Posted: 5/28/04

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for June 13

God continues to use people to meet needs

2 Kings 4:1-44

By David Morgan

Trinity Baptist Church, Harker Heights

Five miracles in 2 Kings 5 illustrate God's concern for people. Three of these wonders receive brief treatment. The other two detail Elisha's encounters with a Shunammite woman.

These stories clearly picture Elisha as a wonder-worker and highlight his role as God's prophetic leader in Israel. He glorifies God by acting with God's power to assist people in tough times. God's prophet, who challenged kings, could provide for the people what the monarch could not.

A poor widow helped

The first miracle helped an unnamed prophet's widow. He had died and left her and two sons financially overwhelmed. Creditors threatened to enslave the sons until they could work off the debt. It is unlikely the debt would ever have been fully paid off. Hebrew law allowed a creditor such rights until the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:39-41).

The woman poured out her plight to Elisha. He inventoried her assets which amounted to a single bottle of oil. He instructed her to borrow from her neighbors as many empty jars as possible. Then he directed her to go into her house with her sons and begin to fill these containers with oil. Her single jar poured oil into the containers until all were full. The prophet told her to sell all the oil, pay off her debts and live off the remaining money. This miracle reminds us that God had miraculously multiplied oil for a Sidonian widow through Elijah (1 Kings 17:16).

A wealthy woman blessed

The next two miracles concern a woman who ministered to Elisha. They show that Elisha aided both poor and rich.

The woman lived in Shunem, a city about 16 miles southeast of Mount Carmel. Elisha, who apparently lived at Carmel, would have traveled through Shunem frequently as he ministered to the people. This wealthy woman, reflecting the Semitic custom of hospitality, often invited him to eat with them. She later urged her husband to build and furnish a room on the roof for the holy man.

Elisha wanted toq thank the woman for her kindness and asked her what he could do for her. She voiced her satisfaction with her life and said she wanted nothing more. Elisha's servant, Gehazi, pointed out to the prophet that she had no son. Elisha then promised her she would bear a son. This incident is one of many where God blessed a barren woman with a child–Sarah (Genesis 18:10), Rebekah (Genesis 25:21) and Rachel (Genesis 30:22).

Elisha's promise came true. Some years later, the boy died in his mother's arms, apparently the victim of a heat stroke. She quickly made arrangements to travel to Carmel to see Elisha. Elisha saw her coming in the distance and sensed something was wrong.

The woman's first words revealed an anger against Elisha. She had been content with her life. She had requested nothing from him. She had insisted he not offer her false hopes. But now the death of her son had stripped her of the joy the boy had brought her.

A boy restored

Elisha sent Gehazi to the woman's home, but she refused to leave until Elisha returned with her. The servant had laid Elisha's staff on the child but could not revive him.

When the prophet arrived, he ordered everyone out of the room, the very room that the woman had built for him. He prayed to God and then stretched himself on the child, mirroring the child's position. The body warmed. That Elisha stopped to walk about the room shows the energy he was expending. He repeated his actions. The child sneezed, opened his eyes and was reunited with his mother. She received him back as she recognized the power of God's prophet.

We again see a parallel between Elisha and Elijah's ministry, for Elijah had restored to life a widow's son (1 Kings 17:17-22).

Hungry prophets fed

Elisha later traveled to Gilgal, where there was a famine. He was teaching a group when he instructed his servant to fix a stew for them to eat. One of the prophets gathered wild plants for it and added them to the pot. When the men tasted the soup, they blurted out that it was poisoned. The prophet took a handful of flour, added it to the pot, and neutralized the poison. The meal symbolized God's act in healing the pot at Elisha's bidding.

A man later showed up with 20 loaves of bread and a few ears of corn. Normally these first fruits were reserved for the priests. They may have been brought to Elisha because he represented the true worship of God. Elisha told his attendant to share with the hundred or so men gathered. Bread would certainly have been welcomed by all in a time of famine.

The servant balked because he knew the 20 loaves would be exhausted before everyone had received a piece. Elisha understood what God was doing and commanded the servant to go ahead because there would be food left over. The servant obeyed, all were fed and they had food left over. As God showed divine care for these, God continues to work to meet people's needs.

Questions for discussion

What evidence do you see that God is still working through people to perform miracles in the lives of others?

How do we keep the focus on God and not the person in the spotlight?

Posted: 5/28/04

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for June 6

Most jobs are too big for any individual person

2 Kings 2:1-14

By David Morgan

Trinity Baptist Church, Harker Heights

The 2004 Olympic torch left Greece and is to arrive in Sydney, Australia, June 4. It will travel to every continent represented by the Olympic rings before it returns to ignite the Olympic flame in Athens Aug. 13. Its light will have shone in every city that has hosted the Olympic games. Thirty-six hundred torchbearers will pass it one to another on its historic journey.

Long, demanding tasks often require more than one person and generation to complete. God's work spans the globe both geographically and generationally. He always provides the next torchbearer when divine work passes from one generation to the next.

Elijah's final work

Many people who interpret these verses center on Elijah's departure. While this event is awesome and mysterious, several factors make Elisha the central focus.

The context of the passage provides the first clue. Chapter 1 ends with Ahaziah's death and the summary of his reign. Chapter 3 begins with the introductory formula of Jehoram's reign. By setting this scene where Elisha has received the prophetic mantle between the two kings, the writer emphasizes the prophet's role. God will continue to work for Israel's good even when her wicked kings are leading the nation astray.

