Posted: 2/15/06
BaptistWay Bible Series for Feb. 26

Every day of Jesus’ life focused on the cross

By Lex Robertson

Logsdon Seminary, Abilene

We Americans are pretty pragmatic. What’s the “bottom line”? So what? Those are the questions we so often ask and hear. Let us ask those same questions about the life and work of Jesus.

Luke records many wonderful things done by Jesus. He performed miracles, healed the sick, fed the hungry and amazed people with his teachings and parables. He even brought the dead back to life.

Jesus had quite a following, too. Wherever he went, a crowd of people surrounded him, including a select few who followed him everywhere.

All these things were important parts of Jesus’ life and ministry, but he still had one thing to do that took priority over everything. Jesus’ entire life pointed to the cross. The cross was the destination in Jesus’ journey on earth.

The final moments of Jesus’ journey were the most unpleasant. Pilate had the unfortunate position of holding Jesus on trial. Pilate knew Jesus was not guilty, and he did not want to crucify him, but Jesus’ accusers were insistent. They demanded Jesus be crucified without giving legitimate reasons for his execution. Jesus raised no protest in the face of this great injustice. He never tried to escape his fate on the cross; Jesus remained obedient.

In Luke 9:23, Jesus said in order to become his followers, people must take up their crosses and follow him. This disturbing image surely turned some away. Death on a cross was not only one of the more painful forms of punishment, it also was perceived as a shameful way to die.

Nevertheless, obedience is essential in discipleship, and sometimes obedience presents us with some very unattractive propositions. To a first century audience, nothing could be less appealing than a cross, with all its implications of shame and death.

Sometimes, it is difficult for us to imagine that Jesus needed to be obedient. After all, he was God. At the same time, he was human, and he had a mission. He remained obedient to that mission, as he was betrayed by his friends, condemned by his accusers, beaten by his holders and hung on a cross. All through this, Jesus remained obedient.

Jesus, who led an innocent and good life, was sentenced to death along with two criminals. Along with those two, Jesus was led to a terrifying place known as The Skull. The Skull was a common location for crucifixions, and it actually had a similar shape to a human skull, making it a particularly eerie place. It was on The Skull that Jesus was crucified, one criminal on his left, the other on his right. All through this, Jesus remained obedient.

After his cross had been raised and completely situated, Jesus called out to God, asking forgiveness for those who had raised that cross. “They know not what they do,” Jesus said of those soldiers who thought they merely were carrying out the orders of their employer. Even as Jesus was petitioning God for these men, they gambled for the rights to Jesus’ clothes. All through this, Jesus remained obedient.

Some of the important people in the crowd looked on and scoffed, mocking Jesus and challenging to save himself. An inscription, hanging at the top of Jesus’ cross read, “King of the Jews.” The soldiers looked up at that inscription and echoed the leaders in the crowd. “If you are the King of the Jews,” they said, “save yourself.” All through this, Jesus remained obedient.

Jesus even was mocked by one of the criminals crucified next to him. “Save yourself and us,” the man cried out. The other criminal spoke up for Jesus, testifying to Jesus’ innocence. Jesus promised that man would be in paradise with him that very day. Jesus did not save the men in the way the first criminal would have preferred. Jesus already had reached his destination.

Around noon, the sky became dark. The curtain in the temple was torn in two, symbolizing the fruition of Jesus’ goal. From the cross, Jesus cried out, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” At that point, Jesus’ mission was complete—he had done what he had come to do.

Jesus came to be a sacrifice to God on the behalf of all people. That curtain in the temple represented the exclusive access that the priests had in approaching God. The priests would bring sacrifices on behalf of others, but Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice.

Even though his heart felt the disappointment of betrayal and the pain of being hated, he remained obedient. Even though his body felt the wounds of a beating and the nails of a crucifixion, he remained obedient.

When Jesus died, a Roman soldier standing by looked up at the Christ’s body. What could he say? He simply said, “Surely this man was innocent.” It was not anything Jesus said that led the soldier to this conclusion. Jesus never protested; he was only obedient to his call.

Jesus was on a lifelong journey to the cross. Along the way, he faced some great temptations but remained faithful. He surrendered popularity and earthly power to offer eternal life to humankind. He became human—a servant—and submitted himself to an ugly death. He did it out of love. He never stopped until his journey was completed.

Discussion questions

• What does Jesus’ journey to and through the cross mean to you?

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 2/13/06

Strickland, longtime head of CLC, dies at age 64

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

Phil Strickland believed his mission was to provide a voice for the powerless in the halls of government and speak prophetically to Texas Baptists on moral and ethical issues.

After a long battle with cancer, resultant pneumonia silenced that prophetic voice Feb. 11 at age 64.

Strickland served 38 years with the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ Christian Life Commission, including nearly a quarter-century as director of the public policy and moral concerns agency.

“Phil Strickland helped Texas Baptists to remember and be faithful to their heritage, and he consistently declared the high ethical calling of the Christian life,” said BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade.

But while Strickland possessed a well-earned public reputation as a knowledgeable political insider, an outspoken advocate for children and a staunch defender of individual religious freedom and other historic mainstream Baptist principles, people with whom he came into contact individually learned he also was “a man of deep personal faith and prayer,” Wade noted.

“Everybody who ever spent any time around him grew in their Christian walk, their faith and their response to the gospel,” Wade said.

Strickland was a member of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, where he had served as a deacon, Sunday school teacher and chairman of various committees. Pastor George Mason noted his church lost “a faithful servant,” Baptists lost a strong and prophetic voice, and “the kingdom of God has lost a skillful and passionate moral advocate for the weak and vulnerable of our world.”

Strickland possessed a rare combination of keen intellect and consistent activism, Mason observed.

“He was always eager to learn the next thing, to read the next book, to measure his position on matters against those who could teach him something new. That curiosity bred creativity. His work for justice in the church and in the world was formed by the gospel and informed by the living Christ within him,” he said.

Strickland’s “never-ending quest” to make life better for children and to improve the lives of the overlooked and under-served energized his life, Mason added.

“The gospel was Phil’s preoccupation, and he occupied his life making sure it penetrated not only human hearts but human systems as well,” he said. “The spiritual and the social were always for him interconnected spheres of life. Since Jesus is Lord of all, Phil believed that society could better reflect the Lordship of Christ if Christians would put the gospel into practice.”

Former Texas Speaker of the House Pete Laney called Strickland “an unwavering advocate” for Texans in need.

