Posted: 9/19/03

Patty and Pierce pack a punch for the girls' tour

By Cecile Holmes

Religion News Service

ASHVILLE, N.C. (RNS)–One is a songbird with the stage presence of a diva; the other so unpretentious a Christian she resembles the classic girl next door.

On tour, Sandi Patty and Chonda Pierce promise to be engaging and funny. They're longtime acquaintances who've become good friends. On Sept. 19, they launched a 31-city tour with an opening performance in Asheville, N.C.

Comedienne Chonda Pierce (left) and singer Sandi Patty have hit the road together on a "girls'" tour.

Someday they may be known as the “Thelma and Louise” of the Christian circuit. Fortysomething, likable and so down-to-earth that you want to keep them talking, they're breaking with convention in their “The Girls are Back in Town” tour.

Despite their blond tresses, this tour is no platinum, come-hither altar call. Nor is their God the sort of deity approached only in heels and white gloves. Patty and Pierce are too honest for that. Their Jesus is a Savior to be called on at home or in the workplace–even if one's calling requires scrubbing down the family bathroom with Ajax.

“I don't see life as very funny all the time,” Pierce said. “My favorite word in the dictionary is 'balance.' There are times when life to me really is hysterical. There are times when it is not.

“Take these (electrical) blackouts across the country. I had to laugh over some of it. What's not funny is where there are hospital staff who need power and people on life-support. But watching TV, I started laughing thinking about all those news people going to work today. I started laughing thinking about how many of them will have bad hair days. No hair dryers!”

Pierce, whose new video, “Have I Got a Story for You,” hits retail stores Sept. 23, doesn't take herself too seriously. Obviously neither does her performing partner. Pierce's video opens with a comical clip of the pair belting out music with Patty playing keyboard. In style and costume, they'll make middle-aged fans laugh and younger folks (including their children on the video) shake their heads in amazement.

“We're excited,” Patty said. “I have children, I'm a mom; us moms just need time to gather together and encourage one another. While we hope many people come (to the performances), we're really gearing it to women. Hopefully women will have a time of recharging and laughter.”

Patty, whose successful career has cast her as the sort of talent who has sung before heads of state and symphony orchestras, has a knack for recordings featuring sweeping orchestrations and dramatic endings.

Her new CD, “Take Hold of Christ,” is no exception. It features the sorts of songs that have made Patty one of Christian music's most-acclaimed performers. She's the winner of 39 Dove Awards, five Grammies and four Billboard Music Awards. Her 23 albums–including three platinum and five gold recordings–have sold more than 11 million copies.

So what do she and Pierce have in common? Life, say both performers.

“I met Chonda when she was traveling with (comedian) Mark Lowry. That was about 10 years ago,” Patty said. “I just thought she was absolutely wonderful. Then I lost touch with her. Over the last two or three years, our paths have crossed. It just seemed as we would share what God was doing in our lives–it seemed we were on the same page. So we combined forces.”

Pierce said getting to know Patty proved an education in friendship.

“She's hilarious. She's the type of girlfriend who always cracks you up over coffee,” Pierce said.

Their rapport comes through in Pierce's new video, which could prove even funnier than her earlier work. Recorded live at the Elkhart Theater in Elkhart, Ind., the video is packed with real-life stories. Like how Pierce managed to share a hotel room with a dead man, how her husband enjoyed a honeymoon package with someone else and how a strange trip between NASCAR and the Holy Land can totally turn your life around.

“Women are stressed out, overworked, underpaid, taking care of kids. If we can, we provide a night to just relax and have fun,” Pierce said. “We can never compete with the great conferences or Bible studies. Sandi and I truly believe if we could … put together a night for women to just be themselves” it will be worth it.

Posted: 9/19/03

Posted: 9/19/03

Eritrean Baptists seek help for
countrymen facing persecution

By Ken Camp

Texas Baptist Communications

A group of Eritrean Christians throughout the United States and Canada, including Texas Baptists originally from the East African nation, are soliciting money, public policy advocacy and prayers for persecuted Protestants in their homeland.

