Updated: 5/25/07

Falwell leaves complex legacy

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (ABP)—Many social observers agree: few figures in the second half of the 20th century proved as polarizing in American popular and political culture as Jerry Falwell, who died May 15 at the age of 73.

But the outspoken preacher and political activist, who preached a black-and-white gospel and described a world of evil versus good in equally stark terms, left behind a legacy far more nuanced and complex.

The media impresario was best known for his blustery public statements on subjects as controversial as homosexuality, the AIDS crisis, the Apartheid regime in South Africa and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

But, according to allies and opponents alike, Falwell personally had a softer, gentler side that corresponded with some of his less-publicized work on behalf of the downtrodden.

Even pornographer Larry Flynt, who beat Falwell in a landmark 1988 Supreme Court libel case, had kind words to say after the death of his erstwhile enemy.

“My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face-to-face, you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that,” said Flynt, longtime publisher of Hustler magazine. “I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. … I always appreciated his sincerity, even though I knew what he was selling, and he knew what I was selling.”

Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, also said he had warm personal feelings for the man whose views on homosexuality he deplored. Last year, he spoke to students at Falwell’s Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., to challenge the school’s policies toward gay and lesbian students.

“It took courage for him to invite me to speak directly to Liberty University’s 9,000 students. He introduced me to his students with real excitement, and, when it seemed to him that they were acting inappropriately, he stood up and defended my right to speak, even when I was saying things with which I knew he would disagree,” Yoffie said in a statement released shortly after Falwell’s death. “I deeply appreciate the genuine warmth and respect that he demonstrated for me.”

The independent Baptist preacher who built a small church in an out-of-the-way Virginia town into a religious, media and educational empire also played a key role in shaping American politics in the past quarter century. He did it, in part, with statements that often proved controversial.

In the 1950s, Falwell supported legal segregation, and in the 1960s, he publicly opposed the activism of Martin Luther King Jr. and other ministers involved in the Civil Rights Movement— both positions he later disavowed.

Falwell again committed a number of public gaffes in the 1980s. While saying he personally opposed the racist Apartheid regime in South Africa, he also opposed the United States sanctioning the nation’s white-ruled government. Falwell said he feared a revolution that would create a communist state. He even encouraged his followers to invest in South African gold Krugerands when other American religious groups were pushing divestment in the nation.

During the early days of the AIDS crisis, Falwell said the epidemic was “the wrath of a just God against homosexuals.” He later recanted that stance.

During Bill Clinton’s presidency, Falwell used time on his “Old Time Gospel Hour” television show to sell a series of videotapes called the “Clinton Chronicles,” which insinuated Clinton was guilty of all manner of crimes, up to and including orchestrating murders.

And, perhaps most infamously, appearing on Pat Roberton’s “700 Club” television show two days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Falwell said some of his political adversaries were at least partially responsible for the tragedies.

“I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way—all of them who have tried to secularize America—I point the finger in their face and say, ‘You helped this happen,’“ he said.

He later apologized for those remarks, as well as for his 2002 remarks calling the prophet Muhammad a “terrorist.”

Despite his support for a political movement that often emphasized the sexual teachings of traditional Christianity over its anti-poverty and social-justice thrusts, Falwell also quietly built a series of institutions serving the down-and-out. They included a home for pregnant teens who wanted to avoid abortion and a program for alcoholics.

“While most people knew him as the founder of the Moral Majority, the face of the Religious Right, and by some of his more controversial statements, many saw only his opponents’ caricature of the real man,” wrote Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life and pastor of a Southern Baptist megachurch in Orange County, Calif., on the Washington Post website. “The story was never told about his compassionate heart, his gentle spirit, his enormous sense of humor and the millions he invested in helping the underprivileged.”

Likewise, Chuck Colson—the Watergate criminal turned Christian activist— wrote that Falwell had been “very unfairly caricatured” for his political views.

“Among the great legacies of his life is not only a marvelous church but one of the premier Christian institutions, Liberty University, which he built from the ground up. When the going got tough, Jerry just got stronger,” Colson said.

“He will be remembered not only as the founder of a great university, but as the person who brought the evangelical church out of its fundamentalist isolationism back into the mainstream of American culture.”

Baptist historian Bill Leonard said Falwell’s penchant for rhetoric coupled with personal warmness was a legacy of his independent fundamentalist Baptist background.

The three hallmarks of that tradition, Leonard said, were that Falwell was “an absolute … opponent of liberalism politically and theologically,” that he embraced “an unashamed commitment to church growth, meaning that numbers proved theological orthodoxy” and that he was “a pulpit controversialist who uses rhetoric to encourage an often-fearful constituency that sees the world encroaching and to beat up on—indeed, create—enemies.”

Leonard, dean of the divinity school at Wake Forest University, continued: “I think his modus operandi was … not inconsistent with certain fundamentalist megachurch pastors in that independent Baptist tradition. When you met them, they were good-old-boy pastors. So, they were fun to be with; they were jokesters; they had larger-than-life personalities. But when the issues came down, they took no prisoners.”

Leonard said Falwell struggled throughout his public career to walk a tightrope between his hard-core fundamentalist base and the larger public he was trying to woo to his side.

“His power base is with a group of people who agree with all of those statements—about gays, about Catholics, about abortion, about the Democratic Party and the Clintons,” Leonard said. “So, he’s got to talk that talk to keep them with him. But then that talk that they applaud and think is Christian conviction sounds like bigotry when it its broadcast in the public square, and that is when he had to apologize.”

A new generation of evangelical leaders, Leonard said, has learned how to tread that line more carefully than did Falwell. Many younger evangelicals increasingly are interested in a broader view of the church’s role in encouraging public morality than the sex-related matters that consumed much of the late preacher’s rhetoric.

To one of those leaders, Southern Baptist blogger Benjamin Cole, Falwell left a mixed legacy.

“On the one hand, Jerry Falwell presided over the repatriation of disengaged religious conservatives previously absented the public square,” Cole, pastor of Parkview Baptist Church in Arlington, wrote in a May 15 post on his blog, baptistblog.wordpress.com. “On the other hand, Jerry Falwell emerged as one of the most polarizing public figures of the 20th century.”

Cole continued: “He had sworn on the altar of Almighty God eternal vigilance against every form of communism, liberalism, and atheism that threatened his vision of righteousness and virtue. Yet for a man professing that his battle was not against flesh and blood, he could wield some pretty carnal weapons. He was a man who possessed very definite opinions and about whom many possessed the same. He was both visionary and vicious. He could speak softly when he wanted to, but he always carried a big stick.”