“His voice in the policy discussions at the State Capitol has made a significant impact on the lives of the state’s most vulnerable citizens—its children,” Laney said. “He has provided strong ethical leadership and is a reminder to us all that government exists to serve the people. His influence will never fully be recognized, and his presence will be deeply missed in Austin.”

Strickland often recalled that he took a leave of absence from a Fort Worth law firm in December 1967 to help Texas Baptists defeat gambling. And since gambling proved to be a perennial problem, he never returned to fulltime private legal practice.

Instead, he became the first—and for many years the only—registered lobbyist in Austin serving a religious denominational body.

Drawing on contacts made and lessons learned as a law school student when he worked as legislative assistant to Texas Lt. Gov. Preston Smith, Strickland lobbied lawmakers to oppose the spread of gambling, resist attempts to chip away at the wall of separation between church and state, and remember the needs of children—particularly the poor, abused or neglected.

To advance those causes, he built coalitions that spanned the political and religious spectrum.

Strickland became founding chairman of Texans Care for Children, the state’s first multi-issue child advocacy group, which brought together more than 50 organizations that address the needs of children.

Gov. Mark White appointed him first chairman of the Texas Council on Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, a council created to oversee and coordinate distribution of the Children’s Trust Fund. He also served on a variety of other governmental advisory committees.

Weston Ware, who worked alongside Strickland at the CLC during nine regular sessions of the Texas Legislature and numerous called special sessions, praised his abilities as a coalition-builder.

“Phil not only was a political strategist par excellence, but he also was able to win the hearts and minds of diverse groups, often bringing together the most conservative and most liberal advocates to resolve difficult issues, as he did with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” Ware recalled, pointing to legislation aimed at preventing substantial burdens on the free exercise of religion.

“Few could say ‘no’ when representatives of the religious right and the American Civil Liberties Union or the Texas Freedom Network all came together on the same issues.”

Strickland earned a reputation for integrity, trustworthiness and professionalism among legislators in Austin, and that established credibility for anyone representing the CLC, Ware noted.

“It meant when I went to talk to a legislator, or to give testimony before a legislative committee, that Phil’s good reputation, gained over all the years since 1967, had gone before me,” he said. “It meant that a legislator could trust me, could value what I had to say, could believe that I had done my homework on the issue at hand because I worked for Phil Strickland, and Phil had never let him or her down.”

Nationally, Strickland served on the Inter-religious Task Force on U.S. Food Policy, the Bread for the World board of directors, the Americans United for Separation of Church and State board of trustees and the National Child Abuse Coalition.

He was a past president of the United Way of Texas.

Even though he held some prominent positions, Strickland worked mostly behind the scenes, said James Dunn, his immediate predecessor as director of the Christian Life Commission.

“Texas Baptists as a whole have no idea about the significant contributions Phil Strickland made to Texas Baptist life, to the state of Texas, to children and to a decent and just society,” he said. “His contributions remind me of an iceberg, in which perhaps only one percent of the massive movement is seen and 99 percent is hidden beneath the surface. That is the way Phil led the fight for truth and righteousness in Texas.”

Dunn, who left the Texas Christian Life Commission to become executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, also noted Strickland’s steadfast commitment to religious liberty and distinctive Baptist beliefs such as the soul competency of every individual.

 “In a day when many Baptists seem to have amnesia about our heritage, Phil remained a rock-solid champion of religious freedom and the separation of church and state,” said Dunn, who teaches at Wake Forest Divinity School.

BGCT Executive Director Emeritus Bill Pinson praised Strickland for “his brilliance coupled with his dedication to Christ and his genuine concern for all persons (that) made him extraordinarily successful in Christian ministry.”

Strickland’s influence reached beyond Baptist circles and beyond Texas as he worked with various denominations for causes of social justice, Pinson noted.

“His application of the gospel of Christ to life includes practically every aspect of Christian ethics—family life, race relations, hunger, poverty, neglected children, alcohol abuse, gambling, economics, social justice, religious freedom, separation of church and state,” he said. “His positive impact across a wide spectrum of our world has been enormous. He surely will hear our Lord say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’’”

An Abilene native, Strickland studied at Baylor University before transferring to the University of Texas in Austin where he earned both his undergraduate and law degrees.

He also pursued graduate studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He is survived by his wife, Carolyn; daughter Delaine Mueller of Tucson, Ariz., her husband, Daniel, and their two children; daughter Shannon Holman of Lonoke, Ark., her husband, Merritt, and their two children; and his mother, Sybil Strickland of Abilene.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 2/10/06

Wayland to offer degrees in Kenya

By Jonathan Petty

Wayland Baptist University

PLAINVIEW—The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has granted Wayland Baptist University authority to offer an accredited bachelor’s degree in religion through its partnership with Kenya Baptist Theological College.

Approval of the degree program comes nearly seven years after Wayland answered a call from the Kenya Baptist Convention to help train pastors. Pastors of most Baptist churches in Kenya lack formal training or higher education, convention officials noted.

Three Wayland representatives—Vaughn Ross, chairman of the mathematics and sciences division and a former missionary to Kenya; Fred Meeks, chairman of the religion division, and Phil Almes, emeritus mathematics professor—visited Kenya in 1998.

“We went as a result of a true Macedonian call by the Kenya Baptist Convention, saying they have a crisis in leadership training and they needed help,” Ross said.

As a result, Wayland began offering an associate’s degree in 1999, and the first class graduated in 2003. Wayland also began building the resources necessary in Kenya to be accredited to offer a full degree.

Wayland contributed thousands of volumes to the existing library at the Kenya college and established an Internet link with the library on Wayland’s Plainview campus, making thousands more publications available to students. Wayland has also set up a computer lab with 20 student computers.

First Baptist Church of Plainview helped build a dormitory to house visiting students and faculty. Kenya Baptists have also agreed to build an office building to house the Wayland program.

“In order for SACS to approve us, that campus had to meet all the criteria that any campus anywhere else has to meet,” Meeks said. “Be it faculty credentials, library resources, the whole nine yards … they are not making any exceptions.”

Courses are set up so a group of students may attend class on the campus at Brakenhurst, just outside of Nairobi, for three weeks, four or five times a year. Wayland faculty from the main campus in Plainview, as well as the school’s other campuses, travel to Kenya to teach the classes.

The program is designed so students may attend class for short periods several times a year, then return home to continue work in their churches and communities, Ross explained.

