Posted: 1/15/04

Collection of antique records reflects ‘old time religion’

By George Henson

Staff Writer

DEL VALLE—Lee Laake loves the past. It’s the future that troubles him, particularly the future of his treasured gospel music collection.

Over the years, Laake has collected about 200 Southern gospel phonograph records still in playable condition. Many are 78s, some dating from as early as 1916. Others are 33s, dating from the 1950s and 1960s.

He found many himself. His friend Ralph Boschert in Odessa discovered others in antique shops and estate sales.

Some of the Bakelite-covered pressed-wood records are so old they were recorded on only one side, with the other remaining flat without grooves.

“I don’t really know what to do with them, but to me they represent a major piece of the timeframe in the history of the gospel,” Laake said. “Churches tend to delete songs and add new songs, but these old songs still are a big part of the gospel.”

Initially, Laake, a member of River Road Baptist Church in Austin, was drawn to the crank and variable-speed phonographs on which the records were played, but he quickly developed an affection for the records themselves.

Part of the attraction of the songs was that he could identify with so many of the lyrics, he said.

“‘There’s No Housing Shortage in Heaven’—that’s the name of one of the songs. I can identify with that because at the end of World War II there was a definite housing shortage. My father wanted to build us a house, and he couldn’t even find the wood,” Laake recalled.

“The older music, you can close your eyes and listen to them and project yourself back into that time frame and see what they are singing about. You can tell just from listening to them that they had a totally different viewpoint on things.”

On a recent afternoon, Laake listened to the Tuskegee Institute Singers wax melodic on the tunes “Good News” and “Live a-Humble” on the Victor Talking Machine label, circa 1916.

“It just fascinates me how they harmonize without any instruments in the background to help,” he said.

As much affection as Laake has for the records, he has decided that it is time for them to become someone else’s treasures.

“I think it’s time for them to find a new home with someone who will take care of them and enjoy them,” Laake said. “I kind of think of Ralph and me as having rescued them from the trash can. I’d hate to see them wind up there now.”

Still, Laake doesn’t know what to do with the collection, whether to look for a buyer or find a music school that might be interested in them.

“I could use the cash, but the main thing is to find someone who is still interested in these old songs,” he said. “They might even listen to them and rearrange them somehow and get the young people singing them again.”

Posted: 1/15/04

Bush proposal brings attention
to church's responsibility to the 'stranger'

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

Churches' responsibility to care for "aliens and strangers" as the Bible commands transcends legal issues about immigration policy, according to David Guel of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

While President Bush's proposed temporary worker visa program could change the legal status of up to 8 million undocumented aliens, Christians' obligation to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of immigrants remains unchanged, he added.

Christians should obey laws, but sometimes following God means doing the right thing regardless of legalities, said Guel, regional associate with the BGCT Church Multiplication Center.

"If not for civil disobedience, the Egyptians would have killed off baby Moses," he said, alluding to an incident in the Old Testament book of Exodus when Hebrew midwives disobeyed a mandate from Pharaoh requiring them to kill male Jewish newborns.

Ministry to immigrants–without regard to their legal status–falls into the same category, said Guel, whose doctoral project at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary focused on developing a strategy for ministry to undocumented aliens.

"A lot of our Baptist folks are reluctant to help people who are in this country illegally because of concern about breaking the law. But that's a non-issue when there is a hurting human being in front of you," he said.

The church's role is neither to enforce laws nor to facilitate lawbreaking, he added. The church's role is to minister to human needs in Jesus' name.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, a bureau of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, reports 1.04 million undocumented Hispanics in Texas, Guel discovered.

"A thousand cross the border each month," he said. "That has ministry implications for us," he said.

Now Guel is taking his findings to churches, associations and other groups, seeking to increase awareness and urging Christians to develop "intentional ministries" to immigrants.

"When you do something with intentionality, you do it all the way in terms of devoting budget and staff to it," he explained.

Last year, messengers to the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas and the BGCT approved resolutions encouraging ministry to immigrants "documented and undocumented, through prayer and action."

Immigration policy is the focus of an interdenominational study committee that includes representatives from the BGCT and the Texas Conference of Churches. The BGCT Christian Life Commission also has enlisted an intern from the Baylor School of Social Work and Truett Seminary to conduct an in-depth project exploring the issue over the next few months.

Suzii Paynter, director of citizenship and public policy with the BGCT Christian Life Commission, convened a meeting in Austin last month bringing together representatives from widely varied religious and human rights organizations to examine immigration issues.

Guel presented his research findings and recommendations to the group.

He told them about conducting small-group interviews in San Antonio, McAllen and Houston with 25 currently undocumented immigrants, as well as individually interviewing four formerly undocumented Hispanic Baptists.

Those interviews documented the hardships and dangers immigrants encountered as they entered the United States, their reasons for taking such risks and incidents when any churches helped them. Guel also asked them to suggest, based on their own experiences, ways churches could develop "intentional ministries" to immigrants.

Most said they arrived hungry, tired and ill after exposure to the elements.

"For many, the journey necessitated days of going without food, water, shelter and sleep. Many walked for miles through all types of terrain, encountering all kinds of snakes and wildlife," he said.

Currently undocumented aliens, in particular, told those stories. Since the advent of Homeland Security, illegal border crossings at borderland cities have become more difficult, forcing illegal immigrants to risk crossing in remote and isolated areas, Guel noted.

Others entered the United States with the help of "coyotes," a term used to describe smugglers of human cargo.

"Three women were transported in the trunk of a car from Del Rio to San Antonio, non-stop," Guel said.

"In one case, an individual was jailed for four months because authorities wanted him as a witness against a coyote. He had no legal representation for a long time and did not know the language."

Some churches already offer ministry to undocumented aliens, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services knows it, Guel noted.

Northwest Hispanic Baptist Church in San Antonio, for instance, has established a ministry center near a major employer of undocumented workers, according to Pastor Roland Lopez. While the center is open to all needy people, many who find help there are illegal aliens.

