Posted: 9/08/05

BaptistWay Bible Series for Sept. 18

God’s miracles mark beginnings, not endings

• Joshua 3:7-17; 4:15-24

By Ronnie Prevost

Logsdon Seminary, Abilene

“The difficult we do now; the impossible takes a little longer.” Most of us would like to have the bravado and confidence that saying exhibits. But, many of life’s challenges and difficulties intimidate us. They cause us to quail and quiver. The barriers seem insurmountable.

The children of Israel had seen much in the previous 40 years. They and their forebears had been miraculously freed from bondage in Egypt. They likewise had been preserved through their wilderness experience. Though excited about finally entering the Promised Land, they were certainly aware of the challenges before them. Although the “faithless generation” of Numbers 13-14 were gone, the stories that had instilled fear in them—stories of great cities and giants—almost certainly were preserved.

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Now, in our Scripture passage, Israel stands ready to enter and claim Canaan. But something was in the way. The Jordan River normally is not very imposing. At the place where Israel stood on its banks, the Jordan usually is a shallow, not very wide, river—especially at the fords. However, 3:14 indicates this was the harvest time, probably in April. Spring always brought warmer weather which would melt the snows on Mount Hermon many miles to the north. The snow melt would typically bring Jordan to flood stage at this time.

Many people can attest to the dangerous torrent that even just a few inches of rain can make out of a dry creek bed or a low-lying area of a road. This—and perhaps more—was what Israel faced. And this is what God, in 3:8, ordered the priests who carried the ark and led the people to enter. They broke camp the next morning and, in faith, obeyed God’s command.

That was when yet another miracle of God occurred. As the priests stepped off the bank into the edge of the river, the water stopped flowing from upstream and the river was emptied. God made it possible for Israel to safely follow him into Canaan.

Often we like to leave miracle stories at that point. God ordered. People obeyed. God worked. End of story. Nice and neat.

However, Joshua 4:15-24, reminds us there still is something to be done after the miracle. As Israel had walked across the Jordan, 12 stones had been picked up off the dry river bed. At Gilgal, just a few miles north of Jericho, Joshua had the 12 stones set up as a monument to God’s work.

Further, in verses 21-24, Joshua commanded the people to tell their descendents the meaning of the stones. And the ultimate purpose is given in verse 24: “… So that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”

Everyday life can be much like the Jordan River—sedate and easily dealt with one moment and incredibly difficult the next. And just as with Israel, we are called to walk and follow God in faith, regardless of what is before us.

What we often forget is that we are “at the edge of the waters” every day. Our lives of faith must become consistent. We should live as people of faith in good times and bad. Many can testify to how, as with Israel as they crossed the Jordan, God led them to victory over seemingly insurmountable situations—when, step by step, they followed him in faith. But all too seldom those difficult situations are the only times we turn to God in faith. We are in need of God’s help and guidance every day. Even when life seems easy. Like the wonderful hymn goes, “I need Thee every hour.”

Of course, God’s miraculous is most apparent to us when we face life’s most trying times. But perhaps we need to examine what we do after moments such as those. What monuments to God’s work do we erect? All too often, we say and do nothing—not even speaking a word of thanks to God. Sometimes we may thank God and, maybe, share a word or two to friends, family or church about what has happened.

Joshua had Israel do even more than that. The stones they gathered —and out of which they erected the monument—were, themselves, testimony to the work God had done. They had been exposed and, therefore, available as a result of the miracle. For us to do similar, we must look not only at what God has done for us, but what we will do with what has resulted. That is, we must ask what kind of stewards we are of God’s work in our lives. How do our lives incorporate God’s miracles as testimonies to God’s power and greatness?

Discussion question

• What makes it difficult for you in the everyday, and when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, to follow God in faith?

• When God provides for you in the everyday—and in times of difficulty—how can you live “… so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God” (Joshua 4:24)?

Posted: 9/08/05

Family Bible Series for Sept. 18

Finding purpose starts with loving God

• Ecclesiastes 3:10-14, 12:13-14; Mark 12:28-34

By Donald Raney

Westlake Chapel, Graham

Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? These are some of the nagging questions that have haunted humanity for centuries. As we have seen in the previous lessons, humanity has spent a great deal of time and effort seeking the answers to these questions in a variety of pursuits that have failed to lead them to their divinely created purpose.

As we look back to the book of Ecclesiastes and into the words of Jesus today, we find that our purpose has less to do with what we pursue in life and more to do with the condition of our hearts and attitudes. Discovering this may well help us to put the first things first in our search for meaning in life.

Ecclesiastes 3:10-14, 12:13-14

The writer of Ecclesiastes certainly appears to have had what many would consider to be an enviable life. His descriptions paint a portrait of a person with the means and ability to spend much of his time in the somewhat philosophical pursuit of the meaning of life.

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In chapters 1 and 2, Qoheleth describes how he had sought for significance and purpose in a personal quest to acquire wisdom, pleasure, possessions and personal achievements. These pursuits, however, did not lead him to fulfillment but to the realization of the futility of such activities.

Before continuing his description of other specific examples, the writer offers a few of his general observations and conclusions. Qoheleth begins chapter 3 with his well-known presentation of opposites.

Through his endeavors, the writer has learned there is an appointed time for everything that happens, whether positive or negative. God has established a world in which both constructive and destructive activities are needed. The implication of this seems to be that one should thus not be surprised by whatever happens.

Yet to prevent humanity from claiming any exhaustive understanding of God and God’s actions, God has placed a sense of eternity in the heart of humanity. This sense of the eternal continually reminds us of the brevity of human life. Because of this brevity, the best thing for a person is to enjoy both the life and the work which God grants as a gift from God.

God has specially blessed humanity and allows each person to uniquely participate in creation. All that God has done is complete and lasting. Through their efforts, humanity cannot add nor take away from God’s creative acts. Yet humanity was created with a divine purpose. Humanity is to live in reverent fear of God and to follow God’s commands. This will bring each person to a sense of purpose in life.

Mark 12:28-34

While Qoheleth had reached a conclusion which seems to have satisfied him, questions of the purpose of life continued to be asked for centuries by people from all backgrounds. Wherever he went, Jesus quickly was perceived as being a wise teacher as well as a miracle worker. Many people appear to have recognized him as a rabbi. Because of this, Jesus often faced many questions about God and the meaning of life.

On one particular occasion, a scribe approached Jesus and asked him which of God’s commandments was most important. While such questions often were posed to Jesus as a means of building a case against him using his own words, this scribe appears to have been genuinely interested in what Jesus might say.

Even by the first century, Jewish tradition had long held that the way to experience blessings and fulfillment in life was through adherence to the law passed down from God to Moses at Mount Sinai. That tradition held that the purpose of humanity was to please God by obeying God’s law. Thus the scribe may have been asking for Jesus’ thoughts on which of the laws was most effective in securing divine pleasure on an individual.

In answering the scribe’s question, Jesus did not point to one of the Ten Commandments or to any of the specific laws found in the Torah. Jesus instead recited the Shema. This statement of faith, found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, has served as the foundational declaration of Judaism even through today.

This one statement clearly summarizes both the uniqueness and unity of Israel’s God as well as humanity’s essential purpose in relationship to that God. All of the other commandments of God were seen as incorporated into this declaration.

