Posted: 7/22/05

Carroll Institute explores
how Muslims look at Jesus

By Meghan Merchant

Communications Intern

ARLINGTON–“Without Jesus, there is no Islam,” Naeem Mushtaq told participants at the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute's “Jesus and Islam” seminar at First Baptist Church in Arlington.

Mushtaq, a resident of Islamabad, Pakistan, and well-known lecturer on comparative religion, spoke on the significance of Jesus Christ in the Muslim faith and sought to correct misconceptions many Christians may have of Islam.

Believing in Jesus is a central part of Islam, and for Muslims “rejecting Jesus is rejecting the Quran and Muhammad,” Mushtaq said.

Muslims view Jesus as a historical figure and a prophet whose mission on earth was to improve mankind and lay the foundation for a new world order of peace, he explained.

In the Quran, Jesus is referred to by many names, Mushtaq said, focusing on the names meaning “Word of God” and “Spirit of God.” However, while these names are similar to those used in the Christian faith, their meanings and origins differ.

While Christianity and Islam have many differences, which are necessary to maintain individual identity, the religions share many similarities that could be used to serve God and others, Mushtaq insisted.

Other speakers at the event included Warren Larson, director of the Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies at Columbia Biblical Seminary and School of Missions and former missionary to Pakistan; Colleen Keyes, dean of academic affairs at Tunxis Community College in Farmington, Conn., and lecturer in interfaith dialogue; and Bill O'Brien, co-director of BellMitra Associates, veteran missionary and past president of the American Society of Missiology.

“Muslims say sometimes they honor Jesus more than Christians do,” Larson said in his presentation on the similarities and differences of Jesus in Islam and Christianity.

There are 93 references to Jesus in the Quran, although the Quran “reinvents” Jesus he said, speaking from a Christian point of view. While Christology is central to Christian theology, it is not to Islam, he added.

One can find a “dim outline” of Christ in the Quran, but the full “illuminating picture” is found in the Bible, Warren said. He went on to discuss the outline of Jesus presented in the Quran, including his supernatural birth, achievements, miracles and disputed death. While the prophets sin in the Quran, “the Quran and Bible affirm Jesus was sinless,” he noted.

The Quran leaves the door open for interpretation and “gives Muslims the freedom” to explore Christianity, he added.

“There can be meaningful discussion between Christians and Muslims about the cross,” he said. “In fact, it's meaningful for the gospel.”

Keyes pointed out Islamic literature presents Jesus as a prophet of God, equal to all other prophets in her presentation. However, she also noted that while Muhammad never performed any miracles, Muslims are supposed to believe in the miracles of Jesus.

The Quran makes reference to the gospel of Christ, “but it's not the same gospel Christians use today,” because Muslims believe the books of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament are not the same words given to Jesus, she said.

She presented Muslim views of Jesus as portrayed in the Ahadith collections, Sufi literature and Quranic interpretation.

In response to popular-culture opinions about Islamic extremists, Keyes said: “Religion is hijacked for economic and political motives. We need to stand firm as people of faith with the orientation that is life-affirming. … We can serve God by serving the world.”

Posted: 7/22/05

TBM builders poetry in motion to church

By Jocelyn Delgado

Comminications Intern

For two weeks, volunteers built a family life center complex with an indoor basketball court and classrooms out of a hollow building, some supplies and a little ingenuity.

Thanks to the Texas Baptist Men Retiree Builders, youth and their families in Poetry–a rural community near Terrell–now have a place to fellowship.

The church provided supplies and a basic structure, and the Texas Baptist Men provided volunteers to help with plumbing, carpeting, electrical work, framing and other internal projects.

John Kent of Gainesville works on a Texas Baptist Men Builders project at Poetry. Kent is a former resident of Terrell, near Poetry.

Texas Baptist Men church builders have worked since 1978 helping construct many sanctuaries, family life centers and fellowship halls. Volunteers learn from professionals to provide churches good service.

“Sometimes people say, 'Well, I work in the office and do some handy work around the house; I'm not sure if I can do something,'” noted Julian Stroud, a Texas Baptist Men volunteer from Dallas. “We say, 'Come on, we'll teach you.'”

For the latest project, volunteers returned to Poetry three years after helping the church build a new sanctuary.

