Posted: 8/24/07

CYBER COLUMN:
Being Jesus to the Uncrustable Generation

By Jinny Henson

Peanut butter and jelly. The combination of this salty-sweet concoction was first documented in World War II. Soldiers mixed jelly in their peanut butter rations to make swallowing easier. Returning from the war, these heroes brought back victory as well as a taste for these sandwiches.

Then in the late 1960s a combination of kitsch and kitchen hit the market with the culinary triumph: Goober. I never acquired the palette for Goober. The flavors far too prematurely intermingled. Like day-old nachos or wet beach towels in the car. It just never jived in my mouth. Obviously it jazzed someone’s taste buds, as the product born the year before I was remains a staple in grocery stores across the country.

Fast-forward three decades. In the year 2000, jelly giant Smuckers rolled out the crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwich, flash frozen for freshness: The Uncrustable. Birthed by a time-strapped culture, Uncrustables are now available in four flavors and dethaw right in your child’s lunch box for convenience. When even more pressed for time, I have found that popping one under each armpit with wrapper intact is a great way to hasten the defrosting process.

From humble, foxholistic beginnings to futuristic perfection, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, like most institutions in our society, has undergone radical change. How can we who are passionately in love with God and passionately committed to loving people find a clue through the most mundane means of a PB&J? A mere glance at The Uncrustable will give us tremendous insight into how we can translate God’s love and timeless message into a language this generation can bite into.

• Speed.

A survey of grocery store shelves is all you need to recognize that time is increasingly the most valuable commodity in postmodern America. Along with the birth of convenience foods, there is an entire section of cleaning products in wipey form. Even the act of spraying the Windex on the window has been streamlined for time efficiency. In a July 2007 Harris Interactive study, 98 percent of parents said it is important or very important to spend quality time with their children, while just about half actually said they spend enough time with their children.

• Variety.

A church that offers a variety of activities at numerous times is one way to involve the Uncrustable generation. Also, leveraging time-saving technology instead of being frightened by it is an excellent way to show pertinence to people who view the church as passé or irrelevant. Quality websites that are actually maintained, e-mail reminders, and e-newsletters in addition or instead of printed ones are simple ways to connect.

• Fresh.

My husband, John, and I got a flyer for a church that talked about how boring church services can be and how their church was breaking out of the “tired, churchy,” mold. That message may have been compelling 15 years ago, but the “innovative,” message rang stale. The effective church constantly examines what is relevant culturally and what has been done and overdone already. Fresh is a great adjective to describe the quality that God’s Spirit brings to our lives. His Spirit is always ready to do a new thing—in us individually as well as the church corporately. Be open to fresh ideas to express God in a new way.

• Hygienically sealed.

Just as we want food protected from microorganisms tainting its safety, parents want the same type of protection for their children. True, parents cannot wrap their children in cellophane (I’ve tried. It never works.), but they do need reassurance that church is a safe place for their children. After a few seasons of, “To Catch a Predator,” you are convinced there is a molester at every keyboard.

Parents need reassurances about security policies in your children’s’ program that will help them relax and be moved by God’s message. When your church has a safety policy—like background checks for all teachers and workers and a security system for checking in children—that shows you are aware of the security risks. Parents want to know their kids are safe in the church, and measures like these go a long way to augment that good rapport.

Weary, time-strapped and looking for ways to make their lives better. These are qualities of this generation. The fields are white for the harvest, and I cannot imagine a more worthwhile place to spend your effort than reaching those people God has for your local body to reach. Go forth with the clues of The Uncrustable sandwich and be pertinent.

Jinny Henson travels the country as a Christian comedienne. John, Maggie Lee and Jack are an endless source of material for her. You can find out more about her at www.jinnyhenson.com

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: 8/24/07

BaptistWay Bible Series for September 2

Connecting the dots

• Romans 1: 1-17

By Andrew Daugherty

Christ Church, Rockwall

Biblical scholars have long held the view that Romans is the Apostle Paul’s theological summum bonum (the highest good). Considered his most comprehensive statement on Christian faith, the influence of this letter has pervaded the history of Christian thought from the fourth-century conversion of St. Augustine to Martin Luther’s 16th-century Protestant Reformation movement to Karl Barth’s 20th-century commentary on Romans. The fruit of these characters’ faithful witness to Romans reveals the character of the letter itself: “the gospel of God.”

For a printer-friendly version, click on the printer icon at bottom of page.

It is this theme, “the gospel of God,” that concerns Paul’s ministry. Though he unpacks dense theological statements, Paul’s letter to the Romans is first and foremost a call to divine duty more than thrall to dogmatic purity. Before “gospel” ever was associated with “seven steps to salvation” or with particular books of the Bible or even “The Roman Road,” it had to do with the proclamation about Jesus, including his message about the kingdom of God and the content of his character as “the son of God.”

Barth put it well: “Jesus does not give recipes that show the way to God as other teachers of religion do. He is himself the way.” To believe with one’s life is to answer the call to belong to Jesus Christ. Paul’s purpose is to further reveal how true this is by illuminating the meaning of this gospel.

Romans 1:1-7

Typical of first-century letters, Paul begins his letter to the Romans by introducing himself, though taking considerable time (six verses) to do so. Writing to a church he did not establish in a city he had not visited, Paul uses the first six verses as a personal summary statement that could be considered part of his spiritual curriculum vitae. Paul makes clear his credentials as “servant” and “apostle” while drawing connections to the “gospel of God” with “prophets in the holy Scriptures” (v. 2).

