Posted: 12/29/06

Movie’s themes experienced
by church that produced it

By George Henson

Staff Writer

ALBANY, Ga.—“Nothing is impossible with God” is a recurring theme throughout Facing the Giants, a feature-length independent movie created by Sherwood Baptist Church.

Now the same theme is evident in the life of the church, where leaders plan to use proceeds from the movie’s upcoming release on DVD to fund a sports outreach facility.

Facing the Giants opened in the fall on more than 400 screens in 86 markets—astronomical totals for a $100,000 religious movie created by a church and starring members of the congregation.

The "deathcrawl" training exercise is featured in the film, in which a player carries another on his back.

In a movie without stars, God is receiving the glory, Pastor Michael Catt said. “It’s done far more than we ever could have anticipated.”

The movie has allowed the church another avenue through which to fulfill the Great Commission, he said.

“We’ve talked a lot about reaching the world from Albany, Ga., and this has been a very tangible way of doing that. We’ve had a lot of mission trips and such, but this is another tangible way of touching this world,” Catt said.

The church received a letter from a football team that lost its first three games before watching the movie and went on to play for the state championship in its division. Other schools have used the themes of “Nothing is Impossible” and “Stonewall” on rallying banners.

Catt also received reports that the University of Arkansas football team watched the film before beating highly regarded Auburn, as did the Mississippi State squad before an upset of the University of Alabama.

“We’ve also had a lot of e-mails from coaches who have said the movie has reminded them of their priorities,” he said.

While the movie may have had a wider impact than expected, in another way Catt is not surprised.

“It’s all an outgrowth of our prayer ministry,” he explained. “We kept our congregation up-to-date on what was going on during production, but it was not framed as announcements, but rather, ‘This is what we really need to pray about this week.’”

The movie has affirmed the congregation’s faith, he said.

“God has given us a great staff and a great people. When you do something like this, you have to be ready to fail. And because they were ready to try something for God, knowing it might not work out, they also gave us the opportunity for this success,” Catt explained.

The home-DVD version of the movie will be released in January, and the church will take the proceeds from the movie and DVD to develop an 82-acre sports complex in the city.

“We originally started with a plan to develop 42 acres, but the man who owned the adjacent 40 acres came to us with just a really great price. So, we went back to the drawing board. Again, God is working to do something exceedingly, abundantly beyond what we imagined,” Catt said.

The sports complex will enable the church to continue its efforts to meet the needs of a community with an inordinate number of single-parent homes. Sherwood Baptist Church has found sports programs to be a good outreach to these families, and the new sports complex will allow those sports programs to grow, Catt explained.

In the same way, Catt prays the DVD will extend the church’s ministry.

“It’s going to have a whole new audience for the DVD, because there were so many communities where we just didn’t get a chance to show the movie in theaters,” he said.

The only sure thing is that expectations will be exceeded, because nothing is impossible with God, he said.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 12/29/06

Texas Baptist Men seek
to provide pure Water of Life

By Barbara Bedrick

Texas Baptist Communications

ZACATECAS, Mexico—Many children in villages throughout much of the Mexican state of Zacatecas cannot drink water without swallowing arsenic and heavy metals. But Texas Baptist Men volunteers are seeking to correct that problem, one community at a time through their Agua de Vida—Water of Life—project.

Much of the water supply in central Mexico contains heavy levels of arsenic. Thousands of indigenous people live with this danger, but children are the most vulnerable because their immune systems are not fully developed. Toxins in the water can cause skin lesions, cancer, neurological damage and even death.

In early December, TBM volunteers focused on the community of Cervantez, but the team met an obstacle at the border where customs agents prevented their truckloads of water purification systems from crossing.

While the delay was disappointing, the team pressed on to turn a loss into an opportunity.

“We went and met with several dignitaries to build our relationships,” said TBM Logistics Coordinator Dick Talley. “Through this (discussion), a lot of doors are opening for future efforts.”

The water purification ministry has opened hearts and doors.

Leaders have seen how the work by TBM teams has made a difference in their communities. In areas where people have no running water and the water they have is unsafe, TBM is saving lives by delivering and installing water purification systems. 

Working with missionaries in Mexico and state leaders in Zacatecas, TBM workers already installed one large water purifier in the Santa Tomas area.

“Because of this connection, each family in this small community now has running water in their homes. Before this, they had to walk three miles every day for the past 92 years to get water,” TBM Executive Director Leo Smith said.

The water purification ministry has opened hearts and doors for Texas Baptists, Talley added.

“It’s allowing our missionaries opportunities we’ve never had in the past. We are working directly through the missionaries and letting them guide us,” he said.

Baptist missionaries such as Ananias Cruz and Leo Baggett are an integral part of every mission TBM does in Mexico as the Baptist men work with local pastors to offer the pure water and the spiritual “Water of Life,” Talley observed.

“TBM is hopeful that the water purification system will have the same impact in other cities as their efforts did in the small Zacatecas community” of Santa Tomas, Smith added. “In Zacatecas, the improved water became the turning point for major (business) development to consider the area.”

TBM’s encouragement to share the improved safer water supply prompted state leaders to secure a tanker truck to transport clean water to surrounding hillside villages. To get there, the leaders first had to construct a new road. In turn, it led to the creation of a dam and a lake, which now provides a clean water supply to thousands of residents.

The initial water ministry project in Zacatecas impacted only a few hundred, so the TBM ministry team is pleased with this result. The team also has provided computers to students as they extend their outreach efforts. They are helping the indigenous people restore their lives and livelihoods with every week-long trek to central Mexico.

“The serendipities of that first trip to purify water for thousands of people have been unbelievable,” Talley said.  “A major automobile subsidiary saw the impact of this effort, and they decided to invest in the community. The company bought a warehouse, refurbished it and then bought sewing machines. The company plans to hire more than 650 workers to make seat covers for the auto company worldwide.”