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

Updated: 5/25/07

Republicans join Democrats
on New Covenant program

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

ATLANTA (ABP)—Organizers for next January’s New Baptist Covenant gathering announced the speakers for the historic three-day meeting—with former President Jimmy Carter making good on a pledge to enlist prominent Republican Baptists to complement the mostly Democratic headliners.

Republican Senators Lindsay Graham (S.C.) and Charles Grassley (Iowa) have been named participants for the Jan. 30-Feb. 1 New Baptist Covenant Celebration in Atlanta, billed as the broadest Baptist meeting in America since Baptists divided over slavery before the Civil War. Organizers hope to attract 20,000 people to the event.

Carter already has enlisted former President Bill Clinton and Al Gore, the former vice president who came within 537 Florida votes of succeeding Clinton. They all are Democrats. Broadcast journalist Bill Moyers, who served as an adviser to President Lyndon Johnson, another Democrat, also is on the program.

Although the meeting will occur in the heat of the presidential-nomination season, Carter eschewed any political intention for the gathering. Clinton’s involvement sparked criticism the event would become a campaign rally for wife Hillary, the Democratic presidential frontrunner.

Carter acknowledged his effort was slowed initially by criticism the group was dominated by Democrats.

“It may have been a mistake to single out me and Bill Clinton as two politicians,” he said. But the group’s effort to enlist Republican speakers was “completely successful,” Carter said. “Every Republican we have invited has agreed to come.”

But one Republican—presidential candidate Mike Huckabee—backed out after initially accepting an invitation to speak. Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor and governor of Arkansas, withdrew after Carter publicly criticized President Bush’s foreign policy.

Six of the 13 speakers announced May 17 are politicians.

Three are pastors or preachers, including one woman—Julie Pennington-Russell, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Waco.

Two of the pastors are African-Americans—Charles Adams, pastor of Hartford Baptist Church in Detroit and past president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, and William Shaw, pastor of White Rock Baptist Church in Philadelphia and president of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc.

Also included is Joel Gregory, preaching professor at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary and former pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas.

Two social activists will address the gathering—Marian Wright Edelman, civil-rights veteran and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, D.C., who is a lawyer and Baptist pastor’s daughter, and Tony Campolo, professor emeritus at Eastern University, an American Baptist school, and founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education.

With two former presidents, two senators and one almost-president on the roster, political overtones are unavoidable at the January event. But Carter and Mercer University President Bill Underwood—the pair who dreamed up the covenant—say the intent is to enlist prominent Baptists who care about the group’s agenda of compassion.

So far, 40 Baptist organizations in the United States and Canada have indicated a willingness to participate in the January celebration. The organizations, which include most of the Baptist denominations in North America except the Southern Baptist Convention, encompass about 20 million Baptists.

That’s more than the 16 million members claimed by the SBC, the largest Baptist group in the world. SBC leaders, who have moved sharply to the political and theological right in the last 25 years, have criticized the New Baptist Covenant as a political effort.

Rather than the racial, theological and social conflict that has divided Baptists for decades, the covenant group plans to demonstrate Baptist unity around Jesus’ compassion agenda, outlined in his inaugural sermon recorded in the fourth chapter of Luke’s Gospel.

Those themes comprise the core of the “New Baptist Covenant,” a statement drafted in April 2006 in a meeting at the Carter Center attended by some of the same Baptist leaders. The statement says partners are “committed to promote peace with justice, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, care for the sick and marginalized, welcome the strangers among us, and promote religious liberty and respect for religious diversity.”

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

Updated: 5/25/07

Vietnam vets to attend
reunion of Saigon Baptist church

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

TYLER (ABP)—Jim and Mary Humphries are planning a reunion for members of their former church, Trinity Baptist in Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City. They haven’t seen many of their mostly military church members in over 35 years. But they expect to reconnect as if they had never left.

“The bond formed between military men and women and missionaries who worked beside them has grown through the years and is now stronger than ever before,” Mary Humphries said. “That was a very special time in the lives of all who served together.”

That time in Vietnam was an opportunity to serve with the finest men and women they’ve ever known—and they’ll never forget it, the couple said. Appointed to the mission field in 1966 by the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, Jim Humphries led the English-speaking church during the Vietnam War.

A youth choir sings at Trinity Baptist Church in Saigon, where Jim Humphries was pastor.

Along with their children, the couple left Vietnam in 1973—two years before the communist government claimed the nation. After that, the American military left the region, substantially reducing the size of the church, since the membership consisted mostly of military personnel.

For Jim Humphries, working as a pastor for military personnel was a “great experience,” and the church provided a home away from home for soldiers separated from their families in the United States. It “filled a void,” Mary Humphries said.

“We had a wonderful relationship with these folks. They were our family, some actually closer than our physical family. We grew very close to them during their time there,” she said. “They did not have their families with them, and our children were very special to them. Our children loved them, and they loved our families.”

Those common bonds quickly developed as the soldiers, missionaries and ex-pats shared American-style Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners in the foreign country. “Friday fellowship” meetings were especially meaningful for the soldiers. Every Friday, they would go to the Humphries’ house for dinner, eat outside, and sing. Mary Humphries cooked for as many as 100 men and women there, often making American staples not readily available to military.

“We had things like barbecue chicken, spaghetti, hamburgers and hot dogs,” she said. “Sometimes the military could provide steak. Their favorite thing was pinto beans and cornbread—that was just a Southern meal that a lot of us grew up on. (The soldiers) could get a lot of other food in the dining hall, but they couldn’t get that.”

Sunday worship services and mid-week meetings were also special. Humphries preached, but music leaders, choir members and deacons all participated in the services—including accepting responsibility to act in case of a grenade attack.

“There were no coverings over the open windows, so in the event a grenade had been thrown into a window, the deacon nearest the spot where it was thrown had the responsibility to pick it up and toss it out, if there was time,” Mary Humphries said. “If not, he would cover the grenade with his body, so that others, especially women and children, would not be killed. If the grenade landed in the pulpit area, my husband would be responsible.”

No one ever questioned the plan, and it certainly wasn’t voted upon.

“Our members faced great danger and even death,” she added. “Each took it as his responsibility willingly.”

It was a dangerous time, the Humphries said, but the fear became insignificant as they worked with people in Vietnam. They distributed goods sent from churches in the States, taught English and organized ball games with street kids. Dentists and medical specialists went into the villages to work as well.

