Posted: 12/03/04

ANOTHER VIEW:
'Jesus' celebrates 25th birthday

Recently I participated with other volunteers in distributing the gospel on the streets of a sprawling mega-city in Central Asia.

We struck up conversations with shopkeepers, cafe owners, college students, bus passengers and anyone else willing to talk to us in the overwhelmingly Muslim city. We prayed for opportunities to give our new acquaintances small packets containing a New Testament, a video showing local followers of Christ and how they worship–and a DVD version of the “Jesus” film.

Not everyone took our gift. Some declined politely; a few returned it after looking it over. But many accepted it with curiosity, gratitude, even emotion. They seemed eager to read, hear and see all they could about Jesus. Several asked for extra packets.

Almost anywhere you find the gospel–and people hungry for it–you'll find “Jesus.”

It's by far the most-watched and most-translated movie in history. It's also one of the church's most potent evangelism tools. The film, which first appeared in theaters in 1979, is marking the 25th year of its amazing run. The Jesus Film Project, an arm of Campus Crusade for Christ, distributes various versions worldwide. A few “Jesus” statistics (updated just this fall) will give you a feel for its global reach:

Cumulative viewing/listening audience (includes multiple viewings) since 1979: more than 5.8 billion.

Languages with “Jesus” film/audio translations: 874, with 229 more in the works.

Countries where the film has been shown: 228.

Countries where the film has been broadcast on television: 176.

“Jesus” film prints, videocassettes, DVDs and VCDs in circulation: more than 510 million.

Personal decisions to follow Christ at public film showings: more than 197 million.

There's no slowing down on the horizon. In addition to its availability in tailored versions for various formats and age groups, “Jesus” just made its Internet debut. In October, the entire film became accessible online–in more than 300 languages–via streaming video at www.JesusFilm.org.

“To our knowledge, a film has never been freely available on the Internet in so many different languages,” says Jim Green, who directs The Jesus Film Project. “The 300-plus translations available represent the heart language of more than 90 percent of the world's population.”

What is the continuing power of this movie? When people see “Jesus,” they see Jesus–and understand his words–often for the first time.

“Jesus speaks our language!” one elderly woman in Mozambique joyously cried after seeing the first showing of “Jesus” in her Makhuwa language. International Mission Board missionaries spearheaded the Makhuwa version of the film and saw thousands come to Christ among the 5-million-member animistic people group.

The emotional impact of witnessing Jesus' life and death–particularly his crucifixion–also explains the film's appeal. In many places, audiences weep, tear their clothes and toss dirt in the air to express grief, throw sticks at the Roman soldiers beating Jesus on the screen–or sit in silent awe.

Perhaps the true source of the film's power, however, is this: It conveys the word of God, specifically the Gospel of Luke, with virtually word-for-word faithfulness.

A recent campaign in Tomsk, Siberia, drew thousands of people to screenings around the city. Theaters overflowed, and 150 people who were turned away from one cinema walked more than a mile in the cold to see the movie at another location.

“I'm tired of thrillers,” one of the viewers said. “I want something that will talk to my heart. It's time to believe in God.”

So great is the film's impact that International Mission Board mission strategists include its availability as one of their measures of the evangelization of a people group. The Jesus Film Project has formally partnered with the IMB since 1997. Southern Baptist mission teams remain the top users of the film worldwide–and they continue to find new and more effective ways to utilize it.

As missionaries “continue to push into people groups that have little literacy and no Bible knowledge, it's requiring them to re-think using the 'Jesus' film,” media strategist Mark Snowden notes. “In many places, they delay showing the film until basic concepts of God, sin and redemption are understood by the people. Otherwise, in places where ancestors or other gods are worshipped, the people will just add Jesus to their pantheon of gods.”

When those concepts are effectively communicated first, the film is increasingly becoming “a discipleship tool for new believers,” Snowden adds. “They view Jesus' life and readily identify with the disciples who are seeking to follow Jesus.”

Happy 25th birthday, “Jesus.” May your influence increase!

Erich Bridges is a senior writer at the Southern Baptist International Mission Board in Richmond, Va. His column is distributed by Baptist Press.

Posted: 12/03/04

Rice's selection unlikely to impact
religious liberty, observers say

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)– President Bush's choice of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to replace Secretary of State Colin Powell may not mean much change in the United States' foreign policy regarding religious-freedom issues, experts on the subject maintained.

Bush formally selected Rice days after her 50th birthday and one day after Powell announced his resignation. Rice was raised in Jim Crow-era Alabama, the daughter of an African-American Presbyterian minister. She was the first woman of color to serve as national security adviser, and, if confirmed by the Senate, will break the same barrier at the State Department. She is a professing evangelical Christian.

But her actions as secretary of state may differ little from those of her two predecessors–who often came under fire from advocates of international religious freedom–in regard to making religious-liberty and other human-rights issues more central to American foreign policy.

President George W. Bush listens to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice speak after Bush nominated her to replace Colin Powell as secretary of state. (REUTERS/ Kevin Lamarque)

“I'm not optimistic” about Rice's appointment heralding renewed emphasis on religious freedom, said Larry Uzzell, president of the Virginia-based group International Religious Freedom Watch.

He pointed to a press briefing Rice had with reporters prior to Bush's 2002 trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian studies is Rice's area of academic expertise.

