Posted: 12/05/03

Court hears arguments in religious funding case

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–The Supreme Court appeared closely divided during Dec. 2 oral arguments in a case that could have enormous ramifications for the future of government funding for religious institutions.

All eyes were on Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as attorneys squared off in Locke vs. Davey, a case that originated in Washington state. O'Connor–often a swing vote on difficult church-state issues–asked penetrating questions of attorneys for both sides during the hour-long session.

In the case, Washington resident Joshua Davey applied in 1999 for the Promise Scholarship Program, which provides state-funded tuition grants, or vouchers, to disadvantaged Washington students. The scholarships may be spent at any accredited Washington college, including religious ones.

Davey elected to spend his scholarship at Northwest College, a Seattle-area Bible college affiliated with the Assemblies of God. However, the state revoked the scholarship when Davey declared a double major that included pastoral ministries.

State officials cited a provision in Washington's constitution that prohibits the state from spending any money on religious instruction. Davey then sued the state with the help of the American Center for Law and Justice, a legal-advocacy group founded by Religious Right leader Pat Robertson.

Although Davey lost his first round in court, he won in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel of that court ruled 2-1 that the Washington constitutional provision, as well as a state statute applying it to the Promise program, violated Davey's First Amendment right to free exercise of religion.

Washington Gov. Gary Locke then appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Last year, the high court declared constitutional an Ohio program that provided government scholarships that could be used in private schools, including religious ones. Justices decided that case, known as Zelman vs. Simmons-Harris, on a contentious 5-4 vote.

So the question before the justices in Locke vs. Davey was not whether providing government funding to religious schools via vouchers violates the First Amendment's ban on government support for religion, but whether the government, in some cases, must fund religious education.

O'Connor asked several questions of Washington Solicitor General Narda Pierce to determine if the program was legally similar to the one at question in the Ohio case. “Is it like a voucher program in that sense?” O'Connor inquired. “You give the money to the student and the student decides how to use it?”

Pierce repeatedly attempted to steer the argument back to the question of whether denying state funding for theology studies comprises a violation of First Amendment rights to religious freedom. “This case involves application of public funds,” she told the justices. “All the State of Washington has done here is to deny funding for theology studies.”

But Justice Antonin Scalia, a vocal opponent of strict church-state separation, said the question should be what he viewed as Washington's impermissible bias against theology students. “You are discriminating between religion and non-religion,” Scalia contended.

The four justices who tend to support stricter interpretations of church-state separation frequently came to Pierce's aid during the arguments. Summarizing a major part of the state's case, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said, “Not everything that the state could do under the establishment clause it must do under the free-exercise clause.”

A decision in Davey's favor could mean significant gains for the movement to provide government-funded vouchers to religious schools and to use pervasively religious charities to perform government-funded social services–two major domestic-policy goals of the Bush administration. In the arguments, United States Solicitor General Ted Olson sided with Davey on the administration's behalf.

“The Promise Scholarship program practices the plainest form of religious discrimination,” Olsen told the justices, saying the exclusion of theology studies alone from the scholarship program comprises an unconstitutional “religious test” for the receipt of public services.

Jay Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, argued Davey's case as a question of religious freedom. However, several justices seemed skeptical of that point, including John Paul Stevens who asked: “How is his freedom to practice religion impaired at all” simply because Davey was denied state subsidy for his theological studies?

Pierce argued Washington's constitutional amendment banning government funding of religious education has the effect of enhancing religious freedom rather than denying it, because it protects the rights of all Washingtonians to refrain from subsidizing religious teachings they may oppose.

“The state has a somewhat different, but concurring, scheme for religious freedom” than the First Amendment's provisions, Pierce said. “It's the same principle. It doesn't become discrimination against religion just because it extends beyond what the establishment clause requires.”

Posted: 12/05/03

DOWN HOME:
Humble pie with side of broccoli

A fun old song (I think I remember hearing the “world famous” Hardin-Simmons University Cowboy Band sing it at basketball games years ago) proudly proclaims, “O Lord, it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way.”

The Cowboy Band, a rowdy outfit that raised irony and sarcasm to a fine art, usually sang that song after an opponent made a bad play. Sort of like how they always warbled, “The old gray mare ain't what she used to be” after an opponent fouled out.

Unfortunately, I've never needed the Cowboy Band to prompt me down the path from pride to humility. The Lord has used petty little circumstances of life to do the trick.

MARV KNOX Editor

One of the earliest happened when I was a preacher boy in the Panhandle, on a hot summer night in an old country church.