Sandy Parrott was one of those dentists. An Army dentist invited to go to Vietnam in 1968, Parrott said he first met the Humphries through friends while was searching for a hotel chapel in which to worship on Sundays.

Many of the missionaries from rural areas had moved to the city to escape the fighting, and Parrott soon took up with them. He, too, attested of Mary Humphries’ culinary skill.

“We use to go to Trinity to church or to a Bible study at the Humphries’ home,” he said. “Mary was a great cook. She made all the Southern favorites, so we went over there as often as we could.”

Parrott often pulled teeth and performed routine dentistry on the Vietnamese villagers and missionaries who had come to Saigon during the war. He didn’t speak Vietnamese, but he had the advantage of suitable medical equipment, running water and even air conditioning.

“Through some (Army) grants, we had a developed portable dental unit that ran on generators,” he said. “The clinic was not modern and up-to-date, but it was a lot better than a lot of my buddies in the field.”

Parrott hasn’t been back to Vietnam since he left in 1969, but he’d like to return someday. The Humphries have returned twice, in 1996 and 1998.

After they left Vietnam, Jim Humphries took a job working with World Evangelism in Arlington. He also was the pastor of First Baptist Church of San Marcos 13 years. Now, in order to be close to their son, they live near Tyler, where the reunion will be held July 27-29.

All former members of the church, which stayed open even during the war, are invited to the event. The agenda includes a “Friday fellowship” dinner, Saturday luncheon and worship service on Sunday morning. Mary Humphries said she has tried to contact all of the old members and hopes they’ll bring photos and remembrances of their time in Vietnam. Her persistence is one reason why Parrott decided to make the trip.

“It tweaked my interest because of the fact that after 40 years, Jim and Mary were able to find me and some of those people who were the beneficiaries of their hospitality and their home,” the dentist said. “We helped them some, and they helped make it easier for us while we were away for a year. They were very kind to us.”

Jim Humphries kept especially good records, Parrott said, which enabled them to locate him in his home in Minnesota. That attention to detail is nothing new, he said—the couple hasn’t changed a bit since Saigon.

“I’ve always been impressed with Jim and Mary,” he said. “For someone after all these years to keep this stuff [church records] intact was incredible. That’s why the church did so well in Saigon. He was the glue that held everybody together.”

The Humphries are quick to deflect credit, calling military chaplains “the giants of the military” who helped make their lives easier. But even the United States government has recognized their contribution. In 1971, Jim Humphries gave the opening prayer for the House of Representatives. He was presented to the house by congressmen Jim Wright (D-Texas) and Bryan Dorn (D-S.C.).

For those in the congregation at Trinity Baptists, such honors were not surprising.

“They put their life on the line on several occasions,” Parrott said. “They were at risk at times…. You don’t forget people like that.”
For details of the event, contact the Humphries by e-mail at Jimmaryhu@aol.com .

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

Updated: 5/25/07

No lawsuits planned; too costly
& complex, lawyer suggests

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

The Baptist General Convention of Texas will not file lawsuits to recover church-starting money apparently mismanaged in the Rio Grande Valley.

Civil litigation would be costly and complex, and the statute of limitations could prevent recovery of a significant portion of the misappropriated money, attorney Stephen Wakefield wrote in a letter to the BGCT Executive Board. BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade reported the recommendation to the board at its May 21-22 meeting in Dallas.

Last year, a five-month independent investigation uncovered evidence that 98 percent of the 258 new churches reported by three church planters in the Rio Grande Valley between 1999 and 2005 no longer exist, and some never existed—except on paper. Those churches received more than $1.3 million from the BGCT. The investigative team faulted the BGCT Executive Board staff for poor oversight, uneven management, failure to abide by internal guidelines and misplaced trust.

Two weeks after it received the investigators’ report, the BGCT Executive Board met in a called session to take actions designed to clean up the scandal and prevent future problems. One of the motions approved by the board directed the executive director, in consultation with legal counsel and with convention and board officers, to consider “the full range of methods for recovery of funds misused or misappropriated” by individuals named in the investigators’ report, and to initiate action to recover the money.

Wakefield and Wade forwarded the investigative report and all its supporting documents to the United States attorney in Brownsville in December.

“I have coordinated, on a regular basis, follow up with the U.S. attorney’s office to attempt to determine that office’s interest in pursuing any criminal cases that are attributable to possible misappropriation of funds provided for church starting efforts,” Wakefield wrote in his letter to the board.

He also looked at available options to recover misspent funds, including civil litigation, he reported.

“After consideration of all relevant facts, we believe that civil litigation by the convention to recover funds is neither practical nor would it represent good stewardship of churches’ resources,” he concluded.

Since three church planters—Otto Arango, Aaron de la Torre and Armando Vera—were named in the investigators’ report and their circumstances vary, any attempt at restitution would require three lawsuits held in the Rio Grande Valley, Wakefield noted.

“As clearly evidenced in the Valley Investigation Report, tracing of the funds from the BGCT to the recipients and then to the possible inappropriate use would be extremely difficult and costly,” he said.

Indications in the investigators’ report that some former BGCT church starting staff relaxed guidelines and allowed the misuse to occur also makes a successful suit more difficult, Wakefield explained.

“If the BGCT’s own employee or employees facilitated any misapplication, whether intentionally or unintentionally, recovery becomes legally much more difficult,” he wrote.

Legal action in the Valley would require the BGCT to employ local legal counsel, along with an investigator and forensic accountant, he noted.

“The likelihood of recovery of significant funds is speculative at best, even if litigation were to be successful,” he added.

The statute of limitations further complicates the issue, Wakefield noted.

“The maximum period of time that we have to bring civil actions for fraud, debt, breach of contract or other potential causes of action to recover misappropriated funds is four years from the date of misappropriation, or the date we should have known of the misappropriation,” he explained.

“Most of the funds advanced for church starting purposes were advanced during the period from 2000 to 2003. The various statutes of limitations would be a viable defense to recovery of a significant part of the funds advanced.”

Under federal criminal law, the U.S. Attorney has up to seven years to pursue the matter, he added.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation also is investigating the matter, board members learned. BGCT Second Vice President Robert Rodriguez reported the FBI had called him to ask questions.

Wakefield reminded board members that FBI officials “work on their own schedule,” and it’s hard to know when investigators will decide whether to pursue charges.

“It’s certainly our intention to assist them in any way possible,” Wakefield said.

