Posted: 6/23/06

Church with mission roots
in Brazil helps missionaries

By Laura Frase

Communications Intern

WorldconneX and Texas Baptists are helping Don and Angie Finley return to Brazil after a prolonged absence from their 11-year mission home. And in the process, the missions network located a Corsicana church rich in Brazil’s missionary history to fund part of the couple’s mission.

The Finleys originally were appointed as missionaries by the Southern Baptist International Mission Board but had to leave the mission field when they refused to sign the controversial 2000 Baptist Faith & Message statement.

“We never wanted to leave,” Mrs. Finley said. “We came back to the United States with the call of God stronger than ever back in Brazil and no way to get there.”

The Brazilians offered an open invitation for the couple to return, but the Finleys had to find a way to finance their mission.

Mrs. Finley acknowledged they felt intimidated about raising their own money for the mission trip. As IMB missionaries, they did not have to appeal to individual churches for financial support.

“Friends would say we were so lucky to not have to worry about it, but would also add that we were missing a blessing,” she said.

The couple would always laugh it off and not understand how it was a blessing.

“It really was such a blessing to meet people,” they discovered. “We now have a close relationship with churches all over.”

WorldconneX helped the Finleys make the connections they needed.

After an interview with the Finleys, “it was all about what is the next step,” said Bill Tinsley, the missions network’s leader, explaining the typical procedure WorldconneX follows. “We look at what’s God’s vision for you, and how can we get you there.”

Tinsley then sought churches for an appropriate match. WorldconneX activates churches by “taking all the resources of a church—their professions, passions—and looking at what God is doing in the world strategically to decide where to send people,” Tinsley said.

That led to First Baptist Church in Corsicana.

William Bagby, Southern Baptists’ first missionary to Brazil, was an early pastor of the Corsicana church. Because of the church’s historic connection with Brazil and a personal connection with Tinsley, First Baptist in Corsicana pledged $8,000 to get the Finleys back in action.

First Baptist Church in San Angelo, First Baptist Church in Amarillo and Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston also will support the couple, along with some Baptist General Conference churches, Baptist churches in Kentucky and several individuals.

Once the Finleys are in Brazil, WorldconneX will continue helping through frontline services, including international money transferring and insurance.

Before they left Brazil, the Finleys had implemented a center that trained career missionaries and lay leaders for churches. They began the program because the number of Brazilian missionaries was growing rapidly, but they were having problems, largely due to lack of adequate training, Mrs. Finley said.

The Brazilians also developed programs to send Christians out internationally to “live incarnationally” in other cultures, she noted.

“It’s exciting, because we’re not only sending missionaries into Brazil, but we’re helping Brazilians send missionaries to Muslim countries where we would never be welcomed or accepted, but Brazilians are accepted,” said David Edwards, pastor of First Baptist Church in Corsicana.

The Finleys are eager to return to Brazil and will have plenty of work to do because “the Brazil mission movement is exploding,” Mrs. Finley said.

“I sometimes feel overwhelmed to be part of God’s plan through the Brazilian Baptist movement,” Finley said. “We feel this is a multiplying ministry.”

With a gift of $250,000 from the BGCT, WorldconneX will continue connecting, activating and providing frontline service for others like the Finleys.

“We are just so grateful for WorldconneX and Texas Baptists for making it all possible. We hope to be connected to them for a long time,” Finley 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.

Posted: 6/23/06

Dawson led ETBU, BGCT institutional board

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—Former East Texas Baptist University President Jerry Dawson and Texas Baptist leader in Christian higher education died June 17 after a long battle with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

Dawson was ETBU president from 1976 to 1985. Current ETBU President Bob Riley praised Dawson’s leadership in a time of change at the school. Dawson was school president when it changed its name from East Texas Baptist College to East Texas Baptist University. A library, residence halls and the home for the school’s president all were constructed during Dawson’s tenure.

“He was a wonderful man, and his outgoing personality and humorous stories will be missed,” Riley said.

