Posted: 8/31/05

Religious issues will color
vote on Iraqi constitution

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—Iraqis will vote Oct. 15 on a proposal for a permanent constitution that many Sunni Muslim leaders, other religious minorities and secularists find deeply troubling.

The drafting committee, made up mainly of Sunni and Shiite Muslim Arabs and Kurdish representatives, presented the document to the interim Iraqi National Assembly Aug. 28. The move came just a day after negotiations between Shiites and the Kurds and Sunnis who objected to certain parts of the document broke off.

By Aug. 29, news reports said, Sunni leaders in many parts of the nation were vowing to defeat the proposed charter at the polls. If two-thirds majorities in three of the nation’s 18 provinces vote to reject the proposal, then it will fail.

The presentation of the draft marks the end of months of contentious debates between members of the drafting committee over the roles of Islam and federalism in the nation’s governing document. Many Arab Shia and Kurds want strong guarantees of autonomy for the regions in which they are majorities. Many Sunnis—who are a minority but enjoyed much of the nation’s power under deposed dictator Saddam Hussein—fear that those guarantees will further marginalize them.

“We have reached a point where this constitution contains the seeds of the division of Iraq,” said Mahmoud al-Mashadani, a Sunni member of the drafting committee, according to the New York Times.

While human-rights violations were common in many areas under Saddam’s regime, Iraq also was essentially a secular government. Among the dictator’s inner circle were Christian Iraqis.

That could change. According to an English translation of the proposal, it cites Islam as a “basic source of legislation.” It also decrees that “no law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam.”

It also has earned the ire of human-rights groups for endangering women’s civil liberties. The document has provisions that would allow family-law cases to be settled in Islamic religious courts instead of civil courts. Women have fewer rights than men in traditional Islamic jurisprudence.

In July, members of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom objected to similar provisions in earlier drafts of the document. At the time, the bipartisan panel’s chairman, Michael Cromartie, said, “If these drafts become law, Iraq’s new democracy risks being crippled from the outset.”

But, speaking on several Sunday morning political talk shows Aug. 28, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said the final draft document will protect individual rights.

“Not everyone loves every article of this document. Not everyone is totally satisfied,” he said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “But there is enough in this constitution that meets the basic needs of all communities and for Iraq to move forward.”

He also said the document reflects “a new consensus between the universal principles of democracy and human rights, and Iraqi traditions in Islam.”

If the document does not pass on Oct. 15, then the task of drafting a permanent governing document falls to a new Iraqi National Assembly to be elected in December.

Posted: 8/31/05

Guidestone prescription drug benefits
will exceed Medicare minimums

By Curtis Sharp

GuideStone Financial Resources

DALLAS (BP)—The Medicare supplement plans available through GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention will provide prescription drug benefits that exceed the minimum standard set by Medicare.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2006, all individuals with Medicare will be eligible for a new Medicare-approved prescription drug benefit also known as Medicare Part D. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) created the voluntary program for seniors and disabled persons with Medicare.

A provision of the MMA permits Medicare recipients who currently receive healthcare and drug coverage through entities such as GuideStone Financial Resources to keep that coverage instead of enrolling in a separate Part D Plan. By continuing prescription drug coverage for individuals with Medicare, GuideStone qualifies to receive a subsidy that ultimately will be passed on to participants in the form of reduced monthly costs for the GuideStone senior plans.

“This is really a win-win situation for everyone involved,” said Doug Day, GuideStone’s executive officer of benefit services. “With the subsidy provided by Medicare and the cost savings GuideStone has realized as a result of our negotiated drug discounts with our pharmacy benefits manager, we are able to make our health plans much more affordable for our seniors. The rates for both the GuideStone Senior Plan and GuideStone Senior Plus Plan will be reduced for 2006.”

In addition to reducing rates, benefits will improve for both of GuideStone’s Medicare supplement plans. For the Senior Plan, the $5,000 cap for brand name drugs will be removed for 2006. There will be no limit on generic or brand name drug benefits.

For the Senior Plus Plan, Part B benefits will increase from $2,500 to $5,000. “Our Senior Plus Plan offers a great benefit for the price,” Day said. “With the increase in our Part B benefit, participants can now receive $25,000 in healthcare services and pay only the Medicare Part B deductible, $110 for 2005.”

Participants enrolled in one of GuideStone’s Medicare supplement plans don’t need to do anything to continue their healthcare and prescription drug coverage with GuideStone. As long as they do not enroll in a Medicare Part D plan, their current medical coverage at GuideStone can continue. However, it is important to understand that because GuideStone receives the subsidy for retirees enrolled in its Medicare supplement plans, GuideStone is unable to offer the plans to individuals enrolled in a Medicare Part D plan. Members who enroll in a Medicare Part D plan will lose GuideStone’s medical coverage and may not be able to return to the plan at a later date.

Insurance companies and other private companies will work with Medicare to offer the new Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. While all of the plans must provide at least a standard level of coverage set by Medicare, some will offer more coverage and additional drugs for a higher monthly premium. The plans may vary in what prescription drugs are covered, the cost and which pharmacies can be used.

“When companies are allowed to begin advertising their Part D plans on Oct. 1, seniors are going to be bombarded with messages,” Day said. “We want our participants to understand what they’re really comparing when they weigh our plans against the new Part D plans. While there will absolutely be plans out in the marketplace that are cheaper, you have to be sure you’re comparing apples to apples.”

“GuideStone’s plans offer benefits for a wide range of healthcare services in addition to a comprehensive prescription drug benefit,” Day explained. “Companies advertising $35 or $40 plans certainly won’t be offering the same level of coverage that GuideStone offers and likely won’t include coverage for physician or hospital expenses at all.”

