By Richard Land, President of the ERLC   A newly released Gallup poll taking America’s moral temperature finds strong support for fidelity in marriage and increasing respect for unborn life, but in other key areas – specifically sex outside of marriage and homosexuality – Americans may have lost their biblical compass. And, unless all people of faith unite in opposition, pornography may be next.   Overall the trend is alarming for most. According to the Gallup organization’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, 73 percent of the nation’s citizens believe moral values are getting worse (up from 69 percent in 2011).   This sense of moral malaise is generalized rather than specific with no one issue reaching even 25 percent as the number one issue. Lack of “compassion” or “caring” etc., reached first at 18 percent, followed by “lack of family structure” and “lack of faith/religion” at 10 percent, with many other individual issues gaining single digits.   When Gallup focused on the specifics however, sexual behavior became the battleground.   Biblically speaking, the best news coming from the values survey is that a majority of Americans still have tremendous respect for marriage. … [Read more...]

By Shawn Thomas, Pastor of First Baptist Church of Moss Bluff   While I am not a Calvinist, a number of my friends and family members are, which I believe gives me a balanced perspective regarding the current debate over soteriology in the SBC.   I almost signed the recently released “A Statement of the Traditional Southern Baptist Understanding of the Doctrine of Salvation” the first time I read it.  I agree with much of it, and believe that it does generally reflect the position held by most pastors and laypeople in the Southern Baptist Convention today.   But I did not sign the Statement, for several reasons.   First, I disagree with some minor points in it.   For example, in Article 2, the Statement reads: “We deny that Adam’s sin resulted in the incapacitation of any person’s free will.”  I believe the terms “Pelagian” and “semi-Pelagian” have been used too promiscuously in recent years by some Calvinists, but this sentence seems to say that man’s free will was not impacted by the Fall.   If so, this contradicts John 6:44, where Jesus said that “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws Him,” and I Corinthians 2:14, “But a natural man does not … [Read more...]

By Joe B. Nesom, Pastor First Baptist Jackson TO THE EDITOR: It seems that a group of brothers are asking us to affirm a theological position which would cause some of us to deny our historic local church confessions of faith, and would involve all of us in a denial of part of the doctrine of salvation in the Baptist Faith and Message. I serve a church which was organized in 1835, ten years prior to the establishment of the SBC. Our church was founded on the doctrines of grace in a statement which is the theology of the Charleston Manual in small space. That manual contained the Baptist Confession of 1689, and was the matrix of our denominational doctrinal commitment. Our church has supported the missionary enterprise of the SBC with thousands of dollars, and more importantly with much prayer, for 167 years this month. If anybody has the right to use the term ”traditional” Southern Baptist, surely we do. Brothers, who is working against the peace of Jerusalem here? Do we not agree that Christ Jesus is the only hope of sinners? Do we not agree that justification is by faith alone, in Christ alone? Do we not agree that the atoning death of Christ is sufficient to save all who come to him by faith? Why fight? I am sick to my … [Read more...]

By Archie England, Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at NOBTS   Question: What was the responsibility of the Old Testament watchman – Ezekiel 33 – and is this task still operative today?   Archie England responds: God informed Ezekiel that Israel needed a watchman (Ezek 33:1-6). Good watchmen would see the coming danger and sound the alarm; bad watchmen would fail to see or sound the early warning. Whereas God would require the blood of all who perished from the negligent watchman, the diligent watchman would not be held accountable.   God appointed Ezekiel as a watchman. And that made sense, because Ezekiel lived during the final turbulent days of Babylon’s invasion and conquest of Israel. But God’s task for Ezekiel was not watching for the coming Babylonians. No! God required Ezekiel to sound a prophetic warning against sin. To illustrate why this warning is necessary, Ezekiel addresses two particular groups of sinners, the thoroughly wicked and the mostly righteous. The first group has nothing but the mercy of God to hope for, and God offered it – when they would turn from sin to God. The second group has a lifetime of past righteous deeds. The prophet warns that these are not enough! Past … [Read more...]

By Kevin McFadden, Louisiana College   In my last column, I explained the meaning of the doctrine of inspiration by reflecting on the word “God-breathed” in 2 Timothy 3:16.   This verse is not only the classic text for the doctrine of inspiration, it is also the classic text for the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture.   “All Scripture,” Paul says, is not only “God-breathed,” but it is also “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”   Among Southern Baptists, the doctrine of sufficiency is sometimes overshadowed by the controversy over the inspiration of the Bible.   But if we fail to practice the sufficiency of Scripture, then we will have lost the war for the Bible in the Southern Baptist Convention. With this in mind, my goal in this column is to explain what Paul means when he says that Scripture is “useful.” I will do this by asking three questions.   First of all, why is Scripture useful? It is useful because it is “God-breathed,” because it originates from God.   The doctrine of inspiration is not simply an interesting topic for pastors and academics. It is the foundation of Scripture’s usefulness, and it is an … [Read more...]