“The students who are taking these courses are already engaged in ministry,” he said. “Many of them have been engaged in ministry for a long time. This is a modified residential program so they can be back home, carrying out their pastoral duties and other ministries in their churches.”

Wayland will commit about six professors a year to teaching in Kenya.

This is more than an opportunity to educate the people of Kenya; it is an opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission, Meeks said.

“This is pure, indigenous missions,” he said. “This is not where we are sending some American to go over there and be a missionary. This is where we are training a native Kenyan to stay in his country and do ministry. These are students who are not just going to be members of their churches in Kenya, they are going to be the leaders and the pastors.”

With the help of Texas Baptists, Wayland Baptist University also is underwriting the program. The average family income in Kenya is around $1,500 a year—not enough to afford a formal college education. By underwriting the program, those who are truly interested in obtaining a religion degree will be able to enroll without the additional financial burden on their families.

“The financial underwriting is being done by churches, foundations and the university at this point,” Ross said. “This is a true partnership between Texas Baptists through Wayland and the Kenya Baptist Convention.”

The Kenyan convention asked for this program in order to meet the demands of the growing church in Kenya, he added. While serving as a missionary to Kenya in 1975, Ross said there were about 400 Baptist churches in the whole country. Now there are more than 3,000 with about 100 churches being added each year. Some of the churches have nearly 5,000 members. Last year, 16 Baptist churches were added in Nairobi alone.

“And other denominations are experiencing that same kind of growth and responding in similar ways,” Ross said. “We are on the edge of what will be a different kind of church growth than what we have experienced in missions before. Before, we sent missionaries to do the primary witnessing, church planting and church beginning. This is an enabling ministry and it is going to produce even greater results.”

Individuals or groups interested in supporting the Kenya project are encouraged to contact Wayland’s Office of Advancement at (806) 291-3425.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 2/10/06

Mac Brunson of Dallas likely to follow
Vines as pastor of Jacksonville church

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP)—Less than a week after bidding farewell to retiring pastor Jerry Vines, First Baptist Church of Jacksonville—one of the country's largest congregations—is expected to nominate Dallas pastor Mac Brunson as his successor.

The Jacksonville church posted a simple announcement on its website Feb. 9: "Please join us this Sunday, Feb. 12, for an announcement from the pulpit committee." Several well-placed Baptists in Jacksonville said Brunson will be announced as the candidate.

"That's what I've been told," state Sen. Stephen Wise, a prominent member of the church, told Associated Baptist Press Feb. 9. "It's pretty well known. I was told in an e-mail this morning."

Brunson already fills one of Christianity's most legendary pulpits—First Baptist Church of Dallas—where W.A. Criswell and George W. Truett rose to fame. But the Dallas church has lost some of its luster—and membership—in recent years. With about 10,000 total members, it is about a third the size of the Jacksonville church, which counts 28,000 members and occupies nine blocks of downtown.

Brunson has long been mentioned as a candidate for the Jacksonville pastorate. He asked the Dallas congregation Jan. 8 to pray for him concerning a major decision about his future. He declined to tell reporters any details at the time.

Brunson was one of the featured speakers at the Jacksonville church's pastors' school in early February. He could not be reached by phone or e-mail Feb. 9. No one was answering the phones at First Baptist of Jacksonville that evening either.

Brunson has been senior pastor of the Dallas congregation since 1999. He also serves as chancellor of Criswell College, the undergraduate school founded by members of the church.

Previously Brunson was pastor of Greenstreet Baptist Church in High Point, N.C. He holds degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and Furman University in Greenville, S.C. He and his wife, Debbie, have three children.

First Baptist has been a fixture in downtown Dallas since 1868. Its facilities now occupy six city blocks. It has an average Sunday school attendance of 3,103 and total annual receipts of $26 million.

Vines, 68, pastor of the Jacksonville church for 23 years, announced his retirement last May. It became official Feb. 7. Like Criswell, he was president of the Southern Baptist Convention and a pivotal figure in the conservative takeover of the SBC. He also was a trustee chairman at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University.

Paige Patterson, one of the architects of the SBC conservative movement, told the Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville: “I wouldn’t hesitate to say that Dr. Vines and (late Memphis pastor) Dr. Adrian Rogers were the two most important figures in the conservative movement.

Posted: 2/9/06

Unity marks Baylor regents' meeting

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

WACO—Unity marked John Lilley’s first board meeting with the Baylor University regents since becoming the school’s president, both he and outgoing Chairman Will Davis of Austin reported.

“Everything passed unanimously,” Davis told reporters after the Feb. 3 meeting—including the confirmation of Jim Turner of Dallas as new board chair and the approval of a new residential complex that will replace a campus landmark. Last year, the regents had named Turner chair-elect. He will assume the chairmanship June 1.

Regents authorized construction of a 700-bed residential complex, approved issuing up to $63.5 million in bonds to finance the project and agreed to raze the Brooks Hall dormitory to make room for the new development.

The Brooks Village residential facility will cost a projected $42.8 million, and an 800-car parking garage will cost about $8.3 million. The balance of the bond issue will finance utility upgrades and property acquisitions.

The complex will include a 120-seat chapel, great hall, dining room, library and resource center and classrooms.

The residential facility will incorporate some external features of Brooks Hall, including its distinctive entry archway.

Brooks Hall—a dormitory built in 1921 that houses 230 students—will be leveled when students move out after the spring semester, and the university will break ground for the new facility soon afterward, Davis said.

“It will be a little tight for one year,” Lilley acknowledged, but he said existing housing will accommodate current Brooks Hall residents.

In other business, regents approved a resolution of appreciation for Bill Underwood, who served as Baylor’s interim president seven months and more than 15 years on the Baylor Law School faculty. Underwood has been named president-elect of Mercer University in Macon, Ga.

During his tenure as interim president, Underwood “began building bridges and restoring unity that paved the way for the 13^th president of Baylor University,” the proclamation said. “Many of his successes are evident in the steps he took to begin the rebuilding of the Baylor community through his openness and transparency that fostered healing for the Baylor family.

“He encouraged others at Baylor to focus less on their differences and more on finding common ground with one another. He sought to calm the waters by creating a renewed sense of shared purpose among alumni, faculty, staff and students.”

