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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Closed by flood, church still a part of the Kingdom to come

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer HAMMOND – Since it was constituted 30 years ago, Hillside Baptist Church has been known as a loving congregation which survived its share of trials. Despite an optimistic attitude, the congregation of 20 could not overcome several feet of water that filled the worship center – after the Natalbany River overflowed its banks in August – wiping out pews, hymnals and three decades of memories. Among the few items not destroyed was the baptistery. Lacking flood insurance, the congregation decided to close permanently, but they were looking for a way to continue contributing to Kingdom work, even in the face of shutting down and turning over the keys Sept. 8 to the family who originally donated the property. During this time of seeking God’s guidance, Hillside members were inspired to donate the baptistery to a congregation that was busy soul-winning and in need of one – and found out Still Water Baptist Church in Hammond was waiting to baptize 13 new believers. Pastor Gerald Burton was excited his Hillside congregation was able to give away something that can bless others for generations to come. “The devastating fact that all was lost was a very hard blow to the few … [Read more...]

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...]