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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Women ‘Embrace’ hope at Pineville conference

By Baptist Message staff PINEVILLE, La. (LBM) - Christ’s hope, peace and power can carry believers through difficult circumstances, keynote speaker Andrea Lennon said during the 2021 Embrace women’s conference, March 20. “God loves you and God has a plan for your life,” Lennon told just under 100 women at First Baptist Church, Pineville, and others tuning in online. “We can walk in faith and hope and confidence, even in the unknown situations and circumstances of life.” Lennon, a Little Rock, Arkansas-based, writer and speaker, said in her message, focused on Romans 15:13, that Christ’s followers can remain hopeful because Jesus overcame the grave; the Holy Spirit lives inside them; God’s Word tells them how to live; they are members of God’s family; and He has a plan for each person. “We serve the God of hope,” Lennon said. “It positions us to see all of the ways He is present, active and providing.” Lennon stressed that when trouble comes, believers can remain confident because God will walk beside them. “Joy and peace are not the absence of problems, but rather the assurance that God is with us,” she said. “Embrace” was an event for women of all cultures and generations to realize their God-given value and … [Read more...]

Smith Scholars: Anna Matherne’s long road to LC a true miracle

By Kylei Cornelison, Wildcats Media EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part 1 in a series about Louisiana College’s Smith Scholars. PINEVILLE, La. (LCNews) - At Louisiana College, an annual competition is held to determine the winner of the Smith Scholarship, a full ride to LC for four years—the only full ride scholarship offered by the College. One student is chosen from an interview, essay and resume-based competition. Anna Matherne, now a senior at LC, was the 2017 recipient of the Smith Scholarship. She grew up in Baton Rouge, after being adopted from an orphanage in Fuzhou, China, when she was 10 months old. She was raised as an only child by a single, widowed mother, and because of this dynamic, she has a very close relationship with her mom, Patti Matherne. “She is my best friend,” Anna says referring to her mom. Anna and her mom retell how her adoption process was a miracle and a direct reflection of God’s hand over her life. Anna says there were instances during the process that were almost supernatural, and the only explanation is God. “Before God sent me to China to adopt a little girl, He spent a lot of time making sure that I was ready,” Patti said. Patti recalls becoming “instant friends” with Anna after … [Read more...]

Beth Moore announces she is parting ways with LifeWay

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LBM)—After at least two tumultuous years marked by her strident opposition to President Donald J. Trump and increasing bitterness toward Southern Baptists who voted for him, Beth Moore, the former top selling Bible study writer announced she is parting ways with LifeWay Christian Resources. Moore also announced to the Religion News Service that she no longer considers herself a Southern Baptist. She and her husband are changing churches, they were once members of Houston’s First Baptist Church, Houston, Texas, but RNS hinted that the new church they are visiting may be Southern Baptist, just “not tied closely to the SBC.” From 2001-2016, Living Proof Ministries built its assets from $1 million to $15 million. But RNS reported LPM lost “more than $1.8 million” from 2017-2018. In 2019 Moore became increasingly critical of President Trump and his Southern Baptist supporters. She jumped on the bandwagon with other Trump critics in January 2019 to accuse a group of MAGA-hat-wearing students of racist hatred. The teens were in Washington, D.C., to participate in the annual March for Life. A video clip emerged that made it appear that after the event the … [Read more...]

Executive committee releases task force report on ERLC

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LBM) — The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention released its task force report about the impact of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission on the funding of cooperative missions and ministries of Southern Baptists. The yearlong investigation found that ERLC actions had caused a $1.5 million loss to the International Mission Board, $700,000 loss to the North American Mission Board, $700,000 loss to theological education at the six seminaries and $100,000 loss to the Executive Committee, according to Mike Stone, chairman of the seven-member task force, immediate past SBC Executive Committee chairman and pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, Georgia. But there was a loss of $4 million to state conventions, too, he said. Stone formally presented the report to the SBC Executive Committee during its Feb. 22-23 meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. The published report set the framework for Stone’s comments by sharing that 15 of the 41 state Baptist conventions had responded to a survey from the task force. “These 15 conventions serve 28,379 congregations, or 60 percent of the churches in friendly cooperation with the SBC,” the report … [Read more...]