Livelihoods are changing, with many workers now trained and others expected to be hired.

Coupled with the partnership between these Texas Baptist mission workers and missionaries, the movement also is saving lives for Christ. At least 13 churches have been started.

“The churches may be small, but this has led hundreds to know the Lord, including some of the political leaders,” Talley said. “Pastors are being trained.”

As relationships grow, so does community support. Residents in Cervantez already have built a structure to house the TBM water purification units headed to the community.  

“They’ve done such a beautiful job of building and getting it ready,” Talley said. “It’s an unbelievable effort, and the community is very proud” of its accomplishments.

The TBM Agua de Vida team plans to return to Mexico in January to install the new water system.

“We need prayer to know that we’re working where the Lord wants us to be working,” Talley said. “We also need financial assistance to support the ministry.”

The team is praying that through its water and computer ministries opportunities will arise to train more pastors. A new facility is needed to provide a school to equip church leaders.

And word has spread about what TBM already has done in Zacatecas, as evidenced by a tree trimmer working in Talley’s neighborhood who stopped to talk after seeing a TBM insignia on his vehicle.

“You were in Zacatecas,” he said. “We know what you are doing. You’re improving our health, and you’re making a difference in Zacatecas. Someday, we may not have to come to America to get a job.” 

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 12/29/06

UMHB student adds German
flavor to Texas Christmas

By Jennifer Sicking

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

TEMPLE—Kim Jobke knows about celebrating Christmas with her American host family. She should. The German native, an international student at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, has celebrated with them for five years.

In Berlin, where her parents live, they open presents on Christmas Eve.

“We open at 7 a.m.” Christmas Day, said Britney Chisholm, her American “sister.”

“Because Britney decides to open gifts at 5:30 a.m.,” Jobke responded with a laugh.

It is the laughter and easy banter of close family members, which they have become since Jobke arrived in 2001. She stayed beyond her one-year student exchange term at Temple High School and now attends the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton studying business administration.

Jobke came to the United States to learn the language, especially the slang, which differs from the formal English taught in Germany.

“She goes home and talks to people saying ‘y’all’ and stuff,” Britney said, teasing her.

The desire to complete her education in the United States—and continue living with the Chisholms—contributed to Jobke’s decision to stay in America.

“The big part is the family,” she said. “If I hadn’t liked the family, I wouldn’t have stayed. Also, school is easier here than in Germany.”

Although she ran into roadblocks when she returned for her second year in Texas, she eventually took and easily passed the test for her General Equivalency Diploma. She then began to study at Temple College.

“I planned to go back after TC to get a better job, but that didn’t work out,” she said.

She also received encouragement from her family in Germany to stay in Texas. She has two cousins living and working in the United States because of difficult economic conditions in Germany, she said.

Her host family wasn’t ready to part with her either.

“I think that it was kind of an open invitation, if that was what she wanted to do,” Dana Chisholm, her host father, said.

“We didn’t want to lose her,” said her host mother, Linda Chisholm. “She grew on us.”

For the two girls, both only children, each found a sibling.

“People ask us, and I say she’s my sister. People get confused about the exchange program,” Britney said. “I was used to it with other exchange students. At first we clashed a little bit because I wanted to do all the things she did.”

Britney was a freshman in high school when Jobke was a senior. Now their relationship is one of typical siblings—occasional fighting with lots of love in between.

Jobke was the fifth exchange student the Chisholms hosted in their home. They had hosted brothers from Brazil and others from Germany.

“I think over the years they have been good role models for Britney, because she’s an only child,” Mr. Chisholm said.

Britney agreed that the exchange students had broadened her horizons.

“They passed on a lot of experience and knowledge to me,” she said.

During the summer months, Jobke leaves her American family to spend time with her family and friends in Germany. She said it takes a few months for her parents to adjust when she returns to the United States.

“I guess the holidays are the worst for them,” she said.

Yet her mother in Germany contributes to the American Christmas for her daughter. She bakes and sends a special square-shape, traditional cookies to the Chisholms each year.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 12/29/06

Volunteer builders ramp up
efforts to assist the disabled

By George Henson

Staff Writer

PARIS—Mike Bradley and his band of volunteers enjoy building wheelchair ramps to help homebound people escape houses in which they feel imprisoned due to disability. And the builders hope the ramps become highways to heaven for some people.

Immanuel Baptist Church’s ramp-building ministry first came to mind through a study of the New Testament story of a man lowered through the roof by his friends so he might meet Jesus, Bradley noted.

“What if they had said: ‘Anyone who wants to see Jesus, come on up. We’ve made a path for you.’ What would have happened? Nothing. Well, a lot of our churches are doing the same thing,” he said.

“Churches prepare themselves to be accessible to people in wheelchairs, but if they can’t get out of their houses, what good is it?”

The catalogue of people the Paris ministry has helped keeps the group energized, he said.

“One thing I want to do before I die is to one more time go back to God’s house,” an 82-year-old woman told Bradley.

“She loved the Lord, but she was a prisoner in her own house. After we got her ramp built, she started coming (to Immanuel) and was a blessing to the whole church,” he said.

Bradley also recalled a single mother with an 8-year-old son with cerebral palsy who sat in the doorway and talked and joked with the builders throughout the day.

“When she brought him down that ramp the first time, every one of us had a tear in our eye, because you would have thought he had been given the most wonderful present ever,” he said.

James Wood, a volunteer from Immanuel Baptist Church in Paris, digs a posthole to anchor a wheelchair ramp he and other volunteers from the congregation built.

The first ramp benefited a 14-year-old boy with cerebral palsy. His mother had been trying to get a ramp built for the house for two years. She wasn’t able to carry her son’s electric wheelchair up the steps, so it stayed at school. At home, he had a standard wheelchair to sit in, but he wasn’t able to move it himself.

