Posted: 5/11/07

EDITORIAL:
Broad support for a really bad idea

While he probably meant well, state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer’s “tax-free gas” proposal represents a troubling tendency. We want to have our cake and eat it too. Or, more specifically, we want to have our gas guzzlers and drive cheaply too.

Reacting to gasoline prices that have been bumping the $3-per-gallon range, the San Antonio Democrat suggested the state suspend its 20-cents-per-gallon gas tax for 90 days this summer. “My constituents are saying, ‘Gas is too high,’” Fischer explained, noting the temporary gas-tax repeal could save a Texas couple about $100. Those family savings would add up to about $500 million to $700 million in lost revenue, set aside for highway construction and public education. Fischer suggested the shortfall could be covered by the state’s $8 billion surplus, which has been earmarked for school property tax cuts and the state’s Rainy Day Fund.

Fischer’s House colleagues apparently followed his logic. They approved his amendment 118-16. But the measure is not a done deal. It requires Senate approval, and senators seem more inclined to favor property tax breaks than lower numbers at the gas pump.

The “tax-free gas” plan is plain wrong, on several levels. Unfortunately, the proposal:

• Pushes gasoline consumption the wrong way.

The primary variable affecting the price of gas is refineries’ capacity. It’s the law of supply-and-demand. Artificially suppressing gas prices would increase consumption, which would decrease supply. So, ironically, core gas prices would shoot up as gas availability drops. Then, when the tax repeal period ends, pump prices would soar. By the end of the year, Texas motorists could actually spend more on gas than if a tax repeal never happened.

• Promotes consumption at the expense of public good.

For the good of all Texans, state policies should reward reduced gas usage, not bolster gas burning. We ought to be able to see we all have a vested interest in decreasing the amount of gas we buy. Auto emissions are ruining the quality of our air, which is far more than an aesthetic problem in July and August, but also a threat to the health of children, the ill and the elderly and a deterrent to commerce and economic development. Clogged roads diminish the quality of life of almost everyone who lives in an urban area. Dependence upon foreign oil threatens our national sovereignty. Depletion of fuel supplies will harm our children and grandchildren.

These are health, happiness, security and stewardship issues. We ought to develop policies that strengthen and sustain them, not diminish and destroy them.

• Promotes short-term gain; ignores long-term pain.

Can Texas voters be bought for $100 a pair? That’s the calculation made by legislators who support the temporary gas-tax repeal. Ironically, couples who need $100 the most are least likely to see $100 in savings, since it’s still not enough to fund a vacation. So, this proposal becomes yet another tax break for the wealthy and a piffle for the poor.

More troubling is lawmakers’ attitude that the state budget surplus can be siphoned to fuel a vote-buying scheme. If the surplus can be pilfered—and some senators have made a good case that it should not—then it should be applied where it really can help. Before we buy votes, we should increase the number of Child Protective Services workers, provide insurance for more children, look after the mentally ill and care for impoverished children. (For more information, see Buckner International President Ken Hall’s May 8 blog at www.bucknerprez.typepad.com.)

You may dismiss these words as “politics.” But gas consumption and use of natural resources, as well as allocation of taxes, are deeply spiritual issues. We should pray about what and how we drive and the policies we support.

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

Posted: 5/11/07

Faith Digest

Christian worship expert Webber dies. Robert Webber, an influential expert on Christian worship, died April 27 in Sawyer, Mich., after suffering from pancreatic cancer. He was 73. Webber, a professor of ministry at Northern Seminary in Lombard, Ill., the last seven years, previously spent 32 years as a professor of theology at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., where he remained professor emeritus. Webber wrote more than 40 books, including Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail, Worship Is a Verb and Ancient-Future Faith.

Citizenship process delayed for Muslims. U.S. immigration officials discriminate against Muslims when processing citizenship applications, a New York University Law School think tank study reports. Since 9/11, increased security checks of citizenship applications “have illegally delayed the processing of thousands of applications from Muslim, Arab, Middle Eastern and South Asian men,” in part because of the perception they are more likely to be terrorists, the report said. A government official took issue. “The allegations are categorically false. We treat every application, every petition the same, and conduct the same background checks regardless of name, ethnicity or religion,” said Christopher Bentley, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services.