After leaving ETBU, Dawson served as the director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Education Coordinating Board from 1986 to 1997. From 1987 to 1988, he served as the interim chief executive officer at Dallas Baptist University.

“Jerry Dawson made a huge contribution to the lives of a multitude of persons as a teacher, preacher, author, administrator and friend,” said Bill Pinson, BGCT executive director emeritus. “A highly respected historian, he applied insights that he gained from the past to the issues of the present in the various roles in which he served, such as professor, dean, university president and denominational administrator.”

Before going to ETBU, Dawson held a number of academic positions. He served as dean of the graduate school and was a history professor at Southwest Texas State University, now Texas State University. He also taught at Texas A&M University, the University of Northern Colorado, Mississippi College, the University of Texas and Wayland Baptist University.

“Jerry Dawson was first and foremost a committed Christian and a minister,” said Keith Bruce, BGCT director of institutional ministries. “The avenue of ministry to which God led him was that of Christian higher education, where he served joyfully and effectively. The student was always first and foremost in his mind, and countless lives have been transformed because of his caring leadership.”

Dawson presented numerous papers on Southern Baptist history in a variety of settings, wrote several books and edited a revision of Flowers and Fruits in the Wilderness, the memoirs of Texas Baptist pioneer preacher Z.M. Morrell.

Dawson helped Texas Baptists relate history’s lessons to contemporary ministry, Pinson said. He made lives better and brought smiles to people’s faces.

“Jerry Dawson combined intellect with common sense,” Pinson said. “He demonstrated solemnity when appropriate and humor when needed. A teller of stories, both written and oral, he brought laughter and chuckles, information and wisdom to a host of people.”

Dawson was a graduate of Mississippi College. He earned a master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin.

Dawson is survived by his wife Margie, their three children and nine grandchildren.

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: 6/23/06

DOWN HOME:
Buying toothpaste, counting blessings

My wife rarely sends me to the grocery store alone. And she never sends me to the store before dinner.

Joanna realizes I’m just a man. Made of flesh and blood. But mostly, with a stomach. And if it’s an empty stomach, I’m no match for the geniuses who arrange all the stuff in a grocery store.

If properly motivated—that means hungry—I can go to the store for a gallon of milk and eggs and return home with stuff my shopping-savvy wife never would buy.

A normal person wouldn’t fall for the crackers and cookies and salsas and salad dressings that lure me like Safeway Sirens. They contain enough preservatives to keep King Tut looking like he’s still 19 for another 4,000 years. But, heavens, they’re tasty.

And even the healthy stuff seems irresistible to a hungry, hungry husband.

Fruit, for example, never looks as good on a tree or on your table as it does in those grocery bins. Grocers must use some sort of special light that makes the oranges oranger, the bananas yellower, and the apples and strawberries and raspberries redder. I’m drooling now, and I’m at least a mile from the nearest fruit section.

My real weakness, and I’m embarrassed to admit this, is cereal. I have to be accompanied by a probation officer to walk down the cereal aisle. The people who think up new kinds of cereal tapped my genetic code and realized I’m a sucker for anything nutty, crunchy with “real fruit” in it. And if the box says “low fat,” I can levitate it off the shelf and into my cart without using my hands.

The other night, however, I was surprised to discover grocery-store variety includes stuff you can’t eat. It was late, and we were splitting the shopping assignment, and Jo asked me to go get some toothpaste.

“Do you know which brand?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said.

“Colgate,” she said. I would’ve guessed Crest, but I didn’t tell her this.

“Do you know what kind of Colgate?” she asked. My blank stare indicated I hadn’t a clue. “Whitening, with tartar control,” she instructed.

Minutes later, I stood gazing in wonder upon a display of toothpaste so huge it should make the Great Wall of China re-name itself the Modestly Large Wall of China. Eventually, I found the Colgate section. And later still, I found the “whitening, with tartar control” tubes.

