Posted: 8/25/05

Texas Baptist universities
preparing 3,000 students for ministry

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

More than 3,000 undergraduate students are preparing for ministry on Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated universities.

That includes more than 1,500 Baptist students who receive scholarships from the convention. Another 1,700 students have indicated they are preparing for vocational ministry but for a variety of reasons are ineligible for or do not apply for the BGCT scholarship.

The number of BGCT-supported undergraduate ministry students on Texas Baptist campuses has increased 4.5 percent this year from last year, helped by the accreditation of Baptist University of the Americas, which serves 157 BGCT-scholarship students.

BGCT-affiliated universities are Dallas Baptist University, Baylor University, Wayland Baptist University, Hardin-Simmons University, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Houston Baptist University, Baptist University of the Americas, Howard Payne University and East Texas Baptist University.

An additional 426 convention-supported students were enrolled in ministry-focused master’s-degree programs on Texas Baptist campuses during the fall of 2004. Enrollment in these programs has increased from 181 in 1996.

Women make up more than 43 percent of undergraduate ministry students on Texas Baptist campuses. Nearly 25 percent of BGCT-supported students at Hardin-Simmons’ Logsdon Seminary are female, and 16 percent of BGCT ministry students at Baylor’s Truett Theological Seminary are women.

Looking at the overall student population, Texas Baptist schools are gaining ground in reflecting their respective communities ethnically. In the past five years, the number of ethnic minority students in BGCT-affiliated schools and universities has risen from 26 percent to 35 percent.

Baptist University of the Americas has a student body comprised of more than 86 percent ethnic minorities. Dallas Baptist University, Houston Baptist University, Wayland Baptist University and San Marcos Academy all have minority ethnic enrollments that account for more than 30 percent of their total headcount.

Posted: 8/25/05

North Carolina convention,
retirement home 'adjusting' relationship

By Tony Cartledge

North Carolina Biblical Recorder

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (ABP)—Directors of the North Carolina Baptist Retirement Home are seeking to “adjust certain aspects of their relationship” with the North Carolina Baptist State Convention “while reaffirming other traditional ties.”

The move comes after a convention nominating committee chose not to approve several nominees requested by a number of the agencies the convention supports for slots on their boards of directors.

Retirement home President Bill Stillerman met with the convention’s executive committee and asked approval of a proposal by which convention funding to the home would be phased out over four years. Under the agreement, the organization would begin appointing its own board members during the same period.

Although direct, budgeted funding from the convention would cease after four years, the home would continue to relate voluntarily, make annual reports to convention messengers, and promote the annual North Carolina Offering for Older Adults.

The current North Carolina state convention budget calls for the home to receive $938,500 per year. The proposal calls for it to receive $703,875 in 2006, $469,250 in 2007 and $234,625 in 2008, then no budget funds in 2009 and afterward.

Both budgeted state convention funds and the annual offering funds sent to the agency are used exclusively to provide benevolent care, Stillerman said.

The executive committee approved the proposal with a strongly affirmative voice vote, with a few of the 21 members present voting against it.

Stillerman said the proposal “does not in any way terminate our relationship with the convention, but is “an attempt to adjust our relationship to move forward with confidence into the future together.”

The proposal grew from a desire for greater financial stability, Stillerman said, and “should in no way be interpreted as a challenge to any action taken by the convention or any of its committees.”

Stillerman said banks and financial institutions increasingly are unwilling to invest in organizations that do not have independent boards that ensure future stability.

Conflict within some Baptist conventions has spilled over and resulted in severe financial problems in other states, Stillerman said, citing South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Missouri.

Stillerman pointed to an example from South Carolina. In the wake of controversy over control of state convention agencies, the primary debt-holder for the South Carolina Baptist Ministries for the Aging withdrew. That forced the institution to seek other funding at significantly higher interest.

Following an urgent appeal, South Carolina Baptist churches raised $1 million in emergency funding to pay additional interest and keep the agency afloat for another year.

Stillerman said he and the Baptist Retirement Home’s directors are committed to offering quality care for seniors and to designating a significant amount of resources to care for poor and elderly members of the convention. About 40 percent of the home’s 700 residents receive free care, he said.

The institution currently has $50 million in tax-exempt bond debt, and a $35 million per-year liability for promised benevolent care. The elderly don’t want to commit their lives—and investors don’t want to commit their resources—to an institution if they can’t be confident about who’s in charge, Stillerman said.

The home does not want to be caught up in denominational politics, he said, but wants to serve all North Carolina Baptists, and does not pick clients or seek support from churches based on their theological perspectives. The directors’ main concern is that convention conflict could boil over and prove disastrous, as it has done in other states.

“We want to remain very much a Baptist organization,” Stillerman said. But, he said, the directors recognize that if they seek that measure of autonomy, they should willingly give up convention funding. By stepping the money down over four years, he said, the directors believe an equal amount can be raised from private sources, so the total funding for benevolent care will not decrease.

The proposal does not call for a change in the current requirement that members of the 20-member board must be members of a Baptist church.

Stillerman acknowledged future generations might choose a different path, but he emphasized a desire to remain related to the state convention, not breaking ties. “Our whole culture is related to Baptist life,” he said.

The convention’s executive board president, John Butler, said if future directors of the home should seek to move away from its Baptist identity, they would need convention approval—and the convention would no longer be obliged to continue the special offering.

Butler, a former investment banker, said he understood the position of the Baptist Retirement Home directors, and noted that, from the convention’s perspective, nearly $1 million would become available for other ministries. North Carolina President David Horton said he believes Stillerman is seeking the best for his institution.

“I commend him on what he is doing and his foresight, trying his best to maintain a relationship with Baptists,” he said.

After discussion, the proposal was approved for recommendation to the state convention’s board of directors. The proposal also must be approved by the convention in order to become effective.

Posted: 8/24/05

Children want justice for
mother's 1964 murder by racists

By Analiz Gonzalez

Associated Baptist Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP)—Many Southerners remember 1964 as a year of havoc—the year racial tension escalated to a peak. Protests for equality were met with vandalism and even murder.