Chris Tomlin, Aaron Shust score Dove awards. Singer and songwriter Chris Tomlin was honored six times at the 38th annual Dove awards presentation, earning more recognition than any other Christian artist at the Nashville, Tenn., ceremony. Tomlin, who won five trophies at last year’s honors, was named artist of the year and male vocalist of the year. His See the Morning was named pop/contemporary album of the year and praise and worship album of the year. He also was honored for his work as co-writer of Holy is The Lord, which was named worship song of the year, and his involvement in Passion: Everything Glorious, which won special-event album of the year. Worship leader Aaron Shust was awarded three Doves, including new artist and songwriter of the year. He wrote My Savior, My God, which was named song of the year. Natalie Grant was named female vocalist of the year, and Casting Crowns was named group of the year.

Pastor launches prayer patrol for Baghdad. Wayne Dillard believes one surge deserves another. President Bush ordered a surge in U.S. troops sent to Iraq, and now Dillard is calling for a surge in prayers on behalf of Baghdad. Dillard, an ordained minister in the Vineyard Christian Fellowship and a founder of Prayercentral.net, has launched the Baghdad Prayer Patrol at www.prayercentral.net/baghdad. He has enlisted at least 300 people who have agreed to spend at least one minute a day praying for the city where death and violence are daily occurrences. Each day, an e-mail goes out to subscribers, focusing on a particular need of U.S. troops, Iraqi leaders and police, and the residents of the city. There is no cost to subscribe and no request for donations.

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

Posted: 5/11/07

Does Gore trump Gideons at hotel?

By Charles O’Toole

Religion News Service

SAN FRANCISCO (RNS)—Reports that Al Gore has replaced God—at least in one California hotel—have been greatly exaggerated, the hotel’s developer said.

The Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa, located 35 miles north of San Francisco, made headlines after a media report that each of the hotel rooms contained a copy of Gore’s environmental book, An Inconvenient Truth, but no Gideon Bible.

Commentator Rush Limbaugh jumped on the story in his radio show, claiming the hotel treated environmentalism as a religion.

But developer Wen-I Chang explained Gaia had not “replaced” the Bible with Gore’s book, as has been claimed by some media outlets. Instead, he said, the hotel staff overlooked providing Bibles in their haste to prepare for the official grand opening.

Chang, a Taiwanese immigrant and a Buddhist, said as soon as the issue came to his attention, he instructed his staff to put Bibles in the hotel’s nightstands. Copies of Buddhist scripture also will go in the drawers.

The Gore book went in the rooms because it matched the hotel’s image as “the first eco-friendly hotel in the Golden State,” he explained.

Gaia was built using sustainable wood and recycled materials. Water, energy use and emissions are kept to a minimum.

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

Posted: 5/11/07

House extends hate crimes law to
include violence against homosexuals

By Philip Turner

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—The House of Representatives has voted to extend hate crimes legislation to add protections for homosexuals, bisexuals and people with gender-identity issues in the same way people are protected because of race or creed.

Democratic leaders called it a civil rights victory, but conservatives and some church leaders argued the bill gives gays special rights and threatens the free speech of ministers who preach homosexuality is immoral.

The White House sent signals that President Bush will veto the bill if it passes the Senate. A statement from the president’s office called the legislation “unnecessary and constitutionally questionable.”

Existing law, on the books since 1968, gives the federal government jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute violent crimes committed because of a person’s religion or race. The new legislation would put sexual orientation on the same plane, adding stricter penalties for people convicted of crimes against homosexuals. It also adds protections for people with disabilities.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., a lead sponsor of the bill, said its passage marked the “last and final” extension of civil rights language. “This strengthens the old law, which does not include protection for bias against someone’s actual or perceived gender or gender identity,” he said.

But Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, warned that ministers could be targeted by prosecutors if someone in a congregation commits a crime against a homosexual because of a sermon he or she heard in church. Clergy could be seen as “aiding and abetting” a criminal, Gohmert said.

Similar legislation in Canada and Sweden has landed Christians in jail for “preaching the word of God,” that homosexuality is sinful, he asserted.

“This bill is an effort to silence people who step up and say the homosexual lifestyle is wrong,” Gohmert said.

Some prominent African-American leaders said they would call on their church members to oppose the bill.

“Homosexuals are hijacking the civil rights movement,” said Harry Jackson, senior pastor at Hope Christian Church in Washington, D.C., which has 3,000 members. “As an African-American, I have long questioned the attempts of the homosexual community to piggyback on the legislative breakthroughs blacks have achieved in civil rights.”

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

Posted: 5/11/07

Hispanic population transforming
United States’ religious landscape

By Adelle Banks

Religion News Service

ASHINGTON (RNS)—About half the nation’s Hispanics—including many who still identify themselves as Roman Catholic—consider themselves charismatics or Pentecostals, creating a confluence of streams in American Christianity, a new study has revealed.

“Simply put, Latinos are transforming the nation’s religious landscape,” said Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center, one of two organizations that produced the study.

The survey and accompanying report found 68 percent of Hispanics describe themselves as Roman Catholics, while 15 percent are evangelical or born-again Protestants. Eight percent do not identify with a religion.

A joint project of the Pew Hispanic Center and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, the report details results of a bilingual telephone survey of 4,016 Hispanic adults between August and October 2006. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

The religious practice of Hispanics—across religious persuasions—is a daily, active one, researchers found.

Seventy percent of all Hispanics have a crucifix or other religious object in their home, and 58 percent pray to the Virgin Mary or saints at difficult times.

Hispanic Catholics are four times as likely as non-Hispanic Catholics to describe themselves as charismatic, but they do not discard traditional Catholic teaching, the report notes. Instead they incorporate charismatic practices into their religious life.

For example, 62 percent of Latino Catholics who attend church services said the Masses at least occasionally include displays of enthusiasm such as clapping, raising hands, jumping or shouting.

“The clear finding here is that taking on a charismatic identity seems to be strengthening rather than weakening Catholic identity so that those two things are able to coexist and … reinforce each other in some very significant ways,” said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

While almost half of formerly Catholic Hispanic evangelicals—46 percent—disapprove of the Catholic Church’s position against divorce, only 5 percent of them cite that as their reason for leaving the church.

In comparison, 61 percent of Latino evangelical converts from Catholicism said they don’t find the typical Catholic Mass to be exciting. Thirty-six percent cited that as a factor in their conversion.

The majority of Latino churchgoers attend predominantly Hispanic congregations that have Latino faith leaders and offer services in Spanish. Spanish services appeal to Hispanics who also speak English well, which Suro said shows “ethnic clustering” is not exclusive to recent immigrants.

“They worship in Spanish even though English may be the language they speak at work, the language they speak with their neighbors,” he said.

Researchers also delved into how religion affected the political viewpoints of Hispanics.

Two out of three Latinos said their religious beliefs have a very important or somewhat important influence on their political thinking.

A majority of Hispanics—56 percent—said churches and other houses of worship should express their views on political questions, while 37 percent said they should keep out of political matters.

More than a quarter said clergy at their house of worship speak about candidates and elections.

Hispanic Catholics who convert to evangelicalism and attend church regularly are most likely to vote Republican.

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

Posted: 5/11/07

Texas Baptist Forum

God, by any other name

The Baptist Standard is no longer taking a stance for Christ and is backing this left-wing anti-Christian terrorist, Charles Kimball (March 5). Why else would they give him and his rhetoric the attention they have? I am the Sunday school director for a Baptist church in Texas, but I will be moving towards independent. I will no longer support the Baptist General Convention of Texas or the Southern Baptist Convention. It is apparent the church is being attacked not only by Muslims and our alleged own government but from within also.

