Posted: 12/28/07

ETBU dormitory furnishings find
new home, meet multiple needs

By Mike Midkiff

East Texas Baptist University

MARSHALL—As a dormitory at East Texas Baptist University gets a major facelift, some of its furnishings are finding a new home in Mexican orphanages, and others will meet needs throughout the Southwest, thanks to a cooperative venture involving several ministries.

After students left campus at the end of the fall semester, ETBU physical facilities employees started to work moving furniture out of dorm rooms in preparation for an extensive renovation of Charles Fry Hall, a one-story men’s residence hall built in 1977.

East Texas Baptist University Utility Technician Michael Welch loads the final piece of furniture onto a truck from the Rick Caywood Ministries of Crawford. ETBU donated all the furnishings from Fry Hall to help needy people in Mexico.  (Photo by Mike Midkiff/ETBU)

But rather than discard, sell or store the furnishings, the school gave them to three organizations that will deliver them to several orphanages in Mexico and to other ministries throughout the Southwest. It’s not the first such donation by the school, but it certainly is the largest.

“About four years ago, Harold Long of Central Baptist Church and the volunteer director of the Soda Lake Baptist Association Ministry Center, helped ETBU coordinate with a ministry that could use our old furniture and mattresses from our residence halls,” said Bob Hogberg, ETBU maintenance manager. But this marks the first time an entire residence hall’s furnishings have been donated.

Eric Wilburn, director of physical facilities at ETBU, contacted Ken Stone, founder and president of Ebenezer Ministries International of Clayton. Stone, who also is pastor of First Baptist Church in Clayton, and Wilburn became friends years ago when Wilburn was pastor of a church in Rusk Panola Baptist Association.

Ebenezer Ministries is a nonprofit charitable organization established for religious purposes and humanitarian aid. Ebenezer receives, processes and delivers food, clothing, medical supplies and equipment to locations worldwide.

“Over the past couple of years, ETBU has called on us to receive and ship mattresses and bed frames from the university,” said Stone. “When this dorm remodeling began to take shape, Eric called to see if we wanted to handle the furnishings.”

In partnership with Central Baptist Church in Marshall, ETBU also helped the ministry with fuel costs for delivery.

“We are just thrilled that we are not going to have to destroy this furniture or try to find a buyer for it,” said Ned Calvert, ETBU vice president for administration and finance. “We understand the high cost of fuel required for the trucks, and we are blessed to help out this ministry to meet needs in Mexico and other areas.”

Stone contacted two other ministries to help with the delivery of such a large donation.

“I called Rick Caywood of Crawford who has a trucking ministry that delivers food along the Mexico Border and Mark Cole of Ministry OPS in Gladewater,” he said.

The entire physical facilities department staff worked to load the furnishings.

“We thought the process of loading the trucks and trailers would take three to four days,” Wilburn said. “Ken shared a short devotion with our department Monday morning before we began to load the furniture. He shared how the furniture would be used to be a blessing in South Texas, Mexico, and possibly a Navajo reservation in New Mexico. This helped the physical facilities staff understand the importance of the project.”

Workers loaded three semi-trailers, two 16-foot cargo trailers and two 16-foot flatbed trailers in one and a half days, Wilburn noted.

“With Ken’s direction, we have delivered two semi-loads of furniture to Steve and Lori Mercer’s Cornerstone Children’s Ranch on the border in Quemado, Texas, near the Mexican border,” Caywood said.

Cornerstone Children’s Ranch meets the physical and spiritual needs of people on both sides of the Mexican border. The ministry has a warehouse, mission quarters and a residence located on 10 acres at Quemado, between Del Rio and Eagle Pass.

“Steve and Lori have already begun to place the gift of surplus furniture in the hands of needy missions in their area,” Caywood said after returning from Quemado.

“It was a blessing that Ebenezer Ministries was willing to take all the furniture and fixtures from Fry Hall,” Wilburn said, reflecting on what was accomplished. “This furniture which would have had to be disposed of in other ways is now a blessing to people in great need.”

“When Christians partner together to further the kingdom of God, the exponential power of God’s blessings is discovered,” Stone added.

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

Posted: 12/28/07

Bible Studies for Life Series for January 6

Breakthrough in focus

• Psalm 145

By Steve Dominy

First Baptist Church, Gatesville

With this psalm, we begin the new year in the manner that we closed the last—in praise of God. Psalm 145 is purely a psalm of praise to God for who he is and all he has done. There is no hidden agenda in this psalm, David is enamored with God and cannot contain himself.

This Christmas, I took the kids to shop for their mother’s Christmas present. My daughter hasn’t quite figured out presents are supposed to be kept secret until Christmas. She was so excited about the gift, she couldn’t contain herself. She ran into the house and joyfully declared, “Mama, we got you a watch!”

David’s excitement mirrors my daughter’s. He cannot contain himself, and he cannot remain silent; he bursts out in song proclaiming the greatness and goodness of God.

The first line of the psalm reveals the basis of David’s praise, “I will exalt you my God … .” David does not work from an abstract understanding of God but from personal knowledge of God. God is not a distant and impersonal God for David but one who is “near to all who call on him in truth.” David stands firmly in the Old Testament tradition of a God who reveals himself to his people and is present with his people.

Feelings are by no means the best barometer for our worship. Our feelings easily can betray us. We may or may not feel any guilt over sin, but we stand before God guilty of sin whether we feel that way or not. Feelings and experience often are difficult to interpret and can hamper our worship if they are not grounded in something beyond themselves.

David begins his worship and praise from his experience of God, but he does not end there. His worship includes much more and ultimately is based in the nature and character of God. David bases his worship of God on God’s graciousness, compassion, faithfulness and righteousness.