Christians in Eritrea “are afraid to talk. Even on the telephone, they are afraid. They have no freedom to talk. But they can send e-mail sometimes, and they tell us, 'We are afraid for our lives,'” said a Texas Baptist Eritrean church leader.

In May 2002, the Eritrean government ordered closed all Christian churches other than the officially recognized Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran parishes. According to an Amnesty International report, “This was done without any public announcement or legal basis.”

About 20,000 evangelical Christians from non-recognized churches have been denied legal status since that time. More than 200 have been imprisoned, and many have been threatened with death. They include 79 soldiers who have been held in a military prison more than 17 months.

In a sweeping government crackdown, about 170 Protestants were jailed and beaten in February and March 2003.

More recently, Compass Direct news service reported 62 teenagers were jailed Aug. 19-20 for possessing Bibles at a military training camp. After a week of imprisonment in metal shipping crates, five of the teens recanted their evangelical faith and expressed renewed allegiance to the Orthodox Church, but 57 continued to be held.

Many who have been detained without trial for months at a time are the wage earners for their families. Eritrean Christians in North America are raising money in an effort to help them, as well as pastors who have lost their source of income in the last year and a half.

“There are practically no tithes or offerings for the pastors, since the churches cannot meet publicly,” an Eritrean Texas Baptist said. “But some of these same pastors have taken children into their homes–children whose parents have been killed or put in prison. They say God will provide.”

While large shipments of supplies or wire transfers of money may be confiscated by governmental officials, the Eritrean Texas Baptists said they are free to deliver monetary “gifts” personally to friends and relatives in their homeland.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas has established anEritrean Support Fund to help Texas Baptist Eritrean churches collect money for families in need.

Checks designated “Eritrea” and made payable to “Baptist Executive Board” may be sent to the BGCT treasurer's office, 333 N. Washington, Dallas 75246-1798.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for Texas Baptists to show our concern for Christians around the world who suffer for their faith,” said Patty Lane, director of the BGCT office of intercultural initiatives. “We talk all the time about caring for Christians suffering around the world. Here's a concrete way to help Christians who are suffering for their faith.”

In addition to raising money for needy families, the Eritrean Christians in the United States also are seeking to raise awareness among Americans about persecution in Eritrea.

“America has influence. If American leaders would put pressure on the Eritrean government, that can help,” a Texas Baptist Eritrean said. He encouraged Christians to contact elected officials in Congress, registering concern for the plight of persecuted Protestants.

Especially, the Eritrean Christians in North America are encouraging other believers to join them in prayer for the persecuted church.

“God can do what seems impossible to us. Prayer changes things,” a Texas Baptist Eritrean pastor said. “We know God hears the prayers of his children.”

Posted: 9/19/03

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Oct. 5

Believers should live life of triumphant calling

Philippians 3

By John Duncan

Lakeside Baptist Church, Granbury

The Isthmian games of Corinth was one of the great festivals of sports in the first century (1 Corinthians 9:24). Like the Olympics, the games included a foot race. Competitors in the race competed for a laurel crown. The emperor invited the winners of the race to his box seat, a “high calling.” Paul uses the image of a race to speak of the Christian life in Philippians 3. Paul pursues the victorious race of living for Christ in anticipation of that day when Christ calls the victors to his throne on high, that is, the “high calling.”

The past behind: Press onward

Paul knows the race must be run while pressing onward. The runner cannot look back but must focus on the finish line. Paul knows his struggles (3:1-11). He battled false teaching and false teachers who like a pack of white-fanged dogs aimed to destroy the church. Paul struggled against his own will, his own pedigree and the temptation to trust in his education, heritage and lifetime achievements (3:3-6). He learned to trust Christ. Paul's one pursuit was to follow Christ. He considered his earthly achievements as trash compared to the treasure of Christ (3:7-8).

Paul desires to please Christ. He does not completely grasp all Christ has done. He grows spiritually and daily clings to Christ, placing the past behind and running strong toward God's kingdom (3:12-14).

Scholar Alfred Plummer sees “the strenuous effort implied.” Saint Jerome acknowledges “the ubiquity of God's saving purpose,” meaning Paul never forgets salvation in Christ as he strains in life's race. Salvation surrounded both Paul's own soul and his consciousness as he sprinted toward the race God had given.