Each project operates on multiple levels. The men help with construction inside the building, and their wives help by reaching out to the community. Women sing at local nursing homes and sew lap robes for residents confined to wheelchairs.

The women add a layer of soft cotton to make the lap robes more comfortable, volunteer Mary Stroud said.

Larry Chambers (left), a member of Faith Temple Baptist Church, and John Klute, a Texas Baptist Men volunteer, work on a building project at Poetry.

They also sew stuffed animals for children in need, participate in Bible studies and prayer time, and help serve workers at refreshment breaks.

The Strouds have worked with Texas Baptist Men since 1985, after learning about the volunteer builders. Both are in their late 70s and know they can't work forever.

“One of these days, it's going to be to the point where we're not able to work,” Mrs. Stroud said. “We're planning on working until the Lord decides it's time for us to quit.”

Posted: 7/22/05

Alliance-Cuba partnership under investigation

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–A missions partnership between Baptist groups in the United States and Cuba may be in jeopardy, pending the outcome of an investigation by the U.S. Treasury Department.

Department officials notified the Alliance of Baptists that the group's special Cuba travel license was suspended effective immediately. Alliance Executive Director Stan Hastey said the suspension was tied to an investigation of alleged violations of the visa's terms by a team from the Baptist Church of the Covenant in Birmingham, Ala., who visited the island nation in March.

The church group visited Cuba in what Hastey and church leaders described as a visit to begin a partnership with a Cuban Baptist congregation. The Alliance has a missions partnership with the Fraternity of Baptist Churches in Cuba, one of several indigenous Baptist denominations in Cuba.

The Birmingham church group studied whether to establish a missions partnership with Shalom Baptist Church in Boca de Mariel, in central Cuba. Both congregations since have approved the project.

Due to the U.S. government's economic embargo on Fidel Castro's communist regime and corresponding travel restrictions, the Alliance must use a renewable travel permit for religious activity to enable U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba.

According to the letter, the Treasury Department's office of foreign assets control investigated whether the Birmingham team had engaged only in “transactions directly incident to a full-time program of religious activities in Cuba,” as department guidelines require.

The letter indicated Treasury officials reviewed a trip itinerary and determined the team spent only four hours per day on religious activities and spent much of the rest of their time visiting farms and tourist sites.

Hastey said that, while he “can understand why someone reviewing the itinerary would conclude there was a lot of free time in it,” the examples the Treasury officials pointed to were misconstrued.

“For example, the reference to visiting farms had to do with retreat center sites that the Fraternity of Baptist Churches is establishing,” Hastey said.

Posted: 7/22/05

Alliance-Cuba partnership under investigation

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–A missions partnership between Baptist groups in the United States and Cuba may be in jeopardy, pending the outcome of an investigation by the U.S. Treasury Department.

Department officials notified the Alliance of Baptists that the group's special Cuba travel license was suspended effective immediately. Alliance Executive Director Stan Hastey said the suspension was tied to an investigation of alleged violations of the visa's terms by a team from the Baptist Church of the Covenant in Birmingham, Ala., who visited the island nation in March.

The church group visited Cuba in what Hastey and church leaders described as a visit to begin a partnership with a Cuban Baptist congregation. The Alliance has a missions partnership with the Fraternity of Baptist Churches in Cuba, one of several indigenous Baptist denominations in Cuba.

The Birmingham church group studied whether to establish a missions partnership with Shalom Baptist Church in Boca de Mariel, in central Cuba. Both congregations since have approved the project.

Due to the U.S. government's economic embargo on Fidel Castro's communist regime and corresponding travel restrictions, the Alliance must use a renewable travel permit for religious activity to enable U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba.

According to the letter, the Treasury Department's office of foreign assets control investigated whether the Birmingham team had engaged only in “transactions directly incident to a full-time program of religious activities in Cuba,” as department guidelines require.

The letter indicated Treasury officials reviewed a trip itinerary and determined the team spent only four hours per day on religious activities and spent much of the rest of their time visiting farms and tourist sites.

Hastey said that, while he “can understand why someone reviewing the itinerary would conclude there was a lot of free time in it,” the examples the Treasury officials pointed to were misconstrued.

“For example, the reference to visiting farms had to do with retreat center sites that the Fraternity of Baptist Churches is establishing,” Hastey said.

