Posted: 12/19/03

Three schools claim part of B.H. Carroll's legacy

By Ken Camp

Texas Baptist Communications

Three drastically different ministerial training schools in Texas now claim to be in the tradition of B.H. Carroll, a towering figure in Baptist life in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Ironically, all three stake valid claims to some degree, according to Carroll biographer Alan Lefever.

The new Carroll Institute's founders say they want to create a theological education model involving “teaching churches” and mentors. That resonates with Carroll's desire to see theological education centered on ministry in the local church, Lefever explained. From the early 1870s until the turn of the century, Carroll trained ministers at First Baptist Church of Waco, where he was pastor.

B. H. Carroll

Truett Theological Seminary, supported by the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, is a part of Baylor University. The last time Baylor was home to a seminary, Carroll was its dean. Truett Seminary is reminiscent of Carroll's commitment to a theological school that had access to the broad and deep resources of a liberal arts university, Lefever noted.

In the early 20th century, Carroll led Baylor Seminary to pull away from the university and relocate from Waco to Fort Worth, primarily due to a struggle over financial resources. “He liked to be able to call the shots and be his own man,” Lefever asserted.

When Baylor's seminary became a free-standing institution and moved 90 miles to the north, Carroll became founding president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, now a Southern Baptist Convention-supported school that claims Carroll as its godfather.

Each school represents one aspect of Carroll's vision for educating ministers, according to Lefever, who holds degrees from Baylor and Southwestern and is director of the Texas Baptist Historical Collection.

“The problem is that Carroll never articulated a single vision for theological education. It was a progression in his thought,” said the author of “Fighting the Good Fight,” the definitive Carroll biography.

When he was inaugurated in October as Southwestern's eighth president, Paige Patterson pledged to lead that institution toward “a full and thorough reaffirmation of the doctrine of B.H. Carroll and the founders” of the school.

Patterson particularly singled out the missionary and evangelistic zeal of Carroll and other early leaders of the seminary. He mentioned 15 key doctrines of the founders, including the incarnation and atoning work of Christ, commitment to expository preaching and an emphasis on the sanctity of marriage and the family.

In his charge to the new president, SBC Annuity Board President O.S. Hawkins challenged Patterson to follow the example of Carroll as a man of courage, conviction and consistency.

Founders of the new Carroll Institute, all with Southwestern roots, picked up on another aspect of the Carroll legacy at a news conference announcing the school's inaugural faculty a few weeks later.

Jim Denison, pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, pledged that his church would be one of the first of what organizers hope will be 100 “teaching churches” affiliated with the institute. Describing Carroll's approach to educating ministerial students in the context of a local church, Denison said, “We are returning to his vision and advancing his vision.”

Without a doubt, it's a return to one aspect of Carroll's vision, but it's not necessarily “advancing” the vision, according to Lefever. In fact, what the Carroll Institute proposes may be “a step back,” he said.

While Carroll used the mentoring approach and taught ministers in a local church for a number of years, the influence of a single instructor produced “Carroll clones,” said Lefever, who teaches part time at Truett Seminary.

That won't be true of the Carroll Institute, responded President Bruce Corley. The institute will avoid the trap of students “emulating a single style pastor or teacher” by offering a “blended learning approach” that combines personal, face-to-face classroom and mentoring experience with Internet-based distance learning, he said.

“We're not going to replicate old models,” Corley said. “We intend to take up the vision of B.H. Carroll by making post-baccalaureate education affordable and accessible for any person and relate it to congregational experience.”

The Carroll Institute's claim to the Carroll name also has been questioned by Southwestern's Patterson.

“People are, of course, free to employ whatever name they wish. Whether this is done with integrity depends on whether the principles of the one whose name is thereby invoked are honored and espoused,” Patterson said in a statement released after four senior professors left Southwestern to launch the Carroll Institute. “While one may question the justice of using the name of the founder of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in a competing effort against that seminary, the real test will be whether they have honored Carroll's name or just used it.”

Lefever questioned which “principles” of Southwestern's founder Patterson wants to see honored and espoused.

Carroll unquestionably was theologically conservative, he noted. But the only prescribed guide for faculty at Southwestern under his tenure was the New Hampshire Confession of Faith, a relatively broad statement compared to the SBC's 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, he observed.

When asked to elaborate on what he meant regarding steering Southwestern toward a return to the doctrine of Carroll, Patterson declined any comment beyond a listing of the 15 points in his inaugural address.

The problem with predicting how Carroll would respond to any of the institutions claiming his legacy is that he was such an independent thinker and complex personality, Lefever asserted.

“No one could speak for B.H. Carroll but B.H. Carroll. He's one of the most difficult people in Baptist life to pigeonhole,” he said. “I don't have a problem with any of the schools claiming a legacy of Carroll, but I don't think any of them can claim 'the legacy' of Carroll.”

Many are quick to latch on to favored aspects of Carroll's personality, but few are willing to embrace every part of the hot-tempered, cigar-smoking, post-millennialist's life, Lefever asserted.

