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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Archives for May 2018

BRNow ‘Fact Check’ – A Response

By David E. Hankins I did not intend to write anything else regarding the upcoming SBC presidential election. The election is only days away, and I have made my support for Ken Hemphill, and the reasons for that support, abundantly clear. However, the North Carolina Baptist online paper, BRNow, posted the article “Fact Check” in which candidate J.D. Greear said I erroneously attributed to him negative comments regarding state conventions. Subsequently, a number of people, both supporters and critics, have suggested I reply. In the interest of accuracy, I offer the following points: J.D. contextualized his comments by writing, “When I read David Hankins’ claim, I immediately called him…” (see 3/21/18 blog post) This just is not so. The truth is, I initiated through an intermediary a request for a conversation with Dr. Greear, and my talk with J.D. did not take place until days later. He did not immediately or otherwise initiate a call with me. I am attaching the email exchange between J.D.’s right-hand man and myself arranging the call. Is this a big deal? Maybe not. But the BR article was intended to give J.D. the opportunity to correct factual errors. Why would he misstate the material facts concerning a telephone call … [Read more...]

Between the devil and the deep blue sea

By Greg Laurie Have you ever been in a situation where the only way out was God? Maybe it was a report from a doctor who gave no real hope. Maybe it was a financial catastrophe where you were on the brink of collapse. Maybe your marriage was completely unraveling, or a loved one died. You didn’t think you possibly could survive such a thing. That is the very scenario the Israelites were facing as they stood, in a way, between the devil and the deep blue sea. They were caught between an unconquerable army and an impassable sea. They were between the impossible and the more impossible. But what they were about to discover was that with God, all things are possible. When their leader Moses was born, he was supposed to die. The pharaoh had given a decree that when Jewish baby boys were born, they were to be drowned in the Nile River. Why? Because they were Jewish. What a heartless and wicked thing to do. The pharaoh tried to eradicate the Hebrew race. But God had a different plan for baby Moses – and God always will have the last word. Moses’ parents put him into a little basket they had waterproofed with pitch, and they sent it cruising down the Nile River. On cue, baby Moses began to cry. The daughter … [Read more...]

The Value of Every Voice in the SBC

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...]

Update from digs in Tel Gezer/Tel Hadid/Sepphoris

By Gary D. Myers, NOBTS public relations As you see from the title of this post, members of our group will be at three different sites this summer. Logistics will greatly complicate our updates and blog posts over the next three weeks. Not only must we juggle the difficulties of different schedules, we each are working in different historic periods and unique settings. Today, May 29, marked the third official day of the excavation season and it is time for a much-needed update. The blog has been hampered by my jet-lag and concerns over lost luggage – not to mention the logistic concerns denoted above. Here is an all-too-brief overview. Tel Gezer On Sunday, the entire team from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Liberty University traveled to Tel Gezer for a site tour and several hours of set up. Set up was much easier this summer due to the scope of the excavation work at Gezer. The team will excavate in Area C (the intermural complex – wall rooms near the opening of the water system) and in Area B (the water basin or pool of the water system). The team will not excavate in Area D (MB II gate) or utilize a crane to pull material out of the water system. Volunteers will only probe in the material that remains … [Read more...]