“Do you know how many varieties of Colgate toothpaste this store has? Not counting sizes?” I asked my wife, who was about to send out a search party.

“Twenty-four,” I reported.

“Not surprising,” she said. I adore this woman. Nothing phases her.

The next Sunday, my pastor, Stephen, described going on a medical mission trip to the Amazon. To ease people’s pain, they pulled rotting teeth that couldn’t be saved.

So, next time you feel sorry for yourself, thank God you live in a country where people can choose from 24 kinds of toothpaste, all with the same brand. Lord only knows how many blessings you could count.

–Marv Knox

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: 6/23/06

Ava Flanagan of Canton has retired after 47 years as a church secretary.

Church secretary retires after 47 years

By Orville Scott

Special to the Baptist Standard

CANTON—Ava Flanagan is retiring after 47 years as a church secretary, but she quickly points out that she’s not retiring to the rocking chair.

Flanagan, who has served as membership and records secretary at First Baptist Church of Canton 17 years, enthusiastically looks forward to ministering to the growing numbers of senior adults in her church.

“We are surrounded by people who aren’t able to get out and shop for themselves,” Flanagan said.

Serving as a church secretary, she has had to find time to visit members of the Sunday school class she teaches at First Baptist in Canton.

“Now I’ll be able to help them more,” she said. “I’ve been blessed with good health. I can take senior adults to the doctor. There are so many who need our ministry of caring.”

Don Childress, minister to senior adults at First Baptist in Canton, added: “We will miss her depth of knowledge and her warm smile and helpful, encouraging words. She will be a great help to our 55-plus ministry.”

At a recent reception at First Baptist Church, fellow church members and friends gave Flanagan a $12,000 check. Because she served most of her time as a church secretary without retirement contributions, members of First Baptist started the Ava Flanagan Retirement Fund with an investment firm.

“Ava has built a heritage of Christian love and service that will continue to bless people in our church and community,” Pastor Mark Robinson said.

Her 47 years as a church secretary are exceeded only by her 53 years as a Sunday school teacher.

Charles Richardson, pastor of First Baptist in Canton 34 years, said he doesn’t know anyone who has served as a church secretary as long as Flanagan.

Flanagan’s career as church secretary began when she accepted a job as pastor’s secretary at Beckley Hills Baptist Church of Oak Cliff.

She served there 15 years before moving with her family to Canton in 1973.

After the death of her husband, Thomas, in 1974, she moved back to Dallas to be near her daughters. In 1976, Flanagan began a job as the pastor’s secretary at Lakeland Baptist Church in Lewisville, where she served until going to work at First Baptist Church of Canton in 1989. 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: 6/23/06

First Baptist Church in Laguna Park created a town library where it houses more than 8,000 donated books and a coffee house/Internet cafe. (Photos by Laura Frase)

Central Texas church knows
how to read its community

By Laura Frase

Communications Intern

LAGUNA PARK—When Pastor Doug Evans looked at a storage room at church, he saw the potential for a small town’s first community library.

Evans, pastor of First Baptist Church in Laguna Park, said he was tired of all the junk in the storage room, and in the process of cleaning it out, a 350-book library was born.

When Evans told the church they were going to build a community library in the storage room, everybody laughed, he recalled.

But three-and-a-half years later, the library has outgrown its original home and moved into a new building down the road from the church, where it houses more than 8,000 donated books.

The church received everything it needed for the library—supplies, labor and books—through donations. “Friends of the Library,” composed of members of the church and some local residents who are not, help with shelving books and taking care of the library.

Along with the new building came new ideas to get people involved with the church and library. The church created its own coffee shop in the library.

“We have just about anything you could want, and a live band plays every Friday and Saturday,” Evans said. “The community needs good stuff to do.”

Laguna Park, located near Lake Whitney, has a population around 3,500. First Baptist Church attracts about 100 on a good Sunday, Evans said.

“We’re just an ordinary, little church doing what we can to reach the lost,” he said. Evans felt the community needed a library because “it suffers a bit” and believes it’s due to the alarming rate of illiteracy in the town.

