Posted: 11/05/04

STEVE MURDOCK: Demographic guru

Texas has become the second most-populous state in the nation and is growing by the minute with great implications for church starting and church growth. No one in the state is more aware of what is happening than the state's demographer, Steve Murdock, who heads the Texas State Data Center and the Institute for Demographic and Socioeconomic Research at the University of Texas-San Antonio. A native of North Dakota, Murdock is a graduate of North Dakota State University and earned master's and doctor of philosophy degrees at the University of Kentucky. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He is the author of 11 books, more than 120 technical articles and book chapters, 125 research reports and monographs and 70 popular articles on the determinants and consequences of demographic, socioeconomic and natural resource changes.

Steve Murdock

Q.

What is the history of the Texas Data Center and the office of the state demographer?

The state data center program started in 1979 in Texas. We have been the primary agency in terms of providing technical support and information since then. We provide direct information through our cells and affiliates to about 50,000 people a year. We provide direct access through our website to another 2.5 million real users, who go to the site and download data from it. In fact, we download about 2.5 gigabytes a day. About 50 percent are public and 50 percent are private users.

Q.

Who are the largest users of your data?

About 50 percent are public, from legislators to state agencies to local cities, towns, communities. On the private side are corporations from across the country. For example, supermarket chains use it to learn where the population is expanding so they can tell where to place their stores. We have a number of nonprofits who use it, such as Little League who use it to discern districts for specific teams in specific cities.

We have a tremendous variety of uses of our data, both in the public and private sectors. Perhaps the major part of our data, in addition to census data, is we do estimates and projections for the state of Texas. We do estimates yearly and biennial projections that are used by virtually all state agencies to do facility, personnel and budgetary planning.

Q

How do you gather the data?

The census data is provided by the Bureau of the Census. But we collect data on annexations of every city and town in Texas. We obtain data, both city and county, on housing and building permits and occupancy permits and data on school enrollment as another way to estimate population. We use factors we have seen as symptomatic of population change, like school enrollment, housing permits, vehicle registrations, births, deaths–a wide variety of factors. We do estimates for all 254 counties and about 1,500 places, towns and cities every year, and every other year we do projections for the state and counties.

Q.

When was the office of the state demographer created?

The office of the state demographer was created recently, but we have been doing the duties of that office for years. In 2001, a bill was introduced by Sen. West of Coleman to create the office. The bill specified the lieutenant governor and speaker of the House would nominate the person, and the governor would make the appointment. Gov. Perry made the appointment. It recognized some things we were already doing and gave it official status. Part of the reason was federal agencies were seeking information and didn't know where to go. By creating the office, it centralized the location and let people know where to go for their information.

Q.

Who was doing the work of your office and the data center before 1979?

No one. There had been no ongoing population projections before 1979.

Q

Why was your office moved from Texas A&M to the University of Texas at San Antonio in January?

They made us a better offer in terms of resources and visibility, and part of it was simply location. We are able to do more with large businesses in a large metropolitan area than we were able to do in Bryan/College Station. Being in a metropolitan area increases our ability to work with the private sector.

Q.

What is your principal assignment?

No one says this is exactly what you are supposed to do, but people depend on us to be able to provide them with the most recent data on demographic matters. They assume they can call us and ask for the most recent data on the number of children, or elderly or total population. We also do the estimates in the projections, which are used for budgetary and other kinds of planning and purposes. Another thing we do is selected policy analysis with demographic data.

Probably most people know of our work about a decade ago called The Texas Challenge and more recently The New Texas Challenge. Everything we do has a demographic component. We don't claim to be economists or something other than what we are. But what we do in the policy work is try to trace what the implications of demographic change are for other other factors for state services, for income levels, for educational levels, etc. We are not policy makers; we are policy informers. We provide information for the policy makers that they can use in their deliberations. Our job is to provide information and let them use it in ways they see fit.

Q

How large is your staff and do you have offices in other areas.

Our direct staff here in San Antonio is about 14 people, the majority of which are supported not by state appropriations but by grants and contracts we have with various entities.

We do have a network of nearly 50 other entities in the state that disseminate information.

Nearly all of the 24 councils of governments, many small business institutes and universities are part of the network.

The idea of the network is to provide access in closer proximity to the users, so that if I am in Lubbock I can go to Texas Tech, our Plains affiliate, and get information and not have to get it from our San Antonio office, although that is much easier today with Internet capabilities. But if they want to sit down and talk to someone about data items, they can do it with someone who is close.

All those entities cooperate with the program at no cost to the state of Texas. Most do it to have access to the information and to serve their clienteles.

Q.

How did you personally get involved in demographics?

I have a bachelor's degree from North Dakota State University. I am originally from North Dakota but I have been in Texas for 27 years. I received a master's and doctor of philosophy degree at the University of Kentucky. When I went to Kentucky, I met a very dynamic professor who was a demographer and helped me begin to see what demography was and what it could do. Like most academics, in terms of their field, I fell in love with my discipline by seeing what it studied, which was intrinsically interesting to me.

And very important for me was the aspect of what it could do and how it could be used by people in the real world, so to speak.

Q.

Give me an example of how demographics affect our lives as Texas citizens.

Lots of different ways. A good example is that the aging of the Baby Boomer population, those born between 1946 and 1964, will create and are creating in the next decade the largest number of elderly people we have ever had.

What that means for any Texan, whether through state or federal programs, is the amount we will be spending for long-term care, for medical care, will increase dramatically.

This is the first generation that is larger than the generation coming up behind it and in a sense is the first generation that will have larger numbers using services than are paying for services. That is clearly a demographic factor that affects not only that generation but generations of others, because as we age, our health needs go up.

Another way is that as the characteristics of the populations change, educational levels change and the need, use and cost of state services change. Demographics, as some people say, is not destiny but is certainly a major determinant in our society.

Q.

Is the study of demographics changing?

Yes and no. There are some basic elements we have always studied, such as the major processes that change population, such as fertility, mortality, migration and immigration. I think what is changing is that demographers are looking at the implications, not just the demographic implications, such as how many will be elderly but what that will mean for health care and Social Security and long-term care needs.

