Posted: 8/05/05

Book Reviews

Why the Rest Hates the West by Meic Piese (InterVarsity Press)

Why the Rest Hates the West fills two important needs. First, it provides a helpful historical analysis of how Western culture (primarily North America and Western Europe) has evolved in ways that put it at odds with non-Westerners around the world. Second, it provides a critique of Western culture that avoids the extremes of both political and patriotic correctness. In fact, more than anything else, this balanced and well-articulated approach by Meic Pearse makes the book worth your time.

What will make this book especially helpful for the average Baptist is seeing how much of anti-Western resentment is grounded in assumptions that we (North Americans and Western Europeans) have rejected traditional morality and yet still assume a natural superiority over nations and cultures who aren't as "civilized" as we see ourselves. Understanding that point might soften the hearts of those of us who also place a high value on personal and societal morality yet still find it easy to harbor anger and resentment toward nations and cultures that reject America, sometimes violently.

What are you reading that other Texas Baptists would find helpful? Send suggestions and reviews to books@baptiststandard.com.

Matt Cook, pastor

First Baptist Church

Rosebud

Whose Religion is Christianity?: The Gospel Beyond the West by Lamin Sanneh (Eerdmans)

Written in an engaging, readable style, this compact text introduces the phenomenon of "non-Western Christianity," which promises to galvanize and revolutionize our religion as we know it.

It shows how the lamentable decline of faith among Westerners has been paralleled, intriguingly enough, by an impressive rise of faith in the Southern hemisphere. Concentrating on his native Africa, Sanneh issues some fairly radical proposals and makes some unavoidable suggestions for how Western Christians might learn from, say, Nigerian Anglicanism and Ghanaian charismatic movements. Highly recommended for all readers interested in discerning Christianity's future.

Darren J. N. Middleton,

associate professor of theology and literature

Texas Christian University

Fort Worth

Honor, Infamy & Just Deserts: Persian Stories That Build Ethics and Character by Norma Walters (Brown Books)

Honor, Infamy & Just Deserts is a collection of stories that take the reader from the rise of the Persian Empire through its decline. The stories stretch from 700 to 330 B.C., giving insight into the lives of the rulers and military leaders of the time–their personal interactions, their political intrigues, their gods and their decision-making processes. People who are interested in ancient classical history and literature will find a treasure in this book. The average reader (I include myself in this category) may find the story plots difficult to follow and the application at the end of each story somewhat a "stretch."

For Christians who have studied the Bible, these stories provide a rich understanding of cultures that were intertwined with the Israelite people through prophecy and political processes, but of which the Bible gives only brief glimpses. The reader gains a better understanding of their influence on the Israelites.

Margaret Hunt Rice, executive director

Student Services and Regional Outreach

University of Houston-Victoria

Victoria

Sabbath Keeping by Lynne M. Baab (InterVarsity Press)

Reading Sabbath Keeping reminded me just how busy and stressed people are and convinced me that I need to “keep a Sabbath.” Baab has kindled within me a willing spirit for a day of rest, though the flesh remains weak. Her practical suggestions may help you to carve out at least a small block of time where we slow down and wait on God.

David Morgan, pastor

Trinity Baptist Church

Harker Heights

A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I am a missional+evangelical+ post/ protestant+liberal/ conservative+mystical/ poetic+biblical+charismatic/ contemplative+ fundamentalist/calvinist+ anabaptist/ anglican+methodist+catholic+green+incarnational+ depressed-yet-hopeful+emergent+unfinished CHRISTIAN by Brian McLaren (Zondervan)

In the great tradition of Augustine, Thomas Merton and Holden Caulfield, Brian McLaren writes his confession of sorts as he seeks to explain what “a generous orthodoxy” looks like in his own journey. While sitting down to a treatise on varying atonement theories is not high on my list, I am a sucker for a person's own journey (even if it includes varying atonement theories), and McLaren does an excellent job in sharing his spiritual journey in a way that is both accessible to a wide audience and littered with the kind of simple profundity that keeps you awake at night. He writes with the honesty of Anne Lamott and the self-deprecating humor of a wise comedian, and I find myself cheering and gnashing my teeth within the same chapter, but always thinking–which makes for a great read.

Erin Conaway, associate pastor

South Main Baptist Church

Houston

Posted: 8/05/05

Shoes for Orphan Souls
launches annual national drive

By Felicia Fuller

Buckner Baptist Benevolences

With its expanded global territory and record volunteer participation, Buckner Orphan Care International is launching its seventh year of giving new shoes to children worldwide through its annual Shoes for Orphan Souls national campaign.

As part of 126-year-old Buckner Baptist Benevolences, Buckner Orphan Care International has provided humanitarian aid to orphans around the world since 1999. Last year, the organization reached a ministry milestone, topping 1 million new shoes given to children in more than 30 countries. Buckner commemorated the occasion at a Texas Rangers' pre-game show attended by a contingent of Russian orphans with Buckner Angels from Abroad. The previous year, more than 5,000 organizations in 50 states collected more than 260,000 pairs of shoes for the cause.