More information about the new Medicare prescription drug plans is available online at www.medicare.gov or by phone at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). TTY users should call 1-877-486-2048.

GuideStone participants who have questions about their Medicare supplement plan coverage can call GuideStone toll-free at 1-800-262-0511 between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Central Time. Specific rate and benefit information will be mailed to participants early in the fall.

COMPARISON OF MEDICARE PART D WITH
GUIDESTONE MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT PLANS

Medicare Part D Standard Prescription Drug Benefit participants, for 2006, will pay:

— The first $250 in out-of-pocket drug costs (deductible).

— 25% of the total drug costs between $250 and $2,250.

— 100% of the total drug costs between $2,251 and $5,100.

— The greater of either: $2 for generics and $5 for brand name drugs or 5 percent of the total cost of drugs $5,101 and up.

Participants must pay $3,600 out of pocket before the Part D Plan pays 95%.

GuideStone Senior Plus Plan participants, for 2006, will pay the lesser of the drug cost or:

— $10 for generic drugs

— $25 for name brand preferred drugs

— $40 for name brand non-preferred drugs

GuideStone Senior Plan participants will pay:

— The lesser of the drug cost or $15 for generic drugs

— 40% of total drug cost for all brand name drugs

GuideStone’s plans pay first dollar benefits on prescription drugs with no deductible. In addition to prescription drug coverage, both plans provide benefits for Medicare Part A hospitalization services. The Senior Plus Plan also provides benefits for Part B services such as doctor’s visits, medical services and supplies.

Posted: 8/31/05

Abstinence program loses federal funding

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—A federal agency has withdrawn funding from an abstinence program that is part of President Bush’s “faith-based initiative,” saying it does not have proper safeguards in place to avoid direct government support of religion.

In a letter received Aug. 22, officials from the Department of Health and Human Services informed leaders of the Silver Ring Thing program that it was stopping payment on a $75,000 grant.

The abstinence-only sex-ed program bills itself as an evangelistic ministry and gives teenagers silver rings inscribed with a Bible passage.

Harry Wilson, an official in the department’s family and youth services bureau, told the program’s leader that it appears the program funded with the HHS grant “includes both secular and religious components that are not adequately separated.”

In the letter, Wilson also asked Silver Ring Thing officials to submit a plan for remedying the problem to the bureau by Sept. 6.

The Massachusetts branch of the American Civil Liberties Union sued the federal Department of Health and Human Services May 16 to stop funding of the Silver Ring Thing.

ACLU lawyers said the program violates the Constitution’s ban on government establishment of religion.

According to court papers, the program has received more than $1 million in federal funding the past three years. Also known as the John Guest Evangelistic Team, the group’s newsletter said the program’s mission is to “call our world to Christ,” and one way to do that is “to saturate the United States with a generation of young people who have taken a vow of sexual abstinence until marriage and put on the silver ring. This mission can only be achieved by offering a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. …”

At the end of the group’s presentations, students are encouraged to wear a silver ring inscribed with “1 Thess. 4:3-4.” The passage, from the apostle Paul’s first letter to the ancient church at Thessalonica, encourages Christians to avoid sexual sin.

The suit also says participants in the ring programs are encouraged to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.

“Both because the federal funding of the Silver Ring Thing constitutes a direct government grant to a pervasively sectarian institution and because the federal dollars are demonstrably underwriting religious activities and religious content, the funding violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the lawsuit says.

Denny Pattyn, Silver Ring Thing’s founder and president, noted the letter said the suspension of funds was due to a lack of evidence of safeguards, rather than a clear violation of the First Amendment.

“We have separated the (program’s religious and secular) activities, and we have not misspent federal dollars,” Pattyn said, in a telephone interview from the group’s Moon Township, Pa., offices. “In the meantime, they’ve suspended the funding until we look at these points and clear up—and make it clearer that we do, in fact, separate.”

Posted: 8/31/05

Stem cell discovery could
make moral debate moot

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—A new discovery in embryonic stem-cell research may end up leap-frogging the political and moral debates over the procedure.

A team of researchers from Harvard University announced Aug. 21 they had converted adult human skin cells into what appear to be the kind of stem cells found in embryos. More detailed results of their research were published in the online version of the journal Science.

The discovery has the potential to defuse two significant debates over the research, which many biologists believe holds significant promise for treating several types of terminal diseases. If proved applicable to humans, the new process may avoid controversies over whether human embryos should be destroyed in the process of extracting their stem cells.

The new procedure also would negate questions over whether such embryos should be cloned using genetic material from the patient to be treated. Such “therapeutic cloning” to produce stem cells would reduce the risk of the patient's body rejecting the cells used for treatment.

Many religious conservatives and others have opposed government funding for embryonic stem-cell research because, until now, it has necessitated the destruction of the embryos used. They also have opposed therapeutic cloning because of the ethical risks posed by cloning embryos that, theoretically, have the potential to grow into cloned humans.

In 2001, President Bush limited federal funding for the research to several lines of stem cells already in existence. Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed a measure that would expand funding for research beyond that group of cells. The Senate is poised to take up that legislation after Congress returns from its summer recess in September. In July, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) angered many conservatives by announcing his support for the bill.

But in the latest research, scientists were able to reprogram skin cells from humans by using chemicals from already-existing embryonic stem cells from the lines Bush has approved. When treated with the chemicals, the skin cells adopted the characteristics of embryonic stem cells.