That he describes himself as a servant suggests the gospel (euangelion) is something to which Paul belongs; not something that belongs to him. Paul knows God owns the copyright license on the gospel, because it was first and foremost the divine prerogative to promise this gospel “beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures” (v. 2). This self-designation as servant situates Paul in the humble but honorary position of Israel’s prophets and roots him firmly in Jesus’ Jewish heritage. This is fundamental to the integrity of “the gospel of God” and crucial to Paul’s agenda in developing an inclusive understanding of Jesus’ resurrection both as the fulfillment of what many Jews had been expecting and the revelation of Jesus’ identity as Messiah.

Even as Paul heralds the gospel to a predominantly non-Jewish audience in Rome as “the apostle to the Gentiles,” he advances God’s gospel that this Jesus is Israel’s Messiah who is Lord of the world. Paul’s ministry, then, is an extension of Israel’s prophetic vision. This vision was not for the sake of Israel only, but it was for the sake of Israel for the sake of the world.

Paul himself is both a benefactor and a bearer of this global gospel. His profound personal experience through which he is called to be an apostle is the basis for his passionate public ministry “to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles” (v. 5). He carefully crafts his salutation to the Roman Christians to reflect his relationship to Jesus who claimed him on the Damascus road and called him to be an apostle. Therefore, Paul proclaims the message of the One who has claimed him.

Paul’s credibility as an apostle is established on this basis even as he skillfully weaves his own powerful call/conversion story with the impassioned language for “all God’s beloved in Rome” (v. 7) to accept their respective callings to be saints. It is a call issued to all.

Romans 1:8-17

Paul now gets more personal, as he expresses his desire to make a pilgrimage to Rome in order to share faith and fellowship with the Roman church. He speaks from his heart and tells them he prays for them all the time and longs for the day when he can look them in the eyes and share face-to-face the faith they have in common. Though he doesn’t spell out all the details, circumstances have prevented him from meeting them in person.

Paul’s longing to visit the Roman Christians reflects his longing to proclaim the gospel to any and all who would receive his message. Paul makes clear the message he is bound to share is unbounded by whether a person is Jewish or Greek, wise or foolish. Paul is not elitist about who is worthy or unworthy to receive the gospel no matter their race, education or economic standing. The rights and responsibilities of the gospel apply to all who believe.

This equality under the gospel of God gives rise to the climax of the opening section of Paul’s letter. Paul’s trust in “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (v. 16) overwhelms any shame that could be associated with this gospel. Shame is what the people of God experienced when they were oppressed by their enemies. Whether it was the Egyptians, Babylonians or the Romans, the experience of shame was the experience of inferiority, despair and fear. According to Paul, because this gospel reveals God’s righteousness, there is nothing to be ashamed about.

Likewise, we are prone to be ashamed, too. We can be ashamed of our bodies, our beliefs, our behaviors, or even our families or friends. Sometimes we become ashamed of the negative perceptions this person or that circumstance will bring about. We fear it will reflect poorly on us or will make us look badly. Such calculations about how we are perceived can plague us to the point of paralyzing us.

Discussion question

• In what other ways are we affected by shame on personal and communal levels?

• What might “the gospel of God” reveal about such shame?

• How might “the gospel of God” come to heal such shame?

• In what ways do you think “the gospel of God” is itself shamed?

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

Posted: 8/24/07

Explore the Bible Series for September 2

God’s unique son

• Matthew 1:18-2:3, 7-11

By Travis Frampton

Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene

We have all wondered at some point in our lives what God looks like. Theologians have debated the question, along with the nature and identity of God, for centuries. A couple of years ago, I thought it would be interesting to ask my youngest son, who was then 4 years old, his opinion. Stopped at an intersection waiting for a green light, I looked at him through the rear-view mirror and posed the question.

For a printer-friendly version, click on the printer icon at bottom of page.

“What do you think God looks like?”

“Why?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I was just wondering what you thought God looks like.”

“Umm,” he pondered as he peered through the window, up toward the sky.

His squinted eyes and wrinkled brow bore the weight of much thought. While he was thinking, I anticipated he would say that God looked like a gigantic old man, with silvery white hair and a long white beard, who lives in the clouds. His response, however, took me by surprise.

After an extended pause, he replied, “Daddy, that’s easy. God looks like baby Jesus.”

I smiled, and the light turned green.

A child among us

At first, I chuckled to myself about my son’s answer, but after further reflection, I think his reply hit the mark better than I first thought. As a 4-year old, he related to God in human terms and thought of God as someone with whom he could easily identify. “Baby Jesus” made it possible for my son to relate to God, to be able to fathom his own answer about who God is.

Matthew’s Gospel portrays Jesus as both the Son of God and the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. The first two chapters essentially identify these two unique qualities about Jesus that become prominent themes throughout the rest of the Gospel.

We learn from Matthew’s account that Jesus truly is different and separate from the rest of humanity. He is conceived through the Holy Spirit. An angel of the Lord encourages Joseph not to fear, “because what is conceived in (Mary) is from the Holy Spirit” (1:20).

