2007 Archives
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Cromartie, Land again officers for religious-freedom panel
Posted: 7/11/07
Cromartie, Land again officers
for religious-freedom panelBy Robert Marus
ABP Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (ABP)—An independent federal panel charged with monitoring global conditions for religious liberty has once again elevated an evangelical scholar and leader as its chairman.
The United States Commission for International Religious Freedom also elected a Southern Baptist agency head and a prominent human-rights lawyer as vice-chairs for 2007-2008.
07/11/2007 - By John Rutledge
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CYBERCOLUMN BY Berry D. Simpson: Reading all the way through
Posted: 7/06/07
CYBER COLUMN:
Reading all the way throughThis morning, I read a long hammerfest by the prophet Amos against a collection of evil nations—the Syrians, Philistines, Tyre, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites … and so forth. I asked myself how this particular prophecy would speak to the rest of my day.
It was several years ago when I first decided I should try reading through the entire Bible in one year. I didn’t have a plan or a schedule. I just opened to Genesis and started reading, doing the same the next day, and the next. I stayed on task until Leviticus, where I ground to a halt about halfway through. I tried again a couple more times but never finished. I wondered why it was so hard to read through the entire Bible when I read a lot of books cover-to-cover every year, some of them way longer. Why was the Bible so different? Why was it so much harder?
Berry D. Simpson A few years later, someone gave me a printed schedule for reading the entire Bible. It had a lot of little boxes, which were great fun to check after each day’s reading. The schedule helped solve the Leviticus problem by mixing passages from the New Testament and the Old Testament and from Psalms every day. It was a good plan, and I followed it for about six months, reading and flipping pages and checking boxes. Then I stopped out of exhaustion. Too much flipping.
I finally put myself in the camp of people who say, “Reading the entire Bible is OK for you, but I don’t need to do it.” I sat comfortably in that camp for years until my wife, Cyndi, bought a copy of “The Daily Bible” for me. It was a New International Version rearranged into chronological order and divided up into 365 dated readings. I didn’t want it at first. I already had a shelf of Bibles, and when you get a new Bible. you can’t throw the old ones away. (I think I could lose my church membership if they found out I threw away an old Bible.) So, they sit on my shelf. Forever. And now I had one more to worry about.
07/06/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Around the State
Posted: 7/06/07
Miller Heights Church in Belton held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the first phase of the church’s multiphase building program. The nearly 4,000-square-foot administrative building will house offices, a library, restrooms and a greeting area. Participating in the ceremony were trustees Les Connally, Buddy Peschel and Jimmy Parker; building committee members Mary Connally, Jeff Levi and Pastor Bill Adams; and the construction and design team of Charlie Cox, Sam Blount and Larry Neal. Around the State
• Paisano Baptist Encampment will hold its 87th general encampment July 22-27. Morning worship will be held at 11 a.m. and evening worship at 8 p.m. Fellowship begins in the dining shed at 6 p.m., and choir practice starts at 7 p.m. Steve Wells, pastor of South Main Church in Houston, and Dennis Wiles, pastor of First Church in Arlington, will alternate preaching duties. Todd Still, a Truett Seminary professor, will be the Bible study leader. For more information, see www.paisanoencampment. org.
• Baptist Mission Centers has opened its newest facility. The Houston facility, named in honor of missionary Mildred McWhorter, will house up to 36 missionaries and will provide additional office space and parking for staff volunteers.
• The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor played host to first seminar on Academic Leadership in Baptist Universities. Leaders from each of the eight Texas Baptist universities interacted with a panel of national leaders on Christian higher education administration. The event was sponsored by the Center for Ministry Effectiveness and Educational Leadership at Baylor University and the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
• Howard Payne University has announced faculty promotions and awarded service pins in recognition of years of service. Mike Daub, accounting, and Tonya Horner, mathematics, both have achieved the rank of associate professor. Bobbie Price, administrative assistant to the registrar, received a pin marking her 35 years of service. Also recognized were Chuck Boland, Ann Smith and Beth Willingham, 25 years; Glen Hopp, Betty Lancaster and Sharon Riker, 20 years; Cherie Dail, Amy Dodson, Bill Fishback, Mary Hill, Wade Kinnin, Les Plagens and Groner Pitts, 15 years; and Bobby Anderson, Curly Cox, Marcie Drew, Millard Kimery, Dag Sewell, Vicki Vaughn and Terrie Wells, 10 years.
07/06/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Book Reviews
Posted: 7/06/07
Book Reviews
Higher Ground: A Call for Christian Civility by Russell Dilday (Smyth & Helwys)
Russell Dilday’s latest book, Higher Ground: A Call for Christian Civility, is the best of his many good writings. It is an enlargement and powerful application of his prophetic message to the Southern Baptist Convention in 1984, calling for living out the gospel message in relationship to our fellow believers. It is filled with sound biblical interpretation and clear illustrations. It calls for “biblical obedience, not biblical defense.” Chapter two by that title is worth the price of the book alone.
Southern Baptists never were what we thought we were and will never be what we once were again. Had Dilday’s call to Christian civility been heeded, the slow decay that has been and continues to take place could have been avoided.
What are you reading that other Texas Baptists would find helpful? Send suggestions and reviews to books@baptiststandard.com. Anyone desiring higher ground in our life together as Christian brothers would do well to read and heed this book. My biggest regret is that it came 20 years too late.
Paul W. Powell, special assistant to the dean
07/06/2007 - By John Rutledge
