BaptistWay Bible Series for December 24: Jesus stands ready to heal

Posted: 12/15/06

BaptistWay Bible Series for December 24

Jesus stands ready to heal

• John 5:1-24

By David Wilkinson

Broadway Baptist Church, Fort Worth

As John 5 opens, Jesus is back in Jerusalem following his eventful sojourn in Samaria, and the series of personal encounters continues. As a good storyteller, John interweaves several story lines or subplots into this account.

The primary storyline is the healing of an invalid man. John describes the setting as a “pool” (the word is found only here in the New Testament) near the Sheep Gate, one of the entrances into the walled city, surrounded by “five porticoes” (v. 2). Archeologists suggest steps in the corners of the pool provided access to its waters.


Creating a scene

It must have been quite a site and sight to behold. A variety of disabled people—“the blind, the lame, the paralyzed”—were camped under these covered porches (v. 3). Verses 4 and 7 tell us why. Verse 4 (not included in the best early manuscripts but still alluded to in the invalid’s explanation in verse 7) may be a reference to a local legend that an angel “stirred up” the water, and the first person in after such an event would be healed of his disease or disability.

With only one winner, all other contestants were losers, and this particular man had been losing for nearly four decades, never able to beat the others to the water’s healing powers whenever the magic moment arrived. Whether he was motivated by persistence or hope or whether he was there despite cynicism and despair, we do not know. (How much hope would you have after 38 years of a debilitating and humiliating illness you were powerless to change?)

As John Chrysostom noted in the fourth century, whatever may have been the man’s motivation or attitude, at least he was there at the pool, “while we, if we have persisted for 10 days to pray for anything and have obtained it, are too slothful afterwards to employ the same zeal.”

Adding to the man’s burden, popular theology in Jesus’ day often surmised physical illness or deformity was evidence of judgment for sin (see the disciples’ question of Jesus in John 9:2). Like others who were considered “unclean” or less than whole, he likely felt the weight of spiritual judgment and suspicion, in addition to the loneliness of second-class social status.

Notably, this unnamed man did nothing to call attention to himself in Jesus’ presence. Unlike blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52), he did not call out to Jesus as he passed by and plead for mercy. Instead, it is Jesus who notices him among the others and initiates the conversation.


Key question

The question Jesus asks him is striking. It is not “Do you believe?” or “Do you have faith?” but rather, “Do you want to be made well?” (v. 5). If the man had been incredulous, it would have been no surprise. The narrative not only points out he had been sick 38 years, but also that Jesus was aware he had been lying by the pool “for a long time” (v. 6).

The answer seems obvious (who wouldn’t want to be healed?), so why did Jesus bother to ask? Part of the answer may be that the healing Jesus offered first required a response on the man’s part. The miracle is not imposed. Even in the presence of the Son of God, the man must exercise the gift of free will.

Further, Jesus requires the man to pick up his own mat and walk (v. 8). In accepting Jesus’ healing, the man simultaneously gives up whatever dependence he had developed on others. From now on, he will not be getting attention by getting others to attend to him. Jesus gives him wholeness, including the ability to care for himself.

Jesus’ question also may be appropriate for the reader. We, who know our own failings and infirmities, might well ask ourselves, “Am I ready to give up my dependencies and convenient excuses in order to allow God to make me whole?” Healing may require change.

The man’s answer focuses on his understanding of why he could not be healed, implying all he was hoping for was that someone, even Jesus, might tote him to the water at the right time. He seems to view Jesus as a helper rather than a possible healer.

As John Calvin noted, the man did “what we nearly all do. He limits God’s help to his own ideas and does not dare promise himself more than he conceives in his mind.”


A story with subplots

A subplot is the conflict the healing triggers between Jesus and his religious opponents. Jesus easily could have adopted the cynical “no good deed goes unpunished” line; he gets nothing but trouble for his compassion. Immediately, the Sabbath police are on his case for “doing work” on the Sabbath in violation of strict interpretation of religious doctrine.

Worse, Jesus’ own words, suggesting he was equal to God (v. 18), provide his enemies with clear evidence for the charge of blasphemy. The conflict that ultimately leads to Jesus’ execution begins to unfold.

For their part, the Pharisees cannot rejoice in the man’s healing, blinded by the threat Jesus poses to their authority. For his part, even the healed man refuses to go out of his way to stand up for the One who healed him. “Hey, it’s not my fault” seems to be his stance, whether applied to his physical disability in verse 7 or his response to the Pharisees in verse 11 (“It’s not my fault that I’m sick,” followed by “It’s not my fault that I’m now well.”).

Finally, this chapter offers further insight into Jesus’ intimate, life-giving relationship with God whom he called Father. Twice Jesus emphasizes he can “do nothing” on his own—that is, nothing outside the will of the Father (vv. 19 and 30). Jesus lives and ministers with an absolute dependence on his Father. In contrast to the Pharisees, who are bound to the law, Jesus is bound to God.


Discussion questions

• What does the fact that Jesus initiated this healing encounter with an invalid man suggest to you about the grace of God in your life?

• What needs to be healed in your life and in your relationships with others and with God? What if Jesus were to ask you, “Do you want to be healed”? Is it a simple matter of “yes, please,” or could it be more complicated—and more difficult—than that? What would you be living without if you accepted Jesus’ healing?

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.




