By Kelly Boggs, Message Editor Martin Luther King Jr.’s prophetic oratory during the March on Washington brought a searing indictment against a nation that had not only failed its founding principles but had ignored God’s righteous expectation. King minced no words on that hot, humid day. With the Lincoln Memorial as a backdrop, he succinctly and bluntly identified as sin the societal segregation and institutional discrimination practiced and tolerated throughout America. God used the words of the 34-year-old prophet to convict the conscience of a nation and inspire hope in those who had endured oppression. In just over 16 minutes he placed an exclamation point on the movement seeking racial equality. Prophets, in the biblical sense of the word, seem to come few and far between. “The church of today is a non-prophet organization,” Vance Havner once quipped. His observation, spoken more than two decades ago, is as relevant as ever. A prophet in the biblical sense is not someone who gazes into crystal balls or reads tea leaves in an effort to predict the future. A prophet is an individual who speaks God’s truth to his contemporaries, calls attention to sin and warns of the consequences for failing to repent of falling short … [Read more...]

By Andrew T. Walker, Director of Policy Studies at ERLC The practice of reparative therapy, or what’s also called “gay conversion therapy,” has long stirred conflicting viewpoints about whether changing one’s sexual desire is possible or whether such attempts are in the best interest of same-sex-attracted individuals. Differences aside, there are legitimate concerns about the bill Gov. Christie now has signed to ban reparative therapy in New Jersey. The implications for religious liberty are sufficiently problematic on their own to warrant Christian concern. The bill states that licensed mental health professionals “shall not engage in sexual orientation change efforts with a person under 18 years of age.” It defines sexual orientation change efforts as “the practice of seeking to change a person’s sexual persuasion, including, but not limited to, efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to reduce or eliminate sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward a person of the same gender.” Gov. Christie’s signing of the bill Aug. 19 follows an equivalent bill passed in California in 2012 that is now stalled in the courts. Consider the following scenarios in reference to the New Jersey law: n If a licensed … [Read more...]

Submitted by philip on Mon, 09/09/2013 - 11:57 Larry Badon and Lane Corley By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA –A new chapter is beginning while another is coming to a close for church planting leadership in the state. Church planter Lane Corley has come on board as the new church planting strategist for the Louisiana Baptist Convention while Larry Badon is retiring from the same position. Corley joined the LBC staff on Sept. 3 while Badon is stepping aside on Sept. 30. Badon was born and raised in the Lake Charles area and while attending Bellview Baptist in Westlake at age 27, he accepted Christ as His personal Lord and Savior. Since then Badon has planted churches in New York and the Northshore Baptist Association. He also served as pastor of Harrell’s Ferry Baptist Church – now Redeemer Baptist Church – in Baton Rouge for 15 years. Badon and his wife, Patricia, have two children. During his 10 years as church planting strategist, Badon saw more than 100 new churches planted. Of those, about 75 percent are still in existence today. Badon said that while he will miss working alongside Louisiana Baptists in planting churches, he will continue to pray for the work Corley and others are doing in … [Read more...]

By Staff, World News Magazine ATLANTA, Ga. – On Tuesday, Aug. 20, Antoinette Tuff, a clerk at Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy in Atlanta, persuaded 20-year-old Michael Hill not to fire the 500 rounds of ammunition he brought into the school in his duffel bag. Officials credit Tuff with helping save 870 elementary students from what could have been another school massacre. But she points to God as the hero. Tuff met Hill when he entered the building carrying an AK-47. “He had a look on him that he was willing to kill,” she said. “He said that he didn’t have any reason to live.” Tuff managed to prevent Hill from entering the main hallways and called 9-1-1. She stalled him by striking up conversation. Hill shot into the floor and exchanged gunfire with officers who surrounded the building, but no one was injured. Tuff eventually convinced him to surrender his gun and ammunition. The transcript recorded Tuff breaking into tears and prayers as the ordeal ended. “I was terrified,” she said.  “I give it all to God,” she told The Washington Post. “I’m not the hero.”   Washington MAY Force Private Hospitals to Provide Abortions   OLYMPIA, Wash. – Will some religious hospitals in Washington be required to … [Read more...]

By Michael Foust, Writer in Nashville, Tenn. Perhaps I should have seen it coming. My 5-year-old son and I were getting on our bicycles, preparing to take a leisurely ride down the road, when he gave me an ultimatum, “Dad, don’t get on your phone one bit.” A dozen things entered my mind. Can I go 30 minutes without looking at my iPhone? What if, during one of our stops, I want to check my email or look at the latest news on Twitter, or even open the Weather Channel app when I see that dark cloud on the horizon? “OK,” I said. So for 30 minutes we rode down the road, had a pleasant time, and I survived. Humans always have had distractions from the more important things in life, but I sometimes wonder if smartphones — through the marvel of technology – have compiled every distraction possible into one handy handheld device. That TV show or sports team or music group you loved years ago, that you thought was an addiction? That was nothing. There was an end to it — to the TV series, the sports season or the CD. Eventually it got old. It didn’t go on and on and on. Not so with social media and the Internet. Friends always are posting. New apps always are being introduced. Hilarious and bizarre videos always are being captured. … [Read more...]

By Rhyne Putman, NOBTS A discussion following the release of “A Statement of the Traditional Southern Baptist Understanding of God’s Plan of Salvation” last spring has Baptists asking an important theological question: “Am I judged by God on the basis of Adam’s sin or my own?” Southern Baptists are presently engaged in a conversation about the historic doctrine of “original sin” and its implications for our doctrines of salvation and the “age of accountability.” This debate over original sin has consequences for how we understand the spiritual condition of children, infants, and those mentally incapable of responding to the gospel. (Speaking personally as the father of an eighteen-month-old son, I believe this issue is of tremendous importance!) In this article, I will offer a very brief history of differing views on original sin. The term “original sin” does not mean Adam’s “first sin.” Rather, theologians typically use the term to describe how Adam’s sin affects every member of the human race, particularly the way in which his disobedience results in our own legal condemnation before God. For this reason, original sin is also called “original guilt.” Those who affirm a doctrine of original sin argue that we come into the … [Read more...]