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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

LBC webinars to offer encouragement for pastors, wives

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – Pastors and their wives who may have experienced additional stress brought on by the novel coronavirus pandemic will have the chance to receive much needed encouragement during two webinars Sept. 17. First proposed by Louisiana Baptist Convention President David Cranford, the “Encourage” webinars are scheduled to include New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Jamie Dew, comedian Dennis Swanberg, the Bayou Church Founding Pastor Mike Walker and NOBTS Associate Professor of Counseling Craig Garrett. A webinar for ministers is scheduled for 3:30-4:30 pm and for wives from 7-8 p.m. The first 200 ministers and first 250 ministers’ wives who register for the webinars will receive a special gift. Ministers participating in the 3:30 webinar will also receive a gift courtesy of the Caskey Foundation at NOBTS. “These have been the most difficult days in my almost 30 years of ministry,” Cranford told the Baptist Message. “I know that other ministers feel the same way. I simply want ministers and their families to know that they are not alone and that there is help and encouragement available to them from the Lord as well as their fellow … [Read more...]

Children’s Home youngsters’ birthday gifts lift spirit of nursing home resident

By Baptist Message staff MONROE, La. (LBM) – Oleta Gibson, a 104-year-old resident of the Avalon Place Nursing Home in Monroe, received a surprise visit in early April from some Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home youngsters who delivered special birthday gifts. The children surprised Gibson with homemade pictures and a rendition of the classic song “Happy Birthday” from outside her window. “We try to teach these kids from an early age we need to serve as Jesus did and look for ways to encourage others,” Lisa Vaughn, who serves as a cottage parent with her husband, Larry, told the Baptist Message. “It was such a blessing to see them on board with this from the time we told them about this idea.” A few weeks after the novel coronavirus pandemic shut out visitors to nursing home facilities in the state, Vaughn learned that Gibson’s family would not be able to come to Avalon Place for the birthday celebration. Th e children quickly volunteered to color the pictures that subsequently brought smiles to Gibson on her special day. “Larry and Lisa Vaughn do a great job serving as cottage parents,” shared Marc Eichelberger, vice president of development and public relations for the Children’s Home. “We are grateful for them taking … [Read more...]

Aguillard loses appeal in LC lawsuit

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NEW ORLEANS (LBM) -- The Associated Press has reported that Joe Aguillard, a former Louisiana College president, has lost his appeal in a federal lawsuit against the school. The case was heard Aug. 19 by a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals who were unanimous in their opinion: James Graves (Barak Obama appointee), Carolyn King (Jimmy Carter), and Andrew Oldham (Donald Trump). “After he was fi red by Louisiana College, Joe Aguillard sent misconduct allegations to the college’s accrediting body,” they wrote. “Those accusations prompted Louisiana College to sue Aguillard in state court for defamation. Aguillard countered by suing the college in federal court, alleging-among other things-- that the defamation suit violated anti-retaliation provisions found in the Americans With Disabilities Act and in Title VII.” “The district court granted Louisiana College summary judgment regarding Aguillard’s claims,” the opinion noted, “and we affirm.” Aguillard was president of Louisiana College for nine years before he was removed in April 2014 under an agreement with the Board of Trustees that named him president emeritus, according to a May 2019 report by … [Read more...]

‘Pledge of Allegiance’ changed at DNC

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor MILWAUKEE (LBM) -- At least three leaders of groups represented on the digital broadcast of the Democratic National Convention proceedings either deleted or added phrases to substantially alter the Pledge of Allegiance. The DNC Caucus and Council Meeting: Muslim Delegates and Allies Assembly as well as the DNC LGBTQ Caucus Meeting were started by reciting the pledge, but “under God” was deleted both times. Meanwhile, the DNC Environment and Climate Crisis Council began its meeting with the pledge, with an addition, “with liberty and justice for all … some day.” Although available online, none of these controversial segments have been broadcast on network or cable stations except Fox News. Meanwhile, the DNC platform committee passed a resolution ahead of the virtual meeting of Democrats that applauds the religiously unaffiliated while at the same time condemns people of faith who do not support a liberal political agenda. The “Resolution Regarding Religiously Unaffiliated Demographic” cites the growth of the number of religiously unaffiliated among Democrats, calling the demographic “the largest religious group within the Democratic Party,” and praises the fact that … [Read more...]

Louisiana job losses due to COVID-19 double those lost after Katrina

By Will Hall, Baptist Message staff writer LAFAYETTE, LA. (LBM) -- The Acadiana Advocate has published information from a report compiled by Gary Wagner, an economist with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, showing sharp job losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his report, Wager stated, “Louisiana lost more than 218,000 payroll jobs between the first and second quarters of 2020. This represents an 11% reduction and is the largest quarterly loss in jobs for periods in which we have economic data. To put this figure into perspective, the state lost just over 6% of its jobs in 2005 because of Hurricane Katrina.” Wagner further noted that “More than 800,000 individuals have applied for initial unemployment claims since March 14, 2020 in excess of the state’s historical average.” For context, he shared that for the last 34 years, “the state averages around 3400 new unemployment claims per week in August.” But, even with the dire news regarding lost jobs and surging jobless claims, Wagner is optimistic about the economy in the near term, according to the Advocate. The state economy will pick up, although Wagner predicts it will be 7 percent smaller than in 2019, the Advocate reported, noting that increased … [Read more...]