At the regents meeting, Lilley also announced the appointments of Reagan Ramsower as vice president for finance and administration and Charles Beckenhauer as general counsel. Both had served in their posts on an interim basis.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 2/7/06
Explore the Bible Series for Feb. 19

Assist missionaries in every way possible

• Romans 15:14-20, 22-25, 28-32

By Trey Turner

Canyon Creek Baptist Church, Temple

There is a word gaining wider usage in church literature. It is coming to the forefront because of people’s search for purpose. “Missional” answers the question of how to connect the Great Commission with my own Christian walk.

It is not enough to consider being mission-supportive, though our church will continue to support our missionaries in our budget and then with the special offerings throughout the year. Being missional means being involved—intentional involvement.

Last May, a group of students from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor applied for a Kenyan mission trip. I was privileged to be a sponsor with two others from our church and another from First Baptist Church in Belton.

The trip was tremendous as we met University of Nairobi students and shared ministry together. We encouraged their faith, and they encouraged ours. Everyone from the mission team talked about the impact it made on our future mission involvement.

Some from our group now know they are called to a foreign mission field. Others of us know we are not but still were profoundly and eternally changed by the experience. Personally, I still am participating in ministry partnerships that began those weeks in Nairobi. It is time churches began being more deliberate about giving opportunities for mission involvement.

After the thorough theological discussion the Apostle Paul gives in Romans, he comes to a passage where he talks practically about what we would call mission involvement. There are some guidelines and principles we would do well to note.

Carry out missions activities (Romans 15:14-19)

Paul knows he is not the only one meant to carry the gospel, though he has particular gifts as an apostle. He already has challenged believers with Romans 10:14-15, urging others to bring the gospel message to those who have not heard.

Americans are in a unique place to be able to be a partner in spreading the gospel. It takes the desire Paul shows for seeing people born into the family of God (16-17). In the book The Disciple Making Church, the author asks as a part of the discipleship process, “Where is your Macedonia?” The question refers to Paul’s vision of the man who called out to Paul to come help him. Macedonia is the place you understand as your mission calling.

Use broad strategy (Romans 15:20, 22-24)

The Bible student needs to recognize Paul’s strategy of advancing the gospel. Though he was the apostle to the Gentiles, he took it first to the Jewish people. Some of them responded, and then he would take the gospel to the Gentiles. He would go to large cities and to port cities; both would be favorable to dispersing the message throughout the Roman world.

Paul’s strategy is to preach where Christ is unknown (v. 20). He even envisions taking the gospel to Spain (v. 24). Does our local church have a vision for reaching those without Christ? Do I have such a vision?

Assist missionaries (Romans 15:24-25)

Missionaries especially are gifted for their task, but they are not indestructible superheros. Troubles weigh them down as they would anyone. Missionaries get tired. They need to be encouraged and would thrive sharing the gospel alongside others. We may think of Paul as a loner, but he seems grateful for the encouragement and help others were to him.

Work within God’s will (Romans 15:28-29; 32)

Paul did not have an empty desire to visit the Romans, but knew he would eventually. One day, he would visit them, and it would be with God’s blessing and in God’s purpose. It was Paul’s intention to follow the will of God where and when he led.

We also will be most helpful to God’s purposes when we operate with deference to his agenda.

Pray for missionaries (Romans 15:30-31)

Paul expresses confidence in prayer. He does not ask the saints in Rome to lobby for him or come join him in his struggle. Instead, they should pray for him.

I have always been told by missionaries and their families that they will plan special events on their birthdays because they know Baptists are praying for them from the missionary birthday calendars. That is true confidence. You contribute to missionary success when you pray for their needs to be met. You pray for their families, fields, struggles and spiritual breakthrough.

Discussion questions

• Which of these things that Paul suggests have you done to serve people who serve God as missionaries? What are you not doing that you could add in the coming year?

Posted: 2/7/06
BaptistWay Bible Series for Feb. 19

Repentance requires leaving something behind

By Lex Robertson

Logsdon Seminary, Abilene

At the beginning of every year, people resolve to exercise regularly and maintain healthier diets. This is a good idea. I have made these resolutions myself for several years now. “This will be the year,” I tell myself annually.

I then celebrate my new resolutions by lying around the house watching football and eating black-eyed peas and cornbread all day. “Today is just the first day of January, I still have 364 days to get on that diet and exercise routine.”

Once February rolls around, I still haven’t started. My intentions still are good, but my actions are not there. By June, even the intentions are gone. All my good intentions, when they are not matched by my actions, are meaningless.

In Luke 18:31-43, Jesus was going through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. Before he entered Jericho, he met a blind man who called out for mercy. When Jesus gave the man sight, the man immediately began to follow Jesus. His response was one of action.

When Jesus finally entered Jericho, in Luke 19:1-10, he met another man whose intentions were supported by his actions. Zaccheus, aside from being “a wee, little man” (as the song goes), was a tax collector. Religious leaders often criticized Jesus for being the friend of tax collectors. Tax collectors were despised in the community, having a reputation for being crooked.

Zaccheus had heard Jesus was coming. He climbed a tree just to get a peek at the Savior. Jesus called him down from the tree and informed the tax collector the one he had been waiting in tree for would be staying with him.

The people standing around began to talk, wondering why Jesus would be the guest of a sinner, and not just any sinner either but a tax collector.

Zaccheus did not waste time. Upon Jesus’ call, this tax collector hurried down the tree. Before the two of them even began to travel to their destination and before Jesus had said another word, Zaccheus proclaimed he would give half his possessions to the poor. Further, if he had cheated anyone (and surely he had, that was the way tax collectors worked), he would pay back four times the amount he swindled. Jesus responded by saying salvation had come to Zaccheus.

Many times, we, as Christians, are thankful for God’s grace and mercy in salvation, but we neglect genuine repentance. Like our new year’s resolutions, our repentance is just a few good intentions with no real action. That is not repentance at all.

To repent means to turn around, to leave something behind and to go in different direction. For Zaccheus, a crooked tax collector, it meant paying back even more than he had defrauded. It meant a significant sacrifice of the possessions he cherished. It meant living a life that benefited others rather than just himself.

Compare (or contrast) Zaccheus with another man Jesus met. In Luke 18:18-30, a rich ruler asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. He claimed to have kept all the commandments, but Jesus told the ruler he lacked one thing. Jesus instructed the man to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor. Upon this instruction, the rich man became sad.

The rich ruler wanted what Zaccheus received—salvation and eternal life. The reason the ruler did not receive salvation had nothing to do with the commandments or any theological tenets. He simply did not repent when Jesus asked him to do so.