A second clue is Elisha's insistence on accompanying Elijah despite the elder's request to travel alone. He would not abandon his mentor. They began to work together when Elijah saw his successor plowing. He laid his mantle on him to symbolize the call to prophetic office (1 Kings 19:18-21). Elisha then disappeared from sight until the day Elijah is taken.

Everyone seemed to know in advance that Elijah would depart the world. Verse 1 informs the reader that God will take him in a whirlwind. Elisha accompanied Elijah as they traveled from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho to the east side of the Jordan River. When they reached each city, Elijah told Elisha to stay while he traveled on. Elisha refused each time.

His loyalty to Elijah is one trait that qualified him to be Elijah's successor. Elisha suspected his presence with Elijah was necessary for him to receive the power he would need as Elijah's successor.

Elijah struck the Jordan with his mantle. The waters divided, and the two men crossed on dry ground. Note the parallels between Elijah/Elisha and Moses/Joshua: The younger will soon assume the responsibility of the older; the crossing of the river occurs at the same site; God's chosen servant will cross from east to the west to lead the nation. The similarity reminds the reader that the Lord always provides leaders for God's people.

Elisha's request

The pair kept walking after crossing the Jordan. Elijah asked what he could do for his protege before being taken. Elisha sought a double portion of Elijah's spirit.

He was not asking for twice as much of the spirit as Elijah possessed. “Double portion” reflected inheritance rights where the eldest son received twice as much as his siblings when their father died. Elisha was asking for proof that God had chosen him to succeed Elijah. He also recognized his need for God's spirit and strength to serve.

Elijah acknowledged the magnitude of the request and could not make this promise. He was able to promise that if Elisha witnessed his departure the request would be granted. Perhaps Elisha was being tested to see if he had both spiritual sensitivity and perseverance.

Elisha's new role

As the two men walked, a chariot and horses of fire separated them. Note that God took Elijah not in the chariot but in a whirlwind. God often appeared in storms to demonstrate divine power (the Hebrews at Mount Sinai, even Elijah at Mount Horeb). God's invasion of human existence is usually turbulent and powerful.

Elisha responded by tearing his garments in grief. He cried: “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel.” “Father” demonstrates the respect Elisha held for Elijah, who had been Israel's spiritual father as well as Elisha's mentor. The reference to chariots and horses suggests Israel's true defense was God working through Elijah. The prophet was God's chosen instrument. The term was later applied to Elisha at his death (2 Kings 13:14).

Elisha tore his garments in grief at Elijah's departure. He picked up the mantle which symbolized both his new responsibility and God's power. He returned to the Jordan and prayed God would clothe him with power as the Lord had done for Elijah.

The answer was quick and sure. When he struck the waters, they divided as they had done for Elijah. God had indeed endowed him with the “double portion.” Israel had a new prophet.

Elisha's next act that further demonstrated God had anointed him to succeed Elijah was to purify the city's water supply by sprinkling salt in it. God continued to provide for his people. Elisha had received God's prophetic torch from Elijah. God has handed it now to leaders in your church.

Questions for discussion

What part of the work has God given you to do in his kingdom?

Who are you investing yourself in so that they might be ready to take on responsibility later?

Posted: 5/28/04

LifeWay Family Bible Series for June 6

Baptism proclaims an encounter with Christ

Acts 2:36-41; Romans 6:1-10

By Rodney McGlothlin

First Baptist Church, College Station

I entered Southwestern Seminary only having preached three sermons. Three years later, I was responsible for three a week. Multiply that times 50 weeks a year, and you get 150 annual sermons. It would be more, but even preachers get a few weeks off each year for good behavior or vacation, whichever comes first!

I now am in my 26th year of full-time pastoring. (Spell Checker just changed the last word to “pestering.” It is bad enough to have a computer that checks my grammar and spelling; I will not tolerate it evaluating my ministry!) That is 3,900 sermons. I am the “Sermonator.” (You should see what Spell Checker did with that one!)

I remember the first sermon I ever preached. I was in the second grade at the time. Every believer has preached at least one sermon. Do you remember yours? You did not use words. It was a sermon in symbols or signs. It was your baptism. I want to help you remember the sermon you preached in your baptism.

“Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (Romans 6:3-6).

There are two points to the sermon you preached in baptism. The first point was about Jesus. The second point was about you and your decision to follow Jesus.

Baptism is a picture of the gospel story. It symbolizes the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It tells all who are watching how Jesus became the Savior of the world. Jesus did many things. He preached, taught and healed. These things alone were not the means by which our salvation was achieved. Paul said, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless, and so is your faith” (1 Corinthians 15:14).

Your baptism symbolized his death and burial through your immersion under the water. On the third day, Jesus was raised. Rising from the water symbolized the resurrection of Jesus. Fortunately, you did not need to stay under water for three days to symbolize the three days in the tomb.

When you were baptized, it was as if you said to the church: “Gather around, friends. I want to tell you the story of Jesus. I want you to know how he became my Savior. He died on the cross. He was buried. He was raised.” That is the preaching of the church from Pentecost to the present. You preached it through your baptism.

The second point of your sermon was about your decision to follow Jesus. Paul said, “Our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”

You told the church something about your desire to be a new person, to turn from sin and to be free of its power over you. Again, it was as if you said to the church: “I have decided to follow Jesus. I want to obey him and live for him. I have a new life in him.”

Baptism in the early days of the church was done in public. It was an act of proclamation done in the presence of the unbelieving world. Today, we baptize most often in a church, viewed almost exclusively by believers.

