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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Decision America Tour not just about a nation, but a generation

By Cicely Gosier, BGEA Communications BATON ROUGE -- Franklin Graham has never been tight-lipped about his age. “I was born in 1952, grew up in the ’60s and ’70s, started my ministry in the ’80s. I’ve had a good life,” he said at the Decision America Tour rally in Baton Rouge on Wednesday. Yet, even with decades between him and some of the attendees at the latest Decision America prayer rally, a connection resonated. “I look at my grandchildren. They’re not going to have the same country that I grew up in,” Franklin said. “That’s why I’m doing this tour. “… My father, when he went to school, they still had the Ten Commandments on the wall. The teachers still led the Lord’s Prayer with the entire class. They still said the Pledge of Allegiance,” he later added. “Now this is gone.” That reality is driving much of the passion behind Decision America. Baton Rouge marked the third stop on the 50-state tour urging Christians to live out their faith and pray for our nation. Passing the Torch Local resident Linda Clark is a home-school teacher and brought her eight highschoolers. Clark doesn’t typically follow Franklin Graham or the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. She simply saw a post from a friend on … [Read more...]

IMB fires 30 as part of ‘reset’ after overspending $210 million

By Will Hall, Message Editor ALEXANDRIA – In a Jan. 14 press statement, the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention announced it was eliminating its Richmond Communications Center, firing 30 personnel and transferring another 10 to other positions. The move comes as the IMB completes its release of 600-800 missionaries who were asked either to take a Voluntary Retirement Incentive (offered to personnel 50 and older with five or more years of service) or be volunteers in a Hand Raising Opportunity which “offers missionaries and stateside staff members the opportunity to transition outside the IMB if they believe God is leading them to a new place of involvement in mission.” IMB described the overall number of terminations in voluntary terms stating no missionaries were “required” to leave the mission field as part of its “two-phase reset.” However, the fired Richmond staff members include career veterans who have deployed around the globe, including in dangerous restricted areas, in order to get the stories of Southern Baptists’ cooperative mission work overseas. SELF-INFLICTED Moreover, the termination actions for all involved IMB personnel were dictated by a financial crisis IMB President … [Read more...]

Georgia Barnette Conference Center on pace to open in two months

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer WOODWORTH – Louisiana Baptist leaders are optimistic the new Georgia Barnette Conference Center will open its door in two months, more than two years after the first dollars were donated for its construction. But for that to happen, favorable weather conditions and additional volunteers are needed. “We are so thankful for all the people who have volunteered so far,” said Julia Parker, volunteer coordinator for Louisiana Baptists. “We still have much work to be done but we need help. We are constantly looking for volunteers. If you could please come and help us, volunteer, we would appreciate it.” Once complete, the 8,400-square-foot center on the grounds of Tall Timbers Conference Center in Woodworth will have six small group rooms and a large auditorium that can be arranged for up to 600 participants. Also included will be a state-of-the-art sound system and lighting. With the exception of professional contractors who poured the concrete slab June 29, work on the project has been comprised entirely of volunteers, including a group comprised of volunteers from the Louisiana Baptist Building, Louisiana Baptist Foundation and Baptist Message who pitched in to help Jan. … [Read more...]

NY court: Farmers can’t obey their faith even in their own backyard

By Staff, Alliance Defending Freedom ALBANY, N.Y. – A New York court Thursday affirmed a Division of Human Rights ruling against an upstate couple for declining to coordinate a same-sex wedding ceremony in their own backyard. “All Americans should be free to live and work according to their beliefs, especially in our own backyards,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Caleb Dalton, who argued before the court on behalf of the couple in Gifford v. Erwin. “The government went after both this couple’s freedom and their ability to make a living simply for adhering to their faith on their own property. The court should have rejected this unwarranted and unconstitutional government intrusion, so we will consult with our client regarding appeal.” Robert and Cynthia Gifford live in a barn they built on their farm and have occasionally hosted weddings on the first floor and the surrounding backyard area. Cynthia serves as a wedding coordinator for those events and does everything but officiate the ceremony. After the agency ruled that the Giffords were guilty of “sexual orientation discrimination,” it fined them $10,000 plus $3,000 in damages and ordered them to implement re-education training classes designed to … [Read more...]