• Jump to online-only letters below

Letters are welcomed. Send them to marvknox@baptiststandard.com; 250 words maximum.

“If Christians could stop arguing about things Jesus didn’t mention or value, and if we could turn down our institutional ambitions and pride, we would see that our singular contribution to these difficult times is community. Not just niceness and smiles, but radically open and transformative community. Jesus said, ‘Be one,’ not ‘be right.’ He said, ‘Love one another,’ not ‘judge one another.’ Our … world is desperate for authentic community.” Tom Ehrich Writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest (RNS) “When Jesus said we should love our neighbors as ourselves, he meant we should probably try every means available to stop those neighbors from being killed.” Bob Edgar General secretary of the National Council of Churches, addressing Berkshire Hathaway stockholders on “socially responsible investing” (Ekklesia/RNS) “Many evangelicals are boarding a new train. It runs along tracks defined by the broad demands of their faith, not by some party’s political agenda.” E.J. Dionne Washington Post columnist, on how some American evangelicals are in the midst of a “New Reformation” that separates them from partisan politics (RNS)

I will do my part to expose your efforts to fuel this intended means for a one-world religion, which is exactly what Kimball’s message is. Read your Bible to find that there will be no peace between Muslim and Christian/Jews until the return of Christ. You are either for Christ or against him. Our God is a jealous god who shares his glory with no other. What an example you at the Baptist Standard set. But for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Someone needs to see to it that Kimball is deported to the Middle East along with every so-called Baptist that supports his ideology. The Bible tells us people like him are coming. Look up!

Tim Engledow

Anahuac

While many of our Baptist community prefer to think the name “Allah” that Muslims use for God cannot be reconciled with the God of “Abraham, Isaac, Jacob” or the eternal Triune Godhead, a knowledge of Semitic languages argues against them.

The Arabic “Allah” is related to the older Canaanite term “Elat,” the Hebrew words of our Old Testament “El” (singular) and “Elohim” (plural), and the Aramaic that Jesus likely spoke daily, “Alaha.” Etymologically, the names all share an unmistakable common origin.

However, just as in the English word “god,” the same name may describe more than one spiritual being at a time. The Hebrew of the Old Testament has no problem referring to the God of Israel as “Elohim” and then turning around and using the exact word for the multiple gods of the Canaanites. Character, not title, marks the difference.

Perhaps we Baptists might learn to evaluate the religions and practices of our neighbors on more profound levels than merely the grammatical.

David Maltsberger

Boerne

Scott Presnall’s reasoning (April 30) is absurd. His statement that Baptist, Mormon and Muslim viewpoints all carry the same validity is amazingly naive. 

The thing that separates these various viewpoints is not my opinion but the word of God. The issue is not unique interpretations of Scripture, but what do you do with Jesus, who himself said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Mormonism has an unbiblical view of Jesus’ work on the cross, and Islam teaches that Jesus was simply a prophet.  Presnall’s view is equivalent to moral relativism. All roads don’t lead to the same destination, and there is an absolute truth!

Jimmy Carter was wrong when he said that Mormonism is equivalent to Christianity!  I am saddened by the fact that our executive director would align himself and our convention with a group that will seek to water down the gospel. 

Randy Brown

Lufkin

Path to salvation

David King’s letter (April 30) was insightful. But I either misread or misunderstood his remarks regarding the similarites of the Christian/Muslim view of God. He wrote: “He is a moral God, so those who ‘do good’ are assured a place in heaven and those who disobey are assured of punishment in hell.” Later in his letter, while contrasting Christians and Muslims, he mentions “a personal relationship with sinful people through the atonement of Jesus, the forgiveness of sins.”

Nowhere does the Scripture teach one is saved by a “do good” effort, but only “by grace through faith” is one justified through the atonement of Jesus.

Hopefully, since King served the Lord for 30 years as a missionary, I either misread or misunderstood the “do good” statement. His insights are excellent, but the “do good” statement could be very confusing.