In the press briefing, Rice noted that Bush was to visit a Christian cathedral and a recently restored Jewish synagogue in that city, giving him “the chance to witness firsthand the right to freedom of worship, which is now thriving in Russia.”

Uzzell said that was, at best, a misleading characterization.

“It was shortly after a wave of expulsions of Roman Catholic clergy from Russia” in addition to several other incidents curtailing religious freedom in the former Soviet Union, he said.

“I was extremely disappointed that somebody in Dr. Rice's position would make such an unqualified statement about the state of church-state relations in Russia. That was not helpful for those of us who are trying to nudge that still semi-authoritarian country in the right direction. And right now, Russia is going in the wrong direction.”

Of Rice's commitment to religious freedom as a central focus of American foreign policy, Uzzell continued, “I think Condoleezza Rice is in the Washington mainstream on that issue–and that is not a compliment.”

A senior State Department official familiar with human-rights issues, speaking on the condition that his name not be published, expressed more optimism that his new boss would pay close attention to international religious-freedom issues because of her own “personal sensitivity to religious faith” and the support of the president.

“I can say, as far as the administration goes, and religious-freedom advocacy going forward into a second term, you'll see an ongoing commitment to religious freedom,” the official said.

Some religious-freedom observers–such as the independent United States Commission on International Religious Freedom–have criticized the State Department under Powell's leadership and that of his predecessor, Madeleine Albright, for not doing enough to use the mechanisms provided by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act to punish countries that commit egregious violations of their citizens' liberty of conscience.

That act created the commission to serve as a watchdog agency and also created an ambassador-at-large position for international religious freedom within the State Department itself.

The department is charged with publishing an annual report on international religious freedom and with designating major religious-liberty violators as countries of particular concern under the terms of the 1998 law.

The law then sets forth a series of actions, including sanctions, the government can take against those countries.

Although the department has named several nations countries of particular concern under the act, it has not invoked any additional U.S. sanctions on the countries other than those already in place for other reasons.

Robert Seiple, the first U.S. ambassador-at-large for religious freedom, said that was partially due to the relatively toothless nature of the religious-freedom office, the human-rights division of the State Department and the department itself in the Washington power scheme.

“If the weakest office in the weakest bureau in the weakest agency in Washington, D.C., is going to have any validity to it, there has to be a massive effort to change that reality or that perception,” he said.

“When I was at the State Department, part of my frustration in making things work was that I felt we were part of the junior varsity,” Seiple said.

He now is president of the Pennsylvania-based Institute for Global Engagement, which seeks to find realistic and pragmatic ways to advance religious freedom around the world.

Seiple said one way to gain more influence for religious-freedom issues would be to focus more government agencies, such as the Defense Department and the National Security Council, on religious issues.

“We have to find a way for anyone in government working on the issue of religious freedom to be associated with the strongest agency, and the strongest bureau, in the strongest office in Washington, D.C.,” he said.

That–and a strengthening of the role of the State Department–may become more of a reality under Rice, he noted, due to her close personal and ideological relationship with Bush. Powell generally is believed to have disagreed often with the stances of other senior administration officials on foreign-policy issues, while Rice is one of Bush's closest advisers.

“Now, the agency that houses religious freedom is headed up by someone who not only has the ear of the president, she knows him well enough to finish his sentences,” Seiple said.

“That should augur well for this issue. That, and the times in which we live–highlighted by the first war of the 21st century being a religious war.”

But, he added: “Whether it will do it or not, I don't know. But one could optimistically look at Condi Rice's presence there and say, given her association with the president, the State Department is not going to be the junior varsity in this equation.”

Nonetheless, Uzzell argued, the war on terrorism may lead to further muting of a human-rights critique of countries–such as Pakistan or Saudi Arabia–that are vital to the United States' interest, in favor of maintaining good relations with them.

“I think it was clear even before Secretary Powell's resignation that the same kinds of policies in the war on terror are going to continue. And I think it's clear from the developments of the last three years that that's not good for religious freedom,” he said.

“Like any war, that means you have to develop some alliances with pretty unsavory characters.”

Posted: 12/03/04

Dispute between Criswell College
& contractor to be settled out of court

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS–A dispute between Criswell College, the W.A. Criswell Foundation and a computer contractor will settled by an arbitrator rather than a jury.

Parties in what had been a multimillion-dollar lawsuit agreed to binding arbitration rather than proceed with a scheduled Dec. 6 trial.

They reached the agreement soon after a Nov. 19 summary judgment hearing. At that hearing, a district judge dismissed charges of libel and defamation stemming from a letter written by John Thomas, founder of International Data Systems, and mailed to more than 120 prominent Baptists, ranging from leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention's six seminaries and the Baptist General Convention of Texas to former President Jimmy Carter.

Attorneys for the Criswell Foundation said the letter alleged self-dealing and other financial misdeeds. The foundation sought damages of at least $2.5 million.

But Scott Hershman, lead attorney for Thomas, framed the letter as a plea for Christian mediation. He claimed a civil court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to rule on what essentially was a religious dispute, and he moved that the defamation charges be dismissed.

“Religion permeates this case and cannot be excised from it, no matter how fine a scalpel you use,” Hershman argued.

