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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Malachi: The same old sins

By Russell L. Meek, Louisiana College ALEXANDRIA – The Babylonian army descended upon Judah in the sixth century BC, destroying the city of Jerusalem and the temple of God in 586. The people had been consistently warned this would happen, but they were confident it would not be so, even though the Northern Kingdom Israel had suffered a similar fate some 150 years earlier. FORWARNED The prophets warned Judah repeatedly that their idolatry – looking to things other than God for their safety, satisfaction, and fulfillment – would end badly; and, because the vertical relationship between God and the people was broken by idolatry, the horizontal relationship between people also suffered greatly. The prophets also warned the people about this: Their social injustice – exploitation of the poor, the orphan, the widow, the stranger – would also bring about God’s judgment. But why were God’s people so confident that judgment would not befall them? In a word (or two): religious ritualism. They were convinced that simply going through the motions of worship was sufficient to keep God happy and secure His blessing. Biblical scholars J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays describe Jeremiah’s prophecy about these covenant … [Read more...]

Seminary students part of ‘spontaneous’ protest face no censure, for now

By Joni B. Hannigan, Special to the Message FORT WORTH, Texas – In an unusual show of defiance a few students at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary stood and then walked out during the chapel service Nov. 29 in apparent disagreement with the speaker. Seminary President Paige Patterson said later he believes the four Calvinist students who sit together most likely acted in a “spontaneous” manner and although the student code of conduct generally frowns on such behavior, this was not the norm. “If it were to happen again, I would deal with it in no uncertain terms,” Patterson said in response to questions. “They are free to think what they want, but they are not free to be rude or to disturb chapel. They know me well enough not to push this issue.” CLEARING THE AIR The students were reacting to a message by Rick Patrick, pastor of First Baptist Church in Sylacauga, Alabama, and a 1993 graduate of Southwestern Seminary. Patterson, in a separate Dec. 2 blog on the seminary website, also defended Patrick as delivering his message “as would be expected at a Southern Baptist seminary in view of the current discussions in our denomination.” Further, he clarified remarks he made after Patrick’s message the … [Read more...]

WAYLON BAILEY: Why do people reject Jesus?

By Waylon Bailey I often hear people say they can’t understand why people reject Jesus. It often comes in the context of their having gone through great personal trials. It sounds something like this: “How do people deal with their hurts and troubles without Christ?” While we can’t give every reason, there certainly are some biblical reasons to help us understand why people don’t follow Christ. First, people do not accept Christ because they are caught up in the cares of the world. In the Parable of the Soils, Jesus told about the word of God being scattered over various soils. Some of the soils were receptive to the word and others were not. Jesus said that these people had the word taken from them by “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of money, and the desires of there things enter in and choke the word” (Mark 4:19). We all understand this picture. We have all been overwhelmed by “the cares of the world.” Life in itself creates many obstacles to knowing Christ and receiving Him as Lord and master. It is simply the truth that many things get in the way and keep us from making an honest assessment of the truth. Second, some people actually love life as they have it and don’t want to change. The Bible … [Read more...]

Make Christmas Great Again — keep Christ at the center

By Franklin Graham Have you ever heard the old saying “Misery loves company?” That’s what this atheist billboard made me think of. These people are anti-God, and they want others to miss out on the joy of Christmas as well. They are blind to the truth of Christmas—which is God showing His great love for us by sending a Savior, His Son Jesus Christ. Christmas isn’t about Santa Claus or Jingle Bells. So let’s make Christmas great again this year—by attending church and by keeping Christ at the center. Are you in? … [Read more...]