2006 Archives
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Community sees schoolhouse attack as ‘Amish 9/11’
Posted: 10/13/06
Amish isolated but still vulnerable to violence
By Mary Warner
Religion News Service
HARRISBURG, Pa. (RNS)—The Amish teach their children that a gun is for hunting wild game, and any other use is a sin. They do not serve in the military. They reject the use of violence, even in self-defense.
Amish girls talk to a state trooper at the scene of the Georgetown school shootings in Nickel Mines, near Lancaster, Pa. (REUTERS Photo by Tim Shaffer) They organize their community around their church and draw sharp boundaries around it—keeping out the violent and sexual images from television and movies.
10/13/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Around the State
Posted: 10/13/06
Around the State
• Thirteen faculty members began teaching at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor this fall. They include Colin Wilborn, assistant professor of exercise and sport science; Kelda McMullen-Fix, assistant professor of nursing; Cheryl Rowder, associate professor of nursing; Aida Sapp, associate professor of nursing; John McLean, associate professor of music; Randall Brown, assistant professor of business information technology and systems; Doyle Eiler, associate professor of management and marketing; Paul Stock, assistant professor of accounting, economics and finance; David Howard, associate professor in Christian studies; Derek Davis, dean of humanities and interim dean of graduate programs and research; Yolanda Forero-Villegas, associate professor of modern languages; Diane DiClemente, associate professor in psychology; and Stacy Stoll, visiting instructor in chemistry.
• Jeanie Pinkston, registrar at East Texas Baptist University, has retired after 19 years of service.
First Baptist Church in Bishop recently honored Harold Hickman for 40 years of service as an adult Sunday school teacher. In 1966, he agreed to teach a men’s class on a temporary basis. Four decades later, the “temporary teacher” is retiring. He was honored with a breakfast and a certificate of appreciation. He is pictured holding his certificate with Wes Barnett, who now is teaching the class. • James Steen has been named vice president for enrollment management at Houston Baptist University. He will oversee admissions, recruitment, financial aid and scholarships, registration and retention.
• Travis Avenue Church in Fort Worth has raised money to have one of the suites in the new Hall of States hotel at the Glorieta Conference Center named for its pastor, Michael Dean.
10/13/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Book Reviews
Posted: 10/13/06
Book Reviews
The Windshield is Bigger Than the Rearview Mirror by Jeff Wickwire (Chosen)
Jeff Wickwire writes as if he were sitting at your breakfast table, having a cup of coffee with you. His relaxed style flows with insight and optimism. Through great insight into human nature and the understanding that God has a purpose for each Christian’s life, Wickwire reveals how many of them are “robbed of joy, achievement, meaning and God’s best” because they are trapped in the past.
Part 1 of his book focuses on the six “chains” Satan uses to hold Christians captive—inordinate attachments to someone or something, past successes, heartbreak, failure, trauma and bitterness. In each chapter, he presents biblical examples to illustrate and validate these causes of imprisonment.
What are you reading that other Texas Baptists would find helpful? Send suggestions and reviews to books@baptiststandard.com. Part 2 centers on how captives can become free (through the power and work of the Lord Jesus) and achieve God’s purpose in our lives—to help others through the testimonies God has given us. By focusing attention through the “windshield,” Christians begin to see opportunities the Father places before us, as well as how others depend upon our response.
10/13/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Baptist Briefs
Posted: 10/13/06
Baptist Briefs
American Baptists move collection south. The American Baptist Historical Society, which claims the world’s largest collection of Baptist resources, is moving to Mercer University’s Atlanta campus. While the history-rich collection is a treasure trove for researchers, it has been inconveniently divided between two sites 350 miles apart—Valley Forge, Pa., where American Baptists have their national office, and the Samuel Colgate Library in Rochester, N.Y. “The history of Baptists is the history of religious freedom in America,” Mercer President Bill Underwood said, “and the American Baptist Historical Society is the single most significant depository of that history.” Relocating the historical collection to Mercer’s Atlanta campus serves to “preserve the collection, … foster the examination of this history by future generations of students, scholars and others, and … establish Mercer as the leading center for Baptist scholarship in North America.” Mercer’s McAfee School of Theology and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's main national offices are on the Atlanta campus as well. The university's main campus is in Macon, Ga.
Coalition urges SBC policy on clergy sexual abuse. Members of the coalition that fought the Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchy over sexual abuse by priests are asking the Southern Baptist Convention to prevent similar clergy abuse in the denomination’s churches. Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, recently delivered a letter to the SBC Executive Committee at its Nashville headquarters. It asks convention leaders to form an independent review board to receive and investigate charges of clergy abuse in Southern Baptist congregations. Part of the difficulty the SBC faces in taking aggressive action involves the autonomous nature of local churches in Baptist polity. Since individual congregations have full control over their decision-making and governing processes, the SBC can’t dictate rules or punishment to them.