Buckner works with churches, civic groups and businesses to collect new shoes and socks all year, but emphasizes the back-to-school month of August.

Efforts this year are well under way, with Shoes for Orphan Souls shoe drives promoted by KSBJ Radio and all 130 Payless ShoeSource locations in Houston, collecting more than 10,000 pairs of shoes to aid tsunami victims in Indonesia. Other Christian radio stations nationwide are kicking off their shoe drives in August. Proceeds from a Texas Rangers' game Aug. 27 will help distribute the shoes to children who desperately need them. Additionally, Buckner's new Shoeless Sunday campaign will provide a way for churches to collect funds to ship collections worldwide.

Buckner marketing director Tiffany Taylor said the shoe drive has become a year-long campaign thanks to groups holding their own drives to meet the “desperate needs of children living in orphanages” overseas.

Missouri Rotarians shipped 70,000 pairs of new shoes to Buckner in May, marking their fourth consecutive year of participation. That same day, Buckner shipped 7,000 pairs of new shoes and 10,000 pairs of new socks to orphaned children in Kirkuk, Iraq, as part of a goodwill agreement with Sister Cities International.

Taylor noted that, while the program has expanded in recent years, “Unfortunately, the needs among orphans only continue to grow. That is why it's more important than ever for us to collect new shoes.”

So far, the program has sent shoes to several countries, including Afghanistan, Belarus, Belize, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Latvia, Mexico, Moldova, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Uganda, the United States, Ukraine and Zambia.

Individuals and organizations are encouraged to donate shoes, socks and shoelaces for the drive, or cash gifts of $25 to pay for shoes and distribution costs. Donated items should be for children ages 2 to 18 and, due to customs regulations, the shoes and socks must be new. Warm shoes, winter boots and larger sizes especially are needed.

Taylor said even the smallest donations are appreciated. “Most of the donations to the shoe drive have come from families giving one or two pairs of shoes. Every pair of shoes makes a big difference to that one child who receives them.”

Volunteers are being sought to sort shoes and accompany Buckner on shoe delivery missions to China, Guatemala, Kenya, Latvia, Peru, Romania and Russia. All trips include coach airfare from Dallas, hotels, meals, transportation, travel insurance, visas and other necessities, as well as cultural events and sightseeing.

Information about the drive and volunteering locally or internationally is available toll free at (877) 7ORPHAN or at www.shoesfororphansouls.org.

Posted: 8/05/05

Buckner marks 10 years of
international orphan ministry

By Scott Collins

Buckner Baptist Benevolences

Some say we live in a world without borders–that technology has made the planet a global village where travel and communications are instant.

But a world without borders still has its walls. Sometimes they are walls made of cold concrete blocks. Sometimes the walls are homelessness and poverty. For a growing multitude, the wall is HIV/AIDS.

Inside those walls, whatever they are made of, live millions of children. It's those children who were thrust upon Buckner Orphan Care International 10 years ago. After 116 years of transforming the lives of boys and girls in Texas, the world came calling on Buckner in 1995.

That's when President Ken Hall and Vice President Mike Douris made an exploratory trip to Eastern Europe, visiting Poland, Romania and Russia.

Douris recalls that Poland “was interesting, but there were no contacts to work with.” In Romania, they met with Immanuel Baptist Church, where they saw needs and opportunity but no immediate openings.

In St. Petersburg, Russia, Douris said, “the Department of Education rolled out the red carpet, and we met with key leaders” about international adoption. They also saw tremendous need and a willingness to work with Buckner from the directors at two orphanages.

Hall and Douris listened to a request for Buckner to help ease the growing orphanage crisis in Russia as it lurched forward from its communist past. Russian officials knew about Buckner's reputation as a “quality social service agency,” Hall said at the time.

Buckner's first international adoption soon followed, and by the spring of 1996, Buckner was sending volunteers to work in the orphanages.

Ten years later, Buckner is deeply involved with orphans in eight countries and sends humanitarian relief to another 30 nations. In 2004, 719 volunteers traveled with Buckner and completed 42 mission trips to Botswana, Bulgaria, China, Guatemala, Kenya, Latvia, Romania and Russia. Organization officials say that represents more than twice as many participants and mission trips from the previous year.

Also last year, Buckner delivered more than $2.6 million worth of humanitarian aid in the form of clothing, medicine and medical equipment, school supplies, toys, playground equipment, sewing machines, furniture and other essentials.

As the ministry has developed in the past decade, so has its focus, which is “to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by ministering to orphan children throughout the world.”

To accomplish that mission, Douris and the Buckner staff emphasize two core goals: Demonstrating the unconditional love of Christ to children and sharing the gospel with them, and creating a conduit for mission opportunities for Christians and churches to use their spiritual gifts and resources serving orphan children.