“Would someone who struggled with alcoholism as a young man, who was divorced early in life, and who had women deacons serve in his church in the 1870s fit in at Southwestern Seminary today, not just as a student but as an instructor and even as the president? If the presidency of Southwestern Seminary were open, would Carroll be considered?” he asked.

“If you're going to be a B.H. Carroll fan, take all of him.”

Who was B.H. Carroll?

Born Dec. 27, 1843, in Mississippi

Died Nov. 11, 1914, in Fort Worth.

Buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Waco.

Enlisted as a Texas Ranger at the start of the Civil War to guard the Texas frontier. Later served with the regular army, assigned to the 17th Regiment of Texas Infantry.

When the war interrupted his college studies, Baylor University granted him a B.A. degree. Later received honorary doctorates from the University of Tennessee and Keatchie College.

Became a born-again Christian in 1865 following a period of skepticism. Joined a Baptist church in Caldwell, Texas.

Ordained to the gospel ministry in 1866. Served as pastor of rural churches and taught school for three years.

Pastor of First Baptist Church in Waco from 1870 to 1899.

Elected corresponding secretary for the Texas Baptist Education Commission in 1899.

Taught theology and Bible at Baylor University from 1872 to 1905.

Organized the Baylor Theological Seminary in 1905.

Led in founding Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, chartered in 1908. Served as president of Southwestern until his death in 1914.

Authored “An Interpretation of the English Bible,” a 13-volume commentary, as well as a number of sermon collections.

Source: Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists, Volume One

Posted: 12/19/03

Posted: 12/19/03

'Are you Santa?' child asked missionary

By Melanie Kieve

CBF Communications

SKOPJE, Macedonia–“Are you Santa Claus?”

That's what Serxhane, an 11-year-old Albanian orphan, asked Cooperative Baptist Fellowship missionary Rick Shaw, after receiving textbooks from CBF volunteers.

But according to Shaw, it wasn't the gift as much as God's love demonstrated through giving that created the mistaken identity.

“I told the young Albanian that like (Santa), we love people–especially the children of the world,” he said.

Serxhane was one of 500 children who received textbooks, along with backpacks and school supplies. The textbook project was part of the Shaws' ongoing ministry among orphan and indigent children in Skopje and surrounding villages, made possible by the Fellowship's 2003-04 Global Missions Offering.

The children who received textbooks are either orphaned or have only one parent who is employed. Most are ethnic Albanians who face discrimination and lack of educational and employment opportunities in Macedonia.

“Many of the children are very bright and … dream of a better life,” but they face obstacles to learning such as having to provide their own books, said Shaw's wife, Martha. “You can imagine what a challenge this is when no one in the home is working.”

When Highland Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., learned of the textbook shortage, members quickly responded. They spread the word to other CBF churches, while the Shaws contacted churches in the Balkan region. In all, more than $40,000 was raised.

Two Texas churches participated in the project–Trinity Baptist Church of Harker Heights and Memorial Drive Baptist Church of Houston.

In August, three Highland members and one member of Calvary Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky., traveled to Skopje, where they distributed textbooks and visited in schools and orphans' homes. They were joined by several local Albanian and Macedonian church members.

Since the volunteers' return, Highland Baptist has discovered many Albanians live in Louisville. The church hosted a Thanksgiving meal for local Albanians as part of an emerging cultural exchange-oriented ministry, said team member Phil Collier, an attorney and lay leader.

“Our church has been energized by this project,” Collier said. “We have become more missions-oriented, with a large percentage of our members becoming involved in missions work and justice issues.”

The CBF Global Missions Offering, with the theme “Everyone Everywhere, Being the Presence of Christ,” encourages this kind of personal missions involvement, along with prayer and financial support.

The offering's importance to ministries among Albanians cannot be underestimated, Martha Shaw said. It “provides funding for us to be here, to establish ministries among orphans and widows, and to communicate with CBF constituency churches and other churches the Albanian story. The offering is the financial foundation of our presence in the Balkans among Albanians. Without it, we could not be here.”

In addition to the textbook project, the Shaws have developed other holistic, transformational ministries alongside Albanians, including English as a Second Language classes; clothing, food, medicine, firewood and heater distribution; medical care arrangement and financing; church starting and discipling; human rights advocacy; sewage system installation in villages; and prison ministries.

“Our goal is to guide Albanians to see the gospel as powerful, real and relevant to their lives and culture,” Mrs. Shaw said.

Posted: 12/19/03

THIS CHRISTMAS:
Receive the gift of hope this season

By BO Baker

After another year of meeting life's complications, its barrage of hazards and hurts played out upon the grand world stage, I've concluded once more that our deepest and most urgent need is for hope–Christian hope.

This is the hope that does not come grandstanding, gift-wrapped or party-dressed. Not a kind of shallow masquerade of make-believe bequest to dreamers only, or even hope for the millions who would not know a Bible from the Far-mer's Almanac. But a hope deliberately resting upon the integrity, the absolute dependability of the God who spoke the galaxies into existence, who breathed life into the man he made and, and “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

BO Baker

I contend for a hope resident and resilient in the person of Jesus Christ, not a hope provided by practitioners of unkept promises, nor for the warden of some “life island” adrift in space, dark with questions seemingly unanswerable.