Look upward

Paul kept before his eyes the goal (Greek, “scope”). Paul continually focused on the high calling (3:14). This required nurturing his own mind and regulating it to spiritual things (3:15). Paul did not let the pain or pleasure of the past cause him to look back. Rather, Paul passionately pursued what God had for each new day.

In so doing, Paul urged Christians to walk according to the same principle. Walk in “a disciplined path” (Fred Craddock). Walk with “no extravagances to the right or left” (Karl Barth). New Testament scholar F.F. Bruce says, “Paul encourages the Philippian Christians to continue to march forward as a united community, shoulder to shoulder, according to the teaching which they had received from him since first he brought them to the gospel.” For Paul, the goal was Jesus and keeping eyes firmly fixed on him until that day he would see Jesus face to face. This required a daily faith, a defined faith and a determined faith.

Paul's primary example is Christ. However, Paul understands the weighty responsibility that he possesses in service to Christ. He challenges them to walk like he walks because he pursues Christ's calling (Philippians 3:17). Paul also grieves due to the fact some walk a wayward path, out of line, and walk like wanderers lazily drifting rather than as runners firmly fixed on Christ (Philippians 3:18). Paul grievously names them as enemies of the cross. Paul never loses sight of salvation, but he always confesses the strain, the competition and the tension between the spiritual and the temporal, the downward pull of earth and upward call of God. Paul looks upward, but tears flow from his soul when he combats enemies of the cross.

What do the enemies of the cross aim for and run toward? Paul names three things: destruction (literally, “ruin”), worldly shame and a mind not set on God's race but rather set on bodies with the likes of human appetites and worldly thoughts.

Fred Craddock says, “Since the body is the center of their lifestyle, the end of their body is their destruction.” Paul's charge is to nurture the soul in Christ, not to pursue the lust of the body.

Heavenly citizenship

Paul knows the Christian who runs the race in pursuit of Christ's upward calling longs for heavenly citizenship. Paul invites the Philippian Christians to live on earth under the realm of heavenly citizenship (3:20). This powerful word Paul uses indicates the Christian's responsibility of witness is to promote their citizenship as one with Christ just as Roman citizens hale the glory of Rome. In other words, pursue Christ, promote his saving work and prayerfully press toward his glory. To live as a heavenly citizen on earth is to live like Jesus.

Paul lived in a world where all things were pressed under the subjection of Roman rule. Christians acknowledge a heavenly citizenship under God's rule. More important than subjection and obedience to the rule, law and conduct required by governments (Roman) was the willingness to glorify Christ by subjecting to the rule, law and conduct required by Christ. The emperor's high calling was one thing, but Christ's higher calling was the glorious thing!

Heavenly citizenship with Christian conduct and lifestyle means allowing Christ to transform (literally, “metamorphosis”) your life (3:21). Just as a caterpillar breaks free from a cocoon and flies as a beautiful butterfly, so too can the Christian soar when transformed by Christ. Transformation takes place in the discipline and effort in running the race of life for Christ.

Question for discussion

What, if anything, is keeping you from soaring?

Posted: 9/19/03

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Sept. 28

Christians should shine so the world can see

Philippians 2:12-30

By John Duncan

Lakeside Baptist Church, Granbury

“I am the Light of the world,” Jesus said (John 8:12). A light is as common as a bulb on the end of the front porch, a headlight on a car and a glowing beam on a lighthouse on a shore's harbor. Look in the sky on a clear night and observe light shining from a star.

The Apostle Paul calls Christians stars; not movie stars but stars that shine like bright stars on a dark night. F. F. Bruce says, “The luminous do not shine for their own sake; they shine to provide light for all the world.” Paul sets forth Christ as the model of service (Philippians 2:5-11). Here in Philippians 2:12-30, he challenges the church to set forth a good example for the world.

Shine: Work out the salvation God works in you

God's work in believers is basic to both purpose and unity in Christian service. For Christians to shine, Christ must energize (continually work) their wills with his will and their work with his “benevolent purpose” (Lightfoot). The fourth century preacher Chrysostom said, “If you have the will, then he (God) works the willing.”