According to Jesus then, humanity’s primary purpose is to love God with all of our being and to demonstrate that in all we do, say and think. Jesus then goes on to give the scribe the second most important commandment: Love your neighbor. For Jesus, all other laws pale in the light of these two. Jesus was telling the scribe that God’s law is not about a legalistic system of dos and don’ts. It is simply about living a life of love for God and others that reflects our relationship to the God who is love.

So, what is the purpose of life? It is not found in any overt quest or specific action. It is found only in a renewed perspective on life by which we love God with all we are and in all we do. It is what we were created for. It involves taking on a lifestyle that sets its focus on things higher than those which we experience as part of this world. God grants us the freedom to choose where we invest our energies in seeking meaning and purpose. But there is only one place where true significance can be found. That is when we accept all of life (the good and the bad) as a gift of God and choose to love him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.

Discussion questions

• What does “he has set eternity in their hearts” mean to you?

• What changes do you need to make in order to put the first things first?

• What does it mean to love God with all of your heart? All of your soul? All of your mind? All of your strength?

Posted: 9/08/05

Explore the Bible Series for Sept. 18

Jesus asks for more than morality

• Romans 2:1-24

By Trey Turner

Canyon Creek Baptist Church, Temple

No excuse (Romans 2:1-2)

Possessing a vacuum cleaner can help a person clean floors, but it does not guarantee a person’s floors are clean. Similarly, Paul says to the Roman Christians in 7:7 that the law of God shows truth, but knowing its demands still is apart from fulfilling it.

People often will agree with the declarations God makes about good and evil even though that person may not live up to those standards. It is important to realize there is no extra merit for those who verbally hold to the same moral standards expressed in God’s word.

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Whether the person Paul addresses here is a Jewish person or a Gentile, no one is a safe in the bosom of eternal rewards because he or she agrees with the moral position God speaks from in his word. A person’s behavior is the evidence of internal or eternal commitments. Speaking from this position is like saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.” But as Paul shows, these people are not admitting that they fall short; they simply are expressing the high moral standard.

No escape (2:3-8)

How do men and women acknowledge the value of Scripture while denying the judgment on their own shortcomings? John R.W. Stott quotes Sigmund Freud and Thomas Hobbes who both comment on people who condemn others while giving their own personal behavior a pass. Freud called this “gymnastic projection.” Hobbes showed how people “are forced to keep themselves in their own favor by observing the imperfections of other men.”

Amazing how seemingly natural it is to have such a high standard for other people and a pitifully low standard for ourselves. Doing so makes it easy to lob accusations at others while heaping grace on people in one’s own personal circles.

Should Christians feel surprised when God doesn’t excuse the same behaviors? Forgiveness can come to these individuals only when they admit the discrepancy. As it stands, people who know God’s expectations, but do not hold to them have no free pass. In fact, a person who refuses to face up to the discrepancy “stores up wrath” for a great calamity.

No favoritism (2:9-11)

Paul uses the word “every” in these verses bringing the discussion out of accusation to a sobering reality of judgment for all people. Behavior will sort out those who believe God’s commandments. God is the impartial judge between righteousness and unrighteousness.

Showing people’s tendency to partiality, Brian Larsen relates a story about a Chicago banker who asked for a recommendation on a young Bostonian who wanted a job. The investment company raved about the young man pointing out his outstanding pedigree—his father was a Cabot, his mother was a Lowell, adding how they come from the blood lines of Saltonstalls and Peabodys. The bank sent a clarification letter telling why the supplied information was inadequate. “We are not contemplating using the young man for breeding purposes. Just for work.”

God also wants to see our work, not our bloodline. No person gets special treatment because of heritage. The Jewish person is not shown special favoritism.

No superiority (2:17-21; 23-24)

More than moral standards, Paul is talking to Jewish men and women who are proud of their identities. The ones Paul writes about sound much like Nicodemus, who was proud of his first birth and could not consider minimizing his pedigree.

Romans 2:24 is a humbling truth: While the word of God reveals the character of God, his priesthood, those called by his name, carry his name. When the word does not match the behavior of its adherents, those adherents blaspheme God’s name. God’s reputation is to be that of transformation.

This week’s verses portray the person who for whatever reason cannot or will not experience the transformation God intends. Christians read and confess God’s word so that in recognizing a gulf will humbly receive the corrective measures in behavior.

People are to understand the universal need for salvation as they look at God’s standard and how the spirit of that law reveals truth about God. Possessing it does not divide people into first-class and second-class humanity. Instead, the privilege of having God’s word means that besides God’s standard, people also have the record of God’s redemptive activity from Genesis forward. There is no moral way that bypasses the cross of Jesus Christ. The point of these verses is to take blinders off so that every person can see Jesus properly and their own need for him.

Discussion questions

• How does going to church blind some to their own need for a personal relationship with Jesus?

• Give an example of how someone might know what the Bible says, agree with its teaching and yet not be able to live it out.

• What is the most difficult part of ministering to someone in this position?

Posted: 9/02/05

Texas Baptist Forum

Signs of Jesus

In my congregation on any given Sunday morning, I can see at least two of the three indicators Mike McNamara offers up as evidence that Christian culture has been lost within the church: Some women wear hair styles shorter than men, and a few women have tattoos (Aug. 22). The saints in my congregation are too poor to afford breast augmentation surgery or–who knows –I might see examples of that, too.

Funny, though, until he mentioned it, I never realized the absence of those things indicated one's status as a Christ-follower. But I distinctly remember Jesus' saying the world would know us, instead, by how we love one another.

• Jump to online-only letters below

Letters are welcomed. Send them to marvknox@baptiststandard.com; 250 words maximum.

"We have the ability to take (Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez) out, and I think the time has come to exercise that ability." Pat Robertson Televangelist, on his 700 Club program "The Southern Baptist Convention does not support or endorse public statements concerning assassinations of persons, even if they are despicable despots of foreign countries, and neither do I." Bobby Welch SBC president and pastor of First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Fla., responding to Robertson (BP) "Religious citizens have the same rights as nonreligious citizens to argue their side. But disagreement with those positions is not automatically anti- religious bigotry or hostility to faith." Melissa Rogers First Amendment attorney and visiting professor of religion and public policy at Wake Forest University Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C. (RNS) "The church is not the four walls. The church is like Home Depot. You go there to get what you need to return home and fix what's in disrepair." Tom Fortson Jr. Promise Keepers president (The Tennessean/RNS)

I've studied, taught and preached from the book of Acts. What I keep seeing as marks of the early Christian culture are things like devoting oneself to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship with other believers, being of one heart and mind within the church, sharing one's possessions with those in need, praising God, being filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit, prayer, being in awe as God works his wonders within the body, and sharing the gospel with a world that desperately needs to hear it.

I thank God every day that those are the indicators I see in my brothers and sisters–so much so, in fact, that on most days I hardly notice the hairdos and the tattoos.

Pamm Muzslay

Pasadena

Gavel of justice

I would like to respond to two letters in the Aug. 22 Baptist Standard, “Danger of relevance” by Richard Berry and “Cultural decline” by Mike McNamara.

If this doesn't describe what is going on in our churches and society today, we are completely missing the point that the Holy Bible is giving to us for the life of the church and our lives.

I know there might be exceptions, but the outward appearance of a man or woman usually reflects the inward personality of that person.

I asked myself this question: Does the so-called “Christian rock music” performed by a group that call themselves Christians and look like the devil add any spirituality to a meaningful worship service (being conscious of the presence of God's Spirit)?