Rather, the hope that shepherds found lying in a manger of a lean-to in the tiny town of Bethlehem over 1,900 years ago. They knelt, stunned in wonder, at the coming of Mary's babe. They arose transformed, never to be the same again.

Dear God, it is the hope we need so desperately this Christmastime–hope that still believes in the God of divine intervention in spite of mockery, malaise and malcontent. How we need a hope that does not segregate or pretend to bleed in bodies tendered to look the part of suffering without the slightest reminance of pain, or for that matter, the giving of a single drop of blood!

It's time, and far past, to ring the bell of hope again–the Christian hope. It's time to ring it out for all to hear–every Cross-bought one of us, wherever he or she may be. It's time to ring it loudly enough for the weeping to hear, for the lost to find their way to the land of grace and the weary to breathe new winds of caring love.

Yes, we all need to be reminded that there's hope enough left in the heart of God for every human being to find solace and inspiration, to look up and live victoriously again, to know that “he who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20).

What a gift to receive at Christmas, the gift of hope! Hope by the heartful!

BO Baker, a longtime Texas Baptist pastor and evangelist, has written a Christmas reflection for the Baptist Standard for 28 consecutive years

Posted: 12/19/03

CHRISTMAS VIEW:
Celebrate Christmas from now on

By Charles Walton

We put our Christmas trees up early this year. Our big tree in the living room and our smaller tree in the family room were in their places by Nov. 30.

This is a record for us. We usually do not have a tree up until the middle of December.

One reason for my annual tardiness is that our trees are stored in the attic. Getting them down is difficult. Sometimes, I “skin” my knuckles. Sometimes, I mutter under my breath. I do not anticipate with joy getting our Christmas trees out of the attic. Putting them back is even worse.

For several years, I have been threatening to leave our Christmas trees out all year long. Even though they are artificial, they're both pretty. Both are well-decorated, brilliantly lighted and truly inspiring.

Charles Walton

I like to think I would have rejoiced with Joseph and Mary and the shepherds, but I suspect I would have been too caught up in my own concerns to notice what God was doing.

If we kept the trees up all year, we would not have to leave the same decorations on the trees for 12 months. We could change the ornamentation to fit the season.

In December, the trees would be covered with the garnishments of Christmas. For Valentine's Day, we could replace December's ornaments with hearts and cupids with bows and arrows.

In the spring, the trees would be covered with Easter imagery. Each season or special event–such as birthdays, anniversaries and the like–would be represented by appropriate decorations festively hung on a beautiful evergreen.

This seems a fine idea to me, but I have been out-voted by Mrs. Preacher. I know there are only two of us here, but every husband knows that his wife has at least two votes to his one. A tie means she wins.

Brenda says a Christmas tree is for Christmas. She says we did not put up a Valentine tree or an Easter tree or a “Holiday” tree. We put up a Christmas tree.

Several years ago, I did leave up our Christmas tree for three months. I got out the artificial tree on Dec. 18 and took it down on April 1.

Mrs. Preacher is embarrassed for you to know this, but it doesn't bother me.

We put the tree up and decorated it on Dec. 18, and that was the last time we looked at it until January. The “busyness” of the season got in the way of Christmas. We seldom were home long enough to enjoy our tree or anything else about Christmas.

So, for a few nights in January, February and March, I sat in the darkness of our living room with only the lights of the tree for illumination. I played Christmas music, drank apple-cinnamon cider and relished the quiet renewal of solitude.

That was my perspective. Brenda just thought I was weird.

On these special nights, my thoughts almost always returned to the first Christmas. I imagined myself in Bethlehem with all the others forced to be there for the Roman census. I like to think I would have rejoiced with Joseph and Mary and the shepherds, but I suspect I would have been too caught up in my own concerns to notice what God was doing.

When Brenda scolded me for refusing to take down the tree, I said I wasn't through with Christmas. The opposite was true. Christmas wasn't through with me.

A dusty attic is no place for a Christmas tree, especially if storing your tree keeps you from noticing what God is doing.

Christmas is too good a deal to let a cramped attic or a full calendar determine how we celebrate.

God is busy in our world, so leave your tree up all year long–even if your Christmas tree is only in your heart.

Charles Walton is pastor of First Baptist Church in Conroe and sometimes listens to the beat of a different little drummer boy

Posted: 12/19/03

CHRISTMAS VIEW:
Celebrate Christmas from now on

By Charles Walton

We put our Christmas trees up early this year. Our big tree in the living room and our smaller tree in the family room were in their places by Nov. 30.

This is a record for us. We usually do not have a tree up until the middle of December.

One reason for my annual tardiness is that our trees are stored in the attic. Getting them down is difficult. Sometimes, I “skin” my knuckles. Sometimes, I mutter under my breath. I do not anticipate with joy getting our Christmas trees out of the attic. Putting them back is even worse.

For several years, I have been threatening to leave our Christmas trees out all year long. Even though they are artificial, they're both pretty. Both are well-decorated, brilliantly lighted and truly inspiring.