“If we can help out the literacy rate, we’ll do it with after-school tutoring and other programs to bring the literacy rate up.”

The church plans to start reading programs this summer. “This summer, we have a woman doing storytelling, and we’ll see how it grows from there,” he said. The library has created a bridge between the church and the community.

“People don’t need to come to church and be preached at. We need to get out there and make a difference,” Evans said. “That’s what Jesus did.”

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: 6/23/06

Texas Baptist Forum

Southern Baptists & alcohol

According to a Southern Baptist Convention resolution, I’m just one step away from hell. I am now in a special status where I am not eligible to serve in an SBC position.

The convention resolution states: “Resolved, that we urge that no one be elected to serve as a trustee or a member of any entity or committee of the Southern Baptist Convention that is a user of alcoholic beverages.”

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

“Fort Worth’s greatest crime scene is also the site of one of her greatest miracles. The Darkness sought to shut us down, but the Light shines ever brighter and ever stronger and will not be extinguished.” Al Meredith Pastor of Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, noting hundreds of people have become Christians since the September 1999 shooting that killed seven people (Star-Telegram/RNS) “For people in America who are a part of my political tradition, our great sin has often been ignoring religion or denying its power or refusing to engage it because it seemed hostile to us. For … the so-called Christian right and its allies, their great sin has been believing they were in full possession of the truth.” Bill Clinton Former U.S. president, accepting an award from the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding (The Associated Press/RNS) “Everything possible must be done to fight AIDS.” Carlo Maria Martini Roman Catholic cardinal, once considered a candidate for the papacy, announcing his support for use of condoms as a “lesser evil” to the spread of AIDS (RNS)

I have a couple of ounces of Jewish Passover wine in the evening to get rid of a tickle in my throat—it is better than cough medicine. And I might have an “adult” beverage twice a year if my wife and I are on a special date.

I have the Holy Spirit inside of me, who gives me wisdom regarding when I may be a stumbling block. I don’t need Nashville telling me what I can drink.

This action is typical of the pharisaical SBC. They are too busy being whitewashed tombs instead of rescuing those headed for the cemetery.

As a Texas Baptist pastor (and a Souhwestern Baptist Theological Seminary grad), I am fed up with the “be like us or leave us” mentality. I am about ready to leave.

I would rather be known as a “soul-winner” than a “teetotaler.”

William Campbell

Port Aransas

Southern Baptists & Calvin

While reading Roger Olsen’s column “God is sovereign over his sovereignty” (May 29), I remembered The Doctrines of Our Faith by E.C. Dargan, published by the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board in 1905.

In Chapter 19, “God’s Work in Saving,” Dargan discusses election and makes statements considered quite Calvinistic. In part III, addressing “difficulties,” Dargan notes: “If he chooses some, regenerates them and actually saves them, what shall we say to those who are left out of these operations? We can only answer, with all reverence, that this is God’s affair, and he will see to it.”

Obviously, this book is not Scripture and did not settle the long Arminian/Calvinist debate, but it does provide evidence that many early Southern Baptists were quite Calvin-istic, especially by today’s standards.

Another interesting part of the book is George W. Truett’s introduction. Although too long to repeat here, it contains assertions such as: “The time is surely most propitious for a faithful restatement, in every Baptist church in the land, of the fundamental doctrines of God’s word. … Most cordially do I welcome this new book, and most heartily do I commend it to brother pastors everywhere, to the end that they may at once use it as a textbook in a series of doctrinal studies for their young people.”

Could it be that George W. Truett, the man for which Baylor University’s seminary is named, held Calvinistic theological views?

Lex Herrington

Floydada

Complement, not compete

“Arctic Edge, Arctic Edge; Where Adventure Meets Courage.” I can’t get that Vacation Bible School theme song out of my head. I love it.

VBS was great this year—the motto, the verses, the stories and especially the video of the family. On the third-day video, the brother and sister were fighting (as they had the whole trip) over a candy bar and accidentally knocked their father down and broke his leg.

