Posted: 10/14/05

Texas Tidbits

Baylor Medical receives Consumer Choice Award. National Research Corporation has named Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas a Consumer Choice Award winner for the 10th consecutive year. In compiling its health care marketing guide, the firm surveyed more than 200,000 households inquiring which hospitals have the highest quality and image in 180 markets throughout the U.S.

Funds needed to aid hunger relief intern. Lena Yual, a native of Papua New Guinea, has been awarded an internship at the World Hunger Relief Farm north of Waco, but she has not been able to raise airfare needed to travel to the United States. Normally that cost is the responsibility of the intern, but due to Yual's subsistence background in an impoverished country, this is deemed a special circumstance. She will learn farming techniques to be used to share with the physically and spiritually hungry of the world. For more information, call (254) 799-5611.

Missions foundation to honor four. The Texas Baptist Missions Foundation will honor philanthropists Paul and Shirley Piper of Jackson Hole, Wyo.; retired Woman's Missionary Union of Texas Executive Director Joy Fenner of Garland; and Camille Simmons of San Antonio Baptist Association during a luncheon Nov. 14 during the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting at the Austin Convention Center. Tickets are $20 each. Checks can be made payable to Texas Baptist Missions Foundation, designated "luncheon" and sent to 333 N. Washington Ave., Dallas 75246. For more information, call the foundation at (800) 558-8263.

Three Texas Baptist schools honored. Baylor University, Dallas Baptist University and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor were recognized in the latest edition of America's Best Christian Colleges. To be considered for the designation, an institution must be an accredited four-year college or university affiliated with a recognized Christian denomination or be a nondenominational institution providing an educational experience that incorporates Christian principles and beliefs into the instructional and social aspects of the student's lives. Students entering in the freshman class must have a high school GPA or standardized test scores equal to or above the national average.

UMHB sets Depression Awareness Day. The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Community Life Center will offer free, confidential counseling during Depression Awareness Day, 2-6 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Community Counseling Center, 717 College St. on the Belton campus. Any person wanting to learn more about depression can fill out a questionnaire and talk with a counselor about personal situations.

UMHB receives $100,000 gift. Roy and Jean Potts of Belton recently completed a $100,000 charitable gift annuity that will benefit the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. She is a 1949 graduate of UMHB, and they are longtime benefactors of the university. The couple will receive income from the gift annuity for their lifetimes, and then the school will receive the principal as an unrestricted gift to be used for any educational purposes deemed appropriate. The Potts family established the Cochran, Blair & Potts department store in Belton.

DBU baseball accepted into NCAA Division I. Dallas Baptist University's Patriot baseball team has been officially accepted as an active member of NCAA Division I after two seasons as a provisional member. All other Patriot athletic teams will remain at the NCAA Division II level.

Posted: 10/14/05

TOGETHER:
Experience the great grace of giving

The Baptist General Convention of Texas has identified 289 Texas Baptist churches that endured the destructive sweep of Hurricane Rita through Southeast and East Texas. Our staff has been working with the directors of missions who serve the seven associations in this area, and they have made contact with 176 of the 289 churches. They have made your relief dollars available for the pastors, churches, members and others to whom the churches are ministering.

Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

On the Friday after Rita struck, I was in Beaumont, Vidor and Orange surveying the damage and visiting with pastors and lay leaders. I was able to tell the 25 men and women gathered at the office building of First Baptist Church in Vidor that because of Texas Baptists' faithfulness in giving, we would be able to send them funds immediately to help in their efforts to coordinate an effective response to the needs of their communities.

I was blessed by the leadership of Terry Wright, pastor of First Vidor and moderator of Golden Triangle Baptist Association, as he pulled the group together, laid out a plan for relief and rebuilding, and called all of us to trust in God and do the work God has given us to do. He understood that what the churches and their leaders do during crises like this opens doors of spiritual opportunity in people's lives that almost nothing else can match.

Many of the pastors and churches are responding to needs in the community even while their own houses are still uninhabitable and their church buildings still unusable. Last Sunday, one of our largest churches in Southeast Texas, First Baptist in Nederland, met under a tent because the damage is so severe.

Many of the pastors have said, “The church building is not working, but the people of God are.” They know from painful experience that church is so much more than buildings and location. Aren't we grateful for that!

We visited some of our Texas Baptist Men sites. There was a shower and laundry trailer staffed by two men from South Texas. There were chainsaw gangs to help clear downed trees. There were feeding teams from Plains and Plano. These volunteers were proud to be there representing you and your church, and they were making a mighty difference in the lives of people.

