Posted: 1/26/04

Christians needs to reclaim
their storytelling heritage, Seay says

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

RICHARDSON—Christians reflect the Creator, and it's time for them to claim their place as the primary storytellers in today's culture, a postmodern pastor told the Texas Evangelism and Missions Conference.

Chris Seay, who is pastor of both Ecclesia Community Church and West End Baptist Church in Houston, said Hollywood and its secular storytellers have supplanted the historic importance of Christian artists.

But he encouraged believers in Jesus to reflect the creative spark God has given them.

"We've become a people not of the story but of the propositions," Seay said in critique of much Christian communication. Today, however, believers need to "tell the story of God in creative and beautiful ways."

"This story of Christ is a romance," he continued. "He chooses to love and pursue us" despite sin and rebellion.

Seay showed short films made by members of Ecclesia and others for an annual film festival the church sponsors.

One recreated the story of Jesus with children as most of the main characters, including Christ. Another mirrored the biblical book of Ecclesiastes in a contemporary setting by reflecting the seeming futility of life. Yet another, without words, showed how one man's patient, unseen efforts led to saving the lives of two other men.

Some of the films were funny, some dark. Most were several minutes long, one less than a minute. They all provoked thought and pointed toward deeper meanings, Seay said.

In evangelizing people today, believers need to make several transitions, he asserted.

Recognize that the Christian's role is to be provocative. "We've got to enter into a dialogue where we don't quickly provide all the answers to questions they're not even asking yet," Seay said.

Believers must "poke 'em in the eye with truth," he said. "We're meant to provoke, to create a response in people."

That does not mean manipulating people, he explained. "The burden is on us. … We should naturally" tell the "beautiful, wonderful story."

Be open to transformation. Christians often read the Bible only to gain knowledge and are not asking God to change them, he asserted. The Bible is not meant to be thrown at people, Seay said. God "would say to us, 'Yes, I gave you this Bible, but pull your heads out of it … and do the things I told you to do.'

"We have forgotten too often that this is about Christ," Seay added.

Remember it's all about grace. Christians need to re-examine their attitudes about the sinful behavior of non-Christians, he maintained. "We just don't get the gospel," Seay said. Christians are "preaching and teaching morality" rather than faith. "We've become so focused on behavior" that "we've forgotten faith and grace."

"There is no power to change apart from Christ," Seay said. Once people come to Christ "they are empowered to change."

Live the gospel. Incarnation is important in evangelizing the lost, Seay said. It refers to "God dwelling among people and living the truth."

People are like renters passing through. "We have an 80-90 year lease on this place," and Christians have to be about the incarnate work, the pastor said. "How can we do it at arm's length? … Christ gets up close."

Posted: 1/30/04

CYBERCOLUMN:
The preacher and the cannibals

By Brett Younger

When I was in the eighth grade, an evangelist came to our church for a week-long revival and offered the same lengthy invitation each night: “If you are not a Christian, then you need to come to the front, make a profession of faith and become a Christian right now. If you are a Christian, but have strayed into sin, then you need to come and rededicate your life. If you are a Christian and feel God tugging at your heart, then God is calling you to come to give yourself to full-time Christian service.”

The evangelist was not easily dissuaded, so each night people went to the front to make decisions. By Thursday, the ones in my youth group who had not made some kind of decision were beginning to look suspect. I was already a Christian. I had been baptized when I was eight and had not strayed into sin. Some of my friends had started to stray into sin, but none of them had invited me to join them yet.

The tug on my heart must be a call to full-time Christian service. It sounded right. Part-time Christian service didn’t seem like much of a commitment. I thought about it, prayed about it, talked to my parents (who took this way too seriously), wondered whether I could find institutions that would pay me to seek God’s will, and made a public decision to give my full-time whole life to God.

I made this decision with fear and trembling because I sincerely believed that I was opening myself up to all kinds of trouble. I imagined that I would end up as a missionary to an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean. My assignment would be to take the gospel to a tribe of sun-worshipping cannibals. I would row ashore in my canoe, tell the native women to wear shirts, lead them down “The Roman Road,” and be taken to the chief.

He would say: “Missionary, if you renounce Jesus,” (I always imagined the chief speaking English) “then we will let you go home to your refrigerator, recliner, and televised sports, but if you insist on believing, then we will throw you into this huge kettle of boiling water and have you for our main course.”

