Posted: 1/18/07

Explore the Bible Series for January 28

It is important to keep commitments

• Nehemiah 13:1-18

By Howard Anderson

Diversified Spiritual Associates, San Antonio

Nehemiah left Jerusalem in the 32nd year of Artaxerxes, circa 433 B.C., and returned to Persia as he promised. During his absence, the people returned to their former ways, led by the high priest Eliashib. Such a defection called for the needed reforms.

It was during Nehemiah’s absence that Malachi also wrote his prophetic book indicting both priests and people for their sinful defection. Possibly having heard of Eliashib’s evil, Nehemiah returned.

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Christians must integrate our commitments to God by honoring God’s house, by tithing and by keeping the Sabbath.

Honor God’s house (Nehemiah 13:1,4-5, 8-9)

On the day of dedication of the walls, “they read in the book of Moses.” The first area of backsliding for the Jewish people was their relationship with foreigners. They were confronted with areas in which their thinking and practice had wavered from the Scriptures, specifically with regard to the requirements of Deuteronomy 23:3-6. They separated the mixed multitude, “Ammonite and Moabite” from the temple worship.

The second major area of backsliding was that the high priest Eliashib was allowing God’s enemy to live in God’s house. Eliashib had allied with Israel’s enemy for personal gain and taken it to such an extreme as to desecrate the house of God. He allowed Tobiah to stay in a large room of the temple previously used for storing grain. In fact, Tobiah had been given access to several rooms of the temple.

Tobiah was one of the men who had tried to stop the building of the wall (Nehemiah 2:10).

When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, he immediately initiated reforms. He removed Tobiah’s furniture from the chamber and then ordered the room cleaned. When the washing, scouring and sprinkling with blood were completed, the chamber was once again filled with “vessels” and the other items that had been there before.

Bring God’s tithes (Nehemiah 13:10-12)

“Contended” is a term often used by the prophets to refer to God bringing a legal case against his errant people (Jeremiah 2:9). Nehemiah was acting like a prophet, bringing a legal case against an apostate person. He contended for what was right.

“Then brought all Judah the tithe.” The people finally were bringing the gifts that should have been brought earlier.

The tithe belongs to God. There can be no free-will offering without the tithe. Our tithe is a means of thanking God for his provisions and for the church to carry the gospel message to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Keep the Lord’s Day (Nehemiah 13:15-18)

Another difficulty Nehemiah faced concerned the sabbath. The Jewish people in Judah were working on Saturday. People were buying and selling produce in Jerusalem. “Men of Tyre” brought fish and other things to be sold both in Judah and Jerusalem. The people had put their business ahead of obedience to God’s command about their day of rest.

Discussion questions

• What compromises have been made in your life?

• How do those compromises interfere with your pursuing the path God has set before you?

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

Posted: 1/18/07

Belmont subpoenas church
records in Tennessee Baptist lawsuit

By Lonnie Wilkey

Tennessee Baptist & Reflector

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (ABP)—Belmont University has subpoenaed giving records from 100 Tennessee Baptist Convention churches in an ongoing legal dispute with the convention over control of the school’s assets.

The subpoena asks for records on churches’ giving to the Cooperative Program—the unified budget of the Southern Baptist Convention and its affiliated state conventions—between 1951, when the school became affiliated with the convention, and 2005, when Belmont trustees removed the school from convention control.

In a Jan. 3 letter accompanying the subpoenas, Belmont trustee chairman Marty Dickens asked if, “in making those gifts, the churches knew about or relied upon the 1951 document that is the focus of the (Tennessee Baptist) Executive Board’s lawsuit against Belmont.”

The reference was to a once-forgotten document convention officials are relying on in the suit, filed last year. The agreement says that, should the school ever remove itself from convention control, it would owe the convention for all the Cooperative Program funds it has received.

Belmont representatives have said the agreement has been superseded by at least two other documents and is no longer effective.

Belmont apparently mailed its letter to all Tennessee Baptist churches, not just to those that received subpoenas. In the letter, Dickens wrote: “We are not serving subpoenas on all of the affiliated churches of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. Rather, we are serving them on the largest donors to the Cooperative Program because Cooperative Program funds are at the center of the Executive Board’s claims against us.”

Convention leaders responded to the Belmont action in a three-page letter that was mailed to churches across the state Jan. 12.

The convention response was signed by Executive Director James Porch and Clay Austin, pastor of First Baptist Church, Blountville, and chairman of a convention committee that has been studying the Belmont situation.

The letter said: “During 2005 Belmont University acted to terminate its affiliated relationship with the Tennessee Baptist Convention through a charter change. The Executive Board and TBC did not want to have to initiate litigation against Belmont and, to that end, tried for many months to persuade Belmont to honor the promise it made to Tennessee Baptists in 1951.

“That promise, as many of you know, is memorialized in a written document, the Repayment Agreement, which was signed by a former president of Belmont.”

Porch and Austin observed that the Repayment Agreement “contains a simple and clear promise from Belmont that it would repay all monies given to it by the Executive Board in the event that the TBC ever lost the right to elect the directors/trustees of Belmont. It does not take a lawyer to understand the promise made by Belmont in 1951 in the Repayment Agreement,” they wrote.

“By steadfastly refusing to acknowledge, much less honor, its promise to us, Belmont, not the Executive Board or the Belmont Study Committee, forced this matter into the courthouse,” the letter stated.

In the Belmont letter, Dickens noted the request for information was “necessitated by the lawsuit filed against Belmont by the Executive Board” and also wrote that “we do not wish this request to create a costly or burdensome task for the churches and do not believe that it will, but we have been informed by the Executive Board’s attorneys that they do not represent the churches. Unfortunately, this means that rather than seeking this information directly from the Executive Board, Belmont must request it from individual churches by sending them subpoenas.”

In response to that assertion, Porch and Austin noted that “the unfortunate reality is that the information sought by the subpoenas is irrelevant to the lawsuit. None of the churches are parties to the Repayment Agreement. Furthermore, the Executive Board is seeking repayment of Cooperative Program funds only, not funds contributed by churches directly to or for the benefit of Belmont.”