We now are in the process of connecting churches to churches. If your church would like to partner with one of the churches that has been through this devastation, our disaster response team is coordinating these links. You can call toll free (888) 311-3900 or e-mail sitroom@bgct.org for more information about what you can do to help some fellow Texas Baptists who are in real and continuing need.

Don't forget the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions and the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger. Both of these offerings traditionally are received September through November. I know the pressing needs of the hurricane damage can make us overlook the importance of these two annual offerings, but I implore you to remember to give through these offerings.

I pray God will bless you and make you abound in the great grace of giving. If you have ever doubted whether your gifts, large or small, are needed, now you can be sure. Your offering from the heart has and will make a big difference in those you help and in you, as well.

We are loved.

Charles Wade is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Posted: 10/14/05

American Baptists cutting staff, but not 'collapsing'

By John Pierce

Baptists Today

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (ABP)—The American Baptist Churches USA is shutting down its communications department —the latest step in budget cuts and restructuring brought on by declining funds and theological division in the denominational group.

Although the American Baptist national office is experiencing funding losses due to divisions over homosexuality, the venerable denominational group, based in Valley Forge, Pa. is not collapsing, General Secretary Roy Medley said.

Richard Schramm, spokesman for the 1.5 million-member denomination since 1996, will leave his position Oct. 31, along with an associate director and a media assistant in the office of communication. Schramm will serve as a consultant to the American Baptist Churches USA.

Cuts were based on recommendations from consultants McConkey and Johnston and resulted in the merger of two divisions—communications and missions/stewardship development, Medley said.

“We have formed a new division called mission resource development,” said Medley. “This new entity will be responsible for communicating the ABC story effectively with our family and the larger church as well.”

The restructuring is similar to what the Baptist World Alliance did following the withdrawal of funding from the Southern Baptist Convention, he added. The new effort, he said, will focus on electronic communication.

Tensions over the issue of homosexuality have come to a head in recent months among American Baptists and their 5,836 churches. Although the group adopted a resolution opposing homosexual conduct in 1992, many conservatives in the denomination have complained American Baptist leaders have done little to “enforce” it on the denomination’s agencies or congregations.

In September, directors of the American Baptist Churches of the Pacific Southwest, which includes Southern California, initiated the process of separating from the denomination by the end of the year. While some other regional bodies of American Baptists still debate the issue, the full impact of the controversy remains undetermined.

Regional fellowships are the channel through which local congregations relate to the national body, known earlier as the Northern Baptist Convention. In recent years, several gay-friendly churches have been expelled from some of those regional bodies.

But Medley said talk of the ABC’s demise is unfounded.

“Some of the headlines, like in a Christianity Today web article, which speak of a stampede are just untrue,” said Medley. “At our biennial meeting, which was held in Denver this past year, two-thirds to three-fourths of the delegates clearly expressed their commitment to remaining united through this time of dissension.”

Medley said he and Pacific Southwest executive minister Dale Salico have sought to avoid “an atmosphere of charge-countercharge” in the media. “We have consistently communicated to PSW that it is not our wish that they withdraw from the covenant of relationships,” said Medley. “Our polity grants them the freedom to order their life as a region as they choose, as it does other regions.”

Often the press does not understand a church structure that is not hierarchical, Medley said, and that the rights and privileges of local congregations can never be usurped by an over-reaching General Board or general secretary.

“I have consistently stressed that the inability of the General Board to impose any resolution upon our member churches is not a flaw in our system, but was an intentional design in the denomination,” Medley said.

Despite dealing with significant fallout over the homosexuality controversy, the ABC has adopted a new mission statement, Medley said. He added that American Baptists are “energized” by growing relationships with other groups such as the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Church of the Brethren.

“ABC is not collapsing,” said Medley. “Our mission focus and call are clear. We intend to focus on them like a laser beam.”

Posted: 10/14/05

CYBER COLUMN:
The Light of the world

By John Duncan

I am sitting here under the old oak tree pondering light. Yesterday the sun like an orange basketball greeted the crisp October morning with light. Last night the stars filled the sky with twinkling dots of light against a dark blue backdrop. Then, of all things, I walked into my dark house and reached for the switch on the wall and flipped it and then, presto, a light bulb flashed like a camera flash and burnt. Thankfully several more light bulbs helped me find my way around the house. Light illumines.

I love this time of year because the rotation of the earth on its axis makes the nights longer and the cold waves of arctic air march south and the nights sparkle with the stars and the moon and the constellations dance in the heavenlies. In the second century the ancient Ptolemies compiled star catalogues detailing the brilliance of the stars in their movement and position. I am not sure if it’s true but supposedly Julius Caesar once declared that he was as constant as the northern star. Scientists discovered last year that the star Polaris is increasing in light by 250 percent. One scientist said that such an increasing brightness should not be happening, adding, “It’s kinda scary.” Light intrigues.