Posted: 7/22/05

SBC, European Baptists explore network

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

WARSAW, Poland (ABP)–Twelve conservative Baptists from Europe met with nine Southern Baptist leaders this month in Warsaw, Poland, in what one participant said could be a precursor to a new international organization of “like-minded” Baptists.

Participants said their intent was not to criticize the Baptist World Alliance, the 100-year-old organization uniting 210 Baptist bodies worldwide. But the Warsaw meeting was an outgrowth of dissatisfaction among Southern Baptists and other conservatives because BWA has not distanced itself from perceived “liberal” influences.

The Southern Baptist Conven-tion, the largest Baptist body in the world, withdrew membership and funding from BWA last year, in part because the international body accepted the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship into membership.

The 12 European Baptist participants came from six countries, most in eastern Europe and among the most conservative in the region–Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Poland and Romania.

“This meeting 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 Christians,” SBC Executive Committee President Morris Chapman told Baptist Press afterward.

In January, Chapman said the Warsaw meeting would not be an “organizational” meeting for a conservative alternative to BWA. But after the meeting, he said, “The longer we met, the more you could sense a growing enthusiasm (for such a group) in the hearts of everyone in the meeting.”

Chapman predicted Southern Baptists will hold other “exploratory gatherings” around the world. The participants agree about “the inerrancy of the Bible, the absolute lordship of Christ and the recovery of historic Baptist doctrine,” the SBC leaders said in their statement.

Denton Lotz, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, was not immediately available for comment. Earlier, he said such a movement would be “a slap in the face to Baptists in the rest of the world,” particularly since it was held about the same time as the BWA's 100th-anniversary meeting July 27-31. In February, Leszek Wakula, the Polish Baptist Union's general secretary, expressed “regret and sorrow” about the Warsaw meeting.

The meeting reportedly focused on opportunities for cooperation on evangelism, church planting and theological education. Paul Negrut, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Oradea, Romania, and president of the Baptist Union of R.S. Romania, initiated the gathering, SBC leaders said. Negrut, the only European participant named, is a leading conservative in Romania.

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; Bill Wagner, evangelism professor at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary; Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Provost Craig Blaising and three SBC seminary presidents–Chuck Kelley of New Orleans, Paige Patterson of Southwestern and Phil Roberts of Midwestern.

Posted: 7/22/05

Bonhoeffer's legacy felt
60 years after his execution

By Chris Herlinger

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–When Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 39, quietly strode toward Nazi prison gallows as the Second World War neared its end, he hardly could have known that 60 years later, his life, memory and legacy would remain the subject of keen debate and fascination–not to mention outright reverence.

Since his April 9, 1945, execution for his role in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Bonhoeffer has become something of a universal, and utterly rare, phenomenon.

He is one of the few theologians to have his life dramatized in films and plays. He has been the subject of documentaries and numerous biographies. But perhaps most importantly, Bonhoeffer is one of the few 20th century Christian figures whose writings still are read, quoted and appropriated by liberal and conservative Christians alike.

In that sense, Bonhoeffer has been likened to a kind of theological “Rorschach test,” as theologian Harvey Cox once described him.

“Dietrich Bonhoeffer's equivocal theological residue elicits wildly different interpretations,” Cox said. “In the current enthusiasm to decode the anagram and declare 'what Bonhoeffer really meant,' we learn at least as much about the sleuths as about the mystery itself.”

And what a varied group of “sleuths” they have been. Bonhoeffer's memory and example were evoked by black liberation theologians in the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa, just as they are now by some conservative evangelical Christians committed to ending abortion. James Dobson is among the conservatives who cite Bonhoeffer as a Christian who took a stand for moral truth.

Liberals see the German theologian as a prophet and admire his commitment to ecumenism and social action; conservatives see Bonhoeffer as an apostle who moved in the world with a keen love and reverence for Jesus Christ.

Both liberals and conservatives view Bonhoeffer as a martyr. But according to scholar Stephen Haynes, who has a new book on Bonhoeffer, “getting at” him means having to examine the various roles Bonhoeffer has assumed in the religious imagination: “seer, prophet, apostle, hero, bridge, martyr and even saint.”

“Each portrait has a continuity to it and is compelling. And each one can survive on its own,” said Haynes, author of the The Bonhoeffer Phenomenon: Portraits of a Protestant Saint (Fortress Press).