It is important that David noted goodness and compassion together, one helps to define the other. It is the same with grace and truth. John’s Gospel says Jesus came full of “grace and truth.” Truth not tempered with grace can become a tool of manipulation and revenge. On the other hand, grace that is not tempered with the truth can quickly become a spineless sentimentality that does not beckon us to be transformed but the mercy of God.

In the same way, goodness without compassion is sorely lacking and falls short of who God is and the manner in which God desires us to live. Goodness without compassion can let us do what is right but still have all the wrong motivation. But God’s compassionate goodness is seen in that he is slow to anger and rich in love. These are characteristics of God. They are based in his very nature and form the foundation of David’s praise.

David further lays the foundation for his praise in God’s faithfulness. God’s faithfulness is not only the basis of David’s praise, it is the foundation of our hope. As I write this, we are in the peak of the Christmas season. Hope seems abundant this time of year. Hope has been called the “Spirit of the Season,” but real hope is not to be found in visions of sugar plum fairies, but in the bedrock faithfulness of the God who acts in history. It is the hope that comes because the God who is faithful is the same God who sent his son to die for us. It is the hope that the Christ who overcame death will do the same for his people.

David testifies of God’s faithfulness in the way he cares for people. God upholds those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. David says in this psalm that God is faithful to his promises but those promises are made to people. We see in this section God’s great faithfulness to his people.

These promises again speak to the personal nature of God, that God will not abandon his people. What great reason to celebrate! God’s goodness and faithfulness are not dependent on the circumstances of life, but God is faithfully with us through every circumstance of life. It is no wonder David could readily sing the praises of God.

David concludes his foundation of praise by singing of God’s righteousness. Notice in this section and in the previous section, faithfulness and righteousness are coupled with God’s love. All of the attributes of God are tempered by his love.

It is no different with righteousness. God’s righteous love in no way makes room for those who would take advantage of his goodness. Because God is righteous there are consequences to disobedience whereas those who love him will obey. In every line following the statement of God’s righteousness, David speaks of God’s obedient people and his loving response to him. It is not the story of those who act out of fear toward God but respond to the great and loving God with lives that desire to please him.

David’s foundation of praise holds firm for us as well. January is for many the most difficult month of the year. It follows a time of great excitement with days that are short and often dreary.

In keeping with the theme of this week’s lesson, breaking through that involves a focus on the nature and character of God. These are the bases of all of our praise and adoration of God. News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 12/28/07

BaptistWay Bible Series for January 6

When cleanliness is not next to godliness

• Mark 7:1-23

By Andrew Daugherty

Christ Church, Rockwall

If we read through the Gospels, after a while, it is easy to wag our finger or roll our eyes at the attitudes and antics of the scribes and Pharisees. The scribes were the Ph.D’s of Mosaic Law while the Pharisees were a religious group within Judaism that sought to preserve and protect God’s will as expressed in the law. They sometimes are caricatured as “nose in the air” moralists who go sniffing around for people actually enjoying their lives in order to make them miserable. In popular parlance, they are the proverbial “party poopers” in the kingdom of God. And in the Gospels, it is usually Jesus’ party they are seeking to spoil.

But, of course, this caricature is not totally fair. After all, they are dealing with the religious tectonic shift happening between the Judaism they have known and the emerging way of Jesus. Questions arose about what practices and ways of thinking would transfer to the people’s trust in Jesus as Messiah.

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Practically speaking, if Jesus indeed came to fulfill the law and not to abolish it, then how were they supposed to pick and choose what customs and rituals to keep? These were important matters not easily negotiated among the religious leaders wanting to be faithful to the law and the people wanting to be faithful to the law while following Jesus.

What made these decisions difficult was the sheer volume of Jewish rituals and customs. By some estimates, there were 613 mizvot (commandments) in the Torah (the five books of Moses). Leviticus (chapters 11-26) outlines the purity laws that specify foods considered clean or unclean.

The Leviticus holiness code includes purity rituals for after childbirth or menstruation, regulations for wearing clothing made of two different materials (no cotton/poly blends), sanctions against coming in contact with a dead body or a dead animal, and pronouncements about sexual behaviors, keeping the Sabbath and getting tattoos. The purity laws laid out in Leviticus address almost every conceivable aspect of human life: birth, death, sex, ethnicity, gender, marriage, health and hygiene.

These matters were of utmost importance for at least two reasons—one, Israel needed to maintain its distinct identity from people of other nations in order preserve its faith in God as creator and ruler of the earth; and two, Israel was called by God to be holy, because the God who called Israel was holy (Leviticus 19:2).

Throughout the Gospel of Mark, however, Jesus repeatedly violates laws about ritual purity. In Mark alone, Jesus touches a leper (1:41), his disciples do not fast (2:18), he disregards Sabbath laws (2:23), he touches a woman who had been bleeding 12 years and then handles a dead corpse (5:21-43). In every instance, Jesus is healing and ministering to the people involved. The presence and power of God are being revealed. At the same time, Jesus directly violates Levitical laws about ritual purity.

In this passage, however, Jesus is asked why his disciples don’t wash their hands before eating. Curiously, washing hands before a meal is not specifically required by Old Testament law. Ritual washing is mentioned, but specifically, nothing is mentioned about hand washing before meals. Washing one’s hands before a meal is a “tradition of the elders,” an oral tradition of legal teachings that emerged alongside the written law of Moses.

This explains Jesus’ response to the scribes and Pharisees. He beats them at their own game regarding “the tradition of the elders.” He chastises them for being willing to uphold their tradition at the expense of the commandments.

For example, in the ancient world, mothers and fathers (or the aged) often were financially and socially dependent on their children (or younger caretakers). But according to the “tradition of the elders,” a child could decide to make a financial donation to the temple and give nothing to the parent. Making a financial commitment to God (the temple), they would be “off the hook” from having to take care of the parents (thus in violation of the more important commandment of God to honor father and mother).

