Posted: 9/14/07

Texas Baptist Men feeding units
called to aid hurricane victims

By John Hall & Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

Three Texas Baptist Men feeding units were sent to Southeast Texas to help victims of Hurricane Humberto.

The category 1 storm made landfall with 85 mile per hour winds and brought as much as 16 inches of rain. More than 110,000 people were without electricity Sept. 13.

TBM emergency food-service teams were asked to serve up to 10,000 meals in Vidor, Orange and Winnie.

Dion Ainsworth, associate director of missions in Golden Triangle Baptist Association, initially reported minor property damage to churches and many homes without utilities.

The Red Cross was opening shelters in the area, and the association might make its Samaritan’s House available as an emergency shelter, he said.

Calvary House, the association’s homeless shelter, sustained damage, including windows blown out and an electical line pulled out from the building. The building was not insured, Ainsworth said.

Some churches in the Hamshire area reported damage, and Ainsworth was following up to assess the situation.

TBM volunteers hoped to be ready to begin distributing meals one day after being called upon by the Red Cross, said Gary Smith, TBM disaster relief volunteer coordinator.

“TBM has been asked once again to respond, and this time it is on very short notice, but with God’s provision and help, we will make it,” Smith said.

The activation is the latest disaster response activity for TBM. Twelve chainsaw crew volunteers are serving in Nicaragua in the wake of Hurricane Felix, a category 5 storm that battered the country with winds as high as 155 miles per hour.

Missionaries Jim and Viola Palmer from First Baptist Church in Athens and a team of volunteers from a Florida church rode out the brunt of Hurricane Felix in Puerto Cabezas, a port city of about 25,000 in Nicaragua.

“We got smacked pretty hard,” Palmer said.

Felix marks the third hurricane the Palmers have lived through in their eight years as Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionaries in Nicaragua.

A 13-person mission team from Salem Baptist Church in Perry, Fla., stayed with the Palmers through the onslaught of Hurricane Felix.

The Florida team was in Puerto Cabezas to do repair work on the local mission center and to use some heavy equipment owned by the mission to improve local roads.

After the storm, those services especially were needed. Using chainsaws and tractors, a portion of the team started clearing the main roads in the city, while the rest of the team began to work at the mission.

The three Baptist churches in Puerto Cabezas survived the storm. A five-acre experimental farm is part of the mission, and Felix “knocked down pretty much every tree” on the farm, Palmer said.

The mission house where the Palmers live lost its roof and a “good portion” of the second floor, but the walls and ceiling of the bottom floor are built with reinforced concrete in order to survive such storms, Palmer said. “We never contemplate leaving,” he added.

Three mud-out units continue serving in Minnesota, where flooding caused widespread damage.

The Texas Baptists and volunteers from 10 other state Baptist conventions were called out by the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board Sept. 1.

The Texans were led by Gambrell Association, and Second Baptist Church of LaGrange cleanout units responded.

Southeastern Minnesota received 15 inches of rain in four hours. About 1,500 homes in Winona, Minn., were affected, and 240 requested help with cleanup.

“This is my favorite ministry because you have such close relationship” with the victims, said coordinator Ernie Rice from First Baptist Church in Stockdale. “You have time to minister and to give the hope of God to them.”

 

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

Posted: 9/14/07

Texas Tidbits

Buckner collaborates with Hispanic San Antonio church. Buckner Children and Family Services entered a collaborative agreement with South San Filadelfia Baptist Church to provide community ministry programs in the congregation’s southside San Antonio neighborhood. Buckner and South San Filadelfia will provide after-school care, a food pantry, health clinics and youth mentoring. Buckner currently provides community programs in several Texas Baptist churches and one church in Knoxville, Tenn., but the collaboration with South San Filadelfia marks the first with a Hispanic congregation. Sara Rangel will serve as site coordinator at South San Filadelfia.

Baylor hospital CEO packs a punch. Joel Allison, president and chief executive officer of Baylor Health Care System, was named No. 26 among Modern Healthcare magazine’s “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare.” More than 26,000 readers visited the Modern Healthcare website and voted for those nominees they believed had power to influence the nation’s health care delivery system. Allison also was ranked on last year’s list. Allison’s career includes more than three decades in health care management. He joined Baylor Health Care System in 1993, serving as senior executive vice president and chief operating officer before being named president and CEO in 2000. For the complete list of the “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare,” visit www.modernhealthcare.com.

Children at Heart expands in Houston. HomeAid Houston, a project of the Greater Houston Builders Association, has agreed to partner with Children at Heart Ministries to build a second home for its Gracewood residential ministry to single mothers and their children in Houston. In addition, Gracewood plans to remodel its existing home to convert office space into more living space and add an additional living unit. When the two projects are complete, Gracewood’s capacity for single mothers and their children will expand from its current five families to 14, plus many others served through after-care and nonresidential ministries. Also, Children At Heart’s STARRY ministry will assume program responsibility for foster care services at Rio Bend, a residential foster care facility located in Richmond, southwest of Houston. Rio Bend, located in Fort Bend County, will be part of STARRY’s child placement program. STARRY operates foster care, emergency shelter and counseling programs in Round Rock.