The drums would stop pounding. The natives would stop chanting. The birds would stop singing. My heart would almost stop beating, but then it would pound as I, much like Martin Luther, defiantly said: “When I was in the eighth grade I promised to die for what I believe. Throw another log on the fire.” The story of my martyrdom would be in Guideposts and Christianity Today, and later condensed in Reader’s Digest.

None of that has happened yet, but I’m only 42. Most days, my heart doesn’t pound with excitement. I haven’t been mentioned in Guideposts or Christianity Today or known much of the drama that gets condensed in Reader’s Digest. Looking back, the evangelist should have said, “If you are uninterested in fame, money and sanity, you may want to consider becoming a minister.”

Brett Younger is pastor of Broadway Baptist Church, Fort Worth. This is an excerpt from "Who Moved My Pulpit? A Brief and Amusing Look at the Ministerial Life," available in April from Smyth & Helwys Publishing.

Posted: 1/30/04

COMMENTARY:
"We belong together, because we belong to Christ!"

By Denton Lotz

Sunday, Feb. 1, is Baptist World Alliance Day of Prayer, when Baptists all over the world remember they are one in Jesus Christ.

Almost 100 years ago—July 17, 1905—in London, England, Southern Baptist and British Baptist leaders met and together with many others from around the world formed the Baptist World Alliance. Next year, we expect that thousands upon thousands of Baptists from around the world will gather in Birmingham, England (July 27-31, 2005) to celebrate the Baptist World Alliance centennial. All Baptists are invited to this BWA birthday celebration.

With the proposed withdrawal of the Southern Baptist Convention from the BWA, many are wondering what kind of celebration it will be! It will be a joyous time, a wonderful time of fellowship, praise and inspiration under the theme “Jesus Christ Living Water!” You are invited to join with brothers and sisters from around the world to celebrate the unity we have in Christ! That’s why the theme for the centennial has been “Together in Christ 1905-2005.” In a time when the world is separated by terrorism, ideological conflict and national and sectarian movements, as Baptist Christians we must be a model of that unity for which Christ prayed. You are a part of the BWA. Plan to attend the world congress in 2005!You are all welcome!

When Baptists first came together in 1905 to form the BWA, they were aware of the Apostle Paul’s injunction in 1 Corinthians 1:10: “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” The theme of so much of the Pauline epistle is a call for unity. Romans 12:16 commends, “Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited.” Philippians 2:1-2. appeals to us all, “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” That is what the BWA is all about:

Together in Christ in evangelism.

I have just come from Cuba, and what a joy to experience the movement of the Holy Spirit, creating new house churches across the country. Since 1995, there has been an increase to 2,500 house churches, in addition to 2,000 churches and missions. Together in Christ, Baptists are witnessing in a wonderful way to Christ’s perfect gift of salvation! What a joy to see thousands of young men and women come to faith in Christ. They are part of the BWA. Do not desert them. They need your love and support!

In 1990, there was only one Baptist Church in Moscow. Today, there are 52. Do not desert the Russian Baptists who for long suffered from religious persecution! Indeed, we belong together because we belong to Christ!

Together in Christ helping the needy.

In cooperation with Hungarian Baptist Aid, Baptist World Aid has helped recover earthquake victims in Iran and India. BWAid gives food to the starving in Mozambique and Ethiopia. Baptist World Aid has helped flood victims in China, hurricane victims in Honduras, and projects to aid women in India and street children in Brazil.

Do not desert your bothers and sisters in these countries! They need your help, your fellowship and your love! Indeed, we belong together, because we belong to Christ!

Together in Christ, we defend persecuted Christians.

A pastor is imprisoned today in Turkmenistan; the BWA is defending his religious freedom. Through the United Ntions and in contact with governments, the BWA protests religious persecution of our brothers in sisters in difficult places.

Often parts of the former Soviet Union have imposed strict laws prohibiting the free exercise of religion. The BWA defends the right of Baptists to pray and worship without hindrance from the state!

Do not desert Baptists suffering from lack of religious freedom in many countries in the Middle East and Asia. Do not desert those suffering for righteousness’ sake. Indeed, we belong together because we belong to Christ!

Together in Christ we fellowship.

The BWA congresses and youth conferences, seminars and council meetings are opportunities to fulfill the biblical mandate for fellowship: “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John1:7) Who will ever forget when, at the BWA congress, one of the first Baptists from Albania confessed, “I did not know I had so many brothers and sisters.” Indeed, as Baptists gather, we can sing for joy, “What a fellowship, what a joy divine!”

