Posted: 11/11/05

Right or Wrong?
Fair trade coffee

I've heard about Fair Trade coffee, which supposedly provides a decent wage to overseas coffee growers. What's right or wrong with how we buy groceries? Since being asked to respond to this question, I have (a) been told that if I have time to research Fair Trade coffee, I have too much time and (b) had more coffee than I should while working on this project. I also have realized the ethical issues surrounding coffee are far more significant than (a) defending myself when friends cite studies that “prove” coffee consumption is bad for you or (b) deciding what is worse, shelling out $2.75 for a latte or a gallon of gasoline. I have discovered that, in addition to deciding between a latte and a cappuccino, I need to decide whether or not to purchase coffee with a Fair Trade logo.

Examining the Fair Trade process illustrates that how we buy groceries indeed has ethical implications. Buying Fair Trade coffee may cost a little more, but note the benefits.

The concept of Fair Trade coffee is easily understood. It guarantees small farmers a minimum price for their product. Coffee producers who are members of a Fair Trade cooperative are guaranteed a minimum price of $1.26 per pound, about three times the floating market price. The cooperatives use the additional income to provide better health and education services for impoverished farmers. Increased profits often allow children, who once were forced to work on the farms, to attend school. These cooperatives eliminate the need for brokers and thus assure farmers a larger financial gain.

Purchasing Fair Trade coffee also helps the environment, because the production methods of small landholders are environmentally sound. Small farmers generally produce shade-grown coffee under existing forests, whereas large plantations often clear those forests. Working within forests maintains wildlife habitats and reduces the threat of global warming. Growers of Fair Trade coffee do not utilize the chemical fertilizers and pesticides often used on plantations.

God has shown us the need to care for the poorest of the land as well as the land itself. We find guidance in Leviticus in a section known as the Holiness Code (Leviticus 17-26). Leviticus 19:9-10 prescribes protection for the poor by requiring landowners to leave some produce in the field for the needy. Leviticus 25 decrees that farmers allow the land to lie fallow; that is, to let it rest every seven years.

The United States consumes more than one-fifth of all coffee produced in the world. The only import that exceeds coffee is oil. The demand for Fair Trade coffee is small when compared to worldwide coffee production. Less than one-half of the world's coffee is sold under the Fair Trade seal. That scenario would significantly change if more of the 150-million-plus coffee drinkers who are found within our borders insisted upon Fair Trade coffee.

Here's how to start:

Learn as much as possible about the Fair Trade movements and conditions of producers of commodities. Start with these websites: www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/ and www.transfairusa.org/content/about /overview.php.

Ask for Fair Trade coffee and other Fair Trade items such as tea, cocoa and bananas at your favorite coffee house and look for the Fair Trade label when purchasing coffee for home consumption. Check these websites: www.equalexchange.com/what-is-fair-trade-coffee and www.globalexchange .org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/retailers.html.

When purchasing other items, look for those that promote preservation of the environment. Consider purchasing fresh foods at a local farmer's market. These often come from smaller farms. Give preference to items that use less packaging material, further reducing the use of environmental resources.

David Morgan, pastor

Trinity Baptist Church

Harker Heights

Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.

Posted: 11/08/05

BaptistWay Bible Series for Nov. 20

Wasted potential is a danger all face

• Judges 13:1-7; 16:18-30

By Ronnie Prevost

Logsdon Seminary, Abilene

Samson. The very name inspires images of strength and heroic struggle, especially today in a culture enthralled with athleticism. But the story of Samson is not simply one of a strong man; the strongest ever, it is said. It is a tale of wasted potential.

Our lesson opens with Israel’s downward spiral continuing. This time, the people that rose to torment Israel were the Philistines. The Philistines were a seafaring people who only recently had invaded the coastal plain in the area now known as Gaza. They would establish several city states and plague Israel for many years to come.

The story of Samson is set in an area settled by the tribe of Dan, adjacent to Philistine territory. It opens with an account of childless parents. His mother is unnamed, simply referred to as the wife of Manoah from the tribe of Dan. The woman meets a messenger from God who announced to the woman she would conceive. She was told not to drink any fermented beverage nor eat any unclean food. This pattern, the messenger said, was to continue through the child’s life, for the child (a son) was to be a Nazarite.

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Numbers 6:1-21 outlines the requirements for being a Nazarite. They took vows that demanded they abstain from alcoholic drink. As a reminder to themselves and others of their commitment to God, they did not cut their hair. Finally, they pledged to avoid contact with the dead.

The Nazarite vows could be taken for a limited, specified period of time. Sometimes they were to be for life. The latter was to be true with this special child, the messenger declared.

Manoah could not quite believe what his wife told him about her encounter and the announcement. The messenger reiterated to the couple the promise and the demands regarding the child. Subsequently, the child was born and given a name that connoted “little sun” or “sunny,” perhaps as a reference to the sunshine he brought into his parents’ lives.

That light was darkened, however, with Samson’s behavior and disdain for his parents’ counsel as he grew to adulthood. Judges such as Deborah and Gideon led against their respective enemies out of concern for delivering God’s people from oppression.

Unlike these, Samson was more concerned with retaliation and satisfying his personal desires. He was driven to revenge and pre-emptive strikes to get what he wanted.