Ramos named to WorldconneX post. WorldconneX, a missions network affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, has hired Sergio Ramos of Fort Worth as church activation specialist. Since 2001, Ramos has been director of networking for Tarrant Baptist Association in Fort Worth. Prior to that, he was assistant pastor at Getsemani and executive director of Metro Family Ministries in Garland. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Christian ministries from East Texas Baptist University in Marshall and a master’s degree in Christian education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. He is pursuing a doctorate in leadership from Dallas Baptist University. Ramos and his wife, Dora, have two children—Giovanni, 6, and Priscila Anai, 4.

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

Posted: 9/14/07

TOGETHER:
Missions offering touches Texas lives

If you could make a difference in the lives of students, would you? If you could help put a church near people who need a church, would you? If you could share the gospel with people who have never heard of Jesus, would you?

Of course you would. Here’s some good news: You can!

Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

Every year at this time, many churches collect money for the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions and make plans for their giving through the Baptist General Convention of Texas Cooperative Program in the coming year. As you do this, keep the following ministries in mind, because you will be a part of them:

• Camp Exalted. African-American teens pray and sing and make life-changing decisions.

• Congreso. Young people build a sense of family among our Texas Baptist Hispanic youth and rededicate themselves to a lifestyle of care and evangelism.

• Take Out. Asian youth come together for a camp experience. Thanks to a Mary Hill Davis-funded scholarship, a young man named Phillip attended Take Out one year and committed his life to Christ; the next year, he brought a friend from his old gang.

• Intercultural ministries. More than 100 languages are spoken in Texas schools. The BGCT has helped plant churches in 50 of those languages. But there is still more to do.

• Job Corps. The Mary Hill Davis Offering helps support Christian Women’s and Men’s Job Corps programs in more than 50 locations. Opportunities for training and Bible study make a huge difference in the lives of women and men who need encouragement and mentoring as they seek to improve their skills so they can care for themselves and their families.

• Border/Mexico Missions. Texas Baptists have a long-term partnership with Mexican Baptists to help start churches, provide training opportunities for pastors and their families, and build closer relationships. One of the amazing developments has been the movement back to Mexico by men who find a new life in Christ while working in Texas and return to their villages and begin churches to reach their families and friends for Jesus. Your church can locate one of the unreached people groups in Mexico and begin a hands-on ministry there. Call (888) 333-2363 toll free or send an e-mail to riverministry@bgct.org.

• Baptist Student Ministry. On 122 campuses across Texas, there is a Baptist Student Ministry available to help our students grow in their faith and stay connected to their churches back home or in their college town. Your BGCT Cooperative Program dollars pay the salaries of the BSM leaders, and the Mary Hill Davis Offering provides significant scholarships for needy ethnic students from our churches.

Thank you for praying for these ministries. In fact, please pause, as I am now, to pray for God to bless and strengthen all those who serve in these ministries and for all those who are coming to faith in Christ and growing in him.

And would you take a special offering to church this Sunday, and designate it: Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions?

We are loved.

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 9/17/07

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





• Hearing the Call


• Amarillo minister to be nominated for BGCT second vice president at hometown meeting

• Texas Baptist Men feeding units called to aid hurricane victims

• Kyle Lake Foundations launches memorial golf tournament

• Around the State

• Texas Tidbits

Hearing the call of ministry
• Hearing the Call

• East Texas church gives stamp of approval to 82-year-old's ministry

• When it comes to missions, there's something in the water in Red Springs

• Ministers hear call through many voices

• Call clarification important at Baptist schools


• Candidates' religious commitment not a big voter draw, survey shows

• Federal court says Seattle-area high school can deny charter to Bible club

• Book reveals Mother Teresa's prolonged ‘dark night of the soul'

• Faith Digest


• Book Reviews


• Classified Ads

• Cartoon

• Around the State


• EDITORIAL: Good news from MTV, of all places

• DOWN HOME: Lessons learned at a busy intersection

• TOGETHER: Missions offering touches Texas lives

• 2nd Opinion: The importance of letting go

• RIGHT or WRONG? Doctrinal disagreements

• Texas Baptist Forum

• Cybercolumn by John Duncan: Thinking baseball



• BaptistWay Bible Series for September 16: Just not good enough

• Bible Studies for Life Series for Sept. 16: Facing the fiery furnace

• Explore the Bible Series for September 16: Strive for godly perfection

• BaptistWay Bible Series for September 23: Here's the solution

• Bible Studies for Life Series for Sept. 23: Handling success successfully

• Explore the Bible Series for September 23: Always trust Christ


Previously Posted
• Official confirms church-starting fund probe in U.S. Attorney's Office

• Fire destroys First Church, Dripping Springs

• Texas Baptist museum to be remodeled

• Fidelity to God's calling motivates musician

• Three-minute challenge exposes more than 4,600 bikers to gospel

• James Kennedy, elder statesman of Religious Right, dead at 76

• Campus minister shared story of Jesus, kept his own wartime story to himself

• Missionaries from Texas ride out Hurricane Felix

• TBM volunteers respond to Minnesota floods

• Bivocational church leader Ray plans to retire this fall

• Baptist philanthropist Eula Mae Baugh dies

• Listening sessions remind search committee of Texas Baptists' diversity


• See articles from the previous 9/03/07 issue here.

