By Jill Waggoner, ERLC WASHINGTON, D.C. (ERLC) - Richard Land served as the president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission from 1988–2013. Prior to his time at the ERLC, he worked in a variety of church and political roles, many of which were involved closely with the modern pro-life movement in its earliest days. Below, he shares his experiences and brings perspective to the current cultural moment, the story of Southern Baptist involvement in the fight against abortion, and what comes next. Jill Waggoner: Historians have noted that before Roe v. Wade, evangelicals in general were fairly inactive on the issue of abortion. Is that true for Southern Baptists? If so, how did that change afterRoe? What did it take to change Southern Baptists’ mind on this issue? Richard Land: I was pro-life from the time I was a junior in high school because of an experience I had with a high school biology project. One of my classmate’s fathers was an OB-GYN, and she, as part of a project, brought to class what I now know to be about a 12- to 14-week-old male embryo. It was clearly a human being. That sensitized me to the issue. Abortion wasn’t much of an issue for Southern Baptists until Roe v. Wade. Prior to 1970, the … [Read more...]
Teachers who shaped my life
By Chuck Kelley In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Day, I remember some of the teachers who shaped my life: Thank you, Mrs. Hill, for helping an energetic boy fall in love with reading. I read every day of my life without exception. Thank you, Mrs. Newton, for helping me fall in love with history. I read some history book every week to this day. Thank you, Mr. Reeves, for teaching me how to research a topic and how to write a paper. Numerous papers, articles, essays, and books later, I am still at it, and will be researching and writing all afternoon today. Thank you, Mrs. Holloway, for giving me my first failing grade ever in the first six weeks of typing class. After finding out no one in my family had ever received a failing grade in anything, you made teaching me to type your personal project for the rest of the year, earning me the award for Most Improved Student in a class on awards day that year. Since the purchase of my first computer in 1983, I have done some form of touch typing nearly every day of my life since. Thank you, Mr. Reid, for making your lectures on Western Civilization at Baylor so mesmerizing, I never missed a class. I took few notes. But I remembered everything. I studied for finals by … [Read more...]
Trust, the SBC, the MBC and the Cooperative Program
By Don Hinkle EDITOR’S NOTE: Read a news article related to this editorial at the following link: https://mbcpathway.com/2022/04/12/churches-now-able-to-withhold-funds-from-sbc-entities-in-mbcs-new-plan-b-giving-option/. “Trust is like a vase. Once it’s broken, though you can fix it, the vase will never be the same again.” – Walter Anderson JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - One of the greatest unified giving efforts in American Christianity has been the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Every Southern Baptist – whether in a small church or a large one – gives cooperatively to support the advancement of the gospel. Through the Cooperative Program generosity of Southern Baptists, one of the world’s largest missionary-sending efforts is being achieved at home and abroad. World-class theological education is a reality and lives are touched in innumerable ways through Southern Baptist Disaster Relief operations and other ministries. In 2021 Southern Baptists gave nearly $200 million to the Cooperative Program – all based on trust. Southern Baptists trust that their Cooperative Program dollars will be spent to support the ministries intended. Violate that trust and expect repercussions. When Missouri Southern … [Read more...]
Who should Clarence Thomas slap?
By Ron F. Hale When the Left smears you, they expect you to stay smeared. Vindicated by your tarnished reputation and political kneecapping — they relish injecting “smear boosters” into America’s collective memory to keep you in your place. Since 1991, Clarence Thomas has lived with a target on his back. Now, the radical secular left is aiming at Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of our Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Since establishing the January 6th Select Committee to investigate what took place at the United States Capitol, the Democrats and legacy media elites seem confident they have discovered a “29 text messages” story linking Ginni Thomas to a conspiracy. Writing for The Federalist, Mark Paoletta explains how the media got the story wrong from the start. Ginni Goes to Washington Virginia “Ginni” Lamp was born February 23, 1957, in Omaha, Nebraska. Her father was an engineer who created a successful firm. Her mother was a homemaker and both parents were Republicans. Ginni earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and business communications from Creighton University in 1979, followed by a law degree in 1983 from the same school. Pursing politics as a career, Ginni began working … [Read more...]
EASTER REFLECTIONS: Who killed Jesus?
By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM)—Perhaps there is no more controversial question than “Who killed Jesus?” In the early 1960s there was a contentious debate among scholars about whether Jews or Gentiles had killed Jesus. There were charges of anti-Semitism on the one hand and counter claims of bias against Italians, with neither ethnic group wanting to bear the burden of having murdered Christ. The matter had reached such a boiling point that in 1965 the Catholic Church (Vatican II) attempted to negotiate a neutral position, publishing a treatise of sorts on the matter, “Noestra Aetate,” in which it declared that “Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ” but that such blame “cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today.” But despite the attempt to assuage Jewish umbrage, the document still asserted that “some” Jews were responsible for Jesus’ death. On the other hand, historian Mark Allan Powell wrote about the other prevailing view that Jesus was “a Jewish victim of Roman violence. “A Gentile Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, condemned Him to death and had Him tortured by … [Read more...]
