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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Racial differences not a factor during rescue

By Marilyn Stewart, Regional Reporter EAST BATON ROUGE -- Mary Cupit, 81, awoke to banging on her bedroom window in East Baton Rouge during the early hours of Aug. 14 as the new neighbor next door, Chad Tyrone, 24, knocked frantically to warn her about the rising water. By the time Mary roused her caregiver—her deaf brother Donald Cupit, 73—he had time only to throw on some clothes and grab his wallet and keys before helping his sister into a waiting car filled with neighbors they barely knew. The drive to safety took them to Tyrone’s grandmother’s house where the Cupits were welcomed as family. Five weeks earlier racial tensions had torn Baton Rouge apart. But that Sunday race did not matter. Though his first efforts to rouse his neighbor had failed, Tyrone, a Christian and an African-American, could not leave his neighbors behind. “He told me, ‘Mama, I’ve got to try one more time,’” his mother Theora Tyrone recounted of her son’s insistence as water rose in the street. “He’s always had a big heart.” Having lived only two months in the neighborhood near I-12 and Airline Hwy in Baton Rouge, Tyrone had spoken to Mary Cupit only briefly prior to the flood when he offered to mow the Cupits’ lawn. He learned later of … [Read more...]

‘This may be our moment’ for revival and reaching the lost

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer CENTRAL -- God’s people can be used to bring about hope to the community and experience revival, Tony Perkins said during a morning worship service at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church in Baton Rouge Sunday morning. Perkins, interim pastor with the Greenwell Springs congregation and president of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian public policy ministry, Family Research Council, encouraged worshipers they had an opportunity to make a difference for thousands of flood victims devastated with the loss of homes and businesses. “What God has given to you give freely to others, whether that be your resources or your time or your treasure,” Perkins said during his Aug. 21 message, “Searching for God in the Storm.” “This, my friends, could be the moment that you and I have been praying for in this church,” he said. “Sometimes God answers prayers in ways that we don’t expect nor do we want.” “But we’ve been praying for revival, we’ve been praying that we would reach this community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the hope that comes from knowing Him,” he explained. “This may be our moment, if you and I will have hearts of gratitude, minds of obedience and souls of … [Read more...]

Facsimile of Bible translated into Belarusian language donated to Library of Congress

Leading up to a celebration of the 500th anniversary of the printing of the Bible in the Belarusian language in 2017, Andrew and Inna Ryzhkov participated in a recent ceremony at the Library of Congress to donate a facsimile edition of the Bible. The couple on Aug. 11 met with Raman Matulski, the Director of the National Library of Belarus, to donate the Francysk Skaryna’s facsimile editions of the 500-year-old Bible in the Belarussian language. They also donated the Good & Evil illustrated Bible to the Jefferson Library for the European Reading Room. Next year, the celebration will include Bible exhibitions, regional conferences on the impact of the Bible on European cultural and historical development, Bible distribution and open outreach ministries in public schools, universities and public arenas. Since 2015, Louisiana Baptist churches have participated in mission teams in the country, in partnership with Byelorussian Mission, founded by the Ryzhkovs. By 2018, plans are to have visited all six provinces in Belarus, at a rate of two per year. For more information on how your church can participate in this ministry, contact Wayne Sheppard, Executive Assistant to the Executive Director for Louisiana Baptists, at … [Read more...]

Huckabee chastises president for vacationing while Louisianans suffer

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has published a scathing open letter criticizing Pres. Obama for his absence from flood-ravaged Louisiana, especially for vacationing all the while in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. A beloved Southern Baptist pastor and former Arkansas governor, Huckabee shamed the president for his “hustle and bustle of golf, having ice cream and strolling the quaint streets of the Vineyard” while Louisianans endure an “apocalyptic event.” Meanwhile New York businessman Donald Trump and his running mate Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, the Republican ticket for the 2016 presidential election, visited Louisiana Friday, going to Greenwell Springs Baptist Church in Baton Rouge to comfort flood victims and encourage disaster relief workers. Former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, the Democrat candidate for president, issued a statement via Facebook indicating she will delay coming to the Bayou State for the time being from in order not to be a “distraction” during the “relief effort.” The full text of Gov. Huckabee’s open letter is provided below. ----------------------------------------------- Dear Mr. President: How’s the vacation going on Martha’s Vineyard? Pretty swell … [Read more...]