Posted: 9/13/07

Official confirms church-starting
fund probe in U.S. Attorney’s Office

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

BROWNSVILLE—Contrary to an Internet blogger’s assertions, all documents pertaining to a probe into misappropriated Texas Baptist church-starting funds in the Rio Grande Valley have been turned over to federal authorities, a high-ranking official in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston said.

Tim Johnson, first assistant in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the southern district of Texas, confirmed receipt of materials related to a Baptist General Convention of Texas-initiated investigation into allegations of fraud and misappropriation of church-starting funds.

• See complete list of Valley funds scandal articles

“We have received a package of information. We are not an investigative agency. We have forwarded that information to the appropriate federal agency,” Johnson said, adding he could not comment further on the matter.

Michael Rodriguez, the Brownsville lawyer and former federal prosecutor who helped conduct the investigation for the BGCT, reported he not only delivered all of the materials to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brownsville, but also made himself available for any follow-up questions.

“I met on at least two, if not three, occasions, with the attorney directing the investigation in the Brownsville office,” he said, adding he also met once with Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Lara, who heads the office.

BGCT leaders had enlisted Rodriguez—together with attorney Diane Dillard and Carlos Barrera, a certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner—to investigate allegations that church-starting funds in the Rio Grande Valley were mismanaged and misused.

At an Oct. 31, 2006, called meeting of the BGCT Executive Board, the investigators reported they discovered up to 98 percent of the 258 church-start reported by three pastors in the Valley—Otto Arango, Aaron de la Torre and Armando Vera—no longer exist, and some were “phantom churches” that never existed except on paper. The BGCT gave more than $1.3 million in start-up funding and monthly financial support to those 258 churches.

Two weeks later at another called meeting, scheduled immediately prior to the BGCT annual meeting in Dallas, the board directed Executive Director Charles Wade to explore with legal counsel whether to refer the reports’ findings to “any appropriate government investigatory agency.”

Wade notified the board by e-mail Dec. 11the full report and all supporting documents had been submitted to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the southern district of Texas.

On his Internet blog, David Montoya, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Mineral Wells, expressed his dissatisfaction that Texas Baptists had no clear indication that a criminal investigation was being pursued aggressively.

He called on readers of his blog to contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI and the Texas Attorney General and urge them to act regarding the charges of fraud and misappropriation of church-starting funds.

Subsequently, Montoya posted on the blog a letter he received from James Buchanan, chief of the fraud section for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston. He referenced Montoya’s letter concerning allegations against Arango, de la Torre and Vera.

“To date, I have not received a report or any other information concerning these individuals from any private investigator,” Buchanan wrote in the letter, dated Sept. 5.

Montoya responded by posting weblog entries titled “No information has been turned over!” and “The big, big mistake: Trusting Charles Wade.”

In one entry, he wrote: “The evidence now indicates that Wade never turned the information over. It was all a smokescreen. Those who have been involved in the letter-writing campaign to the office of the US District Attorney for the southern district of Texas are finding out that the information and the complaint was never turned over. The chief fraud investigator has not been given any information. There is no investigation ongoing through the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“Once again, Texas Baptists have been used. The executive committee of the BGCT needs to fire Charles Wade immediately because he lied or else intentionally misled Texas Baptists to believe something was being done. There exists proof that he has done nothing and written proof that he himself admits that he knows of nothing being done.”

In a later blog, Montoya characterized statements by “those who are trying to say the letter was sent to me by someone in a different office than the one the BGCT turned the ValleyGate report over to in Brownsville” as just “more spin control.”

He quoted an unnamed source in the Brownsville U.S. Attorney’s Office as saying the material should have been turned over to the McAllen office or, better yet, the FBI.

Rodriguez, who served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brownsville from 1999 to 2002, said he recommended the BGCT turn over the files there because that was where an earlier criminal investigation regarding the same charges had been initiated.

Jim Nelson of Austin, chairman of a committee named to oversee the implementation of motions related to the church-starting fund scandal in the Valley, affirmed Rodriguez for his work and expressed full confidence that the U.S. Attorney’s Office would deal with the matter professionally.

“A copy of the investigative report and all exhibits have been turned over to the U.S. Attorney’s office in the southern district of Texas, with whom we will stay in touch through our legal counsel,” Nelson’s committee reported to the Executive Board in February.

Nelson, an attorney, affirmed the wisdom of the advice Rodriguez offered to the BGCT—to allow the U.S. Attorney’s Office to proceed as its own pace as it deems appropriate.

“To push them would not be productive,” Nelson 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: 9/13/07

BaptistWay Bible Series for September 23

Here’s the solution

• Romans 3:21-31

By Andrew Daugherty

Christ Church, Rockwall

This section of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Rome marks a significant turning point. It echoes back to the opening of the letter where Paul connects the gospel of God with what had been promised “beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures” (1:2).