The end of Matthew’s genealogy also suggests Jesus’ birth is special: “Jacob, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah” (1:16). Notice that in the long list of patriarchs, which extends all the way back to Abraham, where each son is begotten by a father, Joseph is an exception in the family tree. He is described as the husband of Mary, not the father of Jesus. Matthew makes it explicitly clear that God is the father of the Christ child—not Joseph. In this way, Jesus is of divine origin: the Son of God.

The baptism, temptation and ministry of Jesus set him apart from other self-proclaimed prophets and messiahs. Jesus’ parables elaborate on the kingdom of God. His crucifixion and death speak of God’s sacrifice and love for us. Jesus’ resurrection attests to God’s power over death. These associations, though extremely important when it comes to the nature and character of God, focus solely on Jesus as a mature adult. We miss an opportunity the New Testament provides for us if we do not also see God incarnate in the baby from Nazareth.

Of humble origin

Matthew’s Gospel not only illustrates the divine nature of Jesus, but it equally emphasizes his humanity. Often, much is made of the second coming of Jesus. Revelation records John’s vision of the Son of God’s return and God’s ultimate victory of good over evil. Several popular Christian fiction books spend much time postulating what the second coming might look like. Some of these accounts can evoke fear from even the most cynical of readers.

If our conversations about Jesus, however, focus only on the image of the Son of God as depicted in Revelation and not on the image of the Son of God as the child of Mary, we’ve lost touch with what is most important to Matthew’s message. We can easily forget that Jesus’ beginnings were of humble origin. We must not lose sight of his humanity. His humanity has made possible our contact with the divine.

According to the witness of Matthew and Luke, Jesus’ “first coming” receives much more attention than any later discussion their Gospels give to the second coming. The “first coming” involves a physical birth through Mary. Mary is intrinsically related to Jesus. She is his mother. In this way, the Son of God is Mary’s son too. Mary is the one who binds Jesus to humanity.

As her son, Jesus first comes into the world as a babe born in Bethlehem. The angel of the Lord again comes to Joseph with another message: “Get up … take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him” (2:13). The narrative suggests the child’s vulnerability, his mortality, by implying that Jesus could suffer death if Herod’s plot was successful.

Yet, as God’s son, Jesus is unique from the rest of humanity in that, though he is mortal flesh, he is without sin and is one with God. The angel of the Lord told Joseph to name the child Jesus (a name that means “God is salvation”), “because he will save his people from their sins” (1:21). Jesus offers people relationship with God. Furthermore, as the offspring of both God and Mary, Jesus is—in every sense of the term—the Son of God, both divine and human.

Discussion questions

• What do you think God looks like?

• How does Matthew’s birth narrative portray God?

• How does the story of Mary contribute to your understanding of Jesus?

• What does it mean that Jesus is the Son of God?

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

Posted: 8/22/07

Bible Studies for Life Series for September 2

Meeting Cultural Challenges

• Daniel 1:1-21

By Steve Dominy

First Baptist Church, Gatesville

The first chapter of Daniel acts as the introduction to the rest of the book. It introduces the heroes, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, and how they came to hold high positions in Nebuchadnezzar’s service. The first chapter is also a foreshadowing of the conflict that is to come and the commitment to God that these young men have made.

The structure of Chapter 1 can be broken down into three sections: captivity (1:1-1:17, Daniel’s commitment (1:8-1:16), and God’s blessing (1:17-21).

For a printer-friendly version, click on the printer icon at bottom of page.

1:3-5 Beginning with v.3, Nebuchadnezzar orders Aspenaz, one of his high officials, to begin the training program for the exiled youth. The extent of this program was to teach them “the language and literature of the Babylonians.” At surface level, this seems awfully generous of the Babylonians, but we need to read further. V.5 reveals this was training for the king’s service. They were to be saturated in the culture of their enemies. Daniel and his friends would be used for political purposes. They would be used as propaganda and serve either in the king’s court or as his ambassadors back to Judah to win over the hearts and minds of the people there.

The coursework in this training would have included astrology, mathematics and magic for which the city was famous. Daniel became well educated in the ways of Babylon, and as we will see, he excelled and finished at the top of his class.

1:6-7 The extent to which Daniel and his friends accept the reeducation in Babylonian culture is surprising. In these verses we learn that even their names are changed. That seems like a small thing to us, but in the ancient Near East a person’s name often contained the name of one’s deity and was an integral part of a person’s identity. Daniel and his friends names each contain syllables meaning God or Yahweh. But the chief official gave each of them new names containing elements of the Babylonian gods.

1:8-16 The Holiness Code found in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 defined patterns of behavior for all covenant people and included regulations about eating. All of the regulations in the Holiness Code were linked to obedience to God in covenant. While there is some argument about whether or not Daniel’s refusal to eat the king’s food was due to his commitment to Jewish dietary laws, it does play at least some factor in Daniel’s decision. While it is probably not the sole reason for Daniel’s decision, the fact that he chooses “not to defile himself with the royal food and wine” gives us some idea that the food laws had some influence on his decision.

There is more at work than just the food laws in this section. As much as most of us would like it, 10 days on a diet doesn’t necessarily make us look “healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.” Daniel’s commitment to God is evident as is God’s honoring of Daniel’s commitment. The change was not so much a result of the diet as it was God’s honoring Daniel’s commitment.