The dispute arose from an agreement Thomas reached in 1995 to digitize the tapes, transcripts and outlines of sermons by W.A. Criswell, longtime pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas–an effort that came to be known as the Criswell Legacy Project. As a Baptist layman, Thomas claimed he agreed to donate his own time and charge only what it would cost him to complete the work.

Criswell College paid on invoices received for services and equipment through October 1999, but in the months that followed, the relationship between the contractor and representatives of the Criswell Legacy Project broke down, and the Criswell entities stopped paying on invoices IDS presented. Since then, each party has accused the other of trying to change the terms of the earlier agreement.

Eventually, the Criswell entities ended any relationship with IDS and entered a contract with Chris Moreau, president of DIAWS Systems, to complete the project. Thomas maintains the sermon preservation project essentially was completed at that point, a matter the foundation disputes. Thomas also alleged financial conflict of interest involving the foundation's board.

Thomas stated his case and included his allegations in a March 12, 2003, letter he mailed to Criswell College trustees and former trustees and leaders at First Baptist Church in Dallas, as well other high-profile Baptists.

In the letter's opening paragraph, Thomas described what he called his “spiritual dilemma” and claimed he was seeking the help of “the church” at-large to settle the dispute, in keeping with New Testament passages such as 1 Corinthians 6 and Matthew 18.

Initially, the foundation identified more than two-dozen allegedly defamatory statements in the letter–including quoted references that included terms such as “heresy” and “apostasy,” which Thomas' lawyers emphasized.

Later, the foundation narrowed its focus, stressing passages where Thomas alleged foundation board members and their associates invested more than $1 million in the companies that replaced IDS on the Criswell Legacy Project.

The foundation also pointed to a Baptist Standard article Thomas included with his letter. The article described a book by Houston pastor Chris Seay titled “The Tao of Enron: Spiritual Lessons from a Fortune 500 Fallout.” By insinuation, foundation attorneys claimed, Thomas was accusing the Criswell entities of “an Enron-style scandal.”

Blake Beckham, lead attorney for the foundation, pointed out Thomas and his former attorney had drafted several versions of the letter before mailing the final version.

He characterized the letter as the work of “a skilled attorney with a sharp pencil” and a “calculating serial litigator,” rather than a humble appeal by a Baptist layman to respected spiritual leaders. Thomas has been involved in 37 civil disputes in the last 21 years, he noted.

Beckham asserted the secular claims of financial misdealing could be segregated from the religious language in the letter.

But Hershman cited a 1996 fraud case involving televangelist Robert Tilton, saying, “The court cannot adjudicate the truth or falsity of religious matters or even let a jury hear evidence regarding those matters.”

Matters of heresy and apostasy are “beyond the scope” of secular courts, he argued, saying, “The courts know no heresy.”

Conceding the letter touched on secular issues, Hershman contended, “Secular issues are so entwined with religious issues, you cannot untangle them.”

District Judge Karen Johnson granted the motion for summary judgment, dismissing the defamation claims “on multiple grounds.”

In October, she had dismissed complaints by IDS against the Criswell entities filed under the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act. By finding no evidence of racketeering, she reduced the claim for damages from more than $46 million to about $15.5 million. Anti-racketeering statutes allow recovery of three-fold damages.

Posted: 12/03/04

DBU volunteers build on-campus Habitat house

By Kristie Brooks

Dallas Baptist University

DALLAS–For the second consecutive year, Dallas Baptist University volunteers built a Habitat for Humanity house on the school's campus.

DBU Executive Vice President Blair Blackburn worked with the university's student chapter of Habitat to launch the building project in late October, and it was completed in about a month.

Students, faculty and staff volunteered daily to work on the house that was built right outside the university's John G. Mahler Student Center.

“The project has been highly publicized around campus to various DBU organizations,” explained Melissa Johnson, president of the DBU Habitat student chapter. “We had the DBU baseball team out here hammering and nailing up siding, while others worked with caulking before we added the final layer of paint. It's been a huge team effort, and it's exciting to see all the organizations work together to achieve such an enormous goal.”

Blackburn noted DBU students not only participate in the on-campus building project, but also travel during spring break to another part of the country to work on a Habitat project.

Blair Blackburn, DBU executive vice president, gives the house key to Maria Teresa Cazares, the new homeowner of a Habitat house built on the university campus.

“We believe that the fall 'on-campus' builds create an excitement and awareness of the impact Habitat has on the lives of the families who will call these houses 'home.' Last year, that excitement carried over, leading to a record number of students going on the spring break Habitat build to Tallahassee, Fla.,” he said. “This spring, our students will travel to Russell, Ala., to work with a local Habitat chapter.”

Chris Crawford, DBU director of residence life, has a background in construction and has been active in Habitat for several years. On the worksite, he was in charge of helping students get signed in and assigned to work areas where they were needed most.

“We had approximately 400 students, faculty and staff volunteer their time to build this house,” he explained. “It was great to see the students working together as a team and giving of their personal time to make a positive change in the life of a homeowner most of them will never know.”

Robert Erickson, director of physical operations and co-coordinator for the on-campus build, helped raise funds for supplies and worked with numerous contractors who volunteered their labor and donated materials for the construction of the house.

“All that I really do with the contractors and vendors is plant a seed,” Erickson explained. “God does the rest. It is such a great personal blessing for me to see God in action.”

