Posted: 7/11/03

THEY HAD A HAMMER:
World Changers in Dallas

By Jenny Hartgraves

Staff Writer

DALLAS–If stirring lemonade with a crowbar sounds like summer fun, then World Changers are having the time of their lives–and changing a few too.

More than 760 junior high and high school students from around the nation were hard at work in the Dallas area in late June, repairing houses with the labor of love.

World Changers, sponsored by the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, has been sending students around the world since 1990 to renovate and repair homes in low-income neighborhoods. More than 100,000 student volunteers have participated worldwide, and 23,000 will participate this summer alone.

Students pose for a group photo with the owner of the home where they worked. (Jenny Hartgraves/Standard Photos)

Cliff Temple Baptist Church in Oak Cliff sponsored 226 youth and adults from six states for the fifth year. Although the main focus is to encourage changed lives and spiritual growth, World Changers is not a typical church camp.

Each morning, crews of 11 to 15 volunteers departed the comfort of Cliff Temple's air-conditioning and ventured to 17 hot roofs in the Dallas area.

Sixteen-year-old Emily Pecoraro, from First Baptist Church of The Colony, has participated in World Changers four years, but this year it was a family effort as she was joined by her sister Loressa, 13, and her father. Attributing each year to new experiences, Pecoraro said her favorite part is “getting to see the smile on the owners' faces.”

Sweating through dirt and sawdust, Pecoraro said she knows plenty about roofing. After completing a project like this last year, she knows that destroying the shingles is much better than hammering her thumb. “At least you can't mess that up,” she said.

Unlike their veteran partner, Jessica Peters and Whitney Johnson, both 16-year-olds from Fairview Baptist Church in Sherman, didn't know a thing about roofing before they arrived at World Changers. Their youth minister told them about World Changers and helped coordinate the youth mission trip for some first-ever manual labor.

“We've done Vacation Bible Schools and gone door-to-door, but we've never done anything like this before,” Peters said.

These girls may be young, but they are serious about sharing their faith and searching for opportunities to meet people.

Youth participants in a World Changers project in Dallas carry roofing materials to the site of a mission project.

“I've gotten to hang out with the family and really see who it is that we're helping,” Johnson said. “I think the greatest thing that can happen is for people in the neighborhood to come up and ask why we're here, and then we can tell them about our mission.”

Since the World Changers have one week to complete a project, the main requirement for choosing a location is time. The time spent in the heat doesn't compare to the time spent in planning, said Walter Mickels, national missionary for NAMB and World Changers coordinator since 1998. Organizing locations and groups can take almost two years, he said.

“Churches and organizations approach us about bringing World Changers to their community, and we work with Dallas city officials and People Helping People to determine the houses which need the most help,” Mickels said. People Helping People is a city program that provides minor home repairs through volunteer services for lower-income, elderly and disabled homeowners.

Along with the NAMB staff, each World Changers location is administered by four college-aged students to keep things running smoothly. Fifteen teams served nationwide this summer. Each team has a leader, office manager, audio/visual coordinator and music leader. The teams work for 10 weeks, traveling to different sites to administer the World Changers program.

The Cliff Temple location was made possible by the efforts of Eddie Rose, project coordinator, Jerry Wascom, construction coordinator, and Mike Wade, Dallas Baptist Association coordinator.

“At World Changers, we concentrate on the students,” Rose said. “To many of the people in these neighborhoods, they're the only Bible that they'll ever see. And when they find out that these kids pay their own money to sleep on the floor and rebuild houses, it makes a big impact.”

At left, the students pose for a group photo with the owner of the home where they worked.Jenny Hartgraves/Standard

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 7/11/03

The Texas Baptist Youth Evangelism Conference was held June 27-28 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Clockwise from top: Nic Gonzales of the group Salvador sings during a Friday night concert. Jud Heald of Joplin, Mo., does skateboard tricks on a "half-pipe" before sharing a message of faith. The Skit Guys, Tommy Woodard (left) and Eddie James, keep the crowd laughing while delivering a Christian message. Jeff Berry and his band led in worship. J.R. Vassar of Rockwall delivers the Saturday message. Students react to the music of a concert. An "encourager" shares with a student during a decision time. KJ-52, a Christian hip-hop artist, points to faith in Jesus Christ as the only hope. (Rex Campbell and Landon Foster/BGCT Photos)

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 7/11/03

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for July 20

A concise instruction manual for the church

Galatians 6:1-18

By Jim Perkins

Madison Hills Baptist Church, San Antonio

It seems every organization has a manual of instructions to ensure proper functioning of the group. Far more vital for believers, chapter 6 of Galatians outlines a way of life capable of shaping the life of the Christian community.

Be alert

The Apostle Paul constructed a fascinating mosaic of church life in Galatians 6:1-6. Covering the gamut from churchwide relationships to personal motivations and responsibilities, he offered practical advice to enhance the wide range of church life. Paul included four areas of Christian discipleship for appropriate counsel.

In verse 1, Paul enjoined the Galatian Christians to strive to aid and rehabilitate any fellow church member tripped up by sin. The sinner Paul had in mind seems to be one caught up in an isolated action of sin and not one settled in a determined course of flagrant rebellion that brings public disrepute to the cause of Christ. In order to assist and “restore” (the word meant to set a broken bone or mediate between factions) that person, the spiritually mature should assist in the process with a keen alertness to the dangers of the temptation.

Second, Paul instructed them to “carry each other's burdens” (6:2). While this injunction might look back to the restorative process of verse 1, it nevertheless has a much broader application in the life of the community of believers. The word for “burden” means something like “the weight of the world,” a picture of a fellow Christian struggling under the oppressive weight of overwhelming hardships. The apostle dispelled any erroneous sense of self-sufficiency when he reminded his readers that to help in this manner would “fulfill the law of Christ.” In other words, we fulfill the totality of Christ's teaching and the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (5:14) as we bear one another's burdens.

Third, in what seems to be a contradiction of verse 2, Paul reminded the believers of the personal responsibility for each to “carry his own load” (5:5). That apparent contradiction is resolved, however, when we realize the word for “load” in verse 5 is the word for a soldier's pack. The sense of Paul's instruction, then, is that we must assist another when we find him struggling with overwhelming burdens, but we each are responsible to carry our own load.

Fourth, the apostle addressed one last opportunity for believers when he noted the need for mutual life investment between the one who is taught Christian truths and the teacher (6:6). This is not materially different from Paul's instructions in 1 Corinthians 9:14 that “the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.” A notable exception to this rule was practiced by Paul on the mission field, where he worked with his hands or received support from other churches (Philippians 4:10-20) in order to preach the gospel in a new location.

Be aware

Paul encouraged his readers in 6:7-10 to live in an atmosphere of awareness. The Galatians were to be aware that life is lived and invested–one “sows”–in the presence of God. That life will either be sown in step with the Spirit (5:16-18, 22-26) and reap an eternal reward in life with the Father, or it will be sown in fruitless rebellion (5:19-21) and result in a life separated from God for eternity. The harvest is assured!

The apostle included in verses 9 and 10 an appropriate example of the type of sowing God expects from his people–and the harvest that can be expected. Paul issued a universal appeal to all Christians at all times: We are to “do good to all people,” for all are created in the image of God and are precious to him. At the same time, Paul's appeal was particularistic: We are “especially” to strive to meet the needs of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Do remember that this was not a noble concept of charity, but a command to be respected and followed diligently!

Be on guard

Paul ended the letter to the Galatians with a very personal appeal to his dear friends (6:11-18). Taking the pen into his own hands (verse 11), the apostle recapitulated the thesis he so diligently stressed in this letter. Although the Judaizing interlopers were attempting to foist circumcision on the Galatian believers as a legal matter necessary to complete their salvation, Paul knew the Judaizers primary concern was to avoid the harsh reprisals of their zealous Jewish opponents (6:12).