Shelton and Alonzo Chappell remember 1964 as the year their mother was killed.

Johnnie Mae Chappell, 35, was walking down New King’s Road in Jacksonville in search of a wallet that fell out of her purse. She had just finished cleaning a house on the white side of town and had gone to buy ice cream so her 10 children could celebrate Shelton Chappell’s four months of life.

Meanwhile, four white men drove around the city listening to the news of a racial riot downtown. They talked about what they might do about it. One of them decided to kill the first black person he saw.

Chappell, a Baptist, had not been involved in the civil-rights demonstrations on March 23, 1964. Instead, she was scouring the sidewalk for her wallet. Suddenly, she was shot through the side with a 22-caliber pistol. She bled to death in a “colored” ambulance as it made its way to the blacks-only hospital.

The only news coverage Chappell’s death got at that time was a brief mention buried in a Florida Times-Union article under the headline “Large area is terrorized by Negroes.”

J.W. Rich, who fired the pistol, got three years in prison for manslaughter. Although two of the three other men admitted under oath to participating in the murder, all three—Elmer Kato, Wayne Chessman and James Davis—went free without trial. The State Attorney’s office dropped charges against them.

“People say this is a story about civil rights, but it’s only about civil rights because of the time it happened,” Alonzo Chappell said. “This is about human rights. Every person has a right to live until they expire, not until they’re shot by somebody.”

Alonzo Chappell, who was 6 years old when his mother was killed, remembers the night his father gathered the children and told them Mama wasn’t coming home.

It was the night his childhood ended.

Not long after, the five Chappell brothers and a sister were shipped off to separate foster homes across the United States because their father’s pay as a gas-station attendant wasn’t enough to feed 11 mouths. The four older girls stayed at home with him.

“You would think they would give my dad some kind of assistance to keep us together,” said Alonzo Chappell. “We used to run away to go with Dad, and they would put us back in foster homes.”

Alonzo said he loves his siblings, but he doesn’t spend much time with them because their separate upbringings made them independent. Today, Johnnie Mae Chappell’s children live in three states and seldom get together. Despite their disrupted childhood, her Chappell’s children have found a measure of success. Most of the men work in construction, and the women have jobs including secretarial positions.

As a child, Shelton Chappell bargained with God. “I (told) God if he would allow me … to know what happened to my mother … I would promise to serve him the rest of my life,” he said.

It wasn’t until 1980 that his prayer was answered. That was the year Shelton Chappell met Lee Cody, a white former detective who told him the whole story of his mother’s death.

Cody and his partner, Donald Coleman—both white—lost their jobs after trying to expose Chief Detective J.C. Patrick’s involvement in covering up the crime of Chappell’s death. After that, they got jobs driving garbage trucks. They also were accused of insubordination but found not guilty.

Coleman and Cody, now retired, uncovered the story of Chappell’s murder thanks to Cody’s habit of looking through their lieutenant’s in-box before cases were assigned.

Cody realized no detective had been assigned to investigate the murder. Not only that, but all the information concerning Chappell’s death disappeared the morning after the crime. They knew something was wrong.

“It was as though it never happened,” said Cody, now 75.

The two detectives sneaked into Patrick’s office to look for the records of Chappell’s murder. Coleman found papers with information about the homicide scene stashed under the chief detective’s chair pad.

They notified Sheriff Chief Dale Carson but were ignored, Cody said.

Later, on the day J.W. Rich went on trial, the .22 caliber pistol, which had been placed in the property room by Coleman and Cody, mysteriously disappeared. They were left with no evidence.

Cody called the Chappell case “one of the most compelling stories of political corruption anybody could ever dream up.”

Chappell’s husband, Willie, died before learning the entire story. The sheriff and chief of detectives also have since died of natural causes.

Cody started his search for Shelton Chappell in 1980 after spotting a front-page newspaper picture of him kneeling before his mother’s tombstone.

Cody described their first encounter: “I started telling him what had happened, and he said, ‘Would you help us tell the story?’ I wanted to say ‘no,’ because I’ve spent 20 or 25 hard years trying to do what he was asking and I paid severely for it. But tears came down his cheeks. I said, ‘OK, son.’”

He’s kept his promise. Every day, Cody works to find justice for Johnnie Mae Chappell—to make Rich’s accomplices and the police accountable for the crime and cover-up. He faxes papers. He writes to politicians. He meets with reporters.

Cody’s life has been shaped by his quest, which some people consider an obsession. He jokes that “all this anger” will drive him to the grave. He makes sarcastic remarks about this “wonderful nation.”

But unlike other civil-rights-era crimes that have been prosecuted years later, the Chappell case has become a dead end.

In Mississippi, a case similar to Chappell’s finally was prosecuted this year. Former Ku Klux Klan member Edgar Ray Killen, now 80, was sentenced to 60 years in prison in June for his connection with the slayings of three college-age civil-rights workers.

Cody and the Chappells still hope for a similar result. But because Rich already served a sentence for manslaughter, there is no chance he can be tried again. But what about the other three men in the car who aided and encouraged the shooter?

In July 2004, Florida State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit Harry Shorstein refused to reopen the Chappell case. He said prosecution would be too difficult after 40 years.

Because Rich was only convicted of manslaughter, Shorstein said, it would be difficult for the men who didn’t shoot the weapon to be found guilty of murder. The statute of limitations for a 1964 manslaughter has long since expired. So in his opinion, a successful prosecution almost is impossible, Shorstein said.

State Sen. Tony Hill (D-Jacksonville) sent Florida Gov. Jeb Bush a letter asking for the prosecution of the three men who had charges dropped in 1964.

Now, the case is being reviewed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at the governor’s request. But before Bush’s request in July 2003, the FDLE wrote the following in a letter to Cody:

“We are aware of no evidence supporting a conclusion that the responsible party was not tried and convicted by a jury of his peers. As you are well aware, the statute of limitations has expired on many of the allegations outlined in your letter. Based on the totality of the circumstances surrounding this incident and the fact that, after almost forty years, few witnesses and little physical evidence is available to dispute the findings of the court, we do not feel that further investigation or a grand jury probe is warranted.”