Zaccheus did not even wait for instruction. When he met with Jesus, repentance seemed like the only natural response. Both Zaccheus and the other man were rich, but the other one was saddened with the thought of repentance. Zaccheus, however, repented joyfully, knowing a life following Jesus and giving to others is more fulfilling than anything money could buy.

Zaccheus’ repentance, though rewarding, was not easy. Giving back four times what he had defrauded had precedence in the Old Testament. In Exodus 22:1, anyone who had stolen one sheep was commanded to return four sheep to the person from whom he had stolen. Even though it was the right thing to do, it probably meant parting with a significant amount of the wealth he had gained honestly in order to redeem the portion he had gained in deceit. Not only that, but he gave half of all his possessions—not just half of his money, but half of everything.

Parting with money is not easy for anyone. For a person who has a lot of money, it can be downright painful, as demonstrated by the rich ruler. Giving possessions can be a relief, if a person just gives away those things he or she no longer wants, but it also can be difficult. People often define themselves by their possessions—their clothes, cars, jewelry and gadgets. Zaccheus did not care about his material possessions anymore. He had met Jesus, and Jesus was enough.

Revisiting New Year’s resolutions, I realize I am a lot like the rich ruler. I want to lose 15 pounds, I just do not want to make the necessary sacrifices. Spiritually, I hope to become more like Zaccheus, whose repentance was not mere rhetoric. The sacrifices may be a little scary, but the reward is immeasurable!

Discussion question

• What would true repentance look like in your life?

Posted: 2/7/06
Family Bible Series for Feb. 19

Push through the doubts to find God’s blessing

• Jeremiah 20:1-13

By Donald Raney

Westlake Chapel, Graham

“Am I doing what God really wants me to do?” “What if I misunderstood what God was calling me to do?” “There must be a better person and a better way to do this.”

It is likely that everyone who has sought to serve God has had these and similar thoughts at some point. No matter how committed to God’s service a person might be, doubt is an ever-present enemy. Intimidation by an exaggerated view of the size of the task and feelings of insufficiency may lead us to doubt by shifting our focus from our commitment to our abilities. A strong desire to succeed or a perceived lack of results also may lead to doubt by implanting an inaccurate picture of exactly what we have been called to do.

Such feelings are not new to those God calls. Even the great prophets of the Old Testament had similar doubts. The prophet Jeremiah wrote about his doubts and feelings concerning his call from God.

Through a series of passages scattered throughout the first 20 chapters of his book known as the “confessions of Jeremiah,” the prophet allows the reader to see how he wrestled with these feelings (Jeremiah 11:18-12:6, 15:10-21, 17:14-18, 18:18-23, 20:7-13).

We also can see how God helped Jeremiah through these times by realigning his perspective and renewing his focus. As we study these passages, we can gain much insight into how we can best deal with our moments spent dealing with doubt.

Jeremiah 20:1-6

Jeremiah had an unpopular message of divine judgment for his own people, and he was the only one telling it. More than once, he was arrested for delivering God’s message. He served as a prophet 40 years without a single convert. Most of his friends and even some of his own family turned against him (Jeremiah 12:6).

Jeremiah had plenty of reason to entertain serious doubts about his calling. On one occasion, Jeremiah had proclaimed God was about to destroy Jerusalem because of the stubbornness of the people. One of the priests had Jeremiah arrested, beaten and placed in the stocks over night.

Such treatment, however, did not deter Jeremiah. Upon being released the following morning, Jeremiah spoke a message of judgment against the priest. He said the priest would witness the destruction. He would be forced to watch the slaughter of his friends and the exile of all of Judah.

As a sign of this, Jeremiah says the priest’s name is no longer Pashhur but Magor-missabib, which means “terror on every side.” The priest himself would be carried into exile in Babylon where he would die.

Jeremiah certainly could have allowed such an experience to rob him of his commitment to his calling. As he sat in the stocks that night, he may have questioned whether it was worth the pain and considered apologizing the next morning. Yet through the doubts, the certainty Jeremiah had in his divine call enabled him to remain committed to fulfilling that call. As we face our own doubts today, Jeremiah’s example shows us the first step in dealing with them is to remain faithful to do what God has called us to do.

Jeremiah 20:7-10

While Jeremiah remained faithful to carrying out his calling, he continued to wrestle with doubts. He wondered if he had understood God correctly. He wondered if he could or should continue to preach the same message of judgment. He even wondered if God had deceived or misled him.

In Jeremiah 20:7-10, the prophet takes all of the doubts and questions directly to God. He is clearly angry with God. God is supposed to protect those who serve him. Yet Jeremiah has faithfully obeyed God’s instructions and has experienced only pain and disappointment.

Yet when Jeremiah tries to withhold the message to avoid further persecution, God’s message torments him from within his heart so that he cannot keep it to himself. Jeremiah understandably feels trapped in a life of suffering and honestly pours all of his frustrations out at God. Many times people do not want to express real negative emotions and feelings to God. They have real questions and anger toward God concerning God’s character or actions, but feel expressing these to God would be inappropriate.

But God knows our thoughts and feelings and wants us to be open and honest about them. Jesus has experienced those same emotions and feelings. He understands and is able to help us deal with them, but only as we admit to having them and tell God about them.

Jeremiah 20:11-13

Often, we are able to release and overcome anger and doubts simply by verbally expressing them. As Jeremiah poured out his heart to God, his initial anger at God was gradually replaced by remembrance of God’s work and protection in his life. While Jeremiah’s foes had persecuted him, God always had been there to protect his life.

Jeremiah also had lived to see God punish many of those who had opposed Jeremiah and his message. Even as he prays that God would exact vengeance on his enemies, Jeremiah is confessing that God not only can punish, but does in fact punish those who oppose his servants. Although doubts would continue to arise, Jeremiah’s experiences had provided him with a sufficient foundation for renewed hope and confidence in the future.

Like Jeremiah, we can push through and overcome our doubts by remembering that the same God who called us will provide all we need to accomplish that for which he called us.

Discussion questions

• Have you ever experienced opposition while fulfilling God’s call? How did you handle the situation? What happened?

• How do you feel about expressing anger toward God?

• What doubts about your relationship to God or his calling have you recently (or currently) dealt with? How did you work through them?