1:17-21 Because of their obedience in trying circumstances, God blesses Daniel and his four friends both physically and mentally. The young men looked healthier and better nourished than those that ate the royal food. When the four young men entered the king’s service, he found them “ten times better” than any other in his service. While our circumstances will certainly be different than those of Daniel and his friends, the principle is consistent; God blesses those who are faithful to him. Even, and perhaps especially, when our culture is in conflict with our commitment to Christ, God honors those who honor him. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” It would serve us well to pay attention to these lessons from Daniel and our Lord.

The first chapter of Daniel can be a great encouragement to us to strengthen our commitment in the face of trials and temptations. But this chapter also raises some difficult questions. Why did Daniel choose food as his battle? It would seem that accepting the practices of Babylon and allowing his name to be changed to incorporate a foreign God would be less faithful than eating the king’s food. One of the things that we need to remember in our reading of Daniel is that the story is not solely about Daniel.

While Daniel is a hero of the faith the main character of the story is God. Three times in the first chapter we see God acting in the story, God delivered Judah to Babylon, God caused the official to show sympathy to Daniel, God gave knowledge and understanding to the four young men. Since God delivered Judah to Babylon, we might well understand it to be God’s will for these four young men to serve God in trying circumstances. To choose to fight the battle of Babylonian education or name change likely would result in death, or at least exclusion and slavery. The key note in this first chapter is God’s faithfulness in a foreign land and God’s leadership of Daniel and his friends as they circumnavigated the mine fields of unfaithfulness.

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

Posted: 8/22/07

Student missionaries discover
Christ’s presence while cleaning toilets

By Jessica Dooley

Communications Intern

The ideal summer vacation usually doesn’t involve cleaning restrooms or talking to families of prisoners every day. But for more than 160 college students, this is exactly what they believe God wanted them to do.

Through the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ Go Now Missions program, 167 college students devoted their summer to spreading the gospel. Some had the opportunity to minister overseas or around the nation; others served in Texas.

As Deborah Perry finished up her sophomore year at Stephen F. Austin State University, she prepared to embark on a journey of a lifetime. While most students were dreaming of lazy afternoons by the pool or the money their summer job would bring in, Perry began packing for an eight-week adventure in East Asia.

A career missionary baptizes a young man in Japan. Several Go Now missionaries served in Japan this summer.

She teamed up with other college students to minister on a college campus, learned the language and served two weeks meeting needs in another city in East Asia.

Perry first felt a pull toward East Asia in late December, and in March found out she would be sent to there. She had never been overseas, so to prepare she began memorizing Bible verses and talking with the other girls from her team, two who had been to East Asia before.

The team’s main purpose was to “build relationships and share the gospel with everyone” they met.

“They want to practice English so it was easy to make friends and build relationships early on,” Perry said.

 At the end of the summer, the team witnessed 27 people become new followers of Christ.  Go Now Missions has been sending students to this city for 13 years, but this was the first time the group sent a team to this university, and Perry considered it a great success.

“God really prepared the hearts of a lot of students there,” she said.

Whitney Travis, a senior at Texas A&M University, spent nine weeks of her summer in Huntsville ministering to families of prisoners who were being released each day.

“It was hard to hear the stories everyday because they all ended sadly,” Travis said. “There is so much brokenness in the world.”

She also helped with the People of Peace Bible study for ex-offenders. With the volunteers like Travis, the Bible study has decreased the rate of those who returned to jail by 40 percent.

Baylor University Junior Marshall Cook served in Chicago where he facilitated various ministries such as feeding the homeless, networking with area businesses and charities and putting on a rock concert at church. But Cook was humbled and truly felt the presence of Christ most when he was cleaning the bathroom.

“I was cleaning up the bathroom on a Saturday night, and it was absolutely filthy,” he said. “But, it was when I was cleaning that I stopped for a second. It was as if I knew right there in the middle of cleaning up urine and hair that Jesus was right there with me. And this was something he was a part of as well.”

But Cook wasn’t the only who found Jesus in a bathroom. Summer Caniglia, a senior at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, interned with a missionary in Japan and mobilized short-term teams. She also led Bible studies for business people and college students. And she witnessed a baptism in a bathtub in the wee hours of the morning.

“I think that one of the most exciting things was when we had the opportunity to baptize a new brother in our bathtub,” she said. “He had become a believer that night and after we told him the story of the Phillip and the Ethiopian, he told us, ‘There’s no water in Tokyo.’ Someone replied ‘You can be baptized anywhere, even in a bathtub.’  So we baptized him in a bathtub at 3:30 in the morning.”

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

Posted: 7/13/07

FLIP FLOPS. BIBLES. TEENAGERS:
YEC cultivates relationships with God

By Barbara Bedrick

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS– Struggling through the teenage years can be difficult under ordinary circumstances, but for 13-year-old Raymond Lopez the road has been particularly painful — until now.

Just days before his youth group from Amistad Cristiana Baptist Church in Midland joined nearly 8,000 teenagers, adults and volunteers for the Youth Evangelism Conference June 29-30, Lopez' mother left him, his aunt moved to New York City and other family members remained thousands of miles away in Puerto Rico.

Joining students, parents and youth leaders from across Texas, Lopez and his youth leader, Ariana Chavez, prayed about cultivating relationships with others and with God. They praised and worshipped as Christian bands played and were inspired by keynote speakers, J.R. Vassar who recently started a new church in New York City, and youth evangelist Daniel 'Tiny' Dominguez, pastor of Community Heights Church in Lubbock.