In what perhaps is the crowning statement of Paul's position concerning salvation, the apostle reminded his readers one more time of the primacy of faith in Christ and the permanent results flowing from that relationship. Anything a person might do is irrelevant (including circumcision), for the only thing that matters is the transformation that occurs through a personal relationship with Christ–a “new creation” (6:15; see also Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 5:17). May our programs and plans never blur the clarity of this great truth!

Question for discussion

While remaining faithful to allow actions to flow from a relationship with Christ, what would allow your study group or church to apply the injunction of this passage to “do good” to others?

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 7/11/03

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for July 27

James says to consider end result of trials

James 1:1-18

By Jim Perkins

Madison Hills Baptist Church, San Antonio

Few people in their right mind will say, “I enjoy going to the dentist!”–or at least, you'd suspect they weren't in their right mind! After a pause for reflection, however, most would admit they enjoy the end result of prophylactic dental care–healthy teeth.

Be joyful in trials

The letter from “James” to the “12 tribes scattered” (1:1) is a short epistle filled with practical teaching for everyday life. This James was probably the brother of Jesus and one of the leaders in the Jerusalem church (Acts 15; Galatians 2:9). The 12 tribes referenced in verse 1 probably indicates the original recipients were Jewish Christians scattered in various geographical locations outside Palestine–although geographical identity is not critical here.

James' injunction to these brothers in Christ was that they should react to the “trials” they faced with “joy.” These trials might be defined as those times of the testing of their faith brought about by the hardships and adversities facing them because of their faith in Christ. For these Christians, this testing or trial probably included oppression or persecution they were forced to endure because of their commitment to Christ.

The reason these brothers in Christ could face the trials with an attitude of joy is because of the anticipated result. Even as a long-distance runner builds endurance for the race by facing the rigors of increased running distances and more demanding routes, these followers of Christ could build a stronger and enduring Christian character as they stood up to these trials through the presence and strength of God.

It is not that these trials were sought in some masochistic manner, but that they served to shape the character of these Jewish believers in a positive way as they learned to “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

Ask God for wisdom

The type of wisdom needed during these trials–practical and internal insight as to how to endure these difficulties with victory–is not a native possession of mankind. Because of that, James's prescription is simple and straightforward: “Ask God, who gives generously to all” (1:5).

James mentions two aspects of God's type of giving in verse 5. First, God gives “generously,” or in a spontaneous, unreserved manner. That is our Lord's natural and wonderful response in dealing with his children. Second, God gives “to all without finding fault.” The sense here might be that God gives gifts to his children not with a begrudging attitude, but with a graciousness well attested in Scripture (Jeremiah 29:11-13; Matthew 7:7-12).

Concerning the Christian's response to God's offer and assistance, two issues were critical to James. First, the believer always is to ask for wisdom with an attitude of calm assurance and steadfast belief–he or she is to “believe and not doubt” (1:6). James employed a maritime metaphor to indicate that one who doubts is as unstable and insecure as a ship tossed about by unpredictable, stormy seas. His or her decisions and moral character are apt to be distracted or derailed from the wise path pointed out by the Lord.

Second, James sought to encourage the believer who suffered persecution and poverty due to his stand for Christ. In a reversal of the world's concept, in God's economy this Christian's position is actually very high and honorable. On the other hand, the individual relying on his wealth had best realize the transitory nature of that wealth and the status it brings–it is as fleeting as the life of the wildflower is short (1:9-11).

Resist temptation

James addressed in 1:13-18 another possible or perhaps actual situation that faced these people. The author's readers might have been inclined to blame God for the trials or “temptations” they now faced in their walk with Christ.

Some interpreters maintain verse 13 contains the actual statement of one of these persecuted brothers in Christ–a statement of which James had become aware. On the other hand, the statement “God is tempting me” might have been a construction by James in anticipation of the possible response by one of these Christians. In either case, James provided a theodicy as he noted this aspect of God's character: “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone” (1:13). As a matter of fact, God actually is the giver of “every good and perfect gift” (1:17) available to and enjoyed by every Christian.

In a most instructive portion of the passage, James identified the real source of temptation–within the individual. We all share the inevitable propensity to become prey to “his own evil desire” (1:14).

This does not discount the reality of the Enemy. James noted in 4:7 the seriousness of our spiritual battle with Satan and the promise of relief from his attacks: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you” (see also John 8:44; Ephesians 6:13-18). It was the opportunity, however, for the author to assign appropriate responsibility. Each person is responsible for the sequence of devolution into the disaster endangering all mankind–desire, sin and then death.

Questions for discussion

In what obvious ways are Christians “persecuted” today? Do we attempt to blame God for this oppression? How would you answer one attempting to blame God?

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 7/11/03

LifeWay Family Bible Series for July 20

Salvation by grace frees Christians to serve

Galatians 4:8-9; 5:1-8, 13-15

By Tim Owens

First Baptist Church, Bryan

Throughout the history of humankind, people have tried to nail a sign to the cross of Jesus Christ that reads: “Necessary but not enough.”

Something about the fallen nature causes people to rebel against the idea that they are incapable of doing anything to earn right-standing with God. This is an expression of human pride: The belief that human beings can contribute something to their salvation. The message of Galatians is that one either receives salvation by God's grace through faith or not at all.

In Paul's day, some false teachers (Judaizers) were teaching that Christ's death on the cross was “necessary but not enough.” This group infiltrated the Galatian churches with the teaching that in addition to faith in Christ, one must obey the Mosaic law in order to be right with God. In Galatians 3 and 4, Paul argues that when it comes to salvation, law and grace do not mix. In Galatians 5 and 6, Paul answers the charge that salvation by grace through faith encourages a lifestyle of disobedience.

In Galatians 5:1, Paul directs his readers to dig their heels in firmly and resist the appeals of the Judaizers. If they did not, they were in danger of exchanging their freedom in Christ and returning to the bondage of rules and regulations. Like stubborn oxen buck against the yoke (a harness the farmer uses to control his animal), Paul wanted the Galatians to refuse to wear the yoke of slavery to the Mosaic law.

Through the influence of the Judaizers, the Galatians were considering submitting themselves to circumcision as a sign of obedience to the law. If they succumbed to this temptation, Christ would have been of no benefit to them. Practicing circumcision would lead the Galatians to trust in their own personal efforts. Paul warns them that to be circumcised would add works to faith and demonstrate they had not trusted Christ as Savior. One must either trust Christ fully or not trust him at all.

Galatians 5:3 repeats a theme introduced in Galatians 3:10–if one refuses God's gift of grace and chooses to live under the law, that person is obligated to keep all of God's laws perfectly. God's laws represent a “package deal.”

If it was humanly possible to earn right-standing with God by keeping the law, God's law would demand total, perfect obedience. Breaking just one of God's laws makes one in need of God's grace. Both the Bible and human experience verify the fact that no human being, with the exception of Jesus, is perfectly obedient to God's law.

Galatians 5:4 represents an even stronger warning of the danger of turning away from faith in Christ. Two results fall on those who try to earn a relationship with God through human works. First, they are “alienated from Christ.” Reverting back to keeping the law cuts off relationship with Christ. Second, those seeking a relationship with God by keeping the law “have fallen away from grace.”

Some teach a doctrine that says a sinning Christian can fall from grace and lose salvation. Such a doctrine is not the point of this verse. These verses are contrasting two methods of attempting to gain salvation–law and grace. One who attempts to keep the law in order to gain salvation falls away from grace as the way to God. The issue is not possibly losing salvation, but the right way into relationship with God.

