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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

The Value of Every Voice in the SBC

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By Bobby Gilstrap As a young pastor, only a few years out of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, I was excited to accept the call to serve a small church in Durant, Oklahoma. The church had been a strong, mission engaged church that was giving 25% of all undesignated offerings through the Cooperative Program. This church was an area leader supporting the cooperative mission causes of the Southern Baptist Convention, giving sacrificially for many decades. In 1995, as the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention approached, I discussed attending the SBC Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia with our church leadership. The premise of my argument was that this church needed to have a voice since it had given tens of thousands of dollars over decades of cooperation. With such a high cooperative investment, we should have representation during the annual meeting when decisions were made by messengers of our convention. After a brief discussion, it was determined the cost of such a trip was just too high and it was not feasible. I felt it was critical that our church have first-hand representation and a voice at the annual meeting rather than reading short meeting reports in the media. Therefore, my wife and I … [Read more...]

LARTL applauds State Legislature for bipartisan passage of Pro-Life Laws

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BATON ROUGE –The successful passage of a diverse package of life-protective laws this legislative session is being heralded as ‘major accomplishments’ by the Louisiana Right to Life. Those bills include: HB 449, the first in the nation "Adoption Option Act," will require abortion clinics to give women concrete information to make an adoption plan so that the mother is empowered to avoid the trauma of abortion and choose life for her child with a loving family; HB 891 enhances existing state policy preventing taxpayer funds from being used directly or indirectly by abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood; SB 181 provides an additional provision to Louisiana’s current trigger law by prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks gestation in the event the same Mississippi law is upheld in the U.S. Fifth Circuit. This provision is in addition to a 2006 trigger that will ban all abortion once the Supreme Court returns the issue to the states. HB 273 authorizes the Department of Heath to promulgate regulations that the bodies of aborted unborn children are given dignified burial in accord with the treatment of unclaimed human corpses. HB 297 addresses the creation of materials giving resources for children prenatally … [Read more...]

Local churches encouraged to book an LC Day

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PINEVILLE (LCNews) -- Louisiana Baptists have much to celebrate regarding how the Lord is blessing Louisiana College.  Increases in enrollment and the donor base, as well as more degree offerings in undergraduate and graduate programs are but a few examples. “Our leadership team and the support of our Louisiana Baptist family have facilitated these blessings,” said Louisiana College President Rick Brewer. Another contributing factor is the intentionality of regularly visiting LBC churches with Brewer, the Voices of LC, and other leaders from the Office of Admissions, who bring a display booth and promotional materials for parents and prospective students to learn more about LC.  This comprises an “LC Day” in the local church. “Never before has our culture needed more of a Christian influence in the marketplace,” Brewer said.  “This is our primary motivation with LC Day, and that is for all to see why high school students and their parents should give serious attention to Louisiana College.” “There is no other college or university in this state more capable of helping young students discover what Colossians 2:3 proclaims: that in Christ Jesus are ‘hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,’” Brewer said. “Any … [Read more...]

LifeWay to provide free Bibles to spur evangelism

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By Aaron Wilson, LifeWay Christian Resources NASHVILLE, Tenn.—This summer, thousands of Bibles will ring up for free at the registers of LifeWay Christian Stores. It’s an effort by LifeWay to help local churches take the Word of God into their communities through an initiative called “Share the Word. Together.” Churches of any denomination within 15 miles of a LifeWay store can sign up for a designated week in which each member of the church can visit the local LifeWay to pick up a free CSB personal gift Bible. Church members will then give the Bibles away in their communities. “The goal for this free Bible giveaway is to start gospel conversations and spark invitations to weekend worship services or Bible study,” said LifeWay President and CEO Thom S. Rainer. Rainer shared on his blog last week that he was inspired to create this initiative when his church gave away loaves of bread to members and asked them to share the bread with people in their communities. He says many who received the bread came to church the next Sunday. “I began to think, ‘Could I leverage my position at LifeWay to help thousands of churches do the same?’” Rainer said. “The answer came back as a resounding ‘yes’! We will be giving away the … [Read more...]

GuideStone announces launch of new lower-cost Secure Health plan

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By Roy Hayhurst DALLAS -- Churches and pastors looking for budget-minded health care coverage as well as protection for themselves, their employees and their families have another option to consider coming this summer. GuideStone®, which is celebrating 100 years of serving Southern Baptist and evangelical churches, will roll out the new GuideStone Secure Health plan during the Southern Baptist Convention and enrollment will begin on July 1. “We hear daily from pastors and other church leaders who feel the tension between wanting to do right by their employees while also being responsible to their budget,” GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins said. “With Secure Health we wanted an option that provided lower-cost coverage and protection for church employees, as well as their families.” Under the new Secure Health plan, eligible participants still have access to the nationwide Blue Cross Blue Shield network. Primary care visits and Teladoc consultations are available at no out-of-pocket charge. Some care — such as out-of-network service — is not covered. Before enrolling in the plan, GuideStone encourages participants to review their health coverage needs to see if GuideStone’s Secure Health is the appropriate coverage … [Read more...]