Cybercolumn by Jeanie Miley: The Tie that binds

Posted: 12/15/06

CYBER COLUMN:
The Tie that binds

By Jeanie Miley

On the first Sunday of Advent, I sat in my regular place in the sanctuary of my church, looking around at all of the people who form my community of faith and anticipating the coming Christmas season with eagerness and joy. I know some of the people with whom I have gathered for worship really well, and they know me. Others are still strangers to me, even after all these years, and I often wonder if that is simply choice or if it is, somehow, a kind of failure.

Jeanie Miley

I’ve served on various committees with many of these people, and we have met for prayer and projects, banquets and business meetings, fellowship dinners and the usual funerals, weddings and baby dedications that mark the passage of time and the meaning of community.

As I look up and down the rows of people, there is one thing I know for sure, and that is that if we talk long enough with each other or work on enough projects together, we will find places where we simply do not agree.

Some of us want one kind of worship, and if you take a poll on any given Sunday, you’ll find some who want the exact opposite form of worship. Some just do not care, as long as they don’t have to pray in public or listen to a fight about styles of music, forms of preaching or whether you call the Lord’s Supper an ordinance or a sacrament. Some among us love observing Advent, and others—well, they like the music and the greenery, but wish we wouldn’t call it Advent.

There are some of us who interpret the Bible one way, and others lean more to the right or to the left, at least in their opinions about the Bible. Some folks have more opinions about the Bible, I’ve noticed, than they do real knowledge of it, and sometimes that causes a kink in the ties that bind us.

Those of us who grew up Baptist are pretty settled in our ways about the form of church governance we will tolerate and support, and those who came from other denominations or no denominations either shuffle through our processes, dazed and confused, or they try to impose their understandings of polity and policies on the tense moments of decision-making.

We who went to Training Union even have a jargon that separates us from the new Baptists, many of whom do not want to be asked to join anything resembling an organization, and all of us tend to forget that the church is intended to be a living organism with Christ as the head and the rest of us, the feet and hands, eyes and ears and voices of the One whom we say we serve.

However many are our areas of disagreement, there is one thing that draws us together every year and that is our common belief in Jesus Christ. However we understand that relationship with the Living Christ who dwells within us and between us, around us and among us, it is that common commitment to him that holds us together and unifies us, even in our diversity.

And so it is that we need to come together every year to celebrate that one magnificent Truth that ties us together in a voluntary bondage of love. We need to remember why it is we gather together, and we need to affirm that it is Mystery and Wonder happening outside the boundaries of reason and logic that hold us in this precious relationship we call church.

Maybe if we spent more time affirming that which we do agree about, the things we don’t agree about would not be quite so big.


Jeanie Miley is an author and columnist and a retreat and workshop leader. She is married to Martus Miley, pastor of River Oaks Baptist Church in Houston, and they have three adult daughters. Got feedback? Write her at Writer2530@aol.com.


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.




RIGHT or WRONG? Conflict mediation

Posted: 12/15/06

RIGHT or WRONG?
Conflict mediation

We’ve had some relational breakdowns in our congregation. Some have suggested that we contact a conflict-mediation expert. Does that idea have merit?


The heart of your question hinges on the word “some.” Does “some” mean 60 percent of the congregation has taken a position in total opposition to the remainder of the congregation? On the other hand, does “some” mean the two most forceful leaders in the congregation have reached an impasse on a particular issue or personality? In either case, the congregation might, through conversation, time and grace, be able to resolve the issue on its own. Alternatively, it may well be that issues are so strong and nerves so frayed that the perspective of a skilled listener with training in mediation could be a positive step toward healing the congregation.

Many times when a congregation calls upon a mediator, the conflict centers upon a staff member who has left or is about to leave the congregation. “Some” want to make a change. “Some” felt the staff member was treated unjustly. In this case, someone, who can be trusted by nearly everyone, who can look at a situation with a fresh pair of eyes, can be invaluable to resolving the issues. Skilled mediators can find the common ground shared by the congregation and help re-establish trust. Sometimes, mediators have to do the hard work of helping the congregation stand up to the bully in the room and reclaim the congregation for the good of the whole.

One more added advantage to the mediator is the objectivity of examining the historic trends within the congregation. From their very inception, many congregations are blessed with a unity of spirit, a shared goal, a love for one another and a mutual desire to see every member of the congregation thrive. A healthy cycle develops in the congregational culture that declares how the congregation will handle difficult issues.

Other churches seem to be plagued with disagreement and conflict from their inception. Consequently, an unhealthy cycle develops in the congregational culture, and members develop bad habits as to how they handle matters. A trusted mediator is able to see the long view of the congregation and spot patterns that are destructive to the life of the congregation. With an honest and open perspective, the congregation can develop a covenant and a strategy for enabling the church to resolve matters and move forward in clear steps.

I would offer the suggestion that if your congregation is considering a mediator, ask for references from previous churches that person has assisted. Contact those references—both Baptist churches and churches affiliated with other denominations—and listen to their stories. Do not tell yours. Just listen. Listen to how the mediator helped them see themselves and the mission of the church. Listen to how the mediator recognized their needs and worked to resolve those issues. Listen to the tone of their voice as to how they grew to trust the mediator. Most of the time, these reference calls not only serve as a signal as to whether you are contacting the right person, but they also serve as a beacon of hope, that you, too, can get past this issue and be the presence of Christ in your community.