Biblical fellowship is suffering with those who suffer from religious persecution, crying with those who cry at the great injustices of evil systems of government, holding hands with those who face a lonely and oppressive future, rejoicing with those who rejoice over new-found freedom, and the story goes on. From 1950 to 1980 Billy Graham, was always one of the main speakers at the Congress, and he often began by saying: “Yes! I support the Baptist World Alliance.”

Come to England in 2005 have real Christian fellowship in Jesus’ name! Indeed, we belong together, because we belong to Christ!

Millions of Baptists will celebrate BWA Day on the first Sunday of February. Join hands with your brothers and sisters as your local congregation unites in prayer and praise for that unity that alone comes from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Indeed, because we belong to Christ, we belong to one another! Thanks be to God!

Denton Lotz is the general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance.

Posted: 1/30/04

COMMENTARY:
Breaking the DaVinci Code

By Dwight A. Moody

Dan Brown wrote a book, and for weeks it has been at the top of the New York Times bestseller list.

I understand why: I could not put it down.

If you like architecture, history and religion mixed into a crime story, this book is for you. But if you demand historical accuracy, be careful.

The basic premise of the book is what Brown calls “the greatest cover-up in human history.” Jesus was not celibate: He married Mary Magdalene, who was with child at the time of the crucifixion. Mary escaped to France, gave birth to a daughter named Sarah and lived under the protection of the Jewish community. The remains of Mary Magdalene are stored in the Holy Grail, supposedly hidden somewhere in England.

All of this seems preposterous. No historian or theologian of any reputation puts any stock in such a flight of fancy. But on a corollary theme, there is much truth—namely, that Roman and Christian authorities of the fourth and fifth centuries suppressed minority traditions and assigned to them the word “heresy.” It was, in part, an effort to centralize power for political effect for both church and state.

As regards other elements of this best-selling who-done-it, I am in the dark—Masons, Knights Templar, Priory of Sion, Opus Dei; to say nothing of cryptology, religious symbolism in medieval art, and the Louvre in Paris.

Seems the company of the curious is a large crowd indeed. Book clubs and research groups have sprung up to look into these things.

Two new movies are likely to do the same.

“The Gospel of John” opens Jan. 23. It follows word for word the biblical text—not the Greek, of course, but Today’s English Version. This modern text is more widely known as the Good News Bible. (It is the work of Robert G. Bratcher, a 1941 graduate of Georgetown College. He spent a career as translator for the American Bible Society.)

“The Passion of Christ” hits the big screens Feb. 25. Mel Gibson is the writer, director and producer of this movie. He weaves material from a medieval mystic into the biblical narrative of the last 12 hours of Jesus’ life.

The Gibson movie has received much more attention than the Bratcher movie. Many Catholic and Evangelical leaders have attended preview showings and have come away with glowing endorsements.

Others are not so sure.

Passion plays have a long history of anti-Jewish bias. For centuries, the worst time to be a Jew in a Christian community was during Holy Week, when passion plays incited the religious fervor of the people. Too often this fervor was directed against the Jews who were called “Christ killers.” About a decade ago, the Vatican released new guidelines on passion plays, including a prohibition on assigning blame for the death of Jesus.

But once again, works of art will force the reading and viewing public to seek the truth, to sort the facts from the fictions presented to us by books and films.

Even NBC news is getting into the groove, with a documentary exploring the question, Who killed Jesus?

There are, of course, four answers to such a question. Jewish and Roman authorities plotted against Jesus; Roman soldiers did the nasty deed of arresting, taunting, scourging, and crucifying. But neither of these is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

The classical answer of Christian theology is simple: We killed Jesus. Jesus died because of our sin; he died for our sin. His blood is upon our hands.

But there is (as C.S. Lewis said about Narnia) a deeper magic. Here I quote Jesus himself: “Nobody takes my life; I lay it down.”

Jesus foresaw his death; Jesus moved toward the conflict that precipitated his death; Jesus embraced his death as fulfilling his mission in the world; Jesus accepted responsibility for his crucifixion.

But public discussion on these matters is a good thing as is artistic expression of them. A large part of the freedom of religion is the liberty to explore these things in the public arena without interference from any media, political or religious authority.

Copyright 2004 by Dwight A. Moody, dean of the chapel at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky.