When God in his mercy works in the will, two things happen: (1) We look inward (2:14-15); (2) We look outward (2:15). As we look within our hearts and within the church, we stop grumbling (Greek, “gogusmos”: complaining, whispering).

Just as Moses faced grumbling in the wilderness (Exodus 16:7-12), an activity which dims the church's light of witness is constant complaining. Recharge your spiritual battery to shine God's light. As we look beyond, we see a dark world desperately in need of light. We live blameless in a crooked and twisted generation (2:15). Consequently, because we wish to please God and shine his light, God's Spirit makes us alert to shining as stars in the world. "In" indicates shining where God has placed

you.

How?

How do Christians shine? They cling daily to God and open the windows of the soul by allowing God's light into their own lives. His light is his word (Psalm 119). The word is one of life (Philippians 2:16). Paul labored with sweat and blood under and for the light. His life was poured out completely for Christ and in service because of his faith in Christ (2:16). Joy resulted (2:17-18).

A.T. Robertson says, “Joy is mutual when the service is mutual.” When Jesus' light penetrates the heart, it radiates in the church and shines to the world, and joy touches all three entities. God's work of salvation glows with earthly and eternal repercussions.

Paul's hope

Paul's heart returns to the hope of his fellow Christian workers, Timothy and Epaphroditus. Paul highlights the noble example for Timothy's concern for the Philippians and of Timothy's child-like quality of faith in service (2:19-24). Paul rarely loses sight of God's light for the world and God's light reaching to the depth of individual hearts. The light, like a porch light attracting moths, has an attractive quality and a light that draws people into a tight-knit circle. This circle of faith causes Paul to remember faces and friends and faith shared in the struggle of service.

Again, Paul highlights the example of Epaphroditus as a model of service in that he risked his life for Christ (2:25-30). Fred Craddock notes he was “probably a convert from paganism.” Paul names Epaphroditus as a brother, a fellow worker and soldier. These words indicate mutual affection, the unity of Christ and the spiritual battle these men shared together in service to Christ while bearing the torch of God's light (2:25). One misses two key elements in a casual reading of the words. Paul speaks of two qualities necessary in Christian service: “fides,” or faithfulness, and loyalty. These qualities supplied mutual strength and multiplied Christ's joy.

Paul tells of Epaphroditus' sickness, God's mercy and the joy of sorrow relieved (2:26-28). The struggle and the return of his health is all the more reason for Paul and the Philippians to rejoice in God's gracious and sovereign grace. He anxiously longs for a reunion. Paul asks the Philippians to receive him with joy (2:28-29). Joy expresses itself in reunions of joy when God's people gather together.

Paul recalls again this stellar example of faith and Christian service. He reminds the Philippians how Epaphroditus risked his own life to shine God's light (2:30). According to Lightfoot, he “gambled with his life.” A.T Robertson says he “exposed himself to danger.” The word has legal implications, meaning Epaphroditus risked danger because his friendship was so important. Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus longed to see people become friends with Jesus. What Paul could not do, Epaphroditus did in service to Christ at Philippi.

The individual Christian's great joy is in Jesus and in God's work of salvation to illuminate the truth and mercy of the gospel. The church's great joy is in shining that truth and mercy to a generation stumbling in the darkness. Where God's light shines, darkness evaporates, and joy explodes like an electrifying star.

Question for discussion

How brightly is your light shining? How can you add watts?

Posted: 9/19/03

LifeWay Family Bible Series for Oct. 5

The Holy Spirit: The abiding presence of Christ

John 14:15-17,25-26; 16:7-15

By David Jenkins

New Hope Baptist Church, Big Sandy

Most of us entertain all kinds of “guests” during the course of our lives. Some are casual acquaintances. Others are “house guests” whom we invite to spend quality time with us. Then, due to unusual circumstances, a guest sometimes comes to stay.

Such a guest is the Holy Spirit, God's abiding presence within believers' lives to comfort, support and reveal divine truth. He also is present to convict the world of sin. Our study sessions during October will explore these various ministries of the Holy Spirit.