DBU students worked on the project alongside the new homeowner, Maria Teresa Cazares, a 38-year-old single mother of three. Cazares was born in Mexico and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in December 1998.

The house was scheduled to be moved recently, and the spot outside the student center will be vacant until next fall, when construction will begin on a new project.

“Seeing the support of the university behind this project has been really amazing,” said Jay Harley, DBU Habitat sponsor and director of spiritual life. “It will be exciting to see how our chapter continues to grow as more students become aware of the impact Habitat has in people's lives.”

Posted: 12/03/04

DBU students, faculty fill shoeboxes with love

By George Henson

Staff Writer

DALLAS–Love may not fit in a box, but students at Dallas Baptist University hope children who receive shoeboxes filled with goodies will know someone cared enough to send a token of their love.

DBU is a shoebox collection center for Operation Christmas Child, and students take the shoeboxes filled with presents for children in 95 countries and pack them in larger boxes for shipping.

The children who will receive the boxes live in places ravaged by disease, war, terrorism, natural disaster and famine. Without the love of volunteers, these children would have no chance of experiencing a gift at Christmas time.

Operation Christmas Child, a project of Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse ministry, is important to many students, staff and faculty at DBU, said Mark Hale, associate vice president for student affairs. The project has grown considerably over the years the university has participated.

“This has gone from a 'load 'em in the back of the van' project to this year, when we rented a 25-foot trailer, and I don't know if it will be big enough,” he said.

The university's goal for this year was 3,000 shoeboxes. The final tally was 3,087, with about half donated by students, staff and faculty. The others came from individuals and churches in the area.

After the students loaded the shoeboxes into packing boxes, they took them to Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano for the next leg of their journey.

Brance Barker, a graduate student at DBU, said he has been participating in the Operation Christmas Child project for 10 years, since his days as a student at Grace Preparatory Academy in Arlington. His delight in helping meshes well with DBU's focus on ministry.

“It's neat that you're able to provide for children all over the world. DBU has such a heart for international students. This is a big emphasis on our campus. I love being able to support that,” Barker said.

DBU begins its on-campus emphasis in an October chapel service each year, Hale explained, adding the university community gets behind the project as the holidays approach.

“This is a great way for our students to get a taste for missions. This really is global missions done locally. It's one easy way for our students to get the missions ball rolling–especially our new students who may never have been on a mission trip or had any type of involvement in missions,” he said.

Packing the shoeboxes in shipping crates left DBU junior Dan Gibson thinking about the children who would receive the boxes, wherever they might be.

“You load boxes and wonder where this box is going–what part of the world will this wind up in,” he said.

“Then you think of the children. It's very rewarding.”

Posted: 12/03/04

DOWN HOME:
God, creativity, chaos & beauty

Don't worry about the Loch Ness Monster and/or Bigfoot. They don't exist.

If they did, we would've found them.

Joanna and I spent the better part of a Saturday helping our youngest daughter, Molly, clean her room. We didn't encounter any world-famous monsters, but that's about the only thing we didn't find.

Well, no monsters and no old sandwiches emblazened with faces of the Holy Family. You heard, of course, about the 10-year-old grilled-cheese sandwich with the “Virgin Mary” on one side. It sold for $28,000 on e-Bay. It came out of somebody else's bedroom that must have been–hard as this is to believe–worse off than Molly's room.

(Come to think of it, weird portraits of Mary and Jesus aren't that rare. When our family lived in Louisiana years ago, my friend Sonny drove down to check out a picture of Jesus that suddenly appeared on a screen door. “Didn't look a thing like Jesus,” Sonny reported. “More like Willie Nelson, I'd say.”)

But back to Molly's room. It's known to scientists as a “black hole,” where gravity is so strong nothing escapes.

Fortunately, the willpower of exasperated parents is stronger than the gravity of a thousand black holes. So, we began “liberating” long-lost stuff from Molly's room.

She discovered a letter our friend Susan sent with Molly's “care package” when she went on her first choir tour in seventh grade.

She found a jumprope in her underwear drawer.

We pulled out clothes she hasn't been able to wear since she was so skinny she had to run back and forth in the shower just to get wet.

You may have heard about a possible steel shortage. Fear not. We extracted all the extra hangers out of her closet. We're recycling them, and the Steel Belt is back in business.

Ironically, about the only thing we didn't pull out of Molly's room was food. That's probably because (a) we have a dog and (b) I have retrieved countless Dr Pepper cans and chocolate milk glasses through the years.

Too bad about the food. If we had found an old cheeseburger with sesame seeds miraculously formed into the likeness of Katie Couric on the bun, we could've sold it on e-Bay and financed our Christmas shopping this year.

As I stood in Molly's closet, untangling hangers and organizing clothes (“dresses, skirts, sweaters, shirts, slacks, shoes”), I thought about Genesis 1, God's creativity and my own limitations.

God made heaven and earth out of “formless and void” chaos. And here I'm doing good to restore order to a teenager's chaotic room.

Thankfully, God created beauty out of chaos. When I think about my lovely daughter and the random clutter of her well-lived-in room, I realize beauty and chaos aren't that far apart.

