By Kelly Boggs, Message Editor Many in the media tend to characterize conservative Christians as anti-science. But when it comes to the issue of abortion, it would seem that those who truly reject science are many of those same media members – and their ideological allies – who affirm abortion-on-demand. Let me explain. Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious liberty legal group based in Arizona, filed a lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University on behalf of a student group that was denied university funding for an exhibit that compares abortion to other historically recognized forms of genocide, according to a report on the Detroit Free Press website. “The lawsuit says that the student government should have allocated the roughly $5,000 that Students for Life had requested in February to sponsor the Genocide Awareness Project. The project uses large displays to compare abortion to the Nazis’ mass killing of Jews, the lynching of African Americans, and genocide in Cambodia,” reported the Free Press. According to the Free Press report, the Genocide Awareness Project travels the country and visits universities. It is sponsored by the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, a pro-life organization based in California. The lawsuit … [Read more...]

By Claude King, LifeWay Years ago, while reading one of my dozens of books by Andrew Murray, I learned that our modern posture of prayer (kneeling with hands clasped with head bowed) didn’t come from Judaism but from a medieval homage ceremony. In the homage ceremony a king, lord or landowner would call his vassals or subjects before him to pledge their loyalty and obedience to their lord. The king would hold out his open hands. The subject would kneel with bowed head and place his hands inside the hands of his king. Then he would say these words, “I am your man.” That simple statement essentially meant, “I belong to you.” It included the obligation to obey any request of the king, even the call to battle. That pledge of obedience also included a readiness to obey even if the assignment would cost the life of the subject. It could become a pledge of obedience even unto death. Christians were required to pledge their loyalty and obedience to their earthly king in this homage ceremony. They realized, however, they owed a higher loyalty to their Lord and King in heaven. King Jesus is seated on His throne with outstretched, nail-scarred hands. He is waiting for our surrender and pledge of loyalty and obedience to Him for the … [Read more...]

To the Editor I am a former LC trustee and a retired pastor who has supported a number of LC students. For those reasons, as well as being a strong backer of Christian education, the current ruckus at Louisiana College troubles me. However, rather than weigh in on one side or the other, I’d like to point out a few things I feel need to be addressed. 1 – We should praise the Baptist Message for covering this situation. I recognize at least one blogger feels the paper gives his side short shrift, but people on either side of an issue tend to blame anyone who doesn’t support their views 100 percent. Lately Southern Baptist journalism has tended to ignore controversy, probably in the spirit of furthering unity. However, historically our Baptist papers have been at the forefront of theological discussion. 2 – Please remember and keep at the forefront that LC is an educational institution. Even though it is a Baptist college, commissioned to give a clear voice to Baptist viewpoints, that does not mean it is to indoctrinate rather than educate. 3 – Remember the subtext that pervades everything. Students and others are watching to see how their respected leaders behave in institutional conflict. Are the faculty and administration … [Read more...]

To the Editor   I do not know Joe Aguillard, but as far I can tell he is just standing up to some who want to control Louisiana College. With their threats of leaving the college and their denigrating language it seems they want to see their candidate ushered into the position of president. Situations like the one at LC have always saddened me. Over the past 27 years I have endured attempts by some of the same type people who have wanted to remove me from my position as pastor. The mantra of those who wish to control is, “If we can’t control it then we will remove our money and our attendance and make that preacher pay for his resistance to our will.”  It seems to me like God did the calling maybe; He hasn’t called him away just yet. Where Calvinism is concerned we, as Southern Baptists embrace the total depravity of man (none good, not one), the sovereignty of God (God’s “allness” or His Omni-characteristics), and the final perseverance of the saints (or eternal security) while the other two aspects of the TULIP are debatable, we pretty much hold to those three aforementioned doctrines. I think as a respected friend of mine has stated before in a comment to your paper, “We have an elephant in the room and we are … [Read more...]

By Thom S. Rainer, President of LifeWay I travel a lot and spend a lot of time in different churches. Sadly, many times I do not feel welcome as a guest when I visit churches. The Bible is replete with admonitions of hospitality and servanthood. I just wish our church members understood that the servant-like spirit should also be manifest when we gather to worship. Guests are often uncomfortable, if not intimated, when they visit a church. We are to be gracious and sacrificial servants to them. In response to this need for more guest-friendly church members, I have devised the 10 greatest needs, at least from my perspective. I will reticently call them “commandments” and throw in a little King James English for effect. 1. Thou shalt pray for people in the services whom you don’t recognize. They are likely guests who feel uncomfortable and uncertain. 2. Thou shalt smile. Guests feel welcome when they see smiling people. (You can resume your somber expressions when you get home.) 3. Thou shalt not sit on the ends of the rows. Move to the middle so guests don’t have to walk over you. You’ll survive in your new precarious position. 4. Thou shalt not fill up the back rows first. Move to the front so guests don’t have to walk … [Read more...]