Charles Walton

I like to think I would have rejoiced with Joseph and Mary and the shepherds, but I suspect I would have been too caught up in my own concerns to notice what God was doing.

If we kept the trees up all year, we would not have to leave the same decorations on the trees for 12 months. We could change the ornamentation to fit the season.

In December, the trees would be covered with the garnishments of Christmas. For Valentine's Day, we could replace December's ornaments with hearts and cupids with bows and arrows.

In the spring, the trees would be covered with Easter imagery. Each season or special event–such as birthdays, anniversaries and the like–would be represented by appropriate decorations festively hung on a beautiful evergreen.

This seems a fine idea to me, but I have been out-voted by Mrs. Preacher. I know there are only two of us here, but every husband knows that his wife has at least two votes to his one. A tie means she wins.

Brenda says a Christmas tree is for Christmas. She says we did not put up a Valentine tree or an Easter tree or a “Holiday” tree. We put up a Christmas tree.

Several years ago, I did leave up our Christmas tree for three months. I got out the artificial tree on Dec. 18 and took it down on April 1.

Mrs. Preacher is embarrassed for you to know this, but it doesn't bother me.

We put the tree up and decorated it on Dec. 18, and that was the last time we looked at it until January. The “busyness” of the season got in the way of Christmas. We seldom were home long enough to enjoy our tree or anything else about Christmas.

So, for a few nights in January, February and March, I sat in the darkness of our living room with only the lights of the tree for illumination. I played Christmas music, drank apple-cinnamon cider and relished the quiet renewal of solitude.

That was my perspective. Brenda just thought I was weird.

On these special nights, my thoughts almost always returned to the first Christmas. I imagined myself in Bethlehem with all the others forced to be there for the Roman census. I like to think I would have rejoiced with Joseph and Mary and the shepherds, but I suspect I would have been too caught up in my own concerns to notice what God was doing.

When Brenda scolded me for refusing to take down the tree, I said I wasn't through with Christmas. The opposite was true. Christmas wasn't through with me.

A dusty attic is no place for a Christmas tree, especially if storing your tree keeps you from noticing what God is doing.

Christmas is too good a deal to let a cramped attic or a full calendar determine how we celebrate.

God is busy in our world, so leave your tree up all year long–even if your Christmas tree is only in your heart.

Charles Walton is pastor of First Baptist Church in Conroe and sometimes listens to the beat of a different little drummer boy

Posted: 12/19/03

Hunt family pledges $5.5 million matching funds to DBU

DALLAS–Dallas Baptist University could receive up to $5.5 million–its largest such grant ever–if funds donated by the family of Ruth Ray Hunt are matched by other donors.

Representatives of the Communities Foundation of Texas and the Hunt family announced the gift in late November. It will designate $1 million in matching money to each of five priorities identified through a strategic planning process.

Previous money from the Hunt family enabled the university to develop a facilities master plan, which will serve as a blueprint for moving the university “from good to great” over the next 10 years, said DBU President Gary Cook.

At the news conference where the $5.5 million matching grant was announced, Ray Hunt and June Hunt (first and third from left) visit with Julie Turner, chairwoman of the DBU board, and Edgar Fjordbak, director of the Communities Foundation of Texas

The five areas of focus are:

Hiring, training and retaining high-quality administrators.

Recruiting and retaining faculty, including a new faculty position to guide students through mission work.

Establishing new scholarships and financial aid to increase enrollment by 1,000.

Enhance the spiritual life of students through a lecture series, cultural events and trips abroad.

Erecting additional buildings on the South Dallas campus.

Four of the five areas will receive the Hunt money on a dollar-for-dollar matching basis as others give. The Hunt gifts to the spiritual life component will prlvide one dollar for every 50 cents pledged by other sources.

DBU trustee Chairwoman Julie Turner praised the Hunt family for their generosity, a spirit she said was exemplified by Ruth Ray Hunt. “You had a wonderful mother who loved Dallas Baptist University,” she told Ray Hunt and June Hunt.

Before her death in 1999, Ruth Ray Hunt had a long association with the university, serving as a trustee, volunteering and giving generously to fund the school.

The outline of the newly announced gift was worked out before her death, her son said, noting that some of the happiest days of her life were spent planning for DBU's future.

June Hunt recalled seeing her mother discreetly give aid to people throughout her life. “She gave covertly,” she said. “Giving that would be recognized would not be the norm.”

Yet her mother “had a gift for anticipating a need and then going on and meeting it,” she added.

The same is true of the major gift to DBU, explained Edgar Fjordbak, director of the Communities Foundation of Texas.

The grant was “very carefully crafted” to inspire greater giving by others, he said. “Dallas needs this kind of university,” which he said exemplifies “servant leadership.”

Cook acknowledged raising the matching funds will be a challenge for the 4,500-student school. “But we've got five years to do it, so it doesn't all have to be done right away,” he said.

For more information about the matching-gift requirements, contact DBU at (214) 333-7100.

Posted: 12/19/03

DOWN HOME: Blessings erase wishes on list

My Christmas “wish list” probably drove my family nuts this year.