Perhaps we should have portable baptisteries on wheels. We could take it to the work place, the neighborhood or school. We could pass out flyers that would say: “I have decided to follow Jesus. Come see my baptism at noon today on the parking lot.” I think this kind of public proclamation of faith would be a powerful witness to our world. It certainly was in the first century.

We are Baptists. We did not get this name because of our emphasis on pot-luck dinners. It has to do with our insistence on believer's baptism by immersion. It is more than an act of initiation into a local Baptist church. It is an act of gospel proclamation. It is a sermon without words. It is the gospel in symbols.

Your baptism was not something some preacher did to you. It was something you said through symbols to God, the church and the world. It was your sermon. It was your story about your life-changing encounter with Jesus. It was the best sermon ever preached in any church. On that day, you were more eloquent than Billy Graham.

Questions for discussion

What sermon did your baptism preach?

What are other actions that speak volumes–whether we want them to or not?

Posted: 5/28/04

LifeWay Family Bible Series for June 13

Lord's Supper symbolizes God's new covenant

Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32

By Rodney McGlothlin

First Baptist Church, College Station

Children are fascinated by the ordinances of the church. They often want to participate before they are ready to receive the spiritual realities for which they stand.

A little boy once told me he wanted to get “babatized” so he would be able to “eat dinner with God.” He had figured out that he could not have the Lord's Supper until after he had been baptized. His motivation for baptism may have been suspect, but his theology of Lord's Supper exceeded that of many believers I have known.

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.' For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

We should remember that the Lord's Supper was a shared meal between Jesus and his disciples. In that sense, my little friend got it right. They had a meal with God.

Jesus took the elements of Passover, the symbols of the old covenant between Israel and God, and transformed them into the symbols of the new covenant. His body and blood would be the means of bringing about this new relationship between God and man. In the Supper, all the participants in grace are present.

Lord's Supper is an act of remembrance

The Jews had a wonderful tradition of remembering their greatest stories through feasts and festivals. These were teaching times. For the most part, these festivities took place in homes rather than public meeting places. They rehearsed the stories of Israel's past and shared them again with another generation.

Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” The Lord's Supper is a way of remembering what Jesus did to provide our salvation. The church always must nurture its collective memory of redemption. It is a story we should remember together. “I love to tell the story; 'twill be my theme in glory; to tell the old, old story; of Jesus and his love.”

Lord's Supper is an act of proclamation

“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death.”

Two questions frequently arise concerning our practice of this proclamation. To whom is this proclamation made? How often should we observe the ordinance?

The proclamation is made to all who are present. That is not the same thing as saying the Supper is served to all, regardless of their relationship with the Lord.

I love it when lost people are present for baptism. They never get in the water with me and the candidate, and do not feel excluded by this. The church is not a secret society where its most important acts of initiation and inclusion are secret. They are done in public to proclaim the truths of the gospel to believers and unbelievers alike.

We should make sure to remember the gospel story when observing the Supper. We can do this through reading Scripture, sharing testimonies, singing appropriate music and explaining the meaning of the Supper itself. We should never waste an opportunity to proclaim the gospel.

How often should this proclamation be made? I fear we have been reactionary at this point. Since those who view the Supper as the means to receiving grace often take it weekly, we have gone to the extreme of practicing it sporadically or seasonally. I am more convinced than ever that it is not observing the Supper too often that has led to sacramentalism but celebrating it too thoughtlessly. The Lord's Supper is gospel proclamation at its best.

Lord's Supper is an act of anticipation

“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death, until he comes.”

The Lord's Supper does not just look back to the events around the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It looks forward in anticipation to the time when Jesus will come again. When he first instituted the Supper, Jesus told his disciples, “I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). There is coming a day when we will be gathered to our eternal home in heaven. Jesus is coming again. The Lord's Supper anticipates his return and our eternal place in his kingdom.

The Lord's Supper is an expression of our blessed hope. One of my favorite holidays as a child was Thanksgiving. It was not a gifting holiday like Christmas or birthdays. It was not a noisy holiday like July 4th or Halloween. It was a family day. It included cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

I remember every story told by my uncles and my father, who served in World War II. I remember stories my grandparents told about my parents. It was good to know they were kids too. I heard about family plans, dreams and hopes. Most of all, I was included. It was the story I found myself in.

The Lord's Supper has become for me the story of grace. Grace is the story I have found myself in. I want to remember it, proclaim it and anticipate its fulfillment.

Questions for discussion

How can you make the Lord's Supper more meaningful?

Posted: 5/28/04

Dallas-area Baptist volunteers join in
Habitat for Humanity building blitz

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS–Texas Baptists helped an effort to construct 22 homes in south Dallas through a Habitat for Humanity building blitz.

Volunteers from Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated churches were the primary providers of food and meal service for several hundred volunteers who came daily for a week in late May.

Texas Baptist Men cooked more than 1,100 meals a day using a new unit from Lindale. Some days, the workers also served the food. Other days, volunteers assisted TBM.

Volunteers included members of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Dallas, Bible Way Baptist Church in Dallas, Bethlehem Baptist Church in Fort Worth, West Side Baptist Church in Lewisville, True Believers Baptist Church in Dallas and Northlake Baptist Church in Garland.

Willie Smith, pastor of Bible Way Church, coordinated about 115 volunteers through the Oak Cliff Network, a group of churches in southern Dallas. The BGCT African American ministries office, Missions Equipping Center and City Core Initiative also urged people to participate.

Smith said it was important for churches in the area to give visible support to an effort that he hopes will bring some revitalization to a community transitioning downward economically.