Galatians 5:5-8 confirms that a person is “right with God” the moment he or she trusts in Christ as Savior and Lord. In an instant, the believer is completely forgiven of all sins and clothed with the righteousness of Christ.

Christians will not be able to live perfectly righteous lives until the coming of Jesus Christ, at which time God will bring about their complete transformation to the image of Christ. Circumcision, or any other adherence to Old Testament law, has nothing to do with a person's relationship with God. All that matters is whether a person has trusted in Christ for salvation. Such faith will manifest itself in one's behavior. Though believers are saved apart from their works, works of love are the natural expression of saving faith.

Behind Galatians 5:13-15 is a question prompted by the Judaizers. The question was, “If we live under grace and not law, what is to keep us from living in disobedience to God?” The answer is that spiritual freedom is not the freedom to live in sin, but the freedom to live in obedience to God.

Those who live under the law believe they can earn God's favor by their obedience. Their motivation is a sense of obligation. On the other hand, those who live under grace obey God's commands because of the inner desire produced by the Holy Spirit. They realize obedience does not earn salvation; rather, obedience is the loving response to the saving grace of God.

Speaking of the law, Paul affirms that when Christians practice love and service to one another, they bring the law to its highest fulfillment. Christians do not fulfill the law by keeping multitudes of rules and regulations. They fulfill the spirit of the law when they put love into action by serving others and meeting needs.

Questions for discussion

Do some people misinterpret grace and because of that willfully sin against God?

How does salvation coming by way of grace give Christians more opportunity to serve others?

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 7/11/03

LifeWay Family Bible Series for July 27

Christians should be controlled by the Spirit

Galatians 5:16-26; 6:7-10

By Tim Owens

First Baptist Church, Bryan

What causes Christian leaders to give up their ministry and family for an illicit relationship? Why do Christian business people, who have conducted business honestly for years, become involved in scandal that destroys their integrity? How does one explain Christian men and women who leave their spouse and children for another person? The answer to these questions is found in Galatians 5:16-26.

The first three lessons of this series have underscored that people are made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ, not through human works. In this sense, the believer is free from the requirements of the law.

However, Christian freedom does not mean believers are free to live a lifestyle of sin. How can a believer live a life that is pleasing to God? Galatians 5:16 shows the way: Believers have the power to yield their lives to the control of God's Spirit, and in doing so, they do not carry out the desires of the sinful nature.

This introduces one of the most important truths in the Christian life–two natures exist within every Christian. All believers receive the Holy Spirit when they are saved. Instantaneously, at salvation, the Holy Spirit begins transforming the believer into the image of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit brings into believers' lives a new desire to live obediently to God. The desires that the Spirit brings into the believers' lives are more specifically described in Galatians 5:22-23.

Unfortunately, believers also have the residue of their old sinful nature within them. Colossians 3:9 refers to this old nature as the “old self.” In Galatians 5:16, it is referred to as “the sinful nature.” Whatever the term, it represents that part of one's humanness that is opposed to God and his will. Paul elaborates on the characteristics of “the sinful nature” in Galatians 5:19-21.

The desires of the Spirit are at war with the desires of the sinful nature. This explains why Christians struggle between obeying God and choosing to sin. Inside the heart of every Christian are two opposite sets of desires that are waging war with one another.

Some will challenge the position that Christians possess two natures. Yet who could deny the fact that Christians still possess desires that battle against the Holy Spirit's work in their lives? Mature Christians know the sinful nature has no more power over them than they allow it to have, but they also acknowledge the sinful nature is a reality in their lives.

What is the solution to this internal struggle? Christians can be “led” or “controlled” by the Spirit. What does it mean to be led by the Holy Spirit? First, it means to admit that there is a war between the sinful nature and the Holy Spirit. Second, it means to acknowledge that the believer is powerless to win the war in one's own strength. Third, it means to believe that the Christian has the inner resource of the Holy Spirit, who empowers the believer to live in obedience to God. Fourth, it means to submit one's self to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Philippians 2:13 says, “It is God who works in you both to will and to act according to his good purpose.” The believer can choose to submit to the control of God's Spirit.

A single young woman sought membership in a local church. The pastor asked her, “Are you a Christian?” She replied, “Yes, Christ has made a real difference in my life?” The pastor probed further, “Do you still sin?” She answered him, “Yes, I admit that I still do.” The pastor replied: “I don't understand. You said that Christ made a difference in your life, but you still sin. How can that be?” The young woman thought for a moment and then answered: “I guess I could explain it this way: Before I was a Christian I ran after sin, but now I run away from it, although it sometimes still overtakes me.” This is the experience of every Christian.

Galatians 6:7-10 amplifies the importance of choices in the life of the believer. What one sows determines what one reaps. The farmer's harvest is determined by what kind of seed is sown and how much is sown.

In the same way, spiritual blessings are determined by whether the believer chooses to submit to the control of the Holy Spirit. When believers give in to the desires of the sinful nature, they are planting seeds that will eventually destroy their joy and effectiveness in Christian service. When believers consistently submit their choices to the leadership of God's Spirit, they can expect a great reward at the final harvest when Christ returns.

Believers need to take notice of Galatians 6:9–choosing to yield to the control of God's Spirit does not always provide instant gratification. That is why the Christian life is a walk of faith. However, the believer can be confident there will come a time when the investment of obedience to God will reap a huge, eternal harvest.

Questions for discussion

How do you go about yielding your life to the control of the Holy Spirit?

Spiritual warfare is often thought of as something happening in the world. Does it help to know that the battle also is going on inside each of us? How can that help to better fight temptation?

Does sin in someone's life mean that they are not fit for service because they are not under God's leadership?

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 7/11/03

On the Move

Brent Ballew has resigned as pastor of First Church in New Baden.

David Becker to First Church in Granbury as pastor from First Church in Muskogee, Okla.

Ivan Birch to Second Church in Ranger as pastor.

Doug Clark to Hollywood Community Church in Amarillo as associate pastor.

Bob Elliott to Dogwood Hills Church in Woodville as interim pastor.

Harris Evans to First Church in Petersburg as youth minister.

Todd Hall to First Church in The Woodlands as student ministry associate.

Richard Higley to River Road Church in Amarillo as interim pastor.

Richard Laverty to First Church in Perryton as pastor from First Church in Farwell.

Rick Lineberger to First Church in Bradenton, Fla., as pastor from First Church in Grapevine.

Michael Luce to First Church in Lexington as pastor.

Curtis Moyer to Grace Community Church in Hallettsville as pastor.

Mark Neal has resigned as recreation/singles minister at Coulter Road Church in Amarillo.

Kevin Parker to Vigo Park Church in Tulia as pastor.

Lance Peeples to First Church in Lolita as summer youth minister.

Houston Prewitt to Northside Church in Highlands as youth minister.

Joe Schwenk to Baybrook Church in Friendswood as pastor from First Church in Spring Branch.

Delbert Serratt to Lamount Drive Church in Amarillo as interim pastor.

Kenneth Strange to Hollywood Community Church in Amarillo as music director.

Scott Talbert to McDade Church in McDade as pastor.

Van Vowell to Grace Temple Church in Waco as pastor.

Kenneth Walker has resigned as pastor of Nomanna Church in Normanna and is available to preach at (361) 343-4445.

Richard Waters to Cisco Association as director of missions.

Anthony Watt to Freedom Church in Amarillo as youth director.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 6/27/03

On Thursdays, church heats up fire station

By Heather Price

Texas Baptist Communications

Roaring sirens and trampling rubber boots have been replaced by the unfamiliar sound of harmonious praise at the Fire Station in Chelsea, Vt.

Thursday is church night.