Stem cells are valued for research into treating diseases that destroy organs because of their ability to develop into almost any kind of tissue.

Several difficulties remain in applying the process to human patients, the researchers cautioned, because scientists still must devise a way to extract the extra genetic material from the cells created by the process.

However, other teams of scientists around the world have reported recent progress in ongoing studies on the subject.

Posted: 8/31/05

Pat Robertson retracts assassination remark

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—Televangelist Pat Robertson initially defended, then apologized, Aug. 24 for remarks he made on national television two days before, calling for the murder of Venezuela’s president.

The conservative Christian broadcaster and Christian Coalition founder’s retraction came after a day of withering criticism from political and religious leaders across the ideological spectrum.

Representatives of groups as diverse as the State Department, the Department of Defense, the National Council of Churches, the Venezuelan government and the president of the Southern Baptist Convention all condemned the comments Aug. 23.

During the Aug. 22 broadcast of his Christian Broadcast Network show “The 700 Club,” Robertson said the time had come for United States officials to consider murdering Hugo Chavez. The president—who has been twice elected by Venezuelans and is up for election again—has emerged as one of the Western Hemisphere’s most outspoken critics of President Bush’s foreign policy.

“You know, I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he (Chavez) thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it,” Robertson said. “It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability.”

He added: “I don’t think any oil shipments will stop.”

The South American nation is the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter, and provides a significant portion of U.S. oil imports. Chavez, a close ally of communist Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, has repeatedly accused Bush officials of plotting to overthrow him, and has implied that he is the target of assassination plots backed by U.S. operatives.

Surrogates for Chavez, who reportedly was traveling in Cuba Aug. 23, lambasted Robertson.

According to the New York Times, Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel called the comments “terrorist statements” and said the U.S. response to them would test American resolve to prosecute terrorism worldwide.

‘‘The ball is in the U.S. court, after this criminal statement by a citizen of that country,’’ Rangel said. ‘‘It’s huge hypocrisy to maintain this discourse against terrorism and at the same time, in the heart of that country, there are entirely terrorist statements like those.’’

Bernardo Álvarez, the Venezuelan ambassador to the United States, called for Bush to clearly denounce Robertson. In a Washington press conference, he said, “Mr. Robertson has been one of the president’s staunchest allies. His statement demands the strongest condemnation by the White House.”

During a televised Pentagon press conference Aug. 23, a reporter asked Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about Robertson’s recommendation. ‘‘Our department doesn’t do that kind of thing,” he said, adding that Robertson is a private citizen. “Private citizens say all kinds of things all the time.’’

The 75-year-old Robertson, a former Republican presidential candidate, has long been one of the leading figures in the Religious Right. He founded the Christian Coalition, and his television shows are seen on Christian and other national cable networks, such as ABC Family.

He has made headlines with other controversial statements in the past, including praying that seats on the Supreme Court become vacant, saying feminism inspires women to kill their children and become lesbians, and a warning to the city of Orlando, Fla., that God may be angered into sending a hurricane its way if city leaders didn’t rescind a policy of welcoming gay-pride celebrations.

A religious-liberty watchdog group that has been critical of Robertson and his efforts in the past called his latest comments “chilling.”

Barry Lynn, director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said in a statement that it is “deplorable for a Christian preacher to go before his vast audience and urge the American government to murder a foreign leader…. This is just the kind of religious fanaticism that the world does not need more of.”

Americans United also called on Bush to make a clearer denunciation of Robertson’s remarks.

But even some representatives of groups allied with Robertson’s conservative social views distanced themselves from the assassination recommendation. Southern Baptist Convention

President Bobby Welch, in a statement released through the denomination, said the SBC “does not support or endorse public statements concerning assassinations of persons, even if they are despicable despots of foreign countries, and neither do I.”

He added, “The Christian’s responsibility is to pray for our leaders as well as the extremists around the world. Jesus Christ can save these people and change their lives.”

Gary Percesepe, director of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, offered a stronger condemnation.

“Pat Robertson is not only wrong politically, but he has revealed himself to be bankrupt spiritually,” he wrote, in an e-mail message. “His hateful words should be condemned by every Christian, particularly those who take seriously the message of the nonviolent gospel of peace, expressed so beautifully by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.”

Citing a term often used by Bush, he added: “A consistent ethic of life would condemn all forms of killing and embrace without contradiction respect for a ‘culture of life.’“

News agencies reported that Robertson was not doing interviews and his spokespeople were not commenting on the situation.

Posted: 8/30/05

BaptistWay Bible Series for Sept. 11

Perfection isn’t necessary for service

• Joshua 2:1-14; 6:22-25

By Ronnie Prevost

Logsdon Seminary, Abilene

We have all heard it before. And maybe—sometimes—we have even said it or something like it. “Better watch that one. Bad family. Bad seed. You know how it is: The apple never falls far from the tree.”

Rahab probably had heard similar or worse countless times in and around Jericho. She was … well … you know. One of them. A woman of ill repute, a prostitute. The Hebrew word used for her in this text is zanah. That word usually denoted a “common prostitute.”

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But the two Israelite spies sent from Joshua decided to stay at her house. She was not an Israelite. And she was of a questionable profession. Perhaps they (correctly) assumed no one in Jericho would notice anyone frequenting the house of a prostitute.

Rahab almost certainly knew the risk she was taking. In Joshua 2:8-13, we read that somehow Rahab was aware of the mighty things God had done in bringing Israel to the gates of Jericho. Whether from fear, respect or a new-found devotion, she knew this was a God worth serving. However, the reality of Rahab’s situation became stark when messengers from the king of Jericho and “pursuers” came seeking the Israelite spies she had hidden.