Q.

Is this a growing field?

It is. There are somewhere between 4,000 and 6,000 demographers in the field, but the real growth is in the interface of demography with things like health care. Many hospitals, for instance, have demographers who are helping them look at the area they serve. Many large school districts have demographers on staff helping them discern attendance zones and capital facilities needs. There is substantial growth in marketing firms, because one of things that demographers look at that is an absolute key to many companies is how many people are likely to transition into pension plans. It is a growing area. Demographers are being used more and more by universities, federal and state governments and then across the different dimensions of the private sector.

Q.

How could a church or association or convention of churches use the services your office provides?

A number of such organizations have used us to learn how fast their communities may be growing or changing. Many also use us for long-term planning to look at characteristics of people who might be of their denomination or of the characteristics of the growing population to see if there is a need to reach out to the new groups. They look at the population growth in terms of the services they are providing and if they need to offer new services.

Many churches use us to gauge how well they are doing, in a sense. They look at their churches and our data and see if they are growing like the area or faster or slower than the population growth and if they are offering a full range of services to the overall population or to just segments. If you want to look at the future and growth, you have to look at the characteristics of the growing population and how well you are able to address their spiritual needs.

Q.

Are you a church member and does your church utilize your services?

I am a church member, and I know my church uses data but would not use me directly.

Q.

What role has religious faith played in your life?

I am an average religious person. The key role played through my parents has been in establishing in me honesty and integrity, as well as the need to serve others, to do more in life than assist our own cause and betterment, but also contribute to society and fellow people. My membership is at a Lutheran church. We haven't decided on one in San Antonio.

Interview by Toby Druin

Posted: 11/05/04

DOWN HOME:
25th Reunion: Blessing recalled

Joanna and I recently journeyed back to Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene to celebrate the Class of 1979's 25th homecoming reunion.

I departed with good news and bad news.

Let's get the bad news over with: I must be middle-aged. Most of the time, I can lie to myself and overlook this uncomfortable fact. But at HSU, I kept running into all these middle-aged people who attended class with me 25-plus years ago. Observing longtime friends is like looking into a mirror with really good light. You see stuff you miss most days.

Some of our more optimistic friends tempered the tragedy of this truth by testifying to the joys of aging. A couple already have grandchildren they obviously adore. Even more now live in empty nests, since their children have left home. Ken, a new empty-nester but a joker from way back, described one benefit of absentee children: “We can run around the house naked. But we can't remember why we ever wanted to.”

Now, for the good news. We were an incredibly blessed group of young people who attended that wonderful Baptist school in West Texas a generation ago.

First, Hardin-Simmons blessed us. It was a terrific university back then, and it's even better today.

We recalled professors and administrators who profoundly impacted our lives. The ideas and information we gathered in their classrooms and campus organizations empowered us to succeed in an array of professions.

Beyond that, those profs and staff members strengthened our faith and provided remarkable role models for how we should conduct our lives once we left the happy confines of the Forty Acres. We're better people and stronger Christians because of them.

And that brings me to the other blessing. We blessed each other. Most of us arrived as teenagers and left as young adults. Along the way, we shaped each other–for the good. Some of the best friends I've had in my life are the boys and girls who lived in the dorms, ate in the cafeteria and studied in the library of that lovely campus.

I reveled in the closeness of relationships that remains to this day. It's exhibited in little ways. Like how two of my great friends still call my wife by the name I learned to call her 28 years ago. Like how we practically picked up conversations we started when Roger Staubach was quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, Gerald Ford was president of the United States and I had hair on the top of my head. Like how we took genuine joy in the details of life spanning a quarter-century.

Sometimes, I wish I could spend a lifetime in the warm embrace of that inviting place. Of course, that's impossible. But I thank God for blessing our lives on that Texas Baptist campus.

Posted: 11/05/04

EDITORIAL:
'Moral values' should mean more than sexual ethics

How do you define “moral values”?

I couldn't help but ponder that question on election night. The national exit poll, shared by major news media, revealed 80 percent of voters who said “moral values” are a primary concern cast their ballots for George W. Bush. As I listened to the pundits and recalled which “moral values” surfaced in the presidential campaign, I came to the same conclusion I reach while viewing too many TV commercials: It's all about sex.

The “moral values” boiled down to two front-line issues and a shadow third–abortion, homosexual “marriage” and a former president's infidelity.

Don't misunderstand: These are vital issues. The Baptist General Convention of Texas repeatedly has opposed elective abortion and called for restricting abortion “except to save the life of the mother or in cases of incest or rape.” Texas Baptists have opposed partial-birth abortion and supported laws requiring parental consent before a minor could have an abortion. And we have provided infrastructure to make adoption a viable alternative to abortion. Concerning homosexuality, we have stated, “The homosexual lifestyle is not normal or acceptable in God's sight and is indeed called sin.” We also have stressed the Bible affirms the value and worth of every person, offering hope for all, including homosexuals, in Christ. And we have called on our churches to minister to homosexuals. As for infidelity, well, it's so damaging to individuals and families and churches that we believe it deserves universal condemnation.

You can understand why sex monopolizes the “moral values” radar: Sexual imagery dominates television and movies, billboards and magazines. Abortion is a life-or-death issue. And homosexuality, which millions of Americans wish would just go away, seems to be forced upon our consciousness, both in the media and in the courts.

But (high school boys' imaginations to the contrary) there's more to this world than sex. And every American, particularly every person of faith, who is motivated by “moral values” should press our leaders to act on a wider range of issues. They include, but aren't necessarily limited to:

Poverty. Nothing seems to raise Baptists' hackles like the reminder that poverty is a moral issue. Sure, we can cite extenuating circumstances. People need to take responsibility for their own lives. Deadbeat dads are louses. Some folks abuse “the system.” But we can work to reduce the plague of poverty without embracing socialism or a welfare state. Working families shouldn't be impoverished; shame on our society when they are. No matter how lousy their parents, children shouldn't be malnourished. As a people, we can do better, and we should find more ways to empower poor adults and embrace poor children. Bottom line: Jesus said the way we minister to “the least of these” reflects how we minister to him. No argument, rationalization or equivocation.