Jesus thus exposes their spiritual hypocrisy. Jesus explains it is not what goes into a person that defiles the person. Rather, it is what comes out of the person that defiles the person. A man is not morally affected by what he eats, since the body naturally eliminates the waste. However, whatever comes out of a person’s mouth comes from the heart. And when a person’s heart is evil, Jesus says the whole body is defiled.

Whether or not someone washes his hands before a meal is not the point. What is most important is whether a person loves God with his whole heart and loves his neighbor as himself. This is the more noble aim of the law and the prophets, but it is not accomplished by a lifeless set of rituals and practices that doesn’t lead a person to deeper love and compassion.

The laws of ritual purity failed to express the holiness of God. Jesus became the living, breathing embodiment of the real will of God that was at the heart of the law. It was Jesus who revealed the heart of the law teaching his followers to understand that only by being among the so-called unclean that true holiness could be seen.

Discussion questions

• What groups or persons do you consider unclean, impure or otherwise outside the circle of God’s holiness and love?

• What are ways we distort the true nature of God’s unconditional love into excuses to exclude people Jesus cares about?

• What boundaries have we wrongly built to keep the so-called “unclean” far away from us; from God? What can we do to tear down such walls?

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

Posted: 12/28/07

New Baptist Covenant, Huckabee rank
as top stories in ‘07, journalists say

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (ABP)—The biggest news story among Baptists in 2007 was about an event that has not even happened yet—the announcement of an unprecedented meeting of Baptists from across North America—according to an informal survey of journalists in the Baptist media world.

The Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant, announced in January by former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton—and the ensuing controversy stirred by its critics—was the top vote-getter in 2007’s Associated Baptist Press survey. The historic pan-Baptist meeting will be held in Atlanta Jan. 30-Feb. 1.

Coming in a distant second was Mike Huckabee's long-shot-turned-front-runner campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. The former Arkansas governor served as a pastor and president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention before entering secular politics.

Following closely on the Huckabee story’s heels to round out the top five were a fired professor’s gender-discrimination lawsuit against Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and its powerful president, continued strife over trustee Wade Burleson of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board, and SBC messengers’ decision that the denomination’s confessional document is a “sufficient” guideline for its agencies’ policies.

Here’s the top-10 list, according to Baptist editors, journalists, bloggers and public-relations professionals who responded to ABP’s call for voting:

1. Carter, Clinton announce New Baptist Covenant gathering. Two Baptist ex-presidents hope the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant draws as many as 20,000 Baptists from a broad array of racial, theological and political backgrounds to the gathering to hear from high-profile Baptist ministers and laypeople. They will discuss ways to cooperate in areas on which they all agree, such as promoting social justice and evangelism.

Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton announce the New Baptist Covenant gathering.

But some SBC leaders—including President Frank Page—criticized the event, complaining that the SBC had not been invited to participate on an official level. Some of them, as well as conservative political commentators, said the event had a left-leaning political bias, with some claiming it was aimed at shoring up the presidential candidacy of Clinton’s wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).

Organizers countered that many Southern Baptists were involved with the planning and that the denomination wasn’t involved on an official level because it dropped out of the North American Baptist Fellowship of the Baptist World Alliance. They also noted prominent Baptist Republicans had been invited to speak, including Huckabee—who later dropped out in protest over remarks that Carter made about President Bush's policy toward Israel. But organizers later secured two GOP senators as speakers—Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, who belongs to an SBC congregation; and Charles Grassley of Iowa, a member of a congregation affiliated with the Baptist General Conference.

2. Former pastor Huckabee runs for White House. Huckabee was considered by most pundits to be at best a second-tier candidate until support from disgruntled rank-and-file GOP evangelicals fueled a surge in the critical early voting state of Iowa late in the year. He is now leading former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and Arizona Sen. John McCain, who have far better-funded campaigns. However, Huckabee’s new attention has led to new scrutiny, including of his record as Arkansas governor as well as what some critics consider blatant pandering to evangelical voters.

3. Klouda sues SWBTS, Patterson. Sheri Klouda, who was hired to teach Hebrew in Southwestern’s School of Theology in 2002, was fired in 2006. Prominent SBC pastor and blogger Wade Burleson called attention to her plight in January, precipitating a firestorm in the denomination’s blogosphere. She sued in March, claiming gender discrimination and breach of contract. Southwestern officials—including powerful seminary president Paige Patterson, an architect of the fundamentalist takeover of the SBC—said having a woman training male pastors in the theology school was unbiblical and counter to seminary policy. But many younger SBCers disagreed, noting that the denomination’s faith statement says only that women cannot be pastors.

4. Strife on IMB board continues as trustees censure Burleson. A long-simmering dispute between Wade Burleson, an Oklahoma pastor, and many of his fellow IMB trustees boiled over again in November. The board voted to censure Burleson and bar him from official participation in board activities. They claimed his blogging in opposition to two controversial IMB policies violated trustee rules. Burleson countered that the rules themselves were un-Baptistic.

5. SBC messengers declare BF&M “sufficient.” One of Burleson’s arguments is that the IMB policies in question—regarding the baptisms of missionary candidates and their beliefs about speaking in tongues—went beyond the parameters of the Baptist Faith & Message statement. At the denomination’s annual meeting in June, he and like-minded bloggers encouraged the successful passage of a motion declaring the document the “sufficient” doctrinal guide for convention agencies. However, some SBC agency heads quickly noted they will continue to use other doctrinal restrictions in addition to the document.

Joy Fenner

6. Texas Baptists elect first female president. At their annual meeting, the Baptist General Convention of Texas elected retired Texas Woman’s Missionary Union Executive Director Joy Fenner as its president in a contested election. Fenner became the first woman to head the largest Baptist state convention.

7. (tie) Geoff Hammond elected NAMB president. After a tumultuous year at the SBC’s domestic-missions agency, in which a previous president was dismissed after an investigation into his management and financial dealings, Hammond was recruited from his position as an executive with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia convention.