Buckner Orphan Care International has established a method of operation to support these goals that includes:

Mission trips designed to minister to children.

Providing huma-nitarian aid to enhance the quality of life for orphans.

Improving living conditions in orphanages through remodeling existing buildings and construction of new facilities.

Helping develop best child-care practices that are the least restrictive as possible and that promote preventive and aftercare programs.

Providing medical and dental services.

Providing Chris-tian families for children through local or international adoption and foster care. To date, nearly 30 children have been placed in adoptive homes in the United States. As well, Buckner's international foster care program has expanded to include Vladimir and St. Petersburg, Russia, Kenya and Oradea, Romania.

When Buckner Orphan Care International was born in 1995, Douris said the goal was to help countries like Russia. “These countries are starting over and they are trying to build an infrastructure,” Douris said in a 1995 interview.

Buckner leaders emphasized 10 years ago that Buckner was entering the international arena at the direct invitation of people in other countries. “We're not out there looking for new work,” Hall said. “But how do you turn down these people? They said to us, 'We've got hurts, and you've got expertise.'”

For the first four years of Buckner Orphan Care International's existence, the mainstays of the ministry were international adoption, developing social programs in orphanages and limited humanitarian aid.

But in 1999, Buckner took a big step forward when Ron Harris and KCBI radio in Dallas invited the agency to take over what was then the “Shoes for Russian Souls” program. For five years, the radio station had been collecting shoes and socks for orphans in Russia, where Buckner also was working. Feeling that Buckner had the ability to expand the project, Harris invited Douris to consider taking on the annual campaign.

Buckner launched its version of the campaign in 1999 and in 2000 changed the name to “Shoes for Orphan Souls,” ex-panding the program far beyond Russia. By summer 2004, Buckner had collected its 1 millionth pair of new shoes. Now, shoes are distributed to nearly 40 countries each year. Shoe drives are sponsored in all 50 states.

While the shoe campaign often is an end in itself, it also has opened countless doors for other Buckner ministries and brought additional invitations to help even more children in a variety of ways.

Looking back through the past 10 years, Douris, who has been part of Buckner Orphan Care International from the start, believes Buckner's international presence is an answer to the prayers of children touched by the ministry.

“When I look back at the last 10 years, it's not the usual measurements you would look at to determine impact and growth that make an impression, but the faces of individual children,” Douris said. “I see hundreds of them who now have the reflection of hope in their eyes. That is the true indication of God's work through Buckner.

“I've come to realize that it's not about Buckner but about God's love for children around the world who are crying out to him,” he added. “God is sending us out in answer to their prayers to show them how much he loves them. What a privilege and what a responsibility.”

Posted: 8/05/05

Africa the new center of Christianity

By Tony Cartledge

North Carolina Biblical Recorder

BIRMINGHAM, England (ABP)–The center of Christianity has moved to Africa, and Baptists can be catalysts for changing the continent, Frank Adams told delegates to the Baptist World Centenary Congress.

Baptists are called to be a voice for the voiceless and bring hope to the hopeless “as we realize our identity, our dignity and our dynamism,” said Adams, the Baptist World Alliance regional secretary for Africa.

Three South Africans join in worship at the congress.

With Samuel Agyei of Ghana as worship leader, African choirs and Caribbean-style drummers contributed to a jubilant evening of celebration. Worshippers sang, clapped, waved their hands and danced in the aisles.

Solomon Ishola, general secretary of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, contributed to the ongoing congress theme of “Jesus Christ, Living Water” with a sermon on the empowerment of the Holy Spirit as the “living water” that flows through those who trust in Christ.

Using John 7:37-39 as a text, Ishola said the empowerment of the Spirit flows from the Lord when believers express an intense desire for him. Too many churches, seminaries, unions or conventions have experienced spiritual drought and famine because they have not sought the Lord with diligence, he said.

Ishola suggested five results of experiencing the living water of Christ's Spirit–an overflow of the Christ life, the accomplishment of God's will, the anointing needed to share the good news, the grace to live sanctified lives and the ability to produce the fruit of the Spirit.

The session also included reports from the Caribbean and from Africa by regional secretaries Peter Pinder and Adams, and a final report from Tony Cupit, retiring BWA director of evangelism and education.

Solomon Ishola, general secretary of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, addresses the congress.

Cupit emphasized the power of the gospel to transform lives, recalling his personal experience as a missionary in Papua, New Guinea. BWA serves to bring together people who otherwise would not know each other, he said. Cupit called for BWA members always to be evangelistic, reaching out with courtesy to all people as they tell of Christ, the Savior of all.

Pinder said work in the Caribbean has been challenged by natural disasters and a cutback in personnel by British-based BMS World Missions and the Southern Baptist Convention's Inter-national Mission Board.

Assistance with disaster relief and partnerships with other groups, such as Virginia Baptists, are proving helpful, he said.

Many churches are experiencing a transition in worship and leadership styles, he said, leading to both progress and confusion. “Pray for what Baptists will become” in the Caribbean, he said.