In writing about the ways Bonhoeffer's life, memory and work have been used by widely different interpreters and religious communities, Haynes sometimes is unsparingly honest in acknowledging that it isn't necessarily theology that draws people to Bonhoeffer. It is the sheer drama of a life which–as Haynes notes–has an almost cinematic quality to it.

Clues to Bonhoeffer's thinking are in the books he wrote, most notably Ethics, The Cost of Discipleship and Letters and Papers From Prison.

The American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr “had a lot of intellectual capital, but not the same kind of moral capital” as Bonhoeffer, Haynes said, contrasting the two major 20th century Protestant figures. “Everyone wants some of that.”

“There is just a sort of seamlessness between Bonhoeffer's life, his work and the decisions he made. He was single-minded and consistent,” said Haynes, who teaches religion at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn.

Bonhoeffer was a product of a solidly privileged Prussian background in pre-war Germany who traveled intermittently. He lived for a year in New York City, where he studied at Union Theological Seminary as a student of Niebuhr's and attended worship services in Harlem.

Bonhoeffer seemed destined for a secure life in the German Lutheran church or the academy.

But the baleful events of his day intervened, forcing the young Lutheran pastor to face moral responsibility–his, his nation's and his church's–in the wake of the mounting evil of Nazism.

In his book, Haynes is careful to note there are real perils in appropriating Bonhoeffer for contemporary purposes–in the “compulsion to make his life and times analogous to our own.”

Haynes is critical of the more extreme claims made to evoke Bonhoeffer's legacy in the cause of anti-abortion activism. He doesn't believe Bonhoeffer's embrace of the plot to assassinate Hitler is analogous to a call to kill doctors who perform abortions, the call issued by a few zealots on the fringe of the anti-abortion movement.

Likewise, Haynes writes that liberals “have been as guilty as anyone of ascertaining Bonhoeffer's relevance for contemporary political life by portraying their governments in Nazi images.”

Given the extremes to which the Bonhoeffer legacy has sometimes been used and interpreted, Haynes says the 60th anniversary of Bonhoeffer's death this year might offer an occasion for reflection, allowing Bonhoeffer's life and example to act as a bridge between the widely differing religious groups that appropriate his memory and “reside on distant cultural shores.”

“One of the things that makes this possible is that nearly everyone acknowledges that it's Bonhoeffer's life–rather than his theology–that makes him a man worthy of honor and emulation,” said Haynes, who grew up, by his own description, “in an evangelical subculture” and describes himself now as “a liberal Protestant with an empathy for conservative Christians.”

“Maybe Bonhoeffer is a reminder that the measure of true faith is the way we treat each other and the sacrifices we are willing to make to learn about, communicate with and defend each other.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of the few theologians to have his life dramatized in films and plays. He has been the subject of documentaries and numerous biographies. But perhaps most importantly, Bonhoeffer is one of the few 20th century Christian figures whose writings continue to be read, quoted and appropriated by liberal and conservative Christians alike.

Posted: 7/22/05

Book Reviews

Word Without End: The Old Testament as Abiding Theological Witness by Christopher R. Seitz (Baylor University Press)

“This book from Israel has become a word to the church … .” Seitz is a theological scholar and has confronted an important question about the Old Testament, “Whose book is it?” It's a strange question for some of us but with many wonderful insights.

Quite often, we do not do enough investigation to see what the original writers meant by their old sayings that are foreign and generations removed from us. This book is not for the new Christian or the novice in the word of God but might be very interesting to many pastors, who desire to engage more with the Old Testament in their preaching ministry, as well as to university and seminary students. Both urban and rural pastors alike need to read chapter 1, “The City in Christian Scripture.” Human sexuality also is discussed, with a few insights from the Old Testament to be pondered in our contemporary setting and sexual situations of today.

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

The book addresses three main areas–biblical theology, exegesis and practice. This is a very interesting book, but one needs to have some biblical background as well as time to work through approximately 350 pages of beautiful work.

Mike Barrera, pastor

United Baptist Church

Laredo

The Stewardship of Life by Kirk Nowery (Spire)

Sometimes, I buy books I want to read. Sometimes, people give me books they believe I should read or would enjoy reading. Recently, I received a new book by author, former pastor, former school administrator and former Miami Dolphin chaplain Kirk Nowery. He is president of INJOY Stewardship Services, and his new book is titled The Stewardship of Life.