Stacy Conner, pastor

First Baptist Church

Muleshoe


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.




AIDS summit challenges Baptists to ‘break the silence’

Posted: 7/07/06

David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, underscores the connection between poverty and the global HIV/AIDS pandemic during the "Breaking the Silence: Compassion for an HIV Positive World" summit, held in conjunction with the CBF general assembly in Atlanta. (Photo by Mark Sandlin)

AIDS summit challenges
Baptists to ‘break the silence’

By Carla Wynn

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

ATLANTA (ABP)—Baptists and other Christians responded slowly and poorly 25 years ago to the advent of AIDS, but God has been in the trenches from the start, said David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, a Christian advocacy group.

“God is in the midst of this,” Beckmann told more than 400 people gathered in Atlanta June 21-22 for an HIV/AIDS summit, dubbed “Breaking the Silence: Compassion for an HIV-Positive World.” The event was scheduled in conjunction with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly.

“We know it may have taken some time to break the silence, but God has not been waiting 25 years,” said Beckmann, whose organization is a CBF partner.

The summit taught participants how to develop personal, congregational and larger responses to this growing health crisis.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has changed the world, speakers agreed. With an estimated 40 million people worldwide currently living with AIDS and HIV, it is considered an international health crisis—too big to ignore, and yet so big it can be overwhelming to know how to respond, summit leaders said.

“The things we’re uncomfortable with, we don’t want to talk about,” musician Kate Campbell told a conference session.

What makes HIV/AIDS unsettling, Beckmann said, varies from lack of awareness about the disease to stereotypes and stigmas—particularly in the United States, where the first cases of the disease were spread mainly between homosexual men.

“God is not put off by the sexual character of this disease,” he said. “There are more important things at stake than that.”

Beckmann pointed to the connection between HIV/AIDS and poverty, arguing that fighting to alleviate global poverty can make a difference in curbing further spread of HIV/AIDS. Poor access to health care, lack of education about the disease and a sense of not being in control of one’s life all are byproducts of poverty that affect the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.

Part of the challenge of responding to HIV/AIDS is combating ignorance or lack of awareness about the disease.

Thus, summit workshops ranged in focus from basic scientific information about the disease to listening to stories from people who live with HIV/AIDS.

To increase personal awareness, parti-cipants were urged to form relationships with people living with the disease. These relationships also would allow participants to be a supportive presence to those who may face some of the psycho-social consequences of the illness, including social isolation and fear.

“We need to reach out to the invisible and make them visible,” said workshop panelist Gretchen McDaniel, a Samford University nursing professor. “They want somebody to listen to them.”

One female speaker, who asked to remain anonymous, has lived with HIV 10 years. She told participants about the importance of support from friends and family—from whom she once hid her diagnosis because of fear of their response.

“They chose education over ignorance,” she said. “No one has ever turned their back on me.”

As one workshop discussed, spreading awareness could happen at seminaries, where future church leaders could be educated about the disease and the need for a local-church response. It wouldn’t be a new idea, said Sam Nixon of the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention, an African-American Baptist group. An HIV/AIDS class is required for students at a seminary in Zimbabwe, where the disease has a daily impact on the sub-Saharan African country, he said.

Responses to the HIV/AIDS crisis can come on several levels, participants learned. There is a spiritual response, where Baptists can pray for those infected and affected by the disease. Beckmann also challenged participants to get involved in their communities by working to prevent further HIV contraction among at-risk groups and by ensuring those with HIV have access to adequate medical treatment.

Beckmann also said personal response involves changing laws and systems that may limit the ability of governments or nonprofit groups to respond effectively to the AIDS crisis. For example, individuals can lobby for increased government spending on groups combating HIV/AIDS, he said. Engaging in Bread for the World’s targeted advocacy campaigns for global poverty alleviation also can have an impact, he said.

“Right now, God is achieving a great liberation in our world … and we can be part of it,” Beckmann said.

CBF Coordinator Daniel Vestal said Baptists have a spiritual duty to use their resources to address the crisis.

“What we do with human suffering and pain … is really the acid test of the Christian faith,” he said.

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.




Texas Tidbits

Posted: 12/01/06

Texas Tidbits

Academy receives donated computer system. San Marcos entrepreneur Pat Price donated a new computer system to San Marcos Baptist Academy recently. Price, an academy alumnus, serves on the school’s fund-raising council. The computer and 17-inch, flat-screen monitor will replace an older system and will be used primarily for video editing purposes.


BUA names search committee. Teo Cisneros, pastor of Templo Jerusalem in Victoria, will chair a presidential search committee for Baptist University of the Americas. BUA trustees named a search committee to nominate an interim president and initiate a nationwide search for a successor to Albert Reyes, who has been named president of Buckner Children & Family Service. Search committee members who will serve with Cisneros are Debbie Ferrier of San Antonio, Francis Barrera of Plainview, John Bobo of Hurst and Doug Diehl of San Antonio. The board also named a council of advisers that includes Baldemar Borrego, president of the Hispanic Baptist Convención; Frank Palos, interim director of Hispanic ministries with the Baptist General Convention of Texas; Robert Rodriguez, BGCT second vice president; Alcides Guajardo, immediate past-president of Convención; Robert Cepeda, chairman of the BGCT Executive Board’s missions, evangelism and ministries committee; Alfonso Flores of San Antonio; Keith Bruce, director of BGCT institutional ministries; Irma Alvarado, president of Hispanic Woman’s Missionary Union; Rudy Camacho, a former president of Convención; and Delia Vela, president of the Convención Minister’s Wives Conference.