Adams was more upbeat about work in Africa, where he said the All Africa Baptist Fellowship now encompasses 53 unions, 40,000 churches and 6 million Baptists. “God is at work among Baptists in Africa,” he said. “This is our time, a time to win Africa for Christ.”

Posted: 8/05/05

British Baptists encouraged
by strong showing in Birmingham

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

BIRMINGHAM, England (ABP)–For one week, the halls of Birmingham's International Convention Center were filled with bustle and conversation of Baptists from around the world. But for British Baptists, the clamor sends one clear message: “You are not alone in a time of pain and uncertainty.”

Baptists from throughout the United Kingdom repeatedly said the strong showing by the international family of Baptists is an encouragement to them in the wake of recent terror attacks–four successful suicide bombings in London's transit system and four failed attacks. The incidents resulted in one of the nation's largest manhunts in history, including an arrest in Birmingham.

David Coffey, general secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and newly elected Baptist World Alliance president, said messages “poured in” from Baptist leaders worldwide following the attacks. Each was stirring and supportive, he said.

The BWA congress turnout despite the bombings is a sign of “visible solidarity” among Baptists, Coffey said. Believers largely were undeterred from coming to the meeting. The 13,000-plus people who attended the congress were aided by almost 1,000 British volunteers.

Ben Keen, a congress volunteer from England, said Baptists from around the world created a positive and supportive environment for British Baptists during the meeting. The friendly atmosphere has helped let them know their fellow Christians are praying and thinking about them, he said.

“It's a little taste of heaven to see the whole world come together and share the love of Christ,” he said.

Robert Green, a deacon from Wales, said the meeting's high attendance also sends 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.

Posted: 8/05/05

'We belong to each other
because we belong to Christ'

By Marv Knox

Editor

BIRMINGHAM, England–Margun Waren of Norway grew up in a country with a strong, state-sponsored Lutheran church. “As Baptists, we are a minority,” she said, reporting that only about 5,000 Baptists live in Norway. “It was very great for me when I first found out as a teenager that the Baptists were so many more than the small area where I grew up.”

And worshiping with about 13,000 Baptists from many countries at the Baptist World Centenary Con-gress in Birmingham, England, strengthened her sense of Baptist unity, Waren added. “How rich it is for me to meet with Baptists from wherever in the world. You feel united. Deep in my heart, I am always a Baptist.”

Richard Otim, pastor of Rockview Baptist Church in Soroti, Uganda, marveled at the inspiration he received from Baptist sisters and brothers around the world.

“I am challenged to go back to my country and share the gospel and bring more to Christ,” he said. “I have enjoyed seeing the different ways of worshipping and giving praise to the Lord God.”

Otim acknowledged he learned from his experiences at the Baptist World Alliance meeting.

“In Uganda, I thought all Indians believed in Hindu. But the congress here exposed me to so much–including Indian Baptists,” he explained. “I also have been surprised at the way the church is growing. Sometimes, in my own country, I think the church is very small. … But so many people (around the world) are coming to the Lord.”

Samson Mamidi, pastor of The Living God's Church in Suryapet, India, smiled and then started laughing as he talked about “bringing here all the nations” to worship together as Baptists.

“It has given me an opportunity to see around the world,” he said. “In 1993, God told me, 'I will bring your name around the world.' Now he is fulfilling his promise. I have met people from around the world, and now they all know my name.”

The greatest lesson he learned in Birmingham was how “this people loves one another,” he added, noting he felt that love specifically after his luggage got lost between India and England. “A United Kingdom pastor gave me this coat,” he said, pointing to a blue double-breasted blazer. “He expressed his love to me.”

Ruth and Pete Taylor of Brackley, England, not far from Birmingham, expressed their love to delegates who visited their homeland. Brackley Baptist Church, where he is pastor, housed four delegates from Gambia and one from Germany during the five-day meeting.

“I've really enjoyed meeting people from all around the world,” Ruth Taylor said, adding she feels blessed to “fellowship with a wide variety of cultures,” as well as to see their friends from the International Baptist Convention and the Baptist Union of Great Britain. Her church is aligned with both unions.

Ben Chen, a native of Hong Kong who now is area director for East Asia and India with the American Baptist Churches-USA, affirmed the notion of fellowship.

“And this is a platform to express common concerns and issues–the political and ethical issues facing the world,” he added. “As a Baptist family, this is a good forum to hear different voices.

“I also 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.”

BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz said he would remember the 2005 congress for “unity, unity, unity.”

“We belong to each other because we belong to Christ,” he added, reporting he heard and sensed that same idea as he worshipped and talked to delegates throughout the week.

And the Birmingham congress illustrated how Baptists can embrace passion for both evangelism and social justice, Lotz insisted. Baptists said they are united in evangelism and will continue to promote the BWA's “Living Water” evangelism conferences. But they also said they are united in compassion for the people Jesus called “the least of these,” he added.