It is against this background that we read about his exploits. Samson killed a lion with his bare hands while on his way to court a Philistine woman—against the wishes of his parents. He killed 30 Philistines and used their clothing to settle a bet. He tore a city’s gate off its hinges and carried it away—after being cornered in the house of a prostitute.

Finally, as we read in Judges 16:18-30, Samson fell prey to his misguided desires and pride. Assuredly, Delilah was the catalyst for Samson’s downfall. But it was Samson’s self-centeredness and inflated ego that gave her and the Philistines the rope with which to hang him.

Upon his capture, the Philistines sang a victory song (16:24) that echoed the one Samson sang after decimating the Philistines with the jaw bone of a donkey (Judges 15:16). They cut Samson’s long hair, but that reminder of the Nazarite vows had never “worked,” anyway. They blinded him, but he seemed always to have been blind to God.

The story of Samson’s birth resembles that of the later Samuel. There is one very important difference, however. In 1 Samuel 3, we read of Samuel’s hearing and dedicating himself to God’s call.

Not until the very end of Samson’s life do we find any evidence of his dedicating himself to the Lord God. Perhaps it was his hair re-growing that reminded him of that to which he was supposed to have been dedicated and for which his gifts had been intended—leading and delivering God’s people. They were not simply for satisfying his own desires nor to use in any way he wished.

Judges 16:31 says Samson “had led Israel 20 years.” Twenty years of power and strength from God had not been used in God’s service. What potential there had been. What promise, but what a waste.

We each must make our own commitments to God. Other than that, are we any different than Samson? We have not taken the Nazarite vow, but have we not promised God our lives and our best? We may not have superhuman strength, but hasn’t God entrusted to us many different kinds of gifts and abilities to use in his service?

As happened with Samson, so much human potential—personally, nationally and globally—is lost due to human pride, the lust for vengeance and blind self-centeredness. May we repent and may God forgive our poor stewardship and short-sightedness. May what God has allowed us to possess remain his and be used in his service. Faithful stewardship never results in wasted potential. Rather, the potential is not only realized, it is multiplied, through God’s power, for eternity.

Discussion question

• What gifts and abilities has God entrusted to you and your church?

• What is the potential of those gifts if you and your church were to use these as God intended? And what will be the waste if you do not?

Posted: 11/08/05

Explore the Bible Series for Nov. 20

When evil closes in, remember God’s promises

• Romans 8:15-27

By Trey Turner

Canyon Creek Baptist Church, Temple

C.S. Lewis wrote the children’s fantasy in his Chronicles of Narnia called The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The movie about the book will be released by Disney on Dec. 9. Characters in the story bemoan the sad reality of the cursed land of Narnia, saying it is a land “where it is always winter, but never Christmas.”

What a bleak and hopeless observation. Narnia is, of course, a fantasy land with many Christian parallels, not least of which is the overflowing effects of evil. Life in our world can also be as cold as ice; a place seeming like there is no influence by redemption through the Cross. But Christians are to be encouraged and are to expect a thaw. There are privileges a believer has through adoption as his very own.

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The believer has a special status (Romans 8:15-17)

Christians are not to be slaves again. The Apostle Paul has spoken clearly about our freedom already (6:16-18). Neither does one willingly put on a yoke of fear because of the new relationship as children.

It is important to consider adoption as a first-century custom. F.F. Bruce says someone chosen to be one’s heir would have been deliberately chosen to carry the name of the one adopting and inherit the estate. Because of that relationship, the formality of distant or transactional relationships are put aside for the new reality of a filial one.

Inside, fellowship testifies to the new relationship. Outside, relationships confirm the new identity because children will suffer for the name they have taken. This is the reality of belonging to Christ. Believers should expect to suffer—this is not to be understood as gaining merit for the Christian. Suffering simply is the reality that confirms the truth of the Christian’s relationship.

The believer has a future glory (Romans 8:18-23)

The older word “reckon” (18; KJV) or the weaker “consider” (18; NIV) help the reader understand the conclusion Paul has come to with careful consideration. That is, whatever the suffering, God’s glory being revealed in these adopted children far outweighs it. Interestingly, Paul looks forward to a time when the creation, which was frustrated at humanity’s fall in Genesis, also will celebrate on the day of that glory (v. 18).

The words “groaning,” and “eagerly awaiting” are pointed out by John R.W. Stott to use phraseology that suggests a head raised toward heaven in anticipation of God’s ongoing sanctification or ultimate glorification in the last day. Paul is not clear about when this might take place, only that all creation anticipates it.

The believer has a certain hope (Romans 8:24-25)

Note how Paul says “in this hope we were saved,” not “by” this hope. Christians were saved with this glorious hope in mind. The Christian remembers what he or she anticipates more than what is experienced today. It is the grand redemption of the soul, the community and all of creation. It is worth waiting for. Not only is the reason for hope certain, but Paul’s hope and that of the Roman Christian reader also is to be unwavering.

The believer has a unique help (Romans 8:26-27)

Here is a unique section of Scripture, which has been the center of much speculation. The reader will ask, “What are these groans that cannot be expressed?” Some will say they are deeper spiritual truths than can be expressed with human limitation of language. Therefore, it follows, the Spirit of God then prays the unutterable.

Again, Stott says the things going wordless are “unexpressed” rather than “inexpressible.” Some have insisted this is where the special prayer language of tongues is spoken. Paul says the limitations of the flesh are wordless expressions of frustration, not meaningless expressions of an unknown tongue. Simply put, the believer has a unique relationship that allows the Spirit’s help in times of weakness.