Posted: 1/29/04

Paul Piper, Baptist donor, dead at 86

Philanthropist Paul Piper, whose generosity provided funds for many Texas Baptist causes, died Jan. 17 in Apollo Beach, Fla. He was 86.

Piper borrowed $17 from his parents when he dropped out of college in 1937 and from that small investment built a diversified company with 1,000 employees in 15 manufacturing plants.

He later sold his shares in Piper Industries and used the money to begin four charitable foundations–Christ Is Our Salvation and three branches of Christian Mission Concerns.

His contributions to Texas Baptist causes ranged from buying a tool trailer for the Texas Baptist Men Retiree Builders to helping new churches pay their pastors' salaries.

Piper's gifts helped Texas Baptists start more than 300 new churches around the state, and he supported apartment ministries in San Antonio, Fort Worth, Arlington and Austin.

Piper also established a low-interest loan fund to help Texas Baptist churches finance their first buildings.

He contributed to various River Ministry programs along the Rio Grande, helped to build a hospital in Paraguay, supported the True Love Waits sexual purity campaign and provided scholarships for Baptist university students.

Piper is survived by his wife, Katy, one son, a sister, six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Posted: 1/29/04

Emerging cultures a challenge to evangelism

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

RICHARDSON–In today's postmodern world "there's a real cry for spiritual mothers and fathers," said John Berryhill, chief director of Emerging Church Network.

People who are part of this new culture are looking for others "who will care about their lives," Berryhill told participants at a workshop during the Texas Evangelism and Missions Conference.

Such a "spiritual family" gives a person "a place to connect, a place to hare their stories, their journey," he said. "It can happen in lots of different forms."

Postmodern people also need healing and empowering, Berryhill said. Small, simple groups where people can relate "in a community" are effective at reaching postmoderns with the gospel.

A key is that "people first have to belong," he said. "Can people participate in your community in their pre-Christ state?"

After belonging, then a person begins to behave differently and belief comes last, Berryhill said. "It's a little different path to evangelism."

Today, however, there are many different emerging cultures. "Thousands of diverse people … do not readily fit into our way of doing church," he said. "… Now it is a really wide-open road."

Christians interested in reaching people in emerging cultures, first must understand the culture, he said.

Christians need to be observant to discover the "tribes" that live in an area and learn their distinctive characteristics, he added.

Understanding can then lead to relationships. "What gives credibility in this culture is not titles, it's relationships," Berryhill said. "We want to see transformation, … but we have to be smart in how we go about that."

Posted: 1/27/04

TBM volunteers glad Alabama
group paved the way in Iran relief

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

From hurricanes in Latin America to famines in Africa and Asia, Texas Baptist Men volunteers have been some of the first responders among faith-based disaster relief providers over the last three decades. But the Texas Baptists who recently returned from Iran were glad an Alabama group had paved the way for them.

A 15-member Texas Baptist Men team, along with three Baptist volunteers from Georgia, worked Jan. 12-20 at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Bam.

The crew cooked meals and provided medical care for displaced residents of the earthquake-ravaged city. A massive quake the morning after Christmas left three-fourths of the ancient city in ruins.

The volunteers served under the auspices of a non-governmental agency recognized in Iran.

They followed an Alabama Baptist disaster relief team. Since "Ala" sounded like the Iranian word for God, "ba" like "with" and "ma" like "us," the group became identified locally as "God with us disaster relief."

Fortunately for the Texans who came behind them, the Alabama group lived up to their lofty name and earned a solid reputation in the region. When the Texas Baptists arrived in Iran, they initially received a cold greeting from a stern governmental worker, according to team leader John LaNoue of Lindale. But when he told the official they were related to the "Ala-ba-ma" group, "it was an open door," LaNoue said.

The Texas Baptists worked in a 341-tent refugee camp that housed more than 1,700 people.

"There was not one empty tent in the camp," LaNoue recalled. "There may have been three tents with one person in them, but there were some with as many as 14 in them."

The Texas Baptist Men cooked more than 3,000 meals and 5,000 cups of hot tea each day for the camp, plus an additional 1,000 meals daily for another camp that was being established nearby. The volunteers worked 14-hour days, cooking rice, lentils and occasional helpings of lamb in massive four-foot-wide pots.

"Our men ate what the people in the camp ate, but they never sat down to eat until all the people had been served. It was a powerful statement to those people," LaNoue said.

