Christian illusionist uses stunts to present gospel message_110804

Posted: 11/05/04

Christian illusionist uses stunts to present gospel message

By Leann Callaway

Special to the Baptist Standard

BAYTOWN–When illusionist Jared Hall wants to illustrate how sin separates people from God, he puts on a straitjacket.

11/05/2004 - By John Rutledge

Right to Life researchers critique abortion study_110804

Posted: 11/05/04

Right to Life researchers critique abortion study

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–Scholars associated with the National Right to Life committee point to what they consider as flaws in an evangelical seminary professor's study suggesting that the abortion rate has risen during the Bush administration. But the Baptist professor is standing by his conclusion.

11/05/2004 - By John Rutledge

Faith sustains military couples seeking to adopt_110804

Posted: 11/05/04

Faith sustains military couples seeking to adopt

By Felicia Fuller

Buckner News Service

The Bible says it's the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. It sustained U.S. Army Chaplain Lance Fadeley as he witnessed to soldiers amid death and devastation in Iraq. It sustained his wife, Shauna, as she read the headlines home alone in Texas.

11/05/2004 - By John Rutledge

Mothers who place babies with Buckner find help at retreat_110804

Posted: 11/05/04

Mothers who place babies with Buckner find help at retreat

By Felicia Fuller

Buckner News Service

ROYSE CITY–Open adoption lifts the veil of secrecy once associated with placement, but Mayra Marquez, 21, says the process is no less painful–even 19 months after the ink has dried.

11/05/2004 - By John Rutledge

Chaplain offers exercises to help ministers relate to effects of aging_110804

Posted: 11/05/04

Chaplain offers exercises to help
ministers relate to effects of aging

Effective senior adult ministry requires an understanding of what it means to grow older.

At a recent Baptist General Convention of Texas-sponsored pastoral caregivers retreat, Judy Collins, a chaplain in the Baylor Health Care System, suggested the following exercises to become more familiar with the effects of aging:

Write while wearing loose-fitting garden gloves to simulate difficulty with hands.

11/05/2004 - By John Rutledge

Senior adults reveal spiritual needs through stories with deep meaning, chaplain says_110804

Posted: 11/05/04

Senior adults reveal spiritual needs through
stories with deep meaning, chaplain says

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

BURNET–Grandpa's stories about his war experience may be tales of spiritual battle more than combat between men. Older people naturally speak of spiritual matters through stories, Mike Mullender, a chaplain in the Baylor Health Care System, told a recent chaplaincy reteat sponsored by the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

11/05/2004 - By John Rutledge

Around the State_110804

Posted: 11/05/04

Around the State

Among the chaplains endorsed by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in October were Pam Foster, a hospice chaplain in Fort Worth; Debbie Kubo, a hospice chaplain in Dallas; and Doug Cobb, a chaplain at Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Temple.

The Hardin-Simmons University Alumni Association has elected Ronnie Kidd to remain as president of its board of directors in 2005. Other board members are Andrea Howey, Larry Moss, Karen Johnson, Erin Maddox, Karen Gurganus, Debbie Young, Deborah Ashmore, Ann Scargall, Pat Kelley, Billy Bob Neff, Janis Altom, Vance Cooksey, Dean Taggart, Donald Tittle, Dorothy Kiser, Debbie Harruff, Bee Shakleford and Fred Ewing.

Joe Welsh, pastor of View Church in Abilene, has been elected moderator of Abilene Association. Jim McCurley, pastor of Potosi Church in Abilene, was elected first vice moderator, and Lee Fuller, pastor of Wylie Church in Abilene, selected to be second vice moderator. David Cason, pastor of Broadview Church in Abilene, will head the evangelism/missions team; Mike Woodard, pastor of Southwest Park Church in Abilene, will lead the strengthening existing churches team; and Monroe Levrets, a member of Wylie Church, is stewardship team leader.

Erma Liles' gift enabled First Church in Weinert to purchase chair lifts to enable elderly and disabled members of the congregation to have access to the church's fellowship hall, which is located upstairs. The congregation thanked Liles for her gift at a dedication service. She is pictured with pastor J.C. Baker.