Don't let the beat of the so-called music lull you into subconsciousness that doesn't recognize God's presence.

Listen up, ye people on planet earth; the gavel of God's court of justice is about to fall, calling us to accountability.

George W. Luther

Chandler

Grace on a tightrope

Letters by Richard Berry and Mike McNamara (Aug. 22) decried the loss of identity in the church, one claiming identity has been sacrificed on the altar of relevance, another claiming women are to blame.

To the latter, I say surely men have contributed to a “loss of culture” as well. Also, all three of the characteristics listed apply only to outward, physical appearance and not to inward, character issues, in which Jesus seemed far more interested.

To the former, I affirm that relevance can indeed subsume identity. However, as Jürgen Moltmann stated in The Crucified God, Christianity always faces a double crisis of identity and relevance. We can consume ourselves with questions of identity so much that we no longer matter to the culture surrounding us.

Jesus spoke to two churches in Revelation that dealt with a different side of this coin. The Ephesians hated false doctrine, but they left their first love. Robert H. Mounce in The Book of Revelation suggests this meant they cared more about correct doctrine than loving one another. Little effort is required to find parallels in contemporary Baptist life. On the other hand, Pergamum had not defended enough against false teaching and had slipped into error.

As the people of God, Christians must walk a dangerous tightrope between identity and relevance, love and correct doctrine, and only God's grace makes that possible.

David Tankersley

Eastland

Child baptism

Roger Olson’s conclusion raised some interesting questions regarding baptism of children (Aug. 8).

He suggests not to baptize before 16 because the person is not ready to be a full voting member of the church. Is baptism an initiation process into a club or a symbol of a spiritual conversion? Maybe Baptists need to think in terms of membership differently. I’m sorry that he can barely remember his baptism. Many people I’ve questioned remember their childhood baptism as a wonderful spiritual experience.

His conclusion to wait until 16 because the person isn’t ready for serving on committees or becoming a deacon is strange. I know very few 16-year-olds who are ready. Maybe, we should raise the age to 25 or 30?

Susan Allen

Harlingen

Will SBC let "sleeping dog lie?"

Thank you for the article on Jimmy Carter’s admonishment against the exclusive practices of fundamentalists (Aug. 8). I wish I could have been there to hear Carter and to participate in the joyous celebration of diverse and friendly Baptists from around the world testifying to their one great common bond, Jesus the Christ.

Now that the Baptist General Convention of Texas has been granted official membership status with the Baptist World Alliance, how will the Southern Baptist Convention respond? Will the SBC pull away from the BGCT as well? For the SBC to be consistent with their convictions, it begs the question and examination of their current financial relationship and fellowship with the BGCT.

If a more definitive “split” between the SBC and BGCT is inevitable, as some predict, then let us pray that it’s done so peaceably and with irenic sensitivity. Although Paul and Barnabas parted from one another, they continued advancing the gospel of Christ. In so many ways both Paul and Barnabas have much for the SBC and Texas Baptists to observe. Their irenic parting may yet prove to be a model for the future relationship of the SBC and BGCT.

Will the SBC be consistent and remove their association with the BGCT? Or will money be enough for the SBC to continue to let this “sleeping dog lie.”

Christopher Breedlove

San Antonio

Ethics not situational

The first tenet of Humanist Manifesto I states: “Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created.” Humanist Manifesto II states: “We affirm that moral values derive their source from human experience. Ethics is autonomous and situational, needing no theological or ideological sanction. Ethics stems from human need and interest. To deny this distorts the whole basis of life.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment grants the same protection and limitations on “the religion of humanism as are applicable to other religions.” Justice Clark also stated, “The state may not establish a ‘religion of secularism’ in the sense of affirmatively opposing or showing hostility to religion, thus, preferring those who believe in no religion to those who do believe.” Yet many schools promote humanism by teaching character to the exclusion religious faith.

The Dallas Morning News reported, “Grand Prairie students scored more likely to lie, cheat, steal and bully others around than the national average,” but why? Adolph Hitler once said that you don’t have to tell people the truth. Just tell them a lie long enough and they’ll start believing it.

If we continue to allow our schools to teach character to the exclusion of religious faith, to teach that human life is an accident of nature, to teach situational ethics, while calling it character, then we should not be surprised when they think it is alright to lie, cheat, steal and bully others around. After all, they are just doing what they have been taught.

Larry Dozier

Grand Prairie

Does God have a hearing problem?

I agree with Richard Berry, the church is becoming a “cult of comtemporaneity” (Aug. 22). We hear so often the warning of a new pastor in a new setting: If the church does not change to the contemporary, it will die. We succumb to the relevance of a superficial spirituality that must believe that God has a hearing problem.

Berry’s observation is the best that I have read, and it needs to be repeated until it becomes a part of the spiritual nature of Baptist people.

Dale Geis

Norman, Okla.

Care for the body

The cover photo illustrating the “Bible goes to school” articles unsettled me. It is clear that the french fries are from McDonald’s. I think it is inappropriate to promote McDonald’s and fast-food eating.

I am a nutritionist and am involved in educating families about healthy eating practices. Most of us are aware of the disease of obesity that is rapidly growing in this nation. It would have been more beneficial to show a healthy food choice rather than the norm—fast food. We all learn and are affected by the examples we see in media. The example shown in the photo is a poor one.

Jesus encourages us to care well for our bodies. We are responsible to encourage others to do the same. I hope next time the photo of a similar article would be more carefully chosen. 

Kirsten Granberry

Dallas

Robertson's comments and their effect on missionaries

Pat Robertson has called for the United States to assassinate the elected leader of another country. The Bush Administration has called his comments “inappropriate” and says Robertson is a “private citizen.”

Is Robertson only a private citizen? He is part of a group, referred to as the Christian Right, that takes credit for the re-election of George W. Bush in 2004.

His broadcasts are heard all over the world.

If assassinations of other world leaders were lawful according to U.S. law (and they’re not) and you agreed with Robertson that this is a good idea, should he make such a pronouncement all over the world?

The answer should be obvious. What is the effect on the safety of our citizens in other nations, especially Christian missionaries?

The Bush administration’ reaction to Robertson’s comments is more disturbing than the comments. We call on other world leaders to denounce terrorism, yet we respond in this lukewarm, mealy-mouthed fashion when a prominent member of the ruling party is guilty.

Carl L. Hess

Ozark, Ala.

Don't get between an individual and the Holy Spirit

Roger Olson stated that children should not be baptized until they are 16 years of age (Aug. 8). I strongly disagree.

I was enrolled in the cradle roll of Memorial Baptist Church in Temple when I was born. I sang my first solo, “In the Garden,” in church when I was 3 years old. During a revival service, I came from the front row back to where my mother was sitting and told her that I wanted Jesus to come into my heart. I was baptized when I was 5 years old. I started teaching 4-year-olds in Sunday school when I was 14 years old. I graduated from high school when I was 16 years old. I sang in the church choir and was a soloist many times. I have continued to be active in Baptist churches wherever we lived, serving as teacher, GA director, choir member, committee member, and am still teaching a Sunday school class at age 72.

What would my life have been like if I had been denied the opportunity to be baptized when the Spirit of the Lord spoke to my heart? I’m sure I would have greatly resented being told I was “too young.” Having the Lord in my heart was a great protection during my teenage years, because I took seriously the commitment I had made and tried to be the best Christian I knew how to be and therefore would not “go along with the crowd.”