Through interpreters, LaNoue learned that many of the people in the camp were asking: "Why have these old men come to help us? We see them working when we get up in the morning and working when we go to bed at night."

While the crew included one 36-year-old volunteer and a 41-year-old doctor, the average age was 63. The oldest volunteer was 78.

"I called them the 'over the hill gang,' but they're on the side of the hill that knows how to do the work," said LaNoue, who is just a few months shy of 70.

One image that indelibly branded itself on LaNoue's memory was an old Iranian man in Bam climbing to the top of the rubble where his house once stood, removing one brick at a time. He repeated that process for hours each day.

"One brick was all he could carry at one time. He was trying to find his family, who were entombed there."

While the residents of the refugee camp publicly expressed a growing love and appreciation for the American volunteers, the Texas Baptists remained under close scrutiny by governmental officials. Some crewmembers were interviewed up to three times a day by authorities who wanted to know why they had come to Iran.

"We told them we had not come because of politics, but because our hearts were broken by the tragedy of the people. We told them God loved the Iranian people so much, he had instructed us to come help them," LaNoue said.

When asked, the Texas Baptists identified themselves as Protestant Christians, but they were careful not to be perceived as proselytizing. "We're Christians. Nobody talked about it much, but everybody knew it," LaNoue said.

Looking back on the experience, he added, "My prayer for the people of Iran is that they will have the opportunity to recognize the truth, that God will bless them with the knowledge of himself … that their physical needs will be met in such a way that they will come to recognize the Giver of good gifts."

Texas Baptists can contribute financially to the disaster relief project by designating checks "Iranian relief" and sending them to Texas Baptist Men, 333 N. Washington, Dallas 75246-1798.

Posted: 1/27/04

Children's ranch supplies relief
to thousands on both sides of Rio Grande

By George Henson

Staff Writer

QUEMADO—In the barren, sun-baked terrain between Eagle Pass and Del Rio, a mustard seed of faith grew into a ministry much larger than Steve and Lori Mercer ever imagined.

The couple came to Texas from Indiana with an eye to opening a children's home in South Texas. They had been foster parents for many years and wanted to expand their ministry by sharing their love with even more children.

After they joined First Baptist Church in Quemado, they initially wanted their new ministry, Cornerstone Children's Ranch, to be linked directly to the church. But Pastor Terry Simons counseled them to remain an independent organization so non-Baptists might be more likely to help.

State regulations soon quashed the couple's plans for a children's home. Mercer had earned an undergraduate degree in social services, but the state required a master's degree in the specialty to administer a children's home.

That stumbling block became a stepping-stone, however. Now, rather than ministering to a few dozen children, they are meeting the needs of more than 26,000 people of all ages. "My God had better ideas than we did," Mrs. Mercer said.

They launched a relief ministry that helps to provide food, clothing, medical supplies, automobiles and other supplies to individuals and institutions on both sides of the Rio Grande, she said.

"We work with unwed mother homes, orphanages, medical clinics and churches. We take it to the churches, and they distribute it to the people they minister to in their communities. Also, some of it has to go to the pastors themselves because some of them give all they have to just to keep their churches going," Mrs. Mercer said.

They also help a ministry to illegal aliens who are being deported to Mexico. Most are far from home with no money and no food.

Many of these people, mostly men, receive Christ as they have reached rock bottom and are open to the possibility that something is missing from their lives, she said. After listening to the message of the gospel, they are given food and encouraged to take the message they have heard back to their villages.

As the Cornerstone ministry has grown, so have its needs. Del Rio-Uvalde Baptist Association helped the ministry secure a 10-acre site for construction of a 6,000-foot warehouse. It stores washing machines, dryers, food, clothing, medical supplies and even an optical machine that is being kept until construction is completed on an eye clinic in Mexico.

"Just about anything someone can put on a truck, we can find a home for," Mrs. Mercer said.

The Mercers' ministry filled a niche in the region, said Jack Calk, retired director of missions for Del Rio-Uvalde Baptist Association.

"Bringing all these things together in one place and then distributing them is one of the things we needed to have done in the area, rather than trying to do it piecemeal," he said.

While financial, food and medical donations always are needed, the ministries most crucial needs are prayer and volunteers, Mrs. Mercer said.

"Prayer will always be our No. 1 need," she said. "All of this depends on God's provision."