During the song service, I'd noticed winged grasshoppers flitting around the lights. During my sermon, I noticed something brown crawling on my lapel. Not wanting to detract from my scintillating sermon, I casually reached up and plucked it off my jacket.

Instantly, I forgot my next point, as pain radiated out from my palm and up my arm. I realized my next point didn't matter that much, because everyone in the room knew exactly what I had done. Their thoughts focused more on the foolishness of a boy who picks up wasps than on the meaning of our Bible text.

Years later, I met the famous journalist Bill Moyers at the end of a banquet where he was the featured speaker. As we visited, I felt the sensation of a single broccoli fleurette floating across my front teeth. I couldn't remove it, no matter how I ran my tongue over my teeth. In that moment, I hoped Moyers forgot my name as soon as we parted.

Not long ago, I preached at our church, First Baptist in Lewisville. The sound technicians had me use a microphone that clipped over my ear and lay against my cheek. During the final announcements, I removed the mike. Then folks came up to shake my hand and offer encouragement. After about 15 or 20 people came by, a friend asked, “Have you started wearing your glasses on the outside of your ears?” There I'd been, talking to all those people while the left temple of a very light pair of eyeglasses stuck out on the side of my head.

Recently, after a lovely banquet in Dallas, another friend reached up and brushed my beard. He didn't say anything, but I don't think we'd just had a rare bonding moment. I think I'd been walking around with fuzz on my face, and not the kind I can shave.

The Book of James says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” While I'm not sure if this is what James had in mind, I'm glad the Lord loves me, no matter what kind of impression I make, and even with a wasp in my hand, broccoli on my teeth, glasses askew and fuzz on my face.

Posted: 12/05/03

Raising an Ebenezer Members of South Main Baptist Church in Houston recently marked the church's 100th anniversary by erecting an Ebenezer in the sanctuary. A procession of members representing all ages, races and languages of the congregation walked forward with stones they collected to build the kind of historical marker mentioned in the Old Testament. Pastor Steve Wells receives stones from Charlotte and Kurt Kaiser (left) and Art and Sue Hensley (below, left). Hensley is 102 years old. (David Nance Photos)

Posted: 12/05/03

EDITORIAL:
'Biblical worldview' should prompt Christ-like actions

If you think America is flying straight to hell in a satellite dish, George Barna may have just helped you tune in to the reason why.

A new poll by his Barna Research Group reports only 4 percent of U.S. adults base their decisions upon a “biblical worldview.”

“The primary reason that people do not act like Jesus is because they do not think like Jesus,” Barna explains. “Although most people own a Bible and know some of its content, … most Americans have little idea how to integrate core biblical principles to form a unified and meaningful response to challenges and opportunities of life.”

A biblical worldview, at the very least, ought to lead a Christian to care about what caused Jesus concern.

Barna's organization defines a biblical worldview as belief in absolute moral truth as presented by the Bible, as well as affirmation of six religious views: “Jesus Christ lived a sinless life; God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe, and he still rules it today; salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned; Satan is real; a Christian has a responsibility to share faith in Christ with other people; and the Bible is accurate in all its teachings.”

As you might expect, worldview impacts moral behavior, the survey shows. Compared to the rest of the population, Americans who share what Barna calls a biblical worldview are much less likely to condone cohabitation, drunkenness, gay sex, profanity and adultery. They also are far less likely to condone pornography, believe abortion is acceptable or advocate gambling.

Barna's study provides a helpful portrait of American morality. It documents the connection between theological beliefs and selected moral behaviors. It provides empirical evidence for what many people intuitively know: The moral erosion we have seen in society can be attributed, at least in part, to the paltry percentage of Americans who affirm divine absolutes.

However, the discussion started by the Barna survey should lead us to three gaps in its methodology. They are interrelated but crucial:

First, this definition of biblical worldview is rational rather than relational, and it can lead to a stifling legalism. The criteria are theologically broad and can be affirmed mentally. But they are practically narrow and do not necessarily lead to biblically based decision-making in all phases of life.

For example, the leaders of Enron and WorldCom were visible evangelical Christians and active in their churches. Very likely, they could and would have affirmed all the theological tenets set forth as a biblical worldview by Barna. Yet their moral failure was monumental. Similar cases could be made for other conservative Christians whose theological beliefs correspond to these affirmations but whose actions created scandal.