By Johnathan Patterson, NOBTS Question: Did God call Esther to sin? Jonathan Patterson responds: Esther 2 tells us that Esther was gathered, along with other young women, and placed among the king’s harem of virgins. After a year of preparation, each virgin was appointed one night only with the king and returned the next morning to the harem of the king’s concubines. Esther had been instructed by Mordecai not to reveal her racial heritage, so when it was her time she entered into the king’s chambers as instructed. The Bible never specifically tells us that Esther slept with Artaxerxes, but the implication is quite clear. So how do we then rectify what we know of God’s commandments to refrain from sexual relations outside of marriage with what we recognize to be the divine hand of guidance upon Esther’s life? Had God called Esther to sin by committing fornication? A soldier is thrust into war for the primary purpose of eliminating an enemy threat. When that soldier kills an enemy combatant, we do not consider this murder but rather the necessary consequences of the situation he or she is facing. That soldier’s choice is simple: kill or be killed. Esther’s was not a choice of retaining or surrendering her virtue; it was a … [Read more...]

By Richard Land, President of the ERLC Recently the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on same-sex marriage; it was a high-stakes moment for both American society and for the court itself. The Court heard arguments on California’s Proposition 8 (Hollingsworth v. Perry) case and also reviewed the federal Defense of Marriage Act in U.S. v. Windsor. Just like in Roe v Wade, a case widely discredited by legal scholars as poor law and credited by conservatives as the spark that ignited Christian activism, the court has a massive challenge ahead of it -- threading the needle between state’s rights and the press of coastal public opinion. The California case has the potential for far-flung reverberations in all 50 states. In the Proposition 8 case, the court will decide whether to overturn a lower federal court’s renunciation of Proposition 8, in which the voters of California voted to amend their state constitution to define marriage as only between one man and one woman. The presiding judge, the since retired Vaughn R. Walker, declared that “excluding same-sex couples from marriage is simply not rationally related to a legitimate state interest.” The Obama administration filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Proposition 8 case … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 04/10/2013 - 09:04 Completed work orders in the shape of crosses line the wall of the St. John the Baptist Community Center in LaPlace. The organization Eight Days of Hope mobilized to bring 2,510 volunteers for eight days in March who provided 143,000 man-hours of labor valued at $4.1 million. By Marilyn Stewart, Regional Reporter LAPLACE – Overwhelmed by flooded homes and broken lives after Hurricane Isaac last fall, Celebration Church LaPlace Pastor Checkerz Williams knelt in his gutted office and prayed, “Send us workers. Help us impact this community for Christ.” God answered by bringing Eight Days of Hope, a faith-based organization directed and co-founded by Stephen Tybor III of First Baptist Church, Tupelo, Miss., that mobilized 2,510 volunteers in March to provide 143,000 man-hours of labor for work valued at $4.1 million. Numerous first-time commitments of faith to Christ were recorded among homeowners and volunteers as the group prayed with area residents and met nightly for worship. “Our city will never be the same,” Williams said. “I believe the people of our community are much more open to the Gospel as a result of what took place over the last eight days.” Four Louisiana … [Read more...]

By Holly Jo Linzay, Regional Reporter PINEVILLE – Hearts were stirred for missions as more than 900 children and adult leaders gathered at Louisiana College March 9 for the annual “M-Jam” celebration. The Missions Jamboree, a day-long event for children in first-grade through the sixth-grade, featured international and Louisiana-based missionaries. The children met the missionaries, heard about their mission work and had the opportunity to hear their testimonies. M-Jam is a Cooperative Program-funded event sponsored by the Louisiana Baptist Convention Women’s Missions and Ministry. “Our theme for today is ‘The Glory Story.’ We need to give God the glory for our story,” said Kimberly Aguillard, LBC Children/Youth Mission Education Strategist and event coordinator, adding that the theme is based on 1 Chronicles 16:24. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples, Aguillard quoted the scripture, and added, “Your testimony is your story.” In the opening ceremony, Aguillard announced to the Girls in Action and Children in Action groups that 28 church groups present at the 2013 M-Jam were participating in the event for the first time. “That just gave me the Holy Ghost goosebumps,” Aguillard … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Wed, 04/10/2013 - 09:09 Dr. Paul Freed By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor STATEWIDE – A hard-hitting, media-rich, two-day, spiritual leadership conference is awakening people in churches across Louisiana to their responsibility as Christ-followers and church leaders. Reports coming in from regional events that took place earlier this year at First Baptist Amite, First Baptist Bastrop, Memorial Baptist Bogalusa and Ascension Baptist Gonzales attest to the impact of the Call of the Captain.® “I have attended many leadership conferences in the past, but the Call of the Captain stands out as one of the premier presentations available for church leadership,” said Jerry Price, director of missions for the Northeast Louisiana and Morehouse Baptist Associations. “The state-of-the-art music, videos, photographs, and superior Bible teaching make this seminar an excellent tool for training current and future leaders. “I am still basking in the glow of it,” Price said in the week after the conference at First Baptist Church of Bastrop. “I highly recommend it to all who desire to expand their knowledge of biblical leadership.” The next regional Call of the Captain conferences are April 26-27 at Cook … [Read more...]