The promise

During the night before his crucifixion, Jesus had many things to say to his disciples. They had depended completely upon his personal presence with them. But now their champion was going away. They would be left to face those forces determined to destroy anyone related in any way to Jesus. It was, without doubt, the darkest hour of their lives. Because Jesus knew this, he told them something that would change their lives, their outlook and their future.

Jesus began by telling the disciples they would prove their love for him by keeping his commandments. Furthermore, those who truly love Jesus will not be left alone in the world to shift for themselves. He would send them “another Comforter.” The word translated “another” means “another of the same kind.”

The concept of the Holy Spirit was not new to the disciples, but was referred to throughout the Old Testament–the active agent in creation, the one who empowered individuals to do miraculous deeds for God and to speak in God's name. John the Baptist had prophesied that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11). Jesus had spoken earlier to Nicodemus about the work of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5).

Jesus told the disciples he would “request the Father” to send the Holy Spirit. This is another of the mysterious relationships between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are one in essence and yet diverse in their manifestations. They work to one end. Yet in this instance, one requests, one gives and one comes.

Jesus calls the Spirit “another Comforter,” implying he was the first Comforter who walked with the disciples. Whereas the Spirit had been “with” the disciples already, he would now be “within” them forever. Jesus' physical presence with them had been limited, but not so with the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit will be the bearer of divine truth, the sinful world, blinded to the God's truth, will not receive him.

The perplexity

Because Jesus saw the disciples were having great difficulty understanding what he was saying to them about the Holy Spirit, he gave them some special words of assurance.

He would not leave them “orphans,” as little children are left when their father dies. Close on the heels of Jesus' death was the promise of his return (14:3). In the interim, the Holy Spirit would affirm their Lord's living presence within them.

The world had seen Jesus only with their natural eyes, but his disciples had seen him with spiritual understanding. Jesus further assured them he would live, and because of his atoning death, they would also experience that life found only in the new birth. All of the promises spoken rested on Jesus' statement, “if you love me” (v. 21) which he carefully repeated (see v. 15). All of these blessings will come automatically to those who love Jesus and keep his words.

Judas, who probably was the disciple called Thaddeus or Lebbeus (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18), had difficulty believing Jesus could appear to the disciples without appearing to the world also (v. 22). Patiently, Jesus repeated almost verbatim what he had said, with one startling addition–both he and the Father would come to those who obey him and live in their hearts (v. 23). Then Jesus told them they were not to worry about fully understanding or remembering all he had said to them. The Holy Spirit would be their teacher and guide.

The provision

Jesus could see the disciples still were discouraged. So he carefully reiterated what he had already told them, only this time he gave them more details about the broader ministry of the Holy Spirit in the world. Not only would he be their constant guide, he would also convict the world of sin.

The word “convict” means that whether the conviction is admitted or not, its truth would be beyond question. This conviction would deal with sin, righteousness and judgment. The sin is that of unbelief. The righteousness referred to will be so inarguable it will bring either repentance or final rejection. The same judgment that has been passed on Satan (“the prince of this world,” v. 11) will smite the world's conscience.

Jesus further impressed upon his disciples that his return to the Father and the coming of the Holy Spirit would bring great joy because he would make the words Jesus had spoken to them clear and understandable.

Question for discussion

Do you consciously depend on the Holy Spirit to direct your life each day in a way that would bring glory to God?

Posted: 9/19/03

LifeWay Family Bible Series for Sept. 28

Followers of Christ give evidence of citizenship

Matthew 7:13-29

By David Jenkins

New Hope Baptist Church, Big Sandy

True followers of the Lord Jesus Christ will give evidence of their citizenship in God's kingdom.

Even though first century believers were generally rejected by their society, they reflected the characteristics of Christ so consistently that, in derision, they came to be called “Christ's ones,” or Christians (Acts 11:26). Yet they were not “clones.” They were unique individuals whose natural strengths were enhanced by God's Spirit.

Today God continues to impact a lost world through the various personalities and strengths of his people. Clearly certain basic actions are going to be taken by all who will become genuine kingdom citizens. The Sermon on the Mount concludes with four warnings from Jesus, each explained by four contrasting actions.