“We did that in this conference,” he said. “We had the whole spectrum of Baptist life. We need to be that inclusive … and not be isolated from each other.”

Posted: 8/05/05

Fight terrorism with dinnertime conversation

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

BIRMINGHAM, England (ABP)–The fight against terrorism is fought most effectively over a slice of pizza, not at airports and transit stations, global Baptist leaders insist.

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 an arrest in Birmingham, site of the congress.

Baptist leaders urged Christians to fight terrorism with dinner conversation. Terrorism will wane when believers reach out to disenfranchised individuals in a spirit of love and peace, said former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Tony Campolo, professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University in St. David's, Penn., and popular Baptist speaker.

Carter, a longtime BWA supporter and human-rights advocate, encouraged believers to get involved in interfaith dialogues and “build a common commitment” to fight terrorism.

All major faiths–Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Islam–hold to the basic principles of peace, justice, hospitality, truth and alleviation of suffering, Carter said. Those tenets can help people of different religious backgrounds connect against the mutual threat of terrorism.

“If we concentrate on those things, that would make the united front against terrorism more effective,” Carter said.

Campolo said young people have the “primary responsibility” of fighting the war on terror, because it is during people's teenage years and early 20s that they are susceptible to being persuaded toward terrorist acts. At that stage of life they are most likely to feel disenfranchised from society and more willing to go to extreme lengths to change the situation.

Campolo encouraged each Christian young person to seek out a Muslim individual and meet him or her for pizza. There they can talk comfortably about ways they can prevent people from becoming isolated.

Campolo said this approach has helped in Northern Ireland, an area divided between Roman Catholics and Protestants for years. A friend of Campolo's encouraged young people there to use the pizza approach between Protestants and Catholics. Healthy dialogue and friendships resulted. Both are important in leading to change.

Conversation creates an awareness and understanding of someone else's viewpoint, Campolo noted. Positive action can be taken from there. There also may be opportunities to share the gospel.

Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif., and author of the best-selling book The Purpose-Driven Life, said the threat of terrorism “shows there is evil in the world,” a notion he said some people in his generation have trouble acknowledging.

Understanding the fight against terrorism as a battle against evil, Warren said this issue should be taken seriously. Terrorism must be stopped.

“I do not believe you can pacify evil,” he said. “I do not believe you negotiate with it.”

Posted: 8/05/05

Fundamentalism divides
Christians, Carter tells Baptists

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

BIRMINGHAM, England–Fundamentalism characterized by rigidity, domination and exclusion–practiced primarily by authoritarian males–divides Christians by adding restrictive requirements to the simple gospel message, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter told delegates to the Baptist World Centenary Congress.

“Divisions in the river of faith that divide us into swirling eddies and meandering tributaries” constitute the most serious plight currently facing the church, he said.

Carter, a deacon and Sunday school teacher from Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., taught what was billed as the largest Sunday school class in history at the international meeting in central England. About 13,000 Baptists filled the National Indoor Arena in downtown Birmingham, England, for the Sunday morning event.

Taking his lesson from the Apostle Paul's letter to the Galatian church, Carter focused on a rebuke to early church leaders who added additional requirements for fellowship and salvation beyond the clear gospel of grace.

To redefine the gospel always has been a temptation, Carter said, “either to liberalize and dilute the gospel so it becomes meaningless,” or to add to the gospel, constructing creeds and imposing them on others–a practice Baptists traditionally have opposed.

He compared the first-century threat to Christian unity among the Galatians with modern-day fundamentalists, pointing particularly to Southern Baptist Convention leaders who cut off fellowship with the Baptist World Alliance.

Characteristics of fundamentalism include the leadership of authoritarian males who want to subjugate women, the tendency of leaders to draw clear distinctions between themselves as “true believers” and other people whose beliefs are suspect, militancy in defending their beliefs and an inclination to define themselves and their circle of fellowship in increasingly restrictive terms, he said.

Carter did not minimize the importance of controversial issues such as abortion, homosexuality, separation of church and state, Jesus Christ as the standard for biblical interpretation and the relationship between pastoral authority and the priesthood of all believers.

But he criticized fundamentalists who “demagogue” selected social issues and make differences over non-essential matters a test of fellowship.

“Rigidity, domination and exclusion” are key words to describe fundamentalist movements, he said.

“To add any issue–no matter how important–to the gospel message of salvation is an abomination and an impediment that dams up the mighty stream of evangelism,” he said.

The gospel can be reduced to one simple statement, Car-ter said, and he led the crowd in reciting it: “We are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.”

“This is adequate as a foundation on which every Christian denomination on earth can unite in harmony and peace and mutual cooperation to spread the gospel of Christ to all people,” he said.

Instead, too many Christians choose to narrow the parameters of fellowship and cooperation over side issues, such as the SBC's insistence that women are disqualified for pastoral ministry because man was first in creation and woman was first to fall into original sin.

Carter decried the “continued practice of discriminating against women, depriving them of their ability to serve God.”