Wade also reported to the board progress on other issues related to the church-starting fund scandal:

• More accurate and accessible record of church mortality rates. A new system is now in place that includes a date-recording process that allows “accurate and timely documentation of church starting and ending dates,” enabling the BGCT Executive Board staff to calculate and report mortality rates, Wade said.

• Integrate and coordinate record keeping. Staff completed on April 12 an integrated system that assigns each church a single identification number and cross-references it to a vendor identification number.

• Better internal controls. “Revised documentation has been completed and is being followed in all areas regarding church starting, including a well-supported and effective process for check issuance.”

• Immediate response to allegations. A certified professional, accountant firm completed an internal risk assessment. “The audit committee will give direction to the areas identified in the risk assessment to be audited during 2007 and years following,” Wade said. “The audit committee will bring a recommendation to the Executive Board regarding the internal audit function.”

Also, an outside firm is developing an online service to allow staff to register any concerns anonymously, and staff will be trained in its use within the next couple of months. The online reporting mechanism will function in addition to the existing “whistle-blower” policy, Wade noted.

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

Posted: 5/25/07

Board elects BGCT executive
director search committee

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board elected a 15-member executive director search committee chaired by Ken Hugghins, pastor of Elkins Lake Baptist Church in Huntsville and chairman of the Christian Life Commission.

BGCT President Steve Vernon, First Vice President Joy Fenner, Second Vice President Roberto Rodriguez, Executive Board Chairman Bob Fowler and Vice Chair John Petty recommended a slate of nominees for the committee. Fowler sent an e-mail May 16 to Executive Board directors to notify them of the nominees, and the board elected the committee at its May 21-22 meeting.

The committee, composed of seven Executive Board directors and eight members from the convention at-large, will nominate a successor for Executive Director Charles Wade, who has announced plans to retire Jan. 31, 2008.

The board elected the slate of committee nominees with a smattering of votes in opposition. Several board members voiced concern that the 15-member committee includes only one Hispanic and one African-American.

“That’s the dilemma we faced—how to make sure the committee fairly represents Texas Baptists,” Vernon told the board

The officers strived to create a committee reflective of the BGCT in terms of ethnicity, geography, gender and size of church, as well as providing a balance between laity and clergy, he explained.

They determined to use the membership of Texas Baptist churches as the basis for determining balance, he said. Non-Anglos make up about 20 percent of the members of BGCT-affiliated churches, and the committee is 20 percent non-Anglo, Vernon noted.

In addition to Hugghins, who is an Executive Board member, others on the search committee are:

• Michael Bell, pastor of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church in Fort Worth and immediate past president of the BGCT.

• Linda Brian, Executive Board director and layperson from First Baptist Church in Amarillo, a former member of the Christian Education Coordinating Board and the Theological Education Council.

• Jerry Carlisle, Executive Board director and pastor of First Baptist Church in Plano, and chair of the education subcommittee of the Executive Board’s Institutional Relations Committee.

• Stacy Conner, pastor of First Baptist Church in Muleshoe and former second vice president of the BGCT.

• Teo Cisneros, pastor of Templo Jerusalem Baptist Church in Victoria, a Baptist University of the Americas trustee and recent chair of BUA presidential search committee.

• Gloria DuBose, Executive Board director and lay person from First Baptist Church in Midland, and a member of the WorldconneX board.

• Gary Elliston, layperson from Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, a Baylor University regent and former chair of Howard Payne University’s board of trustees.

• Elizabeth Hanna, Executive Board director and layperson from Calder Baptist Church in Beaumont, chair of the finance subcommittee of the Executive Board Administration Support Committee.

• Mary Humphries, layperson from First Baptist Church in Tyler and a past president of Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas.

• Dan Malone, layperson from First Baptist Church in El Paso, member of the Baptist Standard board of directors, and former member of the BGCT Administrative Committee.

• John Nguyen, Executive Board director and pastor of Vietnamese Baptist Church in Garland, and president of the Vietnamese Baptist Fellowship of Texas.

• Jim Nelson, Executive Board director and layperson from Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin, and former Executive Board vice chair.

• Steve Wells, pastor of South Main Baptist Church in Houston and member of the Truett Theological Seminary Advisory Board.

• Dan Wooldridge, pastor of Crestview Baptist Church in Georgetown and immediate past second vice president of the BGCT.

The board also elected two institutional representatives and two staff representatives who will serve as nonvoting advisers to the search committee. Gary Cook, president of Dallas Baptist University, and Jerry Bradley, president of Children at Heart Ministries, will serve as institutional representatives. Jane Wilson, youth ministry and youth Bible study specialist, and Keith Crouch, church architecture director and resource services team leader, will serve as BGCT Executive Board staff representatives.

In other business, the Executive Board:

• Received a report from the Hispanic Education Task Force and referred the group’s recommendations to the board’s Missions & Ministries Committee.

• Approved $350,000 from a fund established by the Sam Combs estate to be used toward debt retirement of Breckenridge Village in Tyler, a residential facility for mentally challenged adults operated by Baptist Child & Family Services.

• Authorized a change in the Dallas Baptist University articles of incorporation that will allow the school to increase its board of trustees from 36 to 40 members.

• Accepted and approved the 2006 financial audit report from the Grant Thornton accounting firm. The audit provided an “unqualified”—that is, clean—opinion from the accountants that the financial records materially and fairly present the BGCT’s financial position.

• Went on record affirming Wade’s response to concerns expressed by Basin Baptist Network and Golden Triangle Association. The associations asked the executive director and the board to clarify the BGCT position regarding the nature of God in light of comments by a speaker at Christian Life Commission conference who said Christians and Muslims talk about “the same God.” The board reaffirmed Texas Baptists’ belief in Jesus Christ as “the unique Son of God and the only way of salvation.”

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

Posted: 5/25/07

BaptistWay Bible Series for June 3

When bad things happen to a good person

• Job 1:1; 1:6—2:10

By Ronnie Prevost

Logsdon Seminary, Abilene

They had it all figured out. Actually, they thought they had God all figured out. Before the time of Job, the Hebrews believed all punishment or reward happened in this lifetime.

Life was simple: If one did good, God would bless. If one sinned, God would curse. The signs of God’s blessing? Again, very simple: God blessed through granting health, wealth and long life. Nice and tidy. However, in Job’s instance, that conventional wisdom everybody knew (including Job) just did not work.

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The opening verses of Job describe Job the man as “blameless and upright.” It does not mean Job was without sin. Instead, it has to do with completeness. Many Bible passages tell us one’s relationship with God shapes one’s relationship with other people. Regarding God, Job was reverent. As a result, regarding others, he was just. Simply stated, Job was a man of integrity. As we put it in Texas, “Job talked the talk and walked the walk.”