This book is an easy read. It's only 158 pages long, including a forward by John Maxwell. It is outlined well and uncomplicated.

Nowery's basic premise is that “stewardship isn't just about money.” He explains that stewardship touches every aspect of one's life, and if it's to be lived to its fullest, life requires wise management of all one has and all one is. The book follows a VICTORY acrostic. Stewardship includes managing, investing and developing vision, influence, commitment, time, opportunity, resources and you! Interestingly, the author never mentions the word “victory.” Each of these elements of life is explained and given a biblical example. Ample examination is given to practical application in stewarding these areas of life.

Many pastors will find this book personally inspirational and beneficial for sermon development. The material found in The Stewardship of Life can serve as a good foundation for teaching on stewardship, allowing for a unique, even refreshing, angle–stewardship is about more than money.

David Hardage, director

Waco Baptist Association

Waco

The Next Reformation: Why Evangelicals Must Embrace Postmodernity by Carl Raschke (Baker Academic)

Postmodernism. Ugh. Something else I feel hopelessly behind on. Now I'm not just supposed to know about it; I'm supposed to embrace it. I hardly get to embrace my kids. …

Well?

First, reading this can be work. Second, Carl Raschke's got the philosophy of the emerging culture right. I teach philosophy, and I've started an “emerging” church. So this is my turf; and, for what it's worth, I pretty much agree with the general position Raschke takes. Last, the critics of postmodernism say God is not mocked, eternal verities don't change. True, but God is not shocked, either. He knows culture changes constantly and worldviews occasionally. We can therefore be confident that he will guide us to deal with today's change by the Spirit and the word.

So, should you read it? Yes, if (a) you're a strategic decision-maker or researcher; you don't have to like postmodernity, but you will have to deal with it; (b) you're a practitioner, trying to figure out how to speak gospel in the emerging culture; and (c) you're a missionally minded observer, seriously curious as to what exactly is going on here.

Mark Thames, pastor

Lower Greenville Community Church

Dallas

A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren (Youth Specialties)

When I was a child, I remember riding in the car with my father as we drove past a Christian Science church. My father commented that they were neither Christian nor scientific. When you read A Generous Orthodoxy, some of you will feel that McLaren is neither generous nor orthodox. I read this book because I already had been challenged by some of McLaren's previous books. If you like to read books that reinforce or restate what you already believe, then I suggest you skip A Generous Orthodoxy. You will not agree with everything the author writes (at least I don't), but you will be forced to ponder some new ideas.

Terry Austin, stewardship director

Baptist General Convention of Texas

Dallas

Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ by Dallas Willard (Navpress)

Dallas Willard's book title caught my eye because as a pastor and professor, I discover, at times, that wonderful Christian people fail to “immerse” themselves in the words of the New Testament because, as Willard states, the life recorded there is quite unlike the life they know in their Christian experience. Even though they are quite faithful to church and have Jesus as their only hope, they see actually living the Christian life as some “unsolvable puzzle.” Willard offers discouraged Christians fresh hope by guiding them into a path to true spiritual formation so that the Christian life might be experienced in fullness. I find Willard's propostion to be thought-provoking and timely.

Larry Ashlock

Dallas Baptist University

Dallas

Posted: 7/22/05

Baptist Briefs

American Baptists honor Moyers. The Coalition for Baptist Principles presented a lifetime achievement award to recently retired broadcaster Bill Moyers during the American Baptist Churches USA biennial meeting. Moyers grew up in Central Baptist Church in Marshall and attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Baptist World Congress registration tops 12,000. At least 12,000 worldwide Baptists will make their way to Birmingham, England, for the Baptist World Congress July 27-31, undeterred by recent terror attacks in London. Registration for the congress climbed above the 12,000 mark July 13, Congress Director Emmett Dunn said. Only three people cancelled since the London bombings, he said, while hundreds of others–most from the United States–continue to register for the centenary congress. The Baptist World Alliance, a fellowship of 210 Baptist unions worldwide, was formed in England in 1905. Advance registrants for the 2005 meeting represent 107 countries. The largest Baptist World Congress was the 1980 meeting, when 15,000 people gathered in Toronto.