The letter from Tennessee Baptist leaders also challenged an assertion that the request for information by Belmont from the subpoenaed churches will not be costly or “burdensome.”

“Mr. Dickens states that Belmont does ‘not wish’ for and does ‘not believe’ that its request will ‘create a costly or burdensome task for the churches.’

“If your church had few books and records since 1951, then responding to the subpoena should not be costly or burdensome. If, however, your church has extensive books and records for the period of time in question, then this could be a monumental task for your staff,” Austin and Porch wrote in the letter.

They noted that “at the very least, Belmont’s subpoena requires each church to conduct a review of its 55-plus years of books and records. The review task must be undertaken by each church staff even if no documents responsive to Belmont’s specific questions exist,” they wrote.

“In any event, we can say from experience that the review task alone will fully consume and exhaust the administrative staff of most, if not all, churches,” the convention leaders wrote.

Belmont has requested the churches that received subpoenas to mail their responses to the school’s attorneys by Feb. 15. Tennessee Baptist leaders informed churches in the letter that, “since Belmont has chosen to utilize subpoenas, each of the 100 churches which received a subpoena is compelled by law to respond accordingly.”

The Belmont letter stressed that Belmont leaders “believed that a resolution of the disagreement between the Executive Board and the university could be reached within the Christian family without resorting to a secular court.

“We regret the decision of the Executive Board to take this matter to court,” Dickens wrote. “We continue to desire to mediate this matter believing that this alternative is consistent with our faith,” he continued.

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

Posted: 1/09/07

Carter, Clinton use convocation
to call Baptists to compassion

By Marv Knox & Greg Warner

ATLANTA—Baptists from across North America will convene in Atlanta early next year to emphasize compassion rather than the racial, theological and social conflict that has divided them for 160 years.

Headed by former U.S presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton—two of the world’s most famous Baptist laymen—about 80 leaders of 40 Baptist organizations gathered at the Carter Center in Atlanta Jan. 9 to announce the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant. The event is tentatively set for Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2008.

The convocation will be “one of the most historic events, at least in the history of Baptists in this country, maybe Christianity,” Carter predicted.

See Related Articles: • Carter, Clinton use convocation to call Baptists to compassion • Planned 2008 convocation grows from desire for ‘new Baptist voice’ • Texas Baptist leaders applaud call for inclusive convocation’ • Baptist leaders insist covenant offers chance to heal racial wounds’

Baptist harmony in the United States was broken in the mid-1800s when Baptist division over race and slavery overwhelmed the missionary spirit that previously brought them together, Carter said.

“We hope to recertify our common faith without regard to race, ethnicity, partisanship and geography,” he added.

Participants in the recent meeting reflected his wish. They included representatives of groups connected to the North American Baptist Fellowship, a 20-million-member regional affiliate of the Baptist World Alliance. Leaders of the four predominantly African-American National Baptist conventions also attended, as did leaders of U.S.-based Hispanic, Japanese, Laotian and Russian-Ukrainian Baptist groups, plus Canadian Baptists and heads of Baptist conventions in Missouri, Texas and Virginia.

They planned to demonstrate Baptist harmony based on the themes Jesus preached in his inaugural sermon, which was recorded in the book of Luke. Quoting the Prophet Isaiah, Jesus said: “The Spirit of the Lord … has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

Those themes comprise the core of the North American Baptist Covenant, drafted last April in a meeting at the Carter Center and attended by about 20 of the Baptists who announced the 2008 event. At the time, they announced their intention to rally Baptists around Christ’s compassion for the people he described as “the least of these” in society.

In two meetings since, leaders have acknowledged a potential for division over their history of racial tension and theological dissension. But they that agreed Jesus’ mandate, as well as their shared heritage and core commitments, provide a platform for working together.

The overall endeavor is the brainchild of Carter and Bill Underwood, an attorney and professor who became president of Mercer University last summer.

“Baptists—North and South; from the U.S. and Canada and Mexico; black, white and brown; progressive, moderate and conservative in theology—can focus on issues that bind us together as followers of Christ,” Underwood said.

The 2008 convocation in Atlanta will build on the theme of the North American Baptist Covenant. Leaders expect about 20,000 people to attend the convocation, which will feature sermons and testimonies on the themes Jesus outlined in the gospels, Jimmy Allen said. Allen was Southern Baptist Convention president in the late 1970s and is chair of the program-planning team.

Plenary sessions will address general issues, and breakout seminars will offer specific application ideas to solving and resolving the issues, Allen added.

Topics in the breakout sessions will include prophetic preaching, ecology, sexual exploitation, racism, religious liberty, poverty, HIV/AIDS, finding common ground with other faiths, public policy, youth, evangelism, stewardship and spiritual discipline.

“In the process, we will be looking at ways to network,” Allen said. “Every person who comes ought to be able to find some specific way to put their faith into action.”

Clinton said he hoped the meeting would become “a movement” among Baptists. He also offered his foundation’s resources to help participants become actively involved in the issues to be discussed in Atlanta.

“This is an attempt to answer: ‘What would our Christian witness require of us in the 21st century?’” Clinton said. “It is a part of our faith obligation. But it also is a part of our common life. … This is an important event in the history of Christianity—how faith should react on public life.”

William Shaw, president of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., a predominantly African-American group, echoed Clinton’s observations.

“One of the challenges this places before us as Baptists and as believers is to live up to our faith,” Shaw said. “God is moving to make faith real, addressing the issues we face in a non-political ways and non-partisan ways, but in prophetic ways. We look forward to this with tremendous celebration.”

T. DeWitt Smith, president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, said the Old Testament prophet Micah is a guide for the 2008 convocation.

“If we say we love God, we will ‘do justice and love mercy,’” Smith said. “Lip service is fine, but we are looking for ways to put feet to our faith. It is possible to be together and differ on opinions.”