Blaze destroys camp auditorium. Fire destroyed the auditorium at the Highland Lakes Camp and Conference Center Nov. 18. Its cause still is under investigation. Surrounding area firefighters from Pedernales, Oak Hill, Hudson Bend, Spicewood and Travis County quickly responded. Even so, the building and all its contents were totally destroyed, said Executive Director Danny Dawdy. Dawdy hopes to rebuild the auditorium as quickly as possible. Until it is rebuilt, worship will be held in a tabernacle that is being remodeled. The camp needs electricians and air conditioning mechanics to help finish the remodeling effort. An additional $70,000 also is needed to finish the project. For more information on how to help the camp, call (888) 222-3482.


DBU honored for Katrina response. Dallas Baptist University recently was named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction for Hurricane Katrina relief service. DBU volunteers worked in North Texas shelters to help evacuees, helped with clean-up efforts in southern Mississippi and New Orleans and helped rebuild Bay St. Louis, Miss. DBU and 71 other schools received recognition on the distinction list for service to Gulf Coast communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina. More than 500 colleges and universities applied for the honor roll.


Corrections and Clarifications:

In the item titled “BUA names search committee” above, our Dec. 4 print edition incorrectly identified Alfonso Flores. Flores is pastor of First Mexican Baptist Church in San Antonio, not Houston as stated in that article. The information in our online version above has been corrected.

An article in the Nov. 20 issue, “Missions network participants rally in Arlington,” incorrectly reported that First Baptist Church in Arlington budgets 23 percent of its funds to local direct missions. In fact, the church has designated 23 percent of its World Missions Offering to direct missionary support. The article also left the impression that speakers promoted hands-on local missions over financial support for global missions, when their goal was to encourage churches to mobilize members for missions in both local and global contexts.

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.




Storylist for 12/04/06 issue

Storylist for week of 12/04/06

TAKE ME TO: Top Story |  Texas |  Opinion |  Baptists |  Faith & Culture |  Book Reviews |  Classifieds  |  Departments  |  Bible Study





Glad Tidings…to all people


Glad Tidings…to all people

Glad Tidings: What's your mission?

Glad Tidings: BGCT offers multiple missions opportunities

Wade to release Valley probe to law-enforcement officials

Houston Baptist University inaugurates president

Too many Christians fail to recognize opportunities

Laredo church prays for release of kidnapped members

MK carries on legacy through gift to Nigeria hospital

Church gives thanks by giving back

ETBU students serve in Sabine Pass

Ethiopian church employs indigenous missionaries

Belton-to-Austin trek raises funds for missions

Program gives poor families reason to give thanks

On the Move

Around the State

Texas Tidbits


Stop inflammatory rhetoric about gays, theologian urges

Angel House workers minister to Chinese children with cerebral palsy

American Baptists to sell office building

Baptist Briefs


Lutherans offer belated apology to Anabaptists

MySpace lets youth ministers peek into teenagers' lives

NBC puts seasoning back in Veggies

Pro-lifers blast Warren for inviting Obama

Fisherman finds letters sent to God

Studies shed light on religion's role in American life

Poverty trumps hot-button issues with most voters

Star Wars Force followers claim more Jedi than Jews in Great Britain


Reviewed in this issue: When a Congregation is Betrayed: Responding to Clergy Misconduct by Beth Ann Gaede, The Embrace of a Father by Wayne Holmes and The Tender Scar: Life After the Death of a Spouse by Richard L. Mabry.


Classified Ads

Cartoon

Texas Baptist Forum

Around the State


EDITORIAL: Wanted: More compelling Christians

DOWN HOME: No place like ‘home'

TOGETHER: From Thanksgiving on to Christmas

2nd Opinion: Time to implement year-end tax tips

RIGHT or WRONG? Forgiveness vs accountability

Texas Baptist Forum



BaptistWay Bible Series for December 3: John reminds of Christ's eternal nature

Bible Studies for Life Series for December 3: Live out the gift of faith you have been given

Explore the Bible Series for December 3: Seize the opportunities God provides

BaptistWay Bible Series for December 10: Have a little talk with Jesus

Bible Studies for Life Series for December 10: Christian hope extends beyond here and now

Explore the Bible Series for December 10: God offers ways to overcome obstacles

Previously Posted
UMHB students challenged to see missions up close

Steppin' Out involves Baylor volunteers in service

Boomers, Busters see sex differently

Church opens its doors to students after school

Romanian child-development center fits couple well

Wade still has support despite anger, sadness at scandal

Court hears arguments on partial-birth abortion ban cases

Arkansas OKs bingo despite Baptist opposition

Fire destroys encampment auditorium


See complete list of articles from our 11/20/ 2006 issue here.




Book cancellation shows Baylor troubles not over

Updated: 12/15/06

Book cancellation shows
Baylor troubles not over

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

WACO—Baylor University reversed plans to publish a book about its recent history—a work critics called a defense of the school’s previous administration and defenders called a valuable interpretive analysis of issues facing Christian higher education.