As a boy growing up my family would visit the mountains of North Carolina. One of my favorite things to do was ride up the mountain in an open air jeep just as the sun set. The lights on the jeep guided us through the rugged, mountainous terrain. We stopped, jumped out of the jeep, climbed into a cave through a hole that we could barely squeeze our bodies into, and walked gingerly through the cave with dripping water, cool air, and the echo of a voice spoken.

One wise guy holding the flash light led us through the cave and then turned off the flash light creating an eerie dark like a scene out of a Halloween movie, one with strange sounds and bats buzzing and a heart pounding so hard that you feared it might just leap out of your chest. How relieved I was when the small bulb on the flash light popped on and we stepped our way cautiously back to the hole and out of the cave and back into the jeep. My heart slowed its rhythm and calm prevailed. Light delivers peace.

Annie Dillard writes of wonderful things in her childhood: of snow flakes like stars falling on the day she and her friends ran for their lives after hitting a car with a snow ball; of a white house with five bedrooms and stairwells and a green lawn with stones; of reading books and checking them out from the library; listening to the radio and watching movies and boys and girls and baseball and bikes and streetcars with headlights and lamp posts on the streets, streetlights that cause snow to twinkle like glitter when the light shines on it just right.

Annie Dillard tells one day of a storm that blew through the town of her childhood and shut down the power and created an eerie dark like the one I experienced in the cave in the mountains of North Carolina, except a small light bulb, one small light bulb dimly lit the room and stayed on mysteriously while the rest of the street stood pitch black. Light faintly arrests the darkness.

So here I am under the old oak tree. For many people in the world today darkness looms: homeless victims of Tasmanian hurricanes and victims of angry car bombers and victims of cancer cells eating away in the body and victims of drugs and alcohol and victims of sin that darkens the soul and victims of teenage rebellion and financial troubles where the check book runs bone dry and victims of life itself in the unplanned, the unwelcome and the un-asked-for events that send clouds pouring over life. Yet in the stillness of a star lit night, I am reminded of the Light, light like a star twinkling aglow, like a light penetrating a dark cave, like a light intercepting a storm on a pitch black street. And the light is Christ.

Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world.” He illumines life. He intrigues. He delivers peace. He arrests the darkness. He comes in splendor and grace to fill us with his light. One light shines. One light keeps getting brighter. One light eases our fears. And the light is Christ.

C. S. Lewis put it best, the challenge we face in life involves this: “to dress our souls not for the electric lights of the present world but for the daylight of the next.” The apostle Paul invites us to live in the glory of God’s light, to shine like stars. I leave you with this poetic prayer by London pastor/poet John Donne, “And burn me, O Lord, with a fiery zeal.” Fill souls with your Light.

John Duncan is pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, and the writer of numerous articles in various journals and magazines. You can respond to his column by e-mailing him at jduncan@lakesidebc.org.

Posted: 10/14/05

Right or Wrong?
Cremation

Some friends of mine are planning to be cremated. Isn't there something in the Bible that says we shouldn't do that? How we face death and how we treat the dead are some of the most painful, but telling, issues in all of life. For many reasons, cremation is a practice gaining in popularity as grieving family members choose how they will honor a loved one. Does Scripture say anything about this one way or another?

Some say the Bible forbids cremation. We need to be cautious here. Could it be that cultural conventions or the lobbying of the funeral industry do more to form our perceptions concerning our treatment of the dead than does Scripture?

The only passage that might even come close, though, is where Moab was condemned for burning “the bones of the king of Edom to lime” (Amos 2:1-2). Commentators admit, however, that the precise nature of the crime condemned here is uncertain.

While no verse prohibits cremation, there is a larger issue that for many raises questions concerning the practice. The Christian hope is not of some disembodied state in which immaterial souls float among the heavenlies. Rather, according to the Apostle Paul, the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead is heralded as the “first fruits of those who are asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). As the offering of the first fruits in ancient Israel was the expression of confidence in a full and bountiful harvest, so is the resurrection of Christ from the dead the sign and certainty of the bodily resurrection of believers in him. Does the reduction of the body to ashes overwhelm God's ability to raise the body in glory? To put it that way is almost sufficient to dismiss the question itself.

But Paul says more, specifically about the relationship between our present bodies and what is to come. “That which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be” (15:37). While there is continuity between our present bodily condition and that which is to come, there is enough discontinuity for Paul to say, “It is sown perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” The recurring “it” of these verses speaks of continuity: We are raised. But expectation of the eternal glory of a spiritual body speaks of a radical discontinuity that cautions Paul against speaking in too much detail.