Amid uncertainty in Ukraine, the Lord reigns
By Steve Horn ALEXANDRIA, La. - For me, today has the feeling similar to 9-11 or the beginning of the Gulf War when Iraq invaded Kuwait. In fact, a handful of my high school friends participated in the Gulf War. The U.S. counter began on a Wednesday night, which was our worship night for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. As several friends and I left the dormitory for our meeting, we met a regular attender who was headed the opposite way. When we asked about his coming, I still recall his incredulous response, “Don’t y’all know there’s a war going on?” We did, but we felt the best place to be was gathered with other Christians doing what we usually did on Wednesday evenings. I feel the same way today. What can we do? We can all pray. I join countless others urging prayer and more prayer. Pastor, consider a special prayer time during your Sunday morning worship service to praying specifically about these current events. Second, we can be people of peace. The watching world needs to see Christians as people of peace and not panic. I am reminded of Colossians 3:15, “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.” Third, let me encourage you to stand on the promises of God. Jesus tells us in John 16:33, “I have told … [Read more...]
Faith and choice
By William Harrell AUGUSTA, Ga. – I suppose that there has never been an issue which divided our nation like the issue of abortion. Even though a majority of the people in our nation now say they are against abortion, it continues to be the law of the land. Opinions concerning this medical procedure which terminates life range from those who are radically in favor of it to those who feel that it is nothing more than prescribed murder. Many citizens who say they are people of faith hold these same divergent views. So, the question is asked: How does one’s faith impact their view of abortion? Some denominations actually state that they are in favor of choice while others are opposed to it. Different religions also hold opposing views concerning the termination of the life of the unborn child. Some feel that it should be a woman’s choice as to whether to terminate a pregnancy or not while others back up their pro-life position with scripture. This article is meant to help people be better informed so that they can make the proper decision concerning the issue of choice where abortion is concerned. I would like to develop my approach in this article not so much from an emotional position, but from a logical and faith … [Read more...]
‘Nobody cares!’
By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) —“Nobody cares what’s happening to the Uyghurs, okay? You bring it up because you really care, and I think that’s nice that you care. The rest of us don’t care.” This appalling statement was made by Silicon Valley billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya, founder of Social Capital and a former America OnLine executive, during his podcast on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He also is part owner of the Warriors franchise of the NBA. Meanwhile, the ethnic-minority Uyghurs, a mostly Muslim population in Xinjiang Province, are suffering untold horrors at the hands of China’s Communist government. According to multiple news reports, the Uyghurs are experiencing: – slave labor (more than half a million Uyghurs are used to hand pick cotton) -- forced contraception, forced abortions, forced sterilizations (China acknowledged a 60 percent drop in the region’s birth rate, 2015-2018, and another 24 percent decline in 2019, but denies forced sterilization; instead, officials claim women are being given gender equality to work in factories, etc.) -- imprisonment (1-3 million men, women and children are being held in concentration camps that China claims are voluntary … [Read more...]
A roadmap for peace in 2022
By Steve Horn ALEXANDRIA, La. - Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. (Job 1:21 NIV) Perhaps you have seen the meme that says, “Have you realized that 2022 is pronounced 2020 Too?” Unfortunately, the early days of 2022 seem like a repeat of what we have experienced over 2020 and 2021. Job’s story doesn’t lend itself to New Year optimism. Or does it? Though Job experienced much pain, he also exhibited unfathomable peace. It is with incredible peace that: Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then, he fell to the ground in worship and said: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. (Job 1:20-21 NIV) Where did that incredible peace come from in Job’s life? And, can we have that same kind of peace? Let me note three things about Job. He lived on purpose. Job 1:1 reveals that Job was “blameless and upright” and “feared God and shunned evil.” Peace comes when the purpose of life is summed up with the words “fear God.” He lived in praise. Job fell to the ground “in worship.” What an incredible … [Read more...]
Jesus is the cure for our heart problem
By David Cranford PONCHATOULA, La. - Some of the things that happen on this earth and some of the things that people do defy description: unspeakable acts of mass violence, hatred that leads to slaughter, complete disregard for the sanctity of human life, horrible acts committed against children. Some events and actions can only be described as evil. We always want to know the source of this evil. We should know the source of this evil. Scripture answers our question and the answer is not pretty. Unfortunately, the problem is inside of us. “The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) The evil that leads to the worst acts imaginable comes from our own hearts. Blaise Pascal wrote, “the heart has its reasons which reason does not know.” Unmitigated evil surely makes no sense, yet, there it is. I’m not sure we’re willing or ready to wrap our minds and hearts around the depth of the depravity we’re capable of. The need is greater than we can fathom! Thankfully so is the grace of Jesus. David Cranford is pastor of First Baptist Church, Ponchatoula, and is a past president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. … [Read more...]
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