Readers of Job’s day expected, then, that Job was rich in every sense of the term. However, they would have been taken aback by what was about to happen.

The scene shifts from Job to heaven. There, in 1:6, “sons of God” are appearing before God and reporting their activities. This confuses many contemporary readers. However, these were not sons of God in the unique sense of Jesus as the “only begotten Son of God.” Some translations render that term “heavenly beings.” Some scholars have suggested these were angels.

The name “Satan” comes from the Hebrew word for an accuser or adversary. Satan is mentioned as among the “sons of God” or “heavenly beings.” God points out Job as an example of a person who truly loves their Creator. Ever the adversary, Satan asks, “Does Job fear God for nothing?”

That is, what is in it for Job? Was Job motivated by profit and hope for gain or truly by love for God? Satan was questioning if anyone would love and serve God simply out of love for God. He certainly was claiming God was only fooling himself.

In verse 11, Satan more or less says, “Let me at him (Job), and we will see if Job really loves you simply for the sake of loving you.” God approves but makes Job himself off limits. True to his word, Satan heaps wave upon wave of woe and calamity upon Job. In 1:13-19, Job’s oxen and donkeys were stolen and plowmen killed. His sheep and shepherds were destroyed in a fire. His camels were stolen, and the herdsmen killed. Finally, a wind destroyed Job’s house, killing all his children.

Job 1:20-22 shows how, despite Satan’s thoroughness, Job did not turn from God. Job grieved at and over the reality and enormity of his loss. Job even saw disasters as signs of God’s disfavor and, so, took on symbols marking his fall. Still, Job was unyielding in his love for and trust in God. So, God’s trust in God was vindicated.

However, Satan was not done yet. In 2:3, God notes Job had remained a person of integrity and that Job’s love for God was steadfast. Satan’s response sounds a little like, “Well, if you have your health, you have everything” and “Let me touch him!” God remained confident in Job and responded with permission for Satan to touch, but not kill, Job.

The result of Satan’s work is pretty gory. Job 2:7-8 describes how, suddenly, ulcers or boils covered Job’s body. (The disease is further described more graphically in later passages in the book.) Job’s scraping the sores probably was another act of mourning, but also served to alleviate their itching and irritation.

So, here we have him. The pillar of the community is now an outcast and sitting on a garbage heap. To make matters even worse—yes, that was possible—in 2:9, we read that Job’s wife joined with Satan. “Curse God so that he will put you out of my misery” or “just get it over with!” she was saying.

Job was not in on the questions, challenges, dares, discussion, etc. about him. His theology—the “old time religion” for Job—still assumed all things, whether good or bad, were caused by God. He did not understand why these bad things were happening. Job did, however, see a certain balance: we accept the good things from God, why not accept the bad that happens?

Like Job, we have free will in choosing how we react to tragedies in our lives. Being Christians does not render us immune to tragedy. Actually, by allowing evil to touch us shows God’s confidence in us. That assurance is not based on our power and strength. Rather, it grows out of God’s promises of Ephesians 2:10 and Philippians 1:6.

When we and others are confronted by life’s difficulties and bewildered as to why they are happening, let us not respond with pat answers that simply do not work. Instead, let us rely on God’s work in and through us. Only then will we respond as people of integrity and in ways that honor our Lord.

Discussion question

• Does righteous living provide insurance against bad things happening to us?

• What confidence might God have in you and your responses when bad things unexpectedly happen to you?

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

Posted: 5/25/07

Explore the Bible Series for June 3

Finding God’s mercy through repentance

• Joel 1:15-16; 2:12-13, 18, 25-32

By Kathryn Aragon

First Baptist Church, Duncanville

This week, we begin a new study as we turn to the minor prophets. It may be a different part of the Bible, but the message hasn’t changed. Just as Peter encouraged an eternal mindset, Joel cries out for the realization that God will bring judgment on sin. We must turn to God in repentance and faith if we are going to appropriate his mercy.

There are two issues here. The first is the reality of God’s judgment. The second is the necessity of true repentance. In our study of 2 Peter, we talked about the inevitability of God’s judgment. Let’s talk this week about repentance.

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What is repentance?

Most of us have only a fuzzy understanding of repentance. It’s one of the words we often hear in religious circles, and it pops up with alarming regularity in the teachings of Jesus and Paul. But if we were pressed to define it, we might find ourselves at a loss for words.

We tend to associate repentance with tearful confessions and heartfelt apologies. The idea being we can say we’re sorry, and the matter will be over. The Bible teaches forgiveness is a cornerstone of God’s nature, so in our minds, all we have to do is apologize, and God must forgive.

The trouble is we begin to take God’s mercy for granted. In spite of our remorse, we’ll often sin again in the same way before the hour is up. And since God’s mercy is free, we’ll give another quick apology and be on our merry way.

Easy mercy isn’t a biblical concept, though. It’s man’s way of watering down our responsibility in the God-man relationship. And we presume too much when we expect God’s blessings while refusing to give up our disobedience.

God has called us into relationship with him, and we maintain relationship by obeying him. His rules are simple. We must love him and love others. When we fail in this mandate, we fall out of relationship with God, and only through repentance can we be restored.

In the Old Testament, repentance is communicated by two verbs meaning “to return” and “to feel sorrow.” In the New Testament, the word used to express repentance means “to think differently after.” In both instances, it is a change of mind and heart. Feelings of sorrow may be part of the process, but they are not, in and of themselves, repentance. If we want to restore relationship, we must have a change of heart.

Joel tells us, “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity” (2:13). God wants more than tears and empty words. He wants true repentance, which is a determined effort to turn away from our sin and change.

Balancing a sinful nature with the need to change

All of this sounds well and good, but the reality is not so pretty. All of us have felt remorse over sin and honestly desired to change, only to find change impossible. If it helps, even Paul suffered such defeat. He tells us: “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing (Romans 7:18-19).

Part of the process of repentance is working out a changed heart, and the evidence is changed thoughts and behavior. But achieving this change is not an easy process. We will come up against and have to overcome some deeply engrained habits. Only through real effort will we win the goal.

Remember, all behavior grows out of our thoughts. Thoughts grow out of our attitudes. And attitudes grow out of our belief system. They are like the layers of an onion. We can peel back one layer, but we will only expose another. For real change to occur, we must be willing to peel away each layer, exposing wrong thinking and a weak belief system. It is an unpleasant experience and often brings tears, but if we want to change, we must be willing to go through the process.