Sara Horn: 2016 Louisiana flood, glimpses of the good

By Sara Horn For those of you not living in Southeast Louisiana, this past weekend was probably very different than ours. You probably watched a little of the Olympics, got ready for a new school year, or enjoyed one last summer trip or cookout. Things didn’t happen that way here. Last Thursday night, a week ago as I’m writing this, the rain started. This is not unusual for summer in our area. But by Friday morning, the rain had started filling ditches that normally don’t fill, and covering roadways that normally don’t cover. I was on my way to a doctor’s appointment in Baton Rouge when we got the call that schools, our second full day of the new year, were closing and parents needed to come back and get their kids. Buses were already en route trying to deliver kids back home they’d just picked up. The water came fast and no one was prepared for what was happening. A couple of buses got stuck in several feet of water because they could no longer see the road. Teachers got stuck at their respective schools because after helping their students leave, they found out the roads to their own homes were no longer passable. State offices closed and my husband had already turned around and returned to the house since major … [Read more...]

Lane Corley: Disaster Relief leadership, my week with Incident Command

By Lane Corley What an incredible week in Louisiana! Flash floods, roof top rescues, shelters, gutted homes, & now months of recovery efforts ahead of us. I ended last week thinking that I was going into a couple of weeks of heavy promotion for our Multiply Louisiana Conference & I’d keep pushing toward 40 church plants for this year in Louisiana, along with helping my kids get settled into new routines in school & prepping for a big fall with my church. But with the 1,000 year flood that hit over the weekend, I’ve had the opportunity this last week to help Southern Baptist setup Incident Command Operations for one of the worst disasters in Louisiana history. It’s given me the opportunity to see a different side of SBC Disaster Relief operations. I’ve been on chainsaw crews, mud out crews, Assessment teams, & chaplain teams, & I knew about Incident Command, with little knowledge of what went on. Still don’t know much, but here’s a few observation & takeaways from shadowing Incident Command this week: Just like everywhere else, it’s led by volunteers Incident commanders are trained & equipped a little differently. A communications trailer, laptops, 3-5 phone lines. All managed by volunteers. … [Read more...]

Steve Horn: Reflections on the week

By Steve Horn About this time last week is when we began to know that this week was going to be one like we have never seen. Though my personal home was spared, we are hurting for so many friends scattered across South Louisiana who have suffered devastating loss. We have had a variety of emotions for sure. Now, a week later, I want to share some random reflections. 1. We need each other. We knew this already, but we seem to forget this too often. Seeing people help each other from every walk of life has been rewarding even in the midst of such tragedy. 2. We need God. Without a spiritual compass that points to an empty cross, an empty tomb, and an awaiting eternal glory that far exceeds any temporary affliction, I don’t know how you make it through times like this. 3. There was a lot of hurt going on in the world before last Friday and that has not changed. And, for some, more bad things have happened this week. In the midst of all of the disaster relief, let us not forget that people still have cancer, still are having heart attacks, some have died this week totally unrelated to the flood, people are still unemployed, and others have suffered many other overwhelming circumstances of life. Let us not forget all of … [Read more...]

Trump brings national attention to Louisiana’s plight

By Philip Timothy, Message Managing Editor BATON ROUGE -- An impromptu visit by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence Aug.19 has succeeded in getting south Louisiana -- stricken by catastrophic flooding -- some national attention. Trump and Pence came to Baton Rouge to survey damage, visit with flood victims and relief crews and offer encouragement. The two men stopped at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church where they met with Tony Perkins, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian public policy ministry, Family Research Council, and Franklin Graham, president of the Christian international relief agency, Samaritan’s Purse. “Yesterday’s visit by Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and Franklin Graham has generated a lot of interest across the country from people who want to help our church and community,” wrote Perkins, who also is serving as interim pastor of the Greenwell Springs congregation. “Today 90 volunteers from Samaritan’s Purse were sent to clean out houses in the area. “As of last night we have had over 600 applications for assistance in removing debris and cleaning out homes,” Perkins said. Trump and Pence were joined by other local and state officials. … [Read more...]

Nearly half of refugees entering the U.S. this year are Muslim

By Phillip Connor, Pew Research Center The U.S. has received 28,957 Muslim refugees so far in fiscal year 2016, or nearly half (46%) of the more than 63,000 refugees who have entered the country since the fiscal year began Oct. 1, 2015, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the State Department’s Refugee Processing Center. That means that already this year the U.S. has admitted the highest number of Muslim refugees of any year since data on self-reported religious affiliations first became publicly available in 2002. Christians are the second-largest group of refugees to the U.S. so far this fiscal year; 27,556 Christian refugees have entered the country, nearly as many as the number of Muslim refugees. A slightly lower share of 2016’s refugees were Christian (44%) than Muslim, the first time that has happened since fiscal 2006, when a large number of Somali refugees entered the U.S. To read the rest of the article, click here. … [Read more...]