Setting an arbitrary age for a child to be baptized seems to be placing man between an individual and the Holy Spirit. When a person accepts Christ, it is an event that should be celebrated and confirmed, not delayed and perhaps discouraged. I hope Professor Olson will rethink his suggestion and encourage all people to make a profession of faith when they feel led by the Holy Spirit, be baptized and grow in a fellowship of baptized believers.

Franciene Baker Johnson

Haskell

Carter's comments at BWA were childish

The article on Jimmy Carter (Aug. 8) reminds me why I left the moderate ranks of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. He labeled Southern Baptist Convention conservatives, as part of “fundamentalism characterized by rigidity, domination and exclusion.” He has a right to his opinion, but to parade him as a voice for Baptists is very disturbing.

Carter implies from Galatians 3:28 that females have equal access to any position of pastoral ministries. Yet the context of this passage refers to everyone having equal access to Christ. Positions of service, therefore, must be treated from other passages.

Southern Baptists have long recognized women in many areas of pastoral ministries. Women have served as chaplains, music ministers, children’s ministers, teachers, conference leaders and professors. It is that senior pastor role for women where most SBC conservatives draw the line in order to stay in line with the Scriptures as we interpret them. Calling us “authoritarian males” who “want to keep women in their place” is childish and perjurious to those who have a different standard for biblical interpretation.

Carter’s rhetoric attacks “fundamentalists” rather than allow them to interpret God’s word as they understand it. SBC conservatives want God’s word to say exactly what God meant for it to say. Carter wants it say whatever it needs to say at any given moment under any given cultural setting. If left unchallenged, this type of “Bible” study will only lead to driving a further wedge into the world of Baptists.

Johnnie R Jones

Blue Ridge

A great big family of Baptists

We were touched by Marv Knox’s editorial on the Baptist World Alliance (Aug. 8). He captured our feelings as disenfranchised Southern Baptists. The BWA was truly a taste of heaven.

But we weren’t the only ones experiencing the joy of unity with our worldwide Baptist family. We went to England from Ethiopia, where we serve as Texas Envoys with the BGCT Texas Partnership.

Traveling with us was Ermias Zenebe, the general secretary for Addis Kidan Baptists, a denomination of 63 churches that is a product of Southern Baptist work that began in 1967. As a result of SBC strategy changes, they have been on their own for the past seven years. At times, they became discouraged, but they kept trusting God and kept growing. Now they have applied to the BWA for membership.

Ermias Zenebe was overjoyed to meet and worship with so many Baptists from all over the world and to find such love and unity. He returned to Ethiopia with the message for his fellow Baptists that they are not alone. They are a part of a great big family of Baptists who love Jesus and each other, and their goal is to share that love in every corner of the globe.

Lauralee Lindholm

Desoto

Robertson example of need for separation of church and state

Pat Robertson, the millionaire businessman/politician/evangelist, wants our government to assassinate Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. I am starting to wonder about the views of some “compassionate” conservative Christians. Their ideology doesn’t always coincide with the views of Jesus.

Jesus didn’t support assassinations, executions, torture or pre-emptive strikes. He believed in peace, love, forgiveness and the Golden Rule.

If you disagree, then ask yourself, “Who would Jesus assassinate?” Pat Robertson has just given us the perfect example of why our country needs the separation of church and state.

Chuck Mann

Greensboro, N.C.

Defense of the curriculum

The concerns of Mark Chancey and Ryan Valentine about the NCBCPS’s curriculum, The Bible in History and Literature, is not without merit. However, I would like to make a few observations.

First, Mr. Chancey and Mr. Valentine seem to offer conflicting criticisms on how the curriculum portrays the Bible in the public school classroom. On the one hand Mr. Chancey criticizes the curriculum for referring to the Bible as “the word of God”, while Mr. Valentine criticizes the curriculum for making “our Scriptures look trivial.” In my opinion, referring to the Bible as the word of God is by no means trivial.

Second, Mr. Chancey states that the whole reason for his opposition to this curriculum is “to make sure the Bible receives the respect and the treatment it deserves.” However, one must ask who should set the standard for the respect and treatment the Bible receives in the public school classroom? Should it be Mr. Chancey and other Biblical scholars? Should it be the conservative religious right? Should it be churches, seminaries, or religious schools? Or should it be the public schools in which the curriculum is being taught? Believe me, if all Christians insisted on the Bible receiving the respect and treatment it deserves in public schools, it would never make it. There would be too much controversy. The Bible would go the way of prayer in public schools. (Sad, but true.)

I hope that Mr. Chancey and Mr. Valentine have had a chance to read the revised edition of The Bible in History and Literature (August 2005). I have and I believe the revisions that have been made answer many of the concerns that Mr. Chancey and Mr. Valentine have. I found the curriculum to be completely objective it presenting its subject matter – a general survey of the Bible and its influence on world and U.S. history, literature, and the arts. I also found the curriculum to be non-sectarian by going out of its way in addressing the views of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews alike. The curriculum continually makes references to the Hebrew Bible/ Christian Old Testament and there is an entire unit dedicated to the history of the Intertestamental period and the literary influence of the Apocryphal books. In addition, the curriculum encourages the use of outside speakers to address certain subjects (i.e. using a Jewish rabbi to explain the role of the Torah in Jewish life and the meaning of certain Jewish holidays).

In the New Testament units, the curriculum presents the four gospels as both historical documents giving us much information on the life of Jesus, and as documents of faith, being a record of the events and teachings upon which the followers of Jesus based their beliefs and hopes. However, nowhere in the curriculum are students encouraged or influenced to make faith decisions concerning the person or nature of Jesus, his birth, life, death, or resurrection. Nowhere in the curriculum is the Bible presented as the “inspired” or “inerrant” word of God to be accepted as true and factual. That is a decision that is left to the students to decide for themselves. Rather, the curriculum simply presents the Bible as a collection of books that have had a profound impact on the history and culture of Western Civilization.

Is this curriculum perfect? No. Is it without controversy? No. But then again, show me any curriculum on any subject matter used by public schools in Texas that is perfect and without controversy. The fact of the matter is that The Bible in History and Literature meets all the requirements as set forth by the U.S. Department of Education and the Texas State Board of Education to be taught as an elective course in Texas public high schools. Instead of encouraging Christians to “lead the charge against this (curriculum) in the schools”, we should be encouraging Christians to defend this curriculum and others like it for use in our public schools.

We should remember what Paul says in Philippians 1: 18, “But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.” The bottom line is that the Bible is being taught at Brady High School. And because of this I praise God and rejoice!!!

Blake O’Dell, Pastor

First Baptist Church of Brady

Member, Brady ISD Board of Trustees

What about men?

Mike McNamara listed three indicators of cultural decline in the churches—women’s short hairstyles, tattoos and breast augmentation (Aug. 22). It is interesting to note that he did not mention men’s long hairstyles, tattoos or the use of steroids and Viagra.

The indicators he mentioned re-enforce the world’s idea that every time the church makes an effort to become closer to the Lord or more conservative, the first thing done is to set up new rules altering or restricting the behavior of women.

It sounds as if the writer of this letter believes if we could just get the women to become more self-effacing and drab, men would not have such difficulty living a Christian life. I’m not championing the practice of these three things. It’s just that there are other, and deeper indicators of the cultural decline in our churches. And the guilty parties are not exclusively women.

