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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

INDEPENDENCE DAY: ‘We face another challenging hour’

By Doug Carver PHOENIX (BP)  One hundred years ago 5,543 registered messengers gathered in New Orleans for the 62nd session of the Southern Baptist Convention. A month earlier President Woodrow Wilson had declared war on Germany for violating its pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as well as its attempts to entice Mexico into an alliance against the United States. Our nation immediately began drafting all able-bodied young men between the ages of 18 and 31 into the military. Over 25 percent of this age group, 4.7 million Americans, would be called up to serve in World War I, a global conflict that took the lives of 11 million military personnel and 7 million civilians. More than 107,000 U.S. troops lost their lives in this "war to end all wars," including 23 military chaplains. One of those chaplains was a Southern Baptist from Salemburg, N.C., Auremas T. Howard. The 1917 SBC was the first gathering of any religious group following America's entry into World War I. Prayer was a prevailing theme of the convention. Messengers were encouraged to pray for the commander in chief, our national leaders and members of the Armed Services who would be required to make grave … [Read more...]

Kairos Ministry is more than a gift to Monroe’s at-risk youth

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer MONROE (LBM) – An ecumenical ministry to youth offenders has formalized an agreement with the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice and officials at Swanson Center for Youth in Monroe to establish a ministry inside the facility. Now that the memorandum of understanding has been signed, the Louisiana Chapter of Kairos Prison Ministry International can move forward with plans for a three-day retreat and an ongoing mentoring program at the facility. “To get this signed is a major milestone,” said Terry Sant, chairman of the Swanson Advisory Council and a member of the sponsoring church, Cedar Crest Baptist Church in West Monroe. “It’s the first step in creating a relationship between the ministry and the particular institution. “Having reached the agreement, it now leaves the ball back in our court to start gathering volunteers and prepare for a weekend in the fall,” he said following the June 8 meeting to sign the agreement. “After the weekend we will begin a six-month mentoring program one-on-one in a group setting which is necessary to be sure these guys get everything they need to turn their lives around.” Led by more than 30,000 Christian volunteers, Kairos is an ecumenical … [Read more...]

Does God have a place in America?

By Waylon Bailey John Adams, our second president, was a man of deep belief. This is what he said about the Word of God and the power of the Gospel: “Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God. . .What a Eutopia, what a Paradise would this region be.” Samuel Adams, signer of the Declaration of Independence and father of the American revolution looked forward to the coming of God’s Kingdom: “I conceive that we cannot better express ourselves than by humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world that the end of tyrants may be broken to pieces, and the oppressed made free again; that wars may cease in all the earth, and that the confusions that are and have been among nations may be overruled by promoting and speedily bringing on that holy and happy period when the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and all people everywhere willingly bow to the sceptre of Him who is … [Read more...]

NOBTS professor detects Calvinistic tilt in study notes of LifeWay’s new Bible (CSB)

NEW ORLEANS (LBM) – A noted scholar has published a focused assessment on study notes in the newly published Christian Standard Bible (CSB), saying non-Calvinists “will be disappointed” due to the heavy Calvinistic leaning in some of its comments about passages that address salvation. Adam Harwood, associate professor of theology with the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, described the actual Bible translation as a “theologically conservative resource,” but took issue with the “theological interpretation” of some study notes provided at the bottom of pages, saying, “those who affirm that God loves every person, Christ died for every person, and God desires to save every person will be disappointed.” LifeWay Christian Resources is the publisher of the CSB. LIFEWAY’S VIEW Trevin Wax, Bible and reference publisher for LifeWay, has distributed copies of the newest LifeWay Bible to news media with an accompanying letter calling the translation accurate and readable “without compromise” – a view Harwood does not dispute. But Wax also lauds the study notes developed by “renowned biblical scholars from multiple denominations,” saying the notes reflect “the Bible’s original context,” something Harwood refutes with … [Read more...]