10/13/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Cartoon
Posted: 10/13/06
“The Great Physician needs to do some work on you, but it might be outpatient surgery.” 10/13/2006 - By John Rutledge
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DOWN HOME: Even better than Texas-OU football
Posted: 10/13/06
DOWN HOME:
Even better than Texas-OU footballThis was a voicemail that, any other year, would have made me sing “The Eyes of Texas are Upon You” from the rooftops.
I’d been running Saturday errands and walked in the back door when Joanna handed me the phone and said: “You’ve got to listen to this. It’s your cousin Max.”
Sure enough, Max (not only a second cousin by marriage, but a true friend) left a message. He and Gene Alice had tickets to the Texas-OU football game, but they couldn’t come to Dallas, and he wanted to know if I could use them.
People may debate the exact location of heaven, but on a year when the Longhorns are better than the Sooners, I’d nominate the Cotton Bowl—at least for one Saturday afternoon in October.
10/13/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Retired ministers challenged to keep on serving Christ
Posted: 10/13/06
Dick Baker, former minister of music at Prestonwood Baptist Church, Dallas, leads worship at the Retired Ministers’ Retreat at Glorieta Baptist Conference Center. (Photos by Jim Newton) Retired ministers challenged
to keep on serving ChristBy Orville Scott
Special to the Baptist Standard
GLORIETA, N.M.—A record 423 people at the eighth annual Retired Ministers’ Retreat at Glorieta Baptist Conference Center were challenged to keep on serving Christ into eternity.
Speaking to the conference theme of “Carry On…Let’s Go,” Russell Dilday, chancellor of the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute and former president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, said the supernatural power of God is unlimited “to carry you through.”
10/13/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Coast shares gospel through over-the-top object lessons
Posted: 10/13/06
Photo courtesy of Keith Coast Coast shares gospel through
over-the-top object lessonsBy Leann Callaway
Special to the Baptist Standard
Keith Coast isn’t a typical evangelist. After all, what other evangelist would crawl into a six-foot balloon, light his tongue on fire or ride a unicycle?
But Coast has a method behind his madness. By using over-the-top object lessons, Coast shares the gospel with children and their families.
10/13/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Kirk Franklin’s music, message focus on God’s power
Posted: 10/13/06
Kirk Franklin’s music,
message focus on God’s powerBy Mary Colurso
Religion News Service
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Kirk Franklin’s speaking voice sounds thick and fuzzy, but let’s not get any rumors started about throat problems.
Actually, the gospel triple-threat—performer, songwriter and producer—said he just rolled out of bed and picked up the phone. This is his morning voice—his 9 a.m., “haven’t-brushed-my-teeth-yet” voice.
10/13/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Texas Baptist Forum
Posted: 10/13/06
Texas Baptist Forum
God and war
Our Sunday school director made us aware of a spread in the Baptist Standard regarding Muslims (Sept. 18). One source noted their God is the same as our God. That may be true for him, but it certainly is not for me.
My God is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Letters are welcomed. Send them to marvknox@baptiststandard.com; 250 words maximum. 
“When you withhold forgiveness, it’s like swallowing the poison you intended for your worst enemy.”Al Meredith
Pastor of Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, describing how members of the church have been able to forgive Larry Gene Ashbrook, who massacred seven people in the church’s sanctuary in 1999 (Dallas Morning News)“We will forgive you.”
An unnamed Amish neighbor
Embracing the father of Charles Carl Roberts IV, the gunman who killed five Amish schoolchildren and injured five others before taking his own life (Lancaster New Era/Sojourners)“Neither Jesus nor Paul ever intended to blend the person of Christ with the patriotism of a nation. Nor did they intend for the sovereignty of a nation over its borders to be equal with the sovereignty of Jesus over his creation.”
Thom Rainer
President of LifeWay Christian Resources, discussing God and politics (Facts & Trends)“Faith convictions, moral values and defining religious experiences of life sustain the vitality of the whole society. We never stand alone, disconnected, uprooted—at least not for long.”
Donald Wuerl
Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington (RNS)I dare him to go up to a Muslim and suggest this is the true God. He would be lucky if the Muslim didn’t whack his head off even with his shoulders.
10/13/2006 - By John Rutledge
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Relief efforts in North Korea not affected by political tension
Posted: 10/13/06
Relief efforts in North Korea
not affected by political tensionBy John Hall
Texas Baptist Communications
DALLAS—The political uncertainty surrounding North Korea in the wake of an apparent nuclear test should not adversely affect Baptist hunger-relief ministry there.
U.S. intelligence officials believe North Korea performed nuclear testing in recent days, prompting the United Nations Security Council to consider sanctions against the country.
10/13/2006 - By John Rutledge