Posted: 12/03/04

Free curriculum offers parents, youth
ministers tool to prevent drug abuse

By George Henson

Staff Writer

Parents and youth ministers have a new tool to use in their efforts to fight drug use among teens. And it's free.

“This is a gift” from the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission to address substance abuse by kids, said Carrie Beaird, developer of the Pathways to Prevention curriculum.

Beaird highlighted the material at a seminar during the BGCT annual session in San Antonio and again at a workshop for youth ministers sponsored by Dallas Baptist Association at Lakeside Baptist Church in Dallas.

“It takes away 'I don't know what to say' and 'I don't know how to say it,'” she said, citing common excuses given by parents and youth workers for not addressing the drug abuse problem.

The curriculum, which can be found at www.christianlifecommission.org, offers a number of approaches to drug prevention in teens. Some material is aimed at junior high students, some for high school students, some for junior high and high school students, some at parents and youth leaders, and some geared to be used by youth and adults together.

The curriculum is not available in Spanish yet, but Beaird hopes to find someone who will translate it.

Topics include facts about drugs, alternatives to drug use, ways to say no, how to be a friend, laws concerning alcohol and drug use and biblical perspectives on substance abuse.

“These are stand-alone lessons,” Beaird said. “They don't build on each other.” That allows youth ministers to pick and choose what they feel is most important for their group without feeling compelled to make drug abuse the focus of their ministry for weeks at a time.

“Most chur-ches look at the issue and say: 'Too big. Too hard.' And, 'Don't know where to start.' So they do nothing,” she said.

Youth ministers at least should focus on the issue around homecoming, prom night and graduation–three key times when teens tend to experiment with drugs and alcohol, Beaird said.

“I hear kids say over and over that homecoming, prom and graduation are the three hardest days to stay sober,” she said. “At least go to the website and get three lessons.”

Drug and alcohol abuse needs to become a more openly discussed topic in churches, she asserted.

“Studies show that if a pastor will preach a sermon once a year on the realities of drug and alcohol abuse that it makes it real for the congregation and OK to talk about,” she said.

A recent survey showed 87 percent of the teenagers responding said they had at least tried alcohol in the past year, she noted.

“We don't want any kid to drink, but if 87 percent of them are, it probably includes some of our Baptist kids,” she said.

Parents also need to be more involved and aware, she said. Begin by checking grades, she suggested.

“If they go from being an A-B student to being a C-D student, something is going on, and there's a pretty good chance that something is drugs or alcohol.”

Surveys show that 10.8 percent of children ages 12 to 17 are current drug users, she noted.

Prescription pill parties present a growing danger, she said. Party-going teens rob their medicine cabinets of prescription medications, bring them to party and put them in a bag.

“Everybody just grabs something out of the bag and takes it. They don't have a clue as to what they are taking, in what dosage or what combination. This is really dangerous,” she said.

Alcohol and drug education may not keep teens from using the substances, but even delaying their starting is important, Beaird said.

A teen with a genetic predisposition toward alcoholism who takes his or her first drink at 13 has a 57 percent chance of becoming an alcoholic. A teen with a genetic predisposition toward alcoholism who waits until 18 has only a 22 percent chance of becoming an alcoholic. Waiting until the legal age of 21 drops that figure to 16 percent.

“I don't want any kid to drink ever, but can't we help them to at least obey the law?” she asked.

One of the best ways for parents to help teens is to make it harder to obtain by not having it in the household. She said that while most don't want to admit it, some Baptists drink and keep alcohol in their homes.

“When we send mixed signals, we hurt our kids,” she said. “They think: 'Why do I have to obey your rules? You drink.' If you are telling your kids not to drink but you drink yourself, that is a far bigger influence on your children drinking than peer pressure.”

The Pathways to Prevention curriculum offers parents the tools they need to be proactive, she said. “Parents need to be aware and need to get involved in drug prevention, education and detection.”

That includes snooping in rooms. She also suggests a urinalysis the day after homecoming. She said a hair follicle test will reveal drug use for six to nine months.

“Parents don't want to believe that their kids drink or that their kids use drugs–and we hope they don't–but it's better to know than to wait for it to get progressively worse and something bad happens,” she said.

Conversations about drugs and alcohol can help kids reinforce their beliefs, she added.

“One thing I want to get this curriculum to do is to get people talking–kids talking to parents, parents talking to youth ministers and most of all kids talking about what it is like to be them walking down the hall at school, so that kid that has said 'no' 89 times but is beginning to waver can talk about that.

“This is a decision that a kid doesn't get to make just one time but has to make every day.”

Posted: 12/03/04

EDITORIAL:
Celebrating Advent makes the wait worthy of Christmas

So now we wait.

Waiting, particularly waiting patiently, is not an American virtue. You know you're wound just a little too tightly when you get annoyed because the microwave doesn't heat your pre-cooked dinner fast enough. You're on the impatient side when you order movie tickets online so you won't have to wait in line to buy them at the cineplex. Americans by the millions are signing up for broadband Internet access so we won't have to wait for our computers to download pictures and songs and all the other “instant” data available at the click of a mouse.

But we wait for Christmas. The Christmas season–called Advent by Baptists and others not worried about being considered “too Catholic”–follows an arc determined by the calendar. It covers the span of four Sundays, usually from the Sunday immediately following Thanksgiving to the Sunday before Christmas. It moves at the timeless pace trod by Christians for nearly two millennia.