Healthcare. People who argue against improving our healthcare/insurance system consistently say, “I don't want a program like Europe.” We don't have to have socialized medicine to provide more equity, fairness and, yes, grace to our medical system. We all know it's broke and getting worse. We have a “moral” obligation to fix it.

Environment. You don't have to be a tree-hugger to be alarmed. The planet's air, water and soil all are jeopardized. Playing semantic games won't make it go away. Genesis tells us this world doesn't belong to us. It is God's. We are to be good stewards. Jesus said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That goes for future generations, who will curse us if we deplete and pollute their natural resources.

Debt. Economic theories abound, of course. But they fail the morality test if they enrich us while impoverishing our children and grandchildren. Money is not value-neutral. The Golden Rule applies to the economy, too.

Nationalism. Patriotism is wonderful; it is a love for one's country born out of gratitude to God. It embraces self-sacrifice, optimism, compassion and altruistic vision. While it aspires to the best for one's country, it does not seek to exalt that country at the expense of others. But nationalism is a perversion of patriotism. It poses as patriotism, but it is selfish and mean. It does not care for others. It seeks to rise by standing on the necks of others. Rather than expressing gratitude to God, it assumes blessings are a divine right, owed by God. Throughout our history, America has been a patriotic country. We're tilting toward nationalism. We don't have to become a patsy or allow global bullies to go unchecked. But we should guard against becoming the bully, the oppressor. We should seek the kind of humility that is affordable precisely because we have been blessed and now are the most powerful nation on Earth.

A lawyer once asked Jesus, “Which is the greatest commandment?” Jesus responded: “'Love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all you soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'” Jesus defined “neighbor” not as a fellow believer who attends the same church and votes the same way, but as a sworn enemy, the last person we would be expected to love.

We who seek to pattern our lives after the Great Commandment–loving God–sometimes forget the Second Commandment–love others. But any biblical definition of “moral values” surely embraces both.

Posted: 11/05/04

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Nov. 14

Fundamental facets of a fulfilling prayer life

Luke 11:1-54

By Pakon Chan

Chinese Baptist Church, Arlington

People often ask the purpose of prayer if God knows all of our needs. If prayer is perceived as a conversation between two lovers, it is easy to understand why God wants us to pray to him.

Many Chinese poems tell stories of departed lovers in a far distant land. What a joyous thing to receive a love letter from another person, even if it is only a few sentences.

When we communicate with God through prayer, our relationship with him will grow. Prayer is more than making a plea to God for something we need. God loves us, so he wants to have intimate talks with us. He expects us to have the same desire to talk to him.

After Jesus had finished his prayer, his disciples asked him how to pray. The disciples must have seen Jesus was enjoying his prayer life. We all enjoy talking to our loved ones. Conversation is a very delightful experience between two lovers.

Everybody knows how to pray, but not all of us enjoy prayer. The enjoyment Jesus had in his prayer life must have aroused the interest of his disciples. They wanted to know the secret of his prayer. As a matter of fact, Jesus did have some secrets in his prayer life that allowed him to enjoy praying to the heavenly Father. He will reveal those secrets to us in these few verses on the principles of a Christian prayer.

Put God first in prayer

Luke gives us a shorter version of the Lord's Prayer than Matthew (Matthew 6:9-13), but it will teach us all we need to know about how to pray and what to pray for. Our prayer should start with God our heavenly Father. We call God our Father to recognize our relationship with him is a Father-child relationship. This means God has given us life. He loves us and wants to protect and provide for us.

We, as children, sometimes may not want to talk to our father; but God, as our heavenly Father, always wants to talk to us. Whenever we talk to him, he is always here to listen and to talk to us.

Placing God and his concerns first in our prayer is important. We tell our Father we want his name to be glorified and held in reverence in our daily lives. We want people to glorify his name and hold his name in reverence when they learn about him in our words and deeds. When we sink into a deep thought on how to revere God's name, our prayer will be transformed into close and intimate talk to God.

Any meaningful conversation should not be a monologue between two persons. When we talk with a person, we want to know their concerns and talk about those concerns. Seeking God's will in our prayers is an interesting thing to do. Ask, listen and wait, and we will know God's will.

Many Christians do not know how to listen to God. Listening is reading and searching in God's word. Prayer and Bible reading and searching should go hand in hand. George Muller told us we should pray with an open Bible. When we learn God's will through prayer, we also should pray that God will give us strength to do his will. Only when we submit to God's will and do it accordingly can his will can be done on earth.

Pray for ourselves

Our God is not only a God of spiritual things. He is the God of our whole life, so he will take care of our daily needs. This is the reason why Jesus teaches us to pray for our daily needs (v. 3). God may not want us to be millionaires, but he will provide for our needs. Praying with contentment is the attitude Jesus teaches. We will be contented with whatever God gives us to meet our needs. It also teaches us to rely on him, not the things he gives.

If we just ask for a one-day provision, we do not need to pray a long prayer or use long sentences. Jesus wants us to pray for our spiritual growth and spend time on it. First, we need to deal with our sins. We need to ask forgiveness every time we pray. God has promised to forgive us if we ask him (1 John 1:9).

If we can be forgiven by God, we should forgive others. God already has prepared to forgive us even before we ask. God does not like sin, but he loves us, so he has no hatred in his heart against us, even before we ask for forgiveness.

We should do the same thing. We may not like what others have done to us, but we love people, so we should not have hatred in our hearts, and forgive them anytime they ask.

Temptation in the New Testament means any testing situation. Sometimes a test will become temptation to us if we yield to it. Jesus teaches us to pray not to be led into temptation. God will not lead us into temptation, even though he allows tests to get in our way. Jesus wants us to pray to ask God's help and strength to overcome testing so we will not fall into temptation. God will walk us through all the trials and tests if we ask him.