In any case, Paul does not express any concerns for the relative condition of that which was sown one way or the other. One translation of 1 Corinthians 13:3 has Paul saying, “If I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” The problem for Paul is not that his body might be burned–in persecution perhaps?–but that his offering might be motivated by something other than love.

Whether 1 Corinthians 13 has the prospect of persecution in mind or not, persecution certainly has happened over the years, and believers' bodies have been burned. If cremation is itself a problem in light of the hope of the resurrection, then all those Christians burned at the stake by the Romans are in serious trouble. Certainly that cannot be the case.

I think Paul might respond to the whole question concerning cremation like this: “Neither cremation is anything, nor un-cremation, but what is most important is one's faith in the power of the resurrection presently at work through love” (see Galatians 5:6).

Jeph Holloway, associate professor of religion

East Texas Baptist University

Marshall

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: 10/12/05

BaptistWay Bible Series for Oct. 23

Don’t ignore the messenger God chooses

• Judges 4:1-17, 21; 5:1-3, 12-13

By Ronnie Prevost

Logsdon Seminary, Abilene

Well, here we go again. The downward spiral continues. Judges 4:1-3 relates that, through the leadership of the judge Ehud, God had delivered his people. But once Ehud was dead, they fell into their old sinful ways, repeating the pattern of the Deuteronomic cycle we discussed last week.

So, God “sold” Israel into oppression. This time it was Jabin and Sisera who would dominate Israel 20 years. The instrument of this oppression was the Canaanite army which had state of the art (for the time) military technology: 900 chariots of iron.

Their subjugation drove Israel to repent and call out to God. And God responded by calling out another judge to lead and free Israel. Then, unanimously Israel followed. After all, “Any port in a storm.” Right? Wrong!

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You see, this deliverer called by God was not exactly what Israel expected. It was—she was—Deborah, a woman!

Deborah is described in Judges 4:4 as “prophetess.” She was one who spoke for God and vested with the responsibility to discern and declare God’s word.

Some have suggested her name meant “bee.” Like a bee, Deborah was busy. Judges 4:4-5 tells us she was busy holding court for Israel. There they would “have their disputes decided.” Deborah’s words from God, almost certainly were sometimes sweet like a bee’s honey. Sometimes they were sure to sting—just like a bee.

Deborah also was a wife and a mother figure for Israel (as she would describe in her song in Judges 5:7). Like a mother, she had the authority to call in and to “send out” and “send for.” That was exactly what she did in Judges 4:6 and 14. Through Deborah, God called Barak, and commanded him to lead an army against Jabin and Sisera at Mount Tabor. In 4:7, God’s promised to ensnare Sisera and deliver him to Barak.

But Barak was not so sure. Perhaps it was his lack of faith or courage (we see that even with the leaders of Israel—and some of the judges, at times). Maybe it was his lack of assurance that Deborah’s words were genuinely from God. Whatever, Barak was not willing to go without Deborah.

She agreed to accompany Barak, but Deborah told him his hesitation had cost him the “glory” of the victory to come. Rather, it would be for a woman. The issue was not so much seeking council while trying to discern God’s will. It was one of stepping out courageously (or not) once God’s will is known.

The very thing that had given Jabin and Sisera their tactical advantage proved to be their undoing. The victory song in Judges 5 relates that, with Deborah in command and serving God, through nature (a rain storm) God became involved in the battle, and the victory was won. The iron chariots proved to be too heavy for the ground on which they were fighting. With the chariots mired in mud, Sisera’s army was now at the mercy of the Israelites. Their means of oppression had become their downfall.

God’s promise again had been fulfilled. And the glory did go to a woman. Not to Deborah as Barak may have assumed. Rather Sisera, having fled the battle when all was lost, is killed by Jael, a woman. She is the one described in Judges 5:24 as “most blessed.”

Judges 5 rose out of Deborah’s singing a song of ecstasy over the victory. The song praises the God who calls his people to join with him in his work. It praises him for those who follow courageously. On the other hand, the song also derides those who did not heed God’s call. They are characterized by Meroz (v. 23) who “did not come to help the Lord.”

Those who omitted themselves missed out on being a part of a great victory. They may have had many different reasons for doing so. It may have been fear at the very thought of the military might they faced. They may have been complacent, numbed to their own oppression. They may not have wanted to hear a word from God (and that would have been nothing new). Or perhaps they were reluctant to follow because the word of God had come through a woman and they simply could not accept it.

But Deborah, clearly a many-faceted woman who did fulfill the traditional roles of a woman for her day and time (being a wife and mother) also spoke for God. And God led his people, Israel, through her.