The answer to some of those prayers would be in the form of more volunteers. "Piedras Negras has a population of more than 1 million people. River Ministry does an awful lot of work down here, but there are still so many people whose needs are not being met," she said.

The Mercers plan to build a new headquarters for Cornerstone Children's Ranch, complete with apartments for volunteers. But finances dictate the construction be done by volunteers. Currently the camp has hook-ups for two RV campsites, and it is to be expanded.

Volunteers also are needed to install the camp's meat lockers so the ministry can store and distribute more meat.

None of that is anything like what the Mercers thought they were coming to Texas to do, but they say it's all right.

"I think the Lord sometimes uses your plans to gets you where he wants you until you realize what he wants you to do as he reveals his will for your life," she said.

Cornerstone Children's Ranch can be contacted at (830) 757-1993.

Posted: 1/27/04

Hispanic, Anglo congregations swapping emphasis

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Hispanic and Anglo congregations are trading places as Anglo churches become worship-driven and their Hispanic counterparts move toward a Bible study-driven model, according to some Texas Baptist leaders.

Anglo churches increasingly emphasize worship services as the entry point for newcomers and the catalyst for ministry while de-emphasizing the Bible study model that powered the church growth boom of the 20th century, said Dennis Parrott, director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Bible Study/Discipleship Center.

Tim Studstill, director of the BGCT music and worship office, views large sales numbers of praise music directed toward Anglo churches and increase in worship model packages for sale as signs of a surging emphasis on worship in Anglo churches.

Church leaders are coming to realize worship represents a congregation's identity and its values, Studstill added.

"What I'm seeing is more and more churches realize worship is integral in who they are," he said.

On the other hand, Hispanic churches are moving away from the worship-driven model they historically have used and toward Bible study groups as vehicles for church growth, Parrott said.

This is visible along the Texas-Mexico border, where churches expand along large stretches of land through small Bible studies, but it also can be seen across the state. According to statistics from the BGCT research information service, 65 percent of Hispanics enrolled in Bible studies attend the classes, well above the 46 percent average of the entire convention.

In contrast, 44 percent of people enrolled in Anglo Bible studies actually attend them.

Jim Garcia, director of the BGCT office of Hispanic work, and Jorge Diaz, general director of the Baptist Spanish Publishing House in El Paso, noted a continuing strong emphasis on worship in Hispanic churches. But their growth is occurring through small groups.

Groups typically meet in houses on any day of the week. Members often dress casually, and activities may include a meal and singing, along with the Bible study.

"There is a hunger for Bible study," Garcia said. "There is not a hunger for the structure we call Sunday school."

Small groups urge fellowship and community, important aspects in Hispanic culture, Garcia and Diaz said. For this reason, the small-group approach will gain strength, Diaz added.

The shift to a small-group-driven church has pushed Hispanics to look for resources to make their effort on par with those in Anglo churches, Parrot noted.

Hispanics are coming to BGCT-sponsored Bible study and leadership training events in stronger numbers than Anglos. Hispanics are open to ideas from Hispanics and non-Hispanics, Spanish speakers and non-Spanish speakers, he added.

About one-fourth of BGCT-affiliated Hispanic churches are using the BaptistWay Press curriculum, including the publisher's Spanish materials that parallel the English studies. Many use the free online materials.

They also have taken particular advantage in seeking the BGCT Bible Study/Discipleship Center's help with the Add LIFE program, certification efforts and ministry development.

Many Hispanic church workers are laypeople who were placed in leadership positions without having any formal training, Parrot said. The BGCT events provide an opportunity to gain more knowledge.

"I think that a lot of the Hispanic churches are just coming of age in the sense they are realizing their need for training," Parrott explained.

Posted: 1/26/04

Hands of Luke ministry helping
children in El Paso and Juarez

By George Henson

Staff Writer

EL PASO—Hurting people need healing for both body and spirit, according to Marco Samaniego. And that philosophy has guided the Hands of Luke medical ministry since he founded it 10 years ago.

The ministry, in addition to being the primary medical care provider for many, also seeks to make sure the children in the area are well fed. Every day the ministry feeds 500 to 700 children in three nutritional centers and two orphanages in Juarez, Mexico.

It is a ministry based totally on faith in God, said Samaneigo, bivocational pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in El Paso.

"We don't ever know where it's going to come from, but God always provides. Sometimes churches and businesses and individuals give us money to buy food, and sometimes the food itself is donated, but God always finds a way," he said.