It is important to Paul’s broader argument to maintain continuity with Israel’s prophets in the past while affirming the disclosure of God’s righteousness through the faith of Jesus Christ. Here, Paul handles the delicate balance between the content of the Torah and the character of God’s decisive action in Christ. Jesus has become the living, breathing embodiment of the whole spirit of the Torah. Keep in mind Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Matthew: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (5:17).

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Paul has just addressed in chapter 2 the issue of those who are uncircumcised but keep the law and those who are circumcised and break the law. In his argument, he makes strong accusations about the failure of the Jews to uphold the covenant God established with them. He borrows some of the language of the prophets to say, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (2:24). In fact, the sting of Paul’s argument is that many Gentiles could actually obey the law even while many Jews could boast of knowing all about the law but breaking it anyway.

Though they claimed to possess the law, they did not practice the law. Their acts of unrighteousness destroyed any positive relationship with their covenant partner. Since human beings broke this covenant with God, the bad news was God technically was no longer bound to honor the covenant. It was God’s prerogative to decide whether to persist in the relationship with human beings or put an end to it. The good news is the only One who could do anything about it decided to restore this perversely fractured relationship once and for all.

The gift of grace in Christ represents God’s decision to continue this covenant relationship. Since “all” (Jew and Gentile alike) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, the gift of grace in Christ would have both universal appeal and universal applicability (v. 23). The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for “all” who believe appeals to “all” who have sinned (v. 22). The terms of agreement to enter in to this restored relationship are on the basis of one’s faith in the faithfulness of Jesus.

Through Jesus, God honored the covenant created with Israel. Where Israel had failed to keep their commitment to God’s covenant, Jesus fulfilled it. What has happened through the person and actions of Jesus is consistent with what God required of Israel in order to fulfill their part in the pact. The revelation of God’s righteousness through Jesus is attested by the law and the prophets (v. 21).

However, a tension exists, because Paul says this revelation has happened apart from the law (v. 21). New Testament scholar Luke Timothy Johnson stresses two related points. First, this revelation happens apart from the law means God’s action in Christ is truly the freedom enjoyed and practiced by the human person Jesus. But not only does it happen in the life of Jesus, it also happens in the human lives of Paul’s audience. This makes God’s revelation of righteousness in Christ of more consequence than mere religious ideology or puritanical concern for the letter of the law. This means God enters into the realm of human experience in order to redeem relationships gone awry.

Second, God’s method for making human beings right is through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The expected redemption looked for by Jews was anything but what Jesus looked like as the crucified Messiah. The manner of Jesus’ death was cursed by God, according to the Torah—“Cursed be everyone who hangs upon a tree” (Deuteronomy 21:23). How could the crucifixion of Jesus be compatible with the content of the Torah? For Paul, Jesus’ faith is the ultimate expression of obedience to God, even to the point of death. This is the scandalous “stumbling block” Paul will more fully address in chapter 9.

For now, Paul emphasizes that Jesus is God’s gift of grace. He is proof positive of God’s righteousness. God’s righteousness is not so much a moral quality of God’s nature as it is the action of God whereby a positive relationship is restored with human beings.

According to Paul, God is the only one who possesses the power to do anything about the cycle of sin that overwhelms our lives. To be justified by God’s grace as a gift means to receive wholeheartedly the faithfulness of Jesus as the fulfillment of our covenant with God.

To believe in Jesus in this way means more than just a set of mental beliefs we are either right or wrong about. To receive justification by God’s grace means to live in such a way that our lives conform to the sort of life Jesus lived in his own faithfulness to God. It means hearing and responding with one’s whole life to this gospel that is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith (1:16).

Finally, Paul uses a “question and answer” format to anticipate questions perhaps commonly posed about his gospel. He carefully handles the tension between “the law of works” and “the law of faith.” No longer can anyone claim a right to boast of possessing God’s law, because a person is made righteous by God’s gift of grace in Christ. No person can accomplish righteousness. And when it comes to enjoying a right relationship with God, God has made a level playing field possible for all people to have equal access to righteousness through the faithfulness of Jesus.

Discussion question

• Discuss possible definitions of God’s righteousness.

• If an alternate translation of “faith in Jesus Christ” is “the faith of Jesus Christ” in verse 22, discuss how this affects your understanding of being justified by God’s grace as a gift. Is this based on your faith or Jesus’ faith?

• How sympathetic do you think Paul is to the value of the Jewish religion in this passage?

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

Posted: 9/13/07

Bible Studies for Life Series for September 23

Handling success successfully

• Daniel 4:4-5,28-37

By Steve Dominy

First Baptist Church, Gatesville

The story of the transformation of Nebuchadnezzar is at least in part the story of what it means to be human. At the heart of Nebuchadnezzar’s fall from the heights of power is his pride and ego. Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof of the royal palace surveying Babylon and said, “Is this not Babylon the great which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory my majesty?” Three times Nebuchadnezzar refers to his own accomplishments without any recognition that he might not have been solely responsible for all he surveyed.

To be human is to be created in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 affirms, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Innumerable attempts have been made to define or identify the image of God in humans. One aspect of the image of God should not be isolated and identified as the image. Whatever the image is, it involves the whole person.