Ultimately, Christians can experience the thaw even while in a world frozen in sin and sinful patterns. The Spirit of God gives the believer the ability to overcome; to have a winter where Christmas comes. He is Emmanuel—God with us.

Discussion questions

• Do you feel earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and the like can be the “groanings” of creation waiting for the children of God to be revealed? Why or why not?

• What hope do you have about Christ’s work that is yet to come? Will some of it be accomplished in maturity of your Christian faith? Obedience of his church? Or future reign of God in heaven?

Posted: 11/08/05

Friends, family recall Lake's legacy at funeral

By Eric Guel

Texas Baptist Communications

WACO—Funeral participants said it was only appropriate to remember Kyle Lake on All Saints Day, two days after the 33-year-old pastor of University Baptist Church died after being electrocuted while standing in a baptistery.

“He was a prince to so many of us. Kyle, in so many ways, was a saint,” said his brother-in-law Scott Gornto. “He was the most beautiful person I’ve ever met.”

More than 2,000 friends and family members came from across the nation and denominational lines Nov. 1 to reflect on Lake’s life. He ministered primarily to college students during his tenure at University Baptist Church and was an up-and-coming pastoral voice in the emerging church movement.

The crowd quickly filled the sanctuary at First Baptist Church in Waco and spilled out of a chapel set up as an overflow room, a silent affirmation of Lake’s ministry and non-traditional congregations like University Baptist Church.

Burt Burleson, who officiated the service, exhorted attendees to honor Lake by recognizing his service-oriented, Christ-centered life. “Together we need to remember Kyle. We need to remember our faith, especially when our hearts are breaking.”

Burleson referenced John 6:67 when Jesus asked his disciples, “Do you wish to go away?” Peter responded: “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

“Here, with all of our questions, with all of our deep despair, as we face our frailty, we say with Peter, ‘Where else are we going to go?’” Burleson said. “You see, Jesus is a living reality to us in this moment.”

In an impromptu moment, David Crowder—who leads UBC’s worship band—took a moment to remember his friend before leading the crowd in a rendition of “It is Well.” Lake had a way to make every situation better, Crowder said.

He urged attendees to be grateful for Lake’s life, even in the face of overwhelming pain. “I really think the way to defeat this grief is to be grateful, to have a heart of gratitude.”

Mourners expressed their feelings about Lake on several poster boards posted outside the church’s sanctuary. The boards proclaimed a Lake maxim, “Embrace Beauty.”

One anonymous person wrote, “Thank you for your legacy.” Another simply penned, “You changed my life.”

Lake is survived by his wife Jennifer, a five-year-old daughter and three-year-old twin sons.

Posted: 11/08/05

Court considers congregation's
right to use hallucinogenic tea

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—Hearing a case on All Saints’ Day, the Supreme Court struggled with the rights of a tiny Christian group whose members believe the road to sainthood is lined with cups of a hallucinogenic tea the federal government considers dangerous.

The justices heard oral arguments Nov. 1 in the case, which involves the New Mexico congregation of the Uniao do Vegetal religion. It is a branch of a Brazilian religion that blends elements of Christianity and native religions. The Santa Fe-based congregation has about 130 members, according to court papers.

In 1999, federal officials attempted to prevent church members from importing hoasca, a tea made from a plant that contains a psychotropic chemical banned under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Uniao do Vegetal adherents drink the tea, which is ritually brewed from local plants and blessed by church members in Brazil before exportation, as part of their worship rituals.

The congregation, known as the O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal, then sued the government. They claimed that the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) prohibits federal officials from unduly burdening the free exercise of their religion by banning the importation of hoasca.

The government’s argument is “fundamentally and structurally incompatible with RFRA,” Nancy Hollander, an Albuquerque attorney arguing on behalf of the church, told the justices. “What the church and its members seek is just the right to practice their religious faith just as Congress promised them in RFRA.”

Congress passed RFRA to reinstate a legal standard for judging government limitations on religious freedom that the high court had tossed out in a 1990 decision, Employment Division vs. Smith. The standard places the burden of proof on government agencies when they desire to curtail a group’s or individual’s religious freedom.

Under RFRA, the government must prove not only that it has a “compelling interest” in limiting religious freedom, but that it has done so by the “least restrictive means” possible.

Lower federal courts stopped the government from banning the hoasca importation until the case could be tried in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But the Supreme Court, in an unusual move, agreed to the Bush administration’s request to hear its request to lift the injunction before the case was decided in the Denver-based appeals court. That court has twice refused to lift the order that stopped federal officials from enforcing the law on the church.

Arguing the Bush administration’s case Nov. 1, Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler told the justices that the government has perfectly good reasons, under RFRA, to ban importation of the tea. One is adherence to international treaties banning importation of such hallucinogens.

“We believe that complying with an international convention designed to prevent trafficking of drugs is, in itself, a compelling governmental interest,” Kneedler said, in response to a question from Chief Justice John Roberts.

However, the lower district court found that the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, to which Kneedler referred, did not apply to hoasca used for religious purposes. Hollander also argued that, even if she conceded the convention does ban hoasca, the treaty also has exceptions for laws, like RFRA, of signatory nations that might trump broad enforcement of the treaty.

Kneedler argued that the government had a compelling interest in uniform enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act by banning hoasca.