Bill Sword

Garland

David King is incorrect. Those who have accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord and believe in him as God’s Son and ask Jesus to come into their heart and live and be their Lord and be guided through life by the Holy Spirit are assured a place in heaven.

There are a lot of “good” people in the world, but that does not mean they have been saved and made Jesus Lord of their lives, though they might think so.

And those who do not receive and believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord are assured of punishment in hell.

Joann Gordon

Dallas

Legality of immigration

In “How can churches legally minister to illegal immigrants?” (April 30), Krista Gregory, a consultant with Baptist Immigration Services Network, said, “A church can give undocumented residents food and clothes and can allow them to be full members of the congregation.”

My question is:  What constitutes a “full member” of a Baptist church?  

I thought you had to be a baptized believer to be a full member.  If that’s the case, then how can someone living in an illegal (sinful) way be a baptized believer?  I know we are all sinners and only through the grace of God and blood of Christ are we saved.  But to be born again means to repent of your sins (crimes) and not engage in these sins (crimes).  So how can one doing this become a “full” member of a church?  What if the person was an adulterer and continued in his/her sin?  What if they were a thief and continued stealing?  What if they were a child molester and continued molesting children?  Would all these still be allowed “full” membership?

How far has our denomination descended into the worldly ways that we would allow this?  May God forgive us for giving in to the ways of the world.

Mick Tahaney

Port Arthur

Straight thoughts on illegal immigrants: I don’t know anyone in America today whose ancestors were not immigrants—Irish, German, English, etc. Even the American Indians immigrated.

So it’s not about legal immigrants, but illegal. Surely the Scripture offers some thoughts and help:

• Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s (Luke 20:25). We must obey the laws of the land, not pick and choose. Unless we want anarchy.

• The Good Samaritan took care of the man, paid for care (Luke 10:33). Didn’t take him to the nearest ER and dump him. Medical care and schooling all cost money—to encourage otherwise is wrong. It will kill our schools and hospitals.

• The worker deserves his wages (Luke 10:7). Yes, it will cost more to get certain jobs done if we do away with slave wages and living conditions. As Christians, can we do less?

David S. Moore

Olney

Evangelical identity

A boy rode his mule from Low Gap to Jasper, Ark., one Saturday afternoon. A policeman noticed the boy standing on the street and asked him, “Do you have any I.D.?” The boy replied, “About what?”

The word “evangelical” is now being used as an identification of our belief. One who maintains the Bible is the only rule of faith. One who teaches or preaches the gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ. One who leads others to be converted to Christianity.

Surveys among professing Christians—those who claim to be born-again—reveal beliefs in church, baptism, heaven, hell, the Bible, salvation and many others. Now surveys separate the beliefs of evangelical Christians and nonevangelical Christians. If there ever was an oxymoron statement, this is it! You don’t say a person is a 10-foot-tall midget. Most church members are not evangelistic because most church members are happy being members of the church they never attend.

A Christian is one who believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ with a living faith that conforms their life to the image of Christ day by day. Jesus came to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10). That’s evangelical! “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). That’s evangelical! “Go make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). That’s evangelical!

To say that a Christian may be nonevangelical is foreign to the teachings of Christ, but when a Christian is identified by his evangelical lifestyle, it is a great compliment. “Do you have any I.D.?”

Wayne Nix

Mount Pleasant

What do you think? Send letters to Editor Marv Knox by mail: P.O. Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267; or by e-mail: marvknox@baptiststandard.com.

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

Posted: 5/11/07

On the Move

• Cindy Addy to First Church in Paris as director of children and preschool ministries, where she had been interim.

• James Aldridge to New Horizon Church in Lubbock as pastor from Northwestern Church in Midland.

• Phil Barton to First Church in Denison as minister of prayer and discipleship.

• Jay Beerly to First Church of Wake Village in Texarkana as youth minister.

• Mark Bernard to First Church in Dorchester as minister to students.