Guel interviewed a senior Border Patrol officer who confirmed his agency's written service policy mandates that officers generally not enter churches or schools. Unless the Border Patrol is pursuing an illegal alien who has committed crimes against people or property, as opposed to someone who simply has violated legal residency statutes, a church generally is considered an inviolable sanctuary, he explained.

That same officer told him churches should not feel obligated to investigate the legal residency status of needy people before offering them help. He explained that his agency "has the charge to determine the legal status of an individual, not the church. The church should do what it's called to do."

Guel recommended several ways churches can minister to immigrants:

Create awareness. "Educate the congregation. It's amazing the response when people see the needs."

Meet immediate needs. "Provide food, a place of rest, and a change of clothing and shoes."

Offer referrals. "Create a referral list of agencies, medical clinics and legal offices that are willing to assist the undocumented person in times of need and emergencies."

Help aliens gain legal status. Churches can offer English as a Second Language and citizenship classes. "Consider making the church a center accredited by the Justice Department for assisting undocumented persons through the maze of legalization."

Focus on children. "Look into the well-being of the children of undocumented workers." Help them with school orientation, and provide them access to school supplies.

Provide spiritual counsel. "Find a way to offer God's love and share his plan of salvation."

Posted: 1/09/04

'Big God' leads small church
to take on complex ministries

By George Henson

Staff Writer

FORT WORTH–At one time, Pastor Howard Caver did not want to be given a nursing home, but now he and his small church are preparing to spend $4 million to build one.

Leaders of World Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth eventually did take that first nursing home, but not without coaxing from God.

The nursing home was a gift, but Caver was not sure it was coming from above. An owner of 11 nursing homes decided to retire and sold all the properties. After a time of losing money, however, the new owners gave back one of the homes, saying it had too many problems to fix. The man still didn't want it and decided to give it to a church to run.

Because of its history of community ministry, World Missionary Baptist Church was on top of his list.

Caver initially was not thrilled. “I was really nervous about it because I didn't know anything about running a nursing home,” he said. “All I knew was that I'd heard it was a good way to get sued.”

Although as a pastor he had on occasion visited people in nursing homes, he also had a personal aversion to nursing homes.

“I've never liked nursing homes,” he admitted. “Prior to this, I would send other people out to minister in nursing homes, but I had only been once or twice myself–to see people in wheelchairs and not able to do anything for them. I didn't like that.

“The first miracle was for God to change my heart and to teach me that being there is often enough,” he said.

That lesson was a little while in coming, however, because Caver still was not convinced it was a good idea for the church to take over the nursing home.

When he presented the idea to his congregation, he acknowledged its potential for ministry, but he also was open about the liability the church might be taking on. The nursing home had a history of deficiencies when state inspections were conducted and also was losing about $25,000 a month.

Because of those concerns, he told his congregation the vote had to be unanimous. If one person voted no, the church would not take the nursing home.

“I was secretly hoping somebody would vote no, but everyone was excited about it, and the vote was unanimous,” he explained. “We never would have been involved in this unless God said to, and that was what that unanimous vote meant.”

Caver and his congregation now owned a building valued on tax rolls at $400,000 and a nursing home license valued at $1 million.

Convinced God ordained the ministry, Caver sought to get the home running in a manner that would be pleasing to his church and God. Patient care became the priority, he said. Prayers and Scripture readings over the intercom system greeted residents each day, and gradually things began to turn around. Sixty days after the church took over, state inspectors returned to find zero deficiencies, a first at this nursing home.

That is not to say that everything was smooth sailing. Often the money coming in did not meet expenses.

“I can smile now, but God has tested my faith, and God has tested my patience. Myself and my congregation must have at least mustard-seed faith,” he said.

Caver and his daughter-in-law both went to school and earned accreditation as nursing home administrators, and the ministry began to turn around. Soon after, however, a pharmacy chain offered to buy the property for $1 million to build a new store.

The church used the money to begin drawing up plans and buying property for a new nursing home facility. The eight acres at Village Creek and Wilbarger Roads in the Stop Six area of Fort Worth is large enough that Caver dreams of someday moving the church and its grade school to the site as well.

Having the school and the nursing home together would enable the generations to minister to one another, he said. And the school, the students and parents far outnumber his congregation, as will the number of patients in the 81-bed facility.

“If we were a congregation of 2,000 or 3,000, no one would pay attention. But when the students and parents in your school outnumber your members and when you have a nursing home where just your staff outnumbers your congregation, people notice,” he said.

The nursing home will not be the only one in the area, but it will be the first one to be built in the last 30 years, he said.

“Some will probably want to move to our facility because it is new, but what it also will do is to put pressure on these other facilities to improve their care and facilities, so in a sense it's a win-win proposition for all the patients,” Caver said.

The facility, to be called Immanuel, just as the church dubbed its first effort, will include a chapel for residents and their families. The facility will continue a bold Christian witness.

The mortgage company wanted an entity to guarantee the $4 million note to build the facility, and the regional Housing and Urban Development office has approved the project. As soon as written confirmation comes from Washington D.C., papers will be signed. The church plans to break ground this month. Construction should be completed by next fall.

While running a school and a nursing home are a large endeavor, Caver said his church is merely attempting to follow the leadership of God: “We serve a big God, and we are attempting to do big things under his leadership.”

The congregation's willingness to attempt big things is based on Scripture, in particular Ephesians 3:20, which says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

“That just blows my mind,” Caver said, “because I can think of some big things and God can do much, much more than I can imagine.”

Posted: 1/14/04

Fike takes Christian comedy seriously

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

Al Fike takes Christian comedy seriously. That's why he decided to move it from church fellowship halls to established urban "improv" comedy clubs.

"There are not many church gymnasiums that are really set up for low-light environment where comedians can perform and people can enjoy a meal," Fike said.

Fike has performed as a Christian comedian for 28 years, mostly at church-related events.