Bellevue Baptist chooses new pastor. Bellevue Baptist Church in suburban Memphis, Tenn., has called Steve Gaines of First Baptist Church in Gardendale, Ala., as pastor, effective Sept. 11. Gaines, 47-year-old president of the Southern Baptist Pastors' Conference, succeeds Adrian Rogers, 73, who was Bellevue's pastor 32 years and a three-time president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Gaines is only the fourth pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church since 1927–a legacy that includes famed preacher R.G. Lee. Under Rogers' leadership, the 28,000-member congregation moved from its location near downtown Memphis to a 377-acre campus in Cordova. Gaines pastored the 8,400-member Gardendale church near Birmingham since 1991, helping it grow into one of Alabama's largest. A native of Mississippi, Gaines is a graduate of Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was pastor of Lake Shore Baptist Church in Lake Dallas from 1981 to 1988.

National WMU honors Texans. Tina Feagans of Henderson received the 2005 Sybil Bentley Dove Award from national Woman's Missionary Union. The WMU Foundation presents the award annually to a current or former Christian Women's Job Corps participant. After completing the Christian Women's Job Corps training, Feagans earned business and paralegal associate degrees and plans to continue her education at Stephen F. Austin State University. WMU also recognized Sandra Mitcham, coordinator for the Tyler Christian Women's Job Corps with a site award grant, made possible through a Christian Women's Job Corps endowment. The Tyler site provides computer training, job and life skills training, alumni support meetings and remedial classes. The grant will enable more classes, teacher support and child care. They also will offer Bible studies for students and mentors.

North Carolina executive director to step down. Jim Royston will step down as executive director-treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Royston, 57, plans to retire from denominational service and become pastor of First Baptist Church in Mooresville, N.C., near Charlotte, in September. The North Carolina convention is divided between fundamentalists and moderates, and recent annual meetings featured bitter battles over the convention's officers and budget. But Royston insisted his decision was spurred by his desire to return to the pastorate. His successor must be elected by a meeting of the state convention–either the annual meeting in November or a special called meeting. The North Carolina Convention's executive committee named George Bullard acting executive director-treasurer. Bullard has been associate executive director since July 2003.

Posted: 7/22/05

Journey through grief offers
hard-earned life lessons

By Kelly Starling Lyons

Associated Baptist Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP)–In life, there's at least one guarantee: You'll lose someone you love.

Coping with the death of a relative or friend is tough, no matter who you are. But for people in faith communities, a few challenges are unique. Some people question God, grow angry and lose their sense of spiritual connection, counselors say. Others may think they have to appear a rock at places like their house of worship, although pain overwhelms them.

The journey through grief, like the walk through faith, is different for each person. But experts say some lessons can help.

Scream, cry, moan, say nothing. But mourn without apology.

For Tony Cartledge, whose 7-year-old daughter Bethany was killed in 1994 by a drunken driver, the greatest ache was dealing with her absence.

“There was a room full of toys and teddy bears and no little girl in it,” said Cartledge, editor of the Biblical Recorder, news journal of North Carolina Baptists. Cartledge and his wife, Jan, wrote A Whole New World: Life After Bethany, published by Smyth & Helwys.

“I realized she was gone and wasn't coming back. That was the hardest part,” said Cartledge, who was a pastor for more than two decades.

His wife, pastor of administration and leadership for HomeStar Fellowship in Raleigh, sank into depression.

“On dark nights, I'd look at the moon and say, 'How in the world will we go on without Bethany?'” she said. “There were days when I didn't want to get out of bed. God was with me in the darkest times as well as in times when I could laugh.”

Mrs. Cartledge, who counseled many people through grief, said a lot of people face anger: “Anger at themselves for something they didn't do or say before the loved one died, anger at doctors, anger at God. They ask, 'Why did God allow this to happen, or where was God?' God understands our questions.”

“Feel any way you want,” said Arlene Churn, “but don't get stuck.”

Churn, a life coach and grief counselor in Philadelphia, said that many people get mired in one particular stage of denial, anger or regret. They shut down, stop being involved in church or with friends, forget to live.

“We get caught up in the drama of death,” said Churn, author of The End is Just the Beginning: Lessons in Grieving for African-Americans, published by Harlem Moon. “The person was too young to die, too good to die. There's no criteria for death other than living. As you live, you are going to die.”