In addition to providing health care and food, Hands of Luke also offers Bible studies and Sunday worship services.

"Through all these outreach ministries, we really get to know the people and make a difference in their lives," he said.

As an example, he pointed to 17-year-old Luis Armando. The young man formerly led a gang, but about a year ago he accepted Christ after getting to know ministry volunteers. "Now he works with one of the mission pastors and has led six other gang members to Christ," Samaniego said.

That desire to make a difference especially was evident to Samaniego during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, especially when he considered his family's blessings compared to needs in nearby Mexico.

"It's hard to be thankful when there is a big bird on the table and family all around and know that nearby there are families with little if anything to eat," he said.

Just before Thanksgiving in 1993, he felt God was leading him to find the means to feed 1,000 people that holiday. "I didn't know how to do it, but I told my wife, 'This is what the Lord told me to do, and we need to get busy because it's only two weeks until Thanksgiving.'"

That year, through the help of area churches and individuals, 1,000 people had a Thanksgiving meal they would not have had otherwise. Each year since, the ministry has grown. In 2003 more than 13,000 people were fed, including 5,000 people in a Mexican prison.

More than 300 volunteers from 25 churches are needed now to prepare and distribute the food.

Volunteers prepare the food, freeze it and reheat it at an orphanage in Juarez, one of the 25 places food is distributed. Wherever the food is served, God's word is preached, he said.

"We don't do feeding without preaching," he said. "Our main goal is to have people come to know the Lord, and then for the churches in the colonias to disciple them afterward."

At the prison, 300 men made professions of faith in Christ, he noted.

At Christmas, the ministry distributed gift bags to 6,000 children. Each bag contained a toy, fruit, peanuts, socks, underwear and a Bible.

While the ministry has grown each year, Samaniego said he doesn't know what next year will bring.

"This is a ministry of faith. Whatever the Lord gives us to do, that's what we're going to do. It's all under his leadership," he said.

Posted: 1/26/04

Pastors shouldn't 'doctor' title unless
it's merited, researcher says

By George Henson

Staff Writer

GORDONVILLE–Some pastors touting the title "Dr." before their names need a refresher course in ethics, according to a paper awaiting publication in the journal Christian Higher Education.

The treatise by Rusty Waller, pastor of First Baptist Church in Gordonville, is titled "Higher Education Credentials of American Clergy: Ethics or Antics?"

A bivocational pastor, Waller also is dean of institutional research and effectiveness at North Central Texas College in Gainesville, where he ensures the college meets regional accreditation standards.

Waller also has helped Baptist University of the Americas in its quest for accreditation. The San Antonio school recently gained national accreditation from the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges, which qualifies it to offer a bachelor of arts degree. The school now seeks regional accreditation, which is harder to obtain.

Regional accreditation is important, Waller contended, because it provides a clear standard of academic requirements.

Attorneys, teachers, architects, doctors and other professionals are required to earn degrees from regionally accredited schools, he noted. Such accreditation indicates the level of scholarship mandated to attain the degree.

So when a pastor begins calling himself "Dr." when he does not hold an accredited doctoral degree, it hurts his witness, Waller contends.

"Pastors need to be aware that the use of the title 'Dr.,' without having a regionally accredited degree is deeply offensive to those in other professions who have to work to maintain their credentials," he explained.

Waller said he first considered writing on this topic as he saw televangelists taking on the title "Dr." He was unable to ascertain the source of most their degrees, he said, "which tells me it's a very bogus situation."

His investigation revealed a number of places where an unaccredited doctoral diploma can be secured for a minimal amount of cash. One site for the Progressive Universal Life Church currently will throw in a doctor of divinity degree for free if a doctor of philosophy in either religion or theology is ordered for $175.

Waller went a step further, however, and decided to see what he could determine about the credentials of a sample of Baptist General Convention of Texas pastors.

He sent questionnaires to 200 pastors whose churches matched a representative sample of the size and ethnicity of the convention. Only 105 of those surveys were returned, of which 35 pastors claimed doctoral degrees. Seven of those 35 doctorates, 20 percent, came from non-regionally accredited doctoral programs.

Waller said he would stop short of saying only 20 percent of the sample had degrees from non-regionally accredited schools, however, because only 52 percent of the pastors in the pool responded.

"I have questions about the non-respondents and where their credentials are from," he said. "I would speculate that those who returned their questionnaires didn't see anything wrong with having non-regionally accredited degrees."