Despite Shorstein’s conclusion, Cody argues it is legally possible to prosecute “three untried criminals” apart from the verdict of manslaughter received by J.W. Rich, because the three were indicted for murder in 1964. He said there is no need for physical evidence because two of the men confessed under oath in 1964 and implicated the third.

The Chappells filed a lawsuit against the Jacksonville sheriff’s office alleging a cover-up conspiracy, but the U.S. Supreme Court blocked it.

Although justice in a courtroom eludes her family, Johnnie Mae Chappell has received recognition in other places. The Southern Poverty Law Center honored her by placing her name on a memorial wall with Martin Luther King. And the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Ala., has been rededicated in her honor.

Still, more than 40 years after the crime, Cody and the Chappells say they will not rest until Wayne Chessman, Elmer Kato and James Davis are prosecuted.

“The only thing the Chappell family asks of State Attorney Harry L. Shorstein and Gov. Bush is for them to impose the will of a grand jury and prosecute three men who were indicted in 1964,” Cody said.

Shelton Chappell said despite all the suffering these men caused his family, he has managed to forgive and asks God to have mercy on them. Willie and Johnnie Mae Chappell first met in Jacksonville’s Mount Ararat Baptist Church, the same church the family attended after they were married.

“If I’m a Christian, I have to act like a Christian,” he said. “God forgives and God used those who were murderers, robbers and killers. But that doesn’t mean I have to forget what they’ve done.”

According to a Florida Times-Union article, Florida Sen. Tony Hill is trying to determine if the surviving children of Johnnie Mae Chappell are entitled to reparations.

Alonzo Chappell recognizes the court system’s failure but still hopes.

“It’s sad that a case like this would have to be (tried) in the press instead of giving her a chance in the courtroom. You all (the media) are our ears and eyes. If it wasn’t for that, it wouldn’t get any attention.”

He paused.

“I think if the FDLE does a thorough search about all this, they’ll see what we see and do the right thing.”

Posted: 8/24/05

Survey finds teens' pro-marriage
attitudes paired with tolerance

By David Winfrey

Kentucky Western Recorder

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (ABP)—High-school seniors might be developing more pro-marriage attitudes for themselves, but they increasingly are more accepting of non-marriage arrangements for others, a recent report revealed.

The State of Our Unions 2005 is the seventh in a series of annual reports from the Marriage Project at Rutgers University.

The report cites a variety of other surveys and studies to describe American attitudes and trends concerning marriage, divorce, cohabitation and other family issues.

Citing a survey from Michigan, researchers report an increase in the percentage of high-school seniors who said they expect to stay married to the same person for life. But the poll also found a greater acceptance of people having children out of wedlock.

The “Monitoring the Future” poll found 68 percent of girls and 65 percent of boys expecting to get married said they very likely will stay married to the same person for life. That was up from 63 percent among girls and 54 percent among boys in 1990.

“At the same time, there is widespread acceptance by teenagers of nonmarital lifestyles,” the authors wrote.

The same survey found 56 percent of girls and 55 percent of boys agreed with the statement, “Having a child without being married is experimenting with a worthwhile lifestyle or not affecting anyone else.”

That was up significantly from 1980, when 41 percent of girls and 33 percent of boys agreed with the statement. While in 1980 “girls tended to be more traditional than boys on this issue, now they are slightly less so,” the authors noted.

Other findings of the State of Our Unions report included:

— Americans have become less likely to marry. In 1970, there were 76 marriages per 1,000 unmarried women, according to U.S. Census data. By 2004, that had dropped to 40 marriages per 1,000 unmarried women.

— Cohabitation has increased “dramatically” in the past 40 years. From 1960 to 2004, the number of unmarried couples living together has grown nearly 1,200 percent —from 439,000 couples to slightly more than 5 million, according to the U.S. Census.

— The presence of children in America has declined since 1960, as measured by fertility rates and the percentage of households with children. The number of births per 1,000 women age 15 to 44 has dropped from 118 births in 1960 to 66 in 2003, according to the National Vital Statistics Report. The percentage of households with children has dropped from 49 percent in 1960 to 32 percent in 2000, according to the census.

“Other indicators suggest that this decline has reduced the child-centeredness of our nation and contributed to the weakening of the institution of marriage,” the authors wrote.

Posted: 8/24/05

Slovenian camp leads students
through 'vertical ministry'

By David Coffield

Hardin-Simmons University

When Curt Howell learned a high-adventure youth camp near Bovec, Slovenia, needed climbing facilitators, he immediately mobilized his rock-climbing and backpacking ministry, Crux, and volunteered to help.

The missionary group sponsoring the camp, Josiah Venture, quickly brought Howell and Crux ministries on board for the unusual outreach camp.

Howell, a 2003 Hardin-Simmons University graduate, former classmate Dylan Connell and Justin Crossland have a passion for ministry and rock climbing, and they think the combination can reach people in a distinctive way.

After intensive training through an American Mountain Guides Association accredited school in Colorado, they assembled group equipment, and Crux was born. A “crux” is the most difficult section of a climb, and also the critical point in a spiritual decision. The group adopted the name as a metaphor for success and inspiration.

With only a few expeditions under its belt, the team learned of the need in Slovenia.

The missions coordinating council at First Baptist Church in Abilene helped fund the mission, and the church sent a staff member, Scott Cook, with Howell and Crossland to Slovenia.

When the climbers arrived at adventure camp, they found a region of about 2 million people, but little more than 1,000 Christians. Years of Communism ravaged a population that formerly had been heavily Christian.

“It feels like we’ve been doing CPR for four years, and just recently the body is beginning to breath on its own,” one Josiah Venture crew member said.