"It's great that I get paid now for what I used to get beat for doing when I was a kid," he quipped.

Last summer, he called one of the owners of the Addison Improv in north Dallas. Fike told him it was about time an established Christian comedian was allowed to be a headline an act at a secular comedy club.

The owner surprised him by saying he already was considering a family-friendly "clean comedy" night at his club.

Fike told him not everybody agrees on the definition of clean comedy, so he should advertise it as Christian comedy instead.

About 200 people attended the first Christian comedy night at the Addison club last June. "The next time, they must have oversold, because we had 270," Fike said, noting the club comfortably holds about 250.

While attendance dropped when school started, Christian comedy night has continued to expand. Starting Feb. 10, Fike will bring Christian comedy night to Houston, and he hopes in the future to start a similar event in Fort Worth and Little Rock, Ark.

Each performance features acts by Fike and three or four other Christian comedians. All performers are required to sign forms stipulating what is acceptable in their routines.

He thinks the comedy nights are meeting real needs.

"A lot of people are tired of raunchy humor, and they want to go to a place where they can enjoy a comedy show without being afraid of getting offended and having to get up and leave," he said.

While the events are geared primarily toward a Christian audience, they also offer opportunities for low-key evangelistic outreach, Fike added.

"We have a lot of walk-ins in Addison from the hotel next door," he said. "Now that gives us the opportunity to tell about why we do it. We don't preach, but at the end of the show I just say, 'Here's what Christian comedy is all about. It's the joy we find through faith in Jesus Christ.'"

Posted: 1/14/04

Texas Baptists going to the Super Bowl to minister

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Neither the Dallas Cowboys nor the Houston Texans will be in the Super Bowl this year, but Texas Baptists can punch their tickets to serve people going to the event.

Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated churches are poised to share the gospel with more than 200,000 people, including 35,000 media personnel, who will descend on Houston for the Feb. 1 game. Most of the crowd will not go to the game, but will attend events surrounding the competition.

"We have a great opportunity to share God's love through Christ. It's not only people in the Houston area, but the whole world," said Wayne Shuffield, local church evangelism consultant for the Baptist General Convention of Texas Center for Strategic Evangelism.

The Super Bowl evangelism steering committee is looking for churches to reach out to football fans the week leading up to the game by holding block parties or Super Bowl-watching gatherings.

The group also is organizing volunteers to do street evangelism and encouraging mission teams to do projects throughout the city. Believers will distribute tracts and Bibles.

About 10,000 volunteers are needed to serve in 30 projects. Available positions include airport greeters, halftime volunteers and game managers. Volunteers can work events such as Taste of the NFL and the NFL Experience. Workers are needed to stuff bags and put them on stadium chairs.

Opportunities to share the gospel evolve naturally as church members serve in secular capacities, said Timothy Knopps, who has been contracted by the North American Mission Board to work with the steering committee. When other workers ask why someone volunteered, a person can talk about their church and faith.

"It gets (church members) involved in the community," Knopps said. "What we've found is when a church member gets involved in the community, the community gets involved in the church."

Cooperation between Texas Baptists and Super Bowl officials benefits both parties, Knopps added. As many as 3,000 people have made professions of faith in Christ through efforts prior to the Super Bowl in the past.

Also, the National Football League has benefited from volunteers willing to serve at the events, he added. "The NFL wants to use local people in what they do. The NFL wants to leave a legacy of good things they've done locally."

Because of the league's preference for area workers, there is ample opportunity for Baptists around the state to minister during the Super Bowl weekend, Shuffield noted. Volunteers can come from throughout Texas.

"Hundreds of churches carry a greater impact for the cause of the kingdom than any one single church has," Shuffield said. "All Texas Baptists are invited to Houston."

For more information, contact Knopps at tknopps@timothyinstitute.org or (405) 478-2186.

Posted: 1/09/04

Committee urges SBC to cut ties,
funding to Baptist World Alliance

A Southern Baptist Convention study committee is recommending that the SBC withdraw from the Baptist World Alliance and stop funding the worldwide fellowship.

Charging the BWA with a “leftward drift,” the committee proposes that Southern Baptists lead in creating a new, more conservative, worldwide Baptist organization.

“Continuing to allow presentations that call into question the truthfulness of Holy Scripture, refusing to support openly the idea that all who are saved must come to salvation through conscious faith in Jesus Christ, and promoting women as preachers and pastors are among the issues that make it impossible to endorse the BWA as a genuinely representative organization of world Baptists,” said the committee report, released six days before Christmas.

The SBC study committee is recommending that the SBC withdraw its membership and financial support from BWA effective Oct. 1, 2004. Withdrawn funds could then be used “to develop and execute a new and innovative strategy for continuing to build strong relationships with conservative evangelical Christians around the world as together we witness to the saving power of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the report says.

BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz labeled the proposal “a sin against love,” warning it would “bring a schism within the life of our worldwide Baptist family.”

The BWA has “rejected the theology of liberalism,” Lotz said. “Our BWA member bodies affirm the trinity, the divinity of Christ, the resurrection, the atonement, second coming and future rule of God.”

Lotz characterized the SBC committee's recommendations as the “triumph of ideology over doctrine.”

“In the end, it became a question of power and control and the desire of forcing Baptists of the world to fit into one particular mode or mold or interpretation of thinking. This is contrary to all Baptist understanding of the competency of the individual and of soul liberty,” he said.

Southern Baptists were instrumental in founding the BWA in 1905, and the SBC has been its largest financial contributor, providing up to $425,000 a year to the BWA.

Last June at its annual meeting, the SBC voted to cut its funding to $300,000 and allocate the $125,000 difference to a new Southern Baptist “Kingdom Relationships” global initiative.

SBC Committee rationale

The study committee's recommendations will be considered by the SBC Executive Committee in February and by messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention next June.