Jesus treated women as equal to men–a view dramatically different from prevailing practices, Carter said. But some Baptists “want to keep women in their place.”

Carter acknowledged some passages from the Apostle Paul's writings have been used to promote the idea that women should be submissive to their husbands and silent in church. But Paul affirmed women in other texts such as Romans 16, where he expressed appreciation to some women among a list of deacons, apostles, ministers and saints, he said.

“Paul was not separating himself from the lesson Jesus taught,” Carter said. “His clear message is that women should be treated as equals in their right to serve God.”

Carter cited Paul's statement in Galatians 3:28: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

If being Jew or Greek, slave or free does not impact a Christian's equal opportunity to serve Christ, then being male or female shouldn't either, he insisted.

“Should we Baptists, Christians, exclude more than half the devout Christians on earth from fulfilling the call of God to service of Christ?”

Carter acknowledged various Baptist groups within the BWA may disagree over the role of women in ministry, but that should not prevent them from working together, he said.

“The vast and diverse Christian world needs to rise above divisive controversies, adhere to the basic Christian message, to emphasize healing of differences,” Carter said. In drawing close to Christ individually, believers also will draw close to each other, to “follow our Savior, the Prince of Peace, in reaching out to the lost and alleviating the suffering of others.”

Tony Cartledge of the North Carolina Biblical Recorder contributed to this report.

Posted: 8/05/05

Couple celebrates 50th
anniversary at BWA Congress

By Marv Knox

Editor

BIRMINGHAM, England–Paul and Eveline Miller had good reason to feel a sense of déjà vu during the Baptist World Alliance's centennial congress.

They attended the 1955 BWA congress in London during their honeymoon. And they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary during the BWA congress in Birmingham this summer.

While most other delegates' BWA experiences weren't nearly so historically symmetrical, they also expressed joy and gratitude to attend the worldwide gathering of Baptists from more than 200 conventions or unions.

The Millers put off their honeymoon from October 1954 until the summer of '55, and they stalled on their golden anniversary, just so they could celebrate at the BWA again, Paul Miller said.

He attended his first BWA congress as a youngster in 1939 in Atlanta when George W. Truett of Dallas, a distant cousin, was alliance president. And as a couple, the Millers have been to about 10 BWA congresses since their honeymoon.

They served as missionaries at the Nigeria Baptist Theological Seminary in Africa for 30 years before retiring to Fort Worth.

Through the years–and this year was no exception–the Millers have looked upon BWA congresses as reunions.

“It's always good to come back and see friends,” Miller said, noting they connected with Nigerians, family, friends from the United States and friends from other countries whom they have met through BWA.

Another major value of participating in the congresses has been “a chance to have a broader perspective on who Baptists are,” Miller said. “It's not just their beliefs, but how they express who they are.”

Posted: 8/05/05

Carter: Hunger for healing,
desire for justice transcend differences

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

BIRMINGHAM, England (ABP)—There is an “intense hunger” among Christians worldwide—and among people of all faiths—to work for justice and oppose terrorism, despite serious differences of faith, former United States President Jimmy Carter told reporters at the Baptist World Congress.

“There is an intense hunger among Christians around the world for a healing of the differences that now separate us from one another,” Carter said during a news conference at the Baptist World Centenary Congress in Birmingham, England.

Those Christians “are looking for a single voice, a common understanding and friendship, and (want) to put aside the divisions that plague our faith,” he said.

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. Those commonalties “make it easy for us to stand united without dissention and for a common purpose,” he added. “We need to come back together.”

The common cause of stopping terrorism provides people of faith a platform for unprecedented cooperation, he said. But finding that one voice is hampered by misunderstandings, he added. “One thing we lack, in this time, is an understanding of each other when we worship in different ways.”

Carter, who negotiated the Camp David Peace Accords while president, said that historic agreement between predominantly Jewish Israel and predominantly Muslim Egypt was built on the belief that “the elements of life that we shared could overcome the differences that we recognize in the way we worship God.”

To stop terrorism today, he said, people of all faiths should “try to identify the things that divide us and set them aside and build a common commitment” to fight terror.

The 80-year-old Carter conceded the historical contribution of religious people to peace in the world has been as detrimental as helpful. “It’s been about equal.”

While all religions can provide a foundation for healing, he said, “in practical terms” religion has “so often been a cause for schism.” He pointed to Ireland as a country that has endured religious-political conflict but, in more recent days, “has seen a very wonderful and gratifying healing process” between Protestants and Catholics.

Misunderstanding about the role between Islam and terrorism has increased division in the world, Carter suggested.

“I think now there is a general feeling, particularly in my country and maybe now in more recent days here in the United Kingdom, that a person who is a Muslim may be less committed to peace and justice and truth and humility and benevolence and generosity than we (Christians) are,” he said. “That arrogant attitude, to derogate others because of their faith, is a mistake.”