The blitz also serves as a tune-up for when Habitat builds another 22 houses in Oak Cliff, an area of south Dallas just north of this construction site with a reputation of high crime and low income.

Texas Baptist volunteers will put down their serving gloves and pick up hammers for that effort, Smith said.

Action helps area residents see Baptists care about them and want to help, Smith said. Workers can build neighborhood relationships that will expand ministry.

“This helps our church be more visible,” he said. “It helps them see us outside the walls.”

A Dallas-area Texas Baptist Men volunteer washes a tub after preparing lunch for several hundred volunteers. Texas Baptist Men cooked more than 1,000 meals a day. (John Hall Photos)

Bill Gresso of Northlake Baptist in Garland, who coordinated the TBM effort, said the Habitat venture provides an easy opportunity for believers to come together in order to make a positive impact on several families.

Houses are provided for lower-income families who put at least 400 hours of work into constructing the house.

Volunteers have the opportunity to meet and build a relationship with family members.

Staff members of Habitat for Humanity, an ecumenical housing ministry, visit the homes on a regular basis.

Gresso said volunteers are able to share the gospel with the families in some cases. Workers also are able to pray with them.

“Habitat for Humanity is a humanitarian group just like we are,” he said.

“I'm just supporting them in their endeavors to improve lives of people and communities.”

Alther Bryant of Cornerstone Baptist Church said he seized the opportunity to use some of his time to bless others. He said he enjoyed the work and helping as he could.

“It's amazing to see them put people in homes,” Bryant said, looking at a row of in-construction homes dotted with volunteers hammering together roofs.

Posted: 5/28/04

Retired minister becomes pastor to pastors in San Angelo

By George Henson

Staff Writer

SAN ANGELO–Lenard Hartley has retired, but he hasn't quit. If anything, he has expanded the scope of his influence and ministry.

Hartley led churches throughout the western half of Texas 53 years, but the last five years he has been pastor to a cadre of pastors in San Angelo.

Every Thursday morning from 8 a.m. until 10 a.m., the pastors meet for breakfast, fellowship and study. They also challenge one another, he said.

“Someone might say: 'You said you had a desire to grow in this area. What are you doing to make that happen?'” he offered as an example.

“What we are trying to do is develop godly men and apply the word of God to their lives in a way that meets needs in our world today.”

The weekly gatherings seem to meet a need for the men involved.

“I believe I have been mentored by Jesus Christ himself as he has worked through and spoken through a handful of men to shape and mold me for his purposes. I believe I would have already walked away from what God has called me to do had I not become involved with Bro. Lenard and this band of brothers,” said Jason McGuire, pastor of First Baptist Church in Sterling City.

Pastor Bobby Roger of Calvary Baptist Church in San Angelo added: “Our ministries and personal devotion to God have been deeply enhanced and, when needed, even changed for the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Timmy Russo of Family Worship Fellowship Ministries in San Angelo said the group provides a forum to float new ideas. “It is rare to find a safe environment where one can share views and thoughts without being reprimanded for thinking outside the box,” he said.

When Mike O'Neill was pastor of Northridge Baptist Church in San Angelo, he participated in the group. It was in part his weekly time with fellow pastors that gave him a vision for a new ministry as an associational director of missions.

“Because of God's intervention through mentoring and peer-to-peer learning, I grew and learned that God desired to use me in another area of ministry as director of the Coastal Bend Baptist Association,” he said. “I have no idea where I would be today if it had not been for the love and growth that I experienced there.

“It is very possible that I would not have remained in ministry or would have lived in a mediocre survival mode,” he said, adding he is praying a similar group will form in his association in the near future.

Hartley maintains his contribution to the group is minimal and the ministers gain most from one another.

But he was the one who initiated the group and is the person every pastor mentions when speaking of it.

When the group began to meet, Hartley was assistant pastor at PaulAnn Baptist Church in San Angelo–after his first retirement in 1988 had failed to “take.” In December 2003, Hartley retired again, but he doesn't plan to leave the group.

“I get as much out of it, or more, than they do. It's not a one-way street,” he said. “It is just such a rewarding experience. The bond of friendship is so great. It means a great deal that they pray for me–love, support and encourage me.”

In the beginning, the participants had a hard time being open about their struggles, he admitted. But that obstacle was overcome fairly quickly as the ministers began to get to know one another.

“I knew it would take time to build relationships and that it takes fellowship to build relationships. That's why we start with breakfast and just talking before we study. It is my firm conviction that you build churches and the kingdom of God through relationships,” he said.

Any initial reluctance to be transparent with one another is gone now.

“These fellows have gradually bonded so that they have confidence in one another so that they feel free to share, knowing the others face the same type problems they do,” he said.

Through the years, the pastors have studied numerous books and watched several video series.

A different person leads the discussion each week. Each meeting ends with a discussion of the men's needs and the blessings of the week.

Hartley said his expectations for what the group could become have been exceeded.

“It's been much more rewarding than I had anticipated and by the men's own testimony of much greater value,” he said.

Like O'Neill, some have left the group, but others also enter the group that ranges from six to 12 men, depending of the pastors' ministry schedules.

“When new pastors are added, they come into a much richer environment than what it was in the beginning. They come in with the opportunity to be blessed by what these fellows have already developed and learned,” Hartley said.

One of the benefits of being a part of the group is participants learn how to head off difficult situations before they arise. The men share their mistakes and difficulties so others can learn from them.

“We try to be gut-level honest, and say, 'Fellows, here are some of the mistakes I made, and this was the result.' So we try to deal with a lot of things before they get there, but if something comes up, we deal with that,” Hartley said.