Discussion questions

Do you enjoy your prayer life?

What will you pray for in your daily prayer?

How can you improve your prayer life to make it more enjoyable?

Posted: 11/05/04

Most community foundations fund
faith-based social services, study shows

By Adelle Banks

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–Most U.S. community foundations fund faith-based social services but don't permit their grants to support explicit religious activities, a new study shows.

Sixty-eight percent of 215 foundations responding to a survey from the Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy said they had awarded at least one grant to a faith-based organization in their last fiscal year.

Researchers found, on average, each foundation had awarded three grants in a year, with an average grant amount of $40,314.

More than half of the grants to faith-based organizations–54 percent–were awarded to local nonprofits, while congregations and nationally affiliated faith-based organizations each received 23 percent of the grants.

Foundations are organizations that give grants to nonprofits. Community foundations often are supported by tax-deductible contributions from the general public, while private foundations tend to be funded largely by trusts or individual or family contributions.

About 64 percent of the community foundations said they did not fund sectarian or explicitly religious activity.

“Our research suggests that community foundations appear to be hesitant to fund activities that are inherently religious,” concluded Jason Scott and Christopher Kidder, authors of a report on the survey.

Foundation policies that prohibit such funding reflect a concern about the wishes of donors, a desire to stay neutral about religion and an aim to be open to all members of the community, regardless of their religious ties, they said.

The researchers found that grants to faith-based organizations were most frequently used to aid services related to children, youth and families, including mentoring, summer camps and after-school activities. Grants for emergency services and outreach, such as those providing food assistance or supporting the homeless, also were common.

The survey results are based on responses from 215 community foundations via mail or the Internet. The survey, originally sent to 694 community foundations, had a 31 percent response rate.

The roundtable, based in Albany, N.Y., is a project of the Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York.

Posted: 11/05/04

Call to kill terrorists 'in the name of the Lord' sparks outcry

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

JACKSON, Tenn. (ABP)–If American troops kill Osama bin Laden, a Southern Baptist ethicist insists it should be “in the name of justice,” not “in the name of the Lord” as televangelist Jerry Falwell suggests.

And a prominent Texas Baptist said using God's name as motivation for killing “defames Christianity.”

In a televised debate on CNN, Falwell said President Bush should “blow them (the terrorists) all away in the name of the Lord.”

Capturing and, if necessary, killing terrorists “is a morally legitimate exercise of military force,” said David Gushee, professor of moral philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. “However, it must be recognized that in the terms of Christian moral thought, even justified wars are not to be treated as if they are being fought 'in the name of the Lord.'

“If we do capture Osama bin Laden, for example, or even if we kill him, it will not be 'in the name of the Lord,'” Gushee said. “It will be in the name of justice, and in the defense of the United States. There is a difference, and one that is easily overlooked when passions run high in times of war.”

Falwell's comment came on “CNN Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer” in a debate with Baptist minister Jesse Jackson, who called the Iraq war “a misadventure” that isolated the United States politically and cost the country lives, money and “our character.”

Falwell, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchnurg, Va., responded: “I'd rather be killing them over there than fighting them over here, Jesse. And I think you would. …”

“Let's stop the killing and choose peace,” Jackson responded. “Let's choose negotiation over confrontation.”

“Well, I'm for that too,” Falwell added. “But you've got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops. And I'm for the president to chase them all over the world. If it takes 10 years, blow them all away in the name of the Lord.”

David Currie, executive director of Texas Baptists Committed, said he was “dumbfounded” by Falwell's comments.

“I could not believe what I was hearing from a Christian minister,” said Currie, who holds a doctorate in Christian ethics from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Currie agreed with Gushee that the United States should hunt down terrorists, killing them if necessary to prevent further acts of terrorism.

“But Jerry Falwell is absolutely wrong in his theology and his politics to claim such actions should be done 'in the name of Lord,' that is, Jesus Christ,” he said. “Jerry Falwell's remarks defame Christianity, my faith and the faith of most Americans. …

“The message of Christianity is not war, hatred or murder. It is love, unconditional love. That is the nature of God. The war on terror is not a war between Christians and Muslims. It is a war between those who want peace in the world and those who want to destroy peace. To imply God has a side, other than peace, is poor theology.

“It defames Christianity to imply God and the United States of America have some kind of special relationship. It defames the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross for every person, regardless of race, nationality, sex or religion. It defames Christianity to use the name of God as a motivation to kill others. It defames Christianity to imply Christians–who are only saved because they admit their sinfulness and need of a savior–are morally superior to persons of other faiths.”

Falwell and other conservative Christians have drawn criticism for linking the war on terrorism with a crusade against Islamic fundamentalism. Falwell earlier called Muhammad, Islam's founder, a terrorist, then later apologized.

“Jerry Falwell apparently believes the United States is waging holy war in Iraq,” said Stan Hastey, executive director of the Alliance of Baptists.

“Such comments are fodder for the terrorists, bulletin board material for Osama bin Laden in recruiting his own holy warriors. What spews out of Jerry Falwell's mouth is increasingly toxic. He would do well to re-read Jesus' beatitudes and reorder both his rhetoric and priorities accordingly.”

Falwell's comments place Americans–including American missionaries serving around the world–at risk, Currie commented.

“His remarks implying that this is a war between Christians and Muslims invite persons of other faiths to look at all Christians with suspicion,” he said.

“To say that terrorists should be 'killed in the name of the Lord,' it to imply Americans are all of the same faith and to encourage radical persons of other faiths to attack America because we are Christians who believe in killing others of different faiths.”

Gushee agreed Christians should speak carefully about the war. “We must be careful not to label every international adversary as a terrorist,” he said.

“We must draw appropriate distinctions between the struggle against the international Islamist terrorist network and ongoing problems in Iraq. And our nation (must) make every effort to pursue peacemaking initiatives that can ease tensions between our own nation and the countries and peoples of the Arab world.”