Choosing the right path

Often the Christian life is referred to as “the straight and narrow,” no doubt taken from these words of Jesus. Actually, the word traditionally translated “straight” (v. 13) comes from the Latin word “strictum,” which means “narrow.” Jesus meant the “narrow gate” is restrictive and prohibits entrance by those who do not meet his requirements. Obviously, the “wide” gate is far more appealing. The “broad” road is wide or spacious, and easily accommodates the crowd and all their baggage.

In verse 14, a different word for “narrow” or “straight” is used which usually refers to persecution. Jesus was saying the way of discipleship is restrictive and often includes opposition and persecution. The emphasis is not on the narrow and wide roads themselves, but upon where they lead. The narrow road leads to eternal life, which begins with the new birth and is consummated in Christ's everlasting kingdom. The broad road leads to “destruction,” a word used to describe not only the end of physical existence, but also a hopeless destiny of eternal death.

Bearing the right fruit

Jesus was a Galilean and grew up in the most fertile area of ancient Palestine. Fruit-producing vines, bushes and trees abounded. Naturally, he would draw upon agriculture for many of his parables and metaphors.

On his trips south to the Judean territory, he saw many shepherds who spent their lives caring for and protecting their sheep. Certain prophets were like “wolves in sheep's clothing.” They purposely tried to deceive by passing themselves off as true believers.

Several popular cults today teach their followers to use orthodox Christian terminology. Jesus implied that if we look closely, we will recognize they are producing the wrong fruit.

The buckthorn bush produced small, black berries which, from a distance, could be mistaken for grapes. In passing, flowers growing on certain thistles might appear as figs. Pretenders may deceive for a time, but inevitably they reveal their true colors. Jesus told his disciples he was sending them “as sheep” in the midst of wolves, and warned them to be “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16).

Expressing the right claim

Jesus turned here from the metaphorical (trees and their fruits) to reality–what will actually happen at the judgment. The title “Lord” during the early part of Jesus' ministry meant little more than “teacher” or “sir.” After his resurrection, however, the word was most often related to worshipping him by confessing his deity.

In addressing Jesus in this manner, these people were desperately trying to claim a connection with him that did not exist. His contention was that mere “lip service,” calling him “Lord,” would not gain a person entrance into his kingdom. Only those who do the will of the Father, which includes repentance and faith followed by works of righteousness that glorify God, will qualify.

These false followers claimed to have prophesied and cast out demons in Jesus' name. Jesus rejected their claim and added not only that they were evil doers, but that he had never known them. Satan is a master counterfeiter and psychologist and is capable of deluding people in remarkable ways.

Laying the right foundation

Jesus' analogy brought to the minds of his hearers the dry wadi beds that can flood quickly when the spring rains come. One man built his house on the flat, sandy bed, while the other man sought out a firm, rocky plateau. When the flash floods of the springtime came, the man who had built in the wadi bed discovered his house was quickly swept away as the swift waters eroded the sand. The same waters had no effect on the solid rock foundation of the house built by the wise builder. Perhaps Jesus had in mind Proverbs 10:25: “When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever.”

Jesus' message is that true kingdom citizens are those who not only listen to his words, but dare to put them into practice. Those who give only mental assent to his words will not enter his kingdom. The good works they have done will have only glorified themselves and not Christ.

Question for discussion

What is the only acceptable basis for entering God's kingdom?

Posted: 9/19/03

Landmarks highlight church's destiny

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

WHITNEY–In 1942, the few remaining members of Fort Graham Baptist Church closed the doors and donated the building to a farmer who wanted to dismantle it and build a barn.

That day, one woman of the church broke down and wept near a tree, begging God to rebuild the congregation.

By 1992, the church had restarted and was growing. At a building ceremony near the same tree, that woman declared the expanding church an answer to her 50-year-old prayer.

More than 10 years later, Pastor Allan Lane warmly reflects on the meaning of landmarks around the church campus–the tree where the woman cried, the pristine white steeple, the centuries-old oak tree and the parking lot. Each has a story. Each is used for ministry.