As I watched, I thought to myself, “When brothers and sister fight, the Father is hurt.” I wonder how long it is going to take before we in the family of God get past this kind of immature behavior. We keep sticking our tongues out at others by calling them and viewing them as “the competition,” whether they are another church or another denomination.

Fighting over candy bars ($$). Don’t we realize that it is the Father who is hurt by this kind of attitude and behavior? We don’t realize this, because we are not thinking or looking at him much, but only ourselves, our church, our denomination, our little kingdoms.

The good news is that we can grow up in Christ and get past this embarrassment and begin complementing rather than competing, begin encouraging rather than ignoring. Let’s live today the way we will in heaven. Why wait? Much of the way we treat each other today will not be allowed in heaven.

Bubba Stahl

Corpus Christi

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: 6/23/06

On the move

• Bill Burch to First Church in Morgan as minister of youth.

• David Carfrey to Buel Church in Cleburne as pastor.

• Adolphus Cleveland to The White Stone Church in Lubbock as pastor from New Beginnings at Ridgecrest Church in Lubbock.

• Tim Fox to Centerpoint Church in Burleson as interim pastor.

• Chuck Gilliland to First Church in Blum as pastor.

• Luke Holmes to Hyde Park Church in Denison as interim pastor.

• Gordon Moore to Casa View Church in Dallas as associate pastor for music and senior adults from the International Mission Board, where he was a church planter in Spain.

• Shane Nation to Heaven Bound Church in Lubbock as pastor.

• David Rogers to The Heights Church in Richardson as pastor of emergent ministries, where he had been community minister.

• Bob Rowe to Ambrose Church in Sherman as pastor.

• Rodney Stanford has resigned as pastor of Kentuckytown Church in Whitewright.

• Bruce Venable to First Church in Lubbock as university minister from the Louisiana Baptist Convention, where he was state associate director for collegiate ministry.

• William Wissore to First Church in Venus as pastor.

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: 6/23/06

Texas Tidbits

BGCT hotel block opens. Discounted hotel rooms for messengers and visitors to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting now are available. The BGCT has negotiated discounted rates with a variety of hotels in Dallas, where the meeting will be held Nov. 13-14. To receive the reduction when making reservations, Texas Baptists must use the discount code “BGCT.” For a complete list of discounted hotels as well as other information about the BGCT annual meeting, visit www.bgct.org/annual meeting or call (888) 244-9400.

Memorial gift initiates endowment campaign. Christian Ethics Today received a $100,000 gift from Harold Simmons in memory of his longtime friend, ethicist Foy Valentine, the journal’s founder. In response, the publication’s board of directors organized the Friends of Foy Valentine Committee and set a $500,000 goal to partially endow the journal, which is sent free of charge to more than 4,300 subscribers. Two directors—Darold Morgan of Richardson and David Sapp, of Atlanta, Ga.—will oversee the campaign. For more information, visit www.ChristianEthicsToday.com.

DBU receives gift from Stokes Foundation. Dallas Baptist University received a $100,000 gift from the Ann Bradshaw Stokes Foundation, given to establish the Ann Bradshaw Stokes Fund for Music and Theater.

Retiree Ministries Retreat set. Russell Dilday, chancellor of the B.H. Carroll Institute and former president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, will preach and Bill Tolar, retired dean of Southwestern Seminary’s School of Theology, will teach the morning Bible study at the 8th Retiree Ministries’ Retreat at Glorieta Conference Center, Sept. 25-29. Music evangelist Dick Baker of McKinney will lead the music. The Baptist General Convention of Texas and Glorieta Conference Center jointly sponsor the retreat. Room and meals are $376 per couple, $286 for a single occupancy and $188 for a single double occupancy. Prices include a full meal package. For reservations, call (800) 797-4222.