Glen Stassen, professor of Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., went further. Stassen, co-author with Gushee of “Kingdom Ethics,” advocated “just peacemaking” as an alternative to war.

“Falwell's strategy was adopted by Russia against the Muslim terrorists in Chechnya, and it only increases the anger and the recruits to terrorism and the killing, as in North Ossetia,” he said, referring to the recent massacre at a Russian school.

“Turkey instead used just peacemaking practices with its Muslim terrorists among the Kurds, and the Kurdish terrorism is completely ended,” Stassen said. “They are not killing 'here' or 'there.'”

With additional reporting by Managing Editor Ken Camp

Posted: 11/05/04

LifeWay Family Bible Series for Nov. 14

The Creator rules the whole of his handiwork

Psalm 33:6-17, 20-2

By Angela Hamm

First Baptist Church, Lewisville

The very nature of God is reason for praise. Charles Spurgeon writes: “To rejoice in temporal comforts is dangerous, to rejoice in self is foolish, to rejoice in sin is fatal, but to rejoice in God is heavenly. He who would have a double heaven must begin below to rejoice like those above.”

To set the foundation for this week's lesson, may we be reminded of four of God's attributes: (1) God is all-knowing. He knows everything about everything. There is nothing which escapes his knowledge. (2) God is all-powerful. He has power over creation, and nothing is beyond his power. (3) God is sovereign. He rules over all creation, including everything and everyone. (4) God never changes. He is the same as he was at the time of creation.

A young boy was waiting for his family after church. The pastor saw him standing around and struck up a conversation. Noticing the boy had just come from Bible study, the pastor thought he would ask him a question to see what he was learning. The pastor said, “Young man, if you can tell me something God can do, I'll give you a big, shiny apple.” Thoughtfully the boy replied, “Sir, if you can tell me something God can't do, I'll give you a whole box of apples.”

Psalm 33 reminds us that God rules over every facet of creation. All authority belongs to him. There is nothing above God. There is nothing God cannot do. He is the master of everything. It is difficult to grasp the power of God, yet Psalm 33 provides us some insight to God's character and power.

God's sovereign rule

Psalm 33:6-9 reveals God's power with respect to nature. God spoke, and the heavens, the earth and all it contains were created. God alone has creative sovereign power.

God's sovereignty rules over the totality of his creation. God is the grand designer of our world and universe–all we see is from his hand. His power is seen throughout creation. McEachern writes, “God's creative power inspires reverence and awe among mankind.”

We should stand in awe of God the Creator because he formed all that exists out of nothing with “absolute effortlessness.”

In verses 10 through 12, we see God's sovereign power in history. God's purposes stand no matter what people make an effort to do. God monitors all of the activity of the earth. He is an active and watchful ruler. God not only made the world, but he continues to care about it.

Psalm 33:13-19 develops the concept of God's omniscience. God alone has the all-seeing perspective from the heavens. He is not absent, detached or disinterested. God knows and cares about everything that is going on in his creation. True security is found in God's watch care.

God's unfailing love

Psalm 33:20-22 affirms God's love for his people. As one writer states, “This psalm celebrates Yahweh (God) as the only one who–by virtue of his trustworthy character and unassailable power–deserves our trust.” When we trust in God's love for us, we will wait in hope, rejoice in hope and pray for his unfailing love to rest on us. Romans 8:25 reminds us, “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” God is sovereign of both creation and history.

God's work in our lives

God has established his kingdom and rules over it with power and majesty. All God's works are characterized by his faithfulness to his promises. God stands behind his promises and has the power to make his promises a reality. Nothing is too grand for him to accomplish.

Many of us know God is powerful, but sometimes we forget God wants to fill our lives with his power. Faith is trusting in the presence and power of God. Faith is depending in the presence and power of God. Two questions will help us evaluate God's presence and power in our lives: (1) Do we expect the presence of God at all times? (2) Do we expect God to act?

We can rest in God's sovereignty and know he is worthy of our worship. We can know God is in total control, and we can trust him with every aspect of our lives. We can trust in God's rule and know he directs everything according to his purposes. God's sovereignty reminds us that God is God, and we are not.

Discussion questions

When was the last time you caught a greater glimpse of God and became awestruck at his power and majesty?

When was the last time you did something bold because you trusted in the presence and power of God and claimed his power as your own?

Posted: 11/05/04

Texas Baptist Missions Foundation
marks 20 years of mission funding

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

It started as a two-year Baptist General Convention of Texas fund-raising emphasis to encourage church starting. Thousands of changed lives later, the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation has blossomed to touch many aspects of the convention's ministry during the past 20 years.

What began in 1984 as part of the Mission Texas church-starting emphasis has developed into an organization that raised about $8.4 million last year for BGCT ministries and has distributed about $3.3 million this year. More than $81 million has channeled through the group to ministry in the foundation's history.

The foundation has become a way for individuals to have a lasting impact through their estates, non-cash donations and large financial gifts, said President Bill Arnold.

The foundation has several endowment funds, but most of the receipts are invested directly into ministries that stretch across the state.

The funds have helped support a wide variety of service, including starting new churches, Texas Baptist Men disaster relief, TBM retiree builders and BGCT River Ministry. Some of the financial resources were used to create low-interest loans for new churches to construct their first buildings. About $13 million of dehydrated food has been sent to Mexico and Belize. Foundation money has helped 23 ministries this year.

Charles Avery and Fred Roach, members of the foundation's board of advisers, said they have seen the funds impact Texas as they travel the state. Individuals have made faith professions. Others have been able to fulfill God's calling on their lives with the help of the foundation. Roach has seen “so many lives changed, so many decisions made.”

For Roach, starting churches is the driving force behind the organization. He wants to see Baptist work keep pace with the growing population in Texas. The majority of funds raised by the foundation are for church starting.

The chance to impact lives in the name of Christ will keep encouraging people to give through the foundation, Arnold said. Believers across the state want to make a difference in their communities and across Texas.

“I think the foundation's future is bright,” Arnold said. “The mission needs and mission opportunities in the state are not going to diminish. One way that Texas Baptists can help meet those challenges is through the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation.”