Throughout the two-day event, the central YEC theme– Cultivate, based on John 4: 39-41 — began moving hearts and minds. The first night, Lopez made a profession of faith which left both he and his youth leader in tears. "It is awesome to see how God is working in his life."

"Now, I have found it doesn 't matter what my parents do, I still have my Father in heaven. He 's going to take care of me," Lopez said proudly.

"God is doing amazing things. It's just kids are so ready to give life," Chavez added. "Our congregation is probably only 120 to 150 people, but we have a youth group of about 40, and three teens in all professed their faith at YEC."
Cultivating relationships with each other and with God is the central theme of YEC 2007 and Super Summer 2007 — both are evangelism events coordinated by the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Leighton Flowers, director of BGCT youth evangelism, believes the mission ahead will be met through cultivation.

"The real emphasis is to cultivate relationships with the Father, then with others to introduce them to God," Flowers explained. Throughout the two-day event, participants saw video vignettes of how different groups are cultivating lives, and innovative ways to cultivate others for Christ. He encouraged young people and youth leaders to build relationships by cultivating campuses, homes, friends, communities and the world.

This year at YEC, 24 people made professions of faith, 42 recommitted their lives to God, and 16 made commitments to ministry. And, the cultivation continues this summer through 300 youth missionaries commissioned during YEC. The group is bound for Germany where they will witness through sports camps and Bible schools.

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

Posted: 8/17/07

RIGHT or WRONG?
Welcoming the disabled

A disabled friend told me: “Your church is not friendly to people with disabilities. If the Americans with Disabilities Act could be applied, your congregation would be closed down.” If she’s right, what have I missed theologically and ethically about our church? 

I might differ with how your friend approaches the issue of welcoming people with disabilities. Still, she is identifying an important issue for your church to consider. Private clubs and churches are exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are points about the act that congregations should consider, however.

One in five Americans lives with a disability that limits one or more major life activities. Almost everyone will live with a disability or will have a family member with a disability at some time in their life. Even with the Americans with Disabilities Act, people with disabilities face numerous obstacles and often are marginalized. Yet people with disabilities bring unique gifts to the life and ministry of the church—gifts the church needs.

What might prevent a church from addressing access for all people? Churches may have budget constraints. It may be a matter of priorities for the church that chooses to budget funds for missions or increased utility costs before investigating and implementing changes to increase access. Churches may only consider the issue when a church member or regular visitor has a disability that limits or stops their attendance at church.

Why might the church want to address the policy prescriptions in the Americans with Disabilities Act?

First, all people are created in the image of God.

Second, we want to make it possible for all people to come to our churches. Making our churches accessible is an act of hospitality to people who are differently abled. From the time of the Exodus on, God urged the Hebrew people to remember the experience in Egypt and never imitate the Egyptians, instead, do the opposite—practice hospitality and justice, care for widows and orphans, serve the poor and strangers. As a result, have compassion for the stranger and sojourner, for widows and orphans, for refugees—for those who are vulnerable.

Third, Jesus welcomed people with debilitating diseases and disabilities—lepers, the woman with the issue of blood, those who were blind and lame.

Fourth, over and over in the Bible, we hear God’s call to love and action. “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” (1 John 3:17-18)

How do we respond? Prayerfully and with the sure knowledge that all people, regardless of ability, are God’s precious children and worthy of our concern and compassionate actions. Doing so will authenticate our faith to ourselves and to others.

Michelle Tooley, Eli Lilly Professor of Religion

Berea College, Berea, Ky.

Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.

• The “Comments” function is being reworked for greater security. We're sorry for the inconvenience.

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

Posted: 8/17/07

Around the State

• The Texas Baptist Missions Foundation is hosting a Sept. 17 event to help North Texas churches and individuals connect with mission opportunities through Baptist General Convention of Texas avenues. “Celebrate Texas Missions” will be held at Park Cities Church in Dallas and begin at 10 a.m. and continue until 1:30 p.m. Among the groups represented will be Texas Baptist Men, Buckner International, Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas, WorldconneX, and the BGCT’s collegiate ministry, community missions, border/Mexico, world hunger and worldwide partnership arms. Paul Powell will be the keynote speaker for the free gathering, which includes lunch provided by Texas Baptist Men.

• Debbie Rippstein has been named executive director of Gracewood, the Children at Heart Ministries residential program for single mothers and their children in Houston. Children at Heart is an agency of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

• Gabriel Cortés has been named special assistant to the president at Baptist University of the Amercias after joining the university in 2004 as executive assistant to then-President Albert Reyes. He now will have additional responsibilities for directing a church relations program and promoting the Center for Culture and Language Studies program.

• Ninety-nine University of Mary Hardin-Baylor students were awarded degrees during summer commencement ceremonies. Seventy-nine earned bachelor’s degrees, and 20 were awarded master’s degrees. Keith Bruce, director of institutional ministries for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, was awarded an honorary doctor of humanities degree.

• Dallas Baptist University granted degrees to 128 undergraduate and 111 graduate students during summer commencement ceremonies. The university also awarded Dallas businessman George Shafer an honorary doctor of humanities degree. Shafer has served on the boards of numerous civic organizations and is a member of Prestonwood Church in Plano.