The communist era also instilled an innate distrust among the population. High adventure activities have long been known as barrier breakers, and Josiah Venture saw an opportunity to build trust among young people. They hoped to reverse some of the damage caused by the years of living in fear of persecution from government officials and from neighbors suspected of being government informants.

Over six days, Slovenian teenagers participated in a round of rafting, climbing, paintball and overnight hiking. The camp theme was “Beyond,” and each day’s activity was a challenge from the theme.

Trust emerged as participants depended upon strangers to control the safety rope, worked together to overcome obstacles, and relied on each other’s judgment in critical situations.

After the camp, the Texans spent a day with one of the participants, Miha, in his hometown on the island of Bled. His mother expressed gratitude for the camp and for foreigners willing to befriend her son. She is a Christian who shares the gospel on Sunday evenings with children in a backyard Bible club. Her husband is not a believer, and she asked the group to pray for him, their family and someone to come help her share God’s love in the small town.

“For us, taking students climbing with the purpose of stretching and challenging them physically is how God engineered us, so we definitely enjoyed that part of the trip,” Howell said. “But the most amazing thing about what we experienced was the relationships that we were able to make and help deepen. The family of God is truly a beautiful thing.”

Posted: 8/24/05

New WMU president has heart for 'MKs'

By Charlie Warren

Arkansas Baptist News

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (ABP)—The newly elected president of the Woman’s Missionary Union knows how hard it can be to grow up as the child of missionaries. She did so herself.

Kay Miller, who grew up calling Thailand home, was elected to office this summer. She is the first child of missionaries to serve as national president of WMU, a Southern Baptist auxiliary organization that promotes missions education, involvement and support.

Miller said she remembers how hard adapting to American culture can be. That’s why she is passionate about helping missionaries find ways to help their children adjust to life in the United States.

“The No. 1 question missionaries ask me when they find out I’m a missionary kid is how can they help their children adjust better,” said Miller, a member of Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark. “I really hope I can help our missionaries help their children adjust.”

Many “missionary kids”—popularly called MKs—adjust well and live productive, effective Christian lives. Others rebel or never get a handle on adjusting to life in America.

“MKs have a hard time,” Miller explained. “I want to figure out what we can do to prevent that. As a missionary kid, you have no roots.

“Where do you get married? I got married in Brownfield, Texas, because that’s where my parents were on furlough. Where do you settle down? Where do you go when it’s parents’ day at college when your parents can’t come or when everyone else on campus is gone and you are there? You just have no roots. That contributes a lot to why MKs just kind of float.”

Miller was 6 when her parents, Harlan and Jo Willis, went to Thailand as missionaries. The family spent their first two years in Bangkok, where her parents attended language school.

“Thai is a really hard language to read and write, so they had to go for two years,” Miller said. “Then Dad had to take Thai medical boards in Thai, writing and talking, so he could get a medical license to practice. He’s really smart, so he passed.”

Miller and her two sisters and younger brother learned the language almost effortlessly. “We picked up Thai really quickly,” she recalled, noting she translated for her parents until they mastered it.

After two years in Bangkok, the family moved to a remote village. Their car was the only one in the village. “Thai kids were my playmates. We were the only American family,” she said. “We spoke Thai all day. … It really is my heart language.”

They followed Thai customs, such as taking off their shoes before entering their home.

Furloughs to the United States were difficult. “We didn’t really want to come,” she admitted.

As a child, Miller didn’t know her grandparents or aunts and uncles. “We only saw them a couple of times when we were on furlough” every four years.

Attending school while on furlough in America was tough because she didn’t fit in.

“I came home for fifth grade and 10th grade,” she said. “Fifth grade wasn’t quite as hard. But when you come home and are put into a high school setting with kids you don’t know, it’s really hard. We just wanted to get back home.”

In Thailand, Miller was home-schooled until seventh grade. Then she attended the international school in Bangkok, living in a Baptist hostel from the eighth to 12th grade. She saw her parents once every three or four months because the trip included a train ride and a long car journey over poor roads.

“By the time you reach 11th or 12th grade, you are used to being independent,” she explained. “That has given me such insight into how to pray for our missionaries. It’s hard to let your child go.”

She went to Baylor University in Waco. But adjusting to college life in the United States was no easy task.

“I didn’t want to come,” she admits. “I wanted to stay and go to the University of Thailand. School at Baylor was not hard, but being away from Thailand and adjusting to American customs was hard.”

A WMU member in Waco took Miller under her wing, helping her get a car and a bank account, buy stylish American clothes and get acclimated to America and a local church.

“She was a key in helping me adjust,” Miller acknowledged. That relationship also gave her a strong appreciation for WMU.

Still, she often felt lonely and homesick for Thailand. A letter home took two weeks to get there and two weeks more to get a response. Today, missionary’s children have e-mail to stay in touch daily.

Another issue faced by the children of missionaries is disillusionment with American Baptist life.

“A lot of MKs don’t even go to Baptist churches,” she said. “They go to other denominations or they don’t go at all.”

When missionary’s children have worshipped God with other believers under a palm tree, she said, they get frustrated when they sense American Christians care more about the church building than about true worship.

“That just turns them off, basically, so they head a different direction. It’s sort of a rebellion thing. I’d really like to help MKs through this. That is one group of kids that everyone has overlooked. They have such potential for winning the world for the Lord. They’ve been on the (mission) field. They sense that urgency and that passion, I know they do in their hearts.”

Miller said WMU was exactly what she needed to keep her involved in church life.

“It gave me the opportunity to teach and to do a variety of things,” she said, noting her hope that WMU will utilize the talents, skills and life experiences of MKs.

“It’s an untapped resource we have for winning the world for the Lord,” he said.

She finished Baylor and completed nursing school in Dallas. She met Mark Miller on a blind date. He had become a Christian while a student at the University of Arkansas, where he was quarterback for the Razorbacks. He joined University Baptist Church of Fayetteville.

“He jumped right in there and has been heavily involved ever since,” she said. “He is a wonderful, wonderful Christian man.”

They married and moved to Little Rock, where they raised their three daughters and a son. She worked part time in recovery at Children’s Hospital. She has given that up to allow time for her new WMU role.