But several justices noted that RFRA itself is mainly concerned with allowing exceptions to general rules—pointing out the fact that the government already exempts members of the Native American Church, who use the drug peyote in religious rituals.

“May Congress … make an exception for peyote” but not hoasca, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked. “The problem with preferring one religious group over another applies, it seems to me, when one makes an exception for one religious group but not another.”

In front of the court building following the arguments, a large contingent of Uniao do Vegetal members appeared alongside Hollander and other attorneys. Jeffrey Bronfman, president of the congregation, told reporters, “We came before the Supreme Court of the United States today … asking for the affirmation of a right already enjoyed by millions of other Americans,” he said. “We are hopeful the Supreme Court will use this case to clearly affirm its commitment to religious freedom.”

A wide variety of religious organizations filed friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of the church’s adherents, including one brief spearheaded by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and joined by the National Association of Evangelicals and other groups. It said the government’s argument that uniform application of the law is a compelling state interest is not, in itself, sufficient to meet the terms of RFRA, which requires a case-by-case analysis of the facts.

“The government must show a compelling interest in prohibiting the importation and use of hoasca in the specific context of the (church’s) rituals,” the brief said. It “may not simply rely on generalized congressional findings about a controlled substance, but must ‘demonstrate,’ with real evidence, that the substance poses compelling dangers in the context of sacramental use.”

The case is Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal, No. 04-1084. The court is expected to dispose of it before they adjourn next summer.

Posted: 11/08/05

Alito confirmation would mean
Catholic majority on high court

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (ABP)—If Samuel Alito is confirmed to the Supreme Court, it will give the court a Roman Catholic majority for the first time in its history.

That certainly would signal that Catholics—once a persecuted minority in the United States—now are readily accepted as part of mainstream life, say legal scholars, but it would not necessarily skew the court’s ideology.

“I’m not bothered by it,” said Derek Davis, a professor and director for the J.M. Dawson Institute for Church-State Studies at Baylor University.

“It says religious liberty is real and works in the American system, and I’m pretty proud of that,” said Davis, a lawyer and Baptist.

Alito would join Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas as Catholics on the high court. Catholics make up about a fourth of the U.S. population. Just 10 of the 108 justices who have served on the Supreme Court have been Catholic, according to the website www.adherents.com.

Two current justices are Jewish—Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg—a fact also surprising to many. Justices David Souter and John Paul Stevens are Protestants.

Scholars and others likely will debate why Roman Catholics are now more prominent in a judicial system that at one time did not even allow them to vote. Many people point to the election of President John Kennedy as the turning point in the Catholic acceptability.

“No one in the (country’s) founding era would ever have dreamed this could happen,” Davis said of the court’s Catholic make-up.

But many observers will wonder if the preponderance of Catholic judges will tilt the Supreme Court on key issues like abortion.

Although the conservative Alito has not voiced his opinion on the moral issue of abortion, his mother, 90-year-old Rose Alito, recently told a reporter, “Of course, he’s against abortion.”

Still legal scholars insist the law and legal precedent—not church teachings —will steer the rulings of Alito and the other Catholic judges.

“Just because they are Catholic and there are five of them on the court doesn’t mean Roe v. Wade is going to be overturned 5-4,” Davis said.

In fact, said Davis and others, the tradition of Catholic theology—which distinguishes between text and interpretation, and which draws on the biblical text and church tradition—is well suited for the American legal system, which values both the law and precedent.

“It means you listen to more than one source,” Davis said. “A Roman Catholic judge would more likely understand that.” By contrast, many media pundits are less willing to admit that interpreting the law is complicated, he added.

The Roman Catholic Church is concerned with “hierarchies and separation of powers,” ideas that also fit with “conservative theories of what justices ought to be doing,” law professor Charles Shanor of Emory University told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The rise of Catholic judges in recent decades also coincides with the general conservative direction of the courts, scholars note, and that—more than moral teachings—accounts for the increase.

While all judges seeking Senate confirmation say their religion does not influence their jurisprudence, Davis said, “I’m not sure there has ever been a human being whose outlook on life was not affected by his or her faith.”

Richard Garnett, law professor at Notre Dame, a Catholic school, agreed. “The fact that one is Catholic should probably have some impact on whether one thinks abortion is immoral,” Garnett told the Journal-Constitution, “but it doesn’t really have much to do with whether a judge thinks Roe v. Wade is a good interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.”

Davis agreed. He said the acceptability of Catholics on the court should be a cause for celebration, not concern. “All these people are good Americans, and we’ve learned that in public life we can have our differences.”

Posted: 11/08/05

Affordable housing bill excludes non-profits

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—A wide range of religious and political leaders expressed outrage over House leaders’ last-minute alterations to an affordable-housing bill they say discriminate against religious groups.

The House passed a bill that would exclude many religious groups from a government-subsidized housing program—even though the move contradicts President Bush’s efforts to make it easier for religious groups to get government funds for social services.

The Federal Housing Finance Reform Act, H.R. 1461, passed 331-90. But that was after the amendment that would effectively exclude many religious groups passed by a much narrower margin, 210-205.

The amendment vote fell mostly along party lines, with the vast majority of Republicans voting for it and all but two Democrats voting against it.

“It is shameful, especially given those left homeless by (Hurricane) Katrina, that our bipartisan efforts to support increased home ownership and wealth-building through the creation of an affordable-housing trust fund have fallen victim to the right wing’s ongoing assault on democracy and programs designed to help the poor, the elderly, the disabled, the communities of color, and our underserved community,” Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).