The historical Baptist emphasis on the biblical doctrine of the priesthood of all believers—both men and women—calls us to consult with each other and to hear God through each other. We should not take the responsibility lightly and we must be careful about claiming to speak for God when such is not the case. Rather, we are called to encourage and serve each other. Further, we must follow God courageously, whomever through whom God chooses to speak. God will win the ultimate victory. Will we join in the battle? Or will we find our own excuses to exclude ourselves?

Discussion question

• How can women serve God? What were the roles of such women as Lottie Moon, Annie Armstrong, Mary Hill Davis and others?

• How might we fail to follow God—and find ourselves in a downward spiral—simply because we do not care for his choice of spokesperson?

Posted: 10/12/05

Family Bible Series for Oct. 23

Unity should characterize the church

• Ephesians 3:14-21; 4:1-13

By Donald Raney

Westlake Chapel, Graham

What is the church? Is it a beautifully crafted building of brick, mortar and stained glass?

Most believers likely would agree the church is much more than a physical structure or geographical location. They perhaps would be quick to affirm that the church is a fellowship of Christian believers bound together by a common faith in Jesus as the Messiah and through the unity of the Holy Spirit.

Yet even this does not quite get to the heart of what it means to be the church. Many churches have placed a great deal of emphasis on the fellowship aspect of the church and have become little more than social clubs or mutual support societies. They enjoy spending time together, support each other through hard times and celebrate every special occasion together.

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While all of these should certainly characterize any church, many seem to have little positive effect on the community outside that fellowship. Because of this, many churches have stopped growing and are plateaued or declining as outsiders see no real benefit in joining.

God designed the church to empower and equip believers to be God’s voice and hands in being a life-changing influence on its community. God calls the church to point the world to God. In order to do this, individual believers must reach beyond the walls and live lives of distinction in service to God. In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul shows his readers how they can honor God in and through his church.

Ephesians 3:14-21

In the first part of chapter 3, Paul describes his calling to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. In verse 10, he states that God created the church so that through it the “manifold wisdom of God” would be proclaimed throughout all creation. Paul understood that before this can happen, members of God’s church must experience the power that comes with being filled with God’s Spirit (v. 16).

It is for this reason that Paul continually kneels in prayer before God asking that believers might understand “how wide and long and high and deep” God’s love is (v. 18). This love not only unifies the church, but also compels believers to show love to a lost world through acts of ministry. Paul simply was asking God to provide the members of his church with the power to be his church in the world.

When believers genuinely understand the magnitude of God’s love for them, they are empowered to face any challenges in sharing the message of that love. This love is not simply a sense of courage or motivation. It is a dynamic force at work in the life of the believer. It instills confidence as the believer approaches God’s throne by assuring us God stands ready to go far beyond anything we could imagine in answering our requests (v. 20).

Ephesians 4:1-6

While God provides the power, it is up to the individual believer to use that power in fulfilling God’s call. Each one must consciously choose to live a life worthy of his or her calling. This begins with fostering the attitudes and perspectives that guide outward actions. The focus should be less on correcting specific actions and more on developing a character that naturally leads to correct actions.

The primary features of this character are humility, gentleness, patience and a readiness to bear the needs of others (v. 2). While this list is by no means exhaustive, these are the qualities that most readily ensure and protect the unity of the church. Far too often in the history of the church, these qualities have been moved to the side as various groups have focused on differences in order to exclude without any thought concerning the unity of being one body held together by one Spirit and one hope.

Is it any wonder the church so often has had no influence on the community when there is often no difference in the way members of the church treat each other and the way those outside the church treat one another. The church will begin to make its community a better place when its members “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit” by living lives of true humility before God and the world outside the church.

Ephesians 4:11-13

While believers participate in a common Spirit, that same Spirit empowers individual believers differently. In verse 11, Paul specifically points to those whom the Spirit empowers to be the leaders within the church. Notice that this short list contains those we would not consider “professional church staff.” Also notice that while these people are given the task of training and equipping, it is the task of all believers to work toward unity of faith and the building up of the church. Each believer is called to “works of service” that expand God’s church (v. 12).

As individual believers focus on ministering to specific needs and proclaiming the love of God to their community, the church becomes more than a fellowship of believers. It becomes what God intended it to be—a unified and dynamic force functioning as the hands and voice of God in a lost world.

Discussion questions

• In your opinion, what does it mean for a group of believers to truly be the church?

• How does a deep understanding of God’s love empower a believer to minister to others?

• What actions can you personally take to preserve and promote the unity of church?