Second, the list of moral failures focuses primarily on sins of the flesh–internal or personal behaviors–rather than a more comprehensive range of ethical issues. This is a rather common evangelical blind spot. For generations, Baptists and like-minded conservative Christians have been known for what they're against, and these sins revolve around individual moral shortcomings. Barna's list even includes two of the big three–drinkin', dancin' and gamblin'. And, of course, sex.

Baptists and Barna should be commended for demanding high standards of personal morality. However, obsession with sins of commission, particularly regarding sex, alcohol and gambling, causes people to miss sins of omission. We also sin when we fail to do what we should, and a too-narrow worldview will cause us to overlook those failures.

For example, Jesus preached much more about care for the poor and disenfranchised than he did about sex. Not that he would condone sexual failure, but Jesus emphasized the vital importance of justice, fairness and mercy. A biblical worldview, at the very least, ought to lead a Christian to care about what caused Jesus concern.

Third, Barna's emphasis fails to address what we might call applied Christianity or everyday ethics. Most Baptists aren't challenged so much by sexual deviance, drunkenness or debauchery as by the ordinary decisions of their lives. Sins of harsh speech in their homes, over-consumption induced by greed, gluttony in restaurants and vindictive responses to annoying neighbors and coworkers plague their lives more than illicit sex. They're more challenged by how to steward their resources and what to watch on TV than by drinking or betting.

Still, whether we agree on the range of his focus, Barna has provided a great service by documenting the marginalization of a biblical worldview, even within the church. So, what are we to do?

First, we need to receive more of God's word. American Christians enjoy the Psalms, some of the Gospels and selected passages from Paul. We also need to study and hear sermons from the prophets, whose hearts broke because the people acted as if they didn't need God; the Gospel of Luke, which emphasizes Jesus' concern for the poor and disadvantaged; and James, which tells us our faith is nothing if we don't use it in the world.

Second, we need to ask, “So what?” Every sermon and every Sunday School lesson ought to turn a biblical mirror toward our faces. They ought to prompt us to ask, “What does this passage of Scripture say about how I should live?” They must teach us to confront all the experiences of our lives with divine truth, so that we may live like Jesus lived. Otherwise, our blindness overwhelms our faith and negates our testimony that a Christian worldview matters at all.

–Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

Posted: 12/05/03

El Paso Baptists surpass goals for church starting

EL PASO–When Baptists in El Paso focus on starting churches, they can't get too much of a good thing.

El Paso Baptist Association recently surpassed two goals for launching and funding new churches.

“Life on the (Texas/Mexico) border means crossing bridges to participate in a constant and vibrant exchange of goods, services, ideas and lifestyles,” noted Josue Valerio, the association's director of missions.

“The Lord has placed El Paso Baptist Association in a strategic location to bridge the border for Christ through the ministries of our local churches. … Church planting has become a driving force and intentional strategy to reach people for Christ in the El Paso/Juarez region.”

However, if they're going to take advantage of their strategic location, El Paso Baptists need more churches to handle the ministry load, Valerio acknowledged.

“In a city with approximately one Baptist church per 10,000 documented residents and a few evangelical churches, we began to pray that God would give us one new church each month in 2003,” he said.

So far this year, the association has started 16 congregations, four better than the goal.

Valerio credits his predecessor, Lorenzo Peña, now associational missions coordinator for the Baptist General Convention of Texas; John Silva, a BGCT church multiplication consultant; and Jackie Miller, the association's church-planting coordinator, with emphasizing the importance of starting churches.

But he cites another source for the success. “We have seen a breakthrough of God's hand at work in our association through prayer, mobilization, training and the resourcing of church planters,” he said.

That's good news–one major goal accomplished. Unfortunately, it produced some not-so-good news. “We have exhausted our resources,” Valerio reported.

But even without church-starting funds, El Paso Baptists think their region needs more churches, he said. “We believe the Lord will continue his work in planting new churches in 2004.”

So, short on cash, El Paso Association leaders set out to raise more money. They organized the association's first church planting banquet and set out to raise $25,000 to start churches in 2004.

Instead, they raised $40,224.80 at the banquet. The Texas Baptist Missions Foundation agreed to provide another $25,000 in matching funds. Caprock Baptist Association, which covers a rural swath of the South Plains, raised an additional $25,000. Other donors contributed property valued at more than $25,000.

That represents a 2004 church-starting campaign account of slightly more than $115,000.

“We are so grateful to God for the people and organizations that have joined us in our church-planting efforts,” Valerio said. “God has blessed us above and beyond anything we could have imagined.”