The ministers have spent some meetings simply praying over specific situations. Knowing the details of each pastor's struggles so his peers can pray specifically for them is another benefit, he said.

It comes down to a group of men who have bonded together for the benefit of all.

“There is just a sweet spirit about these guys. For them, ministry is not a bore or a chore but a joy–and that is what ministry should be, a joy,” Hartley said.

Posted: 5/28/04

TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
No fear of God

You know, I usually just toss the Baptist Standard in the trash without even reading it because of its history, but I looked through it today, and nothing has changed.

Why would you print a political letter like “Holy war” (May 17) for some hateful ignorant (person) from Louisville in our Texas state paper? The letter has no merit for the Standard. Why would you misuse the paper like that?

I don't want to pick up the Baptist Standard and read someone trashing our president and his efforts to deal with terrorism. Especially when you don't print a balanced response. And the editor needs to reread the mission statement of the Standard, assuming there is one.

The Standard has no place in my home or our church. It has the liberal slant of much of the major press. It has been used by Satan to keep the pot stirred for the last 30 years.

Many of your articles are so hateful and do not edify, but rather tear down and further divide Southern Baptists. It is as though you don't think you will have to stand before the Lord and give an account of every divisive and ridiculous opinion you have printed! It appears very clear to me there is no fear of God among many Texas Baptists. I am afraid you are in for a very rude reception if you arrive in heaven.

Frank Moore

Spring

Absurd resolution

I have realized again why I consider myself a Texas Baptist and no longer consider myself a part of the Southern Baptist Convention. This realization is because T.C. Pinckney is attempting to have the SBC vote on a resolution urging the convention to take their kids out of public schools. He wants them home schooled or sent to Christian schools.

In essence, he is saying the teachers are godless.

This is absurd, but most SBC resolutions in recent years have been absurd.

It is time that Texas Baptists cut off all funding to the SBC.

A.J. Dickerson

Brownwood

Pushed out

Is anyone really surprised at the news that some SBC leaders want to coerce Baptists into removing their kids from public schools (May 17)?

This is yet another sad example of the narrowing Baptist “umbrella” and the shift away from freedom of conscience and a shift toward total denominational thought-control.

As a graduate of two Baptist institutions and a long-time Baptist church member in Arlington and Houston, it saddens me to see this departure into mind-control and indoctrination.

And the most depressing part is this: It seems pretty clear that the vast majority of Baptists want it this way. They appear to really enjoy being told what to think and how to live.

Just in the past year, I watched a significant “moderate” church veer substantially to the right, alienating a large portion of its congregation, and this seems to be the going trend in Baptist life.

So, sadly, my wife and I are no longer Baptists. It's not just that I am ashamed to call myself Southern Baptist today, which I am.

The truth is, we have been pushed out. There is no place for us, and we are not allowed to be the thinking and questioning Christians we feel we have the right to be by grace because of denominational politics.

This is why, as I write this today, I am a member of a Methodist church. Ten years ago, I would never have thought it would have come to that.

James Moore

Austin

Naming rights

In the past 40 years, we have changed almost everything of value to the SBC. We were growing in most areas of church life. Some of our larger church leaders led the way in belittling our Baptist Training Union by saying we didn't need a “union” in our churches. This was the beginning of changes to follow Satan and weaken our churches.

Our leaders have led in changing the names of the Baptist Sunday School Board, Home Mission Board, Foreign Mission Board, Christian Life Commission, Annuity Board and others. None of these changes increased ministry effectiveness.

Now our executive officers, including our president, want to change the name of the convention because the word “Southern” to them indicates a location of the country.

As a home missionary, I was in most states for various meetings. I found no objection to the word “Southern.”

What would be our name in the foreign countries where we have missionaries? Our executive officers–corporate leaders–want to control our members, churches, associations, state conventions and all the boards. This is not good for our ministries.

Let God's Holy Spirit be our guide.

If nothing else, think of the cost to change all the legal forms. This was given for mission/ministry expenses.

The word “Southern” has not been detrimental to the cause of Christ through churches bearing the SBC name for over 150 years. Perhaps we need to change the names of our executive officers and president.

James Griffin

Kilgore

Evil, not power

Your editorial missed the whole point of the Abu Ghraib event (May 17). It is not about power. It is about evil. It is about Satan. We are battling evil. Evil is not always on the other side of the enemy's war front, as was exposed at Abu Ghraib. It can also slip in amongst troops on our side of the war front.

This does not make me look down on America at all. It makes me proud that as soon as God exposed this evil within our own army that we attacked it as well, very quickly.

The world will see that America will not tolerate anything less than God's command to love thine enemies and to do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and most importantly, evil anywhere will not be tolerated.

If America's innocents are attacked by evil, our military should always fight back. But once the enemy is subdued, clearly, “love thine enemies” and “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

More power to America, truly, one nation under God.

Rick Gibbs

Dallas

Punishing menaces

After reading the article about George Mason's opposition to capital punishment (May 17), I had one question: How did he come to that conclusion in light of Romans 13:1-5 and 1 Peter 2:13-15?

While I agree that we are to forgive those who do us wrong, that never releases the government from its responsibility and God-given authority to punish those who are a menace to society.

Michael L. Simons

Cleburne

Hard look

The secular press is filled with Jesus stories. A good thing it seems to me.

It's also a good time to remind our Southern Baptists that we should take a hard look at ourselves and be certain the “no women in the pulpit” syndrome that seems to be dear to some does not take the place of allegiance to Jesus. In distant the past, it was “Southern Baptists are for slavery” and later, “Southern Baptists are opposed to visual aids in the church” (movies are of Satan).