The committee includes four former SBC presidents: Morris Chapman, committee chairman, president of the SBC Executive Committee; Jimmy Draper, president of LifeWay Christian Resources; Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, who drafted the three-page report; and Oklahoma pastor Tom Elliff.

Other committee members are SBC Executive Committee Chairman Gary Smith, pastor of Fielder Road Baptist Church in Arlington; retired Houston judge Paul Pressler; Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board; Joe Reynolds, a Houston attorney; and Bob Sorrell, president of The Associates, a ministry based in Cordova, Tenn.

The study committee cited concerns about the potential impact on constituent bodies when the BWA “gives apparent approval … (to) aberrant theologies.”

The committee also claimed: “A decided anti-American tone has emerged in recent years. Continued emphasis on women as pastors, frequent criticisms of the International Mission Board of Southern Baptists, refusal to allow open discussion on issues such as abortion, and the funding of questionable enterprises through Baptist World Aid provide just a surface sampling of what has transpired in recent years.”

The committee report stated, “We pray for the day when the BWA will return to the faith on which it was founded and which has been historically held by Baptists for centuries. We pray for the restoration of fellowship that such a return will bring.”

However, the committee also stated it “anticipates with enthusiasm the possible emergence of a new fellowship with an unqualified adherence to the absolute Lordship of Christ, the inerrancy of Holy Scripture, salvation based on the substitutionary atonement of Christ appropriated through repentance toward god and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The proposed fellowship would have a “commitment to the sanctity of all human life” and advocacy of absolute religious liberty. “How or when this new fellowship develops will be for others to determine,” the committee said, “but numerous Baptist friends from around the globe have indicated their hearty interest in such a fellowship,” the committee stated.

BWA reaction

BWA President Billy Kim expressed the “deep regret” of “Baptist friends around the world” regarding the proposed SBC withdrawal from the BWA.”

The SBC was “a pioneer in the establishment of the BWA, near-ly 100 years ago. They have made a tremendous contribution to the Baptist work around the world. All of us are saddened that the SBC (is) now withdrawing from the BWA,” said Kim.

Noting the challenges Baptists and other evangelicals face as a minority faith in many parts of the world, Kim said it is “essential that we remain united to fulfill the Great Commission before Christ returns.”

Kim called for prayers during the transitional period. “Pray that we will not lose the focus of our call for fellowship, encouragement and the propagation of the gospel.”

In an interview with Baptist Press, public relations arm of the SBC Executive Committee, Kim said he was not surprised by the report and recommendations. “Adding CBF was the straw that broke the camel's back, I think. But there was a majority vote.”

The BWA General Council voted 75-28 last July to accept the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship into BWA membership. The SBC study committee report did not specifically address the vote regarding the CBF.

SBC leaders respond

The committee chairman told Baptist Press the report “well captured the sentiment of the committee and has attempted to show that the basis for the committee's decision was wide-ranging, much more than any one incident of misunderstanding or disagreement.”

Chapman said the committee's discussions might be summarized by one question of whether the SBC would be best represented around the world by the BWA or by itself.

“We do not seek to separate ourselves from others but desire to work directly with fellow Baptists around the world rather than through the BWA,” Chapman said. “The BWA was always intended to be a fellowship among Baptists rather than the denomination-like organization that it is becoming. It makes no sense for Southern Baptists to duplicate through the BWA what we are doing already in our international missions effort to reach the world for Christ.

“Given the wide range of theological views represented by the BWA, we are convinced that it is best that Southern Baptists work directly with like-minded unions and conventions around the world rather than through the BWA.”

Committee member Rankin told Baptist Press he regretted that the BWA has continued to embrace “a 'diversity' beyond what Southern Baptists can feel comfortable with. It is unfortunate that there has been a steady deterioration in relationships for several years as the BWA has moved beyond being a worldwide fellowship of Baptists to promoting programs and adopting positions with which the SBC cannot identify.”

“I would not see the SBC taking an initiative to create an alternate global organization of Baptists,” Rankin said, “but we are committed to facilitating the desire of overseas Baptist unions and conventions who represent conservative theology and a solid evangelistic approach to missions to work together for mutual encouragement. I am confident many will respond to efforts to provide training, fellowship and cooperative mission endeavors to advance the kingdom of God.”

Compiled from Baptist Press and Associated Baptist Press

Posted: 1/09/04

BGCT leaders express grief over SBC withdrawal from BWA

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

Texas Baptist leaders expressed grief over a proposed Southern Baptist Convention withdrawal from the Baptist World Alliance and support for the beleaguered international fellowship.

“My initial reaction was grief for the broad Baptist family,” said Ken Hall, president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

“I hope Texas Baptists rally around the Baptist World Alliance, not only as an organization, but also rallying around the national Baptists around the world the BWA represents.”

BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade echoed those sentiments, saying, “The world of Baptists does not depend on the Southern Baptist Convention's money for its life and progress, but Baptists of the world grieve over the SBC leaders' decision to sever ties with the BWA. … For the sake of a lost world and for the advance of the kingdom of God, it is more crucial than ever to maintain truly global relationships.”

Hall, chief executive officer of Buckner Baptist Benevolences, expressed concern that the SBC study committee report “will make Baptist work in the world more difficult by making us appear fractious to national Baptist bodies and to governmental entities.”

These kinds of moves require international ministries like Buckner to “clearly delineate” their identity, making it known that Southern Baptist leaders do not represent the views of all Baptists in the United States, he explained.

“I don't think the leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention speak for the average Baptist in the pew,” Hall asserted, adding that most Baptists he knows highly value cooperation in missions ventures.

Phil Strickland, director of the BGCT Christian Life Commission, agreed that if Southern Baptists distance themselves from the BWA, it is “an affront” to other Baptists worldwide.

“In effect, this is a statement to the national Baptist conventions that happily relate to the BWA that the Southern Baptist Convention does not want to work with them,” said Strickland, whose agency relates to the BWA on a variety of world hunger projects.