So how do we begin? We begin by accepting the truth about ourselves. We are steeped in sin and must throw ourselves on the mercy of God. “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). We must remain fully aware of our tendency to do wrong. Once we forget this, we begin sliding down the slippery slope of justifying our behavior and adjusting God’s word to suit our sins.

We must also accept the truth about God. He is merciful and loves us deeply, and he desires to be close to us. “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3). He desires to extend mercy. “Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). But he also is perfect, and sin cannot enter his presence. “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false” (Psalm 24:3-4).

We must then take our focus off our selfish desires and plans and focus on God, his loving mercy and his plans. We must get to know him personally through prayer and Bible reading. We must begin to correct our wrong thinking, aligning our thoughts with God’s words. And we must strengthen ourselves against the tendency to sin. “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).

Realizing the greatness of our God, we must commit not to take advantage of his mercy. What he asks is difficult because we are sinful, but it isn’t impossible. Will we fail now and then? Yes. But we must never give up striving to become the people God made us to be. Like athletes, we must train in righteousness and study our defeats. We must ask God to strengthen us against sin and then work toward righteousness.

We must realize we can’t change ourselves by ourselves. Sure, we can change our behavior for a time, but unless our hearts change, we won’t be able to sustain our efforts. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit can true change be wrought. But knowing this, we cannot stop trying. Change occurs when we combine our effort with God’s power. Through close communion with God and a sincere desire to please him, we open the door for God’s changing power to affect our lives.

Repentance is a decision, and godliness is a choice we make every minute of every day. As Joel says: “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision” (v. 14). We want God’s mercy. The question is whether we want it enough to turn away from our sin.

Discussion questions

• What sinful behavior or attitude is your greatest weakness?

• What are you doing to overcome it?

• What benefits do you get from it that might make it difficult to give up?

• Do you love God enough to give it up for good?

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

Posted: 5/25/07

Bible Studies for Life Series for June 3

Practicing obedience diligently

• Deuteronomy 1:6-8, 26-33, 42-46

By David Harp

First Baptist Church, Stanton

We begin a new series of studies for the summer. We will enter the book of Deuteronomy and find one of God’s greatest and most obedient servants, Moses, leading the people of God out of the land that held bad memories and represented their sinful way of living. God was calling Moses to lead his people into a new relationship and into a new land, a land promised to them. This land represented trust, fulfillment, and all the blessings and promises of God.

One of my favorite people in history is Winston Churchill, who led the British in the darkest days during World War II. One day, while London was being bombed by Nazi planes, Churchill rose to the occasion of leadership. He said: “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Later, Churchill offered one of the best definitions of success I’ve ever read, “Success is moving from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”

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Moses was called to lead the people of God after years of sinful, disobedient living. God called them to a new relationship. God called them to be obedient. God called them to listen, and he would lead. God was saying through Moses to his people—this isn’t the end for you. This isn’t even the beginning of the end. This is an altogether new beginning for God and for the people to walk together in a relationship.

If you feel distant from God, perhaps your devotion has suffered, but God has not turned his back on you. This lesson can help you fan to flame your passion for God and his ways. This can happen when you admit to God any struggles you have with sin and ask for God’s forgiveness and help in resisting temptation and sin.

Are you going where God leads? (Deuteronomy 1:6-8)

Moses reminded the Israelites that the Lord commanded them to leave Horeb and go to the land of promise. It always is a sad thing when God’s people settle for less rather than choosing life with God.

As I write this lesson, our youngest daughter is preparing for graduation week. Brennan Harp is my daughter, and she has excelled in high school in many ways. Brennan has received many awards while in high school, and she has had a “successful” high school career. Next week, Brennan will be ready to move on to a new level in her life. She plans to move forward in following God’s plan for her life.

No one wants to stay in high school forever. There comes a time in life when God taps us on the shoulder to say, “Let’s move forward, together.” We have no evidence the Israelites resisted the Lord’s leadership to leave Mount Sinai (Deuteronomy 1:6). In fact, they obeyed his command (v. 19).

The emphasis of this section is that we must follow where God leads, even if we don’t fully understand it.

In recent years, we have heard a lot about the words “comfort zone.” Most often, when we speak of God moving us beyond our comfort zone, we think of people leaving our churches to go off to the mission field or “surrendering” to preach God’s word. God wants to widen our comfort zone to include him in every area of life.

Are you controlled by discouragement? (Deuteronomy 1:26-28)

What keeps us from going forward with God? So often, it is our own sinful condition. At other times, we are guilty of poor attitudes and responses to God when he tells us to go.

The Israelites complained about God’s plan. They focused on the obstacles and never looked for an opportunity for God to deliver them. Verse 27 says they “murmured” or “grumbled” against the Lord. This illustrates how deliberate, defiant sin corrupts one’s view of God. The people claimed, “the Lord hates us,” and said that he delivered them from Egypt only to destroy them by the hands of the Amorites.

Are you distrustful of God’s help? (Deuteronomy 1:29-33)

As believers, we must not allow fears and disobedience to set our focus on the obstacles we face. As believers, we must remember the root of sin is a lack of trust in God. Many times, we have short memories of God’s help in our past. No wonder God often would speak to his people then (and now) and remind them to retrace their steps spiritually and remember who was leading them and God’s mighty acts of deliverance in the past.

When we disobey, we miss opportunities. Our sin can rob us of God’s blessing in our lives. We must always seek to trust God to help us answer his call.

Moses recalled that at Kadesh he had urged the Israelites to combat their fears and lack of trust by remembering the Lord’s powerful actions in Egypt and his covenant presence throughout their wilderness experience. Moses reminded them, “You saw how the Lord your God carried you …” (v. 31).

Are you defying God’s commands? (Deuteronomy 1:42-46)

There is no more miserable place on the planet than the place of consequences. We all have faced our own “bowl of consequences” after sin. Sin separates us from God. As we say in West Texas, “It will leave a mark on you!” The consequence for these people of God is that they would stay in Kadesh far too long. They would not enter the land of promise as easily as they had hoped.

The teaching of Scripture is clear—all have sinned, and whenever we sin, we do wake up to a bowl of consequences. We have to face the fact that our sin is a rebellion against a God who loves us and has a better plan and a better life for us. The good news is that as we read these Scriptures we can learn from the mistakes of others (and our own). We do not have to choose to be defiant. We can choose to do the right thing. We can trust and look to God and lean upon him and not on our own understanding.