After the pursuers had departed, Rahab made a deal with the spies of Israel. She had “shown kindness” to them and, in return, asked for the same for her family. (The Hebrew used here is chesed, which can be translated “mercy,” “grace” or “loving kindness.”) So, after the fall of Jericho, she and her family were preserved.

In faith, Rahab played an important part in serving God by serving God’s people. The connection may not be clear, but she was a part of God’s victory at Jericho. And her faith was honored. It is interesting that Hebrews 11:30-31 refers to the fall of Jericho. And it mentions Rahab—not Joshua—as the great person of faith.

Rahab’s story does not end with Jericho in ruins. Matthew 1:5 lists Rahab as the mother of Boaz. That puts her smack dab in the middle of the ancestry of Jesus! She could not know that among her descendents would be the Son of God.

As he was growing up, Jesus had read and heard the story of Rahab. He probably knew this prostitute was a part of his lineage. That may have been one of the many reasons he had such a heart for prostitutes.

In Matthew 21:23 and the verses following, we read of a discussion Jesus had with the religious leaders of the Jews. Verse 31 records that Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” Jesus’ disciples were once questioned why Jesus associated with sinners. Jesus’ response was, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Matthew 9:12).

Jesus calls us to treat all sinners the same. In Matthew 7:1, Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” The truth is that all sinners are why God came as his Son. According to Luke 19:10, Jesus “came to seek and save what was lost.” Of course, according to Romans 3:23, that includes all of us. But we often forget.

In our (appropriate) desire to live holy, moral lives as followers of Jesus, we easily fall into the sin of consigning people to the trash heap of life. Especially others. The sad truth is that two of the great sins of Christians today are these: We don’t love sinners enough; and we don’t hate sin enough.

Oh, we love our kind of sinners. And we hate the sins of others. We don’t love enough those whose sins are not like ours—those whose sins we would never do. Nor do we hate the “little” sins we commit on such a regular basis that we have become numb to their reality.

Despite our imperfections and those of others, God loves us all. To God, all we sinners are of infinite worth. That is the great truth of John 3:16. Further, God can and still does use imperfect people to do his work. That included Rahab. That includes you and me.

James 2:25 cites Rahab as an example of faith in action. And in verse 26, James reminds us, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” Just as Rahab was used by God to protect his people, God calls us to reach out to and serve other sinners.

According to Jesus’ parable of separating the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31-46), we serve by meeting diverse physical needs. The Great Commission we find in Matthew 28:19-20 calls us to serve by “making disciples.” That means we also are to serve by meeting spiritual needs.

As Rahab was imperfect, so are we. And as Rahab saw the fall of Jericho, we may see some immediate results from what we do. But also as Rahab, we may never know the ultimate results of our service and our influence. That is why our walk with and service for God is not only one of obedience; it is one of faith.

Discussion question

• How do/can our imperfections or those of others prevent us from serving them in God’s name?

• What can we do to break down those barriers to be more obedient servants?

Posted: 8/30/05

Family Bible Series for Sept. 11

Find purpose and perspective in Christ

• Psalm 8; Hebrews 2:8-10, 14-15

By Donald Raney

Westlake Chapel, Graham

We all are on a quest. Each one of us is looking for real purpose in life. We all want to know why we are here and what life truly is all about.

At times, the meaning and purpose of our lives are clear, and we experience true joy as we live out the life God has called us to. At other times, the sense of calling and purpose are elusive despite our best efforts. At still other times, the events in the world can cause us to question the meaning of life itself.

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Four years ago, nearly every American found himself or herself asking these questions. As thousands of innocent lives were taken through the violent acts of a few, everything we thought we knew about the world was thrown into confusion. The writers of both the Old and New Testaments knew this feeling of uncertainty. They have much to teach us about finding purpose in life by realigning our perspective and reconnecting with the One who has done everything to reveal the purpose of life to us.

Psalm 8

We first meet the writer of Psalm 8 at the end of a period of soul-searching. Perhaps this time of questioning was sparked by feelings of persecution. Perhaps he was feeling a sense of futility or insignificance in his life. Whatever had led to the writer’s questions, he came to the end of this period with a realization that God has indeed created humans to fulfill a very special purpose within creation. That realization elicited spontaneous shouts of praise over the majesty of God’s name at the beginning and end of this psalm.

The name the psalmist praises is the divine name YHWH, which most often is translated “Lord.” This is the name God revealed to Moses; God’s personal name. This is the name closely connected to the covenant relationship between God and his people throughout the Old Testament. This is the name that speaks of God’s self-revelation and desire for intimate relationships with individual humans.

This God does not remain distant but has demonstrated his majesty in a way that even infants recognize and praise him, and his enemies are unable to stand. Although the psalmist may have specific people in mind, these “enemies” of God may be the attitudes and desires of sinful human nature.

While humanity may think of itself as the master of the cosmos, a simple glance into the night sky often overwhelms us with feelings of insignificance. With our modern scientific advances, we have a clearer picture of the sheer vastness of the universe. Yet for all of its size, all of creation can be manipulated by the fingers of God. With such a thought of the size of God, it is no wonder the author asks, “What is man that you are mindful of him?”

Yet in God’s perspective, humanity is no insignificant part of creation. According to the New International Version of the Bible, God has assigned humanity to a place a little lower than the “heavenly beings” (v. 5). Many other translations translate this as “angels.” Yet the Hebrew term used here is Elohim, one of the words used as a name for God. While this term can be translated as “heavenly beings” or “gods,” the psalmist seems to suggest God made humanity a little lower than God.