Posted: 2/7/06

North Carolina paper moves to preserve freedom

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

CARY, N.C. (ABP)—The Biblical Recorder, newspaper of North Carolina Baptists, will choose some of its own directors in a move to preserve its journalistic freedom, the newspaper’s leaders said.

Beginning this fall, the 172-year-old newspaper will nominate four people to open seats on its 16-member board, bypassing a convention nominating committee the leaders fear is stacking the board with “agenda-bearing conservatives.”

The cost will be significant, however. The Recorder, with an annual budget of about $900,000, will likely lose a total of $400,000 in funding from the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina over the next four years.

The move—invoking an unusual option in the convention’s bylaws—will not negate the newspaper’s relationship with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, which still can elect or reject the newspaper’s nominees. But it will give the Recorder some insulation against censorship in the theologically diverse but deeply divided convention, its leaders said.

“In most other state conventions where agenda-bearing conservatives have gained control of the state paper’s board, they have either muzzled the editor through censorship, or replaced him with someone who could be counted on to promote the party line,” said Editor Tony Cartledge. “A free Baptist press was lost in those conventions.”

Baptist newspapers and news services have been a frequent battleground in the Southern Baptist Convention’s 27-year-old controversy between fundamentalists and moderates, which now has migrated to the state conventions.

Cartledge informed the convention’s committee on nominations in late January of the Recorder’s December decision. The newspaper’s directors took advantage of a 1992 amendment to the convention’s governing documents that allow its 12 affiliated agencies to nominate up to 50 percent of its directors. In return, the entity gives up a similar percentage of its funding from the convention during the time those directors serve—four years in the Recorder’s case.

The newspaper is the first North Carolina agency to exercise the option. But in a similar action, the Baptist Retirement Homes of North Carolina recently voted to start naming its own trustees. Meanwhile, a convention committee is studying its relationships with five affiliated colleges.

“We exercise this option with deep regret,not only for the loss of funding but for the increasing polarization in BSC life that has led us to believe that, for the time being, this decision is necessary in order to safeguard and preserve the charter principles of a free press for the future. We have no agenda for changing our relationship to the BSC,” said Joe Babb, chairman of the Biblical Recorder board.

Mike Cummings, the convention’s acting executive director, said he is not troubled by the Recorder’s decision. “I hope it doesn’t give the impression that the Recorder doesn’t need the money because I know it does and deserves Cooperative Program support,” he said, adding he would prefer the Recorder invoke the trustee-nomination provision rather than face more difficult issues the other agencies could face.

Typically, each president of a North Carolina Baptist entity gives the nominating committee a list of potential trustees—generally twice as many as the number of vacancies—and the committee usually nominates people from that list.

Last year, however, the committee nominated people from those lists for every entity except the Recorder, Cartledge said.

“The committee accepted only two of the eight names submitted by the Recorder and excluded the other six without providing any rationale for doing so,” he said.

“As for why these good people were excluded, all we have to go on is the chairman’s statement to Conservative Carolina Baptists (Oct. 20) that the committee wanted to put more conservatives on the Biblical Recorder board.” Several other agency presidents were surprised when the committee rejected some of their nominees as well. The committee said some were excluded because they belonged to churches affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists, which has an open policy toward homosexuals. But none of the Recorder’s excluded nominees were members of Alliance churches, Cartledge said.

If the North Carolina Baptists vote this fall to reject the Recorder’s nominees, convention bylaws require their replacements come from the newspaper’s list of other recommended directors.

Cartledge said having conservative directors for the newspaper is not the issue.

“I have recommended a number of conservative candidates in past requests, and they have served well,” he said. “But when presenting potential candidates, I have always told the nominating committee that whether a board member favors conservative or moderate theological positions is not an issue to me. What is important is that the person appreciates traditional Baptist distinctives and is committed to the mission of the Biblical Recorder.”

Rejecting nominees without cause could lead the committee to nominate people “antagonistic” to an organization’s mission, Cartledge said.

According to the Recorder’s charter, the publication is “to maintain and safeguard the inalienable rights and privileges of a free press, these rights and privileges being consistent with the traditional Baptist emphasis upon the freedom, under Christ, of both the human spirit and Baptist churches.”

“One cannot overestimate the importance of a free press that covers the news objectively rather than serving as a controlling body’s public relations tool,” Babb said. “Often in the face of unwarranted criticism, the Biblical Recorder has provided that valuable service to North Carolina Baptists since 1833, and we hope to continue that tradition for many years to come.”

Last year, Louisiana Baptists were asked to dissolve its 119-year-old newspaper, the Baptist Message, and merge it into the convention’s public relations department. Messengers to the November state convention defeated the plan after opponents complained the newspaper would lose its journalistic freedom.

In other states, fundamentalists have restricted editorial freedom, elected sympathetic editors or established new publications to compete with the convention’s newspapers.

This article is based on reporting by Tony Cartledge and Steve DeVane of the Biblical Recorder.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 2/3/06

Texas Baptist Forum

Worshipping worship

Baptists, do some discerning. We’ve left our first love and followed after the things of the world. More of our churches are worshipping the worship, entertaining the eyes, the flesh, and allowing Hollywood to dictate how sinners are drawn into the church. 

• Jump to online-only letters below

Letters are welcomed. Send them to marvknox@baptiststandard.com; 250 words maximum.

“If as a film company we could only work with people who were completely sanctified, then the film would never have been made.” Producers of End of the Spear The new movie about American missionaries and tribesmen of Ecuador received criticism from some Christians because lead actor Chad Allen is gay. (ABP) “Faith in Christ isn’t just about waiting for him to take you to the promised land at the end of time. It’s also about being his steward on Earth during your life until such time.” Susan Pace Hamill Tax expert at the University of Alabama law school, who wrote a biblical interpretation of Alabama’s tax code during her studies at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/RNS) “A multilingual church is harder than work. Sometimes, it’s pure hell. Everybody walks around offended sometime. (And) I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” Ramiro Peña Pastor of Christ the King Baptist Church in Waco, whose composition is 35 percent Anglo, 50 percent Hispanic, 15 percent African-American “and some wonderful Asians,” testifying on behalf of multiracial churches at a workshop sponsored by Mission Waco

We’re to go into the world and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. We’re not to conform our worship services to worldliness in order to entertain the sinner into heaven or satisfy the converted into a lifestyle of compromise, lazily allowing a Hollywood movie to somehow bring people to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. 

