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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Trump, Johnson tour hurricane damage

By Baptist Message staff LAKE CHARLES, La. (LBM) - Two days after Hurricane Laura devastated parts of Louisiana, President Donald Trump stopped in Calcasieu Parish to assess areas hit hard by the storm. Trump arrived in Lake Charles around noon. He also visited other communities impacted by the storm, which made landfall Thursday in Cameron as a Category 4 hurricane. “I’m here to support the great people of Louisiana,” Trump said during a roundtable discussion with city, parish and state leaders. “It’s been a tremendous state for me. I love the people. We’ve had a great relationship right from the beginning. It’s very important that I was here; and, already I've met some people who have been absolutely devastated. This was a tremendously powerful storm.” Prior to his visit, Trump approved Gov. John Bel Edwards’ request for a major disaster declaration, which grants federal assistance to those in Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and Jefferson Davis Parishes, which were severely damaged from Laura. U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, a member of the First Baptis Chiurch, Bossier City, was among Louisiana’s congressional delegation which accompanied Trump for the visit. “It would be difficult to overstate the scope of the hurricane … [Read more...]

Louisiana Baptists invited to be part of global prayer event

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer WASHINGTON, D.C. – Several Louisiana Baptist churches will simulcast “The Return: National and Global Day of Prayer and Repentance,” a global prayer event planned for Sept. 26 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and their pastors are asking other Louisiana Baptists to join them in this time of repentance and revival, a special need, they said, during a time of division and unrest in the United States. The tentative schedule includes scripture reading, prayer and times of praise and worship, and, the preliminary list of speakers includes: author Ruth Graham Lotz, Gateway Church (Dallas, Texas) Pastor Robert Morris, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, Christian Broadcasting Network founder Pat Robertson, country music artist Pat Boone, and actor Kevin Sorbo. Dustin Stockstill, pastor of Bedico Baptist Church in Ponchatoula, said his congregation chose to host the event to help their community refocus on God. “A lot of good can come out of it,” Stockstill told the Baptist Message. “Revivals in America always started with a prayer meeting, whether it was a few or a large group of people. They realized the need for repentance and change and … [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...]

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...]