Veteran church starters H.B. and Jo Graves began First Branch Baptist Fellowship in Chelsea five months after serving as interim pastor at another Vermont church.

The Texans left Knox City to follow God's call to minister in New England through the Northeast Impact emphasis of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

The Graveses are fighting a tough battle in a town with little Christian witness. During the past decade, many churches around the city have been closing their doors. First Branch Baptist Fellowship is the only Baptist church in the area.

Vermont is 95 percent unchurched, and many families have not been in church for three or four generations, Graves estimated. Many residents have no background in Christianity, he added.

The Graveses recently met two young boys in front of an abandoned church that once housed 400 people. The children never had heard of Sunday School or Vacation Bible School.

“It was a different culture than we were used to in Texas,” he said. “It took a little adjusting.

“A drive through this beautiful state shows calendar-perfect small villages with white church steeples showing in the center. But the lovely white churches may have a sign which says they meet only during August.”

Non-Christian forces, from New Age movements to Eastern religions, are barraging residents, Graves said. “The devil is trying to block us, but we don't let him because God wants a church.”

Citizens' reactions to the Texas Baptists have been mixed. Sometimes “as soon as we identify ourselves, they just turn their back and walk away,” Graves said. “They just leave us standing there.”

Many organizations in the town have banned the “preaching of Christ” by calling it solicitation, he said.

“We have obstacles you wouldn't believe,” he explained. “Of all my 55 years in ministry, (this) is the hardest place I have ever tried to work.”

While describing their daily routine of prayerwalking and mingling downtown, Graves said the hardest part was gaining the trust of Chelsea residents.

“We just have to keep on keeping on,” he emphasized.

One afternoon, Graves asked a man to eat ice cream with him. The man quickly replied, “Oh, you're the Baptist.” Since then, the two have continued their relationship.

“He said he was an atheist, but I have already convinced him he is not,” Graves reported.

Since January, six adults have made faith professions in Christ. The recent believers help the Graveses in ministry and attend services faithfully.

The church averages 10 people during the Thursday night worship in the fire station, but the Graveses hope to have 30 by the end of summer.

“That is good for up here. If you're running 110, you'd be considered First Baptist Dallas,” Graves quipped.

First Branch Baptist Fellowship started in a home and moved to a fire station meeting room five weeks ago. The congregation is renovating a downtown appliance store for future Sunday services.

A Mississippi couple has pledged $1,000 a month for two years to help pay rent for the new building. Georgia and North Carolina mission groups are coming this summer to help with the renovation.

Vermont Baptist associations and churches also are contributing to the ministry.

The Graveses want more couples to come to Vermont and serve as encouragers in the church. They are looking for an interim pastor for two months, while they participate in a crusade in Denmark.

Whether meeting in a home, fire station or appliance shop, the Graveses believe their ministry will impact Chelsea for generations to come.

For now, they're just trying to light a fire for the gospel.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 6/27/03

Updated 7/03/03

TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM

Matched set

Marv Knox and Hillary Clinton have a lot in common.

Hillary Clinton blames the “right-wing conspiracy” for all her problems.

All of Europe is free from right-wing Christian influence. In fact, Christianity is almost non-existent in all of Europe because of the little silly games the liberal has pushed on humanity.

E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

Ed Holmes

Sanger

Incessant dribble

Only because I know several individuals whose lives have been gutted because of the Southern Baptist Convention mess over the years, I will stop short of calling the continuing babble I read in the letters to the editor section comical.

What bothers me about the incessant dribble that masquerades for intelligent argument is that all of it is mere redundancy. Each letter follows as predictable a formula as “Law & Order” but with much less entertainment (and shall I say coherence?).

Anti-fundamentalists (who fool themselves into thinking they are theologically moderate) either bash the SBC directly or with a rhetorical question, and then proceed to quote Scripture like they were taught to do in Sunday School. The Scripture, because Baptists are “people of the book,” is either left on its own as if it is sufficient enough to win the argument, or it is followed by some quip that supposedly offers a succinct and obvious closure to the “argument.”

The fundamentalist relics who write in are no different except they don't seem to have any qualms with equating politics with hermeneutics. (The anti-fundamentalists are far more subtle yet no less guilty.)

Though I realize that the content of the banterings will necessarily be recycled due to the nature of the controversy and goings on in Baptist life, would someone at least, for the love of God (go ahead and pull out Exodus 20 here), find some creative ways to express them?

Billy Jackson

Waco

Wonderful ministry

Brentwood Baptist Church in Houston answered “What Would Jesus Do?” when they started their wonderful ministry to AIDS victims and their families.

At last, a church that practices what they preach. May God bless this wonderful, obedient congregation.

Frances Brown

Kerrville

Factual reporting

Thank you for setting the record straight regarding the early retirement of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Ken Hemphill (May 5).

It is sad when the Southern Baptist Convention's “trusted leaders” go to such detrimental extremes to eliminate (via force) so many tried and true servants who have done so much for so long for our denomination. These leaders then attempt to cover up their apparent shady deeds. When will our leaders stop dealing under the table, behind closed doors, and stop attempting to hide the truth and be honest by telling the truth?

How is it we continue to tolerate our leaders kicking out so many missionaries when they are aiding our denomination in carrying out the commands of the Great Commission? (May 19) Most of them were in their place of service long before the manufacture by man of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. Sad!

Your reporting helps us to truly understand the facts surrounding the removal from the classroom of the two outstanding veteran Southwestern professors, Karen Bullock and Stephen Stookey. A grave misjustice!

Thanks for digging out the facts and reporting them to your readers.

Garette E. Lockee

La Grange, Tenn.

New president

I have just read in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Paige Patterson is being considered for president of Southwestern Seminary. To say the least, I am angry!

As a graduate of both Southern and Southwestern seminaries, I feel betrayed by Southern Baptists who have permitted academic freedom to be squelched at these institutions through the selection of men like Patterson to head them.

I am thankful that I was able to study at Southern with Frank Stagg, who challenged us to think deeply on the Scriptures, and at Southwestern with Leon Marsh, who challenged us to think outside the norm but within the bounds of Scripture.

I can only hope that one day we will see a turn-around. I dread to think what the future of Southern Baptists is with the influence of Patterson now at a second seminary. God help us!

David C. Long

Monterrey, Mexico

Back in Texas

Paige Patterson back in Texas?

Good grief!

Alvin Burns

Dallas

Baptists' mission

My husband and I just returned from 10 days with two of our finest missionaries on a mission trip. After a time of worship, construction and renovation, three new souls were brought into the kingdom.

It saddened me that signing a man-made document, the Baptist Faith & Message, seemed to be on their minds often. It was very evident that these missionaries really have a strong commitment and hearts for the lost.

Our prayers are needed for them as they minister–as they do many things to reach lost people that many will never know about. Reaching the lost is our mission.

Linda Jones

Lubbock

Israel's identity

How is it people like Mark Borofsky still make the mistake about the identity of Israel and the people of God? (June 9)

Would I become one of God's people were I to convert to Judaism? Blasphemy! God's people are those who are “in Christ.”

There is only one light unto the world: Jesus. Only one in whom the nations are blessed: Jesus. Only one who is God's Son in whom God is pleased: Jesus. Only one who is the Suffering Servant: Jesus. Only one who bore our sins and transgressions: Jesus. Only one saved person in the history of the earth: Jesus. There is only one hope by which we might share salvation, victory and eternal life: by being in Jesus!

Jesus is the fulfillment of all of the promises to Abraham. Jesus is Israel, the vine, the olive tree.

Pray first, then read Hebrews and then Romans. The Old Covenant is obsolete because it is fulfilled by Christ.

If you are not “in Christ,” you are not saved, for he alone is the fulfillment of God's salvation plan.