The bill is designed to reform the federally chartered home-loan corporations Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae after a series of accounting and regulatory scandals at the organizations. It had emerged from the House Financial Services Committee in May, on a 65-5 vote, with a provision dedicating 5 percent of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s after-tax profits to a fund that would give grants to organizations building affordable housing.

But the most conservative Republicans in the GOP-dominated House—a group calling itself the Republican Study Committee—objected to the housing fund as too loosely managed, fearing that groups with left-leaning political agendas that do voter-registration or get-out-the vote work could receive funds for housing projects—thus freeing up their own funds for more voter work.

The Republican Study Committee members got the House leadership to ensure that the bill would not come to the floor without significant restrictions that would essentially prohibit non-profit grant recipients from engaging in any voter-registration or voter education. It also included a provision that required any non-profit receiving a grant from the fund to have housing as its “primary purpose.”

A wide array of religious leaders objected, saying those provisions would effectively ban their participation. They ranged from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to the Episcopal Church to the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

“The primary purpose of faith-based organizations is faith,” said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the ranking minority member of the Financial Services Committee.

They also objected to the bans on voting-related activity, noting that many religious organizations conduct non-partisan voter registration and education activities as part of their work and consider being responsible citizens an integral part of their ministry.

Supporters of the amendment argued that it was necessary to keep politically activist organizations from subsidies.

“If people are engaged in assistance as a charitable activity in affording housing to low-income individuals and registering people to vote, this bill will not preclude that activity from going forward,” said Rep. Richard Baker (R-La.) in floor debate on the bill. “What it merely says is that in an instance where we have limited funds available, estimated to be perhaps $500 million spread across the entire country, that those funds first and foremost should be utilized to help people in true need of housing, not political activism.”

The original bill included several safeguards designed to ensure that the funds would go directly to support housing construction by such organizations and not their other ministries or services. However, those safeguards apparently did not satisfy objections from conservative Republicans.

Frank and other opponents attempted to have the full House vote on an amendment that would remove the added language to which the religious groups objected. However, Republican leaders made such an amendment out of order, and coupled the objectionable provisions with a widely supported amendment that would give priority to hurricane-devastated regions in distributing the grants.

Those moves virtually ensured the bill would pass with the provisions to which the religious groups objected intact.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) said it is ironic that many of the same Republican Study Committee members who are the strongest supporters of government funds to religious groups in other contexts took a different tack when it came to affordable-housing ministries.

“Despite the divisiveness of the term ‘faith-based,’ most Americans are united in their support of religious organizations,” he said. “That’s why it’s surprising that the Republicans are using an otherwise worthy effort to reform government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to throw a wrench in the relationship between government and the religious community.”

The bill now goes to the Senate, where the fate of the religious provisions is unsure.

Posted: 11/08/05

Family Bible Series for Nov. 20

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

• Job 28:12-19; 23-28

By Donald Raney

Westlake Chapel, Graham

Regardless of the question, there is sure to be no shortage of answers offered. This is true whether the discussion is about the strengths and weaknesses of the local sports team or the deeper issues of the meaning of life itself.

Human history is littered with a host of religions and philosophies that have sought to answer life’s most challenging and universal questions. The search clearly was important to the writers of the biblical texts and especially to the writer of the book of Job.

This writer was careful to lay out a number of answers which the conventional wisdom of his day gave to answer the question of why there is suffering in the world, especially among apparently good people. These answers relied heavily on human reason, tradition and sense of justice. In the pages of Job, each of these is shown not to apply in Job’s situation, and the writer seeks to demonstrate that truthful answers to these questions are found only as one turns to God and earnestly seeks God’s wisdom.

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Job 28:12-14

What is wisdom? How is it related to knowledge? Can a person have one without the other? Many today might well think that there is a close relationship between knowledge and wisdom. Yet Job teaches the quest for knowledge and understanding of the world does not necessarily lead one to the attainment of wisdom.

In Job 28:1-11, he briefly describes the efforts of humanity to understand the world and refers to several discoveries and accomplishments to which those efforts have led. Humanity has discovered how to light their way in darkness by using fire. Human beings have discovered how to get precious metals and gemstones out of the earth. They have learned how to control the flow of rivers by building dams and channels. They have reached into the ground where even the birds and beasts of the earth have never been in order to level the ground for houses and gardens.

Yet according to verse 12, all of these efforts have not led humanity any closer to the place where real wisdom resides. Thus, Job concludes that wisdom is indeed very hard to find. It is so difficult to find, humanity does not even know how to place a proper value on it. It does not exist within the land of the living nor in the mythical world of the great abyss. While it is perhaps one of the things that humanity has most eagerly sought, it also is the rarest of all commodities and one which humanity cannot attain just by seeking it.

One can certainly see this today. Even though humanity has acquired a vast knowledge of the cosmos, the answers to fundamental questions of daily life such as how we can live in a world free of war, injustice and hunger have evaded us.

Job 28:15-19

Not only is wisdom hard to find, but it also is impossible to assign a value to it. Job offers a catalog of all of the things humanity considers most valuable. The writer here points to an inherent characteristic of humanity. If our personal physical or mental efforts fail to bring us wisdom, we attempt to buy it.