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While we can’t define the image of God as any one aspect or component inherent within humanity, we can say the image of God is at least in part our capacity for relationship with God. We are relational beings and created for a relationship of loving trust and faithful obedience to our Creator. It is within this relationship that we fulfill what it means to be human. It is only as we live in relationship with, and in response to, God that we are fully human.

Inherent in any gift of God is the danger of using it improperly. The worst of our sin is taking something God intended for good and distorting it into something evil, using it in a manner completely inconsistent with God’s intentions. The danger of being created in the image of God is that we can all too quickly perceive the image as reality. In other words, we perceive we are God rather than his creation. Genesis 3:5 reveals this was at the heart of the first sin, “You will be like God.”

Nebuchadnezzar’s descent to an animal was precipitated by his attention on self rather than God. His proclamation of his power, his might and his glory is evidence that God was nowhere to be found and not needed. Nebuchadnezzar’s pride was his downfall. He took God’s place at the center of his own existence and believed he had become the master of his own destiny. In doing so, he exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God, and much like a dog chases his own tail, chased after an image he could not attain.

When Nebuchadnezzar succumbed to the temptation of pride, he became less than human. In fact, Daniel makes it clear in very vivid terms that Nebuchadnezzar became like an animal. This text is a warning that we are not far from that. The step from human to animal is not a great one.

When we ignore or abandon relationship with God, we become more animal than human. Now, it is highly unlikely our fall will be as great as Nebuchadnezzar’s, but any time we reject God’s sovereignty, we lean more towards the animal than human.

We can see this in some of history’s great acts of inhumanity—the Holocaust, Stalin’s reign of terror, Pol Pot in Cambodia—and these are just some of the recent acts. To call them inhuman is correct; they are less than human. If we stay with the theme of this text in Daniel, it is fair to call these atrocities more animal than human.

Nebuchadnezzar’s success led to his downfall. Success heightens the temptation to pride because it places us in a position of power, praise and accolade. The danger comes when we start to believe everything said about us. Instead of driving us to our knees in humility and praise, we place ourselves a little bit above everyone around us, and much like the situation at Babel, raise our own tower equal to God.

The sin of pride occurs when we focus our attention on ourselves rather than God. In pride, we take the place of God and attempt to become the masters’ of our own destinies. Pride is the seed of a multitude of other sins because it becomes necessary in order to maintain our supposed position and feed our ego. Pride grows into cruelty, greed, selfishness, self-righteousness and insensitivity to others. All of this is evident in the story of Nebuchadnezzar in the first four chapters of Daniel.

Among the problems with pride is the hurt that comes when we are humbled. None of us is exempt from this; all of us have been humbled at some point or another. While it is not easy to endure, our humiliation often leads to our restoration. This certainly was the case with Nebuchadnezzar: “But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored him who lives forever” (Daniel 5:34).

It took a great fall for Nebuchadnezzar to recognize the kingdom of God is the only kingdom that will endure. It took the humiliation of falling from the position of the king to living like an animal for Nebuchadnezzar to recognize God is sovereign and not the king of Babylon.

Wisdom is being able to learn from the mistakes of others without having to commit those mistakes ourselves. We should learn from Nebuchadnezzar that whatever it is in our lives that makes us think we are in charge and in control is tenuous at best. This story should be a reminder to us of the difference between a fully human life lived under the authority of Christ and to the praise of Christ, and living like an animal.

Discussion questions

• Why is success such a hard thing to handle?

• What are some consequences of pride that you have witnessed?

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

Posted: 9/13/07

Explore the Bible Series for September 23

Always trust Christ

• Matthew 8:1-9:34

By Travis Frampton

Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene

In Matthew’s Gospel, people who are “religious” often misunderstand the life, ministry and teachings of Jesus. The Pharisees have problems with Jesus’ authority. They understand him as a threat to their position of power within the Jewish community. The Sadducees, who did not accept notions of an afterlife, spirits and angels, debate with him over interpretation of the Law and vehemently oppose him on the idea of the resurrection. The chief priests, elders and scribes worked with the Roman government to bring Jesus to trial and considered plans for his execution.

The disciples are no exception. They also do not completely understand Jesus or his teaching about the kingdom of God. Jesus admonished them for their lack of understanding. How is that those who are closest to Jesus—those whom we may consider religious, righteous or spiritual—so frequently misunderstand him?

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I once heard about a father who told his son the story of Jesus calming the storm (Matthew 8:23-27). The father explained that one afternoon Jesus and his disciples got into a boat together to cross from one side of the lake to the other. Once they set off from shore, Jesus fell fast asleep. While they were traveling a great storm came upon them. Waves began rocking the boat so severely water started seeping over the edge. Needless to say, the disciples became alarmed and distressed. They woke Jesus up from his sleep and asked him to save them, for they were sinking and were all going to drown if he didn’t do something. He calmed the storm, the waves ceased and the wind stopped, but only after he had questioned his disciples, questioned his disciples’ faith and asked them why they were afraid.

The father then asked his son, “So what do you think the moral to the story is?”