The announcement came one week after former Baylor President Herb Reynolds sent a sharply critical e-mail to the volume’s editors, but university officials insisted their concerns predated that decision by at least five months.

Schmeltekopf Hankins

The volume’s editors—former Baylor Provost Don Schmeltekopf and Barry Hankins, a professor of church-state studies and history—learned in mid-November the university would not publish Baylor Beyond the Crossroads: An Interpretive History, 1985-2005.

In May, Baylor University Press had dropped its plans to publish the book after the usual academic peer-review process, Schmeltekopf acknowledged.

“We asked to see the reviewers’ comments but were denied the request,” he said.

After the academic publishing house rejected the manuscript, the editors appealed to Provost Randall O’Brien, asking that the book be published under the university’s imprint, and he authorized it.

But in June, O’Brien told the book’s editors they needed to work with the school’s general counsel on the project.

“Upon reflection, the provost recognized there were policy issues and legal issues associated with the use of the university’s name that needed to be worked out,” said John Barry, Baylor’s vice president for marketing and communication.

At least one contributing author asked for his manuscript to be returned after Baylor University Press rejected the book. Some sources said two writers pulled out of the project.

Reynolds Sloan

On Nov. 15, O’Brien contacted Schmeltekopf and Hankins to inform them the book would not be published under Baylor University’s name.

Since the book did not contain papers delivered at a university-sponsored event—and since it had been rejected by Baylor University Press after failing to pass muster with peer review—the school did not want it to “go out with the Baylor brand,” Barry said.

“I’m very disappointed in the decision not to publish” the book,” said former Baylor President Robert Sloan, who wrote one chapter. “The decision to publish was made when I was president, and the commitment to publish was renewed by the next administration.”

Sloan served as Baylor’s president from 1995 to 2005—a period marked both by significant expansion and bitter polarization within the university’s varied constituencies. He resigned after the Baylor Faculty Senate twice gave him “no-confidence” votes, and the regents voted three times on his continued employment. Sloan said.

“I would never want to ban books or suppress dissenting views. That’s not good Baptist practice, and it’s not the way higher education works,” said Sloan, who was inaugurated Nov. 29 as president of Houston Baptist University.

Baylor’s decision not to publish the book was announced one week after the editors received an e-mail from Reynolds—who served as Baylor’s president from 1981 to 1995 and as chancellor from 1995 to 2000—claiming their book was inaccurate and threatening to release damaging information about Sloan.

In the e-mail, quoted extensively in a Chronicle of Higher Education article, Reynolds wrote: “My tertiary specialty in the Air Force was psychological warfare, and I was no mean student thereof. It is imperative to know everything conceivably possible about your adversaries and their soft underbelly—and have the patience to await the most strategic moment to strike.”

Reynolds particularly took issue with a chapter in the book written by Sloan, writing to the editors: “… I will be releasing one or more documents which I have kept in my ‘asbestos’ files. Readers will quickly see an unvarnished picture of this ‘Intentional Christian.’ You and he, and most certainly others, have opened the door with both your publicly touted ‘Intentional Christianity’ and ad hominems. I have placed strategic items in the hands of a trusted confidante who will release them timewise as I have instructed him, so they are now out of my hands.”

Reynolds explained in an interview he used such strong language in his message to Schmeltekopf and Hankins because he “wanted to put them on notice and have them stew about it a bit.”

“I used the term ‘adversaries’ because I felt the project itself was an adversarial and gratuitous endeavor that they initiated,” he added.

Schmeltekopf noted he and Hankins were “both shocked and puzzled, to say the least,” by the e-mail from Reynolds.

“The truth is that Herbert Reynolds is the hero in at least two chapters (“The Charter Change” and “Baylor and the Big XII Conference”) and is throughout treated with respect. Actually, Robert Sloan comes under more criticism than Herbert Reynolds,” said Schmeltekopf, who served as Baylor’s provost under both Reynolds and Sloan.

Both Sloan and Reynolds were invited to submit chapters for the book, he noted. Sloan accepted, and Reynolds declined.

“People generally are under the mistaken impression that the book is essentially an apology, in the sense of a defense, for Baylor 2012,” the university’s long-range plan launched during the Sloan administration, Schmeltekopf added.

“That is not the case, although three or four chapters (out of 11) related to Baylor 2012, directly or indirectly. The book is essentially the story—‘interpretive history,’ we call it—of the major developments at Baylor from 1985 to 2005. Our goal was to provide a higher level of understanding of what has transpired during these stormy years.”

Sloan agreed the book served an important purpose—not only in recording Baylor’s recent history, but also in “providing a context for the discussion” about the integration of faith and learning.

“Good faith disagreements are healthy. This kind of discussion should go on without fear of coercion or pressure to suppress it,” Sloan said.

But Reynolds saw the book essentially as a “gratuitous” defense of the Sloan administration and its implementation of the Baylor 2012 vision.

“The motivations and preoccupations of several of the authors of this extensive apologia are blatantly transparent,” he said, characterizing the interpretive history as a “rush to judgment, ” a “historical embarrassment” and a “self-serving” document.

In particular, the book advanced the agenda of a segment of the Baylor faculty and administration who championed an approach to university education that smacked of creedalism, Reynolds said.