This particularly is true in the United States, where almost everything seems to be for sale. If there is something that you want, so we are told, all you need to do is offer the right price, and it can be yours, whatever “it” happens to be. Yet here, pure gold and gems are presented as pale and completely insufficient to exchange for wisdom. No amount of money can be offered as a purchase price. Wisdom simply is not for sale.

Job 28:23-28

So the question is, “Where and how can one obtain wisdom” (vv. 20-22)? If it does not reside in the physical world and cannot be attained through human efforts or financial exchange, is humanity forced to live a life in a futile quest? In verses 23-28, Job very clearly says, “No, wisdom is available to humanity, but only as a gift of God.”

Only God has a broad enough view of creation to see the place where wisdom resides. God indeed has used wisdom in creation. The reality and nature of wisdom is seen in the most common aspects of daily life, such as the wind and rain. In wisdom, God controlled the depth of the seas and established the natural patterns of weather. Because of the greatness of God’s demonstration of wisdom in creation, only through a reverent fear of God can humanity begin to understand the meaning of wisdom.

Only when humanity gives up their evil nature that exalts achievement and wealth will humanity attain real understanding. Solomon may have understood this. In 1 Kings 3, God offered Solomon anything he wished for. He could have asked for infinite wealth or guaranteed military success as a means of being a great king. Yet knowing he could work to attain these, he asked for that which he could not obtain on his own.

Through the exercise of the divine gift of wisdom, Solomon was able to govern his people effectively and obtain great wealth and success. May we all learn this lesson from Job and Solomon; “the fear of the Lord of the beginning of wisdom.”

Discussion questions

• What is your definition of “wisdom”?

• Other than those mentioned in Job 28, what ways do we often seek wisdom?

• In what specific areas of life do you need wisdom? How are you trying to obtain it?

Posted: 11/04/05

Baylor regents vote to downsize board

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

WACO–Baylor University regents approved a charter change to downsize the school's governing board from 36 to 16 members over nine years and agreed to a 7.8 percent tuition hike for 2006-07.

Chairman Will Davis of Austin characterized the vote on the reduction in board size as “not unanimous but overwhelming.”

Debate on the issue among regents was “a very high quality, thoughtful discussion” of its advantages and disadvantages, said Interim President Bill Underwood.

Regents approved amendments to the university's articles of incorporation reducing the board's size from 36 to 16 members and dropping the maximum number of years of consecutive service from nine to six. The board downsizing will be achieved through attrition over nine years, Davis explained.

“There will be no mandatory resignations,” he said. “As current terms expire, they will not be reappointed.”

Regents approved the measure to improve the “efficiency and effectiveness” of the governing board, Davis said, adding they considered 36 too many members for a working, decision-making board.

The downsizing ultimately will give Baylor the smallest board of any Texas Baptist school and one of the smallest boards among nonprofit, religiously affiliated universities.

Three other universities affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas–Dallas Baptist University, Hardin-Simmons University and Houston Baptist University–have 36 trustees.

Wayland Baptist University currently has 38 trustees but is in the process of adjusting the number to 36. Howard Payne University has 35 trustees. East Texas Baptist University and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor each have 48 trustees. Baptist University of the Americas has 24 trustees.

Some proponents of Baylor's 2012 plan have pointed to Notre Dame University as a model for the integration of faith and learning, stating their desire to see Baylor become a “Baptist Notre Dame.” A 55-member board of trustees governs the Roman Catholic school.

By further comparison, Oklahoma Baptist University–320 miles north of Baylor–is governed by a 33-member board of trustees. Texas Christian University in Fort Worth has 50 members on its governing board, and Southern Methodist University in Dallas has 42.

Duke University, a United Methodist school, has a 37-member board of trustees, and Wake Forest University, a liberal arts school with Baptist roots, has 45 trustees.

But unlike other schools, Baylor's governing board has not been selected for its financial development capability, Davis maintained.

“Most nonprofits with large boards use them to try to raise money,” he said. “Right or wrong, Baylor has never used its board as a fundraising vehicle.”

Prior to the meeting, some who were aware of the proposal characterized it as a power grab intended to silence dissenting voices on the board.

They noted some of the first regents to rotate off the board will be among the most vocal opponents of former President Robert Sloan and his leadership. Sloan resigned June 1 after more than two years of controversy and accepted the university chancellor's position.

Others maintained it fails to address the root cause of problems at the university–a deeply polarized board that continues to line up in support of or opposition to the former president, who became Baylor's chancellor June 1.

“A 16-member polarized board is just as dysfunctional as a 36-member polarized board, especially when it is a subset of the same people,” Randy Ferguson of Austin wrote to members of the regents' committee.

Ferguson, a regent elected by the Baptist General Convention of Texas, sent a private e-mail to the committee–which came to be distributed broadly–outlining his concerns about the governance proposal.

A 36-member board offers greater potential for ethnic diversity, broader representation from Texas Baptist churches and a deeper pool of potential donors than a 16-member board, he wrote.

In his e-mail, Ferguson urged the committee to reconsider its proposal and instead nominate four new members not affiliated with any faction in Baylor life.

“Surely, with the tens of thousands of Baylor graduates in Texas alone, we can find four men and women that do not have a sword in their hand and have not been part of the three-year civil war that has been going on,” he wrote.

After the meeting, Ferguson said he voted against the proposal but added, “I'm going to honor the will of the majority of the board, give 100 percent support to the decision that's been made and move forward.”