7. (tie) Turmoil in Missouri Baptist Convention. Disputes between rival conservative Baptist groups in Missouri led to the ouster of the state convention’s executive director. Later, messengers to the Missouri Baptist Convention annual meeting registered their disapproval of the political faction that had forced David Clippard out, rejecting all of the candidates endorsed by the Missouri Baptist Layman’s Association.

9. Jerry Falwell dies at 73. Legendary Southern Baptist pastor and media impresario Falwell died suddenly in May, the first of an aging generation of conservative Christian leaders to pass away. Falwell was beloved by his followers and reviled by his critics, including many Baptists and other Christians, for his controversial statements about church-state separation and various groups he disfavored. However, he built both a massive church and an evangelical university from nothing.

10. North Carolina convention in turmoil. Years of pro-SBC fundamentalists consolidating their grip on the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s leadership led most of the state convention’s affiliated agencies—including three colleges and the state’s Woman’s Missionary Union—to distance themselves from the convention. In response, messengers to the annual meeting voted to defund WMU. They also expelled a prominent and historic Charlotte congregation, Myers Park Baptist Church, for its stance on accepting gays and lesbians, prompting national headlines in the secular press.

Other stories that captured Baptists’ attention in 2007, according to the survey, included:

• An ongoing dispute between Southwestern Seminary trustees and their colleague, Texas pastor Dwight McKissic. He resigned from the board after being censured for expressing his views on the topic of charismatic practices.

• The increasing emphasis among many moderate and progressive evangelicals on combating global warming as a moral issue.

• A recently announced breakthrough in stem-cell research that may help calm the ethical debate over the practice.

• The prevalence of discussions about candidates’ faith among contenders for both parties’ presidential nominations.

Readers are invited to give their own rankings of top Baptist news stories through an online survey on the Associated Baptist Press website at www.abpnews.com.

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

Posted: 12/27/07

Hispanic social conservatives may
leave GOP over immigration stance

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

NEW YORK (ABP)—Republican presidential candidates who appeal to fears over immigration in the primary campaigns risk alienating an important constituency—conservative Hispanics—religious leaders in several early primary states said.

In a conference call with reporters, Hispanic evangelicals and other leaders urged candidates to “reject hateful speech” regarding immigration.

The event came just days after a Pew Hispanic Center study found that many conservative Hispanics have reacted negatively to Republican stances on immigration and are even considering leaving the party because of it.

Leaders of the conference, hosted by Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, said Republican candidates are manipulating immigrants for political gain by issuing attack ads that accuse competitors of being “soft” on immigration.

Luis Cortes, president of the Latino evangelical group Esperanza USA, confirmed the survey’s results. A visible ally of President Bush during the 2004 elections, he has since reconsidered his political alliances.

“The Republican Party, in an attempt to galvanize the states … has blamed the individuals as opposed to the government for inaction,” said Cortes, who founded the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast. “With Hispanic people today, there is a lot of fear in our communities.”

Indeed, the Pew study found that more than 50 percent of all Hispanic adults in the United States “worry that they, a family member, or a close friend, could be deported.” Nearly two out of three said congressional failure to enact immigration reform has made life more difficult for all U.S. Latinos.

That has caused some Hispanic clergy to move away from Republican positions they previously held—and away from the perception that the GOP is the party of family values, Cortes said.

“More and more of our people are being turned off by the Republican Party and are being turned off to the point that they say they will not vote for a Republican candidate,” he added.

In the survey of 2,003 Hispanic adults, 57 percent identified with the Democratic Party, while 23 percent considered themselves Republicans. Two years ago, that gap was much narrower.

Cortes noted that his organization, which represents more than 10,000 Hispanic churches and organizations nationwide, has struggled to get public statements supporting their position from “celebrity” evangelical leaders. However, he said, Catholic leaders have been more eager to engage in the discussion.

The current level of debate has failed to advance the political process toward immigration reform, Bishop Thomas Wenski of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando, Fla., said.

The nation deserves to hear “some solid proposals” from those “who want to be entrusted with leading,” he said. Wenski serves as the international-policy chairman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“The failure of Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform last June has kept the debate alive … and unfortunately our presidential candidates are allowing themselves to be co-opted into the divisiveness of the debate,” Wenski said. “The debate has been basically political posturing, and we don’t see any of the candidates rising to address the issue as a leader of vision should.”

In the last two years, Congress twice has tried and failed to pass a comprehensive plan to deal with illegal immigration, although federal, state and local governments have enacted regulations aimed at mitigating the problem. Many of the new procedures include increased workplace raids, deportations and restrictions for illegal immigrants.

The new state and local policies have hit undocumented Hispanic workers the hardest. Of the 47 million Hispanics currently living in the United States, about 25 percent are illegal immigrants, according to the Pew survey.

Churches should set the tone for how such regulations take effect, Hispanic evangelical leaders said.

“Being tough on immigration doesn’t mean you’re tough on undocumented people,” Cortes said.

Derrick Harkins, pastor of Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, said one of his responsibilities as a minister is to ensure his church members understand it’s never right to speak or act in ways that “dehumanize and endanger others.”

Hard work is needed to craft national legislation, but “pandering” in the political realm destroys the chance of realizing that goal, he said.

“The speech that is destructive and inflammatory and hateful is absolutely counterintuitive,” Harkins contended. “Wherever we are in the spectrum of this, we do not have the right to speak in ways that marginalize.”

Cortes added that, in his travels around the country in attempts to garner support for his group, he tells churches that morality and legality are two separate things.