By Marilyn Stewart, Regional Reporter   NEW ORLEANS – The photographs on the wall of Adam and Anna Horsley’s home are pictures of children they pray for daily, though some they will never see again. Being foster parents, a growing need in Louisiana, was a call they couldn’t ignore. What they discovered were tiny hearts tender to the Gospel.   “Every child has been unchurched. They’ve never heard Bible stories,” Anna Horsley said.   One child, a 4-year-old boy, told the couple during their nightly Bible story and prayer time that his heart was broken. Later, during his four-month stay with the couple, he announced, “My heart’s fixed. You and Anna helped fix my heart.”   The aunt of the sibling group the couple cares for has attended church with them. Another child, age 9, came to faith in Christ.   “It’s been a wonderful experience to expose them to the Gospel for the first time and see them grow in the Lord,” Anna Horsley said. The couple, in their 20s and members of First New Orleans, have cared for 18 children in 19 months.   More than 4,500 children are in the Louisiana foster care system, a protective service for children who live apart from parents because of … [Read more...]

[img_assist|nid=8202|title=LC Press Conference|desc=At a press conference announcing the Louisiana Collegiate International Academy, Randall Esters, dean of LC’s School of Education, President Joe Aguillard, Vice President Tim Johnson and International Consultant Traci Thomas answer questions.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=427]By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor   PINEVILLE – Top-ranking high school juniors and seniors starting this fall will be able to take classes at Louisiana College and receive both high school and college credit.   LC recently received accreditation for its newly-formed Louisiana Collegiate International Academy – LCIA. The announcement was made during a June 1 press conference.   “We’re grateful God has brought us to this day,” said Tim Johnson, LC’s executive vice president, as the press conference convened. “This very ministry could literally impact the world … and fulfill our mission, which is to change the world for Christ.”   LC President Joe Aguillard first had the idea in 2009 to add a high school component to LC, specifically one that would incorporate an international focus. It took three years and divine intervention to bring it to pass, … [Read more...]

[img_assist|nid=8205|title=First Shreveport|desc=Jeff Raines, pastor of First Baptist Church of Shreveport, stands with three former pastors of the now-disbanded Parkview Baptist Church of Shreveport – Van Edwards, Jason McInnis and Mike Anderson – during a Heritage Room reception June 1 at First Shreveport.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=427]By Staff, Baptist Message   SHREVEPORT – A June 10 reception at First Baptist Church honored three churches whose artifacts and history are now in one place.   First Shreveport – organized in 1845 (the city itself wasn’t birthed until 1836) – started 10 area churches, including Parkview in 1897 and Highland in 1916.   Virginia Joyner was already church historian when she was asked in 1981 to assemble the church records and historical items in what was to be called a Heritage Room. It was to be housed in a former coat closet in the church’s foyer.   In 1996, Highland merged into First Shreveport, and a second Heritage Room was started on the other side of the foyer, in another former coat closet.   “All the paintings of their former pastors are hung on the wall,” Joyner said. “Their pulpit is there, along with catalogued materials … [Read more...]

[img_assist|nid=8207|title=What's Cooking?|desc=Disaster Relief volunteer Reggie Burnaman (dark blue shirt) of Glenmora Baptist moves stacked cookpots, while Blue Cap Gene Lee of First Rayne, moves another set of cookpots with the help of LBC DR Director Gibbie McMillan, when he’s not arranging pot lids in the expanded storage space. The new DR feed unit trailer holds 14,000 pounds of equipment and supplies. The old unit has been sold.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=427]By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor   ALEXANDRIA – The Louisiana Baptist Convention’s new 38-foot Disaster Relief cooking unit was to be at the center of the NAMB display in the exhibit hall at the SBC annual meeting last week in New Orleans.   It replaces a unit four feet shorter and 22 years older.   “Our first unit has been well used and needed to be updated, although we got our money’s worth with it,” said Gibbie McMillan, LBC’s director of Disaster Relief and mens ministries. “We replaced the back end three times. This one has rollers so the back end doesn’t drag when we go uphill.”   The new unit is not at this time expected to be needed in the Homer, La., area, but at least 10 units – chainsaw … [Read more...]

[img_assist|nid=8209|title=Answering altar call|desc=Dozens of inmates at Angola Prison Camp D responded to an altar call following a Saturday afternoon revival service hosted by the LBC.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=418]By Mark H. Hunter, Regional Reporter   ANGOLA – One hundred and fifty men from 46 churches in the Louisiana Baptist Convention visited thousands of inmates at four of the six camps at the Louisiana State Penitentiary June 1 and 2 for the 16th annual LBC Angola Revival.   About 200 of the inmates made some kind of spiritual decision, including accepting Christ as their Savior.   But the story is much more than just numbers. Lives were changed on both sides of the thick steel cell bars.   “It just turned out wonderfully; God blessed,” said Keith Manuel, event organizer and LBC evangelism associate. “The Lord moved. Men who may never again see freedom in society found eternal freedom and full pardon from the Judge who rules in righteousness.”   “It’s a refreshing, fulfilling experience when you can share Christ with someone and lead them to the Lord,” said Buddy Jennings, one of several men from Crockett Point Baptist at Crowville. “It’s hard to express … [Read more...]