Carter pointed out one of the most deadly terrorist attacks on American soil was committed by a radical American with a Christian heritage—Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people with a bomb at the federal building in Oklahoma City, Okla., in 1995.

“I think the main impediment is not knowing each other, not understanding each other, not recognizing that basic truth … that every religion emphasizes truth and justice and benevolence and compassion and generosity and love. We are just divided now because of the tiny number of terrorists among us.”

Carter, a member of Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., said the worldwide hunger for healing offers a historic opportunity to the Baptist World Alliance—an international fellowship of 214 Baptists unions, and the convener of the congress.

“I really see an opportunity at this moment for the Baptist World Alliance to become much greater a factor in Christian life than it has been in the past,” Carter volunteered. “I think this is a time for almost explosive growth” in the BWA.

The members of the Baptist World Alliance are united in their commitment to the message of salvation, to peace and benevolence, Carter said. “And if that message comes out clearly from (incoming President) David (Coffey) and other leaders in the Baptist World Alliance, that could be the greatest thing ever,” he said.

Carter said he was “very gratified” when the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the American organization with which he identifies, was accepted into BWA membership last year. “I felt I was coming home to join other Baptists around the world.”

He said he “felt excluded” when the ultra-conservative Southern Baptist Convention, historically the largest BWA member, withdrew from the group last year. He said he still hopes the SBC will reverse that decision and rejoin BWA. “I don’t think we should give up on them.”

On other topics:

— Carter said the war in Iraq is a mistake. “I thought then, and I think now, that the invasion of Iraq was unnecessary and unjust. And I think the premises under which it was launched were false. Whether deliberately or not, I don’t know.” He said governments and individuals “should always be truthful” about their actions and motivations.

— The United States should close down the Guantanamo Bay detention center for international terror suspects and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, both sites where American soldiers have mistreated prisoners. “What has gone on … is a disgrace to the United States of America” and only increases the danger of terror worldwide, he said. “Guantanamo does not represent the will of the American people or the basic elements that have made our country a great democracy and a proponent of freedom,” Carter said.

— He said he is “filled with admiration and awe” at the cooperation exhibited by British police in quickly apprehending those believed responsible for recent terror attacks in London and at the “stalwart” opposition of Brits to terrorism.

— The United States “is the stingiest nation of all,” he said, based on per capita income and benevolent giving. “For every 100 dollars in income our nation receives, we give only 16 cents … for benevolent aid.” Meanwhile, the gap between the rich and poor grows wider, he said. Alleviating poverty is a duty in both the religious and secular realms, he added, yet: “Most of us rich people rarely know a poor person enough to share our lives with them.”

— Many people are “too glib” in claiming the label of “Christian.” If instead people define a “Christian” as “a little Christ,” it would have more meaning and produce more Christ-like behavior, he said.

— “We deplore the melding of church and state,” Carter said.

— Totalitarian governments pose the greatest risk to religious liberty worldwide, he said. And the Baptist World Alliance can play a role in advancing religious freedom in those countries.

— The tough work of interfaith dialogue is not pointless but well worth the risk and investment of time, he said.

Posted: 8/05/05

Church should become new
health service for the world

By Marv Knox

Editor

BIRMINGHAM, England–Like Cinderella, the 21st century church must leave the “scullery” and engage the world as Christ intended it to, Steve Chalke told participants at the Baptist World Centenary Congress.

Chalke, a British Baptist minister, is founder and president of the London-based Oasis Trust, which ministers on five continents through hostels for at-risk youth, schools for poor children and healthcare facilities for impoverished people.

He called on churches to become “the new health service” for people all around the globe.

To illustrate, Chalke recalled how his mother used to present the story of Cinderella as a great mystery. Cinderella was born to be a princess, but she languished as a servant, dressed in rags and toiling in a scullery, the dreary area of a large house where laundry and cleaning are done.

“Will Cinderella leave the scullery and become a princess?” Chalke's mother would ask her sons and daughter. “We don't know!” the children would squeal, always caught up in the drama.

“Here is the issue facing the church around the earth: We live as Cinderella in the scullery,” Chalke stressed, noting the church has traded its mandate to engage the world for a diminished role “inside,” talking to itself.

“Did we get pushed inside, or did we retire because we lost our confidence?” he asked.

Answering his own question, Chalke described how the 20th century church ceded its historic responsibility for caring for the whole lives of people to the “welfare state” of most governments and ceded its moral and intellectual leadership to science. Along the way, the church convinced itself–and society confirmed–religion is personal and should not engage culture.

“Our religion may be personal, but it's not private,” he retorted. “Jesus has to be Lord of the universe. … Christian truth is public truth. We are called to engage the world.”

Since God is the God of politics, science, industry, art and all aspects of humanity and society, Christians must be active in the public square, making a difference in the lives of people everywhere, he said.

And that's particularly true for the disenfranchised and disadvantaged residents of the poorest communities all over the world, Chalke insisted.