Although death is inevitable, part of the loved one endures, Churn noted.

“You can't talk to them or have dinner with them,” she said. “But what remains alive is the impact they've had on your life, the joy they've brought. This lives forever.”

Moving past the pain can take time. Mrs. Cartledge remembers wishing for bad things to happen to the drunken driver who killed her daughter. She fantasized about being alone with him and having a baseball bat. She realized her anger was changing her into someone she didn't like.

Three years after Bethany's death, the drunken driver wrote a letter to the Cartledges expressing remorse. Mrs. Cartledge read it and tucked it away in a desk drawer.

A year later, while studying a book with a women's church group, she came across a chapter dealing with forgiveness.

“It asked, 'Who is it in your life that you have to forgive?' I knew I wasn't a happy person. I said, 'God, you're asking me to do something very hard, something I thought was impossible. But as much as you've forgiven me, I need to forgive too.'”

She walked to the desk and reached inside the drawer.

“I wrote him back,” she said. “The moment I put my letter in the mailbox and walked back up the driveway, there was a peace I have never known and haven't felt since. I knew it was because I had let him go.”

Some days, it will be hard to cling to faith, those who have experienced grief say. Some days, it will be tough to love, Cartledge said. That's a natural part of the grieving process.

“The day will come when you will show that love again,” he said.

In the meantime, turn to hope to keep you going.

“I can't claim that I was one of these people who sat back and was totally untroubled,” he said. “There are times when it's hard to believe as you always have. But I had this hope that Bethany still lived in some way and that we would see her in another world, hope that God was still with us and would work through us.”

It helps to surround yourself with people who care, counselors say. Mrs. Cartledge agreed.

They can mow the grass, she said. Cook dinner. Go to the grocery store. Or just tell the mourning person they love them–and that's enough, she said.

“I think so often people say, 'Let me know if there's something I can do for you.' I never called,” she said. “People who meant the most to me were those who came by, talked if I wanted to talk, were quiet with me if I wanted to be quiet.”

She calls it the gift of presence.

Some people heal faster than others. Move through the grief at your own speed, counselors advise. “It can feel like you will never get over it,” Churn said. “But you can get through it.”

Consider the cycle of life, she said. Honor your loved one through rejoicing in your memories, being thankful for their presence in your life and moving on.

“Every life has meaning,” she said. “You remain here by the grace of God and for a purpose.”

Without your loved one, things aren't going to be the same, Churn said. Embrace the possibilities–and the blessing of life.

“We decided we wanted to do more than survive,” Cartledge said. “We wanted to thrive, be transformers, bring good out of the bad.”

Two years after losing Bethany, the Cartledges decided to have another child. Their son, Samuel, now is 8.

“We knew we weren't done being parents,” Mrs. Cartledge said. “It was healing to know that we still have a lot of love left to give.”

Posted: 7/22/05

Posted: 7/22/05

2nd Opinion:
BWA to drink from 'Living Water'

By Denton Lotz

Thousands of Baptist believers are making their final preparations to come to Birmingham, England, this week to celebrate the centenary of the Baptist World Alliance. Indeed, we have much to celebrate: God has brought us through 100 years, often through deserts and waterless places, often through suffering and pain, but God has brought us through because we never gave up hope or faith in Jesus Christ, the Living Water!

It will be a magnificent occasion when BWA President Billy Kim declares the BWA Centenary Congress officially open. There will be large jugs of water in the front and many young men and women pouring water to symbolize the theme, “Jesus Christ Living Water.”

Although 70 percent of the earth's surface is water, there are many people who suffer drought and cannot grows crops because they have no water. On the other hand, floods, hurricanes and tsunamis remind us of the power of uncontrolled storms of water.

We are gathering in Birmingham to celebrate Jesus Christ as the Water of Life. He comes to us not as a tsunami to destroy. Christ comes not as a drought to kill or punish. Jesus comes as the loving friend and companion who gives us living water: “Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life” (John 4:13-14).

Without water, one cannot live. Plants cannot grow. Fruit without water will perish. Lush, green fields without water become parched and dry, without life and without hope. Water gives life. Jesus Christ is that Water of Life: “To the thirsty I will give water without price from the fountain of the water of life” (Revelation 21:6).