Ironically, Christmas can't come soon enough for some Christians, while it arrives much too abruptly for others.

The people who can't wait for Christmas Day occupy the poles of the holiday spectrum. Children and grownups who go all out for Christmas live at one end. Most kids, of course, hear “Christmas” and think “presents.” They can hardly wait for Santa to arrive and for the family to gather around the tree so they can gorge on gifts. The other end, however, is the habitation of people for whom this is a season of sadness. Christmas reminds them of loved ones who are gone, of disappointment and loss. They can't wait to get Christmas over with.

To the contrary, many–if not most–of us feel Christmas bearing down at a pace that would make reindeer dizzy. We hear carols of romanticized Christmases, with snow on the ground, flames in the fireplace and long evenings before a glorious tree. And we grimace at the irony, wondering how we're ever going to find time to get the shopping and wrapping done, the cards mailed, the pageant pulled off and all the end-of-year work completed. We feel like we're riding a jingle-bell juggernaut, and we wonder if we'll fly right past Christmas.

Celebrating Advent–the season of expectation and preparation for the arrival of our Savior–provides an antidote for whatever spiritual ailments afflict Christians at this season. For those who can't wait for Christmas Day to arrive or to be over, Advent offers a steady pace and a way of marking time. For those who feel the mad-rush pressure of the season, it affords a daily opportunity to slow down, be still and savor the season. Advent gives all of us a chance to take a break from commercialism and hype, to ponder the meaning of Incarnation, God-Made-Flesh, living among us, beginning as a vulnerable baby, Jesus. It enables us to peer past all the clutter of our lives, to think beyond our to-do lists and feel beyond our expectations and sadness. It helps us live expectantly, not awaiting shopping trips and pageants and Sunday school parties and family get-togethers, but longing for the arrival of the Messiah, the Savior of the world, our Redeemer.

Most Baptists, especially Texas Baptists, aren't very familiar with Advent. A friend says his mother always described Advent as “how liberals back east celebrate Christmas.” In fact, Advent is one of the most worshipful, reverent, sacred occasions. It comes as close as possible to elevating Christmas to the spiritual height of Easter. Every other commemoration should do as well at helping Christians focus on what God did at Christmas–sending Jesus to earth so that people could discover eternal hope, know divine peace, feel supernatural joy and experience God's love.

Joanna and I first encountered Advent the first Christmas I was in seminary. Grateful sisters and brothers in our church wrote meditations for each day of the season, and their words filled our hearts with gladness. Many years later, our evening Advent celebration–lighting candles on the Advent wreath, reading Scripture and daily devotionals, and singing carols–is our most cherished Christmas tradition. Our daughters never have experienced a Christmas without an Advent wreath. Our evening worship has provided memories that will last all our lifetimes and helped us focus on the Christ who makes this season holy.

If you can't wait for Christmas to arrive or to be over with, and if you feel the busy-ness of “the holidays” is more than you can bear, celebrate Advent every day of the season. You can find Advent wreaths and devotional booklets online or in Christian bookstores. You can start now, in the middle of the season. You will be blessed.

Advent gives all of us a chance to take a break from commercial-ism and hype, to ponder the meaning of Incarnation, God-Made-Flesh, living among us.
–Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

Posted: 12/03/04

ETBU reaffirms Chinese partnership President Fang Jianzhuang (left) of the Gaungdong Teachers College of Foreign Language and Arts in China and President Bob Riley of East Texas Baptist University in Marshall sign an agreement to continue a program allowing the exchange of professors and students from both schools for a semester or longer. The two schools have had a relationship since 1991.

Posted: 12/03/04

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Dec. 12

Remember the mercy God has shown to you

Luke 15:18-32

By Pakon Chan

Chinese Baptist Church, Arlington

In the beginning of chapter 15, Jesus is accused of eating and having fellowship with sinners by the Pharisees and scribes. The Pharisees' and scribes' high moral and religious standards would not allow them even to talk with sinners. If Jesus was a rabbi, a moral and religious teacher, why would he want to eat and fellowship with sinners, they asked? The Pharisees and scribes would protect their status. They did not understand Jesus and his work.

With their expectation of Jesus as a rabbi, they were disappointed by his behavior. Their disappointment came from their wrong expectations of Jesus and their lack of knowledge about his mission. Jesus did not rebuke them; instead, he was patient and shared three parables to explain why he had fellowship with sinners.

The first two parables

These two parables tell the same message–God loves to see a sinner repent. Both end their stories with a remark that God and his angels rejoice at a sinner's repentance (vv. 7, 10). The Pharisees judged people by their moral and religious achievements, so if people could not meet the requirements they set, the Pharisees condemned them. The Pharisees also judged people by their history. They had no hope for sinners and did not care if they repented.

God sees us differently. He looks at our hearts and attitude. We may not be perfect, but if we love God, he wants to have fellowship with us. He will not wait until we are perfect to have fellowship with us. God sent Jesus to save us and bring us to him. Because he has hope for us, when he sees people repent, he rejoices. Jesus and the Pharisees had different expectations for sinners, so they responded differently to their needs.