He asked other Texas Baptists to help too: “Please join us in praying for our city as we seek to start new churches to bridge our border for Christ.”

Posted: 12/05/03

ETBU students fall for intercultural ministry during break

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

HOUSTON–While their classmates were busy catching up on sleep, a group of East Texas Baptist University students served seven distinct cultures during their fall break.

Nine young adults from the ETBU Baptist Student Ministry led Sunday School classes, worship services and Bible studies during their mission trip to Houston Oct. 26-28. They also helped clean several churches.

The weekend effort included visits to six ethnic churches that served Nigerians, Filipinos, Laotians, Cambodians, Chinese and Indians. The trip, arranged through the Baptist General Convention of Texas intercultural initiatives office, helped the group get a taste of international missions without leaving the state, said ETBU junior Mike Vela.

“We didn't want to go in and help them, go in and change them, but we wanted to serve God,” he said.

Although the majority of the students' work was in ethnic churches, their help building a stage at Woodhaven Deaf Church touched Pastor Arthur Craig's heart. The stage will support the church's annual Christmas drama, which draws about 1,200 people from the surrounding communities. The play, penned by Craig, depicts the life of Jesus from a different perspective each year.

“Deaf people love drama because it is so visible,” Craig said. “The hearing people mostly have a connection to the deaf community, but some do not. They just come because it is so unique.”

Cooperation between ETBU students and volunteers from the church helped students understand the deaf culture, Craig reported. The two groups used a combination of sign language, gestures and spoken words to get to know each other during the project.

The students' visit continues to encourage Woodhaven Deaf Church, Craig added, explaining that the volunteers' energy and willingness to help has urged the deaf congregation to be more outreach-minded.

“It's a blessing to our people,” he said. “They are seeing people who want to do something. They're like missionaries or examples of Christian servants. It inspires them to want to go out.”

ETBU students also were blessed, Vela responded. The congregations were grateful for the effort and cared for the volunteers throughout their trip, providing ethnic meals.

“People can be so sacrificial and excited for other people,” Vela said. “It is so humbling. People want to give what they have or sometimes don't have.”

The trip helped the students realize they can reach many cultures by living like they are on mission every day, Vela added. By following what they felt was God's will, the students furthered the work of the Houston churches.

“These guys wanted to give up their fall break–well, not give up, but wanted to share,” Vela concluded. “If we would have gone home, we would have missed so much.”

Posted: 12/05/03

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Dec. 14

When God speaks, it would be wise to listen

Jonah 2:10-3:10

By John Duncan

Lakeside Baptist Church, Granbury

“Mine, O thou Lord of life, send my roots rain,” the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins once penned. Grace is the refreshment of God on our lives like a gentle rain falling on a summer day. Grace nurtures spiritual roots for growth and service. Grace inspires confidence to confess, to repent, and to follow God in ways not before chosen.

Grace inspires a second chance. God's mercy spit Jonah on the shore and opened his ears to God's voice again (Jonah 2:10-3:2). Jonah now hears God fully, accepts God's call and walks to Nineveh. The journey to Nineveh took three days (Jonah 3:3). Jonah's call involved preaching God's message (literally, “preach the preaching,” Jonah 3:2).

Preaching meant heralding the news of God, suggesting that Jonah entered the city center and wandered through the city thundering God's judgment. The message of judgment was twofold: warning and announcing words loudly so contact with God can be initiated. Specifically, Jonah proclaimed the city would be destroyed in 40 days (Jonah 3:4).

Nineveh

Nineveh was one of the largest cities of its day. Although the problems and sin of Nineveh were different than that of Sodom and Gomorrah, the city seemed destined for the fire of God's judgment. The poet Langston Hughes described Nineveh's challenge if following God became their choice, “Descent is quick, To rise again is slow.” Nineveh had descended into wickedness (Jonah 1:2). Their wickedness involved acts of evil that broke their hearts and crushed their moral strength. Sin destroys heart and soul. To rise again toward God would require a long journey mandating a change of heart, habit and lifestyle.

Jonah preached a message spoken with passion and the expectation of God's penetrating power. Old Testament scholars Keil and Delitzsch said, “The respite granted is fixed at 40 days, according to the number which, even as early as the flood, was taken as the measure for determining the delaying of the visitations of God.”

Forty days gave the people of Nineveh time to repent. Forty days in the Bible is a reference to God's special work or activity during and at the end of such days. Eugene Peterson said Jonah called into question the Ninevites' future and that “'40' is a stock biblical word that has hope at its core.” The Bible clearly places “40” as a word that, in its duration, supplies opportunity for God's restoring and refreshing work. God longed for Nineveh to be transformed and turned back from their wicked ways. Jonah preached a repentance leading to obedience to God.