Regarding the tuition and rate increase–from $21,070 this year to $22,714–Underwood said it was “absolutely necessary for us to continue to provide the quality of education we are committed to providing at Baylor University.”

Specifically, it will provide faculty and staff salary increases after three years of limited or no raises; catch up on deferred maintenance; help the university deal with a $2.4 million increase in utility costs; and restore capital budgets for classroom, lab and office equipment–all of which were cut in recent years.

Posted: 11/04/05

Church mourns pastor
electrocuted during baptism

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

WACO–Kyle Lake, 33-year-old pastor of the innovative University Baptist Church in Waco, was electrocuted and died Oct. 30 after he grabbed a microphone while in a baptistry full of water.

Eyewitnesses reported Lake grabbed the microphone to adjust it while standing in the baptismal waters. He was shocked and collapsed.

More than 800 people witnessed the event, which happened on the same weekend as Baylor University's homecoming. Doctors in the congregation tried for 40 minutes to revive Lake. He was sent to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 11:30 a.m. The woman Lake was to baptize survived the incident.

In the days following the accident, a technical crew and local authorities continued to try to pinpoint the exact cause of Lake's death.

Lake and his wife, Jen, have a daughter and twin sons.

In an Internet blog, one Baylor student mourned the loss of “a dear friend and spiritual guide to so many people in the community who have struggled with faith.”

“Besides the loss itself, many in the church are traumatized because everyone there actually saw him get electrocuted,” the student wrote on www.theooze.com. “Please do pray for everyone involved. The community is really struggling.”

The church's website–typically full of color–provided a stark, simple statement Oct. 31 expressing grief over the loss of a pastor and friend. It also affirmed his faith.

“We are confident that Kyle is in heaven today because of his trust in Jesus Christ as his savior,” the site read.

Members of the David Crowder Band, the congregation's worship band, also left a simple expression of their feelings.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our great friend and pastor, Kyle Lake. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Lake family, as well as our entire church community at UBC.”

The church held a service of prayer and reflection Oct. 30 to remember its pastor.

University Baptist was founded in 1995 by David Crowder and Chris Seay, now pastor of Ecclesia Church in Houston. Lake led University Baptist, a congregation comprised largely of college students, seven years.

A graduate of Baylor University and Truett Theological Seminary, Lake was one of the up-and-coming voices of the “emerging church” movement, which seeks to reconnect younger generations to the gospel.

Seay characterized Lake as “remarkably endearing” and said he cared deeply for his congregation.

“He loved students so much,” Seay said. “He'd sit down and laugh and joke and also be able to speak truth into their lives.”

Milfred Minatrea, missional church consultant for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, called Lake a “bridge person” because he cared deeply for traditional churches but was passionate about sharing the gospel with younger generations.

“Kyle's contemplative in many senses,” Minatrea said. “He meditated on the Scriptures and tried to tell the message in fresh ways.”

Lake was the author of two books, Understanding God's Will and [Re]Understanding Prayer. News of Lake's death spread across the country within hours of his passing through phone calls, e-mails and Internet blogs.

Greg Warner of Associated Baptist Press contributed to this article.

Posted: 11/01/05

Explore the Bible Series for Nov. 13

A lack of vigilance will bring sin to the fore

• Romans 8:1-14

By Trey Turner

Canyon Creek Baptist Church, Temple

Assuming by the number of humorous stories, the family television set is anything but set. In my home, testosterone keeps the buttons pressed so that the television knows only to slide from one channel to the next. The three various-aged men of this family take their turns “seeking what they may devour” on the television until something captivates.

For instance, the 2004 release of The Alamo starring Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton has as DVD bonus material an option where the viewer can listen to commentary by Texas historians who worked on the movie. These men talk about how events actually happened, how they were portrayed in the movie, details about characters and how these details could only be hinted toward in a movie. The commentary shown on top of the movie captured my interest; it was set.

For a printer-friendly version, click on the printer icon at bottom of page.

Give attention to God’s way for you to live by taking a new mindset. This way is worth living.

Adopt the Spirit’s mindset (Romans 8:1-8)

Paul talks about a spiritual mindset, acknowledging the struggle between spiritual life and normal human nature. It is not natural to be led by the Spirit. To do so is contrary to nature. Paul calls it the “law of sin and death.”

People default to actions which lead to sin and death. This “law” that was humanly impossible to overcome was overcome when God sent his Son. Now people do not automatically have to live in ways displeasing and hostile (v. 7) to God. Paul says in verse 4 that sin is condemned and the requirements of the law (God’s covenant demands) can be met in the believer.

Consider the religious orders of Jesus’ day—tithing on the mint, dill and cumin grown in their gardens—yet how their careful obedience falls short of God’s law because they neglected the “more important things” (Matthew 23:23). The kingdom of God is a spiritual order prompted within the soul of the believer. Living according to the Spirit’s prompting now must captivate the believer’s life.

Previously, he or she could not be pleasing to God by following the outward written law. Now there is the option to fulfill it following the prompting of the Spirit of God who lives within the believer. God gives the individual freedom and responsibility to follow the Spirit’s mindset. Freed from the default, will the believer now choose that mindset? Paul says Christians no longer are captive.