“What is at stake here is the reputation of Baptists in America in the minds of Baptist groups across the world.”

Charges of “aberrant theology” in the BWA appear to be based on false information, Wade and Hall noted.

“Baptists do not agree on every detail of every doctrine, and there always has been room for debate and disagreement on some issues and on the nature of methods. But to suggest the BWA is unfaithful to the great doctrines of Baptist life or uncertain about the facts that Jesus is the way of salvation and the Bible is true and trustworthy and authoritative for Baptist life is simply false,” Wade said.

The veracity of at least one example of alleged liberalism cited by the study committee in its report has been disputed. “There is a huge ethical question here that has yet to be resolved,” Strickland said. “It presents the appearance of an integrity gap.”

The Texas Baptist leaders praised BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz and BWA President Billy Kim.

“I am a great admirer of Denton Lotz, and there is no finer Baptist pastor in the world than Billy Kim,” Hall commented.

Wade called Lotz and Kim “faithful preachers of the Bible and its gospel. Neither of them is a liberal in his theology.”

The BGCT “has a responsibility at some level to participate financially” in helping to offset the $300,000 a year the BWA could lose if the SBC cuts its funding, Hall said. “Just as other worthy organizations and causes, from WorldconneX to Buckner, find their way into the budget, I would also think the BWA has a place in our budget.”

Even so, Hall expressed a “personal bias for local church autonomy, rather than the BGCT deciding for a church.” He also noted that placing the BWA in the BGCT budget could draw limited resources away from other priority areas.

“The danger of putting all the responsibility on the BGCT (budget) is that it would take resources away from other important ministries, unless churches are willing to increase their support in giving to the BGCT,” Hall said.

Pointing to longstanding Texas Baptist ties to the BWA, including ongoing church planting efforts in Eastern Europe and hunger relief and development projects in Africa and Asia, Wade pledged continued support for the international organization.

“Texas Baptists will continue to support the work of the BWA because we believe in the importance of preserving the unity of our witness for Christ with Baptists around the world,” he said.

“I am confident the BGCT will continue in its glad support and involvement in the life and work of the BWA.”

Posted: 1/09/04

German theologian disputes committee
report's truthfulness

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

BOCHUM,Germany (ABP)– A German Baptist theologian, who was cited as an example of “aberrant and dangerous” theology within the Baptist World Alliance, says the Southern Baptist committee that leveled those charges is guilty of lying and should repent.

“All of your allegations are totally unsubstantiated,” Erich Geldbach said in a letter to Morris Chapman, chairman of a Southern Baptist Convention study committee that is proposing the SBC withdraw its membership and financial support from the Baptist World Alliance.

“Your Committee is therefore guilty of trespassing at least two commandments: 'Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour' (Exodus 20:16) and 'Lie not one to another' (Colossians 3:9),” Geldbach wrote.

Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee, and eight other prominent Southern Baptists serve on the special committee, which accused the BWA of questioning biblical inerrancy, promoting women as pastors and downplaying the doctrine of salvation only through Jesus.

The committee's report cites as an example of the BWA's “leftward drift” a 1997 presentation by an unnamed “German Baptist theologian” to a BWA-sponsored meeting of Baptist theology professors in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“In a theological workgroup,” the SBC report noted, “Dr. Ken Hemphill was asked to deliver a paper on 'The Great Commission of our Lord.' After a superb paper, one respondent chosen by the BWA to participate replied, 'I am not even sure that there is any such thing as the Great Commission, but if there is I am confident that Jesus never said it.'”

Geldbach, in his letter to Chapman, said the unnamed theologian could only be him, since “to my knowledge no other German theologian was present.” Geldbach was one of three people asked to respond to the presentation by Hemphill, then president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

“It is of utmost importance for me to point out that nowhere in my response to Dr. Hemphill's paper is there any such foolish statement as your committee suggested by giving a direct quote,” Geldbach wrote. “What is being presented as a direct quote is neither my language, nor could I identify with such a statement, which I would dismiss as theological trash.”

With his letter to Chapman, Geldbach included a copy of his 1997 response to Hemphill. “Should you find anywhere in my response a sentence that comes even close to your quote of what I was supposed to have said, then language, as means of communication, no longer works,” the professor said.

The copy Geldbach provided of his response does not include the quotation cited by the SBC committee. However, Geldbach questions Hemphill's assertion that the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) should be the “central focus of the entire seminary experience” or “the heart of theological education.”

“My conclusion,” Geldbach wrote, “is that we should not try to distill one particular form of evangelism from the New Testament, but leave open the option to have a great variety of approaches which differ from country to country, from culture to culture, from continent to continent.”

A comprehensive view of evangelism should include a response to injustice, hunger, unemployment and racism, Geldbach wrote. “Have all of these problems nothing to do with evangelism and seminary teaching that flows from evangelism?

“… Unless the good news becomes 'good' for people who have been denied any 'goodness' in their lives, evangelism is endangered to become an ideological weapon,” he wrote.

Chapman declined to comment on the specifics of Geldbach's letter. He told Associated Baptist Press that the letter was e-mailed Dec. 31 to members of the SBC study committee, which may respond later.

Chapman defended the study committee's recommendation, which he said “is to withdraw from an organization but not from Baptists wherever they may live in the world. The Southern Baptist Convention will continue to build strong relationships with our Baptist brothers and sisters around the world and very much look forward to every opportunity for fellowship.

“The final recommendation of the SBC/BWA Study Committee came down to one paramount question: In this generation, does the BWA best represent the Southern Baptist Convention to the world, or would the SBC better represent itself to our Baptist brethren everywhere?” Chapman told ABP.

The proposal from the study committee, which the Southern Baptist Convention is expected to approve in June, would end the SBC's century-long membership in the Baptist World Alliance and delete the SBC's $300,000 annual contribution to the BWA. The report encourages the SBC and like-minded Baptists to form a new international organization committed to inerrancy, the substitutionary atonement of Christ, the sanctity of human life, evangelism and other conservative causes.