Feast of faith and a fast of repentance

God's word went forth in the preaching. God's message jolted hearts and souls. The people believed and placed faith in God (Jonah 3:5). Belief inspires confidence to follow God and his ways by faith. Faith indicates a powerful dynamic. It also means the dynamic work of God brought forth a swift change in one moment, or “to be fixed in one spot.” Salvation by faith has definite spiritual character and a fixed time of spiritual change. God graced the people of Nineveh, and a feast of faith enjoyed promise in their hearts.

The feast of faith in the heart produced a genuine spirit of repentance (v. 5). The people of Nineveh fasted. As a part of the fast, each person, whether king or servant, rich or poor, good or bad, great or small, took off their outer garments, put on sackcloth and rubbed ashes on their foreheads. Sackcloth was used for mourning, begging during famine or poverty, repentant acts and for grief in the shadows of sorrow. Even the king took off his royal robe, clothed himself with sackcloth and sat woefully in ashes (v. 6).

The king then decreed for the people to refrain from eating food and drinking water (v. 7). The king enforced a law for the people to put on sackcloth and cry out to God (v. 8). The intensity of the act of turning to God vibrates in this passage. Not only were the people to cry to God, but also to turn from evil and violence (v. 8). The grace of God's second chance in the words “evil” and “violence” indicate that God takes the broken and restores them while simultaneously taking the disorder of wrong by replacing it with the order of God's righteousness and peace (v. 8).

Turning away from evil and violence provides grace for God to deliver the comfort of forgiveness, to hold back his fury and burning anger, and to replace perishing with the protection of his saving grace (v. 9). The question in verse 9 hints at the hope of transformation among the people of Nineveh and the essential quality of grace which leads to a change of direction and conduct.

Grace of a gentle rain

God's eyes, hands and heart grace the people. His eyes see their repentance. His hands withdraw from judgment. His heart unites with their hearts to bring mercy. Mercy renews their lives like a gentle rain. The grace of obedience to God blossoms in Nineveh like a beautiful flower.

Question for discussion

What do you suppose life in Ninevah was like after this period of repentance?

Posted: 12/05/03

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Dec. 21

This is a time to rejoice at the Savior's birth

Matthew 1:1-2:10

By John Duncan

Lakeside Baptist Church, Granbury

Handel's “Messiah,” a musical oratorio, has come to be associated with the Christmas season. He set to music prophecies of Isaiah about a king who comes to bring peace, comfort and joy to a violent, troubled and disturbed world. Isaiah's words, “Comfort my people” (Isaiah 40:1), reverberate toward a crescendo as the music flows in an ebb and flow of soft to loud building toward a climax at the end. Matthew 1:1-25 reads like the ebb and flow of a musical score with Christ's birth of Immanuel serving as the climax. God's glory is revealed in Jesus.

Genealogy

Matthew announces the gospel as a gospel of Jesus the King to the Jews. Matthew emphasizes the fulfillment of Old Testament revelation. The genealogy is a study of the life of Jesus in heritage with Joseph's lineage (Matthew 1:1-17). Clearly the genealogy is a list of the names of people God used to accomplish his will and fulfill his plan.

In the genealogy, three things stand out: God's plan in the realm of faith (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob); God's grace at work in that plan (David, Bathsheba, Ruth, Rahab and Hezekiah); and God's plan and grace combining to use the unlikely and unknown Joseph.

God uses those who avail themselves to his plan and grace. On a more general note, you could conclude from the genealogy that God's work in a family spans generations in spite of family problems and that God's grace is the common factor in holding families together by faith.

Joseph and Mary

Joseph was betrothed to Mary (v. 18). The closest explanation for our understanding is a kind of engagement. Betrothal was a time of waiting before marriage that included Jewish feasts, seclusion and a binding legal arrangement taken seriously in Jewish culture. It was a legal arrangement not to be violated.

An apparent violation of that arrangement is mentioned in Matthew 1:18, when it speaks of Mary having a child in her womb. However, there was no broken betrothal because the child was “of the Holy Spirit.” The original language clearly indicates the source of Mary's child and Jesus's birth was not man, but God. Theologians call this indispensable act of God the virgin birth. It is also a basic belief of the first century church as well as of evangelical Christians today.