“Seeing that boy come down that ramp went straight to our hearts,” Bradley said. “We had prayer then, and when we looked up, it came to all of us at the same time that we were standing two doors down from a church. It made us ask how many others needed this.”

Bradley and his crew receive far more requests than they have been able to meet.

“The hardest part of this ministry is praying to see who God wants us to help next,” he said.

Every ramp is different because of the different configurations of the houses involved, and each takes four to six hours to assemble, he said. Bradley and Thomas Jordan expedite the process by taking measurements and precutting boards to build sections of the ramp in advance.

The cost of materials runs between $400 and $800 for each ramp, he said.

“The Lord has been in this from the beginning. When we built the first ramp, I just put everything on my charge card, and when we got done, I took my receipts up to the church and told the secretary, ‘I don’t know if you’ll ever get any money for this sort of thing, but if you do, I’d like to be reimbursed. She just smiled and said, ‘I have your money right here.’ People had already started giving. We had never asked, but people had already started giving,” Bradley said. “We’ve found we can’t outspend God.”

When a job is ready to be done, an announcement is made and the congregation at Immanuel always responds with labor and the money to pay for the job. Family members and neighbors also have contributed to the ministry.

The ramp-building ministry is necessary because a wheelchair ramp is too small a job for most contractors.

“These are such a small job, they can’t make any money off of them. So, they quote an exorbitant amount. And most of the people in need of these ramps aren’t in any position to pay it,” Bradley explained.

The ministry opens itself to involvement from the entire church, he noted, adding that some build, some give and others pray. Members of Immanuel’s Woman’s Missionary Union also attend many building projects so they can talk and minister to the many who stop by to see what is going on.

Sometimes it is people driving by who stop; other times its family members and neighbors who come for a look. Almost always, children want a closer view.

“And our WMU ladies are able to meet them and minister to them while we build,” Bradley explained.

The ministry has elevated the church’s profile in the community, he noted.

“People who know these folks are sooner or later going to know that people from Immanuel Baptist Church built the ramp. And they are going to ask them, ‘What did it cost you?’ And when they find out nothing, they are going to ask, ‘Then why did they do it?’ and these people can tell them it’s because we love Jesus and want to share that love with others.”

The ramp-building ministry also has opened doors for the church’s outreach efforts.

“Our FAITH (outreach) teams have gone to people’s doors and told them they were from Immanuel, and people have said, ‘You’re the church that builds those ramps, come on in,’” Bradley said.

“This is a way to demonstrate to people that we’re not just a church building on the corner but a group of people who are involved in the community and involved in the lives of people because we love the Lord.”

The ministry also is a good avenue for people to become acquainted with missions, he added.

“A lot of the people involved with this can’t afford to take off and go on mission trips, and this teaches our younger men about missions and gives them a taste for it,” Bradley explained.

This kind of ministry is needed everywhere, Bradley said.

“The message we want to get out is that this fits in with any church,” he said. “The big city church or the small country church, regardless, the need is there wherever you are.”

Expert carpenters are not required, he added.

“None of us are carpenters, be we figure if God can teach Noah how to build an ark, he can teach us how to build a wheelchair ramp,” Bradley said.

Thomas Jordan said watching the face of a boy who has been trapped in his house as he comes down a ramp will excite anyone about the ministry.

He recalled seeing the eyes of men well up as a boy beamed at being able to come out in the sunshine.

“I thank the Lord I could have a part in bringing a little joy into his life,” Jordan said.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 12/29/06

Bible Studies for Life Series for January 7

Why am I here?

• Genesis 1:1-30

By Kenneth Lyle

Logsdon School of Theology, Abilene

With the New Year, we begin a new study theme, "Creation Faith: Living by God’s Design." This study focuses on the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis, and posits several essential questions that speak to the heart of human existence. In week one, we ask “Why am I here?” The question points to the important issues of the origin and significance of human beings, our relationship to creation, and our purpose within creation. In week two, we will deal with sin, asking the question, “What’s the big problem?” In week three, the focus shifts to the value of human life. The question, “What is human life worth?” has far reaching implications that might surprise us. Finally, in week four we pose the question, “What hope for society?” This may be the most difficult and yet the most important question that faces God’s people. How does our hope become the world’s hope?

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A recent Time magazine cover story highlighted a debate between Richard Dawkins, an atheist biologist, and Francis Collins, a Christian geneticist (Time, Nov. 13, 2006). In this “God vs. Science” debate, Dawkins and Collins engaged in a healthy discussion about the nature of faith and the reality of scientific progress. Time posed the question as to whether the two worldviews were compatible. While the two scientists did not come to a resolution of the issue, they demonstrated the importance and the possibility of a real conversation between religion and science.

Any study of Genesis 1-11 will provide opportunities for similar kinds of debate in the Sunday school classroom. These lessons, however, should not focus primarily on the debate between religion and science; rather, these lessons should help us examine our understanding of how God relates to creation and humanity. Genesis 1-11 presents a story about the origin of things: things like the sun, stars, moon, animals, plants, water, everything that “has been made” (John 1:3); things like sin, rebellion, hatred, and shame; things like redemption and rescue. In my view, Genesis 1-11 is less about science and more about God. That is not to say that there is no science in Genesis 1-11, but when we focus too much attention on the science, we diminish the more important theological dimension of the story.

Genesis 1-11 presents a view of the origin of the cosmos that was a direct refutation of several pagan cosmologies of the ancient world. Most of these pagan views of the origin of things focused on the roles of many gods who brought creation into place through personal conflict. The gods themselves would become the wind and the waves, the land and the sea. Genesis 1-11 presents a radically different understanding of how the one true God brings creation into existence from nothing and by nothing except the spoken word. God speaks, creation happens, God says that it is good.