Loyce T. Gary

Irving

Healing wounds

What a loving appeal you made for Baptists to move on from disappointment to become active again (May 3). There is one thing I would like to say.

The Baptist controversy has been going on for more than 25 years. Many bewildered believers had already been consigned to the trash can before things went so public because they were considered a threat to the Cooperative Program or the unity of a congregation over issues where a traditional interpretation of the Scriptures was not a part of decisions being made by persons in authority.

Still, it is necessary to move on and be active for our Lord–first for his sake and then for our own good. However, it is not easy. I have often thought that there should be meetings where wounded people could be nursed by Scripture reading, songs and prayers back to spiritual relational health before they become part of an active congregation.

Nora Ann Best

Henderson

Posted: 5/28/04

Covenant model offers hope for
'getting marriage right,' ethicist insists

By Cecile Holmes

Religion News Service

JACKSON, Tenn. (RNS)–David Gushee's concept of marriage shifted dramatically a few years ago after he offered pastoral counseling to a couple entering Christian union from rocky pasts.

When the pair met, the man was in a miserable marriage. His wife-to-be, who was attending Gushee's church, got involved with him against the advice of Christian friends. Friendship blossomed into a romance that took on a sexual dimension. When the man finally divorced, the lovers wanted to get married and asked Gushee to perform the ceremony.

“In considering their request, I looked through my standard premarital counseling material and realized that it was geared toward the committed young Christian couple,” said Gushee, an evangelical ethicist and author of a new book on marriage. “It assumed that the couple was Christian and was undertaking marriage on that basis.”

Like most Christian ministers, Gushee would rather marriages begin that way. Then it hit him that “marriage is marriage, whether the couple is explicitly Christian in their approach to it or not.”

That recognition made him realize how wide the gap is between the biblical model of marriage and the cultural one.

In a time of great debate over the sanctity of marriage, Gushee offers insight, practical advice, case studies and true hope in his new book.

Titled “Getting Marriage Right: Realistic Counsel for Saving and Strengthening Relationships,” Gushee's book explores the problems of marriage and recommends principles to strengthen the institution and the relationship.

“It is not a typical marriage enrichment book,” Gushee said in an interview, “but it can be very helpfully used in that way.”

When it comes to couples like the one he counseled, Gushee deals with such unions on a case-by-case basis.

“This kind of situation presents agonizing problems for churches that are serious about biblical standards of morality,” he said. Yet such situations also may offer opportunities to work with people at a strategic time, when they are open to spiritual and moral re-evaluation.

In the book, Gushee begins with the biblical concept of covenant, arguing marriage is a covenant relationship involving binding mutual promises and obligations.

Such a relationship should include affectionate companionship, sex, procreation and partnership in child rearing if a couple has children.

Christian marriage partners also have a right to expect sexual fidelity and a shared commitment to a permanent relationship, Gushee said.

That kind of relationship is a long way from the romance-laced, “me-oriented” approach to wedded bliss common in the United States, he said.

Too often, the culture hypes marriage as “the place of ultimate personal self-fulfillment, happiness and sexual bliss, with a partner who is a romantic soul-mate who knows my very thoughts before I even think them,” Gushee said.

Beginning with practical scriptural models based on personal and pastoral experience, Gushee organizes his book into two parts.

The first explores the decline of marriage as an institution, why the institution collapsed and the consequences of divorce for children.

The second part explores how marriage might be rebuilt, paying particular attention to the union as a covenant.

Gushee, a senior fellow at Union University in Tennessee, has seen the victims of divorce among his peers and students.

“In researching and writing the book, my vision grew. I became fascinated by marriage and divorce as complex intellectual issues,” he said.

“As a Christian ethicist and teacher, I wanted to offer a significant analysis of these issues. As a pastor and churchman, I wanted to offer a perspective that could help ministers and church leaders do better in ministering to their hurting congregants.

“As a human being, I wanted to offer help to regular people struggling to make sense of their own marriages (and divorces). I wanted to help them 'get marriage right.'”

When he began, Gushee's working title was “Marriage: A Guide for the Perplexed” because he thinks contemporary marriage often is difficult to understand.

But he knows Christians don't have all the answers.

“I am not saying Christians have it all figured out when it comes to building successful marriages,” Gushee writes in the book's introduction.

“Therefore this book is not an invitation to join the happy Christian love train, because that train seems to have jumped the tracks. It is instead an invitation to Christians to rethink marriage and divorce, and anyone who wants to listen in is invited to do so.”

Posted: 5/28/04

NAMB enters cooperative agreement
with Baptist churches in Puerto Rico

By James Dotson

North American Mission Board

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)–The North American Mission Board has entered into the first cooperative agreement with the newly formed Convention of Southern Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico.

The agreement marks the beginning of a historic new relationship with Southern Baptist partners on the Caribbean island, NAMB leaders said.

Trustees approved the agreement during their May meeting. Also during the meeting, trustees agreed to begin endorsing chaplains to serve with Southern Baptist Disaster Relief and approved 71 new missionaries for the United States and Canada. They also elected Barry Holcomb, pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Andalusia, Ala., as chairman.

The cooperative agreement with the Puerto Rico convention marked a significant change in a longstanding relationship.

Before the new convention was formed last year, churches and associations in Puerto Rico related directly to the North American Mission Board through national missionaries. The new relationship is the same as that of state conventions, in which the convention and NAMB will partner on supporting missionaries and missions work. The cooperative agreement spells out the terms of the partnership.