I love Israel because it is a democracy. I love Israelites because they are God's creation. Fleshly peace may or may not come by treaty. But God has a better plan for peace–conversion to Christ. If all the Arabs, Persians and Israelites were “in Christ,” fleshly peace would have a chance.

Evangelism should be our focus to announce they can have peace “in Christ.”

Ben Macklin

Fort Worth

Bathroom humor

I have to say I was not amused at the bathroom humor being a part of the cartoon titled “Adam and Eve, Day 2” (June 9).

The strategic placement of the tree to “cover” Adam is an insinuation beyond the mental needs of Christians. (Although, after the fall, they supposedly covered themselves.)

I just think bathroom humor and insinuation do not belong in a Christian worldview.

Joe Phillips

Granbury

FMB requirement never implemented

Pete McGuire claims, "In ‘The Baptist Heritage,’ Leon McBeth writes, ‘In 1920 the Foreign Mission Board drew up a 13-point doctrinal statement to be signed by all its missionaries’" (June 9).

If this is an accurate quote, it apparently never was implemented.

We were appointed in 1952 and served for 41 years as missionaries in Uruguay. At the time of appointment, we were simply asked to write up our principal doctrinal beliefs. I believe mine was very simple and brief, less than one page in length.

Occasionally, the personnel department would question the doctrinal statement presented by a candidate, but once he/she arrived at this stage, it was almost a given that the appointment would be approved.

I never heard of a 13-point doctrinal statement that all missionaries had to sign. We did not have to sign any list of doctrines prepared by others. I have talked with numerous veteran missionaries, and they say the same.

So, I think it is important that McGuire’s statement be challenged. He attempts to use the quote from Dr. McBeth’s publication as the basis for saying that the present requirement of signing the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message is nothing new. If the present requirement can be justified, other grounds that are valid must be found for supporting it.

James Bartley

Waco

Missions suffers

What I admired most about the Southern Baptist Convention was the missions program. Now that they have substituted confrontation for love, it appears weaker, and the program suffers.

What a shame.

R. Terry Campbell

Big Canoe, Ga.

Texas church could cover missions shortfall

As a director of missions, a former International Mission Board missionary and now a trustee of the IMB, I would like to challenge Texas Baptist churches.

The Standard reported on the financial shortfall the IMB is facing. I was in the Framingham meeting of the IMB where we were discussing how to address the $10 million dilemma.

Visiting our committee meeting was a missionary recuperating from injuries his family sustained by a terrorist attack. In the midst of our discussions, this missionary demonstrated Christian values when he observed that we have about 5,000 missionaries. He stated that if we as a board would cut the salaries of the missionaries $2,000 per year we would cover the shortfall in one year. While our board would never entertain that suggestion, our committee noted his commitment to the Lord’s work.

Leaving the meeting, it occurred to me that in Texas we have as many churches as we have missionaries on the field. If a missionary would be willing to make such a sacrifice, how much more should we who enjoy churches like "Ivory Palaces" be willing to sacrifice?

If each church in Texas gave $2,000 more too the Lottie Moon Offering, in one offering the shortfall would be covered.

What a tragedy to turn away or delay the people God is calling because we must build bigger buildings or remodel our palace instead of caring for God’s called.

I challenge every church to increase their offering this year.

Kyle Cox

Galveston

Which BIble is inerrant?

Paige Patterson told me in a conversation I had with him in Gloucester, Va., that he did not believe inerrancy applies to today’s translations of the Bible—only the original autographs.

A few weeks later in "The Baptist Banner" Patterson was quoted as saying to students at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, "The Bible you hold in your hands is inerrant."

Which is it? If inerrancy applies only to the autographs, then which parts of the translations are in error? If inerrancy applies to the translations as well, then how do you explain contradictory passages in the translations?

For example, who killed Goliath? Was it David or Elhanon? Or did Elhanon only kill Lahmi, Goliath’s brother? The translations do not agree with themselves on this question, and others—a point Patterson conceded to me in our conversation about the translations. The best he could come up with to reinforce his argument was, "Well, the translations are close enough to inerrant to call them inerrant." By definition "close to perfect" is still imperfect.

Patterson became the president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary by misleading people as to his real belief about the nature of the Scriptures, in order to attack dedicated Bible-believing Christians like Russell Dilday, who will not lie to keep (or get) a job!

The thought of him sitting where Dilday used to sit makes me sick!

Mark S. Johnson

Macon, Ga.

Chosen by his own search committee

What value is there in an award given to oneself? Paige Patterson chose his own search committee. Every Southwestern Trustee owes his seat to Paige. No one serves as a trustee of any SBC institution without Paige’s tacit approval. Prayer and God’s will are trivialized by incidents like this.

Phil Lineberger

Sugar Land

Lost sight of morality and godliness

I regret our Supreme Court justices have no theological education toward knowing that God has no blindness to "privacy of persons" and nothing can be hidden from his vision.

How did they miss the point that this is a Christian democracy under God and Immanuel called Christ who destroyed the city of Sodom, from which the satanic behavior derives its name?

Freedom without discipline breeds a heathen, but this nation was set aside by God to await the "coming of Christ/Immanuel," and it was by him that this landmass could become a Christian anything!

These supreme justices have lost sight of God’s precepts of morality and godliness, and they need to be removed. America’s blessings have always been under satanic attack, but we do not need it legalized.

B.D. Norman

Dallas

Never reading this paper again

I know I am late in writing this, but there are a few things that I want to say.

First, I do not feel under pressure nor intimidation to speak my mind. I am a student and part-time worker at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Second, I have gotten to know Dr. and Mrs. (Ken) Hemphill well. They are good people ,and I believe them.

Third, I have also become familiar with many Southwestern trustees. They did not force Dr. Hemphill out nor force him to remove Dr. (David) Crutchley as the dean.

Fourth, while it is sad to be losing Dr. Hemphill and possibly losing Drs. (Stephen) Stookey and (Karen) Bullock, there are still many top-notch professors here whom I have learned a great deal from.

Fifth, I used to take what was written in this paper with a grain of salt, but not anymore. You do not want to report the facts of stories. You seem too eager to forget about grace and love. You would rather cause strife. I am never reading this paper again.

I look forward to getting to know Dr. (Paige) Patterson and finding out what he is really like before I make any judgments about him. I feel more concern here for the students than I do now at my alma mater, East Texas Baptist University, whose focus is sports, not education. You can quote me an all of this.

Thomas Smith

Fort Worth

When will this madness stop?

Only God knows and eternity will attest to the number of lives that could have been impacted by the amount of funds and energy that has gone into the "ruining of the Southern Baptist Convention."

I have a notice that this publication must cut back on printing because of a shortage of funds; headlines ‘Tight budget taps out church funds,’ and our own little church had to cut down the size of our new building because the pledges were not sufficient. Missionaries have been displaced because of a silly rule about signing a creed and now women desiring to enter the ministry will be disenfranchised by our seminary. It is no wonder that women are leaving this denomination to find a place of service. The new president of Southwestern has proclaimed no women faculty members will be allowed.

There was a time when you had to go to the secular world for politics, but no more.

When will this madness stop?

Betty Westbrook

Plano

Trustees will be held accountable

As a graduate of both Southern and Southwestern Baptist seminaries, I’ve seen firsthand the change wrought in God’s name.

Jesus called such doctrinal "purists" hypocrites. They sought their own interpretation of God’s word and destroyed those who did contrary. The Apostle Paul would have had another word for what Southwestern’s trustees have done: "anathema!"

Karen Bullock was right stating one of the "viruses" infecting the church is ministers being god rather than showing God.

The effect of the change of leadership, choosing Caiaphas, will undermine the ministerial integrity and capability of the seminary’s mission.