The open verses of Genesis 1 begin the pattern that resounds throughout the first chapter. God creates the heaven and the earth out of nothing. At the heart of the biblical story of creation stands the assertion that God is not contingent. God has no beginning. God has no end. God calls creation into being, establishing and separating, assigning and delineating. Most importantly, God declares that creation is good. The pattern established in verses 1-4 continues through verse 25 and culminates with the creation of humans in verses 26-28. God’s assertion that creation is good resounds throughout the narrative; and should give us pause to reflect on how we as God’s people relate to creation in our own time.

In the second focal passage, our attention turns to the status and role of humans in the world. A portion of the text reads, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (v. 27). These humans are to “fill the earth and subdue it” (v. 28); but the more significant assertion from these verses is that these created “things” are made in God’s own image. That God creates humanity in God’s images says something important about how much God loves us and how much we should love each other. In Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, Jean Valjean learns from hard experience “the truth that once was spoken, ‘to love another person is to see the face of God.’” Because God makes us in God’s image, we must see each person as loveable—capable of receiving love. Far too often, we Christians retain the image of God for ourselves and forget that God stamps it on every human face.

The focal passage concludes with important words about God’s provision for humanity. God provides both sustenance and rest. God offers to these newly create humans a full plate of options for food while at the same time providing for the rest of creation (vv. 29-30). Most importantly, God provides humans with the opportunity for rest. God knows and appreciates that humans need rest. Jesus understood that Sabbath rest was given to humans for their benefit (Mark 2:27). The issue here is not whether we stay at home and take a nap after church, or whether stores should be open on Sunday. In a twenty-four hour a day, seven day a week world, where nothing stops—ever, God says to creation—take time to rest!

God is at the center of a biblical worldview: God who creates and sustains, God who provides sustenance and rest, God who loves and bids us to love. Why are we here? The answers are myriad, but it comes down to this: God calls us into being; God bids us to live and work in the world—to work for God’s purposes and find delight in them. At the heart of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus crystallizes the essence of our purpose in the world. After offering appropriate praise to God, we are to ask for God’s kingdom to come; for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9-10). By God’s grace and power, we are here to make the creation everything God intends it to be.

Discussion Questions:

How do we talk about Genesis 1-11 without spending too much time on the religion vs. science debate? Is that the only significance of the Genesis 1-11 story?

Does the assertion that creation is “good” affect how we view our world, our environment, and our relationship to other people?

How do twenty-first century people find God’s rest in a 24/7 world?

In what ways can Christians help to bring about the hope of God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven?

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 12/28/06

Small-church pastors
challenged to make a difference

By David Williams

WorldconneX

WAXAHACHIE—God must love small churches since he made so many of them. That was the message pastors of small churches heard at a recent conference conducted by WorldconneX, Texas Baptists’ missions network. 

Titled “More Than You Think You Are,” the meeting at Lakeview Conference Center in Waxahachie was billed as “a new conversation for the smaller-church pastor.” 

“It’s OK to be a small church,” said Bill Tinsley, WorldconneX leader. “Most churches are small churches. But every church should be a kingdom church.”

Tim Ahlen, pastor of Forest Meadow Baptist Church in Dallas, told pastors a small church is not an anomaly, but the norm. He referred to anthropological studies that show the largest naturally occurring human community is 150, whether it is a village in Africa or a church in America. Larger groupings, he said, actually are groups of communities.

“This is normal,” he said, adding that small churches have several advantages over megachurches such as resilience, gift-based organization, decision-making by consensus and effectiveness in evangelism and reproduction.

“They can’t offer the full programs of big churches,” he said. “But they can go narrow and deep in specialized ministry areas.”

He compared the difference in reproductive effectiveness of small churches versus megachurches to the difference in the reproduction of rabbits and elephants.  It takes three years to go from two elephants to three, he said, but during that same time period, two rabbits theoretically could produce 476 million offspring.

Although pastors of smaller churches may feel their church needs to grow before it can accomplish something significant, testimonies during the conference showed how God used small congregations to plant churches, reach people groups and transform communities.

Robert Park, pastor of New Life Baptist Church in Houston, told how his 100-member, 6-year-old church got involved in doing missions in Cuba, where it has planted 30 churches, established 15 Bible training schools and works with college campus ministry.

Pastor Mike Fritscher told how Cottonwood Baptist Church in Dublin adopted an unreached people group in 1999 when the church averaged 270 in worship attendance. Since then, as the church has grown, it has sent nearly 200 members on short-term mission trips to Southeast Asia, Mexico and Arizona. 

When Ahlen became pastor of Forest Meadow, the church averaged only 25 in attendance, but it owned six acres and a building and was receiving $160,000 a year in offerings. Although the church was 35 years old, Ahlen saw it as the equivalent of “a great church start” and began leading the congregation to see what God wanted to do with them. 

The church now averages 75 people from 11 nations at its 11 a.m. worship service and has started five churches, three of which share its North Dallas facility.

One of its church starts, Team Church—now called The Gathering—was launched solely to start other churches. Based in Fort Worth, it meets on Saturday nights so members can divide into church-starting teams on Sunday mornings. Team Church has been responsible for 14 church starts in the last three years, two of which have themselves started churches. 

In addition to its local church-planting ministry, Forest Meadow also does mission work in Sudan, where it also has helped start a church.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 12/28/06

BaptistWay Bible Series for January 7

Believing in Jesus as the Resurrection & the Life

• John 11:1-13, 17-27, 38-44

By David Wilkinson

Broadway Baptist Church, Fort Worth

Believe, believe, believe. This is the key verb and central message of the Gospel of John. The universal invitation to believe in Jesus as the Son of God is extended repeatedly at two levels: to everyone in John’s story who encounters Jesus during his ministry and simultaneously to everyone who encounters Jesus through reading or hearing John’s written witness to the eternal truth.