We will celebrate that as the Water of Life, Jesus Christ is the one who purifies, cleanses us from all our sins and makes us new persons: “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22).

Humanity without God and without hope is living in sin, in alienation and estrangement from God the Father, Creator and Redeemer. Sin in biblical terms is muddied, brackish water that cannot satisfy but only further pollutes and destroys: “Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked” (Proverbs 25:26). There is sin in the world, the church and in individuals. Therefore, we need that purifying water that comes to us by being washed in the blood of Jesus Christ (1 John 5:6).

Because of our insistence on a regenerate church of repentant and born-again people symbolized by immersion in water, we were called Baptists. We will quote the Apostle's Creed, as Alexander Maclaren called upon that assembly 100 years ago to do. We will confess with Christians of all ages that our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. We will confess to a thirsty and sinful world that Jesus Christ is indeed that spring of water that will well up into eternal life!

We will go home refreshed and renewed, ready to tell the world that Jesus Christ is the source of our hope and faith. Having heard good stories from men and women of every tribe, we will go home and be able to say that indeed we have drunk deeply at the well of God's love and are in fellowship with millions of Baptist brothers and sisters who have acknowledged Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Indeed, their stories of God's grace and love in Jesus Christ will refresh us so that we too can say: “Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country” (Proverbs 25:25).

Pray for a congress that will glorify Christ the Living Water!

Denton Lotz is general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance.

Posted: 7/22/05

CYBER COLUMN:
A world of contrasts

By John Duncan

I’m sitting here under the old oak tree, wondering about a world of contrasts.

In London. grief reigns in the aftermath of terror, while innocent children play cricket in open fields and streets. Hurricanes rip through the Gulf of Mexico, but daily cruise ships sail the seas with carefree travelers. In Granbury, a trip to Wal-Mart to purchase the necessities of life is contrasted with the fact that American consumers waste money every year on things they do not need or never will use.

Contrasts, they swirl around us—up and down; good and bad; happy and sad; tall and short; light and dark; mountains and valleys; winners and losers; and fast and slow.

Contrasts appear in the Bible, too.

Take, for example, Jesus’ visit to the temple after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem via a gate. The next day, Jesus went to the temple. Contrasts abound—the holy presence of God in the Holy of Holies with the priests and the prideful money changers who barter doves on a table in the temple courtyard; the anger of Jesus and the casualness of the money changers; the inner turmoil of plotting among the scribes and the outer peace of Jesus; the hostility of Jesus’ enemies and the blissful amazement of the crowd; the unrighteousness of religious leaders and the righteousness of Jesus; the flying coins and the doves sitting in cages; the house of prayer and the den of thieves. Contrasts multiply.

Still, when I think of the temple, I think of the veil of the temple torn in two when Jesus died on the cross—one Christ, two pieces of cloth severed at the center; one holy Jesus, an unholy world; light on the cross, darkness around. Add lightning and thunder and midnight at midday, and you have the makings of high drama. Or as one of our children said in Vacation Bible School when he heard the story of Jesus: “Oh, that! I saw the movie!” Welcome to a world of contrasts—the real drama of Jesus’ sacrificial life placed as Hollywood theater to a 21st century 10-year-old.

All this leads me back to where I started—the contrast of a world of terror, London, and a world of peace, Jesus. So much discussion continues about safety, protection against terrorists on trains, religious extremists and a bomb on a bus. Lord Byron in one of his poems, says, sarcastically, “I say—the future is a serious matter.” The future is a serious matter.

In the confusion of terror at King’s Cross. one survivor described the scene as shards of broken glass, trails of blood and the feeling like she was in a fish tank watching others fight for their lives. A teenage girl collapsed in tears and had a tissue with the word “life” printed on it.

I do not know much about terror, although I sense it every time I go through security at the airport for a trip. I do not know much about King’s Cross, although twice a year it is my travel point of connection on the way to Cambridge. I always say, “Seven million people in London, and they were all on the train today.” I do not know much about that fish-tank feeling, but I know we live in an ocean of people as diverse as the fish in the seas.

As for contrasts, I am reminded of one necessary constant: Jesus. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). In a world of contrasts, it is the King’s Cross that anchors the soul. And this message is a simple, yet essential one today: In Jesus you have abundant life.

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