“It gives the churches of Puerto Rico ownership of their work, and we come alongside them as partners to encourage them and assist under the leadership of their staff,” said Harry Lewis, NAMB executive director for cooperative strategies. “It's something that we have encouraged, and we look forward to the opportunity of working with them.”

Posted: 5/28/04

On the Move

Russell Allen to First Church in Grandview as pastor, where he had been associate pastor for education and youth.

Josh Ballard to First Church in Wortham as minister of youth.

James Barron to Central Church in Weatherford as pastor.

Tracey Bartley to Acton Church in Granbury as minister of education.

Pam Blair has resigned as children's minister at Trinity Church in Kerrville.

Bill Buell to First Church in Buda as youth minister.

Tiger Coffman has resigned as youth minister at Garden Oaks Church in Houston to be a youth evangelist.

Lee Coleman to Northwest Bible Church in Dallas as minister to middle school students from First Church in Paris, where he was minister to students.

Kyle Damron to Westbury Church in Houston as minister of music.

Cory DeVino to Robert Lee Church in Robert Lee as youth minister from Solid Rock Church in DeLeon.

Thomas Faltysek has resigned as associate pastor and youth minister at First Church in Seagoville to start a church in Farmersville.

Keith Felton to First Church in Hamilton as pastor from First Church in Frankfort, Ky., where he was minister of missions.

Bob Gehman has resigned as music minister at First Church in Gunter.

Travis Gibson to North Cleburne Church in Cleburne as minister of youth.

Fred Haddock to Calvary Church in San Marcos as music minister.

James Herrington to First Church in Wortham as minister of music and worship from Point Enterprise Church in Point Enterprise.

Pam Huddleston to University Church in Houston as single adult ministries leader.

Brad Jones to Travis Oaks Church in Lago Vista as minister of music from Bethesda Church in Burleson.

Joni Kirkwood to Calvary Church in San Marcos as children's coordinator.

Jim Lafferty to First Church in Calvert as interim pastor.

Thearon Landrum to First Church in Granbury as music minister.

Stephen Lowrie to North Fort Worth Church in Fort Worth as pastor.

Jerold McBride to First Church in Big Lake as interim pastor.

George McCain has resigned as pastor of First Church in Royse City.

Glenn McCollum has completed an interim as minister of music at First Church in Wortham.

John McDonald has resigned as pastor of First Church in Calvert.

James McGlothlin has resigned as pastor of Lakeside Church in Dallas.

David Michael to Wynnewood Church in Dallas as pastor, where he had been interim.

Alex Morrison to First Church in Brenham as children's minister.

Mike Poye to Robert Lee Church in Robert Lee as pastor from Ridglea Church in Fort Worth.

Walter Rose to Pecan Grove Church in Oglesby as pastor.

Chris Sammons to Stephen F. Austin University as director of the Baptist Student Ministry program from Hardin-Simmons University.

Bubba Stahl to First Church in Corpus Christi as senior pastor from First Church in Boerne.

Neal Todd has resigned as pastor of New Beginnings Church in Cedar Creek.

Alvin Walker to Freedom Church in Amarillo as pastor.

Rick Willis to First Church in Lampasas as pastor from First Church in Roscoe.

Larry Wilson to Central Church in Hillsboro as minister of music and education.

Matt Wood to Central Church in Marshall as senior pastor from Central Church in Mineral Springs, Ark.

Posted: 5/28/04

Call for Renewal seeks to make poverty an electoral issue

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (ABP)–Fighting poverty should be a far more prominent issue for American Christians in the 2004 elections than it has been in the past, a diverse group of leaders meeting in Washington maintain.

The Christian anti-poverty group Call to Renewal hosted what it called an “anti-poverty mobilization” recently.

It brought together a broad array of Christian denominational executives, ministry leaders and local activists to discuss how to make the status of the nation's poor an electoral issue.

Asserting “nothing seems to embarrass the political class in Washington today,” veteran broadcast journalist Bill Moyers chastised large corporate interests for their influence on government.

“The political class is not embarrassed by the fact that the gap between rich and poor in America is greater than it has been since 1929,” he said in the conference's keynote address.

Moyers noted statistics that show the average middle-class family has lost ground in real-dollar terms in the last 40 years, while the wealthiest Americans have gotten much wealthier.

Many middle- and lower-class families, he said, “are playing by the rules and still getting stiffed.” He said that creates cynicism about politics in those groups.

Meanwhile, the continued consolidation of wealth in the hands of individuals and large corporations gives them ever-greater influence over the laws that affect the lives of those families. “Friends, the class war was declared a generation ago,” he said.

Moyers, a Baptist seminary graduate who grew up in Central Baptist Church of Marshall, said one of the reasons for the deteriorating conditions for the poor is that, “over the last few years, prophetic Christianity has lost its voice.” He said that was partially because “the Religious Right drowned out everyone else and they hijacked Jesus. … He was made a militarist, a hedonist and a lobbyist.”

“Let's get Jesus back,” Moyers said, to loud applause from the attendees. “Jesus drove the money-changers from the temple. We have to drive them from the temples of democracy.”

Like Moyers, Susan Pace Hamill, a University of Alabama Law School professor, criticized the political zeal–common in Washington in recent years–to cut income taxes.

“Tax policy is a moral issue,” said Hamill, who was honored by Call to Renewal for her unsuccessful attempt to change Alabama's regressive tax structure.

“You're never going to conquer poverty and reach every human made in the image of God … without fair tax policy,” she said.

