By Baptist Message staff BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – Ken Fryer, minister of music at Riverside Baptist Church, Watson, died Saturday, Dec. 12. He was 56. A native of Delhi, Fryer served at several Louisiana Baptist churches, including as pastor of First Baptist Church, Greenwood, and College Place Baptist Church, Monroe. He also served as an associate pastor at Heritage Baptist Church, Shreveport; Milldale Baptist Church, Zachary; Willow Point Baptist Church, Shreveport; and Broussard Grove Baptist Church, Prairieville. In addition to being on the staff of six churches, Fryer served Louisiana Baptists as a LBC Executive Board member (2007-2011), moral and social concerns committee member (2012-2014), and President’s 2020 Commission member (2012-present), according to the Annual Church Profile. According to his obituary, Fryer taught at Sequitur Classical Academy, University View Academy and Christ Presbyterian Church, as well as teaching voice to numerous private students. He co-authored the book “Virtues of the Great Composers for Children,” and was a contributor to the book “Covenant Theology: A Baptist Distinctive” by Earl Blackburn. He was a graduate of Ouachita Parish High School, Monroe; East Texas Baptist … [Read more...]
Leap for joy at Christ’s birth!
By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – There are a number of firsts celebrated in Scripture. Cornelius, the centurion who served as a commander in the Italian Regiment of the Roman military, generally is acknowledged as the first Gentile convert to Christianity (Acts 10: 44-45) [although some argue the Ethiopian eunuch is deserving of that recognition] – fulfilling the promise of salvation to the whole world prophesied in Isaiah 49:6. He was a God-fearer and did good deeds. But when he heard the Gospel from Peter, he believed in Jesus, not in religion or works, and was saved. Lydia, the seller of purple cloth in Philippi (Acts 16:14-15) is considered the first convert in Europe. Paul found her being an obedient Jew, honoring the Sabbath at a place of prayer by the river. She, too, hearing the Good News “opened her heart” to Jesus; and, Paul, Luke, Timothy and Silas judged her to be a true believer! The church at Antioch was the first group of disciples to be called Christians (Acts 11:26), and it was this congregation who commissioned Paul for his first missionary journey that helped expand the Church to the ends of the world. But, think about the first person on earth to worship the … [Read more...]
LBC’s Horn ‘thrilled’ appeals court allows state to defund Planned Parenthood
By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NEW ORLEANS, La. (LBM) – Steve Horn, executive director for Louisiana Baptists, said he was thrilled the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that Louisiana can cut off funds to Planned Parenthood. “We are a staunch pro-life state and we do not believe our healthcare dollars should support abortion providers,” he told the Baptist Message. Horn made his statement after the federal appeals court in New Orleans voted 11-5, just days before Thanksgiving, that Louisiana and Texas could ban Planned Parenthood from receiving government money. The majority included five judges appointed by President Trump. The full court overturned a three-judge panel that had ruled against Louisiana’s ban, upheld by a 7-7 deadlock of the full court in 2017. Planned Parenthood is the largest single provider of abortions in the United States, performing 40 percent of all abortions in the country, nearly 346,000, in 2018 (most recent available data). The organization received more than a third of its $1.6 billion budget in Medicaid reimbursements and Title X grants, $616 million (or 38 percent) in 2019, although that money could not be used directly for abortions. The Louisiana law to … [Read more...]
6th US Circuit panel’s ruling supports Louisiana’s ‘Jacob’s Law’
By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor CINCINNATI (LBM) – A three-judge panel of a federal appeals court has ruled, 2-1, that a “reason ban” that prohibits abortion based on a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome is valid while other pro-life provisions in the Tennessee law are awaiting a ruling. The panel included 2 Republican-appointed judges (one nominated by President Trump), and a Democrat appointee. The panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also allowed a reason ban in the Volunteer state based on abortions sought because of the race or gender of the unborn child. The ruling means Louisiana’s 2016 “Jacob’s law,” named by its House sponsor after Jacob Hall (Philadelphia Baptist Church Horseshoe Drive in Alexandria), will not be challenged for the moment. Officially registered as Act 563, the legislation was championed by Rep. Rick Edmonds, retired pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Shreveport and former vice president of Louisiana Family Forum. As he was pushing the legislation through committee, Edmonds asked the then 19 year old and his father, Will Hall, director for the Office of Public Policy for Louisiana Baptists, to testify. His legislation prohibited the abortion of an unborn baby … [Read more...]