Posted: 10/12/05

Explore the Bible Series for Oct. 23

The lordship of Christ offers mastery over sin

• Romans 6:1-14

By Trey Turner

Canyon Creek Baptist Church, Temple

The old Clint Eastwood westerns are inspiring. The tough, albeit edgy, lone hero discerns the town is petrified of a mob boss who keeps them under control taking what he wants. (Good luck figuring out which movie this is—there are about eight movies mixed together in the second sentence of this paragraph alone.) The hero is confronted by the mob, refuses to leave town and boldly faces an upcoming showdown. A few of the villains are killed or maimed. The town’s people are free from the tyranny of the mob and vow both to protect the families and keep them free.

There also are real-life situations in which someone who is abused is unable to think or act for theirself. An abuser keeps the individual in emotional or physical bondage and tells them what to think and how to act. In some cases, this is called Battered Wife Syndrome and a very real psychological disorder. These two scenarios show both slavery or mastery over a person and the joy of freedom.

New relationship (Romans 6:1-3)

The Apostle Paul talked previously about how the penalty of sin has been paid (5:8). He now shifts his discussion toward the freedom Christ’s salvation brings.

Each person has to begin as those who came out of Egypt did. These men and women had been slaves, and crossing the Red Sea did not wash away their slave mentality. God had to teach them how to be free before they entered the Promised Land.

Is Paul doing less with his teaching? He says with the strongest language exemplified in the New Testament, how people should “by no means” tolerate sinful behavior because the believer’s old life died. The symbolism in baptism is as much a death as it is a new birth—the believer died and now lives. Paul says, come out and be free because you have a new relationship.

New life (Romans 6:4-7)

As much as Paul conveys why to behave, the Christian has more than motivation with which to succeed. The Christian is given resurrection power which is the ability to live. Remembering that death came through Adam, life comes through Jesus Christ.

No one should think, “Well, Jesus died for my sins so I can start over, I will do better next time.” By saying this, the Christian shows a belief that the power for righteous living is centered in the will. People have the same ability to succeed as Adam; “better” simply does not work out.

Chapters 7 and 8 show the power to live is actually manifested by faith acting at the leading of God’s Holy Spirit. The believer is united with Jesus in both his death and resurrection. He or she is free from sin, but now, in the Spirit, he or she is really free to live. Paul says, come out and be free because you have a new life.

New master (Romans 6:8-11)

Jesus died so people would be free from sin’s mastery. Sin had ownership over humanity until Jesus’ death and resurrection. Since raised with Christ in status, Christians are both righteous and children of God; sin no longer masters the believer.

Mastery does not give the believer a choice. The Christian is free from mastery—free to choose a good master. The Lord Jesus does not master anyone; he is chosen and then served from a willing, free soul. Paul says, come out and be free because you have a new master.

New lifestyle (Romans 6:12-14)

Paul urges the believer to make a positive difference with regard to his or her purpose. He says that it matters what a Christian does because each person has the choice to be a tool for righteousness or wickedness. The last verse in the section does not give a blanket permission to be free from guilt saying, “Do not worry about your sin because you are under grace.”

Paul’s purpose is to have the opposite effect. He says, “You are not ruled!” You have the choice whether or not you will serve God or Satan. It is important to remember, grace in Jesus allows the Christian to live in righteousness not merely to be forgiven for unrighteousness. Paul says, come out and be free because you have a new lifestyle.

Discussion question

• What ways do Christians show defeatist attitudes toward sin?

• In what ways have you recently given in to sin’s mastery over you?

• How can you claim your position as a child of God and find victory over sin?

• What is the greatest challenge to doing that?

• When you tell God about how difficult the challenge is, does it sound weak?

Posted: 10/07/05

Roy Moore running for governor of Alabama

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

GADSDEN, Ala. (ABP)—The “Ten Commandments Judge” is back and is aiming for a higher Alabama office than the one from which he was fired two years ago.

Roy Moore announced he is running for governor in his home state of Alabama. His colleagues on the Alabama Supreme Court removed Moore from his job as chief justice in 2003, after he openly defied a succession of federal court decisions. The courts had said Moore’s action to place a Ten Commandments monument in the Alabama judicial headquarters building in Montgomery was unconstitutional.

Moore’s decision to run in the 2006 election means he will likely go head-to-head with current Gov. Bob Riley, who is a conservative and a Southern Baptist, in the Republican primary.

Announcing his candidacy in Gadsden, near his home, the 58-year-old Moore said he wouldn’t try to bring the monument back to a government building. It now sits in the narthex of an evangelical Protestant church in Gadsden.

“But I’ll tell you what I will do,” he said, according to news reports. “I will defend the right of every citizen of this state—including judges, coaches, teachers, city, county and state officials—to acknowledge God as the sovereign source of law, liberty and government.”