• Howard Payne University will use a gift from Brownwood’s TexasBank to purchase a portable basketball floor and a portable goal system to be used in Brownwood Coliseum. The floor the teams had been playing on was more than 50 years old, and the goals did not meet current NCAA regulations. Despite the outdated equipment, the school has had great success in recent years, and last season set a Division III all-time attendance record for any game during women’s playoffs, with attendance of more than 4,000.

• Buryl Red, a 1957 Baylor University graduate and musical director of The CenturyMen, has received the Award for Exemplary Leadership in Church Music, given by Baylor’s Center for Christian Music Studies.

• Leslie Adams has returned to Houston Baptist University as director of marketing and communications. She will serve as editor of the HBU News and work closely with the staff of the Ornogah. She also will oversee the university’s media relations and creative services areas. Adams taught in the school’s department of languages from 1990 to 2003.

• Ned Calvert has been appointed vice president for administration and finance at East Texas Baptist University. Calvert previously held the same position before leaving in 1999 to enter private business. He and his wife, Sarah, are members of Central Church in Marshall.

Anniversaries

• Joel Odom, 25th in ministry, July 8. He is pastor of Oak Hills Community Church in Floresville.

• David Gale, 10th, as pastor of First Church in La Vernia, July 29.

• Ken Cannon, fifth, as associate pastor of First Church in Paris, Aug. 1.

• Jack Ables, 15th, as pastor of Eastridge Church in Red Oak, Aug. 2.

• Wayne Ford, 50th in ministry, Aug. 11. Licensed at Patillo Church in Patillo in 1957, he has been pastor of Allison Church in Lipan since 1979.

• Baptist Temple Church in Victoria, 55th, Aug. 12. David Hudson is interim pastor.

• The Well Community in Dallas, 10th, Aug. 19. Joel Pulis is pastor.

• Gary Chevalier, 10th, as pastor of Ferris Avenue Church in Waxahachie, Aug. 24.

• San Patricio Church in Mathis, 10th, Aug. 26. A meal will follow the morning worship. Rayford Smith is pastor.

• Kevin Moore, fifth, as pastor of Beulah Church in Millsap, Sept. 8.

• First Church in Throckmorton, 125th, Sept. 21-23. Activities will begin Friday evening with a fellowship following the high school football game. Registration on Saturday will be from 1 p.m to 4 p.m., and will be followed by an anniversary choir practice at 4:30. At 6 p.m., there will be a meal at the Throckmorton Youth Center, followed by a worship service there. On Sunday, a continental breakfast will be served at the church beginning at 9 a.m. A choir rehearsal will be held at 9:30 that morning. Former member Donnie Hibbitts will preach in the 10 a.m. service. A lunch and afternoon service will follow at the youth center. Will Fish is pastor.

• Powderly Church in Powderly, 100th, Sept. 22-23. A time of fellowship, singing and remembrance will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, followed by a sandwich supper. Sunday moring’s worship service also will be followed by a meal. Jerry Moore is pastor.

Retiring

• Isaac Rodriguez, as pastor of Segunda Iglesia in Corpus Christi, Aug. 26. A reception will follow the morning worship service at Kings Crossing Country Club. He has served the church 23 years, and prior to that was pastor of West Brownsville Church in Brownsville 15 years. He has served in denominational positions at both the associational and state level.

• R.T. Blalock, 90, July 19 in Mount Pleasant. He was a graduate of the College at Marshall, now East Texas Baptist University, Baylor University and Southwestern Seminary. His first pastorate was with a church in Katy in 1946. In 1953, he served with the Marines as a Navy chaplain during the Korean War. After leaving the armed forces, he served several churches in Texas and California. After retirement, he led a nursing home ministry and taught a men’s Sunday school class at First Church in Mount Pleasant. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Viola; daughter, Kathleen; six sisters; and three brothers. He is survived by his wife, Inez; sons, Bob and Johnny; daughters, Cathi Brown, Donna Neuville, Pam Adams and Krista Yeary; 13 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

• Michael Cook, 56, July 21 in Texarkana. An electronics engineer, he was a member of First Church in Red Springs, where he was interim minister of music. He was preceded in death by his son, Jeffrey. He is survived by his wife, Kathy; sons, Adam and Brad; brothers, David and Eric; sisters, Carolyn Cole, Linda Cole and Cindy Powell; and one grandson.

• Anita Low, 83, Aug. 12 in Houston. She and her husband were commissioned as Southern Baptist missionaries to Nigeria in 1950, where they served 11 years. They returned to Canyon, where they lived 40 years before moving to Houston in 2003. She was preceded in death by her husband, Joe. She is survived by her sons, Jon and David; daughter, Martha Bishop; and four grandchildren.

Event

• Priddy Church in Priddy will hold a homecoming service Sept. 16 at 10:30 a.m. The Brazos Boys will perform during the service, and a catered lunch will follow. Butch Pesch is pastor.

Ordained

• Rick Carney to the ministry at Bones Chapel in Whitesboro.

• Chance Perkins to the ministry at College Heights Church in Plainview.

• Larry Norotsky to the ministry at First Church in Corpus Christi.

• Robert Anthony, Hal Bales, Toby Jones and Larry Sleadd as deacons at Haltom Road Church in Haltom City.