Louisiana’s Barrett key to SCOTUS ruling against shutdown of NY churches
By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor WASHINGTON (LBM) – Amy Coney Barrett, a native of New Orleans, joined her fellow Trump-appointed U.S. Supreme Court associate justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, to rule against New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, who had set a 10- and 25-person cap on attendance at houses of worship in COVID-19 hotspots according to the severity of the public outbreak as indicated by a color-coded map developed by his office. The case, brought by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and the Orthodox Jewish group Agudath Israel of America, asserted that the governor’s restrictions violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and treated houses of worship more harshly than comparable secular facilities. The two religious organizations testified “without contradiction,” according to the 5-4 decision, that they have complied with all public health guidance, have implemented additional precautionary measures, and have operated at 25% or 33% capacity for months without a single outbreak.” Agudath Israel also produced evidence that Cuomo had drawn the map intentionally to include the Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn without cause. The decision was announced the night … [Read more...]
Skills of a church planter – practicing financial integrity
By John Hebert ALEXANDRIA (LBM)--Adrian Rogers, deceased pastor of the historic Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis and a past president of the Southern Baptist Convention who helped lead a grassroots movement to return the denomination back to its conservative biblical roots, told a story about the importance of financial integrity that I still reference in sermons today. “I heard about a man who was an executive in a company,” Rogers said (now archived on lwf.org). “They were going to move him up and make him one of the chief executives. The board of directors had talked it over, and it was a done deal. It was a monumental advancement. But in the company cafeteria one day, the owner of this company just happened to be behind this man in the cafeteria line. Unbeknownst to him, the CEO saw him take a pat of butter costing about 3 cents, then put a slice of bread over the butter so the cashier couldn’t see it. The CEO went back to the board and told them they had the wrong man—he didn’t have integrity. And for 3 cents, the man lost a monumental promotion and multiple thousands of dollars!” MORAL OF THE STORY I don’t accept that the man was simply a few pennies short of what he needed at check-out. Neither do I believe he … [Read more...]
2020 time of triumph during much tragedy
BENTON, La. (LBM) – When Pastor John Fream made a 2020 dare to members of the Cypress Baptist Church in Benton in January, urging them to embrace the “Who’s Your One” evangelistic challenge to share the Gospel with someone close to them, little did he know that two months later a pandemic would test the church’s commitment to the task. But instead of backing down, members embraced the circumstances as an open door to present the Gospel to their neighbors, he said. In the ensuing months, the congregation shared the Good News that can sustain during the uncertainty of a COVID-19 health emergency; and, by the end of November, 238 new converts had been baptized, up from 214 baptisms in 2019. “Our folks have been intentional to reach people and offer the hope in Christ,” Fream said. “We’ve been very aggressive about challenging them to do it. People need hope and we want to give them the Hope.” Even when the church was unable to meet, baptisms continued. Fream said during a six-week period, when the congregation was unable to meet in their facilities because of COVID-19 attendance restrictions, 20 people were baptized in pre-recorded videos that were broadcast during the livestream of services on Facebook Live, YouTube … [Read more...]
LC president releases holiday CD to support student scholarships
By LCNews staff PINEVILLE, La. (LCNews) – Louisiana College President Rick Brewer has released a Christmas album that not only can fill a loved one’s stocking but also will support student scholarships. The CD includes Brewer’s own arrangement of many beloved holiday favorites including “O Holy Night,” “Jingle Bells,” “White Christmas” and “Go Tell It On the Mountain.” “Christmas is a wonderful time to celebrate and rejoice,” Brewer said. “What would the holidays be without music?” Brewer recorded the album in his living room with assistance from LC Director of Technical Production Jeff Young. Brewer’s son, Jason, a Nashville, Tennessee-based musical artist, handled the post-production of the CD. “We recorded it in my living room on my piano with the acoustics in my house,” Brewer said. “Jeff recorded it with an Apple computer and microphones, and we emailed it to Jason.” This is the second album Brewer has released. In 2015, he recorded “Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs” alongside his son whose album, “The Explorers Club,” was released this summer and reached No. 5 on the United Kingdom Top 100 albums. Brewer said he is grateful to the Lord for his musical talents and for the support of both his family and … [Read more...]
Biden selects Xavier Becerra, prosecutor of pro-life activists, to lead HHS
Gallup: Americans’ mental health sinks to new low
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