The beat of “believe” pulses throughout chapter 11 in one of the most famous stories in the Gospels—the miraculous restoration to life of a dead man who also happened to be one of Jesus’ closest friends.

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Central themes

In this story, the Gospel writer continues to employ the themes and literary devices we have seen in previous chapters. Among them:

• Jesus’ words and actions that serve as “signs,” pointing beyond themselves to the deeper truths of the message and mission of Jesus;

• Jesus’ intimacy with and complete dependence on God as his Father;

• Jesus’ inner sense of direction, purpose and timing that guide his ministry;

• Jesus’ use of rich and varied metaphors to communicate his identity and mission (living water, bread of life, light of the world, the good shepherd, etc.); and

• the diverse responses to Jesus, ranging from wholehearted to incomplete or temporary belief, to confusion, unbelief, opposition and conflict, including hatred to the point of wanting to kill him.

In chapter 11, Jesus uses yet another metaphor in the series of “I am” sayings that appear in John’s Gospel. “I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus tells the grieving Martha (v. 25). That declaration is followed by a paradoxical promise offered to Martha and anyone else who believes: Though they will die they will live eternally (v 26). This is one strand in the theme of “belief” that threads its way throughout the chapter:

• In Jesus’ explanation to the disciples: “so that you may believe” (v. 15);

• in the disciples’ expression of commitment (v. 16);

• in Jesus’ words to Martha (vv. 25-26);

• in Martha’s confession to Jesus (v. 27);

• in Jesus’ words to Mary (v. 40);

• in Jesus’ prayer: So that the crowd “may believe” (v. 42);

• in the response of many who witnessed the miracle and believed (v. 45); and

• in the contrasting response of others who did not believe (vv. 46).

The same power Jesus draws upon to bring Lazarus’ stone-cold corpse back to life is available to all who believe. Like the miracle itself, it is an astounding, mind-boggling promise that lies beyond human comprehension but always within the reach of a loving God.

Deeper direction

After introducing the central characters in the story—sisters Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus—who were close friends of Jesus, the Gospel writer reminds us again that Jesus lived according to an inner purpose and time table guided by his sense of God’s will rather than any external influences. He refused to be influenced by external pressures, whether friendly or unfriendly, a point already made clear in comments to his mother (chapter 2), the crowd (chapter 6), his brothers (chapter 7) and his disciples (chapter 9).

After getting a message that Lazarus is ill, he decides for reasons only he understands to stay put for two more days rather than going immediately to see his friends (vv. 3-6). Then he decides to go to Bethany despite the warning from the disciples that he would be returning to hostile territory. In response, Jesus announces Lazarus is dead, but that the trip serves a larger purpose—“that you may believe” (v. 15).

The miracle of bringing life to Lazarus serves as another sign. In this case, John refers not only to the sign’s purpose of glorifying God but also glorifying the Son of God (v. 4).

In this Gospel, the glorifying of the Son is a reference to the Son’s return to the Father. The means of the return is the cross and therefore to be lifted up on the cross is to be lifted up to God’s presence. “To glorify the Son” is, then, a way of speaking of the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ (12:23-26, 32).

For the Gospel writer, the clear significance of the sign is to point beyond the raising of Lazarus to a truth about Jesus as expressed by Jesus to Martha (vv. 25-26).

Deeper emotions

The parallel exchanges between Jesus and Martha and then Jesus and Mary add to the deeply felt emotion in the story. The twice-repeated statement, “if only you had been here,” part lament and part implied petition, is spoken through the unfiltered pain of grief.

Jesus is described as “greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved” (v. 33), weeping (v. 35) and “again greatly disturbed” (v. 38). Notably, Jesus begins to weep immediately following the invitation to “come and see” (v. 34). The same words he had used to call his disciples are now spoken to him with a different twist: Come and see what death brings.

In these poignant descriptions, which stand in contrast to the Gospels’ dominant portrayal of Jesus as the all-knowing and all-powerful Son of God, the writer may be suggesting Jesus is feeling not only the grief of his dear friends but also a premonition of the agony that lies before him.

As Raymond Brown notes, the description of the miracle itself echoes Jesus’ earlier promise: “… for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life” (5:28-29).

Ultimately, the enduring message of this story lies in Jesus’ words to Martha. Initially, Martha expresses her faith in terms shared by others of her day (including the Pharisees), speaking of a resurrection at the last day (v. 24). Jesus, however, is the resurrection and the life (v. 25). Jesus is the point at which death ends and life begins; through him, eternity begins now. In response to these words, Martha’s confession of faith echoes the central confession the Gospel was written to evoke in its readers—that Jesus is, indeed, the Messiah, the Son of God (20:31).

Discussion questions

• What do you think Mary and Martha may have been feeling when they said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died”?

• Jesus’ promise to Mary—and to us —that “everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” communicates he is not only the agent of final resurrection but offers eternal life now. What difference does this make for your faith?

• In what ways have you experienced Jesus as “the resurrection and the life”?

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News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 12/28/06

Explore the Bible Series for January 7

God will guide his people past obstacles

• Nehemiah 4:1-23; 5:1-19; 6:1-19; 7:1-73

By Howard Anderson

Diversified Spiritual Associates, San Antonio

There were six attempts to stop Nehemiah’s work: Sanballat and Tobiah mocked Nehemiah; the enemy threatened a military attack; Sanballat and Geshem attempted to lure Nehemiah outside of Jerusalem to Ono; Sanballat threatened Nehemiah with false charges; Shemaiah, Noadiah and others were paid to prophesy falsely and discredit Nehemiah; and Tobiah had spies in Jerusalem and wrote Nehemiah letters in order to frighten him.

With intimidation and opposition to rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem, Nehemiah sought God’s guidance to devise sound strategies to work around the hindrances.