Speaking of integrity, I give you a definition, not mine: "Integrity is a choice. It is constantly choosing the purity of truth over popularity." The trustees have sought man’s popularity and glory rather than God.

The rigid doctrinalism coming from Southern Baptist leadership denies any grace and academic freedom.

The world is dying and going to hell while these trustees seed to serve themselves and their position. They should heed Jesus’ words, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice," before they condemn the innocent. Already, the wounds from this coup d’etat are manifesting themselves in mean-spiritedness.

The trustees should beware. God will not share his glory with any other. They will be held accountable by God for their actions. God is more powerful than the Southern Baptist Convention.

C.S. Lewis wrote, "They that have despised the word of God, from them shall the word of man also be taken away."

May God have mercy on Southwestern Seminary.

Austin R. Robinson

Arlington

What do you think? Submit letters for Texas Baptist Forum via e-mail to marvknox@baptiststandard.com or regular mail at Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267. Letters must be no longer than 250 words. They may be edited to accommodate space.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 6/27/03

A PAIGE FROM HISTORY:
Paige Patterson in his own words

Paige Patterson, who soon will return to Texas as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, burst into national prominence in 1979 when he teamed with Paul Pressler to organize ultra-conservatives to control the Southern Baptist Convention. Below is a review of some of Patterson's more notable quotes as recorded in the pages of the Baptist Standard. The dates given are dates the quotes were published in the Standard.

May 9, 1979:

Paige Patterson confirms to Baptist Standard Editor Presnall Wood that he and Paul Pressler attended meetings in at least 15 states aimed at gaining control of the Southern Baptist Convention presidency for the cause of “biblical inerrancy.” Patterson characterized the meetings as not a radical departure from the procedure previously followed in electing SBC presidents–“unique but not different,” he said.

May 30, 1979:

Patterson said he is “thrilled beyond any possible way of expressing it that the six seminary presidents have reaffirmed their full faith in the infallibility and inerrancy of the Scripture and that they assure us that this is true of their faculties also.” His statement was made in response to a news conference held by the six SBC seminary presidents to respond to Patterson and other critics of the seminaries.

See related articles: Patterson elected unanimously to lead Southwestern A Paige from History: Patterson in his own words Paige Patterson Profile Enrollment trends at Southwestern Seminary

June 20, 1979:

Upon his election as SBC president, Adrian Rogers said he hoped the kind of political organization that led to his election would not be a pattern for the future. “I was not a part of this campaign. I never went to a single meeting. I don't belong to Paige Patterson or Judge Paul Pressler or even to this convention,” Rogers said. He added: “I love Paige Patterson and Judge Paul Pressler, but if I can't be the president of all Southern Baptists, then I don't want to be here.”

April 23, 1980:

In an interview with Baptist Standard Associate Editor Toby Druin, Patterson said he knew of no movement to change the 1963 Baptist Faith & Message. “I wouldn't change the 1963 statement myself,” he said. “I am perfectly happy with it because, as you know, it says the Bible contains truth without mixture of error. Whether you say inerrant or truth without mixture of error for its matter is inconsequential. In fact, our whole deal is not the necessity for changing the statement of faith. Our whole concern is not to continue to make a mockery of it. Let's admit what it means … .”

A young Patterson at the helm of Criswell Center.

April 23, 1980:

Patterson also explained in the Standard interview his definition of inerrancy meant there were no errors in the original copies of the Scriptures–which no longer exist. He acknowledged belief there are grammatical mistakes–“transcribal inadvertencies or whatever you want to call them”–in Bibles today but added, “We can now arrive at a 98 percent accurate text.” The remaining 2 percent, he said, are “scribal problems that can be worked out gradually.”

May 14, 1980:

After Baptist Standard Editor Presnall Wood wrote an editorial demanding that Patterson give specific examples of alleged liberalism in SBC denominational posts, Patterson released a list of seven names–six seminary professors and one pastor. The seven denied the charges.

May 14, 1980:

In a letter sent to the Standard, Patterson said: “No political party will emerge from among the various groups of concerned Baptists. No 'takeover' is planned, desired or possible. Baptists who believe in the full trustworthiness of the Bible are exchanging information and encouraging participation in associational and convention life. This is the full extent of what is transpiring.”

May 14, 1980:

W.A. Criswell, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas and founder of Criswell Center for Biblical Studies, where Patterson then was president, announces that he and other church and school leaders have asked Patterson to withdraw from leadership of the movement aimed at electing SBC presidents.

June 18, 1980:

Speaking at Tower Grove Baptist Church in St. Louis on the Sunday prior to the SBC annual meeting, Patterson declares that accepting the Bible as inerrant is the only course that can lead to spiritual revival, which in turn is the only thing that can “stave off” World War III.

Jim Jones of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram interviews Patterson during the height of the SBC controversy.

Sept. 24, 1980:

At the Virginia rally where Paul Pressler said conservatives are “going for the jugular” in their campaign to control the SBC, Patterson also spoke. He decried a proposal by the Baptist General Association of Virginia to tie a church's qualification to send messengers to the state convention to undesignated Cooperative Program gifts. Patterson advocated that conservative churches should send their gifts designated to avoid funding institutions or agencies they did not favor. “Clearly, this is taxation without representation,” Patterson said. He called such a tactic “extremely unbaptistic and contrary to everything that has been done heretofore in Southern Baptist life.”

June 17, 1981:

In a debate with Kenneth Chafin before the Religion Newswriters Association, Patterson called the 1963 Baptist Faith & Message “very adequate” but said there are two phrases he would delete which he characterized as “code words” for “neo-orthodox theology.” One called the Bible “the record of God's revelation of himself to man.” The other said, “The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ.”

June 17, 1981:

In the debate before the RNA, Chafin accused Patterson and others of executing a “ruthless reach for personal power” in seeking to control the presidential elections in the SBC. Patterson denied the charge, asking: “What power do I have? What office have I been elected to? What office have I sought?”

Nov. 24, 1982:

Patterson and 39 others participated in a dialogue on problems within the SBC, held at a hotel in Irving. Patterson presented a paper in which he outlined six questions he said must be answered. One of those concerned his desire for “parity” or representation of inerrantists on seminary faculties and in denominational structures. Another concerned finding a way for conservatives to support the SBC Cooperative Program without violating their consciences. “Is there a plan by which all Southern Baptists may participate together in a cooperative way without the necessity of supporting that which is morally and theologically repugnant to them? … There is either going to have to be a revision of the Cooperative Program–not an abolition, merely a restructuring–or it will suffer some enormous trauma.”

May 18, 1983:

In an interview with Dan Martin, then news editor of Baptist Press, Patterson said his group did not intend to take over the seminaries and agencies of the SBC but sought to achieve “parity” so that their views were given fair treatment in publications and classrooms.

Dec. 7, 1983:

Interviewed by Dan Martin for a story on a debate about what constitutes a creed versus a confession of faith, Patterson cited a “historical distinction” between the two. “In terms of strict definition, there is no difference, but historically, a creed has represented an iron-clad definition of a doctrine to which all initiates had to subscribe in order to be a part of that particular order,” he said. “Generally, creeds are ecclesiastical laws while confessions are consensus statements.”

June 27, 1984:

“I don't think anybody in their right mind can really conceive of two or three people or a small coalition actually gerrymandering and commanding and determining the course of 8,000-plus votes. You can't know that many people,” Patterson said after the 1984 SBC annual meeting in Kansas City.

Sept. 5, 1984:

When Roy Honeycutt, then president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, declared “holy war” on those attempting to gain control of the SBC, Patterson responded hotly, calling Honeycutt's speech “a demonstration of denominational fascism which is determined to brook no criticism and will do whatever is necessary to squelch and suppress it.”