Rita Palmer

Big Spring

Them and us

I am so glad Mike McNamara (Aug. 22) so clearly pointed out the reason for problems within our churches:  The need to blame “them” because they do not think and act like “us.”

Lynda Schupp

Flower Mound

A speck in our eye

America’s dropping atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II in 1945 set a precedent that has not been repeated since those fateful days 60 years ago. We can be thankful for that, but there is no guarantee that today’s more powerful nuclear weapons won’t be used on another nation in our much more dangerous world. In fact, it is much more likely than not that nuclear weapons will be used again in the not-too-distant future.

While millions are starving to death in Africa and other places, nuclear powers are racing to make more destructive nuclear weapons. There is no major movement to reduce or abolish growing nuclear arsenals. Our greatest fear, a legitimate one, is that evil terrorists will somehow acquire and use a nuclear weapon to kill multitudes of people living in one of the world’s large cities. 

President George W. Bush calls the struggle against worldwide terrorism a confrontation of good versus evil. What is good about using unlimited resources to make more powerful, sophisticated nuclear weapons while hungry people are dying around the world? We will never overcome evil with good until we acknowledge that only God is good. We cannot call ourselves good until we remove the evil specks from our own eyes.

The “love of money is the root of all evil.” Who, among the world’s nations, is free from evil greed and its devastating effects? I hope civilization does not end where it began: In the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Paul L. Whiteley Sr.

Louisville, Ky.

What do you think? Send letters to Editor Marv Knox by mail: P.O. Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267; or by e-mail: marvknox@baptiststandard.com. Letters are limited to 250 words and may be edited to accommodate space.

Posted: 9/06/05

Gulf coast residents dazed by fury of Katrina

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

BILOXI, Miss. (ABP)—Hurricane Katrina punished the sacred and profane alike as it came ashore on the Mississippi Coast Aug. 29, gutting sturdy brick churches and glittering casinos, historic oceanside homes and modest tin-roofed bungalows.

From New Orleans to Mobile, Ala., Katrina was indiscriminate in its destruction. Much of the Mississippi coastline was dotted Sept. 1 with nondescript mounds of debris—wood, concrete, household items. Bibles and casino manuals, library books and bottled cooking oil—all swept up by the churning sea—shared a square yard of sand where they came to rest.

Over and over, storm victims voiced shock they didn’t believe a hurricane could be this bad. Even hurricane-savvy, lifelong residents of the Gulf Coast were stunned by the storm’s power and scope. Old-timers who previously measured hurricanes against 1969’s Camille conceded Katrina set a new standard.

Pass Christian, Miss., resident Ginger Adams, in front of what remains of her and her neighbors' beachfront homes. (ABP photo by Lindsay Bergstrom)

“There’s no comparison between the storms,” said Maureen Hudachek, 76, whose Ocean Springs, Miss., house survived Camille but not Katrina. She and her husband, Ray, 79, stayed in the house for both hurricanes—and smaller ones in between—but they barely escaped with their lives this time.

Unlike refugees trapped in New Orleans, most hurricane survivors on the Mississippi coast were bewildered but not despairing. Many residents in Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Gulfport and other towns rode out the Category-4 storm in their homes, only to find them virtually gutted and uninhabitable.

“You could hear people screaming in the dark, ‘Help me!’ It was terrible,” said Donna Springer, longtime resident of Ocean Springs, across the bay from Biloxi. “We never thought it would be over. It kept going and going and going.”

Springer’s home, a few blocks inland, was heavily damaged but not destroyed. But only a slab of concrete remains of Verna Margroff’s Biloxi home. Margroff was one of 14 people taking refuge in Springer’s house. Three days after the hurricane, Margroff still had no idea what she would do next. “I don’t know. I’m just in a daze.”

For Bob Storie, a Baptist chaplain from Ocean Springs, this was the second time a hurricane flooded him out of his home.

“Our home east of Pascagoula was a total loss (to Hurricane Georges), so we moved here to this home, where we were told that there was no chance of a flood,” said Storie, who remained in his house on Fort Bayou with his wife, Maude, and his 91-year-old mother-in-law.

Although the house is 19 feet above sea level, and somewhat sheltered from ocean winds, it was swamped by the 22-foot storm surge, destroying much of the contents.

“Just last year, we dropped flood insurance because there was no evidence that we would ever have a 100-year (record) flood,” said Storie, 71, a chaplain at Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula. “That is what this was, a 100-year flood.”

On the Mississippi coast, the worst damage was in a quarter-mile-wide strip along the oceanfront. Almost all homes and businesses were splintered by 130-mph winds or obliterated by the 20-to-30 foot storm surges. A few blocks inland, most structures remain standing, but many will be too damaged to repair. Several wood-framed houses were lifted and dropped into the middle of city streets. Residents wandered the streets looking for food and water.

Three days after the storm, only scattered locations on the Mississippi coast had received any food from the outside.

First Baptist Church of Gulfport was totally destroyed by Katrina, but pastor Chuck Register pleaded for more immediate help for the city’s residents. “Please tell Southern Baptists…,” he said, choking back tears, “we need some feeding work. These people need to eat.”

Some residents whose homes survived have essential supplies, such as food and water—though none have electricity and likely won’t for weeks. As news of chaos in New Orleans trickled in, some Mississippians wondered aloud what would happen when the food in their homes ran out in a few days.

Mike Barnett, pastor of First Baptist Church in Ocean Springs, offered his church’s parking lot if a Baptist feeding operation could bring in help. His brick church survived Katrina well. More importantly, Barnett said, none of the church members were killed or injured, though several dozen families lost homes.

“We want to honor the Lord and give thanks,” he said as he readied the activity building to house out-of-town police officers on their way to help.

Many churches of all denominations met the same destruction as homes and businesses. First Baptist Church of Biloxi, however, which moved away from the waterfront when the casinos moved in, fared better than most.

Along Biloxi’s waterfront, where other churches stand in uneasy co-existence with gambling facilities, both were suddenly thrown together by Katrina. Massive casino barges—the size of football fields and three stories high—were tossed 200 yards inland by the 30-foot storm surge, wiping out houses, shops and cars in their paths and coming to rest on strange angles in strange places. One casino barge tossed by the storm surge came to rest across the boulevard beside the shell of St. Michael’s Catholic Church.

Stories of survival seemed to mock Katrina’s awesome power.

Matthew and Jean Meissner were in the third floor of their Biloxi apartment—a converted 130-year-old mansion across the road from the ocean—as the 30-foot storm surge carved out the bottom two floors of the sturdy structure. Afterward, they escaped through a rear staircase, and they’ve remained in the shell of the house for three days.

“This is what we’ve got,” Matthew Meissner said with resignation.

“If the Red Cross would give us a place to stay, we would take it,” he said as he carried his first hot meal, delivered by a Red Cross vehicle. “If we can get a hot meal twice a day, that’s a godsend.”

Meissner is a maintenance manager at the McDonald’s restaurant on the casino strip. His wife was a maid at a hotel that no longer exists. A day earlier, a body was recovered from the demolished hotel apartment building next door. This day, the couple sat in lawn chairs, not facing the now-calm Gulf but staring back into the remains of their home.

Half a block away, as the rescue workers and TV crews trickled out, nightfall brought an eerie quiet to the seaside neighborhood. Half a dozen friends gathered on the steps of one heavily damaged house and toasted their survival with a salvaged bottle of liquor.

Maureen and Roy Hudacheks “were fresh from Iowa” when Camille struck Ocean Springs in 1969. “We didn’t know (better),” she recalled.