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Trowels and swords (Nehemiah 4:1-23)

Sanballat was burning with rage. He gathered men from the army of Samaria and his local militia, and then mocked the Jewish people with sarcastic questions—“What will these feeble Jews do? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?”

It is possible his intentions were to provoke the military force to action, since that would have brought the Persian overlord down on Samaria swiftly. Harassment and mockery became the primary strategy to prevent the reconstruction of the walls. Sanballat poured contempt on the Jewish people and on their God. Tobiah, the aide of Sanballat, declared that if a small creature like a fox jumped on the wall, the wall would collapse because of its flimsy construction.

Nehemiah did not respond to his opponents. Instead, he prayed the Lord would not forgive them. Nehemiah believed when the people of God were involved in the work of God, any assault on them was an assault on God.

When the ridicule did not stop the work on the wall, Nehemiah’s opponents tried a threat of attack. The opposition against Nehemiah had started with two people (Nehemiah 2:10) and had grown to three (2:19). Now it had become a multitude that surrounded Jerusalem. Sanballat was a Samaritan from north of Jerusalem. The Arabians were to the south, the Ammonites to the east, and the Ashdolites to the west.

Nehemiah’s spirit had affected the entire group of workers to pray—a group prayer to God. They not only prayed, but they set a watch and did what was humanly possible to protect themselves from attack.

Under the circumstances, some of the workers became discouraged. The wall was half finished (v. 6), but the task was taking its toll. While the Jewish workers became discouraged (v. 10), the opposition intensified. The adversaries began a whispering campaign among the Jewish people to stop the building of the wall.

Because there was no Jewish army, the people had to defend themselves. Nehemiah placed men strategically on the wall. From the high places on the wall, men could see the approaching enemy. Other men defended the low places of the wall.

Nehemiah’s strategy was to address both leaders and laypeople. In this way, all the community would have ownership of the same ideals. Nehemiah said, “Fight for your brethren.” He reminded the Jewish people they were not mercenary soldiers earning a salary or hoping for loot. Not only were their own lives at stake, but so were the lives of their loved ones. God answered Nehemiah’s prayers. The people were inspired by his wise words and returned to their tasks.

Nehemiah armed the workers and divided his own servants into two groups. Half of them worked on the wall and half of them stood guard. Since the builders needed both hands to work, their swords were hung on their sides. He instituted an alarm system for those who worked on the wall. A trumpeter with a ram’s horn stood near Nehemiah wherever he went. If the wall was attacked, the alarm would gather all of the people quickly to the danger spot.

The people worked during the day and stood guard at night. Workers living out of town were asked to remain in the city rather than return home. Except for washing, Nehemiah and his men never took off their clothes. They worked day and night.

Injustice and oppression (Nehemiah 5:1-19)

The prolonged period of working, watching, fear and weariness inevitably led to trouble among the people in Jerusalem. The first group of complainers had large families, and did not have enough food to eat. The second group of complainers had large mortgages to pay and could not buy food. The third group of complainers had large taxes to pay and had been forced to mortgage their land and even to sell their children.

While hunger, shortages, taxes and money were the immediate results of the people’s circumstances, they were not the heart of the problem. The people’s basic problem is pinpointed in the words “against their brethren the Jews.” The people were not complaining just about poverty and high taxes; they were grumbling about each other.

In verse 1, the “people” refers to the poor; the “brethren” refers to the rich rulers (v. 7). In short, this was a class conflict. The poor people had mortgaged their lands, vineyards and houses. They had borrowed money and even had sold their sons and daughters into slavery.

From the perspective of the Law, there were two problems here: Usury— lending money and charging interest; and slavery. It was not wrong for a Jewish person to lend money with interest to a non-Jewish person (Deuteronomy 23:19-20), nor was it wrong for a Jewish person to lend money to a fellow Jew; however, the law did prohibit usury (Exodus 22:25). Interest rates were exorbitant and could easily lead a person into poverty and enslavement. This leads to the second problem. According to the law of Moses, a Jewish person could hire himself out to someone, but not as a slave (Leviticus 25:35-40).

Nehemiah’s first response to the sins of the Jewish people was anger. Deliberate disobedience of the word of God ought to make a person indignant toward the sin—but not toward the sinner. After getting angry at the sins of the Jewish people (v. 6), Nehemiah spent time in serious thought. After rebuking the guilty parties privately, he confronted them in public with the same charges. When Israel, a nation called by the Lord, stopped honoring and obeying him, it became a scandal because God’s name was being dishonored.

Nehemiah challenged the lenders to restore what they had taken with interest. He shook his lap garment as if he were getting rid of what he was carrying. Nehemiah dramatized what God would do if the people broke their promise. God would shake them loose from their houses and their possessions. Nehemiah’s motives were pure. He was not doing good for the praise of men, but to please God.

Deceit and intimidation (Nehemiah 6:1-19)

Nehemiah’s enemies, realizing that open opposition had not worked and that the wall was close to being finished, suggested a conference. Somehow, perhaps by a word from the Lord, Nehemiah was warned of his enemy’s intent.

The evidence used to accuse Nehemiah of rebellion was the assertion that prophets were proclaiming Nehemiah to be king. Nehemiah’s enemies threatened to take the matter to the king of Persia. They used this threat as leverage to force Nehemiah to attend their proposed meeting. Although they had no real intention of going to the king (v. 9), they hoped their threats would ruin Nehemiah’s reputation so the workers would lose their resolve. Nehemiah would not allow himself to get sidetracked. Instead, he committed his enemy’s accusations to the Lord.

Shemaiah, the priest, suggested to Nehemiah that they enter the holy place to be safe from assassins. It was lawful for an Israelite to seek refuge at the altar outside the temple (Exodus 21:13-14), but only a priest could enter the holy place. Nehemiah’s enemies were subtly tempting him. If the could trap him in sin, this would discredit him and the work.