I was a high school teacher for several years in Hong Kong. We all wanted to teach the best students. Teaching the best students made us feel good. It was a happy and enjoyable teaching experience. But no one wanted to teach the bad students. Teachers felt they were falling into hell if they were assigned to teach the bad class. They would lose face among their colleagues. The Pharisees may have felt the same way about sinners. When they saw Jesus actively seek out the sinners, they felt disappointed.

The parable of the lost son

After the two short parables, Jesus gave a long parable to further explain why he loved to have fellowship with sinners. In Jewish tradition, as well as oriental tradition, no son will be given an inheritance before the death of the father. It is very rebellious for a son to request his share of inheritance early. Jesus may have wanted to make the point that the father must have loved his son very much to grant his wish and disregard his rebellion.

After wasting all his money, this son wanted to go home just to survive. He knew he did not deserve to be his father's son anymore. He only wanted to be a servant in his father's house. In his reflection and realization, this son truly repented of what he had done. He wanted to ask for forgiveness from his father and serve him forever.

This father was quite extraordinary he had never given up hope for his rebellious son. He saw him from a far distance and recognized him. It would not have happened if this father did not expect his son to return. A celebration was called, the son was forgiven and he resumed his place in his father's house.

The older brother didn't like that. He was very disappointed with his father. To the older brother, his young brother did not deserve mercy or forgiveness from his father, not to mention a big feast.

The anguish of the older son came from his disappointment with his father and the feeling of injustice. He expected his younger brother be punished with no forgiveness from his father. This brother deserved to lose everything and suffer for his rebellion and wrongdoing. The older brother did not understand the love and hope of his father had for his brother.

The parable does not tell us how the older brother responded to his father's comforting words. If the older son was like the Pharisees, there might not be any change in his attitude.

How to deal with disappointment

Jesus' behavior and action caused disappointment in the Pharisees and the scribes. These parables were used to encourage them to see from Jesus' perspective. If they had the right expectations, they would not have been disappointed with Jesus.

From these parables, we should at least learn a few things to help us deal with disappointment.

Re-examine our expectations. Wrong expectations will usually bring disappointment.

Keep hope alive even if we cannot see any change in the one that disappoints us.

Exercise grace and forgiveness toward people who disappoint us.

Discussion questions

Do you often feel disappointed?

Why was the father in the parable of the Lost Son not disappointed in his younger son?

Do you think the disappointment the older son felt was warranted? Why?

Posted: 12/03/04

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Dec. 19

Christmas reminds us of the possibilities

Luke 1:26-38, 46-56

By Pakon Chan

Chinese Baptist Church, Arlington

Christmas is just around the corner. Everybody, Christian and nonChristian alike, is getting more and more excited as it gets closer. Christmas is a time for celebration, but not all of us know what to celebrate.

We know how to celebrate Christmas, but don't know why we celebrate. As a matter of fact, we can celebrate Christmas incorrectly if we don't know what to celebrate.

We may be very happy with all the parties, gifts and even church activities, but we may still miss the message of Christmas.

Every Christian knows Jesus is the reason for celebrating Christmas. It is the most joyous day in the year, for the Savior was born to us (Luke 2:10-11). Indeed, it is a very joyful event and deserves celebration.

But unless we truly understand how Mary, the unmarried mother of the child Jesus, had struggled when she heard the message the angel delivered to her, we don't really know how Christmas came to us. The message of Christmas keeps requiring a response from us as we are celebrating it.

An unthinkable greeting

In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, an angel was sent to Mary with a message–a greeting from God to Mary. This greeting or message was totally outrageous to such a young lady like Mary. Even though she was pledged to be married to a man, the actual marriage had not taken place and she was still a virgin.

She was perhaps only 12 or 14 years old at the time. How could she not be afraid? The Bible only tells us that she seemed to be afraid or troubled at the word or the presence of the angel (vv. 29-30).

She fully understood the consequences of being a pregnant unmarried woman. First, she did not understand how this would happen to her since she was a virgin (v. 34). If it really happened to her, she would be condemned and might even be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 22:20-21).

One commentator suggests that the response of Mary (v. 34) showed she did not express doubt, but was overwhelmed by the incomprehensible grandeur of the announcement. We can imagine that Mary truly believed what the angel told her about her “mission” of being an unmarried mother. That was extremely frightening to her, if it was really going to happen. But after listening to the explanation of the angel, she accepted it and submitted to God's plan for her.

Nothing is impossible

Christmas became possible because of a submissive young girl who was willing to put her life in God's hands to fulfill his promise to all humanity.

Once Mary submitted herself to God, nothing was impossible (1:37). Christmas is the biggest miracle in the all of human history, for the Creator God became man and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14). Since then, the impossible has become possible, and God has been reconciled to his people through Jesus.

We may think that it is impossible to bring Jesus to some of our family members, friends or colleagues. We may have the same feeling Mary did before she listened to the answer from the angel.

The angel reminded her she could not do anything about that. It was the work of the Holy Spirit (v. 35). Even a barren woman like Elizabeth could have a child, so there was nothing impossible with God (vv. 36-37).

How should we celebrate Christmas?

Christmas is the season of giving. It is the time for us to give Jesus to others. It also is the time for us to show our submission to God's plan for the year to come. Take this holiday as an opportunity to seek God's will to know what he wants you to do for him and the church in the next year.