In his letter, Geldbach noted he was not “chosen by the BWA” to respond to Hemphill's paper, as described by the SBC committee, but by the conference organizers, who included a prominent Southern Baptist.

Geldbach also disputed the study committee's charge that the moderator of the 1997 theological workgroup “not only did not take issue with this German Baptist theologian, but also protected him, allowing him to refuse to respond to certain questions about universalism.”

Geldbach said the questions about universalism came from Paige Patterson, now president of Southwestern Seminary and a member of the SBC study committee, during a question-and-answer period near the end of the workshop.

“His question was a very difficult one, even though I sensed at the time that he was not genuinely interested in a differentiated answer,” Geldbach wrote. “Since English is not my mother tongue, I whispered to the moderator to take the next question to give me some more time to think and prepare an answer. The moderator did so. The next question was not directed to me, but someone else on the panel. It took that person a long time to answer, so that the time for the session was over, and the moderator had to close the meeting before I could … reply.”

Patterson was traveling outside the country and could not be reached for comment. Patterson was the primary author of the study committee report and the source for the account of the encounter with Geldbach in Vancouver, Chapman noted.

While the SBC study committee accused the BWA of preventing an “open discussion” of theological differences, Geldbach said it is intimidation from the SBC that is limiting fair debate among Baptists. “You create an atmosphere of mistrust, suspicion and ill feelings, of which the report of your committee is but another sad example,” he wrote.

“Consequently, I beseech you in the name of our triune God whom we try to serve, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to repent and turn from your wicked ways. If you do this, I would be overjoyed and not ask for an apology,” the letter said.

“May … God give you his wisdom, so that you may discover that other allegations in your report are equally false and unsupported by any evidence.”

Posted: 1/09/04

Baptists offer disaster relief
in Iran after earthquake rocks Bam area

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

Disaster relief volunteers from Texas Baptist churches were slated to leave the United States Jan. 9 bound for Iran.

They plan to spend two weeks meeting immediate needs of people left homeless and hurting after a massive earthquake in the Bam area.

A quake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale rocked Bam the morning after Christmas. Some reports said it left 60 percent of the city in rubble, while others said 78 percent of the city was destroyed.

Baptist relief volunteers are working under the auspices of established non-governmental organizations recognized in the region.

The Texas Baptists include volunteers with experience in various aspects of disaster relief, both domestically and internationally.

Their involvement marks Texas Baptists' second disaster relief mission to Iran. In 1991, Texas Baptists took the lead in setting up field kitchens in Kurdish refugee camps after Operation Desert Storm. Those volunteers were the first evangelical Christians to enter Iran since the hostage crisis following the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Meanwhile, Baptist World Aid, the Baptist World Alliance relief and development agency, also has been providing medical assistance in the Bam area.

Sandor Szenczy, president of Hungarian Baptist Aid, the lead agency coordinating the international Baptist response, said more than 1,500 children in the area lost their parents.

In a report distributed by Baptist World Aid, Szenczy described the scene in Bam: “A few houses lost only two or three walls, and the remaining part looks like a theater stage, with the clocks ticking on the wall and the refrigerator's open door showing the vegetables and milk inside.

“Most of the survivor inhabitants fled to other areas of the country. Those who stayed tried to warm up by a fire and slept in tents provided by the international relief organizations. Everybody wears a dust mask on the streets, and we can see the horror of the tragedy in the eyes.”

Even the city's airport had been turned into a makeshift hospital, he said.

“Everywhere we looked, injured and wounded people tried to get treatment, and those who already received it were lying on beds. However the patients with the most serious injuries were being flown to other cities.

“After arrival, our doctors and nurses immediately started to treat those who came to us,” Szenczy reported.

Baptist medical relief workers set up a clinic in tents pitched under palm trees in a park. More than 200 people received treatment at the “Baptist hospital” within just the first few days, he noted.

“Some of them were badly injured. Some of them suffered from pneumonia or cold because at nights the temperature fell below minus 8 to 10 degrees Celcius. One day, our team was also asked to go to two villages nearby Bam because survivors were found there, and there were not enough doctors to provide medical care, and the medications were not sufficient either.”

Posted: 1/09/04

African Truett student sees God in suffering

By Terri Jo Ryan

Special to the Standard

WACO–Even in the midst of a bloody and brutal 10-year civil war in Sierra Leone, Martin Dixon, 40, saw the hand of God in everything that was happening.

A pastor of two Baptist congregations in his homeland, Dixon, now a master of divinity student at Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary, said he spent those years “preaching messages of hope and salvation” that reflected his bedrock belief that ultimately God was in control.

“Churches were the only hope of the people,” he said. “They could go and get encouragement” and the strength to carry on despite the difficulties.

He served two congregations in the capital city of Freetown–Galilee Baptist and Robert's Street Baptist. He had to be circumspect, however, because rebels of the Revolutionary United Front in undercover garb could have been sitting in his pews, or he could have been monitored by informers working with the violently oppressive regime.

Pastors who strayed into forbidden territory in their remarks were taken away, never to be heard from again, he reported. “You didn't know what to say, or where, because you didn't know who might be around.”

Dixon credits God for sparing his family from the worst of the horrors perpetrated by his fellow Africans against each other in a decade-long bloody civil war. He counts his survival, and that of his wife and three of their four children, as miraculous, given the hellish circumstances they faced when the city was overrun by rebels in 1997.

The Liberia-backed Revolutionary United Front swarmed the city, and more than 1 million citizens died before the United Nations stepped in with a peace-keeping force that remains there today.

“Everyone was in a mess,” Dixon said. In an understated fashion, he recited a litany of terror in those violent times: They witnessed rape, people getting hacked with machetes, people being set on fire or being locked into their homes and the houses being set ablaze.

“We saw pregnant women ripped open,” by rebels making sport of trying to determine whether a woman was carrying a boy or a girl, Dixon said.