She has been involved in all levels of WMU work at Immanuel Baptist Church, directing WMU groups like Girls in Action for nearly 20 years, then Acteens and Youth on Mission. She was elected state WMU president in 2002, which automatically made her a national WMU vice president.

Two years ago, Janet Hoffman, Miller’s predecessor as national president, appointed her to serve on the Vision 2010 Task Force charged to discover God’s dream of what WMU would look like in 2010.

The task force report encouraged diversity and partnering with others for the cause of missions. It encouraged intergenerational learning and experiential missions in local churches. It urged WMU to use cutting-edge technology to communicate missions, to produce premier missions resources to reach emerging and expanding audiences, and to maintain a strong financial base and focus resources to further the WMU mission.

“Those are the things God gave us,” Miller said. “We wanted to paint the broad strokes. Other committees will flesh that out.”

She is excited about traveling to state WMU annual meetings and assisting WMU Executive Director Wanda Lee.

“I just want to come alongside Wanda and help her and work with our board and the incredible staff in Birmingham,” Miller said.

“I’ll be speaking at a variety of events. I’ll be going to the Southern Baptist Convention and the SBC Executive Committee meetings. I get to go to the Missionary Learning Center and visit with the missionaries. I can’t wait to do that. We try to visit mission fields to encourage our missionaries to assure them we are praying for them and ask how we can help them.”

And as the first missionary kid to serve as WMU president, she will carry her unique perspective wherever she goes.

Posted: 8/24/05

Committee drafts proposal on
North Carolina churches funding CBF

By Tony Cartledge

North Carolina Biblical Recorder

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (ABP)—The North Carolina Baptist State Convention board of directors’ executive committee narrowly approved a budget proposal that retains direct funding for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, but it could limit representation from churches that choose to give all or the majority of their national missions offering through the moderate group.

The two-year budget proposal for 2006-07 calls for an additional one percent of budget receipts to be forwarded to national bodies supported by the convention’s four giving plans. Both the Southern Baptist Convention, funded by Plans A, B and D; and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, funded by Plan C, would receive 0.5 percent more in 2006, and an additional 0.5 percent increase in 2007.

For Plan C participants and churches in other plans that designate funds away from the SBC and substitute CBF, however, the portion forwarded to the CBF would no longer count as Cooperative Program receipts in determining the number of eligible messengers to the convention.

During the 2004 session, a motion to eliminate the giving plans failed by what appeared to be more than a two-to-one margin on a show of ballots, and a motion to get rid of Plan C was ruled out of order.

The issue of whether CBF contributions should count as Cooperative Program giving has been a major sticking point for those who oppose Plan C, Butler said, so the committee sought a compromise that would head off stronger actions in November.

“We talked with leaders at the CBF who didn’t see this as a problem,” Butler said. “We talked with leaders on the more conservative side who said this is a compromise they can live with and keep Plan C in place.”

Greg Mathis, pastor of Mud Creek Baptist Church near Hendersonville and a member of the budget committee, said he raised the idea after talking with many conservatives across the state who are bothered that money going to CBF is counted as Cooperative Program gifts—a term historically applied only to money shared between the state conventions and the SBC.

“I tried to do something that was reasonable and hopefully something acceptable to a majority of messengers, and hopefully continue with the optional budget plans,” he said.

Mathis said it was not his intention to make CBF churches feel like they are not full partners in the North Carolina Convention.

“It was a way to calm the waters, to compromise and to continue to work together,” he said.

Butler told the executive committee a preliminary study indicated the change would not affect the number of messengers for any churches, and it involves a relatively small amount of money, about 0.6 percent of total receipts.

“We’re trying to find a way to stay together. If we can find a compromise that both sides of the table feel they can accept and go with, maybe we can move ahead and not have to deal with this every year,” he said.

Several committee members expressed appreciation for the efforts to keep the convention together, but they said the change would send a signal that CBF-supporting churches are less acceptable than SBC-only churches, and not worthy of as many messengers.

Clella Lee, chair of the board’s Council on Christian Higher Education and a member of the executive committee, noted the state convention had adopted the term “Cooperative Program Missions Giving” as a way to distinguish the North Carolina giving plans.

“I thought (it) meant we could cooperate,” she said. “It makes me very sad and disappointed that that’s not what it meant.

“I feel like we have to make decisions based on principle, not based on what we think might happen. We should make decisions on the principle of what we as N.C. Baptists want to say to the world.”

Brian Davis, second vice president of the state convention, likened the situation to the difference between cutting with a chain saw or with a surgeon’s knife. If a motion to eliminate the giving plans was raised and passed at the annual meeting, he said, it would be like “a chainsaw massacre.”

But, “a surgeon can make a precise cut and bring healing,” he said.

The convention’s acting executive director-treasurer, George Bullard, addressed the board and convention officers and asked: “If this passes, do you believe the people who have said this is acceptable are advocates of it, and that they have a commitment to be proactive at convention to keep something more destructive from happening? Will you encourage them to do this?”

Board Vice President JoAnn Sanderson said, “Yes, but you can’t rule out wild cards,” because any messenger can make a motion.

The initial vote on the budget was eight in favor and seven opposed, with one abstention. The person who abstained asked to change his vote to indicate opposition, creating a tie. Butler, who normally votes only in the event of a tie, voted in favor, making the final vote nine to eight. Four committee members had left due to other commitments before the vote was held.

Larry Hovis, coordinator of CBF North Carolina, said in an interview that his organization receives no funds from any of the four plans, but “we still care very deeply about funding of CBF national ministries through the Baptist State Convention. While we’re gratified that funds for CBF national will be retained and will grow by one half percent, we are concerned about the signal it sends that somehow these contributions are second class or invalid or not legitimate. In the past CBF-related churches have been considered full partners in the Baptist State Convention. We hope this doesn’t signal a move toward exclusion.”