Indeed, by creating humanity in the image of God and breathing into humans the divine breath of life, God gave humanity a place a little lower than God. In this position, humanity thus not only possesses a unique ability to relate to God but has the specially assigned divine purpose of reflecting the character of God within creation while acting as the overseers and care-takers of God’s creation (vv. 6-8).

Hebrews 2:8-10, 14-15

Centuries after the psalmist penned Psalm 8, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews reflected on this psalm in light of human history. While the psalm states God had placed all things in subjection to humanity, it was clear to the writer of Hebrews that all things were not subject to humanity. Many events in the world occurred over which humanity had no power or control.

Perhaps the clearest example of this was death, which no human could prevent and from which no one could return. Death became the thing most feared by all humanity. Humanity was thus lost and unable to fulfill the purpose for which God had created them.

To resolve this conflict within the heart of humanity, God sent Jesus to show us how we can live with purpose. Although he was God, he became fully human by taking on our flesh and blood and experiencing all the suffering and pain humans experience. He temporarily took on a position “a little lower than the angels” (v. 9).

According to this passage, Jesus did this specifically so he could experience what frightens humanity the most, death. Yet the death of Jesus was unique. Not only was it the most humiliating and degrading form of death, but he voluntarily experienced this death “for everyone” so that many who followed him might be led into the glory of God’s purpose and plan for humanity (vv.9-10).

Through his life and death, Jesus revealed to humanity what God had intended for them from the beginning. In doing so, he also destroyed the power death held over us and liberated us from our greatest fear (vv. 14-15). Thus regardless of what life sends our way, we can continually live with real purpose simply by accepting God’s gift that was revealed in the life and death of Jesus.

Discussion questions

• Discuss man’s position as “a little lower than God.”

• How was Jesus “made perfect through suffering” (Hebrews 2:10)?

• What other biblical texts can help us deal with events like 9/11?

Posted: 8/30/05

Explore the Bible Series for Sept. 11

Everyone needs to hear the story of God’s love

• Romans 1:18-32

By Trey Turner

Canyon Creek Baptist Church, Temple

Oswald Chambers talks about the mystery of obedience that unlocks spiritual understanding. He more than implies in his devotional lesson “The Way to Know” how a person who obeys Christ’s teachings will begin to see the unfolding of understanding and spiritual wisdom in that area of life.

Without using the word Gentiles, the Apostle Paul clearly shows all people are accountable for their behavior. He notes that behaviors pour from what people believe even while God is revealing his character through universal revelation.

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Author Daniel Pipes probes some of the underlying thoughts of the July 7 London bombings. He notes a particular poll in which 526 Muslim adults in Great Britain were asked about their feelings and beliefs after the event. Pipes concludes “‘16,000 individuals declare themselves willing, possibly even eager, to embrace violence’ in the effort to bring an end to ‘decadent and immoral’ Western society.” The poll results also say:

• 24 percent of Muslims feel sympathetic for the “feelings and motives” of those who carried out the bombings.

• 56 percent understand why people behave that way.

• 26 percent disagree with Tony Blair’s description of the ideology of the London bombers as “perverted and poisonous.”

• Only 73 percent said they would inform the police if they believed they knew about the possible planning of new attacks.

The article demonstrates the relevance of these verses by showing extreme views and behaviors around us.

In every culture, people have what the author understands to be a universal sense of values. People typically are not born with a hostile view of nature, sunsets or a bent toward hatred of others. If such beliefs arise, it is because they are fostered.

Suppressing obvious truth (Romans 1:18-20)

Paul shows three things about God that generally are observed by everyone. God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and his divine nature are seen in what God has made, leaving people to respond with humble, appropriate actions. He then shows what happens when people reject what has long been recognized as general revelation.

Refusing to worship God (Romans 1:21-25)

The phrase “they knew God” indicates they had truth about him, not that they had a relationship with him as we would say that our pianist “knows God.” These people who have discarded knowledge of God, his nature and his qualities have now believed a lie and filled the worship void with infatuation with created things.

When a person applies a sense of goodness to the world, people and truth while denying God and his qualities, something is spiritually skewed—values shifted. It is like having a telescope with a smudge on the lens. Paul writes how their thinking and hearts are negatively affected.

Behaving in ungodly ways (Romans 1:26-31)

Actions out of shifted values are not victimless decisions. This sin affects all of us who live in community together. Since one of God’s divine qualities is love, here we see its perversion. This passage is the clearest condemnation of homosexuality in the Bible. With condemnation of the behavior, God shows the cause of it. People ignored any voice of guidance in understanding the nature and qualities of God so God allowed people the consequences of that behavior—“God gave them over.”

It is not completely accurate to say that God will judge homosexual behavior; it is that he is judging a rejection of his self-revelation. Homosexuality is a sin; it also is a symptom of discarding God and his truth. Note, this is not the only sin which comes as a result of ignoring God’s self-revelation.

Ignoring God’s verdict (Romans 1:32)

These are not behaviors people know are wrong. Paul is describing people who are not sorry, but are promoters of bad behavior operating off of twisted values. Both of which may line up perfectly with one another—the behavior perpetuates the values and the values spawn the behaviors.

Now, behind Paul’s writing is not ultimate condemnation because people cannot ultimately say when God is or is not finished with another human being. So, Paul is talking about people who need more than tolerance. Tolerance labels and keeps others at arms distance. Paul has compassion. These Gentiles are those to whom he was sent to proclaim the gospel of God—a righteousness from God by faith.