Hamill, a former corporate tax lawyer and a graduate of Samford University's Beeson Divinity School, said across-the-board tax cuts that cause governments to slide into deficits and ultimately cut services are immoral.

“They give a little $50 tax cut to the middle class and give thousands to the upper echelons,” she said. “That's the equivalent of selling out for 30 pieces of silver.”

Everyone dislikes taxes, Hamill said, but they aren't inherently bad. The government has a responsibility to create a system of social services that not only protect the public's safety and health but also ensure that those not born with economic advantages have the tools to succeed and break out of poverty, she said.

“The only way to do (that) is through a community tax revenue pool, because we're too greedy to do it any other way,” she said. “No amount of beneficence and charity will do the job.”

The conference's organizers invited President Bush and Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to present their plans for reducing poverty. Although both campaigns said their candidates had scheduling conflicts, they sent representatives in their stead.

Alphonso Jackson, the newly appointed secretary of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, pointed to his own history as the youngest of 12 children in a Texas family below the poverty line.

Although eligible for food stamps at one point, he said, his father refused to accept them. Instead, his family relied on their church to help them through their crises.

“Poor is a state of mind; poverty is a condition,” he said.

Jackson decried President Lyndon Johnson's “War on Poverty” and the federal “welfare bureaucracy” it created. “Poverty, in my mind, won the war,” he said.

He blamed the welfare system with creating dependency among the poor on government handouts.

“That's the liberal perspective in this country–very paternalistic and patronizing,” he argued.

He touted Bush's attempts to expand the government's ability to fund social services through churches and other explicitly religious institutions as the key to solving poverty.

“The government can't make people love each other,” Jackson said.

Later, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), representing the Kerry campaign, delivered a litany of differences between Bush's and Kerry's policies on tax and economic issues.

“I believe that government has a moral obligation in making opportunity real,” DeLauro, a Catholic, said. “I don't believe in every man or woman for themselves.”

However, she also tried to answer pointed questions from participants about the Democratic Party's uncompromising abortion-rights stance.

She also entertained a question about Democrats' perceived reluctance to talk about their faith as readily as some Republicans.

“Let's not mistake the talk for the word and deed,” DeLauro responded. “When you look at what has guided the Democratic Party over the years, the focus … is synonymous” with Christian principles.

In a press conference following the presentations, Call to Renewal leaders expressed frustration with both political parties' views.

“When I listened to Secretary Jackson, I heard no vision,” said Carole Shinnick, director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a Catholic group.

Conversely, Ron Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action, expressed frustration that many Democrats have abandoned their support for expanding government funding for faith-based charities.

Wes Granberg-Michaelson, general secretary of the Reformed Church in America, said Democrats still have a religion problem.

“For a Democrat to be elected today, he has to be able to connect to the religious impulses that underscore real political issues,” he said. “The Democratic Party has to overcome an allergy to speaking about faith and policy.”

Conference participants signed a “Unity Statement on Overcoming Poverty.” The statement said: “As Christian leaders in the United States, we recognize that we live in a time when political and social issues threaten to divide the church. Although there are issues on which we do not agree, we come together to affirm that justice for those in our society who live in poverty is, for all of us, a deeply held religious belief on which we are firmly united.”

It also called for religious leaders to “ensure that all people who are able to work have jobs where they do not labor in vain but have access to quality health care, decent housing and a living income to support their families.”

Dozens of Catholic, evangelical, and mainline Lutheran and Episcopal leaders signed the statement. Baptists signatories include Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Coordinator Daniel Vestal, Alliance of Baptists Executive Director Stan Hastey and American Baptist Churches General Secretary Roy Medley.

Posted: 5/28/04

Promise Keepers pledge to move
from stadium rallies to the marketplace

By Adelle Banks

Religion News Service

DENVER (RNS)–Promise Keepers officials intend to change the focus of their Christian men's ministry after a survey they commissioned found most men do not consider matters of faith a top need or challenge in their lives.

Thirteen percent of 415 Christian men surveyed by Barna Research Group said faith or spirituality represented one of their top challenges.

By category, family matters and careers figured higher on these men's lists of “top-of-mind” needs and challenges they are facing.

Forty-two percent cited issues related to family or children and 39 percent mentioned money or career issues.

Promise Keepers President Tom Fortson said the Denver-based organization is changing from a “movement” to a mission to have Christian men be a greater influence in society.

“It's time to get out of the arena and into the marketplace,” Fortson said. “We are calling Christian men to change society by living under biblical authority and teaching others to do the same.”

When asked about spiritual needs, the survey found 36 percent of the men either weren't sure of any or couldn't identify one. Sixteen percent said being closer to God was a spiritual need for them.

Overall, 42 percent of men said the church is doing an “excellent” job at generally meeting their needs as men. But smaller percentages gave the church high marks for helping them in such areas as influencing others for Christ, holding them accountable for their thoughts and actions and developing deep, personal friendships.

In the lowest rating, 20 percent of men said the church was doing an “excellent” job in helping them with their job or career.

Asked if they would turn to Christian friends to help them in a crisis, 42 percent said they would.

Researchers also found that 31 percent of the Christian men surveyed said they were actively involved in a small church group that met for Bible study, prayer or accountability.

The 415 men who described themselves as a “committed born-again Christian” and/or an “active churchgoer” were surveyed by telephone last summer by Barna Research Group, which is based in Ventura, Calif. The margin of error for the findings is plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Promise Keepers plans to hold conferences in 18 cities between June and November, including a June 25-26 gathering in Dallas and an Aug. 27-28 meeting in San Antonio.