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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

How much can the ERLC influence the Trump Administration?

By J. Gerald Harris I think most of us can agree that the recent presidential election was characterized by vitriolic barbs, hurtful accusations, flawed candidates, faulty predictions and for many a surprising result. What is even more surprising is that Republican presidential candidate, Donald John Trump, got 81 percent of the white evangelical vote. The Washington Post reported, “Exit polls show white evangelical voters voted in high numbers for Donald Trump, 81-16 percent. That’s the most that have voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 2004, when they overwhelmingly chose President George W. Bush by a margin of 78-21 percent. Their support for Trump will likely be seen as part of the reason the GOP candidate performed unexpectedly well in Tuesday’s election.” Farai Chideya, writing for The Post, added, “In Georgia, for example, preliminary exit polls show that Trump won 88 percent of white evangelical voters, compared with 6 percent for Clinton. The demographic makes up a third of the state’s voters.” It is difficult to say why Trump found such support from white evangelicals, because many had questioned his values. In the end, however, there were four issues that likely won over the … [Read more...]

Bible distribution at Natchitoches cancelled for Dec. 3

Officials have cancelled the Send the Light evangelistic outreach event planned for Dec. 3 during the Natchitoches Christmas Festival because of expected inclement weather. Louisiana Baptists Evangelism Associate Keith Manuel told the Baptist Message the Weather Channel is forecasting a 100 percent chance of rain. Participants had hoped to distribute Bibles to as many as 100,000 people who were expected to attend this year. … [Read more...]

WAYLON BAILEY: How I am getting ready for Christmas

By Waylon Bailey This year Christmas will be celebrated on a Sunday. That’s always a challenge for family activities and Christian worship Actually, genuine worship and preparation for it are always a challenge. How can you get ready for Christmas? Here’s how I plan to do so. I hope you will follow me or find a definite plan to prepare for a great time of worship as we celebrate God’s coming to our world. As with almost everything in life, I want to center my worship and celebration around the Word of God. God gave us His Word to reveal Himself. When we read God’s Word, we see how God has worked in the past and how God has made Himself known. Christmas is a great time to see God’s handiwork of making Himself known. As I prepare for Christmas, I want to read three kinds of Scripture. First, I want to read passages that prepare me for God’s revelation in Christ. These include a number of passages from the Old Testament, particularly of the prophets. I also want to read those passages that tell the events of Christ’s birth, what you and I call the birth narrative. These are found primarily in Matthew and Luke. Finally, I want to read New Testament passages that tell me what the coming of Christ means. I begin … [Read more...]