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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Cajun DR team’s kindness helps lead Connecticut couple to Christ

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer SOUTHBURY, Conn. (LBM) – A Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief team’s week in an area of Connecticut devastated by a tornado in May started off on a high note when they saw a married couple accept Christ. Chaplain Fred Hart had just finished handing off a Bible signed by members of the Eastern Louisiana Baptist Association chainsaw team, May 28, when he asked the male homeowner an eternally significant question – “If you were to die this evening, would you know for sure you would go to Heaven?” “He said, ‘I think so’ and I said, ‘We can make sure of that right now,” Hart recalled. “He was very open to the Gospel and after I walked him through the plan of salvation, he prayed right there to accept Jesus as his Savior. His wife was right there beside him and did the same. I cried because this is what we are all about. It’s not about just cutting up fallen trees or mudding out a home, but presenting the Gospel.” Hart was among nine members of the disaster relief team from Louisiana who were in Southbury May 27-June 2. The team comprised members from Live Oak Baptist Church and Amite Baptist Church in Denham Springs, First Baptist Church in Livingston, Judson Baptist Church in Walker … [Read more...]

Churches must abandon 600MHz wireless sound systems

By Diana Chandler, Baptist Press WASHINGTON (BP) -- Churches that haven't updated their wireless sound system may have trouble being heard on any given Sunday, as the federal government is phasing out the 600MHz frequencies many congregations use. The Federal Communications Commission will complete the transition of the 617-652 MHz and 663-698 MHz spectrum bands from wireless microphones and television broadcasts by July 13, 2020, but the transition began in 2017. The frequencies are being transitioned to wireless communicators such as cellphone companies to meet industry demand, and will become unavailable for use by wireless mic systems by the 2020 deadline or earlier, according to the FCC. Violators could face fines or additional criminal penalties, the FCC reported. T-Mobile bought 45 percent of the available 600MHz spectrum during a 2017 auction when the transition began, the company announced, with a purchase price of $7.99 billion. Churches that haven't updated their wireless sound systems in recent years are more vulnerable to sound system failure, LifeWay Christian Resources' Mike Harland told Baptist Press. "Where it would impact churches is if they have wireless equipment that may be a few years … [Read more...]

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...]

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...]

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

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...]