His son replied, “Don’t ever wake Jesus up from a nap!”

Misunderstanding Jesus

Misunderstanding Jesus is a common problem. We all do it.

In the passages under consideration for this week, a Roman centurion, a woman suffering from hemorrhages and two blind men are extolled for their faith. In Matthew 8:10, Jesus is astonished by the faith of the centurion: “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” He tells the woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years: “Take heart, daughter, your faith has healed you” (Matthew 9:22). While healing the two blind men, Jesus says, “According to your faith will it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29).

Each of these is an example of faith. These individuals seem unlikely characters to receive such high marks from Jesus. After all, they’re not your typical upright, religious characters: a soldier employed by a despised secular government, a woman with a severe chronic illness and two blind men.

No matter how you look at it, these people do not have the same righteous ring as “Peter,” “James,” “John,” or the “a disciple of Christ.” Yet Matthew regards these unlikely models as exceptional examples, especially whenever compared to the disciples.

When speaking of faith to his own disciples, Jesus offers strong rebuke: “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” (Matthew 8:26). The centurion, the woman and the two men who had lost their vision all needed healing. When his disciples were asked by the Pharisees why their master ate with tax-collectors and sinners, Jesus replied: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12-13).

You may have heard it said: “Politicians need Jesus.” “Homosexuals need Jesus.” “Muslims need Jesus.” “Liberals need Jesus.” “Hollywood needs Jesus.” From a Christian perspective, each of these statements has a ring of truth to it. But each of these statements also falls short of Jesus’ message. We all need Jesus. If all we can do is point our finger at someone else and say, “You need Jesus,” then we’ve drastically misunderstood the gospel, thereby, rendering ourselves clean, healthy and virtuous.

According to the New Testament, all have sinned and we all need Christ. As soon as we turn the end of our finger back on ourselves and say “I need Jesus,” we come closer to the Christian message. Self-transformation is central and essential to the gospel of Christ Jesus.

Being the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world,” does not give Christians free license to display their commitment to Christ through outward forms of righteousness. Praying openly for all in public to see is not the same as standing behind the sneeze-guard in a buffet line serving others in a soup kitchen. The first has the tendency to draw attention to one’s own virtue or piety; the other subtly demonstrates compassion by feeding the hungry. Speaking righteous words and living like Christ are not the same. The two are worlds apart.

A Christian life reflects upon the teachings of Jesus constantly. It asks the difficult questions. Have I wronged others? What are my weaknesses or blind spots? How can Christ enable me to overcome my shortcomings? How can I be less selfish, more considerate, more giving and love others, even those who cause me harm. The Spirit of Christ empowers those who believe that they are in need of a “physician.” Those who consider themselves “religiously or spiritually healthy” will have a difficult time hearing Jesus’ summons, for he did not come to call “the righteous, but sinners.”

Discussion questions

• How is your faith like that of the disciples?

• Does your faith have something in common with the Roman centurion, the hemorrhaging woman and the two blind men?

• Why is it that those who are so close to Jesus frequently misunderstand him?

• As followers of Jesus are we surprised when we see God’s love extended to “unlikely models”?

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

Posted: 4/15/05

Texas students befriend
Afghan refugees in California

By Traci Rylands

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

FREMONT, Calif.–Pastor Paul McGovern knew Crossroads Church had a heart for global missions. What he didn't know was that a group of Afghan refugees in desperate need lived less than a mile from the church.

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions field personnel Lita and Rick Sample, who recently had joined Crossroads Church, alerted him to the presence of the refugees.

“I was shocked,” McGovern recalled. “Fremont is one of the most expensive places to live in the world. I wasn't aware of the high population of refugees all around us.”

The Samples belong to the Fellowship's “internationals cluster”–a group of CBF field personnel who minister to people living far from their homelands.

While most Afghan families had enough money to pay the rent, they had little for necessary items like laundry soap. The Samples, along with church members, began to help meet these needs.

Laura Rodgers (a Baylor senior) dresses in traditional Afghani clothes in the apartment of Farima Kadir Abdul. Farima is 16, has a younger sister (15) and a younger brother (9), and lives with her mother, Farida.

The Afghans–most of whom are Muslim–also were hungry for friendship with Americans, they noted.

“We tell them we're happy that they're here and that Christians in America care about them,” Sample said.

Other churches and Baptist student groups across the country are partnering with Crossroads Church through CBF's refugee needs project to provide needed items many Afghan families lack.

This year, 11 Baylor students helped lay the groundwork for starting an Afghan congregation in San Francisco by building relationships during spring break.

The students sang songs and performed skits that presented Christian messages. They also ate with about 70 Afghans and danced to Afghan music.

This was the second consecutive spring break Baylor Baptist Student Ministry volunteers have spent serving Afghans in San Francisco. Two students also served in the area last summer as short-term missionaries.

“A lot of this is letting Afghans know a Christian environment is a safe environment,” said Brian Severski, a Baylor junior who went on the trip. “And that's something they haven't known in years.”

During Christmas 2003, the Samples and Crossroads' small groups “adopted” four Afghan families. They invited about 25 Afghans to Christmas parties in their homes.