Moore, a Republican, was elected to head the state’s judiciary in 2000, after gaining fame for refusing to remove another tribute to the Decalogue from the wall of his courtroom as a county judge in rural Alabama. In the summer of 2001, he installed a two-ton granite monument featuring the Protestant King James version of the commandments in the center of the judicial building’s rotunda. The installation took place without the permission or knowledge of Moore’s colleagues on the court.

A group of Alabama attorneys sued Moore for violating the First Amendment’s ban on government establishment of religion. Federal courts at every level agreed with them, and ordered Moore to remove the monument.

Moore refused to do so, contending—as he had in the lawsuit over the monument itself—his oath of office required him to “acknowledge God” and the monument was his way of doing so.

A state judicial-ethics panel removed him from office for refusing the federal orders. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and then-Attorney General Bill Pryor, both fellow Republicans, supported that decision, which was upheld by both a specially appointed state Supreme Court and the federal Supreme Court.

Riley spokesman Jeff Emerson, in a statement released after Moore’s announcement, said much of the former judge’s proposed platform echoes the current governor’s.

“It appears Roy Moore is campaigning on an agenda that echoes the same positions Gov. Riley has already taken,” he said. “Most of the issues Roy Moore outlined were detailed in Gov. Riley’s ‘Plan for Change’ back in 2002, and Gov. Riley has worked ever since then to implement them.”

Besides the religious component, Moore’s announced platform includes term limits for state legislators and immigration reform.

Riley angered some of the state’s conservatives in 2004 by endorsing an effort to reform the state’s constitution and tax code, which many economists have said perpetuates poverty in Alabama. A wide array of Alabama’s religious and other special-interest groups endorsed tax reform as a way to provide relief to poor and middle-class people. But some conservative groups—including the state affiliate of the Christian Coalition—feared it would have made it easier for legislators to raise taxes.

Posted: 10/07/05

Court rules jurors erred in consulting Bible

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—The nation’s highest court has upheld a Colorado court’s ruling that said jurors erred when they consulted biblical law to sentence a murderer to death.

On the first day of its 2005-06 term Oct. 3, the federal Supreme Court declined, without comment, to hear an appeal of the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of convicted murderer and rapist Robert Harlan.

A panel of Colorado’s highest court in March invalidated Harlan’s death sentence, saying jurors should not have taken biblical recommendations for punishment into account when sentencing. By declining to hear the case, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Colorado court’s decision to stand.

“The judicial system works very hard to emphasize the rarified, solemn and sequestered nature of jury deliberations,” the Colorado court’s majority opinion stated. “Jurors must deliberate in that atmosphere without the aid or distraction of extraneous texts.”

But the minority justices in the 3-2 Colorado decision disagreed. “The biblical passages the jurors discussed constituted either a part of the jurors’ moral and religious precepts or their general knowledge, and thus were relevant to their court-sanctioned moral assessment,” they wrote.

Colorado criminal law is unusual in that it requires judges in capital cases to instruct jurors to take into account their own moral convictions in dealing with such sentencing decisions.

According to court papers, one juror testified that she consulted the famous passage in Leviticus 24, in which Hebrew law requires “an eye for an eye.”

The decision means Harlan’s sentence will be changed to life without parole. In 1995, he was convicted of raping and murdering a woman near Denver, as well as shooting and paralyzing a woman who was trying to help the victim escape.

Posted: 10/07/05

CYBER COLUMN:
Truth and the Dallas Cowboys

By Brett Younger

Recently, two of my favorite choir members graciously invited our family to sit with them in a luxury suite at a Dallas Cowboys’ football game. It seemed like fun. My children love sports. Carol loves a party. They promised there would be food. None of us had ever been to Texas Stadium. It’s a generous invitation. The parking pass cost more than my first suit. So I said, “We’d love to go.”

But secretly, I had reservations. It’s a complicated story:

When I was growing up, my father was the biggest Cowboys fan in the world. Tom Landry was only a notch below Billy Graham. My mother once said that my father loved Roger Staubach more than he loved her. His response was that he loved her more than Calvin Hill. We moved breakable furniture out of the living room before Dallas games, but we still lost a couple of lamps. My father was exuberant in expressing his devotion.

All teenagers find some way to rebel against their parents. Some do drugs, drink or sleep around. I didn’t do any of those things, but what I did may have been more painful to my father. When I was 14—and I’m not proud of this—I started cheering against Dallas. Whenever a Cowboy got arrested, and it was rather frequent in the 1970s, I cut the story out of the newspaper and helpfully taped it to the refrigerator. On one occasion during grace before a meal, I prayed for wide receiver Bob Hayes’ cocaine problem. I was sent to my room without dinner.

I’ve been pulling for whoever is playing Dallas for a long time. My children have now inherited this unattractive part of who I am. Of course, I recognize that many fine and wonderful people pull for the Cowboys, and there are moments, especially since I moved to Fort Worth, when I wish I could be 13 again and be one of them. But those days are long gone.