The book “is an attempt to interpret or reinterpret two decades of Baylor’s history with the hopes of salvaging and justifying the concerted efforts of a very few individuals who, over the past decade, attempted to introduce heterodoxies into the Baylor University community—and the Baptist centrality thereof,” he said.

Schmeltekopf confirmed he and Hankins are seeking another publisher.

“The main revision will be to begin the book with the charter change (in 1990) rather than the Baylor situation in the 1980s,” he said. “We may add a couple of chapters, as well, covering aspects presently not dealt with directly.”

Reynolds expressed regret that the editors planned to pursue other avenues to get their work published.

“Perhaps the worst outcome of this entire gratuitous endeavor will be to revive and enlarge the contentiousness of the past several years both on campus and among the larger Baylor constituency,” he said.

“Its publication may well undermine the current administration’s efforts to take a new road to reconciliation and progress in the years ahead—efforts that could move Baylor beyond the lingering rancor of the recent past.”




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.




Love given, received at Cornerstone outreach

Updated: 12/15/06

Love given, received at Cornerstone outreach

By Barbara Bedrick

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—The gift of love is lighting up the lives of two Carrollton volunteers, but their gift of time has blessed dozens of other people.

Deidra Stribling and Carl Wafer, who are engaged to be married, volunteer with community outreach programs at Cornerstone Baptist Church, an inner-city Dallas congregation—programs from which they benefited just one year ago.

Carl Wafer and Deidra Stribling met last Thanksgiving at a community outreach meal for needy people sponsored by Cornerstone Baptist Church in Dallas. This year the couple—who are engaged to be married and attending church regularly —worked as volunteers at the event.

Their relationship began when Stribling was homeless, and she showed up at Cornerstone seeking help.

“I had nowhere to go,” she said. “My mom was in a nursing home, and my father had passed away. I came to Cornerstone, and they gave me dinner, a blanket and a coat.”

A serving of turkey and dressing became a spiritual turning point for the Carrollton couple.

“I was raised in the church,” Stribling explained. “But after graduating from high school, I began turning to the wrong things, like spending time with the wrong crowd. I was in jail a couple of times.”

Stribling credits Cornerstone—and Wafer—with playing a significant role in her faith journey from living on the streets to living for God.

Wafer was driving a truck commercially when he saw Cornerstone’s outreach ministry and decided to stop last year on Thanksgiving because it looked like “a nice crowd,” Stribling explained.

Stribling and Wafer soon started dating, began attending Cornerstone, became Christians and joined the choir.

“Among the hundreds of volunteers (we have), the two who really touch my heart are Carl and Deidra,” said Chris Simmons, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church.

Simmons was surprised when he found out they met last Thanksgiving during Cornerstone’s meal for the homeless and needy.

“In less than a year, God did an amazing work, and this couple that was served last year … was serving this year,” Simmons said. “They made a commitment to follow Christ. When they did, they came back to the church where they were originally served.”

Deidra Stribling serves Thanksgiving dinner to a woman recently released from prison during a community outreach meal sponsored by Cornerstone Baptist Church, an inner-city congregation in Dallas.

Wafer now drives Stribling to church for Bible study and worship every Sunday. They also attend mid-week Bible studies.

But the couple put their heart for missions into community outreach because it holds a special place in their lives.

On Thanksgiving Day, they helped feed 1,200 people and provide blankets and coats to needy people in South Dallas.

Their pastor said he probably will never know which one of the many volunteers served the couple, or if it was their smile, hug, conversation or concern that transformed their lives, but the Thanksgiving “Coats and Blankets of Love” ministry reached this couple.

“This is a suburban/urban church partnership,” Simmons said. “Seven Baptist churches worked together to make this happen.”

The meals came from First Baptist Church of Richardson, and about 200 volunteers came from Park Cities and Wilshire Baptist churches of Dallas, Lake Point Church in Rockwall, the Heights Baptist Church in Richardson and the Village Church in Flower Mound, as well as Cornerstone.

Volunteers like Stribling and Wafer—who are selecting their wedding rings now—plan to serve a Texas barbecue for another Cornerstone Christmas celebration ministry soon.

The congregation will offer homemade baked goods and nutritious meals. They also will tell their dinner guests the story of Jesus—and describe the hope people can find in him.

By embracing that hope, Stribling feels blessed. She now has an apartment and a job, and she will not soon forget whom to thank.

“It was the Lord who took care of both of us,” Stribling said.

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.




Baylor prof says Schaeffer remained a fundamentalist

Updated: 12/15/06

Baylor prof says evangelical godfather
Schaefer returned to fundamentalism

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (ABP)—Many evangelical scholars agree Francis Schaeffer was the single greatest force that propelled evangelicals into political action—ultimately putting George W. Bush in the White House. But some question whether he rightly is described as a fundamentalist.

While some scholars think Schaeffer, the popular author and theologian who helped a generation of evangelicals move toward the public square, left fundamentalism behind during his lifetime, Baylor University professor Barry Hankins is reticent to concede that point.

“Historians have defined fundamentalism as the militaristic defense of orthodoxy,” Hankins told more than 1,000 theologians who gathered at the Evangelical Theological Society meeting in Washington, D.C. True fundamentalism, he said, encompasses two parts—militancy and separatism. In Hankins’ view, Schaeffer embodied both throughout his career.

Hankins believes Schaeffer went through three phases during his theological life—the “fundamentalist period,” the L’Abri period and the Christian Right period.