“We made it a point to share with the Afghan guests the true meaning of Christmas, that it's about the birth of Jesus,” Sample said. The following Christmas, about 125 Crossroads members held 12 parties for 17 families, reaching 73 Afghans.

Plans are being made to start an Afghan church so refugees can learn about Christ in the Farsi language.

“This will allow them to come as seekers, to know what the gospel is about and who Jesus is without a high-pressure kind of preaching,” Mrs. Sample said.

The Samples hope other churches can use this refugee ministry as a model.

“We didn't come to California with these ideas,” Sample stressed. “This came out of our partnership with Crossroads Church.

They've helped us learn how a local church can minister to refugees around them.”

—With additional reporting by John Hall of Texas Baptist Communications.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 9/10/07

Fire destroys First Church, Dripping Springs

By George Henson

Staff Writer

DRIPPING SPRINGS—A fire beginning in the 106-year-old sanctuary of First Baptist Church in Dripping Springs brought the structure to the ground Sept. 5. The fellowship hall was left standing, but Pastor Lanny Tanton suspected it would also have to be razed.

No one was present when the fire began, so there were no injuries. While the final report is not in, the genesis of the fire is believed to be electrical.

The property was insured, but whether it will be enough to cover rebuilding costs was not immediately known.

The church already had a committee in place to begin mapping out a future course for the church in the community which is changing rapidly, Tanton said.

“Whether we rebuild on that property or somewhere else will be something that will be addressed by our vision team,” he said.

There has been a great outpouring of concern from the community, Tanton said. While the church has not decided where to meet in the interim term, he said every church in the community has offered space including the Church of Christ and the Catholic church. He said the Church of Christ even offered office space.

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

Posted: 9/06/07

BaptistWay Bible Series for September 16

Just not good enough

• Romans 2:17-29

By Andrew Daugherty

Christ Church, Rockwall

Human beings are by nature ritualistic. Whether private or public, rituals help human beings mark important occasions and rites of passage in our lives. As we seek to find and create meaning, rituals give us the space, time and bodily enactment that help us express what is most important in our lives.

Consider some common individual and communal rituals: decorating a nursery room before the baby is born; a driver’s license test for a 16-year-old; blowing out candles on a birthday cake; giving a ring to propose marriage; singing the national anthem before ball games; graduation ceremonies; Presidential inaugurations; a red-ribbon cutting at the opening of a business; carving the turkey at a family Thanksgiving dinner. These ritual actions honor significant moments in both our personal lives and the wider culture.

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People of faith celebrate rituals, too. Rituals are the outward and visible practices that at best reflect the inward and invisible quality of God’s grace. Whether you close your eyes when you pray, say a prayer before a meal, read your Bible before bed or keep a spiritual journal of your daily experiences, these personal rituals are only some of the ways you might practice your faith. They create an opportunity for you to encounter God’s presence and be changed by the experience.

Even as Baptists, with our distinctive commitment to helping others experience a personal relationship with Jesus, we share worship rituals that offer a visible demonstration of our faith. Whether our pastor wears a robe and stole or a button-down and khakis, whether we join the church by walking the aisle or by signing a member covenant; whether we sing traditional hymns set to Bach or contemporary choruses set to rock; whether we celebrate communion by passing the plates of juice and crackers or by dipping a piece of bread into a cup, these actions of worship are meant to express to God what is in our hearts.

Some of us may have been churchgoers most our lives. Some of us may know all the hymns by heart. We might know when to sit and when to stand. Perhaps we’ve memorized all the books of the Bible; maybe we have even read the whole Bible a time or two. We may be able to recall our baptisms and even tell proudly the time, date and place we “got saved.”

External trappings, however, and knowing all the right words to say, are worthless minus the passionate commitment of the heart behind them. Unless how somebody behaves is a reflection of what that somebody professes to believe, it will be difficult for the person to have much credibility to his witness.

This is a problem Paul lays out in his diatribe to the Jew, which begins at 2:17. He takes up the great responsibility that accompanies the privilege of being a Jew. Just because one is born a Jew, has knowledge of the law and has been physically circumcised does not mean one is spiritually circumspect.

He argues that there are those who call themselves Jews who are so self-assured about their relationship to God that they boast about knowing God’s will. They are the self-appointed teachers of righteousness for those who don’t know “the letter of the law” as well as they do. They are the ones who “sat in synagogue” all their lives and who know better than most exactly what the law requires and precisely what the law prohibits.

The problem is that these ones who claim to be the “guiding light” of God don’t practice what they preach. They don’t demand of themselves what they demand of others. Instead, while they preach against stealing, adultery and idolatry, they blaspheme the name of God by practicing these very things.

Though it would be easy to focus on the individual nature of these actions, Paul is prosecuting the whole Jewish people on these points. If God’s plan was to reveal the law of righteousness to the whole world through Israel, how would this even be possible if a person could not tell the difference between a pagan and a Jew?

To be clear, certainly this does not mean all Jews were guilty of saying one thing and doing another. What it does mean is that Israel has no national bragging rights just because they held the title as “God’s chosen people.” God’s choice of Israel to be a light to the nations was a matter of responsibility, not a matter of rights.

Paul suggests such people exploit their privilege of being Jews by living like the law does not apply to them. Their actions betray their words, and according to Paul, the ritual of physical circumcision is regarded as meaningless. Perhaps even more poignant, a person’s very identity as a Jew could be called into question. When one breaks the law, even if they are Jewish, it’s as if they are not even a Jew: For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal” (2:28-29).

These are sharp words. In effect, Paul is saying a Gentile is worthy of being called a Jew even if the person has not been physically circumcised, because the person keeps the law’s requirements. Thus, that person is spiritually circumcised. Paul says that even if a person is not born a Jew, and even if they do not have the physical mark of circumcision, they nonetheless “keep the law,” because it is “a matter of the heart” by the spirit. Paul is radically re-defining the notions of inclusion and exclusion. He will use the following chapters to elaborate on this ever-widening circle of God’s covenant fulfilled in Christ.

Discussion question

• How do Paul’s words to “the Jew” relate to the contemporary situation of the church?

• How might the church better follow its own advice based on Paul’s challenge?

• What are the external “physical markings” of the church that are different than the church’s message?

• At a different level, might Paul’s words have relevance for the political realities/mindset of the United States?

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

Posted: 9/06/07

Explore the Bible Series for September 16

Strive for godly perfection

• Matthew 4:17-7:29

By Travis Frampton

Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene

When the old generation of Israelites died in the wilderness after wandering 40 years, Moses assembled their descendants, the new generation, east of the Jordan River and told them to “listen to the statutes and laws which I proclaim to you this day. Learn them, and be careful to observe them” (Deuteronomy 5:1). Shortly thereafter, he recited the Ten Commandments.

A couple of years ago, I was flipping through the TV channels, when something on C-Span caught my attention. Two lawyers were debating whether the Ten Commandments should be posted in federal and state court houses. Needless to say, the debate was lively. Both sides exchanged compelling arguments for their positions. But, as I sat there enthralled by their discussion, I thought it odd for two Christians to be so vehemently debating Old Testament law. The Ten Commandments make up just part of the Mosaic Law. Why were these commandments the center of such controversy between Christians?

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Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount came to mind, particularly a couple of verses from the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. … Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:7, 9). Later in his sermon, Jesus goes on to say: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. … If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:44-45a, 46-47).

I imagine verses about showing mercy and being a peacemaker would not go over well in most American courthouses today. Can you imagine plaintiffs loving defendants or defendants loving plaintiffs? That is probably why there is no current debate regarding whether or not the Sermon on the Mount should be posted.

The Ten Commandments are foundational for the Christian life, but were they repeated in their entirety by Jesus? Jesus stated he did not come “to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:15). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus provides his followers a new way of understanding the requirements of the Law. Instead of beginning with the Ten Commandments like Moses did in his sermon in Deuteronomy, Jesus opens his sermon in Matthew with the Beatitudes.

The importance of the Sermon on the Mount

Sometimes I like it when people get what they deserve, especially if they have wronged me in some way. I rejoice when my enemies are defeated, when those who curse me are cursed, and when those who bless me are blessed. But then I am confronted by the words of Jesus. His Sermon on the Mount challenges me to change my ways.

Revenge is not justice; it just satisfies our desire to get back at those who have wronged us. Revenge may even feel good at times, but it is never truly fulfilling. It never brings about real justice, because it never brings about genuine reconciliation.

Let’s face it: we all like being the judge. We all have been wronged and are accustomed to playing the role of the plaintiff. What we don’t like, however, is playing the role of defendant. We can’t tolerate others blaming us for hurting them. We tell ourselves: “They’re just overreacting. They don’t like hearing the truth, and sometimes the truth hurts.” These words are an attempt to reassure ourselves that we’re innocent. Nevertheless, we’ve lied to people, stolen from them, betrayed them, forsaken them, falsely accused them and perhaps even abandoned them when they needed us the most.

Jesus taught us to pray in this way: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). If we forgive others what they have done to us, then God will forgive us of the wrongs we have committed (Matthew 6:14). It seems a pretty simple concept, yet it is one of the most difficult to carry out. The justice Jesus offers provides the opportunity for reconciliation. Without offering our enemies and those who have wronged us the opportunity to reconcile with us, a broken relationship can never be fully restored.

Jesus called his followers to internalize their righteousness instead of making public displays of it. Standing on a street corner proclaiming “God loves you” is not the same as genuinely loving someone. Spreading the message that “God loves the sinner, but hates the sin”—however catchy the phrase may be—is not the same as spreading the message “God loves us all!” For until we have the courage to abandon fear and love our enemies, until we have the strength to forgive others as we have been forgiven, until we have the audacity to love as Jesus loves, how will we ever be “the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13), “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) or “be perfect as God is perfect” (Matthew 5:48)?

Discussion questions

• What relevance does the Sermon on the Mount have for us today?

• How do we go about loving our enemy?

• What does it mean to be perfect as God is perfect?

• Frank Stagg has called “forgiveness a revolving door.” What do you think that means?

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