By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer SHREVEPORT/BOSSIER CITY – Two multi-denominational, pro-life prayer vigils are scheduled for March 12 -- one at a former abortion clinic in Bossier City and another in Shreveport, which is one of only two remaining clinics still perform abortions in the state. The goal of the vigils, according to co-organizer Brian Gunter, pastor of First Baptist Church Pollock, is to bring together different denominations and groups from around the state to pray peacefully for all abortions to end in Louisiana. “My goal is when we get to the Shreveport clinic we would have the sidewalk surrounding the building with a line of people hand-in-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder praying,” said Gunter. “We need to pray the Supreme Court will uphold the Fifth Circuit’s ruling. We need to pray God would change the heart of the doctor performing abortions inside the Shreveport clinic. And we need to pray God would cleanse our state of the blight of abortion.” Chris Davis, director of 40 Days for Life in Shreveport-Bossier, is also an organizer. The first vigil begins at 10 a.m. at 1505 Doctors Drive in Bossier City, the site of Bossier City Medical Suite. At the completion of the first vigil, the group will … [Read more...]

By Al Quartemont NASHVILLE (LCNews) – The Louisiana College Department of Convergence Media completed another successful year at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention by winning several awards in the annual iNRB student competition. Highlighting this year’s performance was a third straight first-place finish for LC’s 24-Hour Digital News Challenge team. The team consisted of Steven Maxwell (Fairview), Gracie Carson (Pineville), Addyson Baden (Pineville) and Todd Ryals (Pensacola, Fla.). The team had 24 hours to create a seven-minute news block highlighting the news surrounding the NRB convention. Maxwell, a senior, was the lone returning member from the 2015 DNC team, and his leadership played a key role in the win, as Carson, Baden and Ryals were all making their first trips to Nashville to compete. “I was really proud of our whole team,” Maxwell said. “They really stepped up and surprised me, considering they had never done this competition before. We’re just really proud and honored to carry on the tradition that Wildcats Media began three years ago here at NRB.” Maxwell, along with junior Hannah Fleming (New Iberia, Louisiana), also took first place in the Television News – Studio Production category of … [Read more...]

By East Texas Baptist University communications MARSHALL, Texas (2/27/16) – Students from Louisiana are eligible for a $1,000 scholarship to attend East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas. ETBU President Dr. J. Blair Blackburn announced the creation of the Louisiana Educational Advantage Program (LEAP).  The program offers students from Louisiana a $1,000 scholarship to attend the Christian university for the 2016-2017 academic year. The LEAP program will provide $4,000 over four years to help a student from Louisiana to attend ETBU. Eligible Louisiana students may also qualify for scholarships up to $15,000 annually through ETBU's Academic Excellence Scholarship and Christian Leadership Scholarship programs. ETBU President Dr. Blackburn stated, “I’m a proud native of Minden, Louisiana, and I love my home state! I am thrilled to announce the creation of the Louisiana Educational Advantage Program. We are located just across the border and we welcome students from Louisiana to enroll at East Texas Baptist University in order to prepare for the calling and career God has for their lives. We believe God calls each of us to serve our local community and we would love for students from Louisiana to step across the border … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message LIVINGSTON – A Louisiana Baptist chainsaw team spent most of their Thursday cutting up trees around homes and removing debris left behind from a tornado that caused massive destruction earlier in the week in Livingston Parish. The team comprised of volunteers from Eastern Louisiana Baptist Association and Baptist Association of Southeast Louisiana worked on five homes three miles northeast of Livingston. David Brown, associational missions coordinator for Eastern Louisiana Baptist Association and a member of the association’s disaster relief team, said the team expects to remain in the area through at least Saturday before possibly moving onto other locations in the parish. Ben Fussell, a member of the Baptist Associations of Southeast Louisiana chainsaw team, said the homeowners they came in contact expressed gratitude. “Everywhere we went we heard ‘thanks for coming, thanks for helping, thanks for working, thanks for caring,’” said Fussell, a member of First Baptist Church in Franklinton. Teams from the National Weather Service out of Slidell spent much of Thursday investigating the damage from the tornadoes and by Thursday evening confirmed that at least 12 tornadoes had set down in … [Read more...]