What the Powerball tells us about ourselves

By Waylon Bailey, Pastor, First Baptist Church Covington COVINGTON – I’m writing this on Wednesday afternoon so I don’t know what happened late last night with the Powerball drawing. Eventually, someone is going to win. Until that happens Americans will continue to throw their money after the big prize. You probably know all the particulars. The country is in a frenzy over the giveaway of $1.5 billion. I read an article this morning about the odds of winning the Powerball. It’s one in 292+ million– –not very good odds. If you want a fascinating look at these enormous odds, click here: http://graphics.wsj.com/lottery-odds/ People in the six states without the Powerball jackpot–Alabama, Alaska, Hiwaii, Mississippi, Nevada, and Utah–are clamoring to be included. Their lawmakers are really complaining. They want the opportunity to spend more money–other people’s money. What does this tell us about ourselves? First, it tells us that we think only about ourselves. As we look at life, we live it as “it’s all about me.” Jesus warned us about thinking this way. By doing so, we miss what our Creator planned for us. Second, it tells us money is everything to us. When will we learn that a person’s life doesn’t consist in the … [Read more...]

WMU Exec. Director Wanda Lee announces retirement

By Julie Walters, WMU communications BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) - Wanda Lee announced a search committee will be appointed to seek her successor as executive director/treasurer of national Woman's Missionary Union at the group's board meeting, Jan. 9-11. During the meeting, WMU also heard mission reports and addressed ways it is assisting International Mission Board personnel who have elected to take a voluntary retirement incentive. The meeting was at Shocco Springs Conference Center in Talladega, Ala. In her report, Lee said no date has been set for her departure. She pledged to continue to lead WMU until a new executive director is named and help facilitate a smooth transition. "It is my duty to give sufficient notice and it's my desire to ensure a seamless transition as the committee seeks someone with a fresh vision for our future," Lee shared Jan. 11 at the meeting. "May God bless the new leader of national WMU as He's blessed me on my leadership journey." Lee was elected executive director of national WMU in January 2000. She is the only woman in the history of WMU who also served as national president, an office she held 1996–2000. Lee served as president of Georgia WMU from 1993–1996. In addition, she and her … [Read more...]

Franklin Graham: The State of the Union is broken

By Mark H. Hunter, Regional Reporter BATON ROUGE - The day after President Barack Obama delivered his last State of the Union speech, evangelist Franklin Graham on Wednesday told an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 people packed into the North Boulevard Town Square, “the state of the union is broken.” Graham is preaching in all 50 states in the coming months, calling America back to biblical values, encouraging Christians to stand firm for their faith and to get involved in the political process as part of his “Decision America Tour.” Baton Rouge was third stop on the schedule where, in most places they are holding rallies on the state’s capitol steps. “We’re here today because we see that our nation is in trouble - that’s the state of the union,” Graham declared as the crowd cheered and many waved miniature American flags. “We are in trouble spiritually, racially, economically and we’re in trouble politically. No political party is going to be able to turn this thing around - only God can fix it.” “I have zero hope in the Democratic party,” he said as the crowd cheered, adding, “but before you Republicans start hi-fiving each other - I have zero hope in the Republican party - or any other political parties.“ The crowd cheered … [Read more...]

Numerous briefs filed with U.S. Supreme Court in opposition to Obama administration’s abortion-pill mandate

By Staff, Alliance Defending Freedom WASHINGTON – A broad array of groups and states – including more than 200 members of Congress and 20 states – filed briefs this week with the U.S. Supreme Court in opposition to the Obama administration’s abortion-pill mandate and its religious non-profit compliance mechanism, which forces the groups to violate their faith. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent a Christian college and four Christian universities in Geneva College v. Burwell and Southern Nazarene University v. Burwell, two of seven cases that the Supreme Court agreed in November of last year to take up. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate forces employers, regardless of their religious or moral convictions, to provide abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception through their health plans under threat of heavy penalties. Geneva College in Pennsylvania and the four universities in Oklahoma – Southern Nazarene University, Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Oklahoma Baptist University, and Mid-America Christian University – specifically object to providing abortifacients. “The administration continues to impose the same unacceptable choice: obey and abandon your freedom, or resist and … [Read more...]