In the early years before establishing L’Abri, a forum for discussion and study in Huemoz-sur-Ollon, Switzerland, Schaeffer worried almost constantly that the separatist mindset would disappear within the theologically conservative Bible Presbyterian Church to which he belonged. He worked closely with Carl McIntire, a then-popular fundamentalist radio preacher and founder of Bible Presbyterian.

“Schaeffer was even a second-degree separationist,” Hankins said, referring to the belief that Christians should not associate even with other Christians who associate with “the world.”

“That is, he believed fundamentalists should not labor” with other mainline churches, he said. “Schaefer’s criticism of the (National Association of Evangelicals) extended to Fuller Seminary. This was secondary separation, and Shaffer was adamant.”

Fuller Theological Seminary, located in Pasadena, Calif., is a multidenominational, evangelical seminary known for a progressive stance on social issues.

After a mutual and irreversible rift emerged with McIntire, who had developed increasingly separationist leanings, Schaeffer began the L’Abri community in 1955 at his home. Although initial plans for Schaeffer’s move to Europe in 1948 was to “shore up” evangelical churches in the post-WWII context, he “moved increasingly toward a position of intellectual and cultural engagement,” Hankins said.

During the time in Europe, Schaeffer and his wife, Edith, realized that, in a secular culture, attacking people who had so-called liberal ideologies was relatively unproductive. Instead, he engaged those sometimes shunned by churches—hippies, existentialists, Bohemians, relativists, atheists and unwed mothers.

Meeting these young people “where they were” spiritually and philosophically was Schaeffer’s evangelism, Hankins said. Unlike in the United States, where young people were not yet questioning traditional philosophy and spirituality, Schaeffer encountered in Europe those who struggled with questions posed by Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud. The results, Hankins said, were Schaeffer’s apologetics.

“Schaeffer was the model of tolerance and understanding,” he said. “All worldviews were welcomed. … The conversations were never really academic. They were about truth and how it affected real lives. It was about apologetics in the pit—down and dirty.”

After his return to the United States, Schaeffer frequently visited college campuses across the nation, trying to energize students in ways almost opposite to the stricter ideas that characterized his early days. In short, he turned from a McIntire protégé into a cultural critic. And his knickers, goatee and long hair only helped endear him to the counter-cultural generation he befriended.

The 1970s, though, brought a slight turn in Schaeffer’s thinking, Hankins asserted.

Schaeffer moved back to the United States because he saw a chance to defend American culture from the “liberalism” of Europe, Hankins said. Schaeffer feared American evangelicalism was susceptible to theological liberalism.

“Europe was lost in this regard; you won’t find Schaeffer trying to restore Switzerland’s or France’s Christian base,” Hankins said. “Moreover, Europe was not his land and, most tragically in his view, America had lost its Christian base as recently as in his lifetime.”

A Christian Manifesto, written by Schaeffer in 1982, was one way he sought to defend the faith. Intended as a response to the Communist Manifesto and the Humanist Manifesto, the book said society—to its detriment—had become increasingly pluralistic. Schaeffer also argued that Christians should challenge the influence of secular humanism, the worldview that “man is the measure of all things.”

“In the 1970s, the militancy and combativeness for Schaeffer’s fundamentalism were still there,” Hankins said. Schaeffer believed anything that undermined creationism undercut all of Christianity, and he warned against working with those who questioned the inerrancy of the Bible, Hankins said.

For Schaeffer in the ’70s and ’80s, the identifiable enemy was the secular humanist. How Shall We Then Live? and Whatever Happened to the Human Race? defined Schaeffer’s manifesto, Hankins said.

A Christian Manifesto is nothing if not militant. Culturally separatist it is not, but it is militant,” he said.

Twenty years after Schaeffer’s death, Christian Right leaders like Jerry Falwell and Tim LaHaye still are influenced by fundamentalism’s separatist tradition, Hankins said. While Schaeffer and others relinquished their separatism in order to better understand and reach people, extreme fundamentalists have failed to do so, he asserted.

Schaeffer met people on common ground as human beings, Hankins said. He lived as an alien in European culture, and that alienation taught him to study and teach within a secular context—much like that of the United States today.

“Militant defense of the faith is too easily adaptable to politics, and it comes with a price,” he said. “Perhaps the most valuable lesson Americans can take from Schaeffer is to leave America—not literally as he did, of course, but figuratively and theologically.”

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.




Pieces coming together for McAllen church

Updated: 12/15/06

Pieces coming together for McAllen church

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

MCALLEN—Pastor Thomas Whitehouse views life like a jigsaw puzzle.

“Individually, (the pieces) may be all jaggedy, but together they are beautiful,” he said.

As pastor of Iglesia Bautista Getsemani in McAllen, Whitehouse recently has found himself examining a jagged piece in his congregation’s life and pondering how God will bring good out of it.

The church’s former pastor, Otto Arango, has been accused of misusing Baptist General Convention of Texas church-starting funds, and the church has been thrust into the media spotlight as a result.

See complete list of Valley funds scandal articles

Many church members feel the congregation’s image has been tarnished by some of the reporting. One television station incorrectly reported Whitehouse was accused of wrongdoing. The front page of the McAllen newspaper had a graphic of a large hand coming out of the roof of the church and reaching upward for money.