We would do well to recognize ungodly behaviors in our lives and then bring our behavior in line with God’s general revelation and special revelation. When we do, we will be challenged to reach toward people who are caught up in blind and troubled behaviors.

Discussion question

• What person or group might be easy to distance from and label?

• If God is love and his children are ambassadors, to whom are we called to build a bridge and bring to Christ?

Posted: 8/05/05

Ministries shining light of Christ into brothels

By Martha Skelton

BWA Communications

BIRMINGHAM, England (ABP)—”Sasha” had two children and an abusive husband in the Czech Republic. After being hospitalized from a spousal beating, she accepted an offer to go work in a restaurant in Germany to gain financial independence.

Instead, her travel papers were stolen and she ended up “working in the windows”—a prostitute—in Amsterdam, Holland.

“Rebecca” grew up in Burma in a poor Christian family. As a teenager, her parents asked her to leave and get a job so they could better care for five younger children. She was kidnapped and sold to a brothel in northern Thailand—alone in a strange country with a language she didn’t know, and with no legal documents or status.

On the wall of the brothel, in large letters she wrote in Burmese words from Psalm 27:1— “The Lord is my light and my salvation.”

The message of God’s love and salvation in Jesus is seldom heard in the alleyways of a “red light district” or inside the guarded walls of a brothel. But Baptists in several areas of the world are working to change that grim reality. Several reported on their work during a focus-group session July 29 at the Baptist World Alliance Centenary Congress in Birmingham, England.

Among those ministries are:

— Rahab Ministry in Budapest, Hungary. In 2003 Kati Szenczy in Budapest, Hungary, knew God wanted her to begin work in a new area, but doing what? Then a government office called Hungarian Baptist Aid to see if they worked with prostitutes. Kati knew this work was God’s “new thing” for her. Now she is director of Rahab Ministries, a part of Hungarian Baptist Aid.

Rahab offers more than 150 women a shelter from their abusers, training for future jobs, help in finding a new place to live, and a daily witness in word and deed to the gospel of Jesus.

— Project Hope in Prague, the Czech Republic. Lauran Bethell is an American Baptist missionary who had directed a ministry in Thailand for women trapped in prostitution—a ministry that earned her the BWA Human Rights Award, presented by former United States President Jimmy Carter during the Baptist World Congress.

In 2001, she relocated to Prague to facilitate such ministries around the world. She began a prayer walk through the streets of Prague, literally looking for a way to connect to others walking the streets for prostitution. She talked with some of the young women on Prague’s streets and found that many of them were from Bulgaria, working to support children or elderly parents back home.

Simon Vlechkov was a Bulgarian student at International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague. Lauran’s interest and expertise, combined with Simon’s ministry skills and Bulgarian language skills, became the outreach now called Project Hope.

They were surprised to find that many of the young women were from charismatic Christian homes. They were toughened on the outside by their circumstances but broken in spirit on the inside.

They make contact with the young women by talking with them and offering to pray with and for them. They offer training in skills that can lead to new work, such as using knitting machines to make scarves and other items for sale. Most importantly, the workers say, the young women see in concrete terms what Jesus can do in their lives, if they accept and follow him.

— Freeset, Calcutta, India. New Zealand Baptist Kerry Hilton moved to Calcutta, India, specifically the infamous Sonagacchi red light district, to help the women trapped in the “human misery trade” of that area. On any given night, 20,000 men cruise the streets to pick out one or more of the approximately 6,000 prostitutes. The women are there because of illiteracy, poverty, betrayal and sale into white slavery by a family member or “friend.”

When someone asked him if Hilton could “feel the sin” when he was out on the streets of Sonagacchi, he replied: “I feel the sin—in here (his heart). When I sin, I choose to sin. These women get to sin every day, but they don’t have a choice.”

Freeset helps the women find work by offering them another business—making straw bags. By the end of 2005, they will have 60 women working with them and plan to have 100 by next year, when their facilities will be enlarged.

Even if Sonagacchi streets are bleak and mean, Jesus would find them right up his alley, Hilton said. “If you were to hang out with Jesus, you would have to spend time with the poor.”

— New Life Center, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Karen Smith of the American Baptist Churches-USA, works in this ministry in northern Thailand specifically geared to help young women of ethnic tribes who are sold into prostitution by their families. When her brothel was raided, “Rebecca” was taken to the New Life Center. Once connected to a Christian group that could help her, the young Burmese woman was able to return home, and is now studying in a Bible college.

Christians, especially Baptists, are just now getting organized and coordinated in trying to minister in the world of human trafficking, according to Bethell. And yet, trafficked men, women and children “are probably the largest unreached people group in the world,” she said.

Some names in this article were changed to protect the subjects’ identity.

Posted: 8/23/05

CYBER COLUMN: Seasons of change

By John Duncan

I’m sitting here under the old oak tree, wondering about the seasons of change. Fall arrives with the splendor of change. In our town, the few trees that dot the landscape will turn from green to yellow, brown and red. Change will color the world afresh.

I’m sitting here pondering the change that surrounds me. Our middle child left for Baylor University. Baylor is a good school. After all, the women’s basketball team won the national championship, and the campus appeals wonderfully to the human eye, and the Baylor tradition lives forever, but for me it represents change. The cell phone generation means I can keep in touch almost daily, but life in our home finds an empty room and a quietness that seems strange.

Change happens in our town, too. Home Depot arrived and Lowe’s followed suit. There is a new El Chico’s on the main drag, and Cotton Patch just opened so that the locals have new options for lunch. Traffic here has picked up so that travel across town and over the bridge where the lake waters glisten on a sunshiny day takes longer. It is not unusual to wait upon the new array of traffic lights and appropriately placed stop signs. Our simple little town finds itself battling an occasional road rager. I guess the stress of change shortens the fuse of some drivers. Change taxes the emotions.