SBC EC ousts four churches, hears trustee matters at LW, SWBTS

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LBM) —During executive session, Feb. 23, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee voted to remove four churches reported by the Credentials Committee to be “no longer in friendly cooperation” with the SBC. Meanwhile, the Executive Committee took no action against LifeWay regarding violation of SBC Bylaw 15.F. by a trustee but set up a task force in response to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s suspension of trustees elected by SBC messengers. OUT OF FELLOWSHIP Towne View Baptist Church, Kennesaw, Georgia, and St. Matthews Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky, were removed from fellowship with the SBC for affirming homosexuality. TVBC voted to admit a male homosexual couple as members and SMBC was disfellowshipped by the Kentucky Baptist Convention in 2018 because the congregation supported the homosexual-affirming Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Meanwhile, Antioch Baptist Church, Sevierville, Tennessee, and West Side Baptist Church, Sharpsville, Pennsylvania, were ousted for charges of indifference to addressing sexual abuse. The Credentials Committee said ABC employs a pastor who confessed to two counts of statutory rape and … [Read more...]

Mike Stone: Grassroots Southern Baptists must vote in Nashville

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor DEVILLE, La. (LBM) — ”The president of our Convention is an important job. The way to affect significant change in the Southern Baptist Convention starts by electing the president,” said Philip Robertson, March 16. Robertson, pastor of Philadelphia Baptist Church, Deville, with a campus in Alexandria, made the statements as part of his promotion of the Conservative Baptist Network, of which he leads the Louisiana chapter, and in presenting Mike Stone, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, Georgia, who is a candidate for president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Stone was at PBC, Deville, as speaker for a luncheon that was open to area pastors and church members. It was one of three regional events he headlined in the state, March 15-16. He is the immediate past chairman of the SBC Executive Committee and chaired a task force for them that found Russell Moore and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission had negatively impacted the Cooperative Program (last year, in 15 state conventions that responded to a survey, a loss of $1.5 million to the International Mission Board and a drop of $4 million to state work). The 10,000-member CBN seeks to halt a leftward … [Read more...]

LC signs articulation agreements with SWBTS, SEBTS

By Baptist Message staff PINEVILLE, La. (LBM) – Louisiana College has entered into agreements with Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary that will allow students to apply college credits toward a seminary degree. Brewer, during the school’s chapel services, signed agreements with SWBTS President Adam Greenway March 4 and SEBTS President Daniel Akin, March 18. “This partnership adds credibility to the quality missions and ministries program we have at LC,” Brewer told the Baptist Message. “We hope to partner with all the Southern Baptist seminaries to save students, who are planning to pursue a graduate degree at seminary, time and money.” The memorandums of understanding between the institutions will allow LC graduates to earn their seminary degrees more quickly to pursue God’s calling on their lives, Brewer said. He explained that students who successfully complete certain senior-level courses in LC’s missions and ministries program may receive at least 15 credit hours toward a Master of Divinity at the two seminaries. Justin Langford, interim dean of the School of Missions and Ministries, said many LC graduates with a B.A. in Missions and Ministries go on to … [Read more...]

Baby bottle fundraiser on record pace

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – CENLA Pregnancy Center supporters are celebrating a successful start to the annual baby bottle fundraiser, buoyed by the news of a record pace in giving. Since January, 19 churches and groups have raised $38,000 through donations collected in baby bottles, surpassing last year’s total of $25,000. Another 11 churches and groups indicated they, too, will participate this year, causing CPC Director Claire Lemoine to suggest that donations could exceed the all-time high of $50,000 that was collected in 2018, the first year CENLA Pregnancy Center was fully operational. Lemoine told the Baptist Message she briefly considered opting out of the baby bottle fundraiser this year because so many people are struggling financially due to the pandemic’s economic impact. Instead, she said, she was moved to proceed, and since her staff began reaching out in December, the response by churches has been overwhelming. “The Lord showed me late last year that people were ready to do something because so much has been absent from their lives that they knew before the COVID protocols set in,” Lemoine said. “Once the donations started coming in, God was affirming that we … [Read more...]