Around our house, we're big on drawing up lists of gift suggestions. You know–stuff we'd like to receive for Christmas or birthday.

Maybe we don't have enough imagination, but I like to think we do this because, if we're going to spend the money, we want to give something the recipient really wants.

Also, we're not really the kind to go in for big-ticket items. For example, you won't find “high-definition plasma-screen TV monitor” on anybody's list. We all love music, but you won't see “personal digital music recorder” on a single list until ubiquity and market forces drive the price way, way down. And although I personally think the best way to improve my looks at my age would be to sit me behind the wheel of an Audi TT, I wouldn't even dream of writing “expensive German sportscar” on my list. Even when I've got a sugar buzz from eating too much Christmas fudge.

MARV KNOX Editor

This year, Joanna and I wrote our Christmas lists on the December page of the kitchen calendar. I checked mine the other day, and it included three items–a burnt orange knit cap to keep my head warm when I run, a videotape of “Greater Tuna” and something else–a CD, I think it was. Not much to go on.

But it's not a symbol of my altruism, either. Our family is blessed. We already own everything we need and much more besides. We don't wait for Christmas or birthdays to buy shoes and books. We couldn't even think up a place to put another TV set, and everyone has fair access to the computer. We get rid of clothes because we get tired of wearing them. Small wonder thinking up a “wish list” is such a chore.

But that got me thinking about what I value most at Christmas:

The assurance that Jesus is our Savior and his love is unconditional and eternal.

The laughter of our daughters, Lindsay and Molly, as we sit around the dinner table.

Jo's head on my shoulder as we snuggle on the couch.

The look on Mother's face when all the family gathers under one roof.

A thousand voices singing “Silent Night” by candlelight at our church on Christmas Eve.

Jo and the girls in our family sedan, listening to Karen Carpenter sing “Ave Maria” as we drive around looking at the lights.

Hot coffee, a blazing fire and the soft glow of our Christmas tree.

Cards and pictures from friends we've known across a quarter-century in places we've lived all over the country.

Reading “'Twas the Night Before Christmas” to the girls for the 21st Christmas Eve in a row.

With blessings like that, how could I “wish” for more?

Posted: 12/19/03

EDITORIAL:
Begin at the manger, but follow Jesus through his life

Do you ever wonder what became of the shepherds?

They experienced history's penultimate “Do you remember where you were when … ?” moments. (You know about lesser memorable moments: Where were you when you heard World War II was over? Where were you when you learned President Kennedy had been assassinated? When Elvis died? When the space shuttle disintegrated over Texas?)

Even 2,000 years later, we know where those Hebrew shepherds were when they received the second-best news of eternity: “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.”

How could those shepherds ever forget that night? First, an angel appeared out of nowhere, telling them the long-awaited Messiah had been born in a little town just down the road. Some of them probably lived in Bethlehem. This angel, wrapped in a tornado of light, tells them where to go to find the Savior, the Lord. Hint: Don't run down to the nearest military base; look in the barn. Chances are, the shepherds even knew the innkeeper who rented out his stable to the poor couple from over in Nazareth.

I can't help but wonder what became of the shepherds. Did they think back to the angels and the manger and the baby when they heard the best news of all time–that Jesus rose up from the grave?

And as if they didn't hear the first angel, an entire heavenly choir, as big and loud as the Aggie marching band, drove home the point. The angelic chorus sang words penned by the prophet Isaiah: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” That had to have been the best concert in the history of music. I can't even begin to imagine, although I try. On some winter evenings, I put on my CD of Handel's “Messiah,” turn it up as loud as I can stand, and listen to a wonderful choir sing those words. The experience is so sweet and powerful and hopeful, it takes my breath away and brings tears to my eyes. And it's not even a smidgen as good as what those shepherds heard that night.

You know they didn't forget. They talked, oh yes. When Luke researched his Gospel decades later, he learned exactly what the shepherds heard and saw that night. They remembered, and they talked. They quoted all the angels word for word. Even if Jesus' mother, Mary, were Luke's source, the shepherds must have told her. And the Scriptures tell us they had left the manger “glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen.”

Still, I can't help but wonder what became of the shepherds. Thirty years later, when a young rabbi fed thousands out of the first century equivalent of a Happy Meal, did they think about that night? When this Jesus healed the sick, preached to huge crowds and walked on water, did it remind them of the baby Messiah? Were they on the roadside during Palm Sunday? Were they–and one shudders to think it–among the crowd who screamed to Pilate, “Give us Barabas”? Did they cry when they heard young Jesus had been crucified? Did they think back to the angels and the manger and the baby when they heard the best news of all time–that Jesus rose up from the grave?

The shepherds intrigue me because they are the Everyman and Everywoman of the Christmas story. Jesus is the Messiah, of course, fully human yet completely divine. Mary and Joseph were humans, and we reverence them, but I don't know anybody who can relate to them directly. Their roles were incomparably singular. The angels were heavenly beings, the Magi rich and powerful, and Herod corrupt and powerful. But the shepherds, they were “just folks.”