The budget will now be forwarded to the full board of directors for consideration at its Sept. 27-28 meeting. If approved by the board, the budget will come before messengers to the convention’s annual meeting on Nov. 16. Messengers can then vote to approve or amend the budget.

Posted: 8/23/05

BaptistWay Bible Series for Sept. 4

In the midst of change, God is there

• Joshua 1

By Ronnie Prevost

Logsdon Seminary, Abilene

Transition is a part of life. It is inevitable. Sometimes change is something to be desired and yet to be feared. As children mature, we no longer must treat them like infants, feeding them, changing diapers, etc. But as our children grow up, we age, too. And we are not what we used to be.

To most of us, many aspects of modern technology make parts of life much easier. Cellular phones, text messaging, Internet and e-mail all can make us much more accessible. But many people still find themselves incredibly lonely and isolated. And how well do neighbors today know each other as opposed to 30 or 40 years ago? Things just are not what they used to be.

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The same refrain often can be heard in our churches. Churches are faced with cultural shifts, generational changes, multiplication of diverse worship styles and many other trends and fads. And leadership within churches comes and goes. For example, how often can we hear in a church with a new pastor (or other new staff or leadership), “Things are not what they used to be”?

When confronted with the many changes life can throw at us—as individuals and as churches —there is something for us to learn from reading Joshua 1. Things for Israel just were not what they used to be. Moses was dead. Joshua had been designated successor to Moses, but he was different from Moses. Israel knew it. There was much room for the people to cry out for “the good old days.” But the way things were was not always so good.

Even when Moses was alive, Israel seemed to always be wishing for the good old days. In Exodus 14:11, when Israel stood before Yam Suph (often translated “Red Sea” but actually meaning “Sea of Reeds”) and Pharaoh and his Egyptian army were rapidly approaching, they cried to Moses, “Was it because there were there no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?”

In Exodus 16:3, just over two months after having been miraculously delivered from Egypt by God, they were hungry and cried to Moses and Aaron: “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Similar incidents occurred as recorded in Exodus 17:3 and in Numbers 13-14.

Moses had been given a huge task by God. He led Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness. But consistently the people had complained. Many times they had shown a lack of faith.

Now, it was Joshua’s task to lead God’s people. And this task was enormous, also. Joshua 1:1-4 records God’s telling Joshua of the expanse of territory Israel was to conquer. They were just one generation removed from slavery. They had not been an army. They had little military history or experience. But God gave Joshua a promise. “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5).

Things for Israel were not what they used to be. They were no longer slaves. They had to be an army. They were no longer strangers living in someone else’s land. Now, they were to take the land God had given them for their own.

So, perhaps the first lesson for us is that neither “things” nor we were as good as nostalgia can trick us into remembering. Things may not be the way they used to be, but new situations present new opportunities. Despite the many challenges they present, both the present and the future can be good and exciting. With God, we can claim as Browning wrote, “The best is yet to be.”

Though they had a new leader, one thing remained the same: God still was with them. Though Joshua was different from Moses, the same God had called them both. The same God had promised them both his presence and strength.

That is one of the many wonderful things about our loving God. Whenever God calls and commissions people to a task, God promises to be with them. That was true with Moses and Joshua. And it is true with us. God has called us to salvation and to service. The Great Commission Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:18-20 ends with the wonderful promise, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

That promise, like the God who made it, will never change. Cultures always have changed. Generations and leadership come and go. Things will never be the way they used to be—not in our personal lives and not in our churches. We could face these with a fatalism that easily surrenders and yearns for the good old days that never really were. But God has a more fulfilling and meaningful way for us to live. In the midst of this life of continuous change, we can live with hope, faith, courage, excitement and anticipation—because God is with us.

Discussion question

• What are some of the changes in your life, your church or your culture that most frighten you?

• How can God’s presence with you help you find opportunities for growth in those changes?

Posted: 8/23/05

Family Bible Series for Sept. 4

Purpose stems from a right relationship with God

• Ecclesiastes 1:13-2:22

By Donald Raney

Westlake Chapel, Graham

We all want to feel a sense of fulfillment in life; a feeling that our life has some real significance. Inherent in the human condition is a sense that there is more to life than we experience with our senses. We long to find that connection with the purpose of life.

We often look for purpose in a variety of places only to find most paths lead to dead ends and leave us unfulfilled. For example, many seek fulfillment through academic pursuits only to find that the more they learn, the more they learn how much they do not know. Others look for meaning in the quest for physical pleasures only to find the experiences never last. Still others accumulate possessions in an attempt to find their identity and find that “enough” is never enough. Finally, others strive for significance through personal achievements that draw attention to them only to discover that people soon forget their name.

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Ecclesiastes 1:13-2:11

The writer of Ecclesiastes had a lot to say about the many different paths people take in their individual quests for purpose in life. This writer, known only as Qoheleth, had followed many of these paths and tells us about his journeys.

He first seeks fulfillment through the acquiring of wisdom (1:13-18). Not only did this fail to satisfy, but he describes the quest for wisdom as a “heavy burden” that God has laid on humanity. God has given humanity a natural curiosity about the world and the intellect to seek answers. Yet each new discovery leads to new questions so that the seeker never reaches the end.

Often in our efforts to understand how to straighten things out, we come to the frustrating conclusion that some things are simply meant to be twisted. Sometimes the equations simply do not balance out. Through his many experiences, Qoheleth acquired more wisdom than any Israelite leader before him. Yet in the end, he concluded this quest for wisdom, like a life of madness and folly, is as futile as chasing the wind.

Qoheleth next indulged in the world’s physical pleasures (2:1-3). The implication is that he sampled all of life’s pleasures (v. 10), yet once again found the search futile. He concluded that laughter, pleasure and physical stimulation simply do not accomplish anything significant.

We are all aware of the fleeting nature of enjoyable experiences. “Time flies when you are having fun.” While Qoheleth does not appear to condemn these experiences or advise against partaking in them, he does conclude that even the sum total of the earth’s pleasures cannot provide one with a lasting sense of purpose.