Matthew describes Joseph's character and faith in two ways– just (“righteous,” a quality of God who does right, honors right and defends justice); and a person of grace (v. 19). Joseph did not wish to disgrace, publicly expose or embarrass Mary, so he quietly planned to protect her by putting her away.

Joseph could have pursued two courses of legal action–repudiated Mary publicly under Jewish law (which might lead to stoning) or even private repudiation through divorce. One might see in Joseph two qualities of God–righteousness and grace, or, put another way, a balance of truth and mercy.

Heroes of the faith always possess these spiritual qualities. Thomas Long says Joseph “seeks to discern the will of God in each new moment and to be obedient to that.” Matthew forever leads the reader to see the coming king and his kingdom as one full of truth and mercy.

Angel

An angel appears to Joseph in a dream to reveal God's plan and grace. The angel reveals God's plan: Do not begin to fear, take Mary to your side as your wife and recognize this is God's plan because the child is “of the Holy Spirit” (v. 20). The angelic appearance and message were startling, surprising and alerted Joseph that both he and Mary were in God's plan and that Mary is without terrible sin in carrying the child. God's grace is revealed in the message of Jesus' birth as a son who shall be called Jesus, or “Helper and Salvation.” Joseph as a Jew might well have thought of Joshua leading the people of Israel across the Jordan River and into the promised land.

Jesus would be a new kind of king, leading people to the promised land of heaven by saving people from their sins (v. 21). The king saves people who “miss the mark” in sin. Prophets long declared this king would come, and now he is coming. Next, Matthew shares the prophet's verse and name. Long ago, Isaiah (7:14) announced a virgin-born son whose name would be called “Immanuel.” The name indicates the role or ministry of the king to and in his people, that is, God will be with them (literally, “God with us”). God's kingly truth and mercy will fill the souls of the citizens and servants of his kingdom.

Joseph's service to God

Joseph awakened from his sleep, obeyed God's message through his angelic messenger, and took Mary to his side to be his wife (v. 24). Joseph possesses two more qualities of service to God–obedience by God's grace to his plan; a faith to follow God even in the unknown and unseen. Faith surrounds Joseph with a godly, angelic message, and faith moves Joseph to action to serve God by grace.

Climax

The Scripture passage climaxes in a crescendo of praise and hope, truth and mercy: Jesus was born. The coming king had come to establish his rule of truth and grace in the hearts of his people.

Question for discussion

What would be the title of your song celebrating Christ's birth?

Posted: 12/05/03

LifeWay Family Bible Series for Dec. 14

Finding delight in giving that honors God

2 Corinthians 9:1-15

By David Jenkins

New Hope Baptist Church, Big Sandy

The Apostle Paul was a firebrand for God in spearheading the message of Christ's gospel into the darkest corners of paganism and unbelief. He was willing to put his life on the line for the sake of God's truth. He was bold and unrelenting in his stand against any effort to compromise the gospel or take away from its universal appeal to all people everywhere.

He was equally compelled to help those who suffered physically. This study, coupled with the preceding one, gives us a remarkable insight regarding Paul's concern that believers follow Christ's example in the grace of giving.

The background against which Paul wrote this section of his second letter to the Corinthians contains an example of the “human touch” that was a part of his ministry among the churches he established. The Corinthians had been among the first to respond to Paul's appeal to collect an offering for the suffering believers in Jerusalem. He had related their enthusiasm to the Macedonian Christians, who had responded quickly and given sacrificially.

In the meantime, the Corinthians had encountered difficulties in the church, and their zeal for collecting this offering had cooled. With the help of Titus, the Corinthians overcame their problems, and their fellowship was once more on a firm footing. So Paul encouraged the Corinthians to be generous in their giving, citing the example of the Macedonians. Paul always commended the churches for their areas of strength before exhorting them to recognize and overcome their shortcomings.

A gentle exhortation

At this point, Paul did not consider it necessary to go into detail about the offering for the saints in Jerusalem. He had fully rehearsed that need with the Corinthians a year or so earlier. Paul had a double purpose for promoting this offering–the Jerusalem believers were indeed suffering because of the famine and needed financial help, but there also was the opportunity to cement the relationship between the Gentile congregations and the Jewish believers in Jerusalem through this benevolent gesture.

Paul never criticized the shortcomings of one church to another. Instead, he was quick to share the good things happening among them. Paul also knew the difference between genuine commendation and flattery. Instead of issuing a harsh rebuke to the Corinthians for their failure to complete the offering, he reminded them of their eagerness in the beginning to help their fellow believers in Jerusalem and how he had used the example of their enthusiasm to encourage the Macedonians to give. Paul despaired of having his Macedonian brothers traveling with him discover the Corinthians' zeal for the offering had waned, and the offering not gathered.

