By Will Hall, Message Editor The pro-life movie “Unplanned,” based on the true story of former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson, who quit the organization in 2009 after witnessing an abortion at 13 weeks, has exceeded critics’ expectations. The film ranked fourth in money made during its opening weekend (behind “Dumbo,” “Us,” and “Captain Marvel”) and remained in the top 10 after its second week-end in theaters, grossing more than $16 million, so far, while costing only $6 million to make, reported BoxOfficeMojo.com. The hit movie overcame the obstacles of an R rating by the Motion Picture Association of America (de-spite no profanity, nudity or immodesty) and having its ads banned on major television channels as well as a temporary ban by one of the largest Christian radio networks – until fans objected. Only Fox News and the Christian Broadcast Net-work aired television commercials for Unplanned. Meanwhile, K-LOVE, which says its mission is to encourage a meaningful relationship with Christ, had to backtrack from its position of not promoting anything “political” after a severe backlash from listeners, according to The Blaze. Twitter also piled on with an “accidental” suspension of the movie’s … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Message Editor OPELOUSAS (LBM) – The suspect in the burning of three historically black Baptist churches claimed members were “brainwashed people,” according to CNN. Holden Matthews, 21, also reportedly commented via Facebook that he “can’t stand all these Baptists around here” and accused them of “trying to find happiness in a religion that was forced on their ancestors just as it was on mine,” lamenting that “more blacks” did not pursue “ancient beliefs of pre Christian Africa.” Police arrested Matthews, April 11, for setting fire to the St. Mary Baptist Church in Port Barre, March 26, as well as the Greater Union Baptist Church, April 2, and the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, April 4, both in Opelousas. The congregations have been ministering in their respective communities for more than 100 years each. On social media Matthews described himself as “a metal fan to the bone,” an apparent reference to black metal music, a genre connected with musician Varg Vikernes, who was convicted for the 1992 burning of three churches in Norway. CNN described Matthews’ belief system as “paganism” with interests in Norse mythology. Matthews faces three state counts of arson as well as three state counts of a hate … [Read more...]