Discussion questions

• Retracing your own spiritual steps with God, can you recall a time when God brought you through a time of testing?

• What are some ways believers can overcome discouragement?

• What is controlling you today—a vibrant relationship with Jesus or grumbling against 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: 5/25/07

Around the State

• The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor will offer an English-as-a-second-language class for adults who want to improve their English skills in preparation for entering university-level classes in the fall. Registration is June 4, and classes begin June 6. For more information, call (254) 295-4556.

• East Texas Baptist University awarded 102 degrees during its spring commencement ceremony.

• Dallas Baptist University granted 337 undergraduate degrees and 201 graduate degrees at its spring commencement ceremony. Dallas entrepreneur David Moon also received a doctor of humanities degree. Moon is the founder of Sam Moon Trading Company. He has served as a deacon at Korean First Church in Dallas since 1984, now called NewSong Church. He also serves on the DBU board of trustees and has established a scholarship fund for Koreans and Korean-American students attending seminary and Christian universities.

• San Marcos Academy’s freshman sprinter Theresa Nealon won first place in the 400-meter race at the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools state track meet held at Baylor University. She ran a 60.91-second race, winning by .03 of a second.

• Wayland Baptist University has honored several employees in recognition of their commitmennt and years of service. Faculty and staff receiving awards for service and scholarship were Estelle Owens, Mark Hilliard, Tim Kelley, Joel Byrd, June Hogue, Adam Reinhart, Freda Provence, Hope English, Marilyn Koelder, Lisa Kerbo, Tommy Thompson, Sherrie King and Claude Lusk. Professors receiving emeritus status were Harold Temple, Fred Meeks, and Georgia Flanagan. Gerald Thompson was noted for his 40 years of service, and Candace Keller reached the 30-year mark. Twenty-five-year service awards were presented to Bobby Hall, Jennie Lynn Hodges, Gary Manning and Freda Provence. Geoff Wells has marked 20 years.

• Howard Payne University awarded an honorary doctor of humanies degree to Gary Elliston during the university’s commencement ceremony. He is a member of Park Cities Church in Dallas. A trial lawyer, he served on HPU’s board of trustees from 1993 to 2002 and was chairman two years. He also served on the board of the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom from 1996 to 2002. During the 2006-2007 year at the university, he endowed the moot court program and also made possible the renovation of the campus wellness center in 2001.

• Faculty promotions at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor include Christina Ballard, associate professor of psychology; Betty Clark, professor of psychology; Barbara Dalby, associate professor of management/marketing; Ann Eubanks, associate professor of management/marketing; Karen Grant, associate professor of biology; John Hancock, professor of art; Kathy Harden, associate professor of library reference; David Holcomb, associate professor of history; Elizabeth Mallory, associate professor of library reference; Sue Pardue, associate professor of modern foreign languages; Brady Peterson, associate professor of English; Ann Price, assistant professor of library services; David Sloan, professor of education; Shirley Walker, professor of social work; and Jessye Whitis, associate professor of music.

Kris and Misty Ellis		Ron and Kari Harmon
Joe and Megan Brewster		Severa Treviño

• Seven people with Texas ties have been appointed missionaries by the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Joe and Megan Brewster will serve in South America, wher he will be a strategy coordinator. She is a native Texan, born in Lubbock. They have one child, Susanna, 23 months, and are expecting another in July. Kris and Misty Ellis will serve along the Pacific Rim, where he will be a church starter. He is a graduate of Dallas Baptist University and serves as a student assistant there. First Church in Dallas is their home church. They have one daughter, Moriah, 11 months. Ron and Kari Harmon will work in central, eastern and southern Africa in field support. Both are native Texans, and consider Wedgwood Church in Fort Worth their home church. She previously was a missions intern with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and worked as an event scheduler at Prestonwood Church in Plano. Severa Treviño will work in central and eastern Europe as a church starter. She is a Texas native. Silent Friends Chapel in Dallas is her church.

Anniversaries

• Corey Hines, 10th, as pastor of administration and education at Ferris Avenue Church in Waxahachie, May 3.

• Springlake Church in Paris, 50th, June 2-3. A reception will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday. The celebration service on Sunday will begin at 1:30 p.m. Michael Redus is pastor.

• Leopoldo Mata, 20th, as pastor of Comunidad Casa del Alfarero in Houston, July 3.

Retiring

• Robert Horton, as pastor of First Church in Kyle, May 5. He served the church more than 31 years.

• Jim O’Dell, as pastor of Frio Canyon Church in Leakey, July 1. He has served the church nine years and 29 years in ministry. He also was pastor of First Church in Cross Plains and Northview Church in Humble, associate pastor and minister of education at First Church in Houston, dean of the School of Business at Howard Payne University and academic vice president at Dallas Baptist University. He will be available for supply and interims. He can be reached at (830) 232-5219.

Deaths

• Chuck Stevenson, 80, March 4 in Irving. He was minister of education at First Church in Irving 18 years. He also served at First Church in Mansfield, First Church in Alvin and Clarendon Drive Church in Dallas. After his long tenure in Irving, he became director of church services for Tryon-Evergreen Association. He later came back to work at Sunnyglen Church in Dallas, which had been Clarendon Drive. After retirement, he returned to First Church in Irving as a member but soon was asked to serve as minister of missions, where he helped start six churches and other community programs. He is survived by his wife, Raleigh Mae; daughters, Amy Stevenson and Susan House; son, Gary; and one grandson.

• Guy Greenfield, 75, in Amarillo, May 13. A pastor in Oklahoma, Texas, Florida and New Mexico for 25 years, he also taught at a number of universities, including Hardin-Simmons University and Wayland Baptist University. He also spent 11 years as a professor and department chair at Southwestern Seminary. He was the author of seven books.

• Kenneth Andress, 74, in San Angelo, May 16. He was pastor of Buford Church in Buford, First Church in Westbrook, Westside Church in Big Spring, Hillcrest Church in Carlsbad, N.M., First Church in Monahans, First Church in Snyder, First Church in Killeen and Southside Church in Palestine, where he retired after after 48 years of ministry. In retirement, he moved to Abilene, where he served several churches as interim pastor and also was chaplain for Hospice of the Big Country for eight years until last December. He was preceded in death by his brother, Oscar. He is survived by his wife, Betty; sons, Mike and Vance; daughter, Paula Bowden; sisters, Melva Everett and Olien Elmore; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Events

• Blake Bolerjack will sing at Pioneer Church in Valley View at 10:45 a.m. June 3.