Church members are experiencing the gamut of emotions as they think about a pastor under whom they came to know Christ. Some cannot believe the accusations. Others feel betrayed. Members of Arango’s family continue serving in the congregation.

But the already tight-knit congregation has drawn closer in the midst of dealing with the accusations and the limelight, Whitehouse noted. Church members are leaning on each other and on their faith.

“People are hurting, but part of being obedient is learning what to do with the hurt,” Whitehouse said.

On a recent Sunday, Whitehouse preached from Romans 8, reminding the congregation God brings good for Christians out of every situation. The circumstances surrounding his congregation are no different.

“I don’t know the future, but I know God put this together,” he said after the service.

BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade turned evidence against the three pastors accused of misusing funds over to legal authorities and has indicated the convention will seek restitution.

Whitehouse knows that could lead to a trial or some other extended spotlight on the situation. He recognizes church members will watch what unfolds.

But he also wants them to move on as much as possible. God continues calling Iglesia Bautista Getsemani to serve him, Whitehouse said.

“We know some things are still going to happen,” he said. “But as much as possible, I’d like to get our minds back on business, which is pushing the kingdom.”

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.




Bone marrow donation provides the gift of life

Updated: 12/15/06

Bone marrow donor Jennifer Hammons teaches a class at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. (UMHB Photo)

Bone marrow donation provides the gift of life

By Jennifer Sicking

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

BELTON—One person’s whim became another family’s answer to prayer when Jennifer Hammons gave a little of herself to an unknown girl an ocean away.

Hammons, a University of Mary Hardin-Baylor graduate and adjunct teacher, became a bone marrow donor.

Six years ago, Hammons saw a Scott and White Memorial Hospital booth at a job fair. When the people staffing the booth invited her to sign up as a bone marrow donor, she impulsively agreed.

“It was a total whim,” she said.

Her blood type and other facts were entered into the national bone marrow donor registry, and she submitted a blood sample.

After that, she didn’t think about it again until seven months ago—the day she returned home from the hospital with her newborn daughter, Madalyn.

That’s when she received a call confirming she had been matched to someone who needed bone marrow. Officials at Scott and White wanted her to come to the hospital to give additional blood for further testing.

“God’s hand has been in this thing from the beginning,” she said, explaining the delay of more than five years. “When I registered, they confused part of my paperwork with someone else. They had the wrong name.”

Added to that, she and her family had moved three times last year.

“Tracking me down wasn’t that easy,” she said. “They really had to persevere.”

Hammons never questioned her decision to give her marrow.

“I’m a mom,” she said. “It was a piece of cake. That’s someone’s child.”

After attending an information session and signing consent forms, Hammons discovered she was a perfect match for an 11-year-old girl with leukemia who lives somewhere overseas. After Hammons signed the necessary paperwork, the girl’s family was informed a match had been located for their daughter.

“Then they are told that a match is found, not only a match, but an identical match,” she said. “That’s God. The only one who could do that is him.”

The donation process involves taking marrow from her right and left hips, but Hammons insisted the benefits outweighed the discomfort.

“It will be a little uncomfortable, but what’s that compared to having leukemia?” she said.

Now, she wants others to know about the registry and to sign up. While 85 percent of Caucasians that need bone marrow are able to find it, those percentages drop drastically for other ethnicities.

“It goes down majorly if they’re Asian, Hispanic or African-American,” she said.

There is no expense for donors.

“It’s a couple of days out of your life, and it could save someone’s life or a baby, a child or parents,” Hammons said.

For more information, visit the National Marrow Donor program website at www.marrow.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.




Wreaths help single mothers turn their cottages into homes

Updated: 12/15/06

A Family Care resident shows off her wreath during the Texas Baptist Children's Home annual wreath party..

Wreaths help single mothers turn
their cottages into homes

By Miranda Bradley

Children at Heart Foundation

ROUND ROCK—For single mothers in Texas Baptist Children’s Home Family Care program, a Christmas wreath represents more than a seasonal decoration. It’s a vehicle to help them reclaim their identities.

For the past nine years, the Family Care program has provided an opportunity for single mothers to express their creativity. During its annual wreath-making party, the program provides dinner, childcare and a variety of bows, ornaments, trinkets and baubles to adorn each evergreen ornament.

“When these moms come to us, they usually have nothing more than the clothes on their backs or what is in their car,” said Melanie Martinez, Family Care program supervisor. “So, this is one way for them to express their own personalities in the cottages where they live.”

Seven Family Care cottages house up to five families each. Each cottage provides a homelike setting for single mothers who have fled abuse, homelessness or financial instability.

Despite their warm atmosphere, the cottages still aren’t a “home” where the mothers have stockpiled memories. The wreaths, Martinez said, add that personal touch and help build memories during a special time of year.

First Baptist Church in Round Rock offered its new family life center for the wreath-making party this year, and the church makes its facilities available to the program for weekly mothers’ group meetings.

“First Baptist Church has just been so generous,” Martinez said. “We are so blessed to have their support.”

The wreaths hold special significance for the women who made them—and not just because of their decorative value, Martinez observed.

“Each time they add an ornament or a bow, they are representing something else that is going on inside themselves,” she said. “Just like when they are creating the wreaths piece by piece, these moms are also putting their lives back together one piece at a time. And the end product of both is beauty and perfection in the eyes of God.”

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.