Go in the Spirit’s direction (Romans 8:9-11)

Christians have the Spirit of Christ, so the Christian’s spirit is alive to Christ and able to follow him even in fleshly bodies. Paul says the Christian’s body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive—the implications are for the overcoming of the weight of those fleshly tendencies. That same Christian has been freed for living the empowered life.

Certain CD players have power indicator lights. Mine lights up red when the power is on. That is only to indicate the fact of power going to the player. It is ready to use. The indicator light does not mean the player is being used, only that power is available.

Similarly, the Christian follows the Spirit’s prompting as through salvation Christ’s power is made available (10), and following him brings glory to Christ (8,14). But the Holy Spirit’s presence does not mean the believer automatically is pleasing to God. He or she must choose to go in the Spirit’s direction. Paul says there is strength to obey.

Obey the Spirit’s leadership (Romans 8:12-14)

The death brought about by sinful actions is not the “second death” (Revelation 21:8). Nor is it is an indication of being lost again, for in Romans 8, Paul is talking in the context of those who are believers. Instead, living by the sinful nature does no one any good; in fact, it does harm. Sinful behavior does not bring about Christ’s righteousness, so why live in that pattern? Learn to put to death this body’s actions that do not glorify God. Paul says the choice belongs to each believer.

Discussion questions

• If Christians are no longer slaves to sin, how would you describe temptation?

• Why are Christians still tempted?

• How can Christians do a better job following the prompting of the Holy Spirit?

• Why should a Christian exercise spiritual disciplines?

• Discuss some of the Christian disciplines. How do they help overcome the flesh’s tendencies?

Posted: 11/04/05

A HEALING TOUCH:
Clinic offers aid to otherwise unserved people

By George Henson

Staff Writer

DALLAS–The Agape Clinic has no fancy instruments and conducts no surgeries, but Director Charles Kemp transplants his heart into his young students.

Kemp, also a senior lecturer at Baylor University's Louise Herrington School of Nursing, is at the clinic because his heart won't let him do otherwise.

"Life is too short to waste, and this is really important that we address the problem of human suffering on every level," he said as he sat in the waiting room of the clinic amidst a throng of people who came for the only medical care available to them.

Patients come because they know not only will they be cared for, but they also will be cared about.

The Agape Clinic has been open since 1982, but it only made services available on Saturdays for most of that time. Kemp and Baylor's nursing school became involved four years ago, and now the clinic is open Wednesday through Saturday.

The clinic offers health care to people who have no other place to go. Some come with insurance cards, but they haven't been taught how to use them. The clinic's staff instructs them how to use their insurance and helps them make appointments. Others have cards for care through the county hospital, but their children are too sick to wait the week to two weeks an appointment sometimes requires. The Agape staff works through its contacts to help people who need earlier treatment get appointments quickly.

“That's how people qualify to be seen here–if they can't go anywhere else,” Kemp explained.

That still leaves the Agape Clinic with a full slate of patients each day. The staff sees more than 125 patients in a typical week. Grants, donations from area churches, and donations of medicine and supplies support the clinic.

While the range of illness is great, the most common ailments for adults are blood pressure problems and diabetes-related maladies. Children most often suffer from viral infections, ear infections and skin disorders.

“I just think it's terrible to let people suffer through inattention,” Kemp said.

He has transferred that sentiment to many students through the years. Some of them have graduated from the nursing program but come back to help at the clinic.

Denise August, a graduate student at Baylor University's Louise Herrington School of Nursing, sometimes uses hand motions to supplement her Spanish dialogue with patients.

Melissa Elmore, a 2003 graduate of the nursing school's family nurse practitioner program, is one former student who continues to help.

“My primary reason for going into health care was to help people–to help them not only feel better, but also share the love of Christ,” she said.

Liz Segulja, scheduled for December graduation, sees working in the clinic as excellent preparation for her nursing goals.

“I wanted to work here because I knew it would be different from working in a hospital, and I'm interested in possibly working in a foreign country. This will be good preparation for that,” she said.

Indeed, most of the patients who visit the clinic have limited knowledge of English.

Denise August, a graduate student who works at the clinic, communicates well in Spanish, “but I'm sure my grammar is awful,” she said. While she has had many Spanish courses in school, she said her best preparation for communicating with the patients at Agape Clinic was a month-long mission trip to Guadalajara she took as an undergraduate.

August, a nurse at Parkland Hospital in Dallas the past five years, has returned to the school to pursue a graduate degree. Working with Kemp as an undergraduate gave her a passion for “working with the underserved,” she said.

Judy Lott, dean of the School of Nursing, is not surprised students discover a sense of purpose at the clinic.

“The Agape Clinic absolutely fits the mission not only of the School of Nursing, but also for Baylor University itself,” Lott said. “The mission of the university is education, research and service, and the Agape Clinic allows for all those things.”

“It is an absolutely wonderful learning experience for our students,” she continued. “They are coming from a different background than our patients, and it's an eye-opening experience for them. They also get a chance to experience what it really means to be the hands and feet of Christ.

“The clinic is only two blocks from here, but it like being in another world,” Lott said.

Kemp gets letters from former students periodically, including many who now serve in foreign lands, continuing to help the underserved.

Kemp's yearning to serve the poor has kept him from climbing the rungs of academia, Lott said.

“He doesn't have a doctorate, because his heart has always been in service, and his service has prevented him from taking that time,” she said.

“However, I can't see how any further education would enable him to make any greater contribution than what he already is doing.”