• Elliott Church in Hearne will hold homecoming services June 10 to commemorate 118 years of service to the community. A lunch and special music will follow the morning service. Dale Wells is pastor.

Ordained

• Christy Craddock and JonMark Shillington to the ministry at Calvary Church in Waco.

Revival

• First Church, Rule; June 4-8; evangelist and pastor, Russell Stanley; music, John Pike

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

Posted: 5/25/07

Book Reviews

Rescued: A Novel, by John Bevere and Mark Andrew Olsen (Bethany House)

A $12 million vessel on its way to Barbados becomes a 57,000-pound guided torpedo after its captain and sole crew member dies from cardiac arrest. A tourist submarine excursion in the path of the deadly vessel promises more than a leisurely end to a weeklong church-couples’ cruise. In the aftermath of a terrible underwater accident, the adventure is just beginning.

Life and death, grace and obedience, eternity and the here-and-now all come into focus in John Bevere’s novel. Rescued tells the story of a preacher, his family and his congregation as they learn God’s truths can’t be manipulated to make them feel better about life decisions. It is an extended parable reminding us that all are called, but few chosen. It is an eloquent plea for all Christians to return to the basics of salvation.

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

From the first pages, it becomes obvious Bevere has written an extended sermon. Before long, though, the story takes over, and we become enmeshed in the drama unfolding before us. Though the lesson takes precedence over plot, a danger in the Christian fiction genre, it’s a lesson we all need to learn.

Yes, it is an extended sermon, but at least it’s a good one.

Kathryn Aragon

First Baptist Church, Duncanville

Peter, Paul & Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend, by Bart D. Ehrman (Oxford University Press)

This book is exciting and fun reading for anyone interested in early Christianity. The content will open new insights and questions for ministers and laity.

Ehrman examines the lives of three eyewitnesses to the early development of the Christian religion. The author rightly notes that “Christianity” and “Christian religion” were anachronistic in the time in which these three lived. They were followers of Jesus who, especially Paul, were used by God to establish the church.

As the title implies, Ehrman draws on biblical and extra-biblical sources to help readers understand how legends developed that have provoked debate among scholars and believers. His clear and forceful style makes lucid material that often is obscured in academic language.

These figures, so important for our understanding of the early Christian movement, come alive in Ehrman’s narrative. His riveting rhetoric will stimulate and provoke the thoughtful reader. I suspect the preaching of many pastors will reflect the influence of this book in more lively preaching on the personalities of these early Christians and relevant biblical texts interpreted in new light by the author.

Raymond Bailey, pastor

Seventh & James Baptist Church, Waco

The Book of Worship, compiled by John Randall Dennis (Bethany House)

In The Book of Worship, Dove Award-winner John Randall Dennis weaves together hymns, songs, prayers, quotes and poems to create, according to the subtitle, “365 Inspiring Readings Based on Worship Songs and Classic Hymns.”

With selections ranging from the 15th Century O Sacred Head Now Wounded to the contemporary More Precious than Silver, Dennis offers music for everyone, running the gamut from Bach and Beethoven to Fanny Crosby and Darlene Zschech. The materials chosen to compliment the hymns and songs offer the best from Martin Luther, St. Francis of Assisi, C.S. Lewis, Max Lucado and at least 100 others. Individual entries follow the church calendar cycle, starting with the first Sunday of Advent, but the reader can choose to begin any time of the year.

With melodies included for many of the selections, the musically inclined will enjoy singing as part of their quiet times. And leaders of choirs, ensembles, Sunday school classes, and other groups will discover a wealth of devotional material in The Book of Worship covering every season of the year.

Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president

Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas, Waco

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

Posted: 5/25/07

Baptist Briefs

Latin American Baptists elect president. The Union of Baptists in Latin America’s Executive Committee unanimously elected Raquel Contreras as UBLA president during a recent meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She will serve as president until April 2009. Contreras recently was re-elected president of the Union of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Chile, composed of 27,781 members and 326 churches. Under her leadership, the union reconciled with the Convention of Baptist Churches of the Chilean Mission after 30 years of division and conflict between the two groups. UBLA is one of six regional bodies of the Baptist World Alliance and represents conventions and unions throughout South America, Central America and Mexico. Contreras is a BWA vice president and a member of the BWA Executive Committee and General Council, as well as several committees.

Heritage & History Society to present awards. The Baptist Heritage & History Society will honor a church historian, a student, a denominational entity, a state convention executive and three ministers at an awards luncheon scheduled in conjunction with its annual meeting, June 7-9 in Campbellsville, Ky. Bill Leonard, founding dean of the Wake Forest University Divinity School, will receive the W.O. Carver Distinguished Service Award, the society’s highest honor, for his career contributions to Baptist history. Bonnie Oliver, a religion student at Memphis Theological will receive the Norman W. Cox Award for the best article published by the society in 2006—“The Life and Times of Barbara Jordan: A Twentieth-Century Baptist and Political Pioneer.” The North American Baptist Heritage Commission in Sioux Falls, S.D., will receive the Davis C. Woolley Award for outstanding achievement in assessing and preserving Baptist history. James Porch, executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, will receive the Carolyn Blevins Meritorious Service Award in recognition of his leading the Tennessee Baptist Convention to provide complimentary office space for the society. In cooperation with the H. Franklin Paschall Chair of biblical studies and preaching at Belmont University in Nashville, the society also will present the 2007 winners of the Baptist Heritage Preaching Contest. The first-place winner is Brent Jones, a Baptist minister and doctoral student in American history at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville; the second-place winner is Steve Hollaway, pastor of Latonia Baptist Church in Covington, Ky.; and the third-place winner is J. Adam Tyler, pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Buckingham, Va.

Wellness walk planned for San Antonio. GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention will sponsor its annual wellness walk/run during the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in San Antonio June 12. Walkers will gather at 6:15 a.m. at the Alamo Street entrance to HemisFair Park, adjacent to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and within walking distance from most hotels in the Riverwalk area. The first 500 registered walkers to stop by the Wellness Walk booth at the convention center will receive a free T-shirt. There will be a one-mile and 5K course for both runners and walkers. Start times will begin at 6:30 a.m. and will be staggered for runners and walkers. Healthful refreshments will be served to all participants at the end of the walk. Interested individuals can register online at www.GuideStone.org or by calling (888) 984-8433. Registered walkers can pick up their numbers at the Wellness Walk booth at the convention center. The booth will be located near the convention registration area June 10, and at the GuideStone Wellness Center on the exhibit floor on June 11.

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

Posted: 5/25/07

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