If Disney has made inroads into the Baptists through a fable of pagan creatures, witches and a four-footed beast and has modern Christian culture going ga-ga over the fact that “its” movie has made it to the big screen and churches can celebrate “Narnia Nights” in the holy place of God, built for a Holy God’s worship, then, indeed, we are in the last days. 

If our leaders would rely on God’s word and the Holy Spirit for direction, there would be no need for marketing or entertainment to draw the lost to God. “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, for they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables.”

Carol Vance Jr.

Rogers

Souls who come home

A freelance writer in a conference at Oklahoma University asked the editor of The Saturday Evening Post, “What style and what subjects will make the pages of the Post?”

His answer: “There is no particular style or subject. If you get a byline in the Post, you have to touch me—make me feel it.”

Today, I recall his statement and remember something from long ago. It was a 30-minute prayer session before a revival service. A father poured out his soul for his wayward son. That night, his son committed his life to Christ, and the father shouted, “Thank God, my boy has come home!” It touched us all. We felt it!

Baptists would do better to forget styles and methods of worship and pour out our souls for those who need to come home!

M.G. Upton

Orangevale, Calif.

Approach subject with humility

The Baptist Standard is to be commended for publishing Brent Walker’s common-sense article about intelligent design, which certainly reflects the position of most people of faith and many scientists that the science of evolution and a belief in a creator God can be harmonized.

Only extremists on both sides, creationists and metaphysical naturalists, insist on a dichotomy, and both are philosophically on slippery ground. Both sides should approach the subject with humility rather than an agenda.

Creationists’ “scientific arguments” can be either logically discredited or shown to be philosophical in nature, going back to St. Thomas Aquinas’ Proofs of God. Evolution, on the other hand, while still the best scientific theory on how life forms change with time, still has not yet reached consensus on such fundamental issues as how life arose on this planet.

Most Christians have no cognitive dissonance with believing that God created all things, including life, but leaving the details of how for scientific investigations.

Dolan McKnight

Richardson

Advent and gift giving

“Baptist churches learn to embrace Advent rituals” (Dec. 19) was interesting. When the Berlin wall went up in August 1961, we lived in Munich, Germany, for the next three years. Advent calendars and Advent wreaths were enjoyed by the Bavarian Catholics. Those of us who enjoyed the Advent wreath custom brought our Advent candleholders home to the States. It was frowned upon in those days as being a Catholic custom.

This article included an ugly flaw: A pastor bought a $1,100 Advent stand and gave it to his church as a gift. After he left, he learned it was hidden and went back and retrieved his gift. That is terrible!

If he gave it as a gift, he needed to turn loose of it. What is this business of retrieving gifts?

If I give my son a shirt and then find it in the back of his closet, what gives me the right to take my gift back? Once I give it, it is his to do with as he pleases.

I believe the same thing about this Advent stand. If he wanted one for his new church, he could spend another $1,100 and make a gift of it or keep it for himself and drag it out only when he wants to share it with others.

We try to teach our children about gifts. Gifts should be freely given, with no strings attached. Suppose the gift of God’s love could be retrieved and taken back by God!

Julie Myers

Stephenville

Death did not enter the world until Adam sinned

I am disappointed with Brent Walker’s 2nd Opinion article (Jan. 23), in which he advocates making illegal the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. Since evolution remains an unproven theory, other competing theories can and should be taught. Scientists who advocate intelligent design make many compelling arguments, and children would benefit from exposure to these ideas.

Walker’s article fails to mention Darwin’s theory of evolution is not compatible with the Bible. Charles Darwin believed animals, which he said were our ancestors, have been living and dying for millions of years. Yet the Bible states that death did not enter the world until Adam sinned.

Romans 5:12 reads, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin.” In addition, 1 Corinthians 15:21 states, “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.” Evolution has death occurring before sin, but Genesis 3 clearly says that death comes after—and as a result of—sin. 

As a Christian, Walker should support intelligent design, for Romans 1:20 states, “For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (see also Psalm 19:1). If Walker believes this verse, how can he not support intelligent design?

Intelligent design scientists simply point out the evidence for God’s existence in nature. Their evidence is not a religious text, but scientific facts found in nature. How could this possibly be unscientific?

Tim Overton

Louisville, Ky.

Meat, lifestyles and rising medical costs

According to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the national cost of medical care escalated to $1.9 trillion in 2004. This represents a 7.9 percent increase over the previous year, or nearly three times the 2.7 percent rate of inflation.

In terms of the national economy, the cost of medical care now accounts for a record 16 percent of our gross domestic product and ruins the profitability and international competitiveness of our industries. In personal terms, it amounts to $6,500 for every American, or $15,500 per household. It represents a major financial burden, lost productivity, personal misery and premature death.

The real tragedy is that most of the diseases associated with the outrageous cost of medical care are self-inflicted through flawed lifestyles. These include inactivity, smoking, substance abuse and meat consumption.

Yes, meat consumption.

According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, nearly 1.4 million Americans are disabled, then killed prematurely each year by heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and other chronic diseases that have been linked conclusively with consumption of animal products. That accounts for 56 percent of all deaths, and presumably, for a similar percentage of medical costs, or more than $1 trillion.

Most of us have no control over the national cost of medical care. But each of us has a great deal of control over our household’s $15,500 share every time we visit our local supermarket.

Dylan Stellin

Dallas

Invasion of privacy

The power abusers who use the nation’s resources to invade our homes with high-tech spy equipment and exploit the American family should be reprimanded. I believe in the president’s course for the country. I support our troops and believe in their mission. I see great improvements for the economy in 2006.

However, we must protect the privacy of the American home. The abuses of power that are going on in Texas are appalling. When power abusers are allowed to defile the American home, they make a mockery of the freedom we are fighting for.

Changes need to be made to protect Americans from an invasion of privacy in their own homes. I believe in America and the American dream. America is and always will be the home of the brave and land of the free! We must up wake from our complacence and elect those who will ensure that America does not become a chilling depiction of how the power of the state could come to dominate the lives of individuals through cultural conditioning.

Let us use our rights as voters wisely for the upcoming elections. We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night, my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Roman Stockton

Katy

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 2/04/06

CYBER COLUMN:
Reflection on tears

By John Duncan

I’m sitting here under the old oak tree, thinking of a family from Lake Butler, Fla.—Barbara and Terry Mann, who lost five children and two nieces in a fiery car crash when their car was sandwiched between a school bus and a tractor-trailer. The grandfather of the children grieved so hard that he died when he received the horrible news. Friends lit candles, and flowers with wreaths decorated the town, and memorial services followed. Residents of the town marched the streets and sang “Amazing Grace.”