Posted: 11/05/04

Evangelical women begin to speak out about depression

By Dorianne Perruci

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–Like her famous father, Ruth Graham knows how to deliver an uplifting and honest message.

After speaking to large crowds at Christian women's conferences, lines form for women to meet Billy Graham's youngest daughter. Many come to discuss a subject previously taboo in evangelical Christian circles, a subject that used to suggest weakness–or even a lack of faith–for those dragged down by its tentacles.

That subject is depression, a topic the younger Graham and other prominent evangelical women are addressing with increasing vulnerability and credibility. They have fallen into that black hole, only to be pulled back up with the help of counseling, Bible study and prayer.

For years, Graham suffered silently because of what she perceived as her sins–a bitter divorce from a husband who cheated and teenage children who rebelled and became pregnant and turned to drugs.

“I felt like the weak link in a long line of Christian leaders,” said Graham, author of “In Every Pew Sits a Broken Heart,” which addresses denial and ignorance about depression.

“We don't need to make Jesus and God look good,” she said. “Our responsibility is to be honest and authentic.”

Singer Sheila Walsh, a former television co-host of “The 700 Club” with Pat Robertson, has done that in her book, “The Heartache No One Sees,” which is as medical as it is spiritual.

Taken together, along with the advance of Christian counseling and psychology in recent decades, the books by Graham and Walsh illustrate a potential sea-change in the way evangelicals talk about depression.

“There is an attitude in the evangelical community that you can pray (your problem) away,” said Walsh, who in an interview talked frankly about the antidepressant medication she takes regularly for clinical depression.

Walsh started taking an antidepressant during a stay in a psychiatric hospital. For months, “I couldn't concentrate, or sleep, or eat well,” displaying classic warning signs of clinical depression.

Before getting help, it was easy to ignore the obvious.

“Christian ministry provided the perfect place for me to hide,” Walsh said.

She began her journey out of denial in 1992, when an on-air guest on “The 700 Club” turned the tables and asked about her shortcomings. Walsh cried and fled to her dressing room.

“I had no idea what was wrong with me. I thought I was losing my mind,” she said.

For some evangelicals, therapy can come straight out of the passages of the Bible, said psychiatrist Paul Meier, who heads Meier Clinics, which provide Christian psychological care at 26 facilities across the country.

“Psychiatry is more biblical than churches,” said Meier, pointing to James 5:16 which admonishes believers to “confess your sins one to another.”

Meier, who says more than 3,000 women a week flock to his clinics, estimates about 20 percent of evangelicals still think seeking help outside the church is wrong–a big drop from the 80 percent he observed in the 1970s.

Not everyone in the evangelical community applauds such a shift.

Jim Pile, pastoral care minister at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, Calif., argues the Bible is sufficient to address issues of the soul.

He's in line with his pastor, John MacArthur, whose book, “Our Sufficiency in Christ,” warned against therapeutic solutions.

“There are spiritual principles that can be applied to whatever the issue is,” said Pile.

But every remedy isn't spiritual, argues Meier, citing the eating disorder bulimia as one example.

“There are some disorders that take 10 or more years of training to recognize,” said Meier. He said in those situations “most pastors are not very well equipped to give the right advice.”

Depression might seem easy to recognize, given that 19 million Americans suffer from it every year, and women suffer twice as much as men, the National Institute of Mental Health reports.

So if all churches haven't clearly seen the problem, others in the evangelical Christian community are paying close attention.

Since 1999, membership in the American Association of Christian Counselors, based in Forest, Va., has more than tripled, from 15,000 to more than 50,000.

“Of course, you need prayer and Bible study, but women need help,” said association President Tim Clinton.

In 2000, the association began offering “Caring for People God's Way,” a certificate program on mental health issues that Clinton said has trained 60,000 pastors, professional counselors and lay ministers.

The Christian counselors' association also sponsors “Extraordinary Women” weekend conferences with “spiritual intimacy” the heading that discusses depression and related issues.

Singer Sheila Walsh speaks to thousands of evangelical Christians about her depression at "Women of Faith" conferences. (Women of Faith Courtesy Photo)

Ruth Graham's appearance at a recent conference drew 7,000 women. By the end of the year, the counselors' association expects up to 200,000 to attend a conference–an increase of more than 50 percent since 2003.

“Women of Faith,” sponsored by publisher Thomas Nelson and featuring prominent Christian women as speakers, including Walsh, is expected to attract 365,000 women this year.

“A lot of pain and hurt has been swept under the rug,” Clinton said.

“We know now there are physical issues for depression in women–thyroid, hormone fluctuations. If we really accept that the church is a spiritual hospital, we can't deny these issues.

“But we're not for raw psychology. We're trying to champion faith.

“I think it's fine that the church is skeptical of therapy, but there is a strong God component in Christian counseling today. Our goal is to see the counseling movement go squarely into the church, and for the church to become a healing community.”

With women like Walsh and Graham being so publicly transparent, more evangelical women are seeking the healing they have so often neglected or ignored.

“It's all about connecting with one another and connecting with God,” Walsh said.

“In some churches, if I stood up and said I had a brain tumor, you'd pray for me. But if I talk about mental illness, that becomes a divisive issue.”

Graham also sees a need to address the body along with the soul.

“The emphasis of Christian ministry used to be on spiritual healing, and getting saved,” said Graham.

“Now we're looking at more of the whole person.”

Posted: 11/05/04

Hispanic McAllen church launches English-speaking mission

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

MCALLEN–Congregations struggle with worship style preferences. Like many other Hispanic churches, Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel throws language, culture and generational preferences into its balancing act.

But instead of chaos, the congregation concocted a new method of serving multiple generations of Hispanics

The church has offered bilingual services for the past six years, but it watched as second- and third-generation Hispanics eventually became dissatisfied with the effort and moved on to Anglo congregations where they find contemporary-styled ministries in English, Pastor Ernie Chapa said.

So, a few weeks ago, Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel executed a planned split.