The church facilities are an avenue for the church to meet people. Youth commonly play basketball and skateboard in the church's parking lot. Teenagers practice driving there. Families picnic in a field behind the church. Friends spend time together on a wooden deck under the large oak to the side of the church.

The facilities house 12 Sunday School classes and an after-school program for 100 students, including 40 teenagers. Three hundred students recently attended a football post-game event on the deck. The church witnessed 55 baptisms this year.

But ministry doesn't stop at the property line. The church has several groups that do door-to-door visitation. Five Bible study groups meet off-campus–two in homes, two in aging-care facilities and one in a recreational vehicle park.

Two past Bible studies grew into churches. The congregation also supports other new works in the area.

Lane helped form the Lake Whitney Ministerial Alliance, which distributes $150,000 in federal funds to people in need. The alliance started an assisted living facility and a hospice program.

The outreach is needed in the area, Lane noted during the Baptist General Convention of Texas-sponsored Evangelism Summit. A divide formed between the financially well-off around the lake and the impoverished residents further away from the body of water, he explained.

The Lake Whitney area is believed to have the highest number of methamphetamine labs per capita in Texas.

The church's location makes it ideal as a place for people of various economic levels to meet and discuss issues, Lane asserted. The congregation has unified differing factions of the area and found ways for them to work together to build community and strong families.

“This was a forsaken community, and there are forsaken communities all over this state,” Lane said, describing the condition of the area when the church started.

“Where there are places we say that are not safe for people, that's exactly where a church should be started. Churches ought to be offering a sense of hope, understanding and community.”

However, location without commitment to action leads nowhere. People considering joining the church are strongly encouraged to be involved in ministry.

“I articulate we are here to serve, not to be served,” said Lane, who is bivocational.

The church reassesses community needs every five years, considering demographic studies and discussions with churched and non-churched individuals about where ministry is needed.

“You have to overcome the initial inertia of not looking past yourself,” Lane said. “A church has got to be outward. You can't be thinking me, my focus.”

Posted: 9/19/03

Gaddy warns of sacrificing freedoms

By Ken Camp

Texas Baptist Communications

OKLAHOMA CITY–Americans are scared, so fearful that they will trade freedom for security, according to a former Texas pastor who now leads the Interfaith Alliance. But truth-telling is the antidote for fear-mongering intolerance, Welton Gaddy asserted.

Gaddy, former pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, addressed a “Religious Freedom Celebration,” Sept. 11 in downtown Oklahoma City, sponsored by Associated Baptist Press.

Noting the attack on the Murrah Federal Building less than a half-mile from where the meeting was held, as well as the second anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Gaddy observed that Americans are gripped by fear.

“Fear transforms people's lives to the point where they are willing to give up freedom for security and sacrifice fundamental rights for a promise of safety,” said Gaddy, who also serves as pastor for preaching and worship at Northminster Baptist Church in Monroe, La.

And fear breeds intolerance, he added. “In an environment of fear, difference becomes a moral category. To be different is not to hold an alternative opinion or religion. To be different is to be wrong, to be considered a threat, even, some would say, the embodiment of evil.

“The presence of such a view of differences in a land of great diversity is a threat to democratic discourse, to interfaith cooperation and to the realization of a civil society.”

Religious bodies throughout the United States are divided by “hot button” issues such as homosexuality, the role of women and the institutional relationship between religion and government, Gaddy noted.

“These issues prove controversial and even divisive within themselves. However, when self-serving power grubbers grab these issues and wield them as wedges, tools for the advancement of their narrow agendas, these issues for discussion and debate become litmus tests for loyalty and orthodoxy that bring about separation, division and schism within one tradition after another,” he said.

In this environment, Americans must “work hard” to maintain the degree of religious freedom they have enjoyed in the past and to secure it for the future, Gaddy asserted.

“At the intersection of religion and politics, a sizable shotgun wedding has taken place between religion and politics–the politicization of religion and the religiofication of politics. … How that marriage fares will determine the shape of religious liberty in this nation in the future–if, indeed, religious liberty exists in the future.”

Noting that “when religious freedom is in trouble, both religion and freedom are in trouble,” Gaddy urged reporters of religion to tell the truth.