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

Posted: 12/27/07

Bible Studies for Life Series for January 13

Breakthrough in Forgiveness

• Psalm 32

By Steve Dominy

First Baptist Church, Gatesville

One of the things that I appreciate most about David is his honesty. When we read the stories of David’s life and we read through the Psalms, we see a man who plays both hero and goat and is not afraid to admit it. Such is the case with Psalm 32, David does not sing of the blessings of forgiveness in the abstract. He sings of the blessing of forgiveness because he has received forgiveness and knows the joy that comes from forgiveness personally. One of the strengths of this Psalm is its personal nature. David does not claim that this forgiveness is unique to him, but encourages all to seek forgiveness and the joy it brings. It is almost written in a manner that there is a blank at the end where we can fill in our name and make it our own.

David starts the psalm noting the blessed nature of the one who is forgiven. Blessed is a word that gets a lot of use in religious life these days, in many cases it is wrongly used. Blessedness is much better understood as a result rather than as a reward. To make blessing a reward would mean that we have somehow achieved a state of blessedness. This immediately leads to a hierarchy within the people of God and is divisive rather than unifying. Understanding blessing as a result of God’s gracious forgiveness is to understand ourselves as recipients of God’s grace. Psalm 32 rings the same note as Ephesians 2:8-9, “ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the figt of God – not by words, so that no one can boast.” To be blessed is not the reward for a sinless life, it is the result of God’s forgiveness. David would never be able to write of a sinless life, he has confessed to too much sin already!

David speaks of this blessing from personal experience. In verses 3-4 of Psalm 32, David describes the grief that characterized his life before forgiveness. When he kept silent and refused to acknowledge his sin before God he suffered the consequences of his sin. While David might not have been physically ill, it would not be too far a stretch to believe that he was. With all of the news of the effects of stress on the body, it is not difficult for us to imagine the sin that ate away at David literally ate away at him. At the very least David’s words of grief and pain reveal the effect of sin upon a person.

The consequences of unconfessed sin in our lives are no different than they were for David. It eats away at us and causes us to be less than God intends for us. It decays our relationships and keeps them from being as fulfilling for either party as they were intended. David’s experience is our own, we know the pain of unconfessed sin whether it comes from the fear in being discovered, or our change in behavior in trying to hide our sin.

Psalm 32 echoes the truth that rings throughout the Bible; the worst does not have to be the last. When David acknowledged his sin and confessed his sin to God the result was that God forgave the guilt of his sin. The good news is that sin does not have the last word, God does. Confession has to happen for forgiveness to be received. One author has compared unconfessed sin to waters building pressure behind a dam. The water flows into the dam, creating pressure on it, but when the floodgates are opened the waters subside and the pressure is released.

Knowing the joy of forgiveness, David beckons others to God for the same forgiveness. All of the godly are invited to pray, David’s call excludes none of them. This is evidence of real blessing. David does not keep the blessing for himself, he calls others to the joy that he has experienced. It might better be said that David cannot keep this to himself, it is a joy that must be shared. He does more than tell people what he has experienced, he leads them before the God who can forgive them that they might experience the same. That is the evidence of blessing; it is always shared.

Why is it that we have to learn this lesson over and over again? The godly person is advised not to be stubborn like a horse or mule that constantly need restraint, but to be ready to run to the Lord for forgiveness. It may be that we have difficulty in confessing our sin because we are so hard on ourselves. We would rather wallow in our guilt to punish ourselves rather than experience the joy of forgiveness that God readily offers. God beckons us to a life of assurance, lived in his love by the acts of confession and repentance. News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 11/02/07

Church welcomes the ‘Scum of the Earth’

By Susie Oh

Religion News Service

DENVER (RNS)—The people who worship with Pastor Mike Sares are mostly young, many of them students, some clean-cut, some a little raggedy. More than a few of the 300 worshippers have grappled with depression, abortion, drugs and homelessness. Some still wrestle with their demons—and at this church, they talk openly about it. They call themselves Scum of the Earth.

Scum and similar churches around the country draw in young adults disenchanted with suburban megachurches and the denominational churches of their parents. But Sares, for seven years, has tapped into a group at the outermost edges. He fosters relationships with God and peers, makes church as accessible as possible and doesn’t expect worshippers to change as soon as they come through the doors.

“I want everyone to attend,” said Sares, a 52-year-old former steel mill worker with four kids the same age as many in his flock. “It’s ridiculous to say you can’t talk to Jesus until you get your life cleaned up.”

Observers say his is a fresh approach to meeting the spiritual needs of young Christians.

“I think the reaction (in Denver) is, ‘That’s great that someone is doing that,’” said Craig Blomberg, a New Testament professor at Denver Seminary who mentors several Scum leaders. “The unspoken implication is, ‘Boy, we wouldn’t know how to do it, or want to do it, or be good at doing it.’”

The seed for Scum of the Earth was planted when members of Sares’ young-adult Bible study at a downtown Presbyterian church envisioned a new church where they would feel more at home. They came up with a list of 150 ideas:

“Stay away from words like ‘fellowship.’ Use ‘hang-out-time’ instead.”

“Don’t build upon a foundation of rebellion, but upon God.”

“No cliques.”

The first services were held in a coffee house with several members of the popular Christian ska band Five Iron Frenzy. Sares initially wasn’t crazy about the name Scum of the Earth—“I am not that cool,” he said. He even stalled by asking his young advisers to pray about the name for another week. In the end, he went with it. It was, he says now, the wisest thing he did.

“To reach people, use like people,” he said. “They know their culture, their peers, better than me.”

That sentiment reflects Scum’s avante-gard approach to ministry. Too many churches, Sares said, seem to ask people to change just to get in the door—hide your tattoos, remove your piercings, get up early on a Sunday morning.

Scum takes a domestic-missionary approach. Sares submerses himself in his flock’s culture rather than wishing they would be more like him.

Services—held at 7 p.m. on Sundays—give way to im-promptu gatherings at coffee shops. Bible studies feature poker and the irreverent newspaper “The Onion.”

