By Will Hall, Message Editor ALEXANDRIA – When an unnamed staffer “boasted” to the online media outlet Think Progress in October 2014 that Russell Moore had “completely rebranded” the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, few could have imagined what this meant. However, Moore’s all-in campaign against presidential candidate Donald Trump, highlighted by his most recent attacks on Liberty University for hosting Trump at a student convocation, reveals something quite unexpected about Moore when he was elected to lead the ERLC in 2013—a penchant for disdain for Christians who think differently than him. Moore rightly points out Trump’s moral flaws—and character should count—and he has a right and responsibility to comment on Trump’s policies and to share his view of what these might mean in terms of Christian values. But Moore’s dislike for Trump goes beyond the pale, translating into disrespect and even contempt for any Christian who might weigh these considerations differently than Moore when comparing the range of personal beliefs and behaviors as well as public records of ability and achievement within such a large field of candidates for the White House. DISRESPECT FOR OTHERS In an editorial for the New … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Message Editor ALEXANDRIA – Louisiana Baptists are strongly pro-life! Moreover, we care about the individual in the womb but also throughout all stages and circumstances of life—and this second point is important. Too often during January, Sanctity of Life Month, the pro-abortion crowd tries to mischaracterize Christians as only caring about the life in the womb but not after it is born—and nothing could be further from the truth. Louisiana Baptists’ Mobile Pregnancy Care Center (Children’s Home and Family Ministries) provided services to more than 1,100 women last year and even helped place several of the expectant mothers in foster maternity homes. But our care about human life did not stop there. Louisiana Baptists also provided: -- residential ministry to 219 children and family members (Children’s Home and Family Ministries); -- foster care services for 85 children and adoption assistance to 21 couples (Children’s Home and Family Ministries); -- professional Christian counseling to nearly 1,800 individuals (Granberry Counseling Centers); and, -- life and job skills to 52 women (Christian Women’s Job Corps). Additionally, our international orphan care ministry Orphan Embrace touched … [Read more...]

By John Kennedy, Louisiana Treasurer Winston Churchill said that "for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle." It's no secret that many parts of Louisiana's economy are sluggish right now, especially the oil patch. Times are tough, and there is talk about making them even tougher by raising revenue through tax increases. Yes, the state, as usual, is strapped for cash. Yes, we're facing, as usual, a large shortfall in the state budget. But do you think the average oil industry worker is washing down his caviar with the finest magnum of champagne right now? If you do, let me introduce you to "George." George is a hard-working landman with a wife and a mortgage. He's got a roof that needs replacing, a truck that rattles instead of purrs and a baby on the way. As a landman, George works in the oil and gas industry, which is experiencing more twists and turns right now than a "Game of Thrones" episode. The industry is bleeding jobs. Businesses are closing. More workers are joining the unemployment line every day. They just hope they don't have to join the bread line. George devoted more than a decade to a company that folded last … [Read more...]

By Pat Ennis FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) - A blond-headed, blue-eyed daughter, I looked like the perfect blend of my mother and father. As others commented on the likeness, my parents smiled inwardly knowing that it was their heavenly Father who had chosen the custom matching of their adopted daughter as He had "made a home for the lonely" (Psalm 68:6 NASB), or as the King James Version puts it, "God setteth the solitary in families." Oliver and Mary Ennis were older when they commenced the adoption process and were willing to commit to nurturing a child. Eventually they welcomed an abandoned child with pneumonia to their home. She had lain so long on her back that the back of her head was bald. I was that abandoned child. Many children spend many years with one or both parents. My parents knew they likely wouldn't enjoy the normal number, so they maximized each to its fullest. Celebrations were important in the Ennis home. I recall well the January 31st when I arrived at home and found the dining room table set with Mom's best linen and china. Lying across my bed was a new "fancy" dress, and my favorite black patent leather shoes were awaiting my feet. I was 10. Without giving extensive details -- my parents explained … [Read more...]

By Melanie Lenow Sunday, Jan. 17, is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday in the Southern Baptist Convention. FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- It was the beginning of the summer when I first heard of the horrendous videos about Planned Parenthood. For months, I would see them posted and mourn for the children affected, for the moms who were so grievously deceived. I would cry for the atrocities and then my mind would go to the facility that is literally across the street from the hospital where my own children were born. It grieved me that on the days when I gave my children life, the lives of other babies were being brutally taken away. Finally, I realized that my mourning, although justified, was doing nothing to save any children. It was at that moment when I began praying that God would give me direction in how I could help my community be a city of life and not death. God places each believer in a particular location, not for them to hide their light in the security of their own home, but so they can greatly affect those around them. A city where there are Christians should be better off for it. However, the problems seem too big, so many of us stay silent, frozen by lack of direction. At the end of this summer, God placed … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Message Editor While announcing new gun restrictions Jan. 5, President Obama, surrounded by parents of the 20 children murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut during 2012, became deeply emotional. “First graders,” he said. “Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad.” “Our unalienable right to life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — those rights were stripped from college students in Blacksburg and Santa Barbara, and from high schoolers at Columbine, and from first-graders in Newtown,” he said. “First-graders.” “But I also believe we can find ways to reduce gun violence consistent with the Second Amendment,” he offered. “I mean, think about it – we all believe in the First Amendment, the guarantee of free speech. But we accept that you cannot yell “fire” in a theater. Then he said something remarkable. “We understand there are some constraints on our freedom in order to protect innocent people.” The president is justified in regretting the loss of innocent lives in shootings across the United States. In 2014, there were 8,124 murders using firearms, according to the FBI; and, another 21,175 individuals took their own lives with a gun, the CDC reports – nearly … [Read more...]