So, I wonder as my mind wanders: What became of the shepherds?

I wonder about the shepherds, because the question I ask of them could–and should–be asked of us as we journey away from Christmas year after year. What becomes of us–of our relationship to this Holy Baby, who went on to live a hard yet faithful life, who suffered crucifixion for our sins, then defeated death, rising again to offer us the greatest gift of all, eternal life and never-ending relationship with God Almighty?

This time of year, well-meaning folks lament how society has taken “Christ out of Christmas.” Unfortunately, many Christians do too. When we leave Jesus in the manger, we take Christ out of Christmas. When all we think about is a sweet, cuddly baby, we take Christ out of Christmas. “Christ” means “Messiah,” and although Jesus was already God in the flesh at his birth, he didn't fully pay for the gift of our salvation until his crucifixion and resurrection 33 years later.

So, when we get caught up with the sweetness and surprise of Christ's birth at Christmas and fail to reflect upon and celebrate his entire ministry, we miss the message of Christmas.

We don't know if the shepherds kept Jesus in mind and worshipped him later. But if we embrace the Holy Baby without submitting to the Savior, and if we pack up our nativity sets and don't follow him daily throughout the coming year, we'll take Christ out of Christmas.

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

Posted: 12/19/03

LifeWay Explore Bible Series for Dec. 28

When God doesn't make sense, trust him still

Jonah 4:1-11

By John Duncan

Lakeside Baptist Church, Granbury

James Dobson wrote a book titled “When God Doesn't Make Sense.” Jonah might well have written a book with a similar title.

God called Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah ran from God (Jonah 1). A large fish swallowed Jonah, and Jonah ran to God, crying out and seeking God as God's mercy spit him on the shore (Jonah 2). Jonah followed God's call to preach judgment to Nineveh as Jonah ran with God by doing his will (Jonah 3). Jonah proclaimed thunder, lightning and God's judgment so strongly that God moved, and the people of Nineveh listened to God, confessed their sin and repented of their actions. God spared Nineveh and the people by his tender mercy.

Jonah, in chapter 4, does not understand why God did not finish destroying the people of Nineveh. God did not make sense to Jonah.

Anger

When God did not bring disaster on Nineveh (Jonah 3:10), Jonah became displeased and angry (Jonah 4:1). The idea of “displeasure” is that Jonah felt highly irritated, crushed, embarrassed and restless. Things moved beyond Jonah's control. Jonah felt like a fool before the people of Nineveh. The concept of his “anger” meant Jonah boiled with a burning anger at God yet failed to understand God's compassion and the repentant relief of the people as God showered his mercy on them. Jonah possessed a narrow view of God, an inflated sense of embarrassment and a lack of love for the sinners whom God loved.

Jonah's responses to God in his displeasure and anger are typical of a pouting prophet: (1) “I told you so!” (2) Get me out of here! (3) Life is not fair! (4) I've earned the right to act this way!

Jonah whines, “I told you so!” (v. 2). He acknowledged God's character, nature and quality as one of grace, mercy and patience that goes beyond what is often necessary. Jonah prays much like he did in the belly of the large fish (2:1). Jonah's prayer indicates that his “storm trouble” (Eugene Peterson) returns.

Jonah's troubles often come because of his attitude toward God and his stubborn unwillingness to listen faithfully to God and understand his plan–in this case, God's tender compassion that spares sinners who repent. Jonah is angry, but God in his loving kindness withholds his fury, rage and harm.

Jonah then cries out, “Get me out of here!” Jonah is like the children of Israel in the wilderness who desire to turn back to Egypt (Exodus 14). He groans like Elijah in a cave on Mount Carmel, begging God to take his life (1 Kings 19:4). Jonah asks God to do to his life what he would not do to the people of Nineveh: Take my life! Destroy me! Remove my soul from earth! Jonah's anger rages like a fire out of control because he cannot control life or God. God asks, “Is it right for you to rage in anger?” (Jonah 4:4).

Jonah continues his tirade as if to say, “Life is not fair!” Jonah moves to the east side of the city, pouts, waits in hope God will change his mind again, and then watches as a plant grows above him producing shade (vv. 5-6). Eugene Peterson calls it “the unpredictable plant.” Jonah feels happiness and gratitude for the shade (v. 6).

However, morning dawned as a worm ate the shade tree and it withered (“dried up”). The scholar Banks says the worm is God's orchestrated message “of man's insignificance.” The hot sun and fierce wind beat down on Jonah and led him to the point of exhaustion (v. 8). Jonah's emotions went from anger to gratitude to weariness to a maddening, internalized frustration both with himself and God. Again, Jonah wished for death (v. 8).

Jonah's frustration with the God who does not make sense was, “I've earned the right to act this way!” God asks Jonah if it is right for him to act the way he is acting in his rage and anger. Jonah, surprisingly, replies, “Yes, it is right for me to be angry even unto death!” (v. 9). Jonah feels he has earned the right to contest God and his activity. Beware of such pride. C.S. Lewis says, “Pride leads to every other vice; it is the complete anti-God state of mind.” Jonah's anger boiled and his pride swelled. Then God spoke.