Scholarships established at Hardin-Simmons. The Dub and Betsy Pierce Endowed Scholarship for teaching recently was established at Hardin-Simmons University by their family. The scholarship will benefit students preparing to teach in any field and at any grade level. The Hubert C. and Grace V. Toombs Endowed Memorial Scholarship recently was established after funds for the scholarship were made possible by two gift annuities from the couple. The scholarship benefits promising or exceptional students in graduate programs. The Glynn Breeden Endowed Memorial Scholarship for Missionary Kids was established to benefit HSU students who are children of missionaries, and the Howard J. Jones Endowed Memorial Scholarship was set up to benefit graduate or undergraduate students preparing for Christian ministries.

UMHB received $50,000 from builder. The Univer-sity of Mary Hardin-Baylor received a $50,000 gift from MW Builders of Texas, a Temple-based construction company, after completion of a major student housing project. The company built three apartment-style buildings in the student-residence complex on the west side of the campus.

Urban Training Institute slated for July. Transform-ing communities is a focus of the second annual Urban Training Institute of the Southwest, July 18-21 at Cityplace Conference Center in Dallas. The leadership training event for urban ministry practitioners features presentations by author Leonard Sweet, evangelism professor at Drew Theological School; Robert Linthicum, president of Partners in Urban Transformation; and Brad Smith, president of Bakke Graduate University. For more information, visit http://citycoreinitiative.org/uti or call (214) 828-5242. 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: 6/23/06

TOGETHER:
CLC builds Baptists’ biblical convictions

Baptists are in danger of losing the fruit of one man’s life. For decades, students of T.B. Maston came out of his Christian ethics classes to move across Texas and the world and give prophetic witness to the ethical demands of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were pastors, missionaries, and college and seminary professors and presidents. They led the Christian life commissions of national and state Baptist conventions. But the Maston tradition of Christian ethics will be silenced if the seminaries do not maintain a strong Christian ethics emphasis and denominational agencies that promote biblical ethics get sidetracked from their calling.

Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

It was my privilege to take the last class he taught in seminary, “Contemporary Issues in Christian Ethics.” He emphasized: Every concern can be addressed from a biblical perspective. Nothing is more important than discovering and following the will of God in one’s life. The goal in life is to be a Jesus kind of person. And you can get people to see difficult truths best if you take the time to love them.

He illustrated how to bring about change in church with a rubber band: “You can use a rubber band to lift a 2-by-4 if you work with it. Increase the tension slowly, and the board can be lifted. Jerk the band, and it will snap, leaving the board where it was.” I learned applying that truth was not easy, but you have to keep the tension on, and you have to be more interested in long-term change than in short-term irritations.

This story may put it all in perspective. In Texas Baptists: A Sesquicentennial History, Leon McBeth tells how the BGCT Christian Life Commission came into being.

A.C. Miller, who would become the first CLC director, recalls BGCT Executive Secretary J. Howard Williams saying in 1948: “We go along here preaching what we call the gospel, but we leave out the help that we can give to labor, we leave out the help that we might give to race … . We ought to have some agency by which we could promote this phase of the Christian life.”

In 1950, a committee of seven reported to the convention: “The major need of our day is an effective working combination of a conservative theology, an aggressive, constructive evangelism and a progressive application of the spirit and teaching of Jesus to every area of life.” Maston was one of the seven members of this historic committee.

The proposed Commission on Problems in Christian Living got a new name before it was adopted when an opponent argued it was dangerous to have “this commission on the Christian life,” and the name stuck.

The new commission was created for two purposes—“to help create an awareness of the many areas of daily life in which specific Christian principles apply and to point out ways to make that witness more effective,” Williams said.

The six areas of research, writing and emphasis were scriptural basis and approach to moral issues, the family, race relations, public morals, economic life and world order.

Texas Baptists are compelled to support a strong Christian Life Commission, not only because of our history, but also because of the challenge that still faces our people and churches as we place our biblical convictions up against the moral chaos of our world.

Pray for us as we seek the person who will follow Phil Strickland in leading the BGCT Christian Life Commission.