Sept. 5, 1984:

Honeycutt also referred to an alleged “war room” in Dallas in which Patterson had gathered “information banks” on up to 400 SBC figures. Patterson responded that “historical archives” did exist at Criswell Center for Biblical Studies, with information gathered over the previous 25 years. The collection of 5,000 to 6,000 items included news stories, books, tapes of sermons and tapes of seminary class lectures, he said.

Feb. 20, 1985:

In a speech to pastors at First Baptist Church of Lilburn, Ga., Patterson criticized the “top-heavy bureaucracy” in the SBC, which he said was becoming more hierarchical.

April 17, 1985:

In an interview with the Standard, Patterson defined what he believed the 1963 Baptist Faith & Message meant by describing the Bible as “truth without any mixture of error.” He said: “As the Scriptures came to men mediated through the Holy Spirit, they contained no mistakes or errors of any kind. Even the process of inscribing God's words was superintended by the Holy Spirit in such a way as to protect the human authors from any mistakes or errors–thus they wrote 'truth without any mixture of error.' By any acknowledged canons of human logic, 'inerrant' is simply a one-word summary of the phrase 'truth without any mixture of error.'”

April 17, 1985:

In the Standard interview, Patterson was asked to identify pressing issues facing the SBC. One of four he cited was “the limiting of a growing, insensitive and sometimes self-serving bureaucracy in Southern Baptist life.” He also reiterated his position that requiring churches to give to the Cooperative Program without opportunity for excluding some causes was “coercive and tragically unbaptistic.” Said he: “One cannot be called uncooperative and non-supportive if he finds support of some convention activities or institutions unconscionable.”

April 17, 1985:

Later in the Standard interview, Patterson was asked if he believed there had been “overt, organized attempts in recent years to gain control of the institutions” of the SBC. His answer: “Emphatically not! There have been efforts to get evangelically minded Southern Baptists acquainted with one another to bring to an end the 'control' of a bureaucracy which C.R. Daley (editor in Kentucky) admits easily exercised its will, dominating convention life for 35 years.”

Patterson receives a certificate noting his service as a trustee of the Foreign Mission Board from then-President Keith Parks. Patterson resigned from the FMB after one term, when he became president at Southeastern in 1992. As he left the FMB trustees, Paul Pressler went on the board. Parks resigned the same year.

Jan. 7, 1987:

Patterson criticized the SBC Foreign Mission Board as too restrictive in its requirements for missionary appointees. Specifically, he cited the FMB's requirement that candidates who had not attended one of the six SBC seminaries must spend a year at one of the SBC schools before becoming eligible for appointment. The comments were made upon announcement that Patterson served on the board of a new independent missions-sending agency called the Genesis Commission. “If they (the FMB) persist in the present policy, they had better get ready for a proliferation of organizations for appointing and sustaining missionaries, because if a man is called to foreign missions and the Foreign Mission Board says no, folks are going to find a way to go.”

June 20, 1990:

“That was where this all started. We think they should put a plaque there,” Patterson told the Wall Street Journal, referencing Café du Monde in New Orleans, where Patterson and Paul Pressler were feted June 13, 1990, for their successful effort to gain control of the SBC.

Oct. 3, 1990:

When trustees of Baylor University voted to revise the university charter to create a self-perpetuating board of regents in order to stave off an alleged “fundamentalist takeover” of the university by people tied to Patterson, the Standard asked Patterson for a response. He said: “I hope now that however much some might disagree with what we have done, they will at least see what we warned about is in fact now happening, that we would eventually lose our institutions if we didn't move to save them.”

June 26, 1991:

When trustees of the Baptist Sunday School Board fired President Lloyd Elder in 1991, Patterson was considered a top contender for the job that ultimately went to Jimmy Draper. After Draper's nomination was announced, Patterson told Associated Baptist Press: “It's hard to believe that any agency in Southern Baptist life would call me because of the baggage I carry from the Southern Baptist controversy.”

Compiled by Managing Editor Mark Wingfield with research by Beth Campbell

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted 7/02/03

Seek Long Range Control of SBC Boards

By Toby Druin,

Associate Editor

(Originally published April 23, 1980)

The organization that last year pushed the inerrancy question at the Southern Baptist Convention is active again, this time seeking lay participation from every association and state convention. Their goal is to determine who is elected SBC president for at least four consecutive years and maybe as many as 10, and through presidential committee appointments try to control nomination of trustees of SBC agencies.

Lay involvement is being sought because "many pastors lack the courage to deal with the problem," it was charged, and because it is the lay church members who control the money going to denominational agencies and who through their contributions ultimately determine the paths those agencies follow.

Paige Patterson, president of Criswell Center for Biblical Studies in Dallas, revealed the plan and made the charges in a meeting April 3 seeking lay volunteers to organize the effort. He reiterated them in an interview with the Baptist Standard on April 14.

A year ago Patterson and Houston appeals court judge Paul Pressler were the key figures in a plan to elect an SBC president committed to biblical inerrancy and to ending an alleged drift toward "liberalism." They organized meetings in most state conventions and then supported Adrian P. Rogers for president. The Memphis pastor was elected on the first ballot.

This year, it was revealed at the meeting April 3 at the Spurgeon-Harris Building which houses the Criswell Center in Dallas, that Pressler has organizations in all state conventions. He is attempting to enlist laymen in every association.

Dallas attorney Edward J. Drake, a former chairman of deacons at First Church, Dallas, presided over the April 3 meeting, explaining that Pressler had requested he serve as North Texas organizer, responsible for seven Texas counties. Drake has been named by Rogers to the SBC committee on Resolutions.

Two other Dallas men, attorney August Boto and accountant J. Keet Lewis, were presented at the meeting as being responsible for organizing laymen in Dallas Association. Fourteen attended, including three pastors, although at least 560 "concerned laymen" had been invited.

The object is to enlist laymen from each Southern Baptist church, encouraging them to become more involved in their associations, state conventions and the SBC, especially attending the upcoming meeting of the SBC in St. Louis. The organization is offering assistance in getting rooms at Ramada Inn South or at Concordia Seminary, Patterson said.

Drake said the object was to enlist laymen to help stem, as he charged, the drift away from the Bible which had resulted in the evangelistic ineffectiveness.

Patterson, principal speaker at the meeting, said last week "the issue still is truth — is the Bible in fact totally and completely true? Are we really in substance reduplicating the faith of our founding fathers — are we true to the Anabaptist vision? Do we believe today what Hubmaier, Marpeck, Helwys, Smith, Richard Furman, Judge R.E.B. Baylor, B.H. Carroll, J.B. Tidwell … believed?"

"I am of the persuasion that most Baptists do" still hold such beliefs, he said in his office at the Criswell Center. "But I am also of the persuasion that a very large contingency in significant denominational posts do not in fact believe that any longer."

In the interview he declined to identify those "in significant denominational posts" or any of the seminary or college professors he charges are not teaching according to his historic Baptist beliefs.

"Our objective has never been to get anybody fired," he said. But he acknowledged that has happened in the past when similar charges have been made.

Their "preference" is twofold, he said — first to see genuine revival sweep all SBC agencies so the historical beliefs that have characterized Southern Baptists could "manifest" themselves and second that those who hold views contrary to those beliefs voluntarily go elsewhere.

For now, he said, the matter is in the hands of the trustees of the SBC institutions and agencies.

He quoted B. H. Carroll, president of Southwestern Seminary, who before his death in 1914, Patterson said, told his successor, L. R. Scarborough, that Southwestern was the "last bastion of orthodoxy left."