“Telling the truth is not easy. But the religious press must stay the course and continue the hard work of truth telling,” he said.

And telling the whole truth about religion is critical in a context where religion is at the heart of many top news stories, he added. “From politicians' manipulation of religion to promote partisan causes, to religionists' efforts to manipulate politics for sectarian gains, to terrorists' claims to be servants of the Almighty, to governmental leaders appeal to deity and morality to support their policies of war, religion is an unmistakable component of today's news.”

Gaddy urged news organizations to pay close attention to the role of religion throughout the 2004 elections.

“I hope political reporters and religion reporters across the nation will report on religion in the various campaigns with the same kind of scrutiny that will be devoted to economic policies and foreign affairs, citing not just how religious language is used by candidates, but exploring the meaning of what is said,” he asserted.

He also called on reporters to be sensitive to labels, particularly when it comes to attributing acts of terrorism to followers of a particular faith.

“Characteristically, terrorist acts by Muslims are attributed to Islamic fundamentalists, while similar acts by Christians are reported apart from any reference to religion,” Gaddy observed. “The atrocity perpetrated in this city was a terrorist act by a Christian fundamentalist that was anticipated and applauded by many in the Christian Identity movement.”

Posted: 9/19/03

Fort Worth church plants
a monument to Sept. 11 victims

By George Henson

Staff Writer

FORT WORTH–A partnership of prayer and patriotism produced a plethora of emotions at a service commemorating the lives of the 3,000 people who died Sept. 11, 2001.

The service held Sept. 10 at Hulen Street Baptist Church in Fort Worth was the product of the church's communications team.

Gary Morey, a member of that team, said work on the service began in early July. One of the chief goals of the service was to minister to church member Lynda Kelly, who lost a sister working at an insurance company on the 92nd floor of the World Trade Center's south tower.

A color guard prepares to march amid the field of memorial flags at Hulen Street Baptist Church.

“We wanted to make sure Lynda knew we hadn't forgotten and that the church knew we hadn't forgotten,” Morey said.

Last year, the church had a big, complex commemoration, explained Pastor Jim Pannell. But this year, members wanted something different.

“We felt probably less attention would be given to the anniversary this year, and if we could focus some attention on it, it would be our time and energy,” he said. “But also we wanted to do something not quite as elaborate or complex. We wanted something simple, because simple is often more profound.”

The communications team came up with the idea of placing 3,000 small flags on the church's north lawn in the shape of the two towers and the Pentagon.

“We wanted something visual,” Pannell said. “When you think 3,000, that's a number and so impersonal. But when you think each one of those flags represents a life, that's overwhelming.”

It was overwhelming for the team preparing for the event as well. They quickly discovered that placing the flags in the ground was emotional work, Morey said.

“We wanted to make sure that each flag was not just there, but straight, because each one represented a person. As the day went on, it began to heat up, some the glue didn't hold and the flags began to fall. We rushed out there to put tape on them or whatever needed to be done to keep them looking nice. We wanted each one to look just as grand as it could.

“We almost began to feel that we were caretakers for a cemetery, and it was up to us to preserve the dignity of the people those flags represented,” Morey continued.

A mother and daughter pray as they plant a memorial flag in the church lawn.

The service included patriotic music sung by the congregation, praise band and children, a brief word from Kelly and Pannell, a message from a chaplain at the Joint Reserve Base and a presentation of the flag by a local color guard. Everyone attending had a chance to fill in purposefully left gaps in the design by placing a flag with the name of a person who died in the attack.

Preparing those flags with names was an especially difficult task, Morey said. “We got those names off the Internet, and beside each person's name was a face. Looking into those people's faces made it difficult.”

In addition to the four people who actually placed the thousands of flags in the ground, another member stayed up the entire night before turning water on and then off and on again to soften the ground without making it a quagmire. Another member fashioned a cross from heavy gauge steel.

All that effort formed a visual impression Hulen Street members hope will not quickly fade.

“Things become memories and then forgotten so quickly in our society, we thought it important to do something to keep this day in our history from being shoved to the backs of people's minds as a distant memory,” Pannell said.