Revival

• First Church, Sulphur Springs; Aug. 25-26; evangelist, Chuck Pourciau; pastor, Bob McCartney.

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

Posted: 8/17/07

Open plains, open hearts
welcome Austrian Baptists to Texas

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—Open plains and open hearts helped show Austrian Baptists how big the Baptist family is.

A group of Austrian Baptist youth recently finished a several-week-long trip through Texas, during which they served at Mission Arlington, ministered through Woodlawn Baptist Church in Austin and participated in Super Summer at Hardin-Simmons University.

The vastness and variety of Baptist work helped show the youth how numerous Baptists are around the world, said Dietrich Fischer-Dorl, who leads the youth division of the Baptist Union of Austria. Twenty-two churches that serve a total of 1,400 members comprise the Austrian union.

“I think the biggest effect is to show our Baptist family is much larger than this small minority in our country,” he said.

Fischer-Dorl said the youth were impressed by Texas hospitality. Texas Baptists welcomed the group into their homes with open arms. Texans showed the students new ways of ministering that Fischer-Dorl hopes they will take back to Austria.

“Ministering is part of a Christian lifestyle,” he said.

The Baptist Union of Austria has enjoyed a fraternal relationship with the Baptist General Convention of Texas through the BGCT Texas Partnerships ministry.  Texas Partnerships’ mission initiatives partially are supported by funds from the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions. 

Fischer-Dorl hopes Texans will continue to collaborate with Austrian Baptists for mission work in Texas and Austria. Both the Austrian union and the BGCT are members of the Baptist World Alliance.

“When we get teams to Austria from Texas, we see we have new friends who are praying for us, supporting us,” Fischer-Dorl 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: 8/17/07

Baptist Briefs

Some SBC leaders endorse blog. Several prominent Baptist leaders have publicly endorsed a groundbreaking blog operated by reform-minded pastors within the Southern Baptist Convention. The endorsers include the presidents of three SBC entities and a college president—Morris Chapman, president of the SBC’s Executive Committee; Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources; Jerry Rankin, president of the SBC’s International Mission Board; and David Dockery, president of Union University. All have posted messages of support for SBCOutpost.com. The weblog, previously run by Georgia pastor Marty Duren, relaunched in June as a collaborative site with the goal of becoming the “premier site for Southern Baptist news and commentary.” All of the bloggers are conservatives and have been involved in efforts to reform the Southern Baptist Convention, which most say has become too narrow and moribund under the leadership of an older generation of biblical inerrantists.

NAMB plans to sell FamilyNet. Southern Baptists’ North American Mission Board plans to sell its FamilyNet to Atlanta pastor Charles Stanley’s In Touch Ministries. NAMB trustees reportedly voted unanimously Aug. 8 to accept a letter of intent from In Touch outlining the ministry’s intent to buy the television network. Under terms of the letter, NAMB and In Touch Ministries will work together to evaluate and negotiate the planned sale and purchase of FamilyNet, and finalize details for the sale on or before Oct. 31.

Former Campbell president dies. Norman Wiggins, president of Campbell University for 36 years before his retirement in 2003, died Aug. 1 at age 83 in Winston-Salem, N.C. Under his leadership as president, Campbell College grew to become a full-fledged university, adding graduate programs in law, education, business, pharmacy and divinity. Wiggins, a former president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, served as the school’s chancellor after he retired from the president’s post.

Holy water from Falwell school? Move over, Perrier. The next designer bottled water may come out of Lynchburg, Va., courtesy of the late Jerry Falwell. Liberty University, the school founded by the fundamentalist Baptist evangelist who died May 15, has announced that it will bottle water drawn from a spring near the campus, according to the Lynchburg News & Advance. Liberty Mountain Natural Spring Water apparently was one of Falwell’s last projects before his death. The 16.9- ounce bottle of water will be taken from a spring on university property once owned by the late Carter Glass, a Democratic U.S. senator from Virginia who died in 1946. Falwell bought the estate and founded his university there in 1971. The spring had been out of operation for at least 35 years until about six months ago, when Falwell had it brought back into service.

Seminary president, ethicist debate homemaking studies. Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, and Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics, squared off on Fox News to debate the value of the seminary’s new undergraduate program in homemaking. The classes are part of a homemaking concentration for a bachelor of arts in humanities degree through the College at Southwestern, the seminary’s undergraduate school.

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

Posted: 8/17/07

Black churches face challenges
in maintaining musical tradition

By Bob Faw

Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (RNS)—Music, for many, is at the heart of the black worship experience.

“Music comes as a softener of people,” said Frank Thomas, pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tenn. “It allows me to gradually open myself to receive the word. That’s why you have so much music in church, because people can’t just receive … the raw word.”

Glen McMillan leads the choir at Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Music, when done well, can both transcend and transform. Leo Davis Jr., minister of music at Thomas’ church, recalls a woman who told him that on a particular Sunday, “I had made up my mind to commit suicide, … but the song that you ministered that particular Sunday gave me hope to live on.”

But black churches face a problem. Accomplished ministers of music are a vanishing species, and churches throughout the country are finding it harder to hire skilled musicians.

“It’s a difficult thing to try to find someone trained,” said Gary Simpson, pastor of the historic Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, N.Y. Simpson knows the problem firsthand; his church went without a minister of music about a year.