The parents weep and grieve.

Then just recently, here in Texas, a 77-year-old man wandered aimlessly into a deep thicket of woods and could not find his way out for four days. He survived on rainwater and cried out for help so long he nearly lost his voice. He said, “Every day I screamed, hoping somebody would hear me.”

Tears push out when loneliness surrounds and no one hears your cry for help.

A police officer found the famished and dehydrated man and rescued him. The man said he did not feel alone because of his faith in God. A blanket of stars comforted him amidst thoughts of death and tears.

Another news story tells us about a baby in Brazil floating in a bag on a lake. No doubt, somewhere on the journey, the baby agonized in trauma and fear and wailed, dripping tears.

I find myself thinking almost every newscast reverberates with tears—murders, court cases, car wrecks, car bombings, protests, pipe bombs, drug deals, teenage suicide and athletes in the sadness of defeat sitting on the bench crying because the dream of a championship trophy has died, at least for the moment.

The poets of old spoke often of tears.

• Lord Byron: “We two parted in silence and tears.”

• Emily Dickinson: “The soul has bandaged moments.”

• John Donne, poet and preacher at Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London during the London plague, when funerals were a daily custom: “Drown my world with my weeping earnestly.”

• Gerard Manly Hopkins: “Now no matter, child, the name: Sorrows springs are still the same.”

• Czeslaw Milosz: “And the sea battering the shore. And ordinary sorrow.”

• Alfred Lord Tennyson: “Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean.”

Tears prove healthy, a catharsis, a cleansing like soap and water on the hands. Everyone cries—a skinned knee, a slammed finger, standing at the grace site of your sweet grandmother, a baby dies before it ever starts living, bad news comes—even tears of joy, celebrating the elation of a goal accomplished or a dream realized. Tears supply life with rain to renew the soul for future days.

I have cried on occasion in my life: The day I took my daughters to college, tears running down my cheeks and me blubbering down the interstate after I dropped them off. My 10-year anniversary at Lakeside Baptist Church, where I pastor. Every time I took my wife to the doctor the first year after her cancer. Thos are just a few.

Sometimes, I lay in bed at night and think of my wife, all she’s been through and how much I love her and Valentine’s Day soon coming and all. And I shed a single, sometimes double, idle tear, the slow drip of a tear that gently slips out of my eye and falls freely on the pillow.

I have talked about tears to say this: Of all the things rarely mentioned about Jesus is this: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Preachers often speak of this verse as the shortest verse in the Bible or an easy memory verse. The context is the death of Jesus’ good friend, Lazarus. He died. The moment swirled with drama and grief, and Lazarus’ sisters said: “Lord, where in the world have you been? Why did you not come sooner?” The Bible succinctly presents Jesus’s response: Jesus wept.

Tears mean you are alive. Tears mean you experience love. Tears mean life spits pain. Tears mean that life presents problems and dilemmas. Tears mean that life has joy. Tears mean that you remember. Tears mean that you wish you could forget. Tears trickle and tickle and flow and go and pour and drip and are salty and real.

The Bible also tells us that Jesus weeps for the city (of Jerusalem). He sees it in its sorrow and sin, and he weeps. He cares.

So here I am under the old oak tree, thinking of that family in Florida, and that man who cried for three days and nearly lost his voice and no one heard, and a crying baby floating on the lake. And I’m wondering if Jesus weeps. I think he does. I know he does. He’s alive, and he cares for you!

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.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 2/3/06

RIGHT OR WRONG?: Friends with a pot of gold

A friend approached me the other day with what he called “a tremendous money-making opportunity.” To participate, I needed to give him $1,000 up front, and my part would be to find people who would put up $1,000 to me. He’s my friend, so how should I respond?

This question raises two important ethical issues. The first concerns the nature of this “money-making opportunity.” It sounds like a Ponzi scheme. These illegal pyramid schemes are named for Charles Ponzi, who duped thousands of New England residents in a postage stamp speculation scheme in the 1920s. Ponzi promised his investors he could double their money in 90 days. The average investor gave Ponzi $300. At the height of his scheme, he had estimated income of $1 million per week. Ponzi went bankrupt and was sent to prison. Later, he re-emerged in Florida and began a pyramid land scheme. He went to prison again and died in poverty in Brazil in 1949.

One might be tempted to think such scams were only successful in the past. Unfortunately, they continue to work in the 21st century. Based on a “rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul” principle, the schemers, like Ponzi, use the investments of new investors to pay off early investors. But eventually, the whole enterprise collapses.

Many people cannot see the endemic problem with such schemes. I am reminded of a friend who was excited about going into the “worm farm” business. When asked to whom he was going to sell the worms, he responded, “To people going into the worm farm business!”

There are several obvious problems with participating in such a scheme.

First, the New Testament teaches that we are stewards of everything that God entrusts to us. As 1 Peter 4:10 puts it, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” That’s why we have an obligation to investigate any “money-making opportunities” to ensure that they are sound investments.

Second, if you know that such an opportunity is bogus, you are encouraging immoral, if not illegal, behavior by participating. Jesus said, “What good is it for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul?” And the eighth commandment is still, “You shall not steal.”

Third, if you know that the scheme is bogus or even questionable, it would be wrong to involve anyone else—especially a friend—in such an enterprise. To do so would be the equivalent of profiting from the poor. Jesus and the Hebrew prophets condemned such behavior.

All of this brings me back to the second major ethical issue. This concerns the characterization of the person who approached you as a “friend.” Many Christians have been approached with similar propositions. Usually, they are approached by someone they perceive to be their friend. I question whether this perception is accurate. Would a real friend involve you in a questionable enterprise?

There are companies that specialize in pyramid marketing. Some of them encourage Christians to recruit fellow church members. Often this is done under the guise of a friendly invitation to a church member’s home. When you get there, you discover you have been tricked into listening to a sales presentation. Those issuing these invitations are told by their employers to conceal the true nature of the invitation. There is no doubt that this marketing technique works, but it is certainly not Christian and should not be employed by anyone claiming to follow the teachings of Christ. Tell your friend: “I can’t participate in this kind of investment. I don’t want to trade on my friends.”

Philip Wise, pastor

Second Baptist Church

Lubbock

Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.