About 100 members moved to a recently constructed campus across town to begin Crossroads Baptist Church, a ministry tailored to the needs of later generations of Hispanics.

Chapa leads worship both at Emmanuel and Crossroads, but the ministries look drastically different.

Emmanuel will continue with a Spanish service with traditional music that has a Hispanic flare. Crossroads will be an English ministry that hopes to serve the more economically mobile Hispanics who have settled in north McAllen.

Crossroads meets in facilities financed by members of Emmanuel.

“To some, we're dividing,” Chapa said. “To others, we're multiplying. It depends on your perspective.”

At least initially, Crossroads will function like a mission. Emmanuel has outlined funding for its sister congregation for the first six months.

After that, Chapa hopes Crossroads members will begin supporting their ministry.

Developing two distinct churches enables each to more clearly define its mission and tailor it to the needs of its community, Chapa said.

However, he admits this approach has not been a completely smooth undertaking. Some members expressed displeasure about seeing their friends go to another church. Some decided to go to another congregation.

Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel, a Baptist General Convention of Texas-designated key church, spent last summer celebrating its members before many of them departed.

Chapa began each service with a Spanish sermon. After the congregation came together to sing, he preached in English.

The church as a whole now views this move as an opportunity to serve a population that the congregation as it stands now is struggling to keep, Chapa said.

“I think people are starting to see we are trying to reach more people with the gospel,” he said.

Posted: 11/05/04

Christian tourists begin returning to
Holy Land after four-year hiatus

By Michele Chabin

Religion News Service

JERUSALEM (RNS)–After a nearly four-year hiatus sparked by the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, Christian tourists are coming back to the Holy Land.

Their presence can be felt on the streets of downtown Jerusalem, where tour buses are again making an appearance; in large restaurants that can accommodate tour groups; and in local hotels, virtually all of which were forced to lay off staff after the September 2000 uprising. Many hotels, particularly in Bethlehem in the West Bank and Nazareth in northern Israel, were forced to close their doors completely. With the return of tourism, a few have reopened.

In response to the upsurge in Christian tour groups and individuals, some of the long-shuttered shops in the colorful Arab shuk (market) in the walled Old City of Jerusalem have reopened their gates. Shopkeepers there estimate 50 percent of their colleagues lost their businesses due to the dearth of Christian and Jewish tourists, whose numbers have risen considerably in recent months.

Though hardly up to the standards of the year 2000, when Israel welcomed a record-breaking 2.6 million visitors, 1.5 million of them Christians, the most recent statistics are cause for optimism. During the first six months of this year, 216,000 Christians arrived, compared with 290,000 for all of 2003.

Assuming the security situation does not deteriorate markedly in the coming months, Ministry of Tourism officials expect at least 500,000 Christian pilgrims to arrive by New Year's Eve. All told, ministry officials believe 1.5 million visitors will come to Israel by the end of 2004.

Israel's tourism minister, Gideon Ezra, who doubles as the minister of internal security, credits the recent influx first and foremost to the sharp drop in terror attacks during the past year.

“Security in Israel is higher than it has been in recent years, and I think that people who have wanted to come since 2000 but have been afraid to do so are now feeling more comfortable,” Ezra said in an interview. “Since 9/11 people realize that terror exists everywhere.”

At the same time that it has been fighting terror, the Israeli government has courted Christians from various denominations through official and unofficial channels.

Israeli legislators and other emissaries regularly travel abroad to meet with clergy and lay leaders. The tourism ministry sends delegations to large Christian conferences and sponsors “familiarization” tours for Christian tour operators.

Much like Diaspora Jews, who since the start of the uprising have made a point of visiting Israel on “solidarity” missions, an increasing number of Christians are planning Holy Land trips as a way of supporting local Christians–or Jews.

Catholics, whose pilgrimages plummeted 90 percent between January 2001 and the start of this year, have begun heeding Pope John Paul II's call to visit the Holy Land in part to give comfort–and business–to the area's long-suffering Christians.

A large percentage of local Christians derived their incomes from pilgrimages and were particularly hard hit when they ceased. Hundreds of Christian families have emigrated during the past four years due to both the economic crises and security situation.

Raji Khoury, the owner of Shepherd Tours in East Jerusalem and the president of the Arab Tourist and Travel Association, said he was forced to lay off the majority of his employees at the end of 2000.

Khoury, whose late father was the Lutheran minister of Bethlehem, recalled: “Before the intifada, I averaged 30 groups a month. I wouldn't be exaggerating if I told you that between January 2001 and today, I've had only 15 groups. And these are small groups.”

Most of Khoury's recent arrivals have been Italian and French Catholics on organized church tours, “but there have also been some Protestants from Germany, and evangelicals from America who are coming in support of Israel,” he said.

As they have for the past quarter-century, thousands of evangelical Christians flew to Israel in September to take part in the annual Feast of the Tabernacle. They also participated in the first-ever Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem Day.

The weeklong conference, which contributed at least $10 million to the Israeli economy in the form of hotel nights, meals and gift purchases, was organized by the International Christian Embassy, a pro-Israel evangelical ministry headquartered in Jerusalem.

At the feast's rousing opening-night ceremony, Embassy executive director Malcolm Hedding elicited wild applause and cries of praise when he declared: “Now is the time to come to Israel and stand by her, not just when things are going fine. It's the difficult times when our sincere love and concern stand out most.”

Continuing the theme, Rami Levy, Israel's tourism ambassador to North and South America, told the pilgrims: “You're doing a wonderful job by being here. If each and every one of you could bring one person (to Israel), imagine how much of a change it would make to the Israeli economy.”

Palestinians, even more than Israelis, need an influx of pilgrims to rebuild their teetering economy, which has been crippled by years of violence and repeated Israeli military closures in Bethlehem and other sites of Christian interest.

Bajis Ismail, director general of the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism, admitted that Palestinians whose livelihoods depend on pilgrimages have not yet seen the improvement the Israelis speak of.