Scum is influenced by the large number of artists, musicians and other creative types who prefer the unconventional. Scum, Sares said, is a church for “the left-out and right-brained.”

Pastor Mike Sares leads the Scum of the Earth congregation at a rented facility in downtown Denver. “It’s ridiculous to say you can’t talk to Jesus until you get your life cleaned up,” Sares said.

And while Scum may be unique in its attract-the-fringes approach, it’s not alone among groups with their own ideas about how to do church.

Simmering disaffection with the mainstream evangelical movement has spurred the growth of the “emerging church movement,” a loose affiliation of churches that seek to practice Christianity within contemporary culture, said Scot McKnight, a religious studies professor at North Park University in Chicago.

Some churches, like Scum, try to tap into inner-city life and the marginalized. Others emphasize the liturgical elements of Christianity with crosses, candles and icons. Still more embrace a new kind of monasticism by living among the poor, McKnight said.

That desire to be intimately connected with the community resonates with young people who shun fast-food chains and megamarts for local mom-and-pops, McKnight said. Scum’s free meal every Sunday attracts neighbors and homeless people. Some stay for the service.

Part of Scum’s appeal, worshippers say, is its come-as-you-are style. Some members see themselves in the Gospel story of the Prodigal Son.

Kate Makkai, 30, grew up in a church-going family but later turned rebellious.

“I wandered away from the church in my early 20s,” she said, recalling the drugs and casual sexual encounters. “I spent the first few years of my 20s in the waiting room of Planned Parenthood. I’m not proud of that.”

Friends introduced Makkai to Scum. Sares never approved of her lifestyle, she said, but he did offer support, calling weekly to check on her.

That’s part of what makes Scum unique, said McKnight.

“There’s a genuineness about providing for people and not condemning them right up front but saying, ‘Come join us, participate with us, and we welcome you,’” McKnight said. “That’s a kind of church I think is fresh and innovative around the United States and Canada.”

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

Posted: 12/26/07

Florida sanctuary gutted by
early-morning fire before Christmas

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP)—The 50-year-old sanctuary of Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., was totally destroyed by fire two days before Christmas.

When the first of 70 firefighters arrived on the scene about 5 a.m. Sunday morning, flames were shooting out of the roof, an official said. Firefighters poured 300,000 gallons of water on the blaze before bringing it under control 90 minutes later.

Although they were unable to salvage any part of the 10,000-square-foot sanctuary, firefighters kept the flames from spreading to other church structures. There was significant water damage to the adjacent church offices.

When the sun came up, only part of the brick walls and the heat-twisted steel frame of the roof remained. No cause for the fire has been determined. An arson-investigation unit representing local, state and federal agencies was called in—standard procedure in the case of church fires.

Fire officials estimated the damage at $2.5 million. The building is insured for at least $2 million, a church official said.

A ladder crew still was spraying water down on the smoldering ruins as somber members gathered in the church’s gymnasium at 11 a.m. to worship and comfort one another. They sang hymns and prayed during the abbreviated Christmas service.

Members of neighboring churches and former members joined them to share their grief, crowding the gym to capacity.

A nearby Dunkin Donuts provided breakfast. And members of All Saints Episcopal Church nearby brought food for an impromptu lunch after the service.

Several other nearby churches have already offered their facilities for worship during the recovery, said Pastor Kyle Reese, who has been at Hendricks Ave. only a year and a half. Reese served previously as pastor of First Baptist Church in San Angelo.

"In our strategic planning process, we've been trying to think of ways to reach out and embrace our community, but this morning we've seen how our community has reached out and embraced us," Reese told worshippers during the service.

Asking why and worrying about the future are normal responses in such times of tragedy, he said, but "I can't help but look at the hope candle we light on this Advent and be hopeful."

Brett Foster, minister of youth and currently the longest-tenured ministerial staffer, offered an emotion-filled prayer, recalling countless weddings, baptisms, baby dedications, concerts, funerals and worship experiences that had taken place in the sanctuary. Those memories don't exist only in the building but "continue to exist and are still real to us," Foster said through tears.

The 750-seat sanctuary, completed in 1958, celebrated the congregation's devotion to sacred music and included a 48-rank pipe organ added in 1989 and a rare harpsichord. The night before the fire, the sanctuary hosted a benefit performance of Handel's "Messiah" by Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra musicians, who have been locked out of their performance hall since November in a labor dispute.

The highlight of a remodeling of the sanctuary in 2000 was the full-height, stained-glass window that dominated the front wall—an image of "The Welcoming Christ," whose open arms greeted worshipers as well as travelers along busy Hendricks Ave. The window, the largest in Florida, was completely destroyed.

The window and organ were part of original plans for the church, which was founded in 1946. The congregation delayed construction of a sanctuary for more than a decade for financial reasons, instead building its ministry around an elaborate recreation program, perhaps the first of its kind for a church in the United States.

The gymnasium, centerpiece of the recreation program, was the congregation's first building and housed worship for the first 12 years.

"Ironically, here we are 61 years later," Reese told parishioners gathered in the gym Dec. 23, "back where we started."

Reese said he is convinced the congregation will move ahead with determination and hope. Many other members echoed his confidence.

Looking over the damage, longtime member Debbie Barnes said such tragedies have a way of overshadowing a congregation's struggles and differences. "A lot of those things are going to be put into perspective," she said, allowing the congregation "to put God's will in the forefront."

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

Posted: 12/21/07

Daehnert elected interim
BGCT executive director

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

Jan Daehnert, a retired Baptist Building employee who led the state convention’s intentional interim pastor program several years, has been elected interim executive director for the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.

Board directors elected Daehnert by e-mail ballots Dec. 20-21. He will start work in mid-January, meeting with Executive Board staff. He will begin service as interim executive director when Charles Wade retires Jan. 31 and will continue in that role until a new executive director assumes duties.