The convocation will move Baptists forward, Carter stressed.

“Our goals are completely positive … and all-inclusive,” he said. “We call on all Baptists who share these goals to join with us.”

Conspicuously absent from the gathering were representatives of the 16-million member Southern Baptist Convention, the largest single Baptist body in the world. Although SBC leaders were not invited to the Atlanta meeting, Carter and Clinton said they could join in the movement.

For years, some fundamentalist and independent Baptists have shunned such cooperative ventures for fear of theological compromise and loss of independence. Southern Baptists recently withdrew from the Baptist World Alliance and its North American Baptist Fellowship because of alleged liberalism—a charge the broader Baptist organizations denied.

SBC officials were not invited because the North American Baptist Fellowship’s membership provided the core of the Carter Center gathering, Underwood said. “But it’s important to say that a number of people here are Southern Baptists,” he added.

Carter noted Southern Baptist officials participated in meetings he initiated in the 1990s to try to reconcile Baptist factions.

And both Carter and Clinton said they were encouraged by the conciliatory tone struck by the new SBC president, Frank Page of Taylors, S.C.

“We’d be thrilled to have [Southern Baptists],” Clinton said.

“Our goal will be to extend an invitation to all Baptists,” Carter said.

Underwood emphasized that Carter and Clinton were not speaking in their capacity as political leaders or as Democrats, but as Baptist Christians. And they agreed that enlisting conservatives and Republicans will be important to the endeavor.

“We anticipate that there will be other Baptists who will participate in this endeavor who happen also to be Baptists but also happen to be Republicans,” Underwood said.

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

Posted: 1/12/07

Explore the Bible Series for January 21

Every person is intimately known by God

• Psalm 139:1-24

By Howard Anderson

Diversified Spiritual Associates, San Antonio

Psalm 139 is attributed to David and describes the attributes of the Lord not as abstract qualities, but as active qualities by which he relates himself to his people. God’s omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence allow him to know everything about us.

Unique knowledge (Psalm 139:1-6)

God is active to search and test his servants. He knows our motives, desires and words before they are expressed. The real truth, God knows his servants completely.

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Verse 5 makes it clear the purpose of his intimate knowledge of his servants is protective and helpful, not judgmental and condemning—God’s omniscience. Such knowledge of God about me, my reasons, idiosyncrasies, tendencies, issues of life and secret traits is beyond me.

All-encompassing plan (Psalm 139:7-16)

“Whither shall I go” is a celebration of God’s mercy in that there was no place in all creation where David, the servant of God, would find himself separated from God’s presence. “Thy hand” in verse 10 speaks of God’s helpful presence and protection.

“Darkness” refers to death or hell (Psalm 16:10). This is an expansion of the words of verse 8, “If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.” God’s personal body is not in hell and never has been there except to create it (Matthew 25:41); however, his presence is everywhere. We cannot escape God’s omnipresence.

“For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.” David affirms the work of God in his life extended back to his development in his mother’s womb. The Hebrews believed the reins (inward parts. literally kidneys) were the first part of the human fetus to be formed—laying the foundation of being.

“I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” The development of the fetus was something quite mysterious to the ancients. To them, it was as though the fetus were being developed in the middle of the earth. “My substance” indicates the embryo. The skeleton, external covering of muscular flesh, tendons, veins, arteries, nerves, and skin were “curiously wrought.”

“In thy book” is a figure of speech that likens God’s mind to a book of remembrance. The omnipotent God sovereignly ordained David’s life before he was conceived.

Perfect guidance (Psalm 139:17-24)

“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.” David expresses his amazement at the infinite mind of God as compared to the limited mind of humankind, especially as it relates to the physiology of human life (vv. 13-16).

David desires a world in which there is no more evil, no more distraction and no more destruction. The enemies of God are David’s enemies because his life and thoughts are so closely tied to the Lord.

“Search me, O God.” In light of verses 19-22, David invites God to continue searching his heart to root out any unrighteousness, even when it is expressed against God’s enemies that he might enter into “everlasting life.”

Discussion questions

• What are you glad that God knows about you?

• Are you glad he knows your sin, or do you wish you could hide it away?

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

Posted: 1/12/07

CYBER COLUMN:
Resolutions

By Jinny Henson

Reaping the punishment of my Christmas cookie metabolism experiment–you know the one, where you see if eating 40 cookies really does make your pants any tighter–I wrapped up the last ornament, stripped the front door of her garland and laid to rest the pillaged Greenburg turkey carcass in a terrier-proof zip lock bag. Christmas, indeed, was over for another year.

With the simple flip of the calendar from December to January, I find myself on the threshold again. Measurer by nature, I glance over my shoulder at who I was this past 12 months and contemplate what I could be in the next. With each New Year comes the patina of potential covering the lens of my perception, and it is with the bolstered vision, I resolve.

Jinny Henson

I breathe deeply and pledge to be patient rather than whipping out the ugly voice when my 8- and 10-year-old have a WWF smack-down over the front seat of my Volvo. I determine to be more attentive to God's interrupting agenda when I am already booked from 10 to 2. Swim season is only six months away, and I have yet to find a formal length swimsuit front. I will eat more tofu, do more yoga (or, at least wear the pants religiously) and invest in a better pair of tweezers for those sneaky, dark new friends erupting on my jaw line. Just for good measure, I resolve to finally get around to finishing the kids' scrapbooks–from preschool.

Besides the litany of flaws to correct, there are ambitions a tad higher on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which for the moment seem almost attainable. For starters, I determine action steps that will render me funnier than Erma Bombeck, holier than Beth Moore and with shinier hair than Victoria Osteen. Yes! I could finally (with the minor assistance of Photoshop, spray-on tan and Spanks) be selected for the Christian Babes of the South Calendar this year. Hey, it's my threshold; it could happen.

What is so captivating about the optimistic thought of being better than we have ever been? Like the would-be aviators of old, I truly believe I am one bicycle attached to a huge set of batwings away from victory. Perhaps it is self-delusion; like toddlers who promise wholeheartedly to never again brush the dog's teeth only to sneak off and fish the toothbrush out of the trash. A bifurcated nature which truly believes that we are vehicles built for greatness if we could only locate the car keys.

Is it humanly possible to keep a New Years' resolution? Weight-loss experts advise to make smaller goals you can achieve and then be sure to celebrate. Once you have reached those "goal-ettes," like adding one fruit or vegetable a day, suggests the American Dietetic Association, larger goals like eating the recommended eight to 10 daily servings will come more easily. At first, your family may think it strange when you scream, "Can I get a whoop-whoop?" while doing a victory dance and spiking the empty banana peel, but they will quickly learn to appreciate this baby step celebration when they are on the receiving end of such enthusiasm.

Another strategy to resolution success involves accountability. Audaciously tell others your plans, using pride as the fulcrum to forcibly thrust yourself from your habitual lethargy. My favorite examples are those who utilize the Christmas letter for such bold initiatives. Lines like, "This year, we're finally going to get to that storage shed and hope to unearth Mama's casserole dish collection" in the family manifesto are clearly a sprung sack of marbles. No turning back. No turning back. Once you put it out there, it's either strap on the flashlight helmet and dig into the depths of the shed or make up a really good excuse for those in Sunday school who actually read your Christmas letter.

A third route to resolution failure-avoidance is to simply fail to make any. That's the spirit. Enough of "the award goes to the guy in the ring trying" blah, blah, blah business. No, let's hear it for the prudent guy who passed on getting in there at all because he knows he will never follow through and prevail should he commit. Instead of challenging himself, he watches safely at a distance. He gets to keep two level nostrils for his recompense. The mantra here–avoid resolutions at any cost, because one simply cannot change.

As for me, I still believe. I see a glimpse of the woman I am in my mind's eye on my best day in my skinny jeans in an organized house doing whatever makes me feel fabulous. I am there talking on the phone with hours to spare because my goals are met on time and under budget. I am prayed-up, patient, witty and wise. My resolutions have all worked, and I am content beyond compare with healthy family and dogs that Swiffer their own fur off my stairs. And even though I know that vision will not be my 2007 reality, a girl can still spike her peel and shoot for the stars.

Jinny Henson is an author and stand-up comic who performs for churches and comedy clubs nationwide. When not unleashing her wacky sense of humor, this Baylor University graduate is a preacher's wife, nutty blonde and soccer mom. You can find out more about her at www.jinnyhenson.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: 1/11/07

BaptistWay Bible Series for January 21

In good times and bad, Jesus is there

• John 14:1-11, 15-18, 25-27

By David Wilkinson

Broadway Baptist Church, Fort Worth

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. … I will not leave you orphaned.”

These words of Jesus—offered as a promise to his disciples then and now—took on new meaning for me as I listened to a woman’s testimony near the end of a week-long spiritual formation retreat. The group had been invited to record our reflections in response to a guided meditation on John 14:1-11.

Joan movingly described a family photo of her mother and two older siblings. Her mother was 3 years old when her father (Joan’s grandfather) died at age 30. The family was poor, and with no marketable skills or resources, Joan’s grandmother was left with an agonizing decision.

The photo was taken on the day she left her children at an orphanage. “It was like something straight out of a Dickens’ novel,” Joan said. It was a cold January day. In the photo, the stair-stepped trio—ages 3, 4 and 6—are standing hand-in-hand in the falling snow, with a kind of childlike stoicism amid the tears, just before their mother gave them a final hug and drove away.

In the months that followed, the children would receive an occasional letter from their mother. The 6-year-old, just learning to read, would gather her little brother and sister on her bed and falteringly but patiently read each letter to them several times. And then they would cry together.

“My mother has always told me she had a happy childhood, and I believe her,” Joan continued. “She would tell delightful stories about life at the orphanage. But there was also a deep sadness in her life that never went away. It was the pain of being orphaned. And it was the pain of being left.”

Few things in life are as painful as the experience of being left, of being abandoned. In this second of Jesus’ “farewell discourses” collected in John 13-17, Jesus knows his disciples are about to experience the pain of being “orphaned” in a two-fold sense—first, through his humiliating and agonizing execution by Roman crucifixion, but also through his return to his Father following his resurrection. He will die, and the disciples will know three dark days of bewildering grief and despair before experiencing the euphoria of the empty tomb. Then, in the wake of his glorious resurrection, he will leave them again.

A three-fold promise

Out of love for his friends, Jesus’ primary concern in these farewell discourses is not so much the events that lie before him as what will happen to the disciples. In language they cannot comprehend—and, indeed, will understand fully only in retrospect—Jesus offers a three-fold promise.

First, he offers a place, an eternal abiding place with him in his Father’s house (14:2-3). The Greek word translated “dwelling places” (NRSV) or “mansions” (KJV) is the noun form of the verb “to abide,” a significant word in the fourth Gospel.

“Abiding” signifies a relationship characterized by trusting and even knowing, comparable to the relation of Christ to God. Such trusting and knowing are possibilities for the disciples and will, according to this text, be fulfilled rather than severed at death.

Second is the promise of the way to God. Here (v. 6), and throughout the Gospel, the writer makes clear that the way to God, whom no one has ever seen, is through the revelation of God in the Son. Jesus’ response to Thomas’ question, “How can we know the way?” (v. 5), seems to incorporate and culminate all the previous “I am” statements of the Gospel: “water,” “bread,” “light,” “resurrection and life.” Jesus is the way because in him God’s truth is revealed—not through creeds or theological propositions—but through relationship. To know Jesus is to know God.

Third, Jesus offers to every follower the promise of a presence and a power for living “in the meantime,” prior to abiding forever in God’s house (vv.15-17, 25-27). The gift of the Holy Spirit is offered to everyone who believes in the Son and prays in his name (vv. 13-14). Significantly, it is a promise not only to individuals but to the believing community, the church (the form of “you” in verses 13-14 is plural).

Jesus will come again to the disciples—and to all believers—and gather them to himself (vv. 3, 18, 28), an apparent reference to the parousia, the eschatological return of Christ. But he also will come to them through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

An advocate

No English word adequately captures the rich meaning of the Greek word parakletos, translated “advocate” or “helper” (v. 16), a term unique to John among the Gospels. This is a legal term in the sense of a counselor who supports a defendant at trial. The Greek para means “alongside,” and the root of kletos is “to call.” So, God, at Jesus’ request, will send “another paraclete” to come alongside as a defender and protector of the disciples, just as Jesus has been.

The Holy Spirit will bring power and peace beyond anything the world can provide or understand (v. 27). The Spirit will continue to “teach” the disciples “everything” and “remind” them of what Jesus has said (v. 26).

Belief in Jesus, expressed through obedience to his commandments, is the condition for Jesus’ coming. The “new commandment” Jesus has given the disciples is to love one another as he has loved them (13:34). Obedience to his commandments offers genuine evidence of love for him (13:35; 14:21, 23).

An abiding peace

It is in the light of these eternal promises that Jesus’ words of assurance, which serve as bookends for this section, can be fully heard: “Do not let your hearts be troubled” and “do not let them be afraid” (vv. 1, 27).

On his deathbed, John Wesley is reported to have said, “The best of all is, God is with us.” That is the promise of John 14: God is with us to the very end.

Discussion questions

• John 14:1-3 often is read at funerals. In what ways are Jesus’ words a promise for life as well as death?

• How does the meaning of the word translated “advocate” or “paraclete” broaden your understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit?

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

Posted: 1/10/07

Bible Studies for Life Series for January 14

Sin has far-reaching consequences

• Genesis 3:1-8,15-19,22-24

By Kenneth Lyle

Logsdon School of Theology, Abilene

People always have wondered about the deep and mysterious connection between sin and the state of the world. The question “What’s the big problem?” speaks to the heart of this issue.

There are the obvious questions people raise on a daily basis: Why do people lie, steal, cheat, kill and hate? Beyond the obvious questions, there are persistent and troubling questions asked about the pervasiveness of sin in the world and its connection to our fallen estate.

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In John 9, Jesus’ disciples betrayed an understanding of the world that saw sin connected to our individual well-being. Seeing a young blind man, the disciples ask Jesus, “Who sinned that this man was born blind?” Their inquiry leads Jesus to offer healing to the man to demonstrate God’s glory and goodness.

The narrative continues with an inquest by the synagogue rulers about the incident and concludes with the religious leaders dismissing the man born blind who can now see with the claim, “you were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” Their assumption that his personal sin is linked to his blindness matches the assumption of the disciples at the beginning of the story.

This is not an isolated event in the life of Jesus. Repeatedly, Jesus offers forgiveness of sin as a preamble to healing. There is a deep, abiding and mysterious connection between sin, both personal and corporate, and consequence, both individual and collective.

The focal passages from Genesis provide foundational answers to important questions about sin and consequence. What is the origin of sin? What are the consequences of sin? Is there any hope for a sinful fallen world? These inquiries stand at the heart of the Genesis 3:1-8; 15-19; 22-24 passages.

Genesis 2 and 3 continue the story of creation begun in chapter 1. Some scholars suggest two separate accounts of creation stand together, offering slightly different perspectives on the creation account. A careful reading of the account in chapter 1 and 2 proves an interesting comparison. For example, while chapter 1 seems to suggest the earth forms out of a watery chaos, chapter 2 has streams of water coming up from the dry ground covering the whole earth. These kinds of observations do not take away from the veracity of the accounts, but some readers may notice them.

A more fruitful approach to the varied accounts of chapter 1 and 2 is to see them as a continuation of the story of God dealing with humanity. The biblical pattern always seems to focus on God dealing with individuals. This is no less true in the creation account. God sets the broad stage of creation and then begins dealing with humans as individuals. The account of Adam and Eve sets in motion the story of God’s relationship to all of humanity that comes one person a time.

The focal passages tell us about the origin of sin, the consequences of sin and God’s response to sin. The narrative begins with a recollection of God’s command not to eat of the tree in the middle of the garden. Eve’s recollection of God’s command comes because of the probing question from the serpent that “was more crafty than any of the other wild animals the Lord God had made” (Genesis 3:1). That Eve recalls the command suggests she understood God’s command was for her. She, no less than we, cannot claim ignorance as a defense (compare Paul’s argument in Romans 1:18 and following). She understood God’s command was for her own good, and that God had given her and Adam abundance to eat. She and Adam were free to choose from any plant or tree in the garden, but they chose enslavement by yielding to temptation.

Temptation is not sin, but it is a warning sign sin is nearby. More often than not, we are tempted to take something that God intends for good and transform it to an opportunity for sin by our own selfish desires. Scripture tells us plainly that God is not the source of temptation (James 1:13), and that God provides help to resist temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).

The consequences of sin are temporal and eternal, personal and corporate. Sin affects us individually in our immediate circumstances, but it also affects those around us, both now and for the long term. The curses pronounced on the serpent, the women and the man in Genesis 3:14-19 demonstrate that sin is never an isolated event that only affects one person. There are eternal and far-reaching consequences to sin coming into the world. Paul understood that sin entered the world through one person, but had consequences for all people (Romans 5:12). However, in like manner, the solution for sin comes to the world in the person of Jesus and is available to all people.

The Genesis account anticipates God’s faithful response to human sin. Already here in this creation account we see evidence of God’s faithfulness, God’s provision and God’s plan for redeeming sinful humanity. Human birth will be painful and difficult, but humans will still bring new life into the world (v. 16). Work will require effort and sweat, but sustenance comes (vv. 17-18). Temptation, sin and death always will be present, but God will send one who will deal finally and completely with sin and death (v. 15). Yes, through one man, sin comes into the world, but thanks be to God, through the faithful obedience of one man, Jesus, God frees us from sin and death.

Discussion questions

• How do you understand the connection between sin and consequence? Do our sins affect only ourselves alone?

• What things tempt us most? What would be better than yielding to temptation?

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

Posted: 1/10/07

Bible Studies for Life Series for January 21

What is human life worth?

• Genesis 9:5-6; Psalm 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:10-11,15-16,18; 24:10-12

By Kenneth Lyle

Logsdon School of Theology, Abilene

What is human life worth? It would be great if we actually could provide an objective answer to that question, but it seems humans are not able to provide an adequate response.

By some accounts, human life is the equivalent of a few dollars worth of chemicals and the right amount of water, but parents know the life of their child is priceless. On the surface, we act as if the lives of some people are more valuable than the lives of other people. It seems clear that most of us value American lives more than European, African or Asian lives. Moreover, we seem to value the lives of people we know more than people we do not know.

So, we ask the question again: “What is human life worth?” In Christian discussions about the value of life, the conversation most often turns to questions about abortion, euthanasia, cloning, stem cell research and other hot topics. More rarely, Christians may talk about the value of life and the virtues of the death penalty. With far less frequency, we relate the question of the value of human life to issues of poverty, race, and gender. However, all of these issues relate powerfully to the question: “What is human life worth?”

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The lesson for today fulfills the requirement of dealing with the sanctity of human life. It is quite a thing to suggest that human life is sacred. God’s post-flood covenant with Noah includes strong words about the significance of life: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man” (Genesis 9:6). Because God creates each human being in the image of God, the shedding of human blood requires an accounting (9:5).

Both sides of the debate about capital punishment look to this verse for answers. Those who favor the death penalty find justification in the requirement of verse 6. Those who oppose capital punishment emphasize accountability is to God and God alone (v. 5). Regardless of your position on capital punishment, God’s covenant words with Noah suggest human life is valuable beyond measure and God expects us to take responsibility for one another.

In Psalm 139, David offers praise to God for the whole of David’s human existence. The focal passage (vv. 13-16) correctly emphasizes the wonder and complexity of the process of human birth. Life begins and God loves us even before we are born, but for David, that is not the whole story. David’s words about his own marvelous origin are magnificent, but they are not limited to his pre-birth.

David praises God because God knows every part of him—now! David says, “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways” (vv. 1-3). David marvels because nothing can separate him from God and God’s faithful care. Here too, must be some clue as to the value of human life. Whoever we are, wherever we are, God cares for us.

The focal passages from Proverbs provide practical insight into the question of the value of human life. Proverbs 1 offers instruction from a father to a son about wise living. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

This admonition sets the pattern for understanding all the wisdom in Proverbs. Wise living begins with right relationship to God. The father urges his son not to get involved with violent people. Moreover, the father’s instruction suggests his son should not get involved with people who would so casually consider taking the life of another human being. These individuals “rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood” (Proverbs 1:16).

For the impure motive of greed, these individuals devalue human life and shed blood. The wise person will not join them in this activity. Christians must examine their own connections to people and institutions that devalue human life for impure motives.

The final passage from Proverbs 24 urges protection of innocent life. “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter” (24:11). God requires us to find effective, courageous, Christ-like ways of helping the most vulnerable people in our society: the unborn child, the child born into and living in poverty, the single mother, the innocent victims of war and famine.

The list goes on and on, but we cannot abdicate our responsibility to rescue innocent human life: “If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?” (24:12). Jesus’ words to his disciples in Matthew 25 echo the sentiment of the sage, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine you did for me” (25:40).

From God’s perspective, all human life is valuable beyond measure. We who bear God’s image and Christ’s name must learn to value human life as God values human life.

Discussion questions

• This lesson offers a wonderful opportunity to talk about what the term “sanctity of human life” really means. What does it mean to say that human life is sacred?

• Can human life ever lose its sacredness? Is there any thing we can do that makes us less valuable to God and to each other?

• What political, economic and social issues inform by our discussion of the value of human life?

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

Storylist for week of 1/08/07

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



• Seminary president urges neighboring pastor to resign



• DRINK TO THAT? Have Baptists watered down their objections to alcohol?


• After 52 years at one church, pastor has no plans to quit

• Texas Legislature faces critical issues

• By removing barriers, church reclaims families

• Volunteers warm orphans' hearts—and feet—in Moldova

• On the Move

• Around the State

• Texas Tidbits


• DRINK TO THAT? Have Baptists watered down their objections to alcohol?

• Alcoholism: No easy fix or single remedy

• Baptist battles dominated news in 2006, editors say

• Graham named among most-admired in poll for 50th time

• Baptist Briefs


• Amish response to violence rated top '06 newsmaker

• New Congress displays America's religious diversity

• Baptists in the House of Representatives

• Religious affiliations of Texas congressional delegation

• Exhibits feed the public's hunger for biblical history

• Apostle's grave may be beneath Rome church

• Prize-winning biologist issues plea for religion, science to save creation

• Documentary explores faith of televangelists' son


• Books reviewed in this issue are: Reimagining Evangelism: Inviting Friends on a Spiritual Journey by Rick Richardson, Exiled: Voices of the Southern Baptist Convention Holy War edited by Carl L. Kell and Learning to Pray Through the Psalms by James W. Sire.


• Around the State

• Cartoon

• Classified Ads

• Texas Baptist Forum


• EDITORIAL: Prophecies needed for coming year

• DOWN HOME: Are you too old to wear corduroys?

• 2nd Opinion: Six tips for building better sermons

• TOGETHER: 2007: The emphasis is on missions

• RIGHT or WRONG? Christian Reconstructionism • Texas Baptist Forum

• CYBER COLUMN by John Duncan: Grandmother's simple faith



• BaptistWay Bible Series for January 7: Believing in Jesus as the Resurrection & the Life

• Bible Studies for Life Series for January 7: Why am I here?

• Explore the Bible Series for January 7: God will guide his people past obstacles

Previously Posted

• Students provide family with extreme home makeover

• Church's flexibility helps in encounter with Hispanic seekers

• Volunteer builders ramp up efforts to assist the disabled

• UMHB student adds German flavor to Texas Christmas

• Texas Baptist Men seek to provide pure Water of Life

• Researcher finds Wayland imprint far and wide

• Movie's themes experienced by church that produced it

• Small-church pastors challenged to make a difference

• Former WMU President Huis Coy Egge dead at 95

• Georgia church votes to purge piggy name

• Volunteers' love encourages Moldovan women

• Pastors rank among top 10 on ethics list

• Holiday traditions vary among Baptists around the world

• Holiday Health: How to survive flu season

• Holiday Health: Don’t ditch diet during holidays

• Holiday Health: Ways to care for your heart

• Baptists urge Wal-Mart to practice Golden Rule

• The Baptist Standard family wishes our readers a Merry Christmas! Click to see our card

• BGCT African-American ministries director named

• Baylor's oldest new graduate receives long-awaited degree

• Chrismukkah? Hybrid holiday shows tension in religiously blended families

• Court to decide if taxpayers can sue over faith-based plan

• Ex-gay says: Treat homosexuality as temptation, not orientation

• DBU students raise funds to help hungry



See complete list of articles from our 12/18/ 2006 issue here.

Posted: 1/09/07

Explore the Bible Series for January 14

Hearing God’s word brings revival, worship

• Nehemiah 8:1-18; 9:1-37; 9:38-10:39

By Howard Anderson

Diversified Spiritual Associates, San Antonio

The first day of the seventh month was a day of convocation. The Water Gate became the place of cleansing by the refreshing power of God’s word. The effect of the word was revival and keeping of the Feast of Tabernacles. Reading, hearing, believing, obeying the word brought spiritual revival with humiliation, self-judgment, confession and true worship. The renewed covenant ushered a commitment to support God’s house and a rededication to live according to God’s word and to pursue his purposes.

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Conviction of God’s word (Nehemiah 8:1-18)

The people gathered together from the cities and the countryside of Judah. The street was a broad open space presumably located between the southeast part of the temple and the eastern wall. The people instructed Ezra to get the Book of the Law, which Ezra had brought to Jerusalem as much as 13 years before. What had been confined to private study among learned men was made public to everyone.

Everyone who “could hear with understanding” gathered on “the first of the seventh month.” This event took place just a few days after the completion of the wall for a period of about six hours. As Ezra unrolled the scroll, “the people stood,” signifying their reverence for the word.

Once the people understood the word of God, they wept. They had heard the high standard of the law, recognized their low standing before the Lord and were convicted. Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites undoubtedly were glad to see the people’s conviction; however, they urged the people to stop crying and reminded them that this day was holy to the Lord.

The first day of the seventh month (v. 2) was the Feast of Trumpets. It was not a time to weep but to celebrate. The people were instructed to celebrate the feast with eating, drinking and sharing. “Strength” here means place of safety, a refuge or protection. The people’s refuge was God. They had built a wall, and they carried spears and swords, but he was their protection. They obeyed the word of the Lord and celebrated the Feast of Trumpets.

The people observed the Feast of Tabernacles according to the law. Those who lived in cities built their booths on the flat tops of their houses or in their courtyards. The priests and Levites built their booths in the courts of the temple. The people from the country constructed huts in the street before the Water Gate and the Gate of Ephraim. The reading of the law was required during the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles that occurred on the Sabbath year (Deuteronomy 31:10-11).

Confession of sins (Nehemiah 9:1-37)

The people’s public worship had begun on the first day of the seventh month (8:2). More than three weeks later, the people still were engaged in public worship. The separation “from all strangers” was a sacred separation from foreign persons who worshipped other gods and whose practices might have brought harm to the integrity of the Lord’s worship by his people. The confession of the people’s own sins was for personal and corporate forgiveness; the confession of their father’s sins was for remembrance that they might not continue in past evil actions and attitudes. Approximately three hours were spent in corporate worship, and today people get restless after 30 minutes.

The importance of the name of God scarcely can be overestimated (v. 5). This psalm is based solidly on the theology of the law (the books of Moses) as would be expected following the three-week reading of the Scriptures (8:1-2). The poem’s exaltation of the Lord’s name is based on God’s own revelation of his name recorded in the Book of Exodus (3:14).

One of the fundamental teachings of Scripture is that God is not one among many. He “alone” is the living God (Deuteronomy 6:4). God alone has made all things— “heaven … earth … seas”—and he alone preserves all things; therefore, worship is due him.

Exodus tells about the plight of the Israelites in Egypt and their complaint to the Lord for deliverance. It then speaks of God’s mercy in his response to the people’s need. Nehemiah 9:9 suggests that before the people expressed their hurt, the Lord already was aware of their troubles.

The sin of the Israelites was that they acted proudly. They behaved toward God in the same way the people of Egypt had behaved toward them. The reference here is the rebellion of Israel against the Lord at Kadesh (Numbers 14:4).

The people’s rebellion went so far, they appointed a captain to take them back to Egypt. Because of God’s loyalty and steadfastness, he did not forsake his people.

“You have done right … we have done wickedly.” This is the basic reality of this chapter, and the history of God and his people. The people of Israel had been called to be the servants of God (Lev. 25:55), but here they were servants of foreign rulers. The produce of the land did not belong to them; it went to kings. Persians taxed the people for the produce of the land that was God’s gift to them.

Commitment to the covenant (Neheniah 9:38-10:39)

The psalm ends in action, not just sentiment. The intent was changed behavior. The pledge was to mirror God’s faithfulness. The new “covenant” community desired to demonstrate the faithfulness of Abraham and Sarah.

The “priests” sealed the covenant. Twenty-one priests, who were heads of households, signed the agreement in the name of the houses and families of their respective classes. The “Levites” signed the covenant. Forty-four political “leaders” of the Jewish community signed the covenant. And laypeople signed the covenant. The Nethinim were temple servants who did menial work in the sanctuary (Ezra 2:43). “They that had separated themselves from the people of the lands” were the descendents of those Israelites who had been left in the land and who joined the returning remnant. Men, women and children of sufficient age signed the covenant.

The people made four promises: (1) They promised to pay a temple tax to defray the expenses of the worship services in God’s sanctuary. (2) They promised to provide a “wood offering.” The law prescribed that wood should be constantly burning on the altar (Leviticus 6:12-13). (3) They promised to offer their “firstfruits” at the temple. The firstfruits of the ground were given to the Lord as an acknowledgment of his status as landowner (Exodus 23:19; 34:26; Deuteronomy 26:2). (4) They promised to pay the priests.

Discussion questions

• How does hearing God’s word cause people to worship?

• Is is possible for longtime believers to become immune to the awe God’s word inspires?

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

Posted: 1/08/07

Kokomo church rises from
ashes, celebrates centennial

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

GORMAN—Kokomo Baptist Church found plenty of reasons to rejoice two weeks before Christmas, as members belatedly celebrated the church’s centennial and dedicated new facilities, completed less than a year after its previous building burned in a wildfire.

Worshippers packed the sanctuary for the dedication of the new building, with former members and pastors returning to be part of the celebration. Old friends reconnected, and old memories were revisited, participants said.

“It was just a happy time,” Deacon Woodrow Browning said. “You knew there was going to be a big crowd there and there would be a lot of people who were former members, and we had a couple of former pastors. To be able to see those people again and to be able to celebrate and dedicate a new building, the Holy Spirit has touched our hearts and lifted us.”

For Zelda Jordan, the dedication of the building and celebration of the church’s 100 years of service—a party delayed nearly six months because the congregation was meeting in a member’s home—marked another example of God’s faithfulness to the congregation.

“It was just a wonderful feeling knowing that God had provided this for us,” she said.

This was not the first time God provided for the church or its members, she noted. Jordan was a member of the congregation when another building burned in 1963. Then, like now, God brought the church together, she said.

In fact, that experience helped them rebuild their facilities this time. Several members knew what to do and knew how long it would take. They never doubted God’s power, she observed.

“We never lost sight that God would help us build it back,” she said.

Jordan looks forward to many more years of ministry for the church. The congregation is like a family to her, she said. She and her husband raised their children there. And when her husband and son died, she noted, the church was there for her. “It’s a community that helps each other.”

And if Jordan has her way, the church will help many others.

“I hope that it’s here until the Lord comes back,” she said.

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

Posted: 1/08/07

Missouri Baptist leaders approve
team to investigate executive

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP)—In a sign of continuing turmoil within the Missouri Baptist Convention, the body’s Executive Board has appointed a committee to investigate their embattled executive director.

The group also discussed allegations that a four-year-old church in St. Louis, supported by a convention loan, is encouraging alcohol consumption.

During the board’s Dec. 12 meeting, board member Wesley Hammond made a surprise motion that the board appoint a “committee to investigate rumors affecting the character of some of our members which, if true, would render them unworthy of leadership, and cast doubt on our credibility and our integrity as an Executive Board,” according to an account by Baptist Press, the Southern Baptist Convention’s communications arm.

The target is Executive Director David Clippard, who has been under criticism from fellow conservatives for months. Clippard stirred national attention in November when he warned that Muslims are plotting to take over the United States.

Hammond, pastor of First Baptist Church in Paris, Mo., stipulated that the investigative committee would consist of five members—the convention’s current first and second vice presidents and recording secretary and the two most recent convention presidents.

The committee will not include current convention President Mike Green, a Clippard supporter. Baptist Press reported that Hammond’s motion took Green, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Republic, Mo., unawares. He was “flabbergasted and surprised,” according to the news agency.

The motion passed 29-19, with three abstentions.

Green later presented a motion to establish a competing investigative committee. It would have been charged with studying not only allegations of impropriety by Clippard, but also allegations that members of the Executive Board had been “micromanaging” the affairs of Clippard and other MBC staff.

Green said he wanted to establish the committee “because of the ongoing unrest, dissension, distrust, disunity, questions, and contentions existing within the Missouri Baptist Convention.”

His motion also passed, on a vote of 26-22—again with three abstentions. He then withdrew the motion, tearfully saying he did not want to divide the convention further.

His motion also would have instructed the committee to study the scope and direction of the convention’s church-planting ministry, particularly as it relates to the emerging-church movement. Emerging churches tend to be new congregations made up of Generation X and Y members who worship or do ministry in ways not traditionally embraced by evangelicals.

A discussion of the convention’s church-planting ministry at the same meeting turned to criticism of one convention-affiliated congregation that is part of the emerging-church movement.

Bill Edwards, chairman of the board’s church-planting subcommittee, said his panel had discussed new affiliated churches whose leaders “personally used or promoted drinking as a part of their outreach.”

Discussion turned to The Journey, a St. Louis church planted, in part, with financial backing from the state convention. The congregation reportedly has grown from 30 to more than 1,000 in worship weekly in four years.

Board members discussed a ministry, advertised on the church’s website, where church members gather with others to discuss faith-related topics once a month at the Schlafly Bottleworks, a local brewery and pub. Called “Theology at the Bottleworks,” the church’s website describes it as one of several regular outreach events where church leaders “engage various aspects of popular culture: music, theatre, arts, and politics, seeking to have relevant dialogue with people of all backgrounds and beliefs.”

According to the Baptist Press article, Executive Board members objected to a phrase in the website’s description of the ministry that invited inquirers to “Grab a brew, give your view…”

Some also objected to a reference in the website’s biographical description of one of the church’s associate pastors. Jonathan MacIntosh said one of his favorite activities was to have drinks with his wife at a local bar.

Darrin Patrick, the church’s pastor, reportedly attributed the references to a secular design company that administers the website. He said the references would be removed, and they were gone by Dec. 20.

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