This time they hid in their house until the winds and waves started destroying it, piece by piece, from the west. The Hudacheks, who are members of nearby St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, escaped by going outside into the storm and huddling behind the home’s eastern wall as the storm devoured the western half. A detached garage was totally destroyed, throwing their two classic cars—a 1950 MG and 1970 Cadillac Eldorado—into a ravine behind the house.

“I was never afraid during the storm,” she said. “I never thought I would perish. I prayed a lot…. I had my rosary in my pocket and I prayed. The wind was howling. It seemed like that loud, piercing, howling sound would never stop.”

“We will rebuild right here,” she said as her husband, who has Parkinson’s, picked through possessions in the living room, which is now exposed to the outside. “We can’t afford to build back what was here. But we will re-build. This is our home. This is where we want to be.”

Tim Norton contributed to this story.

Posted: 9/06/05

Structures, lives turned into rubble by Katrina

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

SLIDELL, La. (ABP)—Katrina has passed on to the north. Communications are out in Covington, La. Slidell, La., is a mess. And virtually nothing’s left of Pass Christian, Miss.

Such stories have been repeated all over the Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina made landfall Aug. 29 the most destructive storm in American history.

The maelstrom of wind and water has killed coastal residents numbering at least in the hundreds and set off a still-growing urban catastrophe from which New Orleans may never recover.

But it was also a disaster of personal stories—costing Ginger Adams her home and family heirlooms, making Chris Wallace ponder how he would rebuild his life in Slidell and imposing a logistical nightmare on Dempsey Haymon as he began to figure out how he was going to take care of all the people he had been called to Covington to feed.

Pass Christian was once a gracious Southern community of beachfront mansions, crepe myrtles and antebellum bed-and-breakfast inns.

But by Sept. 1, as far as the eye could see along the beach and for at least six blocks inland, the city of Pass Christian was virtually bereft of man-made structures. The town now seems inhabited solely by the massive, denuded live oaks that had survived both the Civil War and the other major hurricane for which it served as the bull’s-eye—1969’s Camille.

Adams lost her rented home, located half a block from the beach on Pass Christian’s Henderson Point, to the massive storm surge and howling winds. Although she had only been a resident for two years, her roots go deep in the area. The house was located just behind one that had belonged to her great-grandfather. Her parents were in another historic town, just across the now-obliterated U.S. 90 bridge from Henderson Point.

“My parents have—well, had—a house in Bay St. Louis that has been in our family for 150 years,” Adams said, after picking through what was left of her belongings.

Adams returned to Pass Christian Sept. 1 from Florida, where she had evacuated during the storm. She managed to salvage little more than an antique pitcher and a box of family-heirloom jewelry. She showed a reporter a metal pin from it, token of a Mardi Gras ball she attended as a young debutante in New Orleans. “That has to be from 25 years ago,” she said.

It weathered the storm, but little else of Pass Christian’s historical artifacts did. “All these houses that have survived Camille and Betsy (in 1965), and the 1947 hurricane are gone,” she said. “These are houses that had been here a long time.”

Meanwhile, Haymon led a team of Louisiana Baptist disaster-relief volunteers operating a mobile kitchen in Covington, a rapidly growing area across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans.

They were there to cook meals for residents of less-historic homes—as well as other workers. The Louisiana team joined several similar ones from Oklahoma, Nevada and other states in a staging area at Covington’s First Baptist Church.

But Haymon, in the midst of cooking a stew for Red Cross workers to deliver to local households, said he was having difficulty communicating with other volunteers scheduled to arrive.

“Communication is such a problem,” he said at midday Sept. 1. “I haven’t talked to anyone (at Louisiana Baptist Convention offices) in Alexandria since I got here.”

Mobile phone service and electric power are virtually nonexistent in Covington and other areas near the heart of the massive hurricane’s path. Haymon, of Hornbeck, La., said he was waiting on a refrigeration truck to complete his kitchen, making it possible for him to serve all kinds of meals.

“Half of my crew hasn’t arrived,” he said.

Katrina took grand mansions and humble residences alike.

About 30 miles to east of there, in Slidell, Wallace stood outside his uncle’s modest home on Walnut Street and helped him air out soaked clothing, rugs and linens.

Although the house is, by his estimation, more than six miles from the Lake Ponchartrain waterfront, the historic storm surge flooded it with two feet of water.

Wallace hasn’t even seen his newly purchased mobile home yet. There were still too many trees blocking his street Sept. 1 for him to get a look.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to start over,” he said.

His uncle, Vincent Santilla, is fortunate enough to have federally subsidized flood insurance. “We’re just going to try to clean up,” Santilla said.

That may be difficult in the near term, as a massive oak tree still leaned against the home’s roof, and he was sure that the hole it made would leak the rain that was starting to fall.

Still, Wallace and Santilla were thankful that they and their families escaped alive, after a harrowing 14-hour evacuation Aug. 28. They went northwest to Winfield, La., a town that should have been about a four-hour drive.

Wallace also was glad not to be among the thousands of people trapped in New Orleans, across the lake to Slidell’s southwest.

“It’s chaos over there,” he said.

Back in Pass Christian, Mitch Kegley pointed to his three-story home far from the beachfront, and several blocks from St. Louis Bay. It survived the storm, but the surge still got up to the second floor, destroying many of his possessions. Although he had evacuated to Mobile, he returned Sept. 1—at his children’s behest—to look for their pets.

“The cats were alive,” he said, amazed. He found one in the house, and the other on a nearby building. Kegley surmised that one had been washed out of the house, but tried to swim back.

“Before they left, our kids said their prayers, and they both prayed for their cats,” he noted. When a reporter said maybe the youngsters’ prayers had been effective, Kegley smiled and agreed. “Yes, their prayers were answered,” he said.

Posted: 9/06/05

Buckner and Wilshire Baptist Send Shoes,

Supplies to Hurricane Survivors in Baton Rouge

By Felicia Fuller

Buckner Benevolences

DALLAS—Buckner Benevolences partnered with Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas to send thousands of new shoes, socks and shoelaces to aid hurricane survivors displaced in Baton Rouge, La.

As part of that effort, more than 20 volunteers from Wilshire and Park Cities Baptist Church gathered at Buckner Orphan Care International’s shoe warehouse on Labor Dayto load supplies and caravan to Louisiana.

“Though not a disaster relief organization, Buckner has been providing food, clothing, shelter and care to the displaced and disadvantaged since its inception in 1879,” said Randy Daniels, director of operations for Buckner Children and Family Services. “While our roots are in Texas, it is only right that we do all we can to help our brothers and sisters in need in Louisiana.”

A volunteer from Friendship Baptist Church in The Colony sorts and packs shoes for 35 Gulf families taken in by her congregation. (Photo credit: Felicia Fuller, Buckner Benevolences)

“Our people wanted to do something tangibly to aid victims,” said Mark Wingfield, associate pastor at Wilshire Baptist, noting the needs of at least a half-million people uprooted by Hurricane Katrina.

Wilshire Baptist raised $10,000 within 24 hours of hearing about the devastation and has since raised an additional $40,000, he noted. “We’re sending clothing, undergarments, personal care kits, air mattresses and other aid with Buckner’s shoe shipment.”

Buckner also is providing emergency housing and humanitarian aid to Gulf region evacuees seeking refuge in North Texas and East Texas.