The writer then sought fulfillment through personal achievements (2:4-6). He sought to build houses with gardens and pools of water that would stand long after his death. These retreats would also provide him, and presumably others, with opportunities to escape their daily lives and seek their purpose in a more tranquil setting.

In addition to these personal achievements, Qoheleth also amassed considerable personal possessions in his quest for a sense of significance (2:7-11). These possessions included not only gold and silver, but all of the trappings which characterized the life of the elite of his day. He accumulated all of the things that were designed to make life comfortable and worry-free. He indulged everything his eyes desired. Yet in the end, even this was considered to be “meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (v. 11).

Ecclesiastes 2:18-22

What was it that made these various pursuits unfulfilling? Why did they lead him to such a negative conclusion? Qoheleth provides us with a little insight into the answers to these questions in 2:18-22. He came to realize that at the end of years of toil, he must leave the products of his work to someone else.

Death comes to everyone, and we take nothing with us to the grave. Yet what appears to grieve Qoheleth the most is that the person who receives this inheritance did not work for it like he had and may foolishly waste it. Because of this, all of life is meaningless as the days are filled with futile work and nights are full of restless anxiety. This eventually led Qoheleth to despise the things for which he had toiled.

Throughout these verses, Qoheleth continually returns to his final overall assessment of humanity’s efforts to live and work in this world. It became a refrain throughout Ecclesiastes. “All is ‘hebel.’” Many translations translate this term as “vanity.” The NIV translates it as “meaningless.” The variety of translations demonstrates that the real essence of this term is (appropriately) difficult to capture.

Perhaps the best picture of this word is that of fog. While it may appear tangible at times, any attempt to grasp it leaves one with empty hands. As soon as the sun appears, it quickly dissipates and vanishes. It thus proves to be both deceptive and transitory. That is the image Qoheleth presents concerning the pursuit of purpose through knowledge, pleasure, achievements or possessions. While they may appear to offer real and attainable sources of meaning in life, they leave little of any substance for the searcher.

While Ecclesiastes was penned centuries before the birth of Jesus, still it provides clear teachings for multitudes trying to find purpose in life apart from a right relationship with God. Daily news is full of stories about people looking for meaning through the accumulation of wealth, status, fame or academic degrees. The good news of the gospel is that real significance in life can be found, and it does not require great effort on our part. All that is needed is simply to surrender all efforts through belief in Jesus and he will fill you with genuine purpose and life.

Discussion questions

• What other things do people pursue in their quest for purpose or significance?

• Is Qoheleth too extreme in his assessment of these pursuits as “meaningless”? If so, what is a proper perspective on them?

• How can we maintain a proper perspective on these pursuits?

Posted: 8/23/05

Explore the Bible Series for Sept. 4

What do you think about the gospel?

• Romans 1:1-17

By Trey Turner

Canyon Creek Baptist Church, Temple

People evaluate many things with only a glance. They evaluate politicians by soundbite words and actions. They evaluate which VCR or DVD will replace the one beginning to show its age. They evaluate restaurants, educational institutions and so much more—all of these from data they may not even be aware they are using.

Propose your own reasons people do this, but the speed of action and reaction in America demands it. Popular business and lifestyle books by Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point and Blink, seem to justify the quick and perceptive decision. He, of course, acknowledges the traps of the mere hasty decision.

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Now, note the title of the current lesson, “What do you think about the gospel?” Are people today making decisions about Christianity based on an impression? Are Christians making theological conclusions from their own experiences with the church, leaders or from what seems reasonable?

The Apostle Paul is asking the Christians in Rome to receive him based on some specific criteria, but it is not the presentation of his own experience or expertise. Romans is not a book where Paul details his own experiences except possibly making a self-admission about his weak human nature (7:7, 11, 14-24), or his growing understanding of God’s future plan for Israel (9:2-3; 11:25).

He asks the Roman Christians to receive him and his message because of the gospel. The gospel alone is the good news of Christ. Instead of saying, “This is my experience with the gospel,” limiting the ability of God to work to that which one believer could see God manifest; the believer will best say, “This is the gospel.” Paul’s confidence is in Jesus’ finished work of redemption now available to those who will receive it.

I show I believe it when I receive it (1:1-5)

The letter to the Romans begins with a traditional Greek form for introductions, yet immediately setting the tone for making the gospel of Jesus his central theme. Even while introducing himself, Paul emphasizes “this is me because of the gospel.” The gospel gives Paul new identity and new vitality for living.

Paul is called by God to convey the truth of the gospel that has been confirmed through the event of the resurrection. The resurrection “declared” Jesus’ deity! God also confirmed the truth of the good news by completely transforming Paul into the person the Christians in Rome will now experience. Equally, the Christian expresses confidence in the gospel when she or he personally receives it—and as with Paul, it begins to define them.

I show I believe it when I proclaim it (1:8-15)

After talking about the gospel, Paul shows the proof of his confidence with action. “I thank,” “I serve,” “I remember,” “I pray,” “I may have a harvest,” “I am obligated” each shows a contrast to the way this man lived before the gospel. Here is a man who is equally spent in his zeal, but the Christian Paul is a humble, busy worker for the one who loved him. The I-statements do not show selfishness but a desired partnership with the Roman Christians. Ultimately, he has confidence God will do the same amazing work of transformation in them as he personally has seen in himself.

I show I believe it because I affirm it (1:16-17)

These two verses are rightly favorites of so many Christians. Here, Paul tells the reason for the confidence he has in the gospel. The Roman Christians should have confidence that he comes with nothing greater. Likewise, no Christian should think that there are better ways for the church, Christian or minister to spend resources.

One can imagine Paul probably was ashamed when he found that instead of serving the Lord, Jesus said he had been fighting against him (Acts 9:5). Paul rose high academically studying with the great Jerusalem teacher Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) and likely saw some who should be ashamed at their presentation or preparation.

Paul had confidence not because he was prepared, skilled or because he had behind him an army of supporters. Paul had confidence in the gospel for no other reason except for all the gospel accomplishes. The message of Christ is the power of God—the salvation of those believing. The message of Christ is the righteousness of God—revealed and not earned. For that reason, the message of Christ is proclaimed and not kept.