Often it is good for us to revisit past experiences during which we were inspired to serve God in unusual ways. This is not living “in” the past, but “out of” the past. Many things can happen to dampen enthusiasm in regard to some project initially and obviously blessed by God. Satan is a master at injecting the seeds of discouragement. Remembering the fires of excitement and zeal we experienced in the beginning can reignite our determination to carry through to completion what God has begun in and through us.

Description of a willing giver

Paul moved from discussing the offering for the Jerusalem believers to specific principles that should govern a Christian's general attitude toward giving.

He compared giving to sowing seed. Paul used an illustration from agriculture, stating both the positive and the negative possibilities. When we habitually give only a little, we can expect very little blessing in return. On the other hand, when we give generously from that with which God has blessed us, we can expect personal rewards.

Nothing is wrong with recognizing that God rewards those who obey him in the matter of stewardship. One of the great features of the New Testament is that its writers are never afraid of the reward motive. It never promotes the idea that goodness will be ignored. On the contrary, it emphasizes that those who serve God by giving of themselves generously will be blessed commensurately. At the same time, we are not promised wealth of things, but of the heart and of the spirit.

The picture of the “cheerful giver” in verse 7 is a refreshing portrait of the giver with a truly Christian attitude. We get our word “hilarious” from the Greek word translated “cheerful.” The idea is that God delights in the joyful, happy giver who is excited about every opportunity to give. Such a giver is filled with the love of God, which provides the only true and genuine motive for giving.

Paul concludes this section of his letter by reminding readers that giving has spiritual results. First, God is glorified–there are “many thanksgivings to God.” Second, giving proves one's love for God. Then, as a result of this offering, the Christian Jews in Jerusalem began to pray for the Gentile believers. The heritage and cultural differences between them began to break down, and their fellowship in Christ was strengthened.

Question for discussion

Do we pattern ourselves after the Macedonians–giving ourselves and then our substance to God?

Posted: 12/05/03

LifeWay Family Bible Series for Dec. 21

God's unexpected arrival on the world scene

Luke 2:1-40

By David Jenkins

New Hope Baptist Church, Big Sandy

Life is filled with many celebrations. We have birthdays and weddings and new babies and graduation from high school and college. We celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day and the Fourth of July, and we observe Thanksgiving. But the grandest celebration of all time revolved around God's condescension to enter human flesh, be born as a baby, live among us and then offer his life as a ransom for our sins. Hints of this celebration appear throughout the Bible. Many believe the most thrilling record was written by a Gentile physician, Luke, which is the text of this lesson.

The occasion of this celebration

The political atmosphere in Palestine when Jesus was born was tense and volatile. Palestine was a part of the Roman Empire, and Roman soldiers were quartered throughout the land.

In the first chapter of his Gospel, Luke mentioned “Herod, the king of Judea” (1:5). In the first verse of chapter 2, he named “Caesar Augustus,” the emperor of Rome. Only two things did these men have in common–both were pagan (they did not believe in Jehovah, the true God, but worshipped false gods instead) and they were men of superior ability. This is where the similarity ended.

Herod was evil to the core, and Caesar Augustus, the great-nephew of Julius Caesar, was a wise ruler and generally a benevolent person. He was a great builder, and during his reign the world enjoyed its longest period of peace. Herod was paranoid, demonic and sadistic, demonstrated by his determination to kill the baby Jesus by destroying all of the male babies in Bethlehem.

Caesar's decree requiring all to be enrolled for taxation meant Joseph must register in Bethlehem–the town where his most noble ancestor, King David, was born. We see here the divine hand of God in the timing of the census and the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy concerning the location of Jesus' birth (Micah 5:2).

The congregation assembled for this event

It was the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy (61:1) that the first announcement of Jesus' birth was made to poor and despised shepherds. These shepherds were encamped in the open, keeping watch by turn over their flocks. Suddenly, while most of the shepherds were sleeping, “an angel of the Lord” stood by them. Fresh from God's presence, this angelic creature radiated a heavenly brightness. The angel delivered his message concerning the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, telling the shepherds exactly where they would find him. The angel emphasized his birth would constitute “good tidings of great joy to all people.” Thus in the first announcement of Jesus' birth, his universal salvation was proclaimed.

As soon as the angel finished speaking, he was joined by a multitude of his fellow angels, lifting their voices in a mighty concert of praise. When the angels had all vanished from sight, the shepherds were moved to follow the angel's orders immediately. They rushed to Bethlehem, found the inn and worshipped the baby Jesus.

What a motley congregation God had assembled to celebrate the birth of his Son–lowly shepherds, majestic angels and lowing cattle, no doubt stunned and amazed by it all. The shepherds suddenly became evangelists, glorifying and praising God for what they had seen and heard.

The dedication of Jesus in the temple

According to Jewish law, a woman became ceremonially unclean when her child was born. When the child was eight days old, he was circumcised. The mother remained unclean an additional 33 days. After this period, the mother offered a sacrifice, either a lamb or, if she were poor, two young pigeons or turtle doves (Leviticus 12:6-8). That Mary offered turtle doves confirms she and Joseph were poor and also shows Jesus identified with the poor of the land.

Luke introduced two individuals who played a significant role on this day of Jesus' presentation in the temple. The first was a godly man, Simeon, to whom the Lord had revealed the Messiah would come before he died. With incredible divine timing, the Spirit brought Simeon to the exact spot where he would encounter Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. In a touching scene, Luke revealed the baby Jesus in Simeon's arms and recorded the beautiful psalm that came spontaneously from Simeon (vv. 29-32). His conversation with Mary and Joseph ended on a somber note concerning the suffering of Mary and the rejection of Jesus.

The second person Luke included in this amazing drama was Anna, a prophetess (v. 36) who was “very old.” After the death of her husband, she remained a widow and lived in the temple precincts. She devoted her life to prayer and fasting. Once more we see evidence of divine timing as Anna came to Mary and Joseph and gave thanks to God because it was revealed to her that this child would be the fulfillment of the messianic hope many Jews cherished concerning the deliverance and redemption of Jerusalem.

In what diverse and remarkable ways did God introduce his Son to this world!

For discussion

Considering the accounts of Jesus' birth by Matthew and Luke, list the unexpected and surprising ways God brought his Son into the world.

Posted: 12/05/03

Students don't know much of First Amendment

WASHINGTON (RNS)–The nation's undergraduates are mostly ignorant about the First Amendment's proclamation about freedom of religion.

A new survey by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education found 30 percent of students overall named freedom of religion when they were asked to name any of the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.

But when asked to specify which freedom is addressed first in the amendment, only 10 percent of public college students and 5 percent of private college students correctly said freedom of religion.

“If the American experiment in liberty is to survive, citizens must both keep alive and cherish the free exchange of ideas, values and convictions,” said Alan Charles Kores, president of the foundation. “These survey results are disheartening, but they unfortunately are not surprising.”

Far more students overall–73 percent–mentioned freedom of speech when asked to name any specific right guaranteed by the First Amendment. Twenty percent cited right of assembly and association, and 6 percent mentioned right to petition.

The survey was conducted between Feb. 6 and April 7 by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut.

It was funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. A total of 1,037 students were surveyed at 339 colleges and universities.

Posted: 12/05/03

Association removes Florida church

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (ABP)–Central Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Fla., has been removed from membership in Halifax Baptist Association because of the congregation's female co-pastor.

Sonja Phillips and her husband, Dave, were hired as co-pastors of the 750-member church in July.

During the association's annual meeting this fall, a motion was approved to expel the congregation.

“We need to take a stand on this issue” of female pastors, said Chris Lybarger, pastor at Rima Ridge Baptist Church in Ormond Beach, who made the motion, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

The ouster was confirmed by the unanimous vote of the association's executive committee Nov. 18 after some confusion arose about the association's earlier action.

Dennis Belz, director of missions for Halifax Association, said calling a woman pastor contradicts the Bible.

Female pastors, while common in some denominations, are rare in Southern Baptist life. Three years ago, the Southern Baptist Convention revised its Baptist Faith & Message doctrinal statement to limit the role of pastor to men. While the statement is not binding on congregations, it often is used as a tool of acceptable doctrine by local associations.

This is the first time a church has been expelled from the 46-year-old Halifax Baptist Association for any reason, reported the Florida Baptist Witness.

Central was a charter member of the 33-church association but has been less active in recent years. It also is affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which welcomes female pastors.

Sonja Phillips, 40, said her decision to become a pastor was “not about me being a woman.”

“It's about me being a child of God,” the former social worker told the News-Journal. “I'm just trying to serve God the best way I know how.”

Sonja and Dave Phillips take turns preaching for the Daytona Beach church.