Six Baptist state executives say there’s no partnership in new NAMB ‘strategic cooperative agreement’

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor VANCOUVER, Wash. (LBM) – Executive directors representing five Western state conventions and a Midwestern one have written a passionate letter, Aug. 12, 2020, addressed to Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, and his trustees, as well as the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee and its president, Ronnie Floyd, repudiating what they describe as a lack of partnership in the new “Strategic Cooperative Agreement” that NAMB presented to “non-South Baptist state conventions, dated June 26-30, 2020.” The six leaders include Randy Adams (Northwest Baptist Convention), Bill Agee (California Southern Baptist Convention), Joe Bunce (Baptist Convention of New Mexico), Randy Covington (Alaska Baptist Resource Network), Jack Kwok (State Convention of Baptists in Ohio) and Chris Martin (Hawaii-Pacific Baptist Convention). Saying “we work most effectively when working in collaboration and harmony, especially in our non-South states where the local context and cultures of our mission fields can vary so significantly,” they described NAMB as becoming increasingly centralized and unilateral in its strategies and relationships with state conventions, adding … [Read more...]

EDITORIAL: Use science to drive COVID-19 policies

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – COVID-19 continues to kill people in our state and across our nation even though government officials know what is causing the complications leading to hospitalizations, ventilations and deaths and why COVID-19 affects a very specific vulnerable population in such dramatic ways. As of this writing, there have been about 4,500 deaths from the coronavirus in our state, with 41 percent of these lost lives being suffered by nursing home residents, according to Louisiana Department of Health data. Indeed, more than 3,000 deaths (67 percent) have stricken those 70 years old or more. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published information showing that half of the 176,000 COVID-19 deaths, so far, have taken the lives of those 78 years old or more. But what these victims share in common is not age. Instead, they have a condition also shared with younger victims of hospitalizations, ventilations and deaths – an increased volume of angiotensin converting enzyme 2, a protein that regulates blood pressure. It is a factor in hypertension, diabetes, cardiac disease, chronic kidney disease and obesity, all of which are comorbid … [Read more...]

Louisiana College starts new year with revival on campus

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer PINEVILLE, La. (LBM) – Curtis Zackery challenged Louisiana College students to move beyond only knowing about the Bible and to enter into a life centered on following Christ. “Right now in this cultural moment some of us have been wooed and have been deceived to think the most important thing is we need to know stuff,” Zackery said during the “Awakening” revival series. “What we really need is to understand the power of Jesus Christ. “We don’t need to just know in our heads ideas about the Bible,” he continued. “We need to believe in our hearts that awakening can actually happen in our city, in our country, in our world.” Zackery, a youth evangelist from Franklin, Tennesee, shared from Mark 8 about how Jesus used the healing of a blind man to move the disciples from knowing about Christ to understanding Him. “This is going to be the thing that will help as a community going into the school year with some purpose, some vision and direction,” he said. “This difference between knowing and understanding is such a big deal that I think it can be the key for us to navigate our current cultural moment.” Zackery’s message during the revival, Aug. 14-16, was among many … [Read more...]

The giants just keep coming

By Steve Horn ALEXANDRIA, La. - In my distress I called to the Lord;     I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice;     my cry came to his ears. -2 Samuel 22:7 My Facebook memory notifications are reminding me that this week marks four years since the historic floods in South Louisiana. Our church at the time had 50 families with water in their homes. In some ways, four years seems like a lifetime ago. So it is with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005. So it is with 9-11, now nearly 19 years ago. One day, we will talk about COVID-19 the way we talk about these other life catastrophes. All of those were, and are headline-dominant, history-making, life-altering events – giants, if you will.  And in this COVID-weary season, there often appears to be no shortage of these giants. They simply keep coming. Their shadows cover our attempts to recapture some degree of normalcy in our ministries, our families and our culture. We know about David’s battle with Goliath, but the rapid succession of giants coming against David, as recorded in 2 Samuel 21:15-22, is not as familiar. In the span of eight verses, we learn of four giants coming against Israel. All four were descendants of that great giant, Goliath. All were … [Read more...]

Associations, churches encouraged to join ELBA hosted prayer event Aug. 22-23

By Baptist Message staff WALKER, La. (LBM) – Eastern Louisiana Baptist Association is hosting a focused prayer event later this month and is asking other associations and churches to join them in the effort. The event, 24-hours of continuous prayer, begins at 8 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, and continues through 8 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 23. Each church has been asked to recruit members to pray in one-hour increments that will focus on confession of sin, revival in the church, awakening, unity and healing for the novel coronavirus pandemic. The event is based off Psalm 57:1-2: “Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, For my soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by. I will cry to God most high, oh God who accomplishes all things for me.” Eastern Louisiana Associational Missions Coordinator Richard Blue said he is excited about how God will move from this time of focused prayer. “It's time to pray,” he said. Our land needs to acknowledge God, repent of our sins, and return to God so He might return to us.” … [Read more...]