God's word

God spoke to Jonah, saying, in essence, “Just as I created the tree and gave it life and growth and made it shade for you, so too I made human beings, have grown them and supplied life for them, and provided for them in ways they do not even comprehend. When you cannot understand and when I do not make sense, trust me” (vv. 10-11). Jonah's anger problem became a pride problem that became a trust problem. God asks for simple trust and an acknowledgment that he is in control.

How can you trust God under the unpredictable plant and in moments when you do not understand him or his ways? Focus on who God is, not what you want him to do for you. His thoughts and ways are higher than yours (Isaiah 55:7-8). Pray God's good for others and welcome God's blessing for all. Rejoice in mercy for all. Trust celebrates God's mercy.

Question for discussion

How would you counsel someone having a hard time deciphering what God was trying to do in her of his life?

Posted: 12/19/03

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Jan. 11

Rejecting wisdom is tantamount to rejecting God

Proverbs 1:20-3:8

By John Duncan

Lakeside Baptist Church, Granbury

“There is no happiness where there is no wisdom, and proud men in old age learn to be wise,” Shakespeare once poetically opined. Wisdom returns life to the basics. It is as essential for the Christian as an engine to a car or a heart pumping blood through the body. God's wisdom creates an inner happiness. Where there is no wisdom, there is no happiness and no joy. Where there is no wisdom, there is no security in the soul or in life (Proverbs 1:33). Eternal wisdom provides every person an opportunity to stop, look and listen. Wisdom announces an invitation.

Wisdom calls

Proverbs pictures wisdom as a person calling to people in the marketplace (v. 20). Wisdom raises her voice in the chief concourses where people move to buy, sell and transact business. Wisdom sings (v. 20, literally, “hymn”), attracting attention to the musical score of God's symphony. Wisdom also preaches (v. 21), signaling a cry from one heart to another the message of good news that falls from heaven. Wisdom goes forth singing and preaching, while inviting people to look into the happiness and joy of life lived under God's wisdom. The scholar Duane Garrett says: “Wisdom is not abstract, secular or academic but personal and theological. To reject wisdom is to reject God.”

What words does a personified wisdom speak? Wisdom shouts on the streets, “How long will you act unwisely?” (v. 22). Eugene Peterson's “The Message” clearly gives the force of the Hebrew translation: “Simpletons! How long will you wallow in ignorance? Cynics! How long will you feed your cynicism? Idiots! How long will you refuse to learn?”

The writer of Proverbs mentions three kinds of people who need wisdom–the simple ones who refuse wisdom's good; the scorners or mockers who desire to boldly laugh in the face of wisdom; and the foolish who, literally, have “thick skulls” that refuse to listen to the voice of wisdom. Wisdom calls out wise words that, if believed, will supply grace and truth for life (John 1:14).

Wisdom and the human machine

C.S. Lewis once remarked, “Now God designed the human machine to run on himself.” Lewis feared many men and women tried to go at life alone, trying, in Lewis' own words, “to invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God–apart from God.” Wisdom supplants the self apart from God and joins the heart, soul and mind to the joy of God. Wisdom yearns for a return to life's most basic need: God's pure and holy wisdom (v. 23). Wisdom invites the people on the streets from all walks of life to simply turn their hearts toward God in his wisdom. Turn, literally, to God's proof and to his conviction. In the New Testament, such a turning would require confession of sin and repentance.

What will God do when people turn their lives toward him? God will do two things: (1) He will create an eternal spring (literally, “gush forth”) of his Spirit that will fall like dew on the morning grass; (2) he will make clear his words and provide purpose for life like the lifting of a window shade to reveal light (v. 23).

God desires to refresh and reveal himself in your life, but many people refuse (v. 24). God begs with wisdom to draw people near to his security and grace, but some stubbornly refuse. Chuck Swindoll warns, “A stubborn will stiff-arms reproofs.” Not only have many people stiff-armed God's reproofs; they have also treated God's counsel as if it were nothing (literally, “zero,” v. 25). Wisdom pleads for an answer. What happens when God's wisdom is stiff-armed and counted as nothing?

Answer?

God returns on the heads of those who refuse his wisdom that which the foolish practiced in life: Simpletons receive the judgment of their choices; mockers brace for the laughing whirlwind of God's terror as if in a storm; and the foolish swim in the misery of their own foolishness while crying out in distress and anguish (vv. 24-27). Storm winds blow. Who will the people in the marketplace, on the streets and in the concourses of business cry out to now? Who will listen?

The unwise refused to listen to God in his wisdom when he warned them. God called. They refused to listen or answer. They heard the noise of the streets but turned a deaf ear to God's voice. How will God answer their calls in a storm?

God will not answer (v. 28). God will do to them what they did to him. They will search for God in the fury of the storm, but like a man stumbling in the rain, wind and fog while reaching for something to hold on to, they will not be able to balance their feet beneath them (v. 28). The fools refused knowledge and lifted their faces away from God (v. 29). They anxiously clamored for a hold on life but found nothing to grasp (v. 30). The storm destroyed the fruit of their lives (v. 31). In the chaos of the storm, the people destroyed themselves and each other (v. 32). Complacency surrounded them like the wind- blown trash from a storm (v. 32).