Buckner shipped thousands of pairs of new shoes to Houston Sept. 6 and will distribute thousands more in Dallas. Organization officials say cash and in-kind donations, as well as volunteers, are needed to assist families at Buckner sites in Houston, Beaumont, Longview, Lufkin, and at the Buckner Crisis Relief Center in Dallas. Buckner also is accepting in-kind donations of new shoes and personal care packets containing toothbrushes, washcloths, soap and shampoo.

Jeff Jones, director of operations for Buckner Orphan Care International said additional volunteers are needed help sort and pack new shoes for hurricane survivors arriving in Texas. “They’re coming in droves, many of them still wearing soggy shoes, and others—mainly small children—wearing no shoes at all,” he said. The new footwear marked for distribution is collected through Buckner’s Shoes for Orphan Souls ministry, which predominantly serves orphans overseas but frequently aids U.S. children and families.

More than 20 volunteers from Wilshire Baptist Church and Park Cities Baptist Church helped load new shoes marked for distribution to hurricane survivors in Baton Rouge, La. (Photo credit: Jenny Pope, Buckner Benevolences)

Several members of Friendship Baptist Church in The Colony were at the Buckner shoe warehouse on Labor Day to sort and pack shoes for 35 Gulf families taken in by their congregation.

“Buckner was gracious enough to give us 200 pairs of shoes for these families and others identified by the Dallas Housing Authority,” said church member Beverly Collymore, who governs the South Central District of Business and Professional Women’s Club, which also dispatched volunteers.

For information on ways to serve with Buckner’s hurricane response, call Tiffany Taylor at (469) 877-4493 or Tasasha Kelly at (214) 758-8059. Monetary contributions to the relief effort may be made online at www.buckner.org or mailed to Buckner, Attn.: Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund, 600 N. Pearl St., Suite 2000, Dallas 75201. Make checks payable to Buckner and write account 22040 on the memo line.

Posted: 9/06/05

'I-10 Challenge' calls for commitment to relief

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

PENSACOLA, Fla.—A Florida Panhandle pastor whose church was devastated by Hurricane Ivan last year has challenged churches along the Interstate-10 corridor to respond compassionately to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Barry Howard, pastor of First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla., issued the “I-10 Challenge” to church leaders in communities along the nation’s southernmost east-west interstate highway, asking them to encourage Christians to give, pray and volunteer time to the relief effort.

Howard issued a three-fold challenge to his church members, and he urged other pastors do likewise.

Howard challenged Christians to:

–Give a financial donation equal to 10 hours of wages—either as a lump sum or over a period of weeks—to a denominational disaster relief offering, the American Red Cross or other established relief organization.

–Volunteer 10 hours of time on a relief team or in a local shelter.

–Pray 10 hours over the next 90 days for the relief, recovery and rebuilding effort.

Howard e-mailed the challenge to friends at churches in cities throughout the southeast, and several responded by saying they planned to issue similar challenges to their church members.

In addition to asking church members to give 10 hours of wages, volunteer time and prayer time to the relief effort, he also has encouraged other congregations to join his church in adopting a displaced family or a damaged church.

For logistical purposes, he suggested churches east of the Mississippi focus on the area from Biloxi, Miss., eastward, and for churches west of the Mississippi to concentrate on southern Louisiana.

First Baptist Church in Pensacola sustained more than $2.5 million in damage when Hurricane Ivan hit Florida a year ago. The church held worship services in its fellowship hall for about eight months while the sanctuary was rebuilt.

“We’re about 75 percent rebuilt now,” said Howard, who came to the church less than two months ago, about the same time Hurricane Dennis hit the Florida Panhandle. Dennis caused additional roof and water damage to the church facility.

His church member’s experience with hurricanes gives them a special empathy for people in the area where Katrina unleashed its fury, Howard said.

“Our people are storm veterans,” he said. “They learned about patience and perseverance, and they want to help others.”

Posted: 9/06/05

Clear Lake church feeding
evacuees in nearby hotels

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

ORANGE—Like many Texas Baptists, Donna Radmore wanted to pitch in and lend a helping hand when she heard how people were affected by Hurricane Katrina.

She started with her congregation, Clear Lake Baptist Church in Houston, helping members cook meals for victims of the storm who relocated near the church. Volunteers posted fliers at local hotels encouraging evacuees to come to the church for food.

Workers fed 75 families the first day. Then church leaders noticed some people could not come to the church, because they had no money for transportation.

That was no reason to get discouraged, simply an opportunity to discern God’s will, Radmore said. “First we wanted them to come to us at our church. Just because of logistics, it didn’t work out. So we realized God is calling us to bring it to them,” she said.

The church delivered meals hotel by hotel to families that needed them.

That experience, along with the disaster relief training she had last year, helped prepare Radmore to extend her efforts beyond her local community as part of a Texas Baptist Men emergency food service team in Orange that prepared about 1,000 meals a day for evacuees.

The food the team prepared was delivered by the Salvation Army to shelters across the city, including ones in two Texas Baptist churches.

Radmore said she feels for the victims of the hurricane and wants to help however she can. Texas Baptist Men is another chance to serve.

“My heart just wanted to be there to help people. People have helped me in the past, and I wanted to in turn help others. This is a wonderful opportunity to do so,” she said.

“They’re without food, without water. It’s something we can give them. It’s something that I as a person can do for someone else in need. My heart is drawn to those in need.”

Ministering to the evacuees will have long-term effects, Radmore said. Members of Clear Lake Baptist Church have invited the displaced people to join them at worship services. Christians have prayed with them. And some former Louisiana residents are thinking about settling in Houston, creating the chance for further ministry.

“The Bible says you’ve got to take care of their water, their physical need, their food, before you can take care of their spiritual need,” Radmore said. “That was the need at the time. We also had the blessing to pray with them and invite them to church on Sunday. Now we’re finding they’re going to be moving into our area. That opens a lot of doors.”

Posted: 9/02/05

Vision grows from 'holy
discontent,' Hybels insists

By Marv Knox

Editor

LEWISVILLE–Church leadership grows out of an unrelenting compulsion to follow God, speakers repeatedly told participants in the 10th annual Leadership Summit.

Simulcast live from Willow Creek Com-munity Church in suburban Chicago, the conference attracted about 50,000 participants to more than 100 viewing sites across North America. It will be dubbed into other languages and broadcast later this year overseas, where 22,000 more participants are expected.

Summit organizers recognized two Texas Baptist sites that joined simulcast locations this year–Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary and First Baptist Church in Lewisville.

“When leaders grow and get stuff right, everyone wins,” stressed Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Church and host of the summit. “When leaders in church work grow, the darkness gets pushed back, and people's lives get changed forever. How do you like those stakes? Forever.”

Church leadership is so important because “the local church is the hope of the world, and its hope rests in the hands of its leaders,” Hybels said to a simulcast audience, comprised of pastors, church staff, lay leaders and even some nonchurched business leaders.

“Vision is the leader's most potent weapon,” he said, acknowledging that assertion raises a vexing question: What precedes vision?

A spiritual leader receives vision from and is motivated by the things that “frustrate heaven and earth,” Hybels noted.

To illustrate, he quoted a lightly regarded leader, Popeye, the cartoon character, who always said the same thing before taking action: “That's all I can stands. I can't stands no more.”

“That means something to us in leadership at a profound level. We saw something we couldn't 'stands no more,'” Hybels said.