During his recollections, his 35-year-old wife, Alice, looked away and started to sniffle, seemingly reliving some terrible moment from their travails.

“At the end of the day, we still say it was God who saved us. I don't know how many times we were close to death, when God provided some distraction that spared us,” Dixon said.

For example, one time as rebels were burning rows of homes, a commander told the rebels to skip the Dixons' home and resume the burning down the block, Mrs. Dixon said. Another time, they were lined up on the street with other victims about to be “disciplined” by machete, when a rebel leader suddenly summoned his men to the outskirts of the city to skirmish with government forces.

But the pastor's family didn't escape every hardship of the long conflict. They lost their youngest child, Josephine, 3, in 1997 to malaria. Anemic, she didn't have the strength to fight off illness without medicine or medical care–none of which was available when the rebels ruled.

From the fall of Freetown until UN peace keepers took over, the Dixons lived off “things other people can't think of eating,” such as lizards. People would go fishing in the dark of night, because if they tried during the day, the rebels would confiscate the food, they recalled. People foraged in the forest for “bush yams” and other roots–anything just to survive.

Rebels regularly ransacked homes, searching for food or valuables.

“You couldn't object, or you would lose your tongue,” Dixon said. “You just pretended as if everything were OK.”

From the Red Cross, they received a few cups of rice each week.

After the war ended, Dixon heard from one of his pre-war friends, an American missionary from Georgia who had served from 1991 until the war drove him out of Sierra Leone. The man asked him if he wanted to go to school in the United States and recover from the trauma of the war years.

When Dixon indicated a preference for Texas, the friend hooked him into Truett. Martin is studying on a full scholarship and has a humble 20-hour-per-week work/study job in the dean's office to pay his bills.

The Dixons have three children left overseas, living in Freetown with Mrs. Dixon's mother–Martina, 17, Donald, 14, and Daniel, 11.

The couple do not have the estimated $3,500 immigration fees per child to bring them over. So they keep up by phone once a week; a letter would take three months to get through.

The children still are traumatized by the war, Dixon said. “Some of their friends and playmates were killed. They walked 10 to 12 miles, trying to escape death. They still have memories of this–death and danger and insecurity.”

The Dixons are members of Williams Creek Baptist Church in Axtell. Friends in the 85-member church conducted garage sales and other fund-raisers to collect $800 to help bring Mrs. Dixon over nine months ago.

Dixon teaches Sunday School and often preaches when the pastor, Tony Rosenblad, is out. Dixon also serves as worship leader, directing the children's choir and adult choir.

The Dixons' spiritual discipline “challenges us in our own faith walk,” Rosenblad said. When they hear of someone in need of moral support, they fast and pray. “Whenever they return to Africa, they will be greatly missed,” he said.

Dixon hopes to teach in a Bible college. Sierra Leone doesn't have one, but he is willing to go to other sites in Africa.

If he does, he could play a pivotal role in evangelizing the region.

The trend in missions these days is for homegrown talent to go throughout the continent to covert the followers of old tribal religions, rather than foreign missionaries coming in from the West.

Truett Seminary currently has 20 international students enrolled. They are from Africa, Europe, South America and Central America.

Posted: 1/09/04

Around the State

Big Spring-Lamesa Area is seeking a Mission Service Corps volunteer couple or single person to fill a vacancy at the Big Spring Hospitality House beginning in March. Joe and Wanda Bernier, the MSC couple currently serving there are resigning as of March 1. Responsibilities of the position include caring for the facility and the grounds and registration of people visiting prison inmates into the house on weekends. While the position is not salaried, an apartment attached to the facility is included. The ability to speak Spanish would be helpful but is not required. For more information, contact David Kimberly at (432) 263-1673 or (432) 517-0483.

Belva Loftin, administrative assistant to East Texas Baptist University President Bob Riley, was honored with a retirement reception Dec. 18 after 25 years of service. She began her career at ETBU in 1978 as the secretary for the alumni assocation and has been the administrative assistant to the president for the last 13 years. She will continue as pianist for First Church in Marshall.

Jim Leak (right), director of missions for Hill Country Association headquartered in Kerrville, was elected administrator/treasurer at the last meeting of the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Directors of Missions. He is pictured with Nodell Dennis of Blue River-Kansas City Association, chair of the search committee.

Anniversaries

Curt Grice, 10th, as youth minister at First Church in Arlington Jan. 11.

David Keith, 20th, as pastor of Carlton Church in Carlton Jan. 11.

First Indian Church in Houston, 20th, Jan. 11. The Native American Indian congregation's first pastor, Tom Anderson, brought the message.

Providence Church in Tool, 110th, Jan. 25. Former pastors and members are expected to attend the celebration, which will be highlighted by the dedication of a plaque from the Texas Historical Commission. The program will be from 10 am. until 4 p.m. with a noon meal served. Ted Eaton is pastor.

Paul Stanford, fifth, as minister of music at Eastridge Church in Red Oak.

Harold Sellers, 20th, as director of missions of Coastal Plains Area.

Johnny Wilson, 30th, as music minister at Baptist Temple in Victoria.

First Church in Sanderson, 100th, Feb. 14 and 15. The centennial celebration will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday and will include a time of fellowship, recalling the church's history, singing, preaching by former pastors and dinner. Sunday likewise will include preaching by former pastors as well as a noon meal. People planning to attend are asked to write the church at Box 560, Sanderson 79848.

Retiring

Jim Lane, as pastor of Memorial Church in El Campo, Feb. 1. He has been at the church 11 years and in the ministry 42 years. Prior to coming to El Campo, he was an education and music minister, including 11 years at Uvalde Church in Houston. He will be available as an interim pastor or music director at (979) 543-5263.

Margaret Parker, after 32 years as a church secretary. The last 23 years have been at First Church in Plainview, 21 of those as the pastor's secretary.