As the storm calms, God gives one final call. Who will turn to me? Who will listen to wisdom? Who will receive the final message? Those who do are wise. They “settle down” as God settles down in them and peace calms their hearts (v. 33). The Son shines again. Mourning turns to joy and laughter.

Question for discussion

How would you describe wisdom?

Posted: 12/19/03

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Jan. 4

The beginning of wisdom is a fear of the Lord

Proverbs 1:1-19

By John Duncan

Lakeside Baptist Church, Granbury

We live by proverbs. One man speaks to his son, “If the shoe fits, wear it.” A businessman says, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” A coach says, “Don't count your chickens before they hatch.” A police detective says, “Where there's smoke there's fire.” In Texas, a wise person says, “Don't squat with your spurs on.”

We live by proverbial wisdom–short sayings that provide meaning for everyday circumstances like raising children, running a business to make money, trying to keep a team from overconfidence during a winning streak, solving crimes or the plain use of common sense. Proverbial wisdom, biblically, moves beyond common sense to insight for living gained from a personal knowledge of God. The Book of Proverbs supplies practical wisdom from God for daily living in real circumstances.

Knowledge of God

Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7). Fools despise wisdom and instruction. The starting line for wisdom is the fear of God. When God says, “Let's go!” He invites the follower of Christ to gain a personal knowledge of God's ways.

What two kinds of knowledge does Proverbs offer? One, the writer mentions a wisdom that comes from above (James 1:5; 3:17-18). Two, he also identifies instruction that leads to good and godly choices in the daily realties of life like work, marriage, school, relationships, and in private thoughts and personal actions.

J.I. Packer, in his classic work, “Knowing God” asks, “What were we made for? To know God.” Packer also adds, “Knowing God is a relationship calculated to thrill a person's heart.”

When a person knows God, he or she will perceive truth in understanding of God's ways and also will receive instruction (Proverbs 1:2-3). The writer of Proverbs considers the person who is wise in God's wisdom as one who will listen to God and the counsel of others (v. 5). The wise person grows and learns. The wise person sees God at work in his or her heart, in the lives of others and in the world. As poet Gerard Manley Hopkins says, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” The wise person acknowledges and sees God's grandeur in daily life.

Wisdom excels

Who will the wise person listen to and hear? Obviously, the echo of Proverbs is that God speaks and his people listen. Wisdom is not philosophical chin stroking and ponderous thoughts about deep things in life. Rather, wisdom inspires godly action. Sons and daughters listen to their God-honoring parents (v. 8). A listening heart responds to life in ways that honor God. Wisdom adorns the head with grace and creates an inner beauty (v. 9). The Greek Septuagint labels such adornment as a “stephanos crown,” or “the victor's crown of grace.” God's grace produces both the wisdom and the victory.

Still, the writer of Proverbs is not spinning homespun wisdom; he yearns for people to follow God in his ways. To know God requires two key intentional actions in life: (1) the ability not to cast off or abandon wise instruction from godly people and (2) the discipline to hear, understand, discern and apply wisdom to every facet of daily life.

As one street-wise person said, “God did not make no junk, but you can't junk the wisdom of God if you will become all God wants!” Wisdom excels the world's wisdom in that it possesses a depth and richness that shapes the heart, soul and mind, unifying them for one purpose, that is, to glorify God. What actions glorify God? God is glorified when people practice justice, make good choices and treat people honestly and with dignity (v. 3).

Wisdom adorns and adapts

Wisdom adorns the soul like a crown or a golden chain around the neck (v. 9). Wisdom also adapts to circumstances and situations that arise in daily life. Sinners may entice you with bait to grab their every plan hook-line-and-sinker (v. 10). Sinners may stand at the gate and invite you to join their sins like murder or theft (vv. 10-12). Sinners may talk a game of joining the party (v. 14).

Wisdom prepares the heart for such a moment. God's instruction changes the heart. God's wisdom supplies the soul with strength. God's grace adorns the mind with spiritual knowledge. When sinners call, wisdom works God's power and plan, thus giving the servant of God the ample supply for facing and resisting sin's temptation.

Sinners say, “Come! Look! Sin!” Sinners advertise more than they can deliver. God in his supply of wisdom says, “Do not walk with sinners or in their paths” (v. 15). God's wisdom urges the servant of God to flee temptation and sin (v. 16). God's wisdom warns of the hidden trap into which sin can lead a person.

The trap is like a hunter's trap for catching birds (v. 17). God says, “Flee, fly, but do not frolic with temptation, sin, or sinners who aim to trap you and devour you like a bird!” Wisdom warns but also reminds the listener, “To refuse God's wisdom is to invite personal pain, trouble difficult to escape (like a trap), and a soul diminished in the abundant life Christ offers” (vv. 18-19). Ultimately, Jesus came to give you an abundant life filled with his wisdom.

Questions for discussion

What proverbs do you find yourself quoting?

Who personifies wisdom for you?