In the wider world, change comes daily. Is the Gaza strip preparing the world for Armageddon? Has London train terror so zapped the psyche of our world that the loudest pop causes heads to turn and faces to wince? Has genetic testing provided scientific breakthroughs or created dilemmas for a society already confused? Change abounds.

The space shuttle lands in California, football season rolls around and scientists research a species of frogs whose tongues if touched will dispense poison. The scientists say the poison is caused by the frog’s diet of ants and termites, which causes alkaloids to build up in the digestive system and can poison you. Scientists say the poison of this species of frog can kill. Has the ecosystem changed so much that weather patterns have changed and frogs can poison people with whom they make contact? Can we really clone sheep? Change swirls.

In the church, things change—the music, meeting times, people and expectations. Can anyone keep up with Joel Osteen? The television generation raises the expectation of church life all the more. In our town, church starts abound, the saints always looking for the latest thing when the latest thing turns out to be the same old thing and people drift back to the church of their first choice. The impartial God loves all people and the church of your choice of any size. Things change but stay the same.

And here in Texas, a hot summer soon ends and the Texas Rangers baseball season will end in disaster and the Dallas Cowboys will wish for a winning season and Christ will still reign on his throne, not as an absent landlord or a landlord collecting the rent once a month, but an ever present God-in-Christ-by-the-Spirit involved in the intricate details of your life. 

I witness change daily. Just the other day I delivered news to 95-year-old Ruth Stewart. The once upon a time church organist who played for our church for 10 years, including the Sunday night we sang “Set My Soul Afire, Lord” and the church organ caught on fire, received news from me that her daughter is dying of cancer. Is this kind of change supposed to take place, a daughter entering glory before her mother? And then I had to give the news to Riley Robeson while family members listened in the wings that his fortysomething daughter had died from an infection, suddenly, unexpectedly, sadly, leaving two children without a mother. Change came swiftly. Was anyone ready for it?

When I shared the terrible news with Riley, a charter member of our church now residing in a nursing home, he cried out, shed tears and wept saying, “Has God put too much on us to handle?”

I did not know what to say, except after a long silence, “Sometimes, Riley we cannot explain life, and that’s why we need abundant life.” He stared at me and cried, tears like raindrops falling from his face.

All in all, I can only view this change by looking up to the face of God. Three things, I guess, are certain in life—death, taxes and change. Still, in world of Crawford, Texas, prayer vigils where a mother carries a cross and waits to see the president, a world where astronauts joyously return to mother earth in high tension and drama, a world where boys and girls enter school with backpacks and lunch boxes, a world where the fall arrives in an array of color, and a world where change is as constant as a faucet dripping water, in this kind of world, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

I guess Oxford scholar C. S. Lewis was right when he said: “Send a saint up in a spaceship, and he’ll find God in space as he found God on earth. Much depends on the seeing eye.”

Things change, but all I can think of is open your eyes in a changing world and look to the one constant that anchors the soul in the winds of change. Look closely, and you’ll find strength, grace, hope and abundant life, because change is life and life is change and it’s why we need abundant life in Christ. Yes, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

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: 8/05/05

A World of Baptists

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

BIRMINGHAM, England (ABP)–In what some participants characterized as “a foretaste of heaven,” about 13,000 Baptists from around the world celebrated a century of togetherness in Birmingham, England.

From an opening processional of children bearing banners with the names of countries represented at the congress to the closing session when a multinational choir sang the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel's “Messiah,” Baptists demonstrated the unity they find in a shared commitment to Jesus Christ.

With vibrant music, vivid pageantry and stirring stories of faith, the Baptist World Centenary Congress gathered believers from around the globe, posing a stark contrast to the terror alerts that rattled the host country.

Returning to the land where it was formed in 1905, the Baptist World Alliance–now an international fellowship of 32 million believers from 200-plus unions–set about the hard work of building unity in a world where, leaders admitted, religion often divides.

The BWA also clarified its theological identity, discussed ways to combat global ills, and recognized a shift of Christianity's center of gravity to Africa, Asia and South America.

A century ago when the BWA first met in London, 85 percent of the world's Baptists were in Europe and North America, said BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz. Now 65 percent of Baptists are in the Third World, Lotz told the delegates.

“This is the new paradigm shift,” Lotz said as he asked delegates from Africa, Asia and South America to stand. The Southern Hemisphere may lack money, political freedom or clout, he said, but “they are going to re-evangelize the world.”

The church in the Southern Hemisphere is “exploding with growth,” said California pastor Rick Warren, author of the international best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Life.

“Africa, Asia and Latin America will lead us in the 21st century,” he said. “That's what God is doing.”

Warren called for “a new reformation” to adapt to the 21st-century world. “The first Reformation was about belief; this one needs to be about behavior,” he said. “Most of the time, we're just talk,” he lamented. Warren said the deeds of a new reformation will require mobilizing Christians, multiplying churches, evangelizing the world and eradicating global problems.

The Baptist World Centenary Congress, one of the largest Baptist meetings ever, was played out against the backdrop of terrorism and increased security in England. In the days leading up to the congress, London was struck by four suicide bombers and four attempted bombings in its transit system. Headlines about England's manhunt for the bombers screamed across the region's daily newspapers during the meeting, and law officers made arrests in Birmingham itself.