So, on the way to Texas Stadium we practiced our non-partisan cheers:

“That was some play.”

“That guy is big.”

“Those cheerleaders must work out a lot.”

“Bill Parcells could work out a little more, couldn’t he?”

Luckily, most of the focus in our suite was on the food—shrimp, ribs, chicken, hamburgers. There may have been some vegetables, but I’m not sure. The caramel chocolate cake was the highlight of the second half.

I used my non-partisan cheers:

“Let’s go team.”

“We want a touchdown.”

“Run fast.”

I slipped once and shouted, “That was a terrible call” at a referee who had made a call that the 54,000 people seated around me thought was wonderful. I tried to save myself with, “but the angle is such that I couldn’t really see it from here.”

One of our church’s fifth grade Sunday school teachers cheered the loudest of anyone in our suite. I kept my distance as he repeatedly yelled, “Kill ’em.”

We had a lovely time, but it was tempered a little by the feeling that I wasn’t quite telling the truth. I have friends with whom I don’t mention certain subjects, and that keeps us from being better friends. I know that some issues will always divide us, and arguing doesn’t do much good, but not telling the truth begins to feel like a lie. Rather than dishonest silence, we need to follow St. Paul’s advice, “Speak the truth in love.”

This is hard to do, and we all have difficulty with it. Sometimes, we avoid speaking truth in fear of offending someone, and sometimes we speak the truth so coarsely that we don’t display love at all, but cold, hard arrogance instead. The best friends learn to share who they are without putting down those who disagree. The best churches learn to be honest without being judgmental.

Sometimes, we need to say, “You need to know how hard it is for me to hear racist comments,” “I’ve never told you how much I appreciate you,” “If I’m going to be your friend, I need to tell you how important my Christian faith is to me,” or “I’m sorry I root against the Cowboys.”

Brett Younger is pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth and the author of Who Moved My Pulpit? A Hilarious Look at Ministerial Life, available from Smyth & Helwys (800) 747-3016. You can e-mail him at byounger@broadwaybc.org.

Posted: 9/30/05

Right or Wrong:
A covenant of trust

We are updating our church bylaws, and we want to include statements that reflect the expected behavior of our pastor, staff and members, too. Is this a good thing to do? What resources are available for developing these statements?

Since this is a column with an ethical intent, let me begin by unequivocally saying that including expected standards of behavior in your church bylaws is possibly a good idea and possibly a bad idea. Generally, bylaws are written to give broad guidelines of governance to your church. But most often, bylaws leave a little wiggle room for peculiar circumstances that occasionally arise in the give-and-take of dealing with people.

You may want to place general guidelines in your bylaws, addressing expectations of integrity, honor, kindness, responsibility and so forth. These ideas are clear enough in addressing expectations without being cumbersome or overly specific.

But bylaws are not the place to try to legislate minute, specific staff behaviors. For instance, 20 years ago, if you were attempting to legislate the behavior of your staff through the bylaws, who would have thought to include a provision limiting the amount of time staff could spend communicating with old friends on Instant Messenger? In my experience as a pastor, I have dealt with staff issues that were not technologically possible even 10 years ago.

Let me suggest a more practical solution. Think about creating a minister/congregation covenant. During last year's Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in San Antonio, the convention received a report from a committee charged with creating a “'Code of Ethics for Baptist Ministers,' which could serve as a model for ministers, churches and Baptist institutions, … which reflect basic ethical obligations for ministry.” The final result is a publication titled Ministerial Ethics: A Covenant of Trust. This covenant is available free of charge from the BGCT Christian Life Commission.

The idea behind this covenant is that ministerial ethics not only concern and benefit the minister, but ministerial ethics benefit the church.

Together, the minister and the church covenant to respect and value the minister's various relationships, use of time, management of health, economic responsibilities, sexual conduct and role within the community. Upon addressing these issues, the minister and the church enter into a covenant in which each recognizes the value and the need for the other. This covenant also allows both parties to clearly understand one another in these sensitive issues.

Rather than waving a set of bylaws in the face of a failed minister, the minister and the church should act proactively to establish expectations and mutual trust from the beginning of a minister's tenure. Within the covenant, the church recognizes the value of time off and adequate compensation that help the minister avoid the pressures that often lead to failure. The minister gains the realization that personal behavior is genuinely public behavior that has impact upon the church and its reputation. Using the church bylaws to address general expectations is fine. But to encourage a healthy relationship between the minister and the congregation, consider mutually signing a church covenant. It's not only good for the minister; it's good for the church.

Stacy Conner, pastor

First Baptist Church

Muleshoe

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.