The interim executive director will assume leadership of a staff that went through a round of layoffs in recent months and has experienced significant changes in key executive staff posts.

In early October, 29 full-time employees—12 program staff and 19 in support and clerical positions—received notice their positions were being eliminated at the end of that month. Several part-time staff positions also were cut.

Then Ron Gunter—chief operating officer for the BGCT and the person most responsible for implementing Executive Board staff reorganization over the last two years—resigned effective Nov. 30.

Daehnert said he hopes to “begin the healing,” encourage and affirm staff, ensure fiscal responsibility and “plow the ground to make sure the transition for the new executive director is as smooth as possible.”

Daehnert expects his time as interim to be relatively brief, but he hopes during his short tenure to model inclusiveness and listen to Texas Baptists.

He noted particularly the contested presidential race—and close vote—at the BGCT annual meeting and the need to be attentive to all churches that relate to the state convention.

“I’d like to make sure nobody feels left out,” he said.

Daehnert, 66, headed the BGCT Executive Board staff’s leadership team before he retired in March 2006. Previously, he was director of the minister/church relations office and director of the bivocational/smaller church development department.

Daehnert joined the BGCT Executive Board staff in 1967 as a director of student ministries at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Later, he served at the University of North Texas. From 1975 to 1983, he was associate director of student ministries and from 1983 to 1993 was director of personnel administration.

He served two years with Drug Prevention Resources in Irving. He has been a pastor and has served as interim pastor for more than 50 Texas churches.

He is a graduate of Howard Payne University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and earned a doctor of ministries degree from Fuller Theological Seminary.

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Posted: 12/21/07

CYBER COLUMN: A gift

By Berry Simpson

The story we were discussing was about Zechariah and Elizabeth, a Jewish couple who lived in the first century. Luke politely described them as “well along in years.” The Bible also says they were childless.

One day, Zechariah was selected from a list of 20,000 priests to offer incense in the holy of holies, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was such serious work they tied a rope around a priest’s ankle so his body could be pulled back out if God struck him dead. (So much for job security!)

According to the story, Zechariah saw an angel beside the altar while he was worshipping, and he was paralyzed by fear. The sudden appearance of anyone in the holy of holies would have been a shock, even more so the appearance of an angel. Who knew if seeing an angel were the first step toward being drug out by that rope?

The angel, no less than Gabriel himself, told Zechariah his prayers had been answered–he and Elizabeth would have a son named John who would lead the way for the Messiah.

Zechariah then did something that seems reasonable to me, he asked: “How can I be sure?” The angel answered with an unmistakable sign from God—he struck Zechariah speechless. Zechariah was physically unable to utter a word until the baby John was born nine months later.

I wrote in the margin of my Bible: “This seems harsh; surely he was allowed one question. Moses argued in front of a burning bush and nothing happened to him.”

Well, in class, we talked about this for a long time: Why would Zechariah get into trouble over one question? Some thought maybe he’d actually stopped praying long ago and given up hope for a baby. Others thought he wasn’t so much in trouble as it was he received an unmistakable sign from God that confirmed all the other prophecy about his son, John. Some thought the nine months of silence might not be punishment, but a gift of solitude, time to ponder his good fortune and learn to be at peace with God.

For Zechariah and Elizabeth, well along in years and childless and, according to Luke, “upright in the sight of God,” it must have seemed like they’d missed their turn. I’m sure all their peers had babies, and even grandbabies, but they didn’t have anyone. And they’d diligently lived their lives to honor God. The text says “observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly.” I’m sure they prayed and prayed for years, day after day, for a baby, for a family.

It’s hard to know when to stop praying for something that hasn’t happened. To stop praying feels like a lack of faith, but to keep praying year after year seems pointless and maybe even irritates the very God you are trying to serve.

They might’ve given up hope for an answer long before they actually stopped praying—too hopeless to keep believing, but too God-fearing to stop praying. I can imagine all this because I’ve been in the same place—praying day after day, month after month, with no indication that God was listening, no sign from Gabriel, and no hope. Zechariah and Elizabeth must have been beyond hope; they’d missed their turn at happiness, and all they had to look forward to was living out their lives alone.

It’s hard to watch other people, who don’t seem all that “upright in the sight of God,” get all the cool things. Why do they have success and new houses and brilliant kids and perfect pets when we are the ones praying every day? We wonder—when will it be our turn? When will the good stuff happen for us?”

The story of Zechariah reminded me of the little boy named Billy in the great Christmas movie Polar Express, who simply said, “Christmas just doesn’t work out for me.” After a lifetime of poverty and lost dreams, it was easier for Billy to decide it would never be good than to keep on hoping. Maybe Zechariah and Elizabeth decided “family just doesn’t work out for us.” It would be easier than maintaining lost hope.

But that isn’t how the story ended. Not only did God answer the priestly prayer for the redemption of Israel, he answered their personal prayer for a son. God promised to save the world, and bless one small family, all at the same time.

Now I think Zechariah wasn’t being punished for asking his question or for his lack of faith. He was given nine months of silence as a gift—plenty of time to hear God say: “I love you. This is for you.”

Berry Simpson, a Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church in Midland, is a petroleum engineer, writer, runner and member of the city council in Midland. You can contact him through e-mail at berry@stonefoot.org.

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

Posted: 12/21/07

Agency gives party for foster
families who give year-round

By Haley Smith

Baptist Child & Family Services

SAN ANTONIO—Baptist Child & Family Service threw a Christmas party to honor foster families who display the Christmas spirit of giving all year long.

After experiencing pregnancy complications, doctors advised Ernest and Margaret Casillas not to keep trying to have children, although they wanted a bigger family.

After passing a sign advertising a need for foster parents and chatting with Baptist Child & Family Services case workers, the myth that they could not afford to foster was put to rest. Shortly afterward, they received their first foster child, David, who was classified as a special-needs child.