But delegates apparently swept aside any concern about terrorism. They endured heightened security measures and several days of England's famous rains to rejoice in their common bond in Jesus Christ.

“We prayed that you would come, despite the bombings and the terror alerts,” said David Coffey, general secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the hosts for the meeting. The high attendance despite the terror alerts was a sign of “visible solidarity” among Baptists, said Coffey, who was elected BWA president during the congress.

The 13,000-plus delegates were aided by almost 1,000 volunteers from the United Kingdom, making for the second- largest BWA gathering ever. An earlier congress in Toronto drew 15,000.

Robert Green, a Baptist deacon from Wales, said the high attendance also sent a message to nonbelievers–Christians do not waver when evil events occur; they continue trying to follow God's calling in their lives. “I think it shows the non-Christian world that we are willing to stand up for Jesus Christ in the world,” he said.

During the opening celebration July 27, a procession of banners from BWA member nations, interspersed with colorful 20-foot streamers and delegates in native dress, wove their way around the National Indoor Arena as delegates sang. Participants experienced the traditional music and dance from various countries. And they sang hymns, praise choruses, and other musical styles representative of their diversity.

As a demonstration of their theological unity, the delegates were invited to recite together the Apostle's Creed, an ancient declaration of orthodox faith used in many historic Christian traditions.

“Unity, unity, unity” was the recurrent theme of the five-day meeting, said BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz.

Ben Chen, a native of Hong Kong now living in the United States, said Baptist togetherness accepts differences. “I … was impressed with the way the Baptist World Alliance brings nations of the world together, to listen to each other. We may not always understand how people arrive at their positions, but we can share with each other and gain an understanding of what God has for us as a family.”

“Unity is a gospel imperative, and disunity is always a major hindrance to evangelism,” said Coffey after his election as president, succeeding retired South Korean pastor Billy Kim.

“Too often, the world is more aware of what the church is against than what it is for, and this is no strategy for winning lost people to Jesus Christ,” Coffey said. “We need to be more like Jesus, to earn the reputation of being friends to sinners and to give ourselves in sacrificial service for a broken world.”

One of the world's most prominent Baptists, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, said the desire for oneness is a powerful force for global good. Differences of belief–even among Muslims, Jews and Christians–are outweighed by a common commitment “to truth, to justice, to benevolence, to compassion, to generosity and to love,” Carter said.

The 13,000 delegates did more than celebrate their togetherness. They met daily for Bible study and attended daily workshops, which focused on church-based needs like evangelism and church growth, as well as some of the most pressing global problems–health care, poverty, AIDS, human trafficking and religious persecution. Baptists seeking solutions to those problems offered advice and instruction.

For example, in a city in South Asia, approximately 6,000 women work in prostitution, often sold into slavery by a family member, one workshop leader explained. A Baptist ministry called Freeset helps prostitutes find work by offering them another business–making straw bags.

“If you were to hang out with Jesus, you would have to spend time with the poor,” said New Zealand Baptist Kerry Hilton, who moved to South Asia to help the women trapped in the “human misery trade.”

Marv Knox, John Hall, Tony Cartledge, Trennis Henderson, Ken Camp and Robert Dilday contributed to this article.

Posted: 8/25/05

Families minister together during Ecuador trip

By Jesse Lyautey

International Mission Board

AMBATO, Ecuador (BP)—Tommy Hutchison tells people he normally goes on mission trips to get away from his family.

The 17-year-old admits he didn’t think he would ever go on an international mission trip with his family. But that’s exactly what happened recently, thanks to the International World Changers program.

Hutchison and his family—mom, Amy; dad, Thomas; and two younger siblings, Joel and Danielle—participated in the first International World Changers family project this summer.

The Hutchisons, who attend Far Hills Community Church in Dayton, Ohio, were one of 12 families from five states who took part in the project.  

During the trip, the families shared the gospel 8,280 times, and 284 people prayed to accept Christ as their Savior.

Seminary students served as crew leaders for the groups. This allowed parents to have more time to spend with their teenagers, ministering with them on the trip.

After presenting a drama to the Quichua locals, Hutchison led someone to faith in Christ—his first time to do so.

Hutchison’s father watched as the teenager shared his faith with several Quichua locals after they surrounded him to learn more about the drama and tracts they were handed.

“Tommy got to be with people who accepted Christ,” his father said. “It is a great feeling knowing God is using your family to grow his kingdom.”

Talking with his family later in the week, Hutchison said he was humbled by the experience and realized the value of working together as a family.

“We had fun ministering as a family,” Hutchison said. “I learned ministry can be more than fun. It can be incredible.”

For the past 10 years, International World Changers has offered student mission trips for youth and youth groups around the globe. After years of requests for family-oriented mission trips, the group worked with Southern Baptist missionaries to develop a trip especially for families.

International World Changers Director Kelly Davis said Ecuador is a good place for families to minister to other families by showing an example of how evangelical Christians should treat each other. Ecuador is a safe and inexpensive environment for families to minister together, he added.

Amy Hutchison watched her family grow throughout the week, finding new strengths in themselves and each other.

 “I am so proud of these guys this week,” she said. “Tommy has been a leader. Joel is walking up to strangers to talk about God. Danielle has been flexible. They have all walked into a totally new environment and are enjoying doing things together.”

Families spent their days visiting schools, food markets, community centers and city plazas. They taught English, distributed tracts, made bracelets they used to share the Christian plan of salvation and prayed with the indigenous Quichua people.

Thomas Hutchison encourages families to replace their typical vacation with a mission trip.

“Make it a priority,” he said. “Trips like this help you focus on what is important in life.”