“The problem is that most of those who visit Bethlehem, for example, don't stay here,” Ismail noted. “They stay over in Jerusalem. Most of our hotels are closed, and most restaurants are not functioning fully. The souvenir shops don't have much business.”

Ismail expressed hope that this will soon change, his tone fluctuating between pragmatism and optimism.

“We are expecting some European groups in the coming days,” he said. “Perhaps we'll be able to judge any improvement after their visit.”

Ismail promised tourists determined enough to enter the West Bank will return home unscathed and well fed.

“The pilgrims who come know that it is completely safe here, and that the Palestinians are a very hospitable people,” Ismail said.

Posted: 11/05/04

TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM

Freedom 'restraints'

The Texas Baptist Forum in the Nov. 1 Baptist Standard is an interesting cross-section of the contemporary views on church and state in Texas and beyond.

Several letters rightly expressed the reasons the United States may appropriately be called a secular nation. One lamented perceived hostility from the government toward religious expression.

Believers in the first century would laugh at today's Americans complaining of restraints on our religious freedom. Most likely, believers in the Two-Thirds world would take offense at the same.

The freedom we enjoy in America, especially in terms of religious expression, is an anomaly in world history, probably unthinkable to the first few generations of Christians.

They knew what it was to live under a government hostile to Christ's followers. They knew what it was to have no freedom of religion.

David Tankersley

Abilene

Unifying sacrifice

We may never get a candidate for president again who will tell the real truth about the state of our union.

Greed, or the love of money, is the root of all evil. It is greed that drives the economic engine in America. Greed, directly and indirectly, is the chief cause of wars. Our country will go to war to get what we want and need to preserve our luxurious standard of living.

Sept. 11, 2001, probably would not have occurred if, over the past 50 years or so, we were not so greedy and arrogant.

The last president to call for national sacrifice was Jimmy Carter in 1979.

At that time, President Carter was addressing the energy crisis by calling on all Americans to join an effort to conserve energy, so we would be less dependent on foreign oil. He said: “We can manage the short-term shortages more effectively and we will, but there are no short-term solutions to our long-range problems. There is simply no way to avoid sacrifice.”

Over the past 25 years, we have avoided national sacrifice. A call to all Americans to sacrifice is not politically expedient. Citizens all over our land will answer the call, if our political leaders will face the truth and courageously ask us to sacrifice for the common good.

The right call for sacrifice might help unite a divided nation.

Paul L. Whiteley Sr.

Louisville, Ky.

Liberal Jesus

Was Jesus liberal or conservative?

Would he support tax breaks for the rich? Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to go to heaven” and “Render unto Caesar … .”

Would Jesus support pre-emptive war? He said, “Turn the other cheek” and “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

Jesus wasn't orthodox or conservative. He wasn't a hardliner, rightwing hawk or warmonger. Jesus was liberal. What's wrong with that?

Chuck Mann

Greensboro, N.C.

Sad day

For the greater part of the 20th century, most, if not all, of Texas' eight Baptist-supported universities had “hand in glove” relationships with Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Their administrators and faculties commonly recommended continuation of their graduates' theological study at Southwestern. Usually, little mention was made of other choices.

When Southwestern's board of trustees voted to offer a baccalaureate program beginning in 2005, it placed the seminary in direct competition with these universities that have been primary feeder schools for the seminary.

It is a sad day, made sadder by the trustees' pledges to recruit 50 students for the initial class. Indeed, the camel's nose is under the tent.

Don Newbury

Burleson

Misleading numbers

I read with interest about FamilyNet slashing its budget and laying off 19 staff members. What caught my eye was the statement about FamilyNet's potential audience of 32 million, which is very misleading–but something the Southern Baptist Convention has promoted for years.

When I worked for the SBC Radio & Television Commission several years ago, I pushed for accurate ratings of programs, but my plea got a deaf ear. I checked with TBN at the time and was told the network had a cumulative total of 3.5 million viewers weekly–and TBN had a huge audience in comparison to the RTVC.

Potential audience means nothing compared to actual audience, but if actual audience is used, we look bad. And it's all about looking good.

Isn't it time to tell the truth about our media impact through the SBC and to quit promoting pie in the sky? If you check the ratings, you'll find that some SBC programming reaches far fewer people than attend a single SBC church.

And some of our individual SBC pastors on TV and through radio reach millions more people than are reached through the denominational entity. Through SBC ministers on radio and television, we have a great media impact, which can never be attained with the kind of funding the denomination provides for an alleged network.

C.C. Risenhoover

Granbury

Fuel for meat

The crossing of the symbolic $50 mark for a barrel of oil should be a clear wakeup call for national energy policy officials.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, global oil reserves are fixed at around 3,000 billion barrels. Likely fields have been explored and assessed. Yet the annual global consumption of 27 billion barrels is growing at 1.6 percent, threatening to outstrip current production capacity.

Our desperate dependence on oil imports precipitated the invasion of Iraq and will lead to future disastrous adventures. Combustion of fossil fuels is precipitating a global-warming crisis. Both concerns demand a drastic reduction in fuel use for our cars, our homes and our diets.

Yes, our diets. According to Cornell University Professor David Pimentel, production of animal protein accounts for 8 percent of our national consumption of fossil fuels, nearly as much as driving our cars. It requires eight times as much fuel as production of plant protein. The additional fuel powers manufacture of fertilizers, operation of farm machinery and factory farms, and processing and refrigeration of meat products.

Anyone who cares about world peace and environmental conservation should be aware of the impacts of meat production on their next trip to the supermarket.

Jonah Terrin

Dallas

Diverse body

I share W.L. Reddick's deep concern about feeling unwelcome in the Southern Baptist denomination because he is a Democrat (Oct. 4), and I sympathize with his frustration.

But I want to encourage him not to leave his Baptist family. We need him.

To be healthy, the body of Christ needs a diversity of parts. We help each other grow with our differing views, and these differences provide the opportunity to bear with one another in love, humility and patience (Ephesians 4:1-6). We need all the practice we can get.

Denise Dinkins

La Marque