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"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

With support of all six Louisiana members of Congress, National Defense Authorization Act signed into law

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump has signed into law the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, which gives U.S. troops the largest pay raise in eight years, makes major reforms to Pentagon spending practices and increases funding for essential military readiness recovery. The bill passed the House Nov. 14 with an overwhelming majority by a vote of 356 to 70, including the support of all six members from Louisiana, including the lone Democrat from the state, Cedric Richmond (D-New Orleans). In remarks from the Roosevelt Room at the White House shortly before signing the bill Dec. 12, Trump praised members of Congress for the bipartisan support. “This legislation will enhance our readiness, expand our modernized – and modernize our forces, and help provide our service members with the tools that they need to fight and to win,” he said. “We will fight and win. But hopefully, with this, we won't have to fight because people will not be wanting to fight with us.” Among the members of Louisiana’s delegation to vote in favor of the bill were Louisiana Baptists Ralph Abraham (R-Mangham) and Mike Johnson (R-Benton). Abraham is a member of Alto Baptist Church while Johnson is a member of First Baptist … [Read more...]

GREG LAURIE: Will your Christmas be real or fake?

You can have Christmas without Santa and his elves, without Frosty the snowman, without Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, and without Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. You can have Christmas without Mr. Grinch, Ebenezer Scrooge and Tiny Tim. But you cannot have a real Christmas without Jesus. Otherwise, it’s a fake Christmas. Don’t get me wrong. I like Christmas. But the problem is that we have made Christmas almost too beautiful with our horse-drawn carriages, snow, crackling fireplaces and hot cocoa. We have bathed the Nativity story in blue light with music swelling in the background. It’s all wonderful, but sometimes I think we’ve missed the raw power of the story by making it almost sentimental. We’ve romanticized Christmas or even homogenized it, taking the real edge off the story that God Almighty came down from heaven to be born on the floor of a stable. To think that God did all this for us is more powerful than any romanticized version of Christmas. Jesus came at the appointed time, at the perfect time. The Bible tells us, “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he … [Read more...]

Sen. Kennedy, Cassidy meet with Trump for support of Louisiana oil refining jobs

By Office of U.S. Sen. John Kennedy WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy met Dec. 7 with President Donald Trump, top administration officials and a group of fellow senators at the White House to advocate for Louisiana oil refining jobs while discussing potential changes to the nation’s biofuels policy. “Louisiana is one of the nation’s largest energy refining states. As such, we have 17 refineries with thousands of workers who depend on maintaining a reasonable proportion of biofuels for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).   It’s imperative that we ensure our nation’s refineries have a seat at the table as we continue to debate a potential legislative overhaul of the RFS,” Kennedy said. “The current Renewable Fuel Standard is harming Louisiana refiners, families, fishers and workers,” Cassidy said.  “The status quo is unacceptable, so today’s meeting with President Trump was a positive step in the right direction.  I look forward to finding answers for this issue.” The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) sets the amount of ethanol and biodiesel that must be blended into transportation fuel. The mandated minimum amount of biofuel increases each year, decided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). … [Read more...]

PHOTO GALLERY: Louisiana Baptist churches enjoy rare snow day

By Message Staff Parts of Louisiana enjoyed a rare December treat Friday, Dec. 8 - a snow day. Several inches fell throughout the state, including a number of Louisiana Baptist churches. If you have any snow photos, please send them to brian@baptistmessage.com or post them to our Facebook page. … [Read more...]