2004 Archives
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EDITORIAL: Paradox strengthens evangelism_71204
Posted: 7/09/04
EDITORIAL:
Paradox strengthens evangelismDo you ever watch siblings and wonder, “How in the world did those people grow up in the same home, much less fall out of the same family tree?”
That's how I feel about Baptists. Much of the time, we're like mismatched sisters and brothers. We're born of the same stock, but we bear polar-opposite personalities. We carry the same name, but we sometimes sound like strangers.
We've been this way almost from the beginning–nearly four centuries, church historian Bill Leonard says. (See page 10.) More than any other faith group, Baptists have embraced paradoxical tendencies. We include in our ranks contradictory positions and perspectives on just about every item in the spiritual catalog except the notions that we're congregationalists and the church should be made up of Christian believers.
Does someone who preaches the need for repentance reflect the gospel more accurately than someone who feeds the hungry and houses the homeless? 07/09/2004 - By John Rutledge
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EDITORIAL: Texas earns a big, fat F_71204
Posted: 7/09/04
EDITORIAL:
Texas earns a big, fat FThe U.S. Census Bureau has released another embarrassing statistic: Texas ranks last in the percentage of adults who have received high school diplomas.
Only 77 percent of Texans age 25 and older have graduated from high school, according to an Associated Press report. That compares to a national average of 85 percent. This is the second year in a row Texas has trailed the rest of the states. A decade ago, Texas ranked 39th, when it also posted a 77 percent graduation rate. On the whole, U.S. graduation rates are improving.
The primary reason for Texas' decline is its failure to help Hispanics progress through the educational system. The Census Bureau report revealed only about half of Texas' 4.3 million Hispanics age 25 and up have earned high school diplomas. Meanwhile, Hispanics are the state's fastest-growing population. So, the overall rate will continue to slide if a greater percentage of Hispanics don't graduate.
We need to demand that the Legislature pass and the governor sign a school-finance bill that is fair to all Texans, raises the graduation rate and doesn't sleep with the devil by funding education through expansion of gambling. 07/09/2004 - By John Rutledge
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ETBU enters partnership with Chinese university, plans 2005 conference_71204
Posted: 7/09/04
East Texas Baptist University Vice President for Academic Affairs Paul Sorrels listens to guide Vivian Fan explain the history of the Great Wall. (Jerry Summers Photo) ETBU enters partnership with Chinese
university, plans 2005 conferenceMARSHALL–East Texas Baptist University and Lanzhou University of Technology in Lanzhou, China, created a partnership after a visit by ETBU officials to China.
The partnership will produce an academic conference in Lanzhou next summer involving faculty from ETBU and other Texas universities and Chinese scholars who will present papers in English, said Jerry Summers, history professor at ETBU.
Paul Sorrels, ETBU vice president for academic affairs, signed the agreement, which also allows the exchange of students and faculty between the two universities.
East Texas Baptist University Vice President for Academic Affairs Paul Sorrels and Lanzhou University of Technology Vice President Wang Zhiping, sign an agreement of educational cooperation and scholarly exchange between ETBU and the Chinese university. 07/09/2004 - By John Rutledge
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Hispanic Texas Baptist president issues call for cooperation_71204
Posted: 7/09/04
Hispanic Baptist Convention President Alcides Guajardo introduces his wife, Frances, and officers Silva Aké of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Edinburg, third vice president; Joel Aké of Iglesia Bautista El Mesias in Dallas, secretary; Robert Rodriguez of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Harlingen, second vice president; and Martin Ortega of Iglesia Bautista Emanuel in Midland, first vice president, pictured with his wife, Francisca. Hispanic Texas Baptist president
issues call for cooperationBy John Hall
Texas Baptist Communications
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND–The Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas needs to cooperate with other Baptist groups and institutions to accomplish God's will in Texas and around the world, the group's president told its annual meeting.
07/09/2004 - By John Rutledge
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Scholarship recipient moves beyond past, looks ahead to life of ministry_71204
Posted: 7/09/04
Scholarship recipient moves beyond
past, looks ahead to life of ministryBy Janelle Bagci
BGCT Summer Intern
ABILENE–Tighe Marie Watkins left a haze of alcohol, drug addictions and abusive relationships for the hope she found in Jesus one summer day in Lubbock.
07/09/2004 - By John Rutledge
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Hardin-Simmons volunteers show neighbors ‘we care’ about the community_71204
Posted: 7/09/04
Hardin-Simmons volunteers show
neighbors 'we care' about the communityABILENE–Hardin-Simmons University faculty, staff and students recently put on their work clothes and walked across the street from the Abilene campus to paint a neighbor's house.
The “Good Samaritan” project developed from a relationship the university's Neighborhood Enhancement Program Coordinator Linda Carleton developed with Rebecca Deatherage, a retired social worker who owns the house.
In conjunction with Abilene's Connecting Caring Communities Program, Deatherage is the first Caring Partner to be identified in the HSU neighborhood.
Robert Hamner, senior professor of English and humanities at Hardin-Simmons University, prepares window trim for painting a Hardin-Simmons University neighbor's house as part of the university's Neighborhood Enhancement Program and as a way of saying "we care" to neighborhood residents. (Brenda Harris Photo) 07/09/2004 - By John Rutledge