"He told Scarborough he was to keep Southwestern in its orthodox position and he said, "If liberalism develops on the faculty take it to the faculty. If the faculty won’t hear you, then take it to the trustees. If the trustees won’t hear you, take it to the convention that appointed them. And if the convention that appointed them won’t hear you, then take it to the people — the people will always hear you."

Even though "a number of months have gone by" since his organization first leveled its charges, Patterson said, "We do not feel we have given sufficient time yet to various boards of trustees involved to go beyond that and take it to the convention itself or again beyond that to the people themselves."

But the effort to determine election of the SBC president is aimed at ensuring future boards of trustees agree with the Patterson position. The SBC president appoints not only the committee on resolutions but also the committee on committees which names the committee on boards, which nominates trustees. The trustees then are elected by the convention.

Patterson told the April 3 meeting that they could depend on Adrian Rogers naming a committee on committees sympathetic to their views. Explaining that statement in the April 14 interview, he said he was referring to Rogers’ reply to a reporter shortly after his election that he would not knowingly appoint anybody to any committee who was not completely solid in his confidence in the scriptures, the infallibility of the Bible.

He said he had not seen Rogers’ nominations and has tried to avoid discussing convention matters with him, because he didn’t want to place an "albatross around his neck in me and whatever I was doing."

Rogers, contacted in Memphis last week, said he knew nothing of the current political moves, dissociated himself with them, and said he was "amazed and mildly disappointed" at the news.

He said he was almost through with his committee nominations, and that he would always try to name persons to committees who believed in the integrity of the scriptures. "That is where I have been all my life, Paige Patterson notwithstanding. And I don’t think anybody would want me to be otherwise," he added.

He said he was unaware of Drake’s involvement with the organization effort, that his only knowledge of him was that he was a member of First Church, Dallas, was a former chairman of deacons there and "loved the Lord."

Patterson also told the April 3 meeting that SBC Executive Committee Executive Director Harold C. Bennett could "be depended on." He explained he had met with Bennett to explain what they were doing, seeking whatever advice or warning Bennett might have.

"By ‘he could be depended on,’ I meant he could be depended on theologically," Patterson said later. "Dr. Bennett has reaffirmed not only to me personally but also on television and elsewhere his total confidence in the scriptures. He is a man of absolute and undying integrity. I have never seen anything in him that would give any reason to suspect anything other than total integrity."

It would be erroneous to imply Bennett had encouraged him or his efforts, he said. "He was very neutral, as a good executive probably should have been."

Bennett confirmed last week he had met on March 6 with Patterson in Bennett’s office in Nashville. It was his understanding that Patterson had meant his group intended to elect an SBC president for five consecutive two-year terms, he said, but he said he tried to be neutral in the matter, giving neither encouragement nor warning.

"I have tried to listen to whoever calls and wants to talk to me," he said.

Patterson said he would favor no change in the 1963 statement of Baptist Faith and Message and knew of no movement among his friends or followers to accomplish it.

"I wouldn’t change the 1963 statement myself," he said, "I am perfectly happy with it because, as you know, it says the Bible contains truth without mixture of error."

"Whether you say inerrant or truth without mixture of error for its matter is inconsequential. In fact, our whole deal is not the necessity for changing the statement of faith. Our whole concern is to not continue to make a mockery of it. Let’s admit what it means, which, of course, was done by both Herschel Hobbs and Wayne Dehoney at the Houston convention. They said what was meant by the writers."

Hobbs, chairman of the committee that drafted the statement, and Dehoney, pastor of Walnut Street Church in Louisville, both stated in Houston they felt the writers of the statement held to the inerrancy of the original autographs — the actual writings of the prophets and apostles — when they drafted the "truth without any mixture of error for its matter" portion of the statement on scripture.

Patterson said his definition of inerrancy would be that there was no mistake in the original autographs of the scriptures. There are grammatical mistakes and "transcribal inadvertencies or whatever you want to call them" in Bibles today, he said, but "we can now arrive at a 98 per cent accurate text." The remaining two per cent in question are "scribal problems that can be worked out gradually," he said.

The current controversy is not new, he insisted, citing others in the past, and saying the present move was brought on "as much as anything else by the unwillingness of certain groups to really deal with the Broadman Commentary issue."

The commentary issue erupted at the SBC meeting in Denver in 1970 over interpretation of Genesis. Volume I subsequently was revised in 1973.

Patterson said emphatically he felt what he is doing is not divisive and should not be branded as "politics."

Liberal tendencies have emasculated other previously orthodox denominations, he said, when they ignored warnings. "I think the real question is do you help anybody by pretending that serious disease is not present" he said.

"What we are doing is not politics," he said, responding to the mention of the convention action last year decrying overt political activity.

"And I just wonder how some other people feel about it who are on the other side. It is no secret Jimmy Allen publicly politicked for the office of president. He called a meeting in St. Louis (before his election in 1977) and one of our St. Louis brethren was at a microphone in Houston asking for permission to speak to remind the president of the fact and that he was at the meeting. But he was not recognized.

"That is one of the great injustices. We were labeled with politicking and calling meetings. Nobody else calls meetings? It’s just not true."

Allen, contacted in Richmond where he was involved in a "Follow Christ Crusade," said he had spoken to a regular pastors’ conference at the invitation of St. Louis pastor Cleveland Horne who said in introducing Allen that he would be nominated to succeed James L. Sullivan who had recently indicated he would not serve a second term. "There was a lot of discussion about the SBC there that day," Allen said, "but no political strategizing."

The big difference, Patterson said, was that his group did not have a candidate." We do not have a candidate; we shall not have candidates. Our whole thing has been issue-oriented, not candidate oriented."

Drake said, however, to the laymen April 3 that Judge Pressler would remain in contact before the convention with his association and state organizers and during the sessions in St. Louis, determining the issues and keeping them informed about them.

But, Patterson, insisting "eternal vigilance" is the price of a "God-honoring denomination," said such maneuvers are not "politics." "I don’t see any difference in that and in what B.H. Carroll instructed Lee Scarborough to do when he said he should be sure the people who what’s going on.

"We are not running a candidate. We are concerned Baptists, and if that is politics then what state paper editors do when they write is also politics. Any time an editor editorializes he is in politics. He is giving his viewpoint and he has an entree to the people that even pastors don’t have."

Of those pastors, he said at the April 3 meeting, "Let’s face it, most lack the courage to deal with the problem."

In the interview later he said he probably should have said "many pastors" instead of "most pastors," however. "When you are talking to a group you don’t always say exactly what you want to say," he explained.

But he said that his investigations over the last few months had led him to believe that in the eyes of many pastors the convention has become "big brother."

"And I would not hesitate to say that many pastors fall into one of two categories. Either they have not investigated for themselves and out of a false sort of loyalty refused to investigate, do not want to know or don’t want to be bothered with it.

"Or they know it and understand it and have admitted to us they see it and understand and yet do not have the courage to stand up for it."

He doesn’t find such problems among laymen, he said.

"We have found that when a layman has it put in front of him and he looks at it, he says, ‘Oh, my goodness.’ He is not trying to go to a new pastorate. He is going to be right where he is from now on," Patterson said.

The laymen also control the money, he noted, "And apparently that is the only thing some folks understand," implying laymen who support SBC programs, especially those who are big givers, can get things done when others cannot.

Patterson expressed his love for the convention and said he intends to stay with it.

"I love our Southern Baptist people and think we are — as far as I can tell — the best opportunity this old world has for hearing the gospel before Jesus comes.

"My commitment is to stay and to love it and work for it and I will do that whether or not I am accepted by leadership or rejected by leadership. It won’t make any difference.

"I have done what I have done without antagonism and with love for everybody. And if God will help me I intend to keep it that way."

Posted: 6/27/03

“I really felt bad for me this morning as I delivered that sermon on self-pity.”

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