Discussion question

• How do people first show their confidence in the gospel?

• In what ways do Christians show their confidence in the gospel during conversation?

• In what ways do Christians show their confidence in the gospel building new relationships?

Posted: 8/19/05

DBU, Buckner share love with orphans

By Hailey Erickson

Dallas Baptist University

A group of Dallas Baptist Uni-versity students and staff recently shared the love of Christ in orphanages in Guatemala.

Working through a partnership between their school and Buckner Orphan Care International, students led a Vacation Bible School, distributed donated shoes and painted the facilities at the orphanages.

Many orphanages in Guatemala City are overcrowded, and the children desperately look for affection and attention, the students and staff learned.

“I felt profoundly touched and deeply burdened in my heart for the people of Guatemala,” said Jashley Quast, a DBU junior. “I know that we all fell in love with the orphans of Guatemala. God opened our hearts from the very beginning to these precious children, and he also prepared the hearts of the orphans. The orphans' hearts were so amicable and eager to hear God's word.”

The students also spent several days ministering at a girls' home in Antigua. At times, the girls seemed unwilling to listen, but this only opened the door of opportunity to share the love of Christ.

“Some of the girls did not have a father, and it was good to see them smile when I told them about the Father in heaven who loved them,” said Fabian Ramirez, a DBU senior. “God really softened the hardest hearts to accept his word, and I'm blessed because I was a part of it.”

“I was encouraged to see how even through constant change of plans, the DBU team held together and was able to work through it all,” senior Libby Barnard said. “Even when we felt unprepared, like the 12 disciples with our simple two loaves and five fish, (Christ) used our willingness to serve him to touch many lives in Guatemala.”

For some, the Guatemala trip was a first encounter with missions, but for others it was a chance to work with Buckner again.

“Over the past year, I had the opportunity to organize shoes here in Dallas for Buckner, but I never dreamed that they could have been the same shoes I put on the precious feet of boys in Guatemala,” senior Jennifer Dyess recalled.

At the Eliza Martinez Boys' Home, for example, the team delivered shoes donated by people in the United States.

As the trip came to a close, the team had a difficult time leaving the children.

“It was wonderful to spend time with all of those children down there. Through the time we shared, we drew closer to each other, the orphans, and deepened our faith in God,” junior Nathanael Hoard said.

Posted: 8/19/05

European Baptists unlikely to join network

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP)–Baptist leaders in Europe predict the Southern Baptist Convention will have a hard time drawing Baptists from the continent into a new international network that, some say, will compete with the Baptist World Alliance.

After the SBC withdrew from the BWA charging the group with a “liberal drift,” convention leaders announced plans to start and fund a new international “fellowship” of like-minded conservatives.

In early July, nine Southern Baptists leaders met with 12 European Baptists in Warsaw, Poland, for what SBC executive Morris Chapman predicted “may prove in time to have been the inaugural meeting of a network that shall extend to every corner of the earth, creating a close fellowship among like-minded conservative Chris-tians.”

The 12 Europeans, who were not named in an SBC news release, came from six countries, most in eastern Europe and among the most conservative in the region–Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Poland and Romania.

But while many European Baptists are as conservative–or more so–than Southern Baptists, they are “very unlikely” to join the SBC's new network, said Bulgarian pastor Theo Angelov, outgoing general secretary of the European Baptist Federation.

“There are many conservative Baptist leaders in East Europe, and I am happy that none of them were there,” Angelov said of the July 1-2 meeting, which was held less than a month before 13,000 Baptists from around the globe met in England to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Baptist World Alliance.

Angelov said only two of the Europeans who participated in the July 1-2 meeting are official representatives of Baptist unions–Paul Negrut, president of the Baptist Union of R.S. Romania, and Vasil Vangelov, president of the Baptist Union of Bulgaria.

Negrut, president of a Romanian seminary in Oradea that receives funding from conservative Southern Baptists, was the only European union president to support the SBC's withdrawal from BWA. He also was responsible for enlisting Europeans to participate in the Poland meeting.

Vangelov, the Bulgarian president, “does not speak English, and he did not realize what the meeting would be about,” Angelov, Vangelov's predecessor, said in an e-mail interview. “I talked to him after he has returned, and nobody from Bulgaria is supportive of the policy of the SBC.”

Angelov predicted the SBC's efforts likely won't cause a split in the Baptist World Alliance, but it will sow division within world Baptist ranks, he said.

“I am only afraid that if the SBC leaders decide to use money that American churches are giving for mission work as a tool in this battle, then some Baptist unions will be tempted to cooperate. This behavior is not a Baptist approach. It is simply an ideology.”

Tony Peck, Angelov's successor as general secretary of the European Baptist Federation, which encompasses 51 unions including Romania, also said the SBC-backed network could prove divisive.

“We would see any attempt to divide the Baptist witness in Europe and the Middle East as undermining missionary effectiveness at a time when we need to unite our Baptist efforts to bear witness to the gospel on our continent,” Peck said.

“I received some assurances from the SBC that this meeting was not intended to start an alternative network to the BWA,” Peck continued. “And therefore, I was surprised to read the reported comments of Morris Chapman that 'the possibility of building a fellowship network of conservative Baptists around the world created a genuine and heartfelt excitement.'”

Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee, said the proposed conservative network poses no threat to BWA.

“Southern Baptist leaders do not envision a formal organization with a constitution and bylaws,” he stated in an e-mail. “We hope to build a network or fellowship with conservative Baptists wherever they exist in the world and strengthen our communication with them.”

Southern Baptist representatives at the meeting were Chapman; O.S. Hawkins, president of Guidestone Financial Resources, the SBC's retirement and benefits agency; retired Houston judge Paul Pressler; Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board; and five SBC seminary leaders–Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary; Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; Philip Roberts, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; Craig Blaising, provost of Southwestern; and Bill Wagner, professor at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary.