Posted: 11/02/07

Texas Baptists have worldwide
influence through BWA, Coffey says

By Blake Killingsworth

Dallas Baptist University

AMARILLO—Baptist World Alliance President David Coffey encouraged Texas Baptists to stand with their brothers and sisters around the world in order to have a global impact.

Speaking during the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting, Coffey thanked Texas Baptists for their continuing support of the BWA and described the ways their support helps promote Baptist mission and witness around the globe.

The BWA is a fellowship of more than 200 Baptist conventions and unions with a membership of 38 million. The alliance offers a united voice for Baptists across the globe in evangelistic efforts, promotion of human rights and response to people in need.

During his address to Texas Baptists, Coffey described how support from the BGCT allows the BWA to fulfill its five main objectives—unity, evangelism, response to need, defending human rights and promoting theological reflection.

In referring to the work of promoting unity, Coffey stressed that Baptists need to focus less on the differences that divide them and more on the Savior who unites. This unity allows Baptists to speak with one voice when calling others to repentance and faith in Jesus.

“We need to focus on the missionary God, not on each other. By supporting the BWA, you help millions of young Baptists stay on the message of Christ.”

Coffey encouraged Texas Baptists to focus on the lack of religious liberty and the abuses of human rights around the world.

More than 250 million Christians in 60 countries live in fear of practicing their faith, he noted.

As recently as Oct. 7, a bookstore owner in Gaza was found shot in the head. His Baptist pastor explained he had for some time been pressured to convert to Islam, which he had refused to do.

“This is a Baptist brother who laid down his life for the Lord,” Coffey said.

More than 150,000 Christians were martyrs last year.

“As Baptists, religious liberty is in our DNA,” he stated. “Your support of the BWA enables us to be a voice for the voiceless.”

Coffey drew attention to the plight of many Christians in the Holy Land. He described a recent trip, recounting his meetings with leaders throughout the region and conversations with Bethlehem pastors.

“When you pray for the peace of Israel,” the pastors told Coffey to tell others, “also pray for the peace of Palestine and for the peace of the Arab Christians.”

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

Hispanic leaders take on
local and international projects

By Analiz Gonzalez

Buckner International

AMARILLO—Hispanic Texas Baptists can make a difference in lives around the world, leaders of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas told a rally in Amarillo, prior to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting.

Hispanic Texas Baptists are lobbying for immigration reform, planning international missions and ministry projects, building homes for retired ministers and crossing generational barriers, said President Baldemar Borrego.

Hispanic convention representatives have visited the White House repeatedly in an effort to influence the debate on immigration reform. Specifically, they have urged lawmakers to support a resolution that would allow people to become permanent residents without having to leave the United States and the Dream Act, which would allow young people to apply for legal status under the condition of obtaining higher education, joining the military or doing a set amount of community service.

Leaders are exploring a missions project to involve Hispanic Baptists in building a well in India, Borrega reported.

“This is the first time that we, as a Hispanic group, are working together to help our brothers and sisters in India,” he said. “We are also looking into working with orphans and widows in the country.”

While Hispanic Texas Baptists have the world on their hearts, the focus of the Hispanic convention continues to be Texas, Borrego said. And part of that focus is a project to build retirement homes for pastors. The first house will be completed soon, and it should be ready for occupancy the third or fourth week of November.

The group also is working on leadership development, Borrego said. Experienced pastors are being equipped to mentor people who feel called to enter the ministry but have no experience in leading churches.

The Hispanic convention also wants to unify people of different generations within the Hispanic community, Borrego noted.

“With culture and language, there is often a lot of separation, and we want to be sure that as Hispanics, we are able to preserve the value we hold for all members of the family, regardless of their age,” he said, noting the Hispanic convention is seeking to involve young people in key positions.

“When we hold convención this year, we will have conferences, called a youth convocation, which will be geared towards the third generation,” he 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: 11/02/07

Foundation honors three

The Texas Baptist Missions Foundation presented three missions awards at an event held in conjunction with the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in Amarillo.

Bob Stephenson, a layman from a BGCT-affiliated church in Norman, Okla., received the Adventurer Award. Stephenson has given generously of his time and about $6 million to Baptist causes he believes in, including protecting Baptist distinctives and religious liberty.

Tim Holloway, president of Baptist Community Services in Amarillo, received the Innovator Award on behalf of the High Plains Christian Ministries Foundation. The foundation has provided more than $9 million in grants and gifts to churches and organizations for worldwide missions.

Associate Pastor Jeff Raines accepted the Pioneer Award for Service in Missions on behalf of First Baptist Church in Amarillo.

The church has an $800,000 missions budget, and more than 10 percent of its active members participate in international mission trips to Mexico, Brazil, Kenya and Zambia. The church’s missions budget also enables students to serve in nine countries, including China, Singapore, Australia, Nigeria and Russia.

It also is involved in planting cowboy churches; helps sponsor the Mosaic emerging church in Austin; serves four language groups; and teaches English as a Second Language to 80 refugees from 18 countries every week.

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

Book Reviews

Seeing in the Dark: Getting the Facts on Depression and Finding Hope Again by Gary Kinnaman and Richard Jacobs (Bethany House Publishers)

 Addressing what many in the medical profession have labeled the No. 1 medical problem, Gary Kinnaman and Richard Jacobs have joined forces in putting the focus upon depression. 

The book is written subjectively, due to the battles with depression experienced by Kinnaman, a pastor, and Jacobs’ wife, Sue. Concise and easy to read, Seeing in the Dark provides insight from medical (physical), psychological and spiritual points of view. 

What are you reading that other Texas Baptists would find helpful? Send suggestions and reviews to books@baptiststandard.com.

Admitting they do not have all the answers to depression, Kinnaman and Jacobs fill their book with well-documented, up-to-date information.  Some of the topics include confronting the myths about depression, how to recognize true depression, brain chemistry and depression, biblical insights into depression, how patterns of thinking impact depression, living above your pain and other issues faced by people who battle the illness. 

The fifth chapter, “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made,” deals with brain anatomy, the importance of sleep, brain exercise, helpful foods, Saint John’s wort, anti-depressant medications and electroconvulsive therapy—practical information needed by those who either suffer from depression or seek to assist those who battle it every day.

Following chapters reveal some of the pathways to wholeness that are available in the spiritual realm, through the help of others, and how to live when depression will not go away.

This book is written to provide encouragement as well as information, and one can find affirmation, strength, encouragement and purpose within its pages. Seeing In the Dark is a book worth having and, especially, sharing with others.

Randall Scott, pastor

Immanuel Baptist Church, Paris

The 2-degree Difference: How Little Things Can Change Everything by John Trent (B&H Publishing Group)

Brian was one of those people who thought big problems call for big solutions. Suffering from problems at home, work and his health, he felt hopeless, and any change might be too little too late. He was not leading the life he had planned.

That is when he met Eric, the new lively leader of his accountability group.

Eric introduces Brian to “The 2-Degree Difference,” the idea that small things, both good and bad, grow on compounded interest. Making small changes in one area of your life can help reap huge benefits, and change can spill over to other areas.

After much skepticism, Brian decided to test this idea, making one small step at a time. His life began to improve, slowly but surely, to a life better than he had imagined.

The book is divided into three parts—Brian’s story, a journal and a plan. The reader can work through this book alone or with a small accountability group. The 2- Degree Difference takes readers, one small step at a time, on a journey to a better life.

Rebekah Hardage

Communications Intern, Waco

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

Baptist Briefs

Land named to new term on commission. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, has been appointed to a fourth term on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky reappointed Land to a two-year term on the nine-person panel. The commission, a nonpartisan panel appointed by the president and members of Congress, researches the status of religious liberty in other countries and provides reports and recommendations to the White House and legislators. The president selects three members of the commission, while congressional leaders name the other six. The State Department’s ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom serves as a nonvoting member of the panel.

NAMB finalizes FamilyNet sale. Charles Stanley, founder and president of In Touch Ministries, and Geoff Hammond, president of the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board, signed documents Oct. 25 finalizing the sale of the mission board’s FamilyNet television network to In Touch. Negotiations between the two ministries began several months ago and were announced in a letter of intent from In Touch to NAMB in August. Under the agreement, NAMB will continue to have 30 minutes of programming on both the television and a satellite radio channel each week. Also, a NAMB representative will hold a chair on FamilyNet’s board of directors.

Veteran seminary professors recognized. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees honored John and Robina Drakeford, George and Linda Kelm, and James Leo and Myrta Garrett with the L.R. Scarborough Award, named for the seminary’s second president. Drakeford, who taught counseling and psychology and founded the seminary’s Baptist Marriage and Family Counseling Center in 1960, was recognized posthumously. George and Linda Kelm were leaders in developing and organizing the seminary’s archaeology program, the Charles D. Tandy Archaeological Museum and the Charles D. Tandy Center for Archaeological Research. James Leo Garrett Jr., longtime professor of systematic theology, became a distinguished professor at Southwestern in 1991 and has authored, co-authored, edited and co-edited 134 published works, including the authorship of his two-volume Systematic Theology: Biblical, Historical and Evangelical.

Seminary to build Homemaking House. Southwestern Baptist Theological Semi-nary trustees unanimously approved construction of a Homemaking House, providing an instruction facility and student housing for the seminary’s homemaking concentration. The house will contain three primary teaching areas—a multifunction room for instruction with computer resources; a room for students to learn about working with and laundering textiles; and a kitchen, complete with appliances and a horseshoe-shaped counter for instruction in food preparation. Upstairs, two rooms will house seniors in the homemaking concentration, and another room will be available for guest housing. Trustees learned the seminary has received “a generous donation” for the construction of the building, and the house will be built as soon as all funds have been secured. The plan is for the house to be built and available in August 2008.

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

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

2nd Opinion: Knowing how the story ends

By Toby Druin

I am reading An Army at Dawn, Rick Atkinson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the war in North Africa in 1942-43. Atkinson was a writer and editor for the Washington Post for 20 years, and his account of the war is rich in detail.

I am about a third of the way through the book, but two things already have impressed me. The first is that the United States must remain the No. 1 super power in the world. We must maintain an army superior to that of any other nation— one with enough manpower to fight on two or more fronts with equipment second to none and the ability to deliver them immediately.

America’s isolationist bent prior to World War II encouraged Japanese imperialism and Hitler’s ambitions. Never should any nation or ruler doubt that the United States is willing and ready to defend itself and our allies from such arrogance.

The second realization was more spiritual. Through the portion of Atkinson’s book that I have read to date, the war has not gone well for the allies. By the time the United States entered the war in December 1941, Japan had marched through much of Southeast Asia, and Germany had control of much of Europe and already was doing battle with Russia.

When U.S. and British forces began the invasion of North Africa in November 1942, they were ill-equipped to do battle, both from a leadership and equipment standpoints. Atkinson writes that the United States learned how to fight a war in North Africa, and had it not been for the lessons learned there, the outcome of the war that would be carried to Europe a year later could have had a far different outcome.

Reading about the terrible losses of the allied forces in those first few weeks in North Africa, I found myself wanting to get to the good stuff—the times and the battles when “we” would begin to win. You see, I know how the war eventually turned out. I’ve read the book, you might say. It will end in the spring of 1945 with Hitler killing himself in a hole in the ground in Berlin.

It occurred to me as I was reading that this is a metaphor for the Christian life. We are at war with Satan, and more often than not, it appears as if he is winning—that Christianity is taking a beating. Satan has more attractive equipment, and we are constantly lured into the devastating traps of sin.

But I know how the story ends. Jesus defeated sin when he gave his life on the cross and was resurrected. He has promised he is coming back. Maybe it will be while I am still alive; maybe not. Either way, I know how it is all going to turn out in the end.

I’ve read the Book.

Toby Druin is editor emeritus of the Baptist Standard.

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

DOWN HOME:
To logo, or not to logo

Just the other day, I realized I hold coffee and hamburgers to a double standard.

Beth and Linda, good friends who work here at the Baptist Standard, carried bags of hamburgers into our lunchroom just as I finished leftover carryout Chinese—garlic chicken and brown rice, I think it was.

Even though I had just finished lunch, Beth and Linda made me hungry all over again. My mouth watered, and I think I heard my stomach growl, something like, “I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”

For a moment there, I broke Commandment 10 1/2: “Thou shalt not covet thy coworkers’ hamburgers.”

My friends started unpacking their burgers. Meanwhile, I sat there, wondering why I harbored such a strong desire for a classic American hamburger. Were my Chinese leftovers excellent? Yes. Were they filling? Yep, for at least two hours.

So, why did I have such a strong desire for one of their burgers? Then it hit me (the answer to my question, not one of the hamburgers): They were packed in brown-paper bags.

The best burgers I’ve ever eaten come from hole-in-the-wall joints that pack their wares in brown-paper bags. No chi-chi white sacks with colorful logos for them. They let the quality of their burgers do the talking, the marketing and the “branding” for their fine dining establishments, whose flame-heated steel grills average 19.3 years old.

While I was looking covetously on Linda’s hamburger, I realized a contrary thought: As much as I desire hamburgers packed in plain paper bags, I despise coffee poured into plain styrofoam cups.

The incongruity of my double standard for hamburgers and coffee made me wonder aloud: “Why do I only want coffee in cups with logos on them and only want hamburgers in bags without logos on them?”

Ken, another friend and co-worker, provided the answer: “Well, that’s easy. The best coffee comes in logo cups, and the best hamburgers come in plain bags.”

How do you argue with logic like that? Like me, Ken has been attending Sunday school since before he was born. Together, we have consumed several thousands of gallons of “Sunday school coffee” from plain-white cups. Make that thousands of gallons of very bad coffee. He knows whereof he speaks.

Driving home from work, I pondered my double standard and came to the conclusion that it is well-founded and almost invariably true.

Then I thought about how people see Christ. We are branded with a logo, if you will, when we accept the label “Christian.” Does the product of our lives cause others to associate Christ with something positive, something desirable? Much more is at stake than burgers and coffee.

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

EDITORIAL:
Look past gender toward priorities

The 2008 Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting came off much more peacefully than prognosticators predicted. To pick a word from this space in last week’s paper, messengers in Amarillo “behaved.” More than that, they represented the best of Baptist ideals. Even when they disagreed, they did so agreeably, and the atmosphere in the assembly hall and hallways was warm and harmonious.

Many Texas Baptists contributed to this positive atmosphere, but none moreso than the president and presidential candidates. President Steve Vernon embodied a genial, caring and helpful Christian spirit. And presidential contenders Joy Fenner and David Lowrie elevated cordiality to new levels. They all set standards of grace.

Our guest speakers, Baptist World Alliance President David Coffey and pastor/author Rick Warren, helped us look beyond ourselves to greater issues. Coffey reminded the BGCT of its place in world Baptist affairs, and Warren helped us see how our present and momentary challenges are insignificant compared to a lost and hurting world.

The 2008 annual meeting will be remembered as the time when the BGCT made history by electing its first female president. Some people predict that decision will cost the convention $2 million to $5 million. Their thinking goes like this: Churches are fed up with spoon-fed “diversity” that produced the first Hispanic, African-American and woman presidents in the past four years. They’re particularly galled that a woman was elected president, citing this as the last straw of “liberalism,” the weight that broke their backs of participation.

You can understand this logic. Some churches and pastors have been put out with the BGCT for a variety of reasons. Our relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention, historic election politics, the Valley church-starting scandal and lack of confidence in the budget come readily to mind. So, anybody looking for a reason to leave can cite this election as grounds for departure.

But I don’t think the loss will be that great. Here’s why:

• BGCT Baptists are fair. The folks who have been irritated by the BGCT’s single-party politics got what they wanted—a wide-open election. We had two excellent, gracious candidates in Lowrie and Fenner. Texas Baptists who cared enough to show up and vote showed up and voted. The vast majority of Texas Baptists believe fair is fair, and they respect the decision of the majority.

• BGCT Baptists are biblical. Some say multitudes of churches will find election of a woman president theologically offensive. How’s that? We elected a convention president, not a convention pastor. Even the Southern Baptist Convention, which takes a strict stand on women in ministry, reserves the restriction to women pastors. Theologically literate Baptists know the concept of a convention is extra-biblical. It just isn’t there. A convention isn’t a church, and a president isn’t a pastor. So, most Baptists who don’t like the idea of a woman president also realize they can’t argue against it on biblical grounds.

• Women won’t stand for it. Fenner’s resume is terrific presidential material—20 years as executive director of a missions organization, 14 years as a foreign missionary, a lifetime of selfless service to Christ’s church. Women in all kinds of BGCT churches are not inclined to let their men punish the state convention for elevating one of their own to this honorable post. Fenner isn’t just an exemplary woman in ministry; she’s an exemplary minister. Women in our churches can be counted on to stand with their sister, who is a worthy role model for Baptist daughters from Booker to Brownsville.

Next year’s annual meeting will focus on the budget—elevating and appropriating it responsibly. In the meantime, let’s focus on the grandeur of our priorities, not the gender of our president.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard.

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

Faith Digest

Evangelicals advocate for Dalits. The National Association of Evangelicals has called on the U.S. government to take action to reduce persecution of the Dalits, the “untouchable” residents of South Asia. Board members of the evangelical association acknowledged their previous inattention to the Dalits’ plight and urged both the U.S. and Indian governments to do more to help them. About 250 million Dalits live in India, where they are about one-quarter of the population. The statement calls on the U.S. government to acknowledge discrimination faced by the Dalits, issue a State Department report and end agreements that worsen conditions for the Dalits.

Unitarians try to raise profile. Proud of their spiritual skepticism and “big-tent” religious diversity, Unitarian Universalists are not known as heavy-duty evangelizers. But with just 250,000 members nationwide and growth relatively stagnant at 1 percent a year, the Unitarian Universalist Association is trying to raise its national profile with an unorthodox ad campaign. The $425,000 ad campaign, which will run through the end of the year, has two parts. Traditional print ads in Time magazine carry the message: “Is God keeping you from going to church?” The more unusual “advertorials” appear in an online archive of Time religion stories under the tagline: “Find us, and ye shall seek.” The online archive features stories that focus on three areas—religion and science; religion in American democracy; and religion, sexuality and morality. Readers will be able to click on links to a webpage with essays written by Unitarian Universalist ministers about these topics.

Oklahoma lawmakers refuse free Qurans. At least 17 Oklahoma lawmakers have refused gift copies of the Quran offered in honor of the state’s centennial by the Governor’s Ethnic American Advisory Council. State Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, voiced objection to the gift, characterizing Islam as a violent religion. “Most Oklahomans do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of theology,” Duncan said. At least 16 other lawmakers joined Duncan in declining a copy of the Muslim holy book with the Oklahoma centennial seal and the elected official’s name imprinted on it. Muslim leaders said the idea for the gift came from Centennial Bibles, which the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma gave to lawmakers earlier this year.

Pope denounces violence in the name of religion. Speaking to more than 300 religious leaders at an international peace conference in Naples, Italy, Pope Benedict XVI denounced all violence committed in the name of religion. “Faced with a world lacerated by conflicts, where violence is still justified in the name of God, it is important to reassert that religions must never become vehicles of hate,” he said. Among those listening to the pope’s remarks were the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople, the chief rabbi of Israel and several representatives of Islam, Buddhism, Shintoism, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism.

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

Falwell’s church continues fast-paced growth

By Adelle M. Banks

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Thomas Road Baptist Church, the Virginia megachurch founded by the late Jerry Falwell, had the largest numeric growth recorded in a new list of the nation’s fastest-growing churches.

Outreach magazine reported the church in Lynchburg, Va., saw an increase in overall weekly attendance of 4,750 within the last year.

The church ranked No. 9 on the magazine’s list of fastest-growing churches. Researchers averaged numerical and percentage growth of attendees to determine the rankings.

Thomas Road was listed No. 8 in the magazine’s ranking of largest churches in the United States, with an average attendance of 17,445.

In a statement, the church reported more than 1,000 people have joined since Falwell’s death May 15. His son, Jonathan Falwell, now leads Thomas Road Baptist Church.

Outreach, a church leadership magazine based in Vista, Calif., compiled the lists in partnership with Ed Stetzer, director of research at LifeWay Research. The attendance figures are based on self-reported data from the churches cited.

The top five fast-growing churches listed are:

1. Iglesia Cristiana Segadores de Vida, Hollywood, Fla.

2. Community of Faith, Cypress.

3. Valley Bible Fellowship, Bakers-field, Calif.

4. Community Christian Church, Naperville, Ill.

5. The ROC (Richmond Outreach Center), Richmond, Va.

The top five largest churches listed are:

1. Lakewood Church, Houston (47,000)

2. Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, Ill. (23,500)

3. Second Baptist Church, Houston (23,198)

4. Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, Calif. (22,000)

5. LifeChurch.tv, Edmond, Okla. (19,907)

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

Robert Carter	J. Mac Rust	Arlen White	Eloise Trigg	Russell Fudge

Howard Payne honors alumni and supporters

BROWNWOOD—Howard Payne University recognized alumni and friends of the university with special honors during the recent homecoming alumni awards.

Robert Carter, a 1973 graduate and vice chairman of the National Financial Partners in Austin, received the distinguished alumnus award.

J. Mac Rust of Gordan, a 1995 graduate who owns his own legal practice in Stephenville, received an award as outstanding young graduate.

Arlen White of San Angelo, a 1975 graduate, received the medal of service. A medal of service also was awarded to Citizens National Bank of Brownwood.

Eloise Wood Trigg of Brownwood, a 1948 graduate who retired from Howard Payne after 32 years as an art professor, was named the “Coming Home Queen” for 2007.

Col. Russell O. Fudge, first director of the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom at Howard Payne, was honored as grand marshal of homecoming.

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