• Brian Brown has resigned as executive pastor of Parkway Church in Victoria to start a new church in Florida.

• Eric Chaffin to Broadview Church in Lubbock as pastor.

• Clayton Chisum to Field Street Church in Cleburne as minister to students.

• Tommy Derrick to First Church in Farwell as youth minister from First Church in Meridian.

• Tiny Dominguez to Community Heights Church in Lubbock as pastor from Iglesia Getsemani in Fort Worth, where he was associate pastor.

• Michael Farnsworth to First Church in Canton as interim music minister.

• Tim Hardaway to First Church of Wake Village in Texarkana as minister of music.

• Gary Hearon to First Church in Canton as interim pastor.

• Skip Holman has resigned as pastor of First Church in Boling to become chief operating officer of Inmate Discipler Fellowship, a ministry of Texas Baptist Men, effective May 31.

• Steve Horton to Westland Heights Church in Fort Worth as minister of music from Lebanon Church in Cleburne.

• Michael Johnson to Old Union Church in Simms as pastor.

• Johnnie McNellie has resigned as music minister at Trinity Valley Church in Carrollton.

• Ruben Osuna to Woodrow Church in Lubbock as pastor from Parkway Drive Church in Lubbock.

• Scott Weatherford has resigned as pastor of Parkway Church in Victoria to start a new church in Florida.

• Curtis Whited to Downtown First Church in Texarkana as music minister.

• Fred Witty to East Hill Church in Tallahassee, Fla., as minister of discipleship and outreach, from Cana Church in Burleson, where he was minister of education/discipleship.

• Jason York to Ogden Church in Ogden, Ark., as pastor from First Church of Wake Village in Texarkana, where he was youth and education minister.

• Chad Zeller to Crosspointe Church in Midlothian as pastor.

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

Posted: 5/11/07

What people don’t know
about religion can hurt them

By Nancy Haught

Religion News Service

BOSTON (RNS)—What Americans don’t know about religion is sometimes funny. For instance, when Jay Leno interviewed people on the street recently, someone told him God made Eve out of an apple.

Americans’ ignorance also makes for some astonishing statistics. Ten percent believe Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife. Seventy-five percent are certain the Bible says, “God helps those who help themselves.” Even evangelical Christians have lapses: 20 percent say they believe in reincarnation.

It should not be surprising, then, that most Americans don’t know the difference between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. Most of us haven’t read any Hindu scripture, and we couldn’t find the Buddha’s Eightfold Path with a map.

In his new book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know—and Doesn’t, Stephen Prothero, head of the religion department at Boston University, points out what Americans don’t know and how it can hurt us. His book includes a religious literacy quiz he says most of his beginning students fail at the start of an introductory course.

Because we are ignorant of the Bible and of others’ religious traditions, we stand to suffer politically, culturally and personally, Prothero said.

We can’t decode political speeches, weigh religious arguments or explain to our own kids why we disagree with others on a religious point, he explained. We’re even confused about our own beginnings.

“Ever since George Washington put his hand on a Bible and swore to uphold a godless Constitution, the United States has been both staunchly secular and resolutely religious,” Prothero writes.

The problem, Prothero argues, is an unfounded wariness of teaching religion as a secular subject. Only 8 percent of public high school students report their school offers a class on the Bible.

“There are two ways to talk about religion,” Prothero said. “The way we’re most accustomed to is a Sunday or Sabbath school way, as a matter of personal faith. But religions are institutions, with histories and books that outsiders can read and ethical codes that outsiders can learn. There is as much knowledge to be gained about religion as there is about music, art and history.”

Like it or not, religion has shaped and still is shaping American history, culture, politics and foreign policy, Prothero said.

“If you want to understand the upcoming presidential campaign, you have to know something about religion,” he said. “Mitt Romney is talking about his Mormonism. John Edwards is talking about Jesus. Hillary Clinton is talking about the Good Samaritan in the context of immigration reform.”

Americans who are ignorant about religion are vulnerable to “being bullied” by politicians and by those in the news media who “give too much coverage to the crazy arguments,” Prothero said.