Deaths

Kenneth King, 75, Dec. 4 in New Braunfels. He was a former director of missions for Bluebonnet Association. He also was pastor of First Church in Canyon Lake and Mineral Springs Church near Lockhart. He was a member of First Church in New Braunfels. He also had served on the board of directors of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, San Antonio Baptist Children's Home, Howard Payne University, the University ofMary Hardin-Baylor and Highland Lakes Baptist Encampment. He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Sara; son, Randy; daughters, Regina Howell and Valerie Marrou; seven grandchildren; and sister, Nola Moore.

Clyde Griffin, 98, Dec. 7 in Irving. Griffin was a retired pastor and a member of First Church in Rockdale. He was preceded in death by his wife, Myrtle, five brothers and four sisters. He is survived by his son, Clyde Griffin Jr.

Clay Burns, 75, Dec. 14 in San Antonio. A retired pastor ordained in 1945, he served Heights Church in Temple, First Church in Florence, Walnut Creek Church in Austin, First Church in Clifton and First Church in Christine. In 1970, he became the first chaplain of Southeast Baptist Hospital in San Antonio, where he served 25 years. He was a member of First Church in San Antonio. He also was a member of the Human Welfare Coordinating Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and was a field representative of Texas Baptists Committed. He is survived by his wife, Margaret; daughters, Brenda Groves and Bridget Burns; and three grandchildren.

Gordon Wood, 89, Dec. 17 in Abilene. Wood, an alumnus of Hardin-Simmons University, was the second-winningest high school football coach in the nation. Wood, recipient of HSU's distinguished alumni award in 1978, won nine state championships, coached at eight schools and compiled a record of 396-91-15. While at Brownwood, his teams won seven state titles over a 26-year coaching stint. He was inducted into both the Texas High School Hall of Fame and the National High School Hall of Fame. He was National High School Football Coach of the Year in 1979. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Katherine; son, Jim; and daughter, Pat Wood.

C.E. Colton, 89, Dec. 22 in Dallas. He was Texas pastor for almost 70 years, and held various positions in Dallas Assocation, the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptist Convention. He also served as a trustee for the Annuity Board, the Baptist Standard and Dallas Baptist University. He recently was the recipient of the BGCT's distinguished service award. He was the head of the Bible department of Wayland College as well. He was pastor of Royal Haven Church in Dallas 29 years. He was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years, Lois. He is survived by his sons, Bob and Ron; six grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.

Bob Meadows, 79, Dec. 29 in Corpus Christi. A retired pastor, he served Pinewood Park Church in Longview, Calvary Church in Kingsville and Gardendale Church in Corpus Christi. He is survived by his wife, Mona; daughters, Jannette Slough and Ruby Meadows; sons, James and Roy David; sister, Lenora Howard; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Wayne Beasley, 73, Jan. 3 in Temple. Beasley was injured in last year's Feb. 14 bus crash of senior adults from Memorial Church in Temple. He still was attempting to recover from injuries sustained in the crash when he contracted pneumonia in December. While in the hospital, he suffered a heart attack and died. He is survived by his wife, Patsy.

Worth Thompson, 85, Jan. 3 in Kerrville. Thompson, in addition to being a former associational missionary of Medina River Association, was a pastor for many years. He served Big Foot Community Church in Big Foot, Calvary Church in Devine, Oak Park Church in Kerrville and Motley Hills Church in Kerrville, where he served for more than 20 years. After his retirement in 1993, he was a member of Hunt Church in Kerrville. He also served the Kerrville Police Department for more than 30 years as chaplain and was an assistant chaplain at the VA Medical Center there. He was preceded in death by three brothers and three sisters. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Virgie; daughters, Patricia Thompson and Michaelyn Atkinson; sisters, Edna Davis, Charlcy Petty and Gracie Wied; three grandchildren; and three great-grandsons.

Events

The Heights Church in Richardson dedicated its new 34,000-square-foot children's building Jan. 7. The building opened Jan. 11. Gary Singleton is pastor.

Windsor Park Church in DeSoto will host Team Impact in a crusade Jan. 21-25. The team of athletes will use feats of strength to communicate the gospel. The rallies will begin each evening at 7 p.m. For more information, call (972) 230-3000. Chris Seidlitz is pastor.

First Church in Van Horn will host a celebration of its history Feb. 1. Former members planning to attend are asked to call (432) 283-2010. Richard Smith is interim pastor.

Revival

First Church, Breckenridge; Jan. 25-28; evangelist, David Burk; music; Sherman and Tammy Aten; pastor, Cecil Harper.

Posted: 1/09/04

Buckner seeking North Texas host families
for orphaned 'angels' visiting from Russia

DALLAS–Buckner Orphan Care International is calling on local Christian families and singles to host older Russian orphans when the children visit North Texas in March.

The “Angels from Abroad” program will bring 10 to 15 children living in St. Petersburg-area orphanages to Texas to raise awareness about the needs of older children living in Russian orphanages.

Denis (left) and Dima are representative of the Russian “angels” who need host families for their Texas visit.

Angels from Abroad will allow host families the opportunity “to make a difference for a Russian child visiting the United States,” said Mary Ann Hamby, community relations coordinator for Buckner International Adoption.

She also encouraged families with long-term adoption plans to consider being host families.

“Hosting would be a great way for potentially adoptive families to participate in the experience of having a child from Russia living in their home.”

Tiffany Taylor, marketing director for Buckner Orphan Care International, said Angels from Abroad plans to bring children ages 7-14 to Dallas March 20 through April 3. The children will have the opportunity “to share their Russian cultural heritage–and experience Texan hospitality.”

“Buckner is looking for North Texas Christian families and singles who are interested in hosting a child or sibling group,” Taylor said.

An information meeting for potential host families will be held at 6 p.m. Jan. 20 at the Buckner Orphan Care International offices, 4830 Samuell Blvd. in Dallas. Call (214) 381-1552 or toll free, (866) 236-7823, for reservations or more information.