By Message Staff LAPLACE/RESERVE – Since early Thursday, Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief teams have completed work in LaPlace and Reserve on eight homes, tarping the roofs and removing debris and cutting down tree limbs, according to Billy Puckett, director of community ministry at New Orleans Baptist Association. Puckett is also coordinating Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief efforts in St. John the Baptist Parish. Two chainsaw teams, one tarp team and three assessor teams that include a chaplain with each assessor team are working the area. Puckett said they will continue their effort at least through the weekend. At which time, they will determine if will still be needed since many other organizations are coming to the aid of storm victims. Puckett said the unity portrayed by the faith-based community and the residents of St. John the Baptist Parish has been evident, not just in work on homes but in a prayer service held at Percy Hebert Building in LaPlace. More than 100 people attended the service. The various denominations are rotating days and times of feeding the community, Puckett said. “This community is very familiar with disaster relief,” Puckett said. “A lot of neighbors who didn’t receive any damage are … [Read more...]

By Staff, Louisiana Baptist Message BATON ROUGE - Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and State Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Bossier City) both applauded the unanimous decision by three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Feb. 23 to issue a stay of a federal district court opinion that had declared unconstitutional Louisiana’s statutory requirement each physician who performs outpatient abortions must have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The law, named The Unsafe Abortion Protection Act of 2014, was challenged in federal court by state abortion providers before its effective date. The case, June Medical Services, LLC and Bossier City Medical Suite, et al., v. Gee, was litigated in a six-day bench trial last summer. Seven months later, Judge John W. deGravelles ruled in favor of the abortion providers, concluding that the law was unconstitutional on its face and must be enjoined.  The state then sought a stay of the ruling pending a full appeal. “Our emergency request for a stay of the lower court’s ruling on Act 620 was granted by the Fifth Circuit today,” said Landry in a news release. “I applaud the Fifth Circuit’s decision to halt the erroneous ruling and allow Louisiana’s pro-life … [Read more...]

By Message Staff LAPLACE – The River Parishes campus of Celebration Church is collecting donations for those affected by Tuesday’s powerful tornadoes that ripped through southeast Louisiana. The biggest immediate needs for tornado victims in LaPlace according to Checkerz Williams, pastor of River Parishes campus of Celebration Church, are tarps and cleaning supplies. Among the items needed are gloves, yard rakes, all-purpose cleaner, bleach, Clorox wipes, mops, brooms, five gallon buckets and yard trash bags. All donations can be dropped off today at the church, located at 3400 US 51 in LaPlace. Ten tornadoes hit Louisiana on Tuesday according to the National Weather Service, including four EF-2 tornadoes that were responsible for significant damage in Convent, LaPlace, Paincourtville and Livingston Parish. Thursday, the National Weather Service said the four EF-2 tornadoes packed winds of 111-135 miles per hour. The Convent tornado destroyed more than 100 structures at the Sugar Hill RV Park, causing two confirmed deaths and injuring 30 more. The LaPlace twister destroyed or severely damaged more than 200 homes in several subdivisions. LaPlace is located just 25 miles west of New Orleans while Convent is 50 … [Read more...]

NEW ORLEANS - A unanimous three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an emergency stay of the district court's opinion that struck down the state's admitting privileges law. The panel accepted all of the state's arguments that the district court did not follow 5th Circuit precedent; ignored the state's rebutted evidence that more than 90 percent of Louisiana women would still be within 150 miles of a provider; and ignored the secretary's determination that Dr. Doe 2's privileges at Tulane were sufficient. The 5th Circuit in its ruling states that this is a legitimate means to protection for women’s health and safety by granting Louisiana a stay today. It is likely, by granting of this stay, that this law will be ruled constitutional. Louisiana Rep. Katrina Jackson, who authored the legislation, said: "This stay by a unanimous three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit is a victory for the health and safety of women who are harmed by abortion. I am very pleased the Legislature's interest in protecting both women and unborn children is being respected by this court." Dorinda Bordlee, chief counsel of the Bioethics Defense Fund who drafted model legislation for the bill, said: "There is no constitutional right … [Read more...]