warm, that the longer the storm system lingers over the Gulf, the more organized and the stronger it is likely to become before it makes landfall.” Edwards said the storm could bring 10 to 15 inches of rainfall and that the storm will be slow moving. He said the Mississippi River levels in New Orleans could reach 20 feet, rising above the flood protection in Plaquemines Parish. “Right now we believe that any overtopping of the levees will be of a relatively short duration of about 12 hours,” he said. “But that is still a very, … [Read more...]

The Lord’s biggest competition

By Joe McKeever “My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and they have hewed out for themselves cisterns–broken cisterns, which can hold no water.”  Jeremiah 2:13 You make a very small god, friend. An executive with Walmart  made an observation before a group of business people recently  that has stuck with me.  “You know who our biggest competition is?”  People suggested Target, K-Mart, Best Buy, the, malls, and such. “Dollar stores,” he said.  “That’s what Walmart started out to be and they are now eating our lunch.” Well. Makes sense.  Those little stores are everywhere. You know who God’s biggest competition is in this world? It’s not Islam’s Allah. It’s not any of the big religious alternatives. Not Buddhism, Hinduism, and not animism. The biggest competition of the living God in this world is personal idolatry. Self-worship. People are worshiping themselves, their own bodies, appetites, personal needs, their wants and desires and ambitions.  Everything else is secondary.  They sacrifice everything else for their bodies, for their appearance, for their careers, for their wants. They choose cars and houses and jobs for “how this will make me … [Read more...]