In service to God, this feeling is “holy discontent,” he reported. For Moses, it was “the misery of God's people.” For King David, it was the giant Goliath “trash-talking” God. For the Prophet Nehemiah, it was people mocking God.

Hybels' own experience with “holy discontent” grew out of observing “churches who don't care about people who are far from God,” he said. That led him not only to start Willow Creek Church nearly 30 years ago, but also to lead the “seeker-sensitive” movement, which presents the gospel to people who are “far from God” in ways that will bring them close to God and eventually to faith in Christ.

“What can't you stand?” Hybels asked.

Hybels offered Christians three tips about finding and following up on “holy discontent.”

First, “it's not everything you get upset about,” he said. “We ought to be looking for that one cause that grabs us by the throat and won't let us go.”

Second, don't give up if the object of discontent is not obvious, he added. “Keep exposing your heart. … Travel more in the world. Visit an AIDS clinic or a Habitat (for Humanity) build.” Keep on looking.

Third, don't run from it, he said. “Most of us run from our firestorm of frustration. One of the best things you can do is identify with it. … When you find it, feed it. Increase your exposure. Stay close to your holy discontent.”

Speakers throughout the summit echoed Hybels' theme:

“We need to get to a point where we are seized by something,” said Mosa Sono, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Soweto, South Africa.

“This causes us to live a life beyond ourselves,” said Sono, who led the church to reach more than 8,000 people in one of the poorest slums in Africa.

“Everything rises and falls on leadership,” Sono noted, insisting prayer is the key.

“Be burdened through prayer,” he urged. “It is the foundation of everything we do. … The formula for miracles is to start with what you have. Don't wait for a better day. Put it in the hands of God. God is able to do much with a little.”

“God is looking for people to use, and if you can get usable, he will wear you out,” advised Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif. “The most dangerous prayer you can pray is this: 'Use me.'”

Warren called Moses a role model, pointing to Moses' two principles of leadership.

“You must see the world as God sees it,” he started, noting God gave Moses the opportunity to see the Hebrew people's suffering sensitively, and it broke his heart.

“What's in your heart?” Warren asked. “What disturbs you?”

The next step is self-understanding, he added. “You must see yourself as God sees you.”

When God called Moses to ministry, the first thing God did was ask Moses, “What is in your hand?” Warren said, explaining Moses' shepherd's staff represented his identity, his income and his influence.

“What is in your hand?” Warren asked the leaders, stressing they need to turn over their identities and resources to God for God's use, not their own security or identity or comfort.

“When you're faithful with what God puts in your hand, he will give you more,” he promised.

A Christian leader must differentiate between his or her “comfort zone” and “gift zone,” said John Maxwell, who was a pastor 25 years before switching careers to become a leadership consultant and best-selling author.

“If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone,” Maxwell acknowledged. “But know your gift zone,” he said, explaining that's the realm of action for which God has prepared his followers. “Never get out of your gift zone.”

Christian leaders need to quit criticizing each other, leadership author/consultant Ken Blanchard said.

He compared the global church of Christ to a franchised business. But instead of supporting each other, as a reasonable business model would insist of the franchises, churches often do the opposite, he observed.

“Our 'franchises' never talk to each other. They compete with each other and criticize each other,” Blanchard observed. “We've got to stop this ridiculous fighting over rituals and regulations.”

Leaders must follow Jesus' example and the Apostle Paul's advice, suggested Kenneth Ulmer, pastor of Faithful Central Bible Church in Los Angeles.

Quoting from the 17th chapter of the Gospel of John, Ulmer noted Jesus said he had glorified God the Father because “I have done the work you gave me to do.”

“I glorify God when I do my assignment,” Ulmer said. “You have an assignment. … There's a call of God upon your life. You are where you are on purpose. You must fulfill God's assignment, God's call on your life.”

And that must be done by “presenting your bodies as a living sacrifice” to Christ, as Paul taught, he added.

“Put your body–your life–in God's hands,” Ulmer urged. “You hold that ministry in your hand, (and) it's doomed. Place your life in his hand, and God will do miracles, because it all depends upon whose hand it's in.”

The Willow Creek Association, founded by Hybels and Willow Creek Community Church to strengthen leadership and foster growth in other churches, sponsored the Leadership Summit.

Posted: 9/02/05

'Hire for attitude, train for skill'

By Marv Knox

Editor

LEWISVILLE–Attitude, relationships and love have set Southwest Airlines apart from the rest of the industry, President Colleen Barrett told thousands of religious leaders.

And those qualities, which have made Southwest Airlines a success, are transferable to churches, added Bill Hybels, pastor of one of the nation's largest churches and an expert on congregational leadership.

Barrett discussed Southwest's management philosophy during the Leadership Summit, sponsored by Willow Creek Association.

Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago and host of the summit, asked Barrett how the Dallas-based air carrier succeeds at providing its trademark “positively outrageous customer service.”

“We hire for attitude; train for skill,” Barrett said.

“We look for people who want to serve from the heart. That's the No. 1 personal trait. We also look for people who are altruistic and caring.”

Southwest Airlines' mission statement “basically is the Golden Rule,” she said. “We require that all employees are respectful of others. … They treat others like they want to be treated.”

That attitude applies both to fellow employees and to customers, she added, noting, “You won't be criticized for leaning toward a customer or what seems to be the most compassionate response.”

Barrett, who rose from co-founder Herb Kelleher's legal secretary to become the only female president of a major airline, says Southwest's emphasis on relationships grows from its family atmosphere.

“I don't want to run a corporation; I want a family,” she said. “Families are run with love.”

Posted: 9/02/05

Connect with changing society

By Jocelyn Delgado

Communications Intern

DALLAS–The key to effective evangelism is knowing what God is doing so Christians can discern it and become part of it, popular author Leonard Sweet told the Urban Training Institute of the Southwest.

Sweet described emergent cultures, focusing on how Christians can connect with an ever-changing society by opening up to systematic, simultaneous and symbolic ways of thinking.

People are trained to make evaluations based on their parts, but in an urban society, churches need to think systematically and look at the big picture, he said.

“Everything we touch, we basically turn into toasters,” Sweet said, describing the mechanical, industrial approach to understanding reality.

Christians need to recapture the biblical narrative and move beyond an analytical approach that has “toasterized” the Scripture by reducing it to nuts and bolts.

“The Bible wasn't written in verses; it was written in stories,” he said. In the toaster world, simultaneity was a contradiction, Sweet said. “We are living in a world of simultaneity, where opposite things are happening at the same time, and they are not contradictory.”

The more people see pictures of the Grand Canyon online, the more they want to go bungee jump it, Sweet said. This is a culture of extremes.

As technology advances, people are exposed to the world through a computer screen.

The biggest challenges churches face is bringing extremes together without losing their identity, he said.

Sweet suggested participating in programs such as Habitat for Humanity, which connects people who are well-housed with people who are homeless or living in inadequate housing. The poor leave the experience with a new home, and the more affluent gain a better understanding of how other people live.

“In many ways, the Christian spirituality is built for this kind of culture that we're going into,” Sweet said, pointing out the Bible says to love God with all your heart, mind and soul.

Because the church worships the creator, members should be bursting with creativity, but they're not, he asserted. People outside of the church are creating music and films to reach people.

When Bach wrote his sonata, the church called it saloon music, and now the church loves it, Sweet said.

“The time to hear the Spirit speaking through the sonata is not when the culture no longer exists. … It's to hear the sounds speaking when they're going off,” he said.