“Between the crazy secular left and the crazy religious right, there is a really huge middle,” he said. “That middle tends to be silent because we don’t know enough” to talk intelligently about religion.

The diversity of religious expression in the United States is challenging, he said, but it is no excuse for nursing our ignorance.

“Our public debate about religion-inflected matters is dominated by people on the far left and the far right, who either think religion should be run out of politics or rammed down our throats,” he said. “This leads to a kind of public discussion that is more heat than light.”

What’s a country to do? Prothero calls for public school classes that teach about religion and sacred texts by trained teachers who know their constitutional responsibilities. In the meantime, he’s compiled a dictionary of religious words, people, stories and symbols that fills 78 pages of his book.

If nothing else, he suggested, spend an afternoon reading two books of the Bible—Genesis and Matthew.

“If you read those two books, you get about 80 percent of the characters, phrases and stories that are used in American politics,” he said. “It’s a start.”

Those who do will come to know—unlike a chunk of the American public—that Abraham Lincoln didn’t deliver the Sermon on the Mount and Sodom and Gomorrah were never married.

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

Posted: 5/11/07

Churches pressure travel
industry on sex trafficking

By Melissa Stee

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Faith groups are using their collective influence and financial wherewithal to press the travel and hospitality industry to take greater steps to protect children from sex trafficking.

Increasing numbers of church groups and other religious bodies say it’s not only a moral imperative to guard against sex trafficking, but also makes good business sense for hotels, airlines and cruise companies.

Last November, a Massachusetts investment firm, Boston Common Asset Management, used a shareholder resolution to convince the Marriott hotel empire to reshape its human rights policy with a new “protection of the rights of children” clause to raise awareness of the issue.

The Boston company is a member of the New York-based Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, and its success with Marriott prompted greater interest in what investors—in this case, churches—can do to end child sex tourism.

“Faith groups are saying that this is just so abhorrent we need to address it,” said David Shilling, director of global corporate accountability for the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. “The motivation is to try to redress the issue of (using) people for various commodities.”

According to the U.S. State Department, more than 1 million children worldwide are caught up in a global network of sex trafficking in which people travel to engage in paid sex acts with children.

The Interfaith Center reviewed which faith groups hold stock in specific corporations. The Presbyterian Church (USA), for example, “stepped up” to engage Hilton Hotels, where it holds investments, on the issue, Schilling said.

Bill Somplatsky-Jarman, who monitors the Presbyterians’ $10 billion investment portfolio for the church’s Mission Responsibility through Investment Committee, said hotels can have an influence on the sex tourism industry.

“It would be one major piece in the chain of helping to raise awareness,” he said. “Having them on board creates a better climate to combat this sort of activity.”

Faith groups have been working with the New York-based ECPAT-USA, a nonprofit organization working to end child prostitution, child pornography and sex trafficking. It wants hotels to adopt its code, which was developed in conjunction with the travel industry and the World Tourism Organization. Signatories of that code agree to develop policies and implement training to detect and avoid involvement in child sex tourism. They also are required to report on their progress annually to shareholders.

Carol Smolenski, executive director of ECPAT-USA, said hotels play a critical role in fighting child exploitation because hotels often are the places where it occurs. This puts them “in a position to take a position” and to “address travelers,” she said.

But, Smolenski said, most companies have been unwilling to completely sign on to the requirements of the code.

“They don’t sign because (they believe) it makes them more vulnerable to a lawsuit if something happens on their premises,” she said. “Signing it makes them more responsible.”

She argued, however, that signing the code actually would benefit a company in that sort of situation. “If something happened and you had signed, you’d be in a better place,” she said, because it would help a hotel appear to be a “good- guy company” that is trying to address the problem.

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

Posted: 5/11/07

Texas Tidbits

Joy Fenner

BGCT VP receives Truett Award. Joy Fenner, first vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, was slated to receive the George W. Truett Distinguished Church Service Award at Baylor University’s commencement