Examples are all around us of powerful ministers falling prey to homosexuality, adultery and drug abuse.

God gave Nehemiah the wisdom to discern the error in Shemaiah’s counsel. Tobiah and Sanballat were the principal instigators behind Shemaiah. Nehemiah indignantly rejected Shemaiah’s counsel for two reasons. A man such as himself should not flee. Nehemiah was the governor, a leader of the people. He was responsible to the king and ultimately to the King of Kings; therefore, a man in his position should not run and hide out of fear.

During the building of the wall, a number of personal letters were exchanged between some of the nobles of Judah and Tobiah. Tobiah and his son Jehohanan had married Jewish women. Some of the nobles sang Tobiah’s praises to Nehemiah and then reported back to Tobiah everything they learned from the governor. With these letters, they hoped either to entrap Nehemiah in his own words or to intimidate him.

Organization and registration (Nehemiah 7:1-73)

The Levites were assistants to the priests (Numbers 18:1-4) and guarded and cleaned the sanctuary. Nehemiah appointed the Levites to their duties in the temple. The porters, gatekeepers and singers were numbered among the Levites. The gatekeepers kept watch over the house of God and opened and closed the gates of the temple court (1 Chronicles 9:17-19; 26:12-19). The singers led the people in their musical worship of God.

Nehemiah appointed two guards over the city as municipal officers in charge of security—each guard responsible for half of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3:9-12). One of the guards was Nehemiah’s brother, Hanani, who had visited Jerusalem and brought back a bleak report to Nehemiah in Shushan (Nehemiah 1:2).

The other guard was Hananiah. Nehemiah also established guidelines for protecting the city. The gates of a city normally opened at sunrise, but Nehemiah ordered Jerusalem’s gates to be kept closed until the sun was high. This extra precaution would have discouraged enemies from mounting a surprise attack at sunrise. Gates were critical to the defense of an ancient city.

For the size of the city, Jerusalem was under populated. Even though it was 90 years since people had returned under Zerubbabel to live there, there still was much undeveloped space within the walls renewed by Nehemiah.

“And my God put into mine heart” attributes to the Lord the idea of a census that would show the distribution of the population. If Nehemiah knew the population pattern in the capital and the countryside, he could then determine which districts could best afford to lose a portion of their inhabitants to Jerusalem.

Nehemiah discovered a list, recorded by families, of the names of the Jewish people who came from Persia to Judah in 536 B.C. under Zerubbabel. This long list contained the leaders names (v. 7); people by families (vv. 8-25); people by cities (vv. 26-38); priests (vv. 39-42); Levites (vv. 43-45); Nethinim or temple servants (vv. 46-56); Solomon’s servants (vv. 57-60); returnees without a genealogy (vv. 61-65); the total number of people (vv. 66-67); their animals (vv. 68-69); and the gifts given for the support of the work (vv. 70-72).

Discussion questions

• Is God as active today in the lives of his people today as he was in the time of Nehemiah?

• How has God worked in your life to overcome obstacles?

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 12/27/06

Former WMU President Huis Coy Egge dead at 95

Former Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas President Huis Coy Egge died on Christmas Eve. She was 95.

Mrs. Egge, a native of Logansport, La., was a charter member of Broadway Baptist Church in Houston, was a member of First Baptist Church in Corsicana from 1978 to 1997 and most recently was a member of First Baptist Church in Friendswood.

She was president of Texas WMU from 1976 to 1980 and was affiliated with the missions organization most of her life.

She was preceded in death by her first husband, Clarence W. Coy, and her second husband, Elvis H. Egge.

She is survived by her children and their spouses, Jon and Laroyce Coy, Fabio and Ann Fantozzi, Martha and Fred Prince, Ford and Dorothy Egge; and by her sisters, Marcy Jackson and Linda Presley.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 12/26/06

Volunteers’ love encourages Moldovan women

Dressed in a borrowed winter coat, a Texas Baptist volunteer slowly approached a family working outdoors. They watched her curiously. She obviously was a stranger to their village but had a warm and loving face that made them want to stop and chat.

Susan Edwards of Dallas flashed a smile. Caught off-guard, the family smiled back. There’s not much to smile about in this small, central European country. Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe. In villages outside of the capital, Chisinau, unemployment is well over 90 percent. Most survive like this family, from food grown in their yard.

A kiss on each side of the face is one way Moldovans express their love and gratitude. Bea Mesquias receives a “thank you” for sharing her life stories at the national Women’s Ministry Conference.

Without a common spoken language between them, Edwards simply patted the woman’s hand and pulled out a Russian Bible. With the simple gesture, she offered this family a chance to find a reason to smile.

Edwards, along with five other Texas volunteers, spent a week offering hope and encouragement to Moldovan women through an ongoing International Initiatives partnership between Woman’s Missionary Union and the Moldova Baptist Union.

WMU’s International Initiatives provides an avenue for volunteers to travel beyond borders to share their passion for Christ around the world.

Other team members were Rita Odom of Longview, Jerri Warren of Texarkana, Lori Hudson of Skidmore, Bea Mesquias of Harlingen and Debra McCammon of Mesquite. The Texas women visited villages, homes and churches and taught classes at a national Women’s Ministry Conference. For many on the team, it was their first trip outside North America.

“It’s one thing to read about other cultures, another thing to do it as a tourist. But it’s an entirely different thing to do it all as an ambassador of Christ,” Edwards said as an elderly woman grabbed her, enthusiastically kissing both cheeks, thanking her for the Bible she just received.

Just down the road from Edwards, Mesquias spoke in the village’s Baptist church. She described the importance of discipleship and growing in Christ’s Word. The women in her audience listened intently.

