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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

U.S. Rep. Johnson a key player in House hearing

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor WASHINGTON (LBM) – In a July 28 hearing before the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, Democrats did not disguise their vitriol in attacks at a seemingly calm U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, making lengthy accusations and cutting off the witness as he attempted to testify. At one point, the angry monologs by two Democrats on the committee, Lou Correa (Calif.) and Mary Gay Scanlon (Pa.) caused Barr to quip, “This is a hearing. I thought I was the one who was supposed to be heard.” But Republican members of the committee obliged Barr, even inviting him to speak at length. Congressman Mike Johnson, a member of First Baptist Church in Bossier City and chairman of the 150-member conservative caucus known as the House Republican Study Committee, used his time to allow Barr to address some of the key allegations made by Democrats. “The Democrats have asserted here this morning and they continue to say through the media that under your leadership the justice department has become highly politicized. Why is that a totally unfounded allegation?” Johnson asked. Barr responded in context of his attempts to “restore the rule of law.” Saying that there should be one rule of … [Read more...]

Two prominent state officials join leadership team of growing Conservative Baptist Network

By Staff, Conservative Baptist Network BOSSIER CITY, La. (CBN) — The Conservative Baptist Network has named Arkansas state Sen. Peggy Jeffries and Florida state Sen. Dennis Baxley to its national steering council membership. “I am so grateful for Senators Jeffries and Baxley, for their lifelong devotion to Southern Baptists, but especially for their willingness throughout their careers to serve boldly in the public arena for Christ,” Conservative Baptist Network spokesperson Brad Jurkovich, also pastor of the First Baptist Bossier in Bossier City, announced on the organization’s website, July 29. “They have been the very definition of salt and light, and it’s an honor to get to work with them now toward a better future for our SBC.” Jeffries was the first Republican woman elected to the Arkansas Senate and was the only woman in the Senate during her service. She also was elected Republican National Committeewoman for Arkansas and served on the Republican National Committee Platform Committee. The former executive director of Arkansas Eagle Forum, Jeffries was a lobbyist in both Arkansas and Washington, D.C. for education, pro-life and family issues. At the age of 12, Jeffries trusted Christ as her Savior and Lord, and … [Read more...]

Federal appeals court allows McRaney lawsuit against SBC’s NAMB to proceed

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NEW ORLEANS (LBM) – On July 16, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave Will McRaney, former executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, a procedural victory in his lawsuit against the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention “for intentional interference with business relationships, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.” The BCMD is an independent state organization of Baptist churches and the NAMB is a ministry arm of the SBC, an independent national organization of Baptist churches. The BCMD and SBC are considered in good fellowship with one another, but each is an autonomous organization. A federal district judge in Mississippi had dismissed McRaney’s lawsuit in 2019 based on NAMB’s position that the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine (also known as the religious autonomy doctrine, which prevents courts from deciding matters of faith such as religious doctrine) protected them from legal action. But a 5th Circuit panel of three judges ruled against this argument for now, stating that McRaney’s lawsuit was ended prematurely by that judge, because it was not clear that this legal principle was indeed … [Read more...]