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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Happy Valentine’s Day

By Waylon Bailey Happy Valentine’s Day! When I think of Valentine’s Day, I often think of a number of passages of Scripture, passages which speak of the love of God and the love of a man and a woman. Of all of these passages, my favorite is 1 Corinthians 13. This wasn’t written for a marriage although it fits marriage beautifully. It was written for the church. It was written about how believers relate to one another. Love is patient and is kind; love does not envy. Love does not brag, is not proud, does not behave itself inappropriately, does not seek its own way, is not irritable, does not keep a record of wrongs; does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. The next phrase may be the best of all, “Love never fails.” It doesn’t mean that love is never defeated. Rather, it means that love doesn’t quit. Love can be counted on. It won’t quit, and it won’t give up. The word for love is the Greek word, Agape. Agape is not a feeling; it is an action. It always seeks the absolute best for another person. When we love as God loves, we look for the needs of others. We seek to do to others as we want done to us. We love … [Read more...]

Even a ‘little’ pot changes teen brains

By Message Staff A study published in the Journal of Neuroscience has found evidence “suggesting structural brain and cognitive effects” from as few as “one or two instances of cannabis use in adolescence.” The report contextualized the importance of the findings by noting that “almost 35 [percent] of American 10th graders have reported using cannabis” suggesting that a crisis is looming due to the “long term neurocognitive effects” on these youth. The findings are significant as well because of the ready availability of pot in the United States. Ten states plus the District of Columbia have legalized adult recreational marijuana use, and New York and New Jersey are on that path. Also medical marijuana (which spans pot smoking to cannabis edibles and artisan cannabidiol oils) is legal in 33 states and the District of Columbia, including restricted use in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. … [Read more...]

PEW: Active religious people more likely to be ‘very happy’

By Message Staff In a survey of 26 countries, Pew Research Center found that people who regularly attend worship services are more likely to be happy as well as civically engaged than those who are not religiously active. This group also was less likely to smoke or drink, however, Pew did not link this tendency to greater health outcomes. Regarding happiness, religiously active people in 19 countries were more likely to be “very happy” than their fellow countrymen. Pew said “the gaps are striking” in a number of these countries, including an 11 percentage point difference in the United States (36 percent of the actively religious described themselves as “very happy,” compared with 25 percent of the inactively religious and 25 percent of the unaffiliated). Pew said their findings were “consistent with prior studies,” adding that actively religious people in the United States are more likely to “vote in national elections” and are “more engaged in community life in the sense that they belong to at least one nonreligious organization.” As for physical health, Pew nuanced that its findings “are more complicated.” Religiously active people are less likely to use alcohol or tobacco, but “they aren’t significantly … [Read more...]

Georgia Barnette Offering down, church planting to stay up

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – Louisiana Baptists remain committed to planting 300 churches by 2020, despite recent news that the Georgia Barnette State Missions Offering, which helps fund new churches in the state, fell $291,000 short of the $1.7 million goal set for 2018. The $1,409,000 in GBO gifts will provide money for church planting, but also for disaster relief, resort ministries, Mission Church Builders’ projects, training conferences and leadership training/missions education events, as well as partially fund the missions and ministry team budget. John Hebert, state missions and ministry director for Louisiana Baptists, said there some resources in place to handle the shortfall and continue the planned church planting pace. “We will have to be cautious with the way we spend our money this year,” Hebert said. “Our state executive board, missions committee of the executive board and the state missions offering committee will make sure we can tap into reserve funds if necessary. They won’t let our church planting efforts suffer because they understand the importance of them in reaching our state for Christ.” The other ministries funded by the offering will not be impacted. Hebert … [Read more...]

Louisiana College quits CCCU over LGBT policy

By Will Hall, Message Editor PINEVILLE (LBM) – Louisiana College President Rick Brewer has notified the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities that the Louisiana Baptist school has withdrawn its membership from the organization. The issue involves a policy passed by the CCCU board of directors which endorses so-called “Fairness for All” legislation which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of federally-protected classes while also articulating protections for churches and religious organizations. The CCCU describes itself as “a higher education association of more than 180 Christian institutions around the world” and states its mission is “to help our institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth. According to CBN News, Shirley Mullen, vice chair of the CCCU board and president of Houghton College, explained the CCCU position on LGBT protections as one of practicality for Christian higher education. “[W]e are increasingly persuaded that the most viable political strategy is for comprehensive religious freedom protections to be combined with explicit support for basic human rights for members of the LGBT community,” she wrote in a … [Read more...]

Four former Louisiana Baptists named in sexual abuse database

By Message Staff HOUSTON, Texas (LBM) – Four men who previously served as Louisiana Baptist pastors, youth ministers and volunteers are listed in a database of  Southern Baptist individuals who were convicted of or pled guilty to sexual abuse crimes, published Feb. 10 in a Houston Chronicle  investigative article. The news report identified about 380 sexual abusers and 700 victims in SBC congregations nationwide from 1998 — 2017. The former Louisiana Baptists listed in the Houston Chronicle database are: Holland Farrell McMorris, former pastor of Paradise Baptist Church, Ball. He was convicted in 2010 in a Rapides Parish court and is serving a 25-year sentence in a Louisiana state prison for sex crimes. Angelo “Doogie” Golatt, former youth volunteer at Donahue Family Church, Pineville (which later became Journey Church). He was arrested in 2006 in Jerome County, Idaho, where he was charged with two counts of sexual abuse/exploitation of a vulnerable adult, and later pleaded guilty to a reduced battery charge, and was sentenced to four counts of forcible rape in 2012 in a Rapides Parish court. He is serving a 40-year sentence in Louisiana. James Robert Griffin, former volunteer associate pastor at Immanuel … [Read more...]