Often during Soviet Union rule, evangelical Christians were not allowed to freely worship in groups. All believers could do was pray. “They could take away our worship time as a group,” Olga Mocan said. “But, they could never take away our individual prayer time. That’s why prayer remains so important to us today – our Christian heritage was built on prayer.”

Close to 1,000 women from across Moldova attended the national Women’s Ministry Conference in Chisinau that the volunteers taught. Many of the Moldovan women told stories of the years when their church services were forced underground and they had no Bibles. Others told stories of their new-found faith and asked the volunteers to pray for unbelieving family members.

“These women are so hungry for discipleship,” Mesquias said. “We told stories from our own lives and of how God sustained us. It was amazing how our stories related to things these women are going through right now.”

Mesquias, a veteran missions volunteer, was touched by the gratitude and love the Moldovan women showed the Texans. After the workshops, the women hugged and kissed the volunteers and expressed their thanks. Through interpreters, the Americans learned the testimonies and stories of the women. They prayed and cried with many.

“This is one of the poorest places I’ve ever been. The people have nothing,” Mesquias said. “Yet, to show their appreciation for teaching the Bible, these women pulled all of their resources and fed us three and four course meals. They literally gave everything they had.”

Prayer is a heartfelt and emotional time of pouring one’s heart out to God in Moldova. Prayer time can last for a very long time as believers thank God for their blessings, ask for Him to take care of the sick, and intercede for the nations.

Debra McCammon, Texas WMU missions growth consultant, smiled as she watched the volunteers interacting. She knew the volunteer team experienced God in a totally new way, in a different part of the world.

“When our team went to the villages and met the people, went into homes and saw where the women from the national conference lived – that’s when this trip started making a lasting impact on us,” she said. “The spark for missions and for sharing Christ’s love was more than ignited – it caught fire. It’s amazing how God took women who are not professional missionaries and used them for His glory.”

McCammon said worshipping with women from another culture and country is an indescribable experience. Language doesn’t matter. Christ’s love unites.

Sitting in the back of the church, a woman in a traditional headscarf that signified she is married couldn’t agree more. After hugging and thanking a volunteer, the woman pointed to a young woman singing on stage. She pantomimed to let her know this college student was her daughter.

“She love Jesus,” the smiling mother said in broken English as she pointed to her daughter and then to heaven. “Me too!”

For more information about WMU’s International Initiatives program, visit www.wmu.com/volunteerconnection or call (800) 345-7437.

For more information about Moldova and Central and Eastern Europe, visit http://hope4cee.org/index.htm.

Around 1,000 women attended the national Women’s Ministry Conference in Chisinau, Moldova. Texas volunteer Jerri Warren (from Texarkana) receives a hug of thanks from a Moldovan woman after teaching a workshop on prayer journaling. A team of six Texas women spent a week in November working specifically with Moldovan women.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 12/26/06

Georgia church votes to purge piggy name

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (ABP)—A Baptist church in a rapidly growing part of Georgia is no longer sitting high on the hog, thanks to a recent name-changing vote.

And some longtime members of the 152-year-old congregation, as well as residents of the surrounding community, have raised a stink about it.

Hog Mountain Baptist Church, located about 40 miles northeast of Atlanta, became Hamilton Mill Baptist Church when the 75-member congregation voted to change its name.

A tally of the vote was not immediately available. But an earlier poll on whether to change the church’s name at all ended up in a 21-7 majority in favor of shedding the “Hog Mountain” moniker.

The new name took effect immediately. The name of the street in front of the church, Hog Mountain Church Road, will not change.

Older members of the church initially complained to local media outlets about the proposed change, which Pastor Barney Williams said was discussed five years prior to the vote.

Many had grown up in the church when it was located in a rural area and were attached to its quirky, porky name. Others questioned the logistics of renaming the church, which has an official historic marker sign at the front of the building. Deacons did not respond to a Nov. 30 Gwinnett Historical Society letter asking them to reconsider the change.

Local lore says the name Hog Mountain came from men who stopped on a nearby ridge—part of the Eastern Continental Divide—to rest pigs overnight on their way to market.

But, during the late 1990s, the surrounding area was overtaken by Atlanta’s ever-increasing suburban sprawl. “Hamilton Mill” became a more popular name for local developments and businesses than the earthier “Hog Mountain.”

Williams insisted renaming the church will attract potential members who may have been turned off by its name. He reported other church members said they preferred the modification because, in the Bible, pigs are associated with sin.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 12/23/06

Pastors rank among top 10 on ethics list

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

DALLAS (ABP)—Americans may trust their pastors almost as much as they trust their nurses.

That’s according to a recent USA Today/Gallup Poll. For the sixth year in a row, nursing topped the list as the most ethical occupation in America, according to a survey of public perceptions of honesty and ethical standards for 23 occupations.

More than 84 percent of Americans said ethical standards for nurses are “very high” or “high.” It was the second-highest rating ever for any occupation. Firefighters scored 90 percent in December 2001, right after the World Trade Center attacks.

Clergy members placed seventh on the list for combined scores of “very high” and “high,” with a total of 58 percent. When evaluated only by the “very high” ratings, they tied for third place, along with veterinarians and medical doctors, at 16%.

Pharmacists came in second, with 17 percent of them receiving the “very high” rating.

Only 3 percent of Americans said clergy have “very low” ethical standards.

Car salesmen came in last on the list, with 55 percent of Americans saying they have low or very low ethics. No other profession came close to that level of skepticism.

Researchers also pointed out that Americans of different political persuasions evaluated many professions quite differently for honesty. This was especially true for clergy.

“Republicans have a more favorable view than Democrats of clergy and policemen,” Lydia Saad wrote in the Gallup News Service report. “Democrats are more positive than Republicans about the ethics of college teachers, psychiatrists, journalists, lawyers and senators.”

Results were based on telephone interviews with 1,009 adults. The interviews were conducted Dec. 8-10.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.