We are loved.

Charles Wade is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

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: 6/23/06

Court agrees to hear test
of partial-birth abortion ban

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—The Supreme Court will expand its review of a controversial federal abortion law.

The justices agreed June 20 to hear a California case involving the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. They will consider, in Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood, whether the ban is unconstitutionally vague and places too heavy a burden on women seeking abortions.

The court has already said it would hear a Nebraska case (Gonzales v. Carhart) challenging the same law on the grounds that it does not permit an exemption designed to protect the health of the mother seeking an abortion.

Federal appeals courts ruled the law unconstitutional in both cases. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appealed those decisions.

Congress passed the law to ban an abortion procedure, known medically as “intact dilation and extraction,” that involves the partial delivery of a fetus, whose skull is then punctured and its contents evacuated to make it easier to pass the head through the birth canal. Doctors say it is used only in exceedingly rare circumstances.

The last time the Supreme Court dealt with a similar law—in this case, a Nebraska state ban on the procedure—was in 2000. In Stenberg v. Carhart, the justices ruled 5-4 that the law was worded so vaguely as to possibly ban other abortion procedures, and also violated the Constitution because it did not include a health exception.

The federal partial-birth ban does not provide a health exception. Instead, it cites congressional findings determining that the procedure is never medically necessary to protect a woman's health.

Both cases will be heard by a Supreme Court different in ideological make-up than the one that ruled the law unconstitutional in 2000. The justice who decided that case by casting her vote with the five-member majority—Sandra Day O’Connor—voted frequently in favor of abortion rights.

Since then, she has retired and been replaced by Justice Samuel Alito, who was nominated by abortion-rights opponent President Bush and confirmed by a divided Senate in January. Much of the controversy over Alito’s appointment centered on whether he would vote to uphold abortion rights or restrict them.

Arguments in both cases will take place in October, after the court begins its 2006-2007 term.

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 week of 6/26/06

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



• TROUBLED WATERS: Are Baptists watering down commitment to baptism?


• TROUBLED WATERS: Are Baptists watering down commitment to baptism?

• Shoes for orphans sought

• Dawson led ETBU, BGCT institutional board

• Church secretary retires after 47 years

• Central Texas church knows how to read its community

• Around the State

• On the move

• Texas Tidbits


• Baptist Briefs


• Church with mission roots in Brazil helps missionaries


• Court agrees to hear test of partial-birth abortion ban


• Books reviewed in this issue: Renewing the City: Reflections on Community Development and Urban Renewal by Robert D. Lupton; Dinner With a Perfect Stranger: An Invitation Worth Considering by David Gregory; and Second Calling: Finding Passion and Purpose for the Rest of Your Life by Dale Hanson Bourke.


• Cartoon

• Classified Ads

• Around the State

• Texas Baptist Forum

• On the move


• EDITORIAL: SBC: Many changes, very little change

• DOWN HOME: Buying toothpaste, counting blessings

• TOGETHER: CLC builds Baptists' biblical convictions

• RIGHT OR WRONG? Approach to ethical decision making

• 2nd Opinion: They die rejected, abandoned, alone

• Texas Baptist Forum


• BaptistWay Bible Series for June 25: Qualifications for elder, deacon enumerated

• Family Bible Series for June 25: A strong commitment to Christ is vital

• Explore the Bible Series for June 25: God is present even in his absence

• BaptistWay Bible Series for July 2: Even the young can provide a good example

• Family Bible Series for July 2: Proclaim your declaration of dependence

• Explore the Bible Series for July 2: Live a life that seeks to meet God's standards


Previously Posted
SBC Annual Meeting Coverage
• WMU emphasizes God's call to missions