“You have to change the culture” in order to change people, he added. That means “incarnation”–embodying the presence of Christ for people as they are. And that doesn't happen in isolation, since people not only have spiritual needs but also social and physical needs. The church must address the body as well as the spirit.

“Social regeneration and spiritual transformation are integrated,” he said. “You can't transform communities until individuals are transformed. You can't have social regeneration until individuals are transformed.”

The church's “360-degree care” always must be spiritual, social and physical, but never only one of those elements in isolation, he added.

And the church should not fear compromising its beliefs by working with others to provide that kind of care, he urged. “The greatest compromise is to not get involved, to sit in the scullery. That was the (church's) great compromise of the 20th century.”

Local churches don't need the resources to start a hospital, hostel or school to make a difference in a poor community, he said. A church can begin by offering a parish nurse program, where people come to get preventive healthcare, so they don't become ill.

And by reaching the people's physical needs, the church also has the opportunity to transform them spiritually, he said.

“Is your church the local place where people come to get healthy?” he asked. “This works anywhere in the world.”

Posted: 8/05/05

Christ's love commands
compassion for hurting & needy

By Marv Knox

Editor

BIRMINGHAM, England–Christ's love commands compassion for a world filled with suffering and pain, speaker after speaker told participants at the Baptist World Centenary Congress.

The Baptist World Alliance set aside an evening of its 100th anniversary celebration in Birmingham, England, to look beyond itself and examine the spiritual and physical needs of people around the globe.

A central element of that challenge is for Baptists to explain how Jesus' resurrection and life translates into good news for people, both as they live their lives and as they consider eternity, stressed keynote speaker Myra Blyth.

The world is increasingly narcissistic and self-centered, suggested Blyth, a lecturer in worship and ecumenical studies at Regents Park College, the Baptist component of Oxford College in the United Kingdom.

In contrast, snapshots of Jesus in the Gospel of John reveal his selfless willingness to follow God's plan and his unselfish concern for humanity, she said.

“Jesus' journey to the cross was no ego trip, but an outward journey pointing (people) to the one who sent him,” she insisted. “God's self-giving nature (in Jesus) is the very opposite of self-centeredness” because he pointed people to God the Father.

“We must take seriously what it means to be made in the image of God. … It is not pointing inward but pointing out. … The world needs redemption.”

Jesus' compassion for people means his action in their lives is good news in the moment as well as in eternity, Blyth told the global crowd of Baptists.

“Our calling is to be Easter people in a Good Friday world,” helping people to enjoy Christ's blessings in their lives today as well as to trust in his promise of life in eternity, she said.

As such, Christians have an important message about Jesus, she insisted: “Life is stronger than death. Goodness is stronger than evil. Love is stronger than hate.”

In a variety of ways, speakers pointed to practical and spiritual implications of Christian compassion for the whole world:

Through Baptist World Aid, the BWA's relief arm, Baptists “meet people at the time of their greatest need,” reported Paul Montacute, Baptist World Aid director.

The BWA ministered to victims of a volcano in Angola and the Congo, orphans and the ill in North Korea and survivors of the tsunami in Sri Lanka, he noted.

Baptists must not forget the “silent tsunamis” of poverty and hunger and disease that take lives around the globe every day, he urged.

“People are impoverished, not just one day a year (like a tsunami), but 365 days a year,” he said. Through Baptist World Aid, the alliance provides care in Jesus' name to people, regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion or geography.

In Latin America, Baptist women have followed their spiritual compassion and worked to rescue families from violence throughout the region, said Amparo de Medina of Colombia, a BWA vice president from 2000 to 2005.

The movement began as a meeting of 120 Baptist women in Panama in 2000, she recounted. Since then, many television and radio stations, as well as newspapers and magazines, have promoted the campaign to stop violence in families, both in Latin America and the United States.

“I have seen the hand of God working,” she said. “Women of Latin America have broken the silence. Baptists, who are known for their defense of human rights, cannot be silent. … There is no peace without justice.”

In Eastern Europe, Christian compassion for Marxists and communists is making a difference in their lives, noted seminary professor Parush Parushev, a former communist.

“Marxist socialism intellectually is very logical, but it is ethically deficient,” said Parushev, academic dean at the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague, Czech Republic.

However, the “holistic presence of God in lives” changes people like him, he said. “Communism lacks a moral dimension. Reason can give you law, but there is something beyond law–grace and compassion,” which only Christ can offer.

Latin American Baptists are strategizing to start an unprecedented number of churches, said Alberto Prokopchuk, the BWA's regional secretary for Latin America.

Noting less than 1 percent of the population is Baptist and millions have no relationship with Christ, new churches are needed to disciple new Christians, develop leaders and impact communities, he said, announcing Baptists in Latin America hope to start 5,000 churches in the next 10 years.

“This vision should be a world vision for Baptists,” he said, inviting Baptists from elsewhere to help Latin Baptists in their endeavor and offering for Latin Baptists to go elsewhere to help other Baptists start churches.