11/05/2004 - By John Rutledge

BaptistWay Bible Series for Nov. 14: Commended by Christ, committed to the Corinthians_110804

Posted: 11/05/04

BaptistWay Bible Series for Nov. 14

Commended by Christ, committed to the Corinthians

2 Corinthians 10:1-18

By Todd Still

Truett Seminary, Waco

11/05/2004 - By John Rutledge

Baptist Briefs_110804

Posted: 11/05/04

Baptist Briefs

Hankins named Louisiana executive director. David Hankins, vice president for Cooperative Program for the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, was elected executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. The former pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Lake Charles, La., will begin his new duties Jan. 1 as director-elect and will assume full duties Feb. 1 after Executive Director Dean Doster retires Jan. 31. Hankins served the Lake Charles church 10 years before becoming vice president for convention policy for the SBC Executive Committee in January 1996. In that capacity, he guided the process of restructuring the convention and its agencies, adopted by the SBC in 1995. He assumed his present post with the Executive Committee in 1998 and directs the development and promotion of Cooperative Program ministries and giving. Born in Alameda, Calif., Hankins, 54, grew up in Texas and received his undergraduate degree at Dallas Baptist University. He received both master of divinity and doctor of philosophy degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

Move afoot to nix N.C. giving options. North Carolina Baptists expect a motion from the floor of their state convention that will propose scrapping optional funding plans in the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina's budget. The move would eliminate funding of causes popular among moderate Baptists in the state and strengthen ties to the Southern Baptist Convention. Ted Stone of Durham, N.C., announced he will make a motion at the annual meeting "to restore the single-giving plan of the traditional Cooperative Program as the sole method of doing missions together." Jim Royston, the executive director of the North Carolina state convention, said Stone's proposal could cost the convention $1.5 million. Currently churches giving to the state convention can choose one of four giving plans, making it possible for churches to direct funds to a variety of causes, including the Baptist World Alliance and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Stone's proposal would eliminate three of the giving options, leaving only a plan in which the state convention would keep 65 percent of the money and sends 35 percent to the Southern Baptist Convention.

BJC names communications director. The Baptist Joint Committee in Washington, D.C., has named Jeff Huett director of communications. Huett, 26, joined the BJC staff in 2001 as associate communications director. He succeeds Larry Chesser, who left the religious liberty agency in May to pursue business interests in Arkansas. Huett has served as acting communications director since then. Executive Director Brent Walker praised Huett as "bright, hardworking and with judgment beyond his years." A native of Montgomery, Ala., Huett graduated from Baylor University with a degree in journalism and business, and he earned a master's degree in media and public affairs from George Washington University, where he was named a Larry King Scholar. At Baylor, Huett was the editor-in-chief of the Baylor Lariat student newspaper. As an undergraduate, he completed internships at Associated Baptist Press in Jacksonville, Fla., and Buckner Baptist Benevolences in Dallas. Huett is a member of Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church, Va.

11/05/2004 - By John Rutledge

Former NAMB chaplaincy director transfers his endorsement to BGCT_110804

Former NAMB chaplaincy director
transfers his endorsement to BGCT

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Bob Vickers, former director of the chaplaincy evangelism for the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board, has transferred his endorsement to the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

11/05/2004 - By John Rutledge

ANOTHER VIEW: Marketplace impacts global missions_110804

Posted: 11/05/04

ANOTHER VIEW:
Marketplace impacts global missions

By Kyle B. Usrey

If we believe our Lord is truly sovereign over all, then he is Lord of the marketplace, as well.

For many Christians, the very idea of God's involvement in the free enterprise system is anathema. After all, didn't Jesus run the moneychangers from the temple? Don't many of the parables deal with oppression of the poor? How can wealth creation actually be part of the gospel?

11/05/2004 - By John Rutledge

Co-workers should be honored, not manipulated, chaplaincy director says_110804

Posted: 11/05/04

Co-workers should be honored, not
manipulated, chaplaincy director says

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

BURNET–Co-workers are not pawns to be manipulated on the way to a promotion but teammates to honor while working toward a common goal, said the Baylor Health Care System's chaplaincy director.

11/05/2004 - By John Rutledge