He may ask you to give to support some specific ministries, lead certain people to Christ, or go on a mission trip. We may think we do not have the ability to do God's work and fulfill his plan. Listen to the Holy Spirit, for he will confirm there is nothing impossible with God.

The song of a submissive heart

After Mary submitted to God, she was filled with joy. She sang the most beautiful and majestic song to the Lord. She was sure the Mighty One would do great things for her (v. 49). People would be blessed through her (v. 48). Salvation would come to those humble and hungry for God's mercy (vv. 52-53). God would fulfill his promise to us.

Discussion questions

What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

How will you include Christ in your Christmas celebration this year?

Do you believe that with your submission to him, God can accomplish impossible tasks through you in the coming year?

With all the busy-ness that comes with the Christmas season, how will you make sure that you carve out a time for introspection and meditation on God's will for your life?

Posted: 12/03/04

LifeWay Family Bible Series for Dec. 12

Enthusiasm for Christ should be contagious

John 1:35-50

By Leroy Fenton

Baptist Standard, Dallas

Jesus called his army of disciples, and the fountainhead of the Christian movement began its historic march around the world. The day after John the Baptist identified Jesus, he pointed him out again, saying, “Look, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:35-36).

Immediately, two men, Andrew (v. 40) and probably John, the writer of this Gospel, became the first two to follow Jesus. These two probably had responded to the preaching and prophecy of John the Baptist, had repented, were baptized and eagerly awaited the arrival of the messianic age.

Church folk have a problem with the word “follow,” preferring its simplest external sense, “to follow after,” “to go along” or “to accompany,” which equates to little more than church attendance. The church conveniently has become attending consumers more than working servants. When one walks down the aisle to unite with a church (if he or she walks down an aisle), the pastor says, “Fill out this card, and sit here.” Walking is over, and sitting begins.

Even Webster's dictionary defines “follow” with more intensity and complexity, such as “to seek to attain,” “to accept as authority,” “to copy or imitate,” “to engage in as a calling” and “to understand.”

The New Testament use of the word is more than figuratively “going after” Jesus. It is a word of serious learning, deliberate action and strict obedience as a disciple in the fullest sense of total commitment intellectually, morally and spiritually, regardless of the personal cost. “To follow” means the development of an exclusive and dynamic relationship with Jesus, who is both teacher and Lord. These earliest followers had to mature to a deeper understanding and faith.

Learning

Seeing the two disciples, Jesus asked, “What do you want?” (v. 38). Finding Jesus friendly, open, hospitable and receptive, they went and “spent the day with him” (v. 39) to learn more about his mission. There is no memo about that conversation, but it was informative and persuasive. Andrew was convinced and became the first to call Jesus “the Messiah (that is the Christ)” (v. 41). Christ, or Messiah, means “the anointed one.”

In ancient times, oil was poured on the king's head, symbolizing the transfer of authority from the people to the chosen leader. Jesus is now perceived as more than a prophet. He is the one anointed, chosen by God to act on God's mission and in God's power. However, the Jewish Messiah is a righteous, national, military leader expected to break the bonds of foreign domination, to conquer Israel's enemies and to bring peace (“son of Joseph,” v. 45; “King of Israel,” v. 49). The learning process, begun in earnest, must continue. They will come to understand the full meaning of the title, “Son of God.” Learning about Jesus and the Christian lifestyle is a lifetime pursuit.

Witnessing

Andrew is one of the less-prominent disciples and is famous for being the first to bring someone to Jesus. The “first thing” Andrew did was to rush out, find his brother, Simon, and say to him, “We have found the Messiah …” (v. 41).

Andrew means “manly.” His name implies he was a rugged, hard-working fisherman. He did not know everything about Jesus, had not studied soul winning and was not a graduate of the seminary, but he wanted his brother to know Jesus as he knew him. Perhaps he had some of the characteristics of Peter. His bold personality bounds to the forefront on this occasion. Andrew was left out of the inner circle of Jesus, but note the unashamed enthusiasm of his testimony rather than his notoriety.

Enthusiasm is derived from “en theos,” meaning “possessed by a god.” Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Every great and commanding movement in the annals of the world is the triumph of enthusiasm.” The enthusiastic desire to tell others should mark the life of every believer. When Andrew brought his brother and fishing partner to Jesus, Jesus promptly changed his name from Simon to Cephas or Peter (both mean “rock”). Peter was to become the most outstanding and prominent witness of the 12.

Multiplying

The three quickly became five. Jesus touched their lives, and one lighted torch lit another. To Philip, Christ said, “follow me,” the fourth (vv. 37, 38, 40, 43) use of that word in these verses. Philip followed, but not before he told Nathanael that Jesus was the one about whom Moses and the prophets had written, “Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (vv. 41-45).

This may give us a clue as to the content of the conversation Jesus had with Andrew and John. Nathanael was a willing skeptic who questioned Philip's assertion with “Can anything good come from” Nazareth (v. 46). Nathanael immediately switched from a doubter to a believer when Jesus revealed knowledge about his character and whereabouts through his supernatural ability and awareness (v. 48). Nathanael now gives his declaration, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel” (v. 49). His knowledge of us should prompt our own positive response in faith to his leadership. Later, there were seven more disciples (Mark 3:13-19). Greater things were to come (v. 50).

Discussion question

Do you have an enthusiasm about sharing Christ?