• Patterson, Mohler discuss Calvinism

• CP standard, WMU ‘invitation' nixed

• Page elected SBC president in upset of establishment

• Rice urges SBC to support U.S. efforts to spread freedom

• SBC gives IMB first crack at solving its own problems

• Multiple motions referred to SBC Executive Committee

• Baptists teetotally—but not unanimously—against alcohol

• Election could prove troubling to Calvinists in SBC

• Burleson optimistic despite results of motion, bylaw change

• GuideStone investments positive, most medical premiums decrease

• Welch: SBC will baptize a million in a year

• Statue of Billy Graham unveiled at convention

• New SBC president an inerrantist, but he's ‘just not mad about it'

• S.C. pastor calls Southern Baptist ‘fat-cats' to action

• 'Everyone Can' messages challenge Southern Baptists to evangelizet

• Fish accentuates positive in NAMB report to SBC

• Draper, Rankin address younger pastors meeting

• Rick Warren calls pastors to imitate Christ

• Rogers' widow cautions against narrowing fellowship

• Shook tells pastors 'stunts' can open people to the gospel

• New Orleans Seminary president thanks SBC for aiding recovery

• Church founded by Lottie Moon gets new building


OTHERS
• Church's sports camp scores with Corsicana children

• Laredo church offers water

• Calvary Waco bridges gap between church, community

• Well-drilling innovation brings water to Kenyan villages

• Offering of Letters addresses hunger

• Texan places first at national tournament



• See complete list of articles from our 6/12/ 2006 issue here.

Posted: 6/23/06

RIGHT OR WRONG?
Approach to ethical decision making

Christians should consider the Bible as a primary resource, but is there any basic approach—ethical theory—that can assist me in making ethical decisions?

Ethics can be approached from three basic, theoretical angles. The deontological approach considers our duty or obligation. It asks, “What must I do?” The teleological angle is pragmatic and considers the consequences of actions. It asks, “What will work?” And the relational approach factors the effects of actions upon others. Due to space limitations, let’s consider the first approach—duty or obligation

This theory of ethics can be attractive to us for at least these reasons: First, it addresses our need to do something in a given circumstance; it is tangible. Second, it considers how our values shape our decisions. Third, it factors our sense of duty as we act on behalf of the right and the good in this world.

One of the premiere spokespersons for this approach has been W.D. Ross, a British moral philosopher. Ross termed his approach prima facie ethics or duties. Prima facie comes from Latin and essentially means “on the face of it” or “the first appearance.”

Ross says we should consider the following seven duties as we make decisions ethically. I will add biblical-theological themes. Perhaps they will help you think about how you can use duty theory in your life.

• Fidelity. The appeal is to keep our promises, being honest, stay with contracts. Of course, the other side of this approach is not to be deceptive and not to lie. (Being people known by our promises is both Old Testament and New Testament in force.)

• Reparation. Inevitably in this life, we cause injury to other people or things. This duty calls us to repair injuries and offer care for those who have been hurt by our actions. (Several points of the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, illustrate literal reparation with regard to livestock, for example. Jesus provided counsel toward how to relate to people whom we have harmed or who have harmed us.)

• Gratitude. Good things come to us. We have a duty to respond with appreciation. (Our thanks to God for the blessings of life are acts of worship. Our appreciation to others fortifies our relationships.)

• Non-maleficence. “Do no harm” is a concrete way to state this duty. (The latter Ten Commandments consider “no harm” issues. Jesus developed these further in the Sermon on the Mount.)

• Beneficence. This duty leads us not only to just do no harm, but also to do what is good on behalf of others. (Love one another.)

• Self-Improvement. We have a responsibility, a stewardship, toward being the best self we can be. (Love your neighbor as yourself.)

• Justice. Playing fair is more than a schoolground cry, but also one of the duties placed on our actions. (“Let justice roll down like the waters.”)

Although we may begin with any one of these duties named by Ross, we will discover each leads to the others as we seek to implement them. And although these duties can be helpful to us for our decision-making, the other two major theories are needed. They will be developed at a later time.

Bill Tillman, T.B. Maston Professor of Christian Ethics

Logsdon Seminary

Hardin-Simmons University

Abilene

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.