Click to Login or Sign Up

Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

EC action changes plan for SBC entity Q&A session

By David Roach & Art Toalston, Baptist Press ST LOUIS (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee's June 13 decision not to recommend amending SBC Bylaw 26 has forced the cancelation of a panel discussion scheduled for June 15 with SBC entity heads fielding questions from messengers to the convention's annual meeting in St. Louis. Instead, each entity president will answer messenger questions for four minutes at the end of his report. The EC also referred back to its Bylaws Workgroup for further discussion of a proposal to grant EC representation to Baptists in five pioneer regions of the United States. In other action at the EC's meeting in St. Louis prior to the June 14-15 SBC annual meeting there, committee members elected new officers, honored retiring Woman's Missionary Union executive director Wanda Lee and heard a report from outgoing SBC President Ronnie Floyd. Entity questions at SBC annual meetings The EC's Administrative Committee considered a recommendation to amend Bylaw 26 that would have permitted two or more entities to be grouped together by the Committee on Order of Business for a messenger Q&A session. The recommendation stipulated that each Q&A session would allot "no less than … [Read more...]

We can reduce our Medicaid costs

By John Kennedy, Louisiana State Treasurer Malcolm Bird was a first-time father with a toddler whose pinky finger was bleeding. He rushed his young daughter to a Connecticut emergency room, where a doctor washed off the finger and put a Band-Aid on it. That Band-Aid, which fell off in the car on the way home, cost Bird $629. Bird learned the hard way what most of us already know. The emergency room is an expensive place to treat minor injuries. If your kid cuts her finger, just wash it off and slap a Band-Aid on it. If your kid breaks her leg on a trampoline, go to the emergency room. Unfortunately, too many people treat the emergency room like a primary care physician's office, and they don't just do it once like Bird. They run to the emergency room when their stomach's upset, they're depressed, their back hurts or they get a pimple. The emergency room is expensive because it's expensive to run. It exists to save lives, not to dispense really pricey Band-Aids or aspirin. Our health care budget in Louisiana is out of control, and we've got to cut costs. As state treasurer, I'm constantly juggling funds for agencies because revenue isn't supporting expenses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 136.3 … [Read more...]

VIDEO: Brewer, Meek share about LC at their booth in St Louis

ST LOUIS -  Professor Russell Meek and Louisiana College President Rick Brewer are spreading the word to Southern Baptists about the school in Pineville. They and other LC representatives will be manning a booth at the Southern Baptist Convention's Annual Meeting and invite those of you there to stop by for a visit. https://youtu.be/apz6mIfyakI … [Read more...]

VIDEO: Friend says African American Fellowship a vital part of the SBC

ST LOUIS - When you mention the Southern Baptist Convention, Jeffery Friend can't help but smile. As pastor of Suburban Baptist Church in New Orleans, Friend is proud to be affiliated with the SBC as an officer with the National African American Fellowship. He is spending a few days in St Louis for the 2016 SBC Annual Meeting and related functions and shared with the Baptist Message more about the National African American Fellowship, where he serves as central regional director. "We are not just a separate entity in the convention," Friend said. "We are all the SBC. We are all part of the convention." https://youtu.be/jK3ZmShbuHo … [Read more...]

VIDEO: Vandercook passionate about purpose of Southern Baptists

ST LOUIS - Philip Vandercook is passionate about the mission and purpose of Southern Baptists. This week he is among a contingent from Louisiana who have traveled up to St Louis to learn more about how they can better fulfill their mission and cooperate with one another. Vandercook, who serves as director of Global Maritime Ministries in New Orleans, shared with the Baptist Message more about why he loves being Southern Baptist. "This is what being Baptist is all about, cooperating with one another, seeing what we can do together to advance the Kingdom of God," he said. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkMhag-Tf8M … [Read more...]

PHOTO SLIDESHOW: Louisiana Baptists in St Louis for SBC Annual Meeting activities

ST LOUIS - Prior to the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, Louisiana Baptists made their way to St Louis for a variety of activities. From countless fellowships to spending time together around the convention hall or area restaurants, Annual Meeting-related happenings were enjoyed by many in attendance. Look for more photos on baptistmessage.com of the first day of the Annual Meeting. … [Read more...]

Crossover St. Louis: Hundreds come to faith in Christ

By Tobin Perry, NAMB communications ST. LOUIS (BP) - Southern Baptist volunteers reported more than 350 professions of faith in Jesus Christ during Crossover events throughout metro St. Louis this year. One man who made a decision for Christ had been considering suicide just a few days earlier, said Eloy Rodriquez. Rodriquez, a longtime Crossover volunteer, serves as Hispanic pastor of Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz, Fla. Rodriquez said his team knocked on the door of the man's house and asked if they could pray with him. The man told the team about a friend who was struggling with cancer. As they were preparing to pray, the man then opened up about his own struggles. "Last Sunday, he closed his eyes while driving," said Rodriquez, who has been bringing teams of volunteers to share Christ during Crossover since 1999. "He was willing to have whatever happen to him, happen -- suicide basically. Then he opened his eyes, he was in the other lane, but there was no one else there. He pulled over and just cried -- not because he was about to kill himself but because he realized he could have killed someone else." Rodriquez then prayed with the man to receive Christ. That was one of more than 50 Gospel conversations that took place … [Read more...]

WMU opening sessions honor Lee, highlight missions

By Kathie Chute, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary communications ST. LOUIS (BP) - About 500 Southern Baptists gathered June 12 for the opening sessions of WMU's 2016 Missions Celebration and Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Mo. With a theme of "By All Means," the two Sunday programs recognized current and retired missionaries, as well as International Mission Board staff, and celebrated Wanda Lee's service as she retires as executive director of WMU. "I believe just as strongly today as I did 16 years ago that WMU is important to the Kingdom," she said. "We have the opportunity to make a difference. Our charge first and foremost is to be a light to the nations. There is strength in our union. There is strength in our collective purpose of missions. May our song truly be a song for the nations." Lee said she was working as a nurse when God called her to missions. When she returned home to serve in the U.S., her call to missions did not end. "My calling was to go wherever God leads," she said. "My call has not changed, only the place. No other ministry in Baptist life devotes itself exclusively to missions. What we do matters because we are shining a light." Jeff Iorg, president of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, … [Read more...]

Lee honored for 20 years leading national WMU

By Julie Walters, WMU communications ST. LOUIS (BP) - Approximately 150 Southern Baptist leaders, family members and friends from across the country gathered in St. Louis on June 11 to honor Wanda Lee and her leadership of national WMU over the past 20 years - 16 as executive director and four as president. Frank S. Page said he got to know Lee in 2010 when assumed his current role as president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee. Page recited Micah 6:8, "What does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? "I believe Wanda Lee has exhibited that great trio of imperatives from our Lord," Page said. "I believe she has done what is right, what is just. She is merciful, and many of you are the recipients of her mercy and ministry in your own life. She is a strategist, an organizational genius, yet is always humble and gives credit to those around her. I am honored to call her my friend, and I thank God for her." The three women who served with Lee as president of national WMU - Debby Akerman of Myrtle Beach, S.C. (2010-2015); Kaye Miller of Little Rock, Ark. (2005-2010), and Janet Hoffman of Farmerville, (2000-2005) - each reflected on their years … [Read more...]