“We found that foster parenting made us better parents because you learn patience on a whole different level,” said Margaret.  “It’s amazing to be part of these children’s stories and watch a change take place in their lives.”

The Casillas family has grown to six children—two biological and four foster—all between the ages of six and eleven. They have learned to laugh at the looks they receive when they all pile out of the family van.

“Christmas is much more meaningful because these kids know they’re finally spending the holiday with a family who loves them,” Ernest said. “You have no idea how they spent Christmas last year, but you know that you want to make sure this one is a good one.”

Trinity Baptist Church and San Antonio businesses donated gift cards and services for the Christmas party.

The foster care Christmas party serves as an annual opportunity for families to network with others who are dealing with similar challenges.

Two families, the Zamagos and Romeros, sat together at the party, sharing a meal and discussing their recently adopted children, Matthew and Shan.  Both families participating in the BCFS foster-to-adopt program could not have guessed what this Christmas would look like one year ago.

David and Melissa Romero were fostering both Matthew and Shan last year, with only Matthew eligible for adoption and no children of their own. When Shan unexpectedly became available for adoption and the Romeros conceived after being told they were unable to become pregnant, they went from having no children to potentially having three.

“We’ve always treated our foster family as our real family, but thankfully we now know it’s forever,” Melissa said.

At the same time, the Zamagos were told that the child they were fostering to adopt was going back with his biological family, leaving them disappointed.

When the Romeros realized that they could not financially handle three children; Baptist Child & Family Services approached the Zamagos about adopting Matthew, who gratefully accepted.

“We’re just so thankful that Matthew ended up in a good home and we still get to see him at things like this,” Romero explained.

He also noted during the discussion that although he and his wife fostered four children, he was not always open to the idea of foster parenting.

It actually was only after a parent-teacher conference with one the mothers of a student in his class at school that he became open to the concept.

“She’s the reason we began foster parenting,” he said, referring to Lawonda Patterson, who runs a group home for high-risk teenagers.  She currently has ten young adults in the home—eight girls and two boys.

“My goal is that they leave the house healthy young adults,” Patterson said.  “I want to model a spirit of giving, which is what I try to instill in them.”

She considers last year as the best Christmas yet “because it was our first in the newly built home, and it was amazing to see the gratitude of the girls.”

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

Posted: 12/21/07

Foster youth create own Christmas traditions

By Haley Smith

Baptist Child & Family Services

SAN ANTONIO—Foster children seldom inherit family traditions.

That helps explain the growing success of the annual Christmas party for San Antonio, Kerrville and surrounding area youth involved with the Preparation for Adult Living (PAL) program of Baptist Child & Family Services.

What started three years ago with PAL staff cooking a meal for a handful of young adults has grown to attract 300 to this year’s event at the University of the Incarnate Word.

“This is the only Christmas most of these kids experience that they can truly call their own,” said Elizabeth Maria Garcia, 21-year-old PAL volunteer and foster alumni. “PAL often serves as more of a family than their foster families or group homes, and they are grateful to have people who care and support them like this.”

PAL teaches independent living skills to youth who have aged out the foster care system—or who are about to age out—while also providing a support system as they go out on their own.

The entertainment for the evening included vocalists from the University of the Incarnate Word singing Christmas carols, while the youth enjoyed their Christmas feast and mingled in a ballroom decorated in a candyland theme.

“The PAL Christmas party is my chance to bring a little bit of who I am into my job,” said Gayle Davis, San Antonio PAL site coordinator who planned the party. “I want to give these youth the big Christmas I grew up with and let them create their own traditions as they age out of the system.”

“The celebration has grown every year, becoming more and more spectacular each time,” said Jessica Medellin, PAL administrative assistant. “Our goal is that the community does not forget about these kids. They need love and hope, and that’s what we’re trying to give them.”

Efforts made by the PAL staff were rewarded with smiles and laughter echoing over the music as youth stuffed themselves on the turkey and the generous array of sweets.

“I am very thankful for PAL. The staff did a great job in helping me figure things out and get my benefits,” said Antonio Ortega, age 19, who is attending St. Phillips College. “This is my first Christmas on my own, and I am thankful that I get to spend it here.”

Many PAL youth spend their Christmases growing up in a variety of foster and group homes, often changing one year to the next. Ortega—an exception to the rule—spent 15 years with the same family.

“I still call them ‘Mom and Dad’ and will visit them during the holidays,” he said.

However, many PAL youth have nowhere to go and will experience no other Christmas celebration.

For Myra Caballero, age 18, the party isn’t just about celebrating the season; it also provides an opportunity to renew old friendships.  After living in three foster homes and two independent living homes, the PAL Christmas party is her only chance to catch up with former roommates, listening and sympathizing with their stories.

“If I could give them any advice, I would remind them not to take PAL for granted. The staff is great and the program offers invaluable resources and support,” explained Caballero, now a freshman at San Antonio College.

Many foster families also attended the party with their youth to see and participate in the festivities. One example was Steve and Judy Foster who attended with their seven children. They have adopted four and have legal guardianship of the other three.

“We’re big advocates of PAL. We began our involvement with the program in Tyler for three of our young adults.  We’re now going through the program here in San Antonio with our son Terrence,” Foster said.

The Foster family continues to spread their passion for foster care as more members of their family get involved.

“I guess Christmas was always a big deal to us, but now we’re opening the door for others to celebrate who might not otherwise have the opportunity,” Foster explained.

PAL staff explained their reason for throwing the party is simple. They want to spread the joy of Christmas.

“I love that the atmosphere represents a child’s fantasy land—especially considering that most of these youth don’t have a magical Christmas,” said Janie Cook, BCFS executive director of Community Based Services-San Antonio.

“We simply want these youth to know that they are so important that we put all of this together for them,” explained Terri Hipps, executive director of Youth and Transitional Living, including PAL.

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