He postulates that some who did not respond may have been more aware.

He does admit, however, that there is a wide spectrum of sources of non-regionally accredited degrees, "from the most bogus of diploma mills to actual institutions" of merit.
At the high end of that spectrum, Waller places Luther Rice Seminary, the most common source of non-regionally accredited degrees among those surveyed. However, while not a place to buy a diploma without study, the independent seminary should not be viewed on an even par with fully accredited seminaries such as Logsdon School of Theology at Hardin-Simmons University or Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary, he asserted.

Luther Rice Seminary is accredited by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, a certification that requires less strenuous examination than that offered by regional commissions such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

The United States Department of Education views TRACS on the same level as the Association of Theological Schools, the nation's primary accrediting agency for mainstream theological education. However, both Logsdon and Truett are accredited not only by ATS on the national level but by SACS on the regional level.

And to Waller's perspective as an educator, that makes a huge difference.

"Other professions require doctorates from regionally accredited institutions," he said. "Why should pastors settle for less?"

Waller does not suggest that a regionally accredited degree should be a requirement for the pastorate, or that the education that can be gained at some schools, such as Luther Rice, is not without merit.

"I have no problem with a person pursuing an education wherever they choose, but I do have a problem with them putting 'Dr.' in front of their name" if they do not hold a regionally accredited degree, he said.

That is especially true if a pastor knowingly obtains a degree not acquired by scholarship on the doctoral level, Waller said. "Credentials without education can only be for men to look at."

Likewise, it is unethical for a pastor who receives an honorary doctorate, such a doctor of divinity degree, to affix "Dr." to his name, Waller said.

Reading his paper probably won't change the minds of those who already have secured non-accredited degrees, Waller admitted. But he does hope to impact future decisions.

"I don't really think writing this will stop anyone who is using the title 'Dr.' from using it, but I hope that some young pastors out there considering this will get their doctorates from regionally accredited institutions," he said.

"I've been a pastor from 29 years, but I can understand how a young man might look and see that he can have a doctorate here for $700, and over there it's going to take years of commitment and ask 'What's my motivation to do that?' if they don't understand all the issues."

Posted: 1/26/04

BGCT crosses halfway point toward church-starting goal

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Despite a tough fiscal year, the Baptist General Convention of Texas Church Multiplication Center crossed the halfway point toward its goal of helping start 777 churches by the end of 2004.

The center has helped start 423 churches through two years of the three-year Genesis Project. Staff facilitated 159 church starts last year, down from 264 in 2002.

Last year's church-starting efforts were hurt when the center had committed its budget by mid-June. A large financial commitment to previously started churches coupled with decreased giving to the convention contributed to a smaller-than-expected supply of funds, according to Abe Zabaneh, director of the BGCT Church Multiplication Center.

Despite the drop in funding and church starts, Zabaneh remains upbeat about this year and attempting to reach the goal set in 2002. Center staff members are looking for ways Texas Baptists can partner to support new churches.

"We still are shooting for 777, but we're going to have to be creative," Zabaneh said.

The surge in church starts during the past two years is important to reaching non-Christian Texans, Zabaneh noted. Studies reveal new churches are highly effective at reaching unchurched and previously churched individuals. They also help Baptists keep pace with an increasing Texas population.

Church starting efforts help meet the needs of the state's variety of cultures and ethnicities, Zabaneh added. Last year, staff helped launch 75 Hispanic, 32 Anglo, 22 African American, 20 multi-ethnic and two Indian churches.

Staff efforts helped lead to two new Vietnamese churches. They also facilitated Argentinian, Arab, Brazilian, Guatemalan, Korean and Laotian church starts.

The diverse work is essential to provide a place of worship for each culture in Texas, Zabaneh said.

"People are different. People need the opportunity to worship and fellowship with people similar to them," he said.

This year, the center has taken church starting in multi-housing complexes under its wing. Many urban residents live in apartments, but few are connected with a church, Zabaneh said. Center staff aims to change that by starting churches in their complexes.

"It's an unchurched people group that needs to be reached," he said. "We need to work on taking the church to the apartments."

With an expanded ministry and a difficult challenge before them in 2004, Zabaneh asks that Texas Baptists lead out in starting churches as they see opportunities around them. He also asks Christians to pray for the effort in the coming year.

Every area in Texas needs more churches to serve the population, he added.