“We are not training musicians in the music of the church, which the black church did all along its tenure,” Simpson said. “That kind of commitment is gone, for the most part.”

There are a number of reasons for the problem, including public schools slashing music programs.

But the biggest handicap facing the churches, Simpson said, is the world outside, where musicians can find greater fortune and fame.

“The big money is in producing,” said Davis. “The big money is in rap. They’re looking at rappers with the million-dollar houses with gold ceilings. And why do I want to work in a church and make $30,000?”

Glen McMillan spent months auditioning candidates to fill the vacancy at Concord Baptist and said he knows he will be judged in large part on how well he performs.

“We are in this whole mega-church mentality where the church has become so performance-based that everything is a quick fix,” McMillan said. “The church has been a place where you could express your gift and nurture your gift in the process.”

And that is yet another dilemma facing black churches; they are not just competing for musical directors.

“There are a lot of things competing for people’s attention,” said Mississippi Boulevard’s Thomas. “So how do you get people to pay attention to you, you know? So you have to be very good at what you do. Mediocrity will not get you a hearing in today’s world.”

And that competition can be fierce. Church members increasingly are accustomed to flashy performances on VH-1, Black Entertainment Television and their iPods. To reach these members, some churches conclude they, too, must entertain.

Davis sees it “all the time,” he said. “When it’s not planned well, when it’s not open to the moving of the Holy Spirit, then it becomes entertainment.”

Thomas refers to it as “sunshine music.”

“Some music has bad theology,” he said. “Some music, you know, has stuff that the Bible does not say. It’s like giving people cotton candy. We can give people cheap answers to deep questions.”

McMillan, working as the interim music minister at Concord Baptist, notes that while congregations may appreciate the sounds of hip-hop, “Where are those things that are so important—the tradition of music, the hymns, and especially in terms of black people, the Negro spirituals?”

With few accomplished musical directors—and more “sunshine music”—many fear worship will be diminished.

“I don’t believe that if you did hip-hop 20 years ago, you’re going to remember a hip-hop line,” McMillan said. “But you will remember ‘Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,’ if you learn it. Or you will remember ‘Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.’”

“Those songs live on,” Davis added. “They live on because they’re sustaining. And you want the younger generations coming up to be part of that. And to embrace that. And to learn it and pass it down.”

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

Posted: 8/17/07

Book Reviews

The Mr. and Mrs. Happy Handbook: Everything I Know About Love and Marriage by Steve Doocy (William Morrow)

Nonfiction has come a long way from the inner lives of grasshoppers and the complexity of moon rocks. 

In The Mr. & Mrs. Happy Handbook, a reindeer falls from the sky and dents the family car, an anaconda is under the patio, author Steve Doocy and his wife, Kathy, end up spending their honeymoon at a remote leper colony, and concerned kids are asking about the birds and the bees—and the carrot. Try explaining that one.

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

In this laugh-out-loud book about married life, Doocy, co-host of Fox and Friends, shares the nitty-gritty about love, married life, family and what to do when the neighbors’ kid starts foaming at the mouth. Blame it on the Easter bunny.

Throughout the book, Kathy Doocy gives her own advice, following her husband’s. And to make things easier, there are several charts, including honeymoon do’s and don’ts and how to rate your honeymoon. If no one gained weight, the honeymoon gets an A.

This book provides sound advice to married couples of all ages through humorous true-life stories. Although there are a few “choice words,” and some adult humor, this book is a must read. You may discover your marriage and your family aren’t as strange as you thought.

Who wants to read about a perfect marriage anyway? Maybe the same folks who read about the inner lives of grasshoppers.

Whitney Farr

Communications Intern, Waco

God, I Don’t Understand: Answers to Difficult Questions of the Christian Faith by Kenneth Boa (David C. Cook)

“I don’t understand” is a statement we all have expressed from time to time. Every person who serves God desires to understand God’s will and ways.

Kenneth Boa wrote this classic book in 1974 and has added notes, called “Thirty Years Later,” which address thoughts and issues he would include if he were writing it today.

Boa’s theology is sound, and he writes in a language we all can understand. He encourages the reader to study the mysteries of the Bible and sees these as a strong evidence of divine origin. I was stretched in mind again and again as I eagerly read this book. The illustrations in key chapters visually brought the written words into focus.

If you want to understand the God Man, the Trinity, the Resurrection Body and other great and timeless truths, it is worth your time to read Boa’s answers of the Christian faith.

Leo Smith, executive director

Texas Baptist Men, Dallas

Judas and the Gospel of Jesus: Have We Missed the Truth About Christianity? by N. T. Wright (Baker Books)

Recent controversies surrounding the publication of the Gospel of Judas, along with popular books and movies such as The da Vinci Code, have sparked what appears to be a new conversation about Christianity.

N.T. Wright takes the time to fully develop the dynamics of both sources in his new book. This address reveals that the “new” controversy actually is something that dates to the beginning of Christianity. Wright skillfully takes the most novice of theologians through a brief history and explanation of the dangers and fallacies of the Gnostic movement.

Judas and the Gospel of Jesus is great for a person seeking a first book about Gnosticism or an experienced pastor who needs a quick read to refresh previous education. Wright provides a practical book with his scholarly touches. Overall, this book is excellent—short enough to make it useful but also detailed enough to prove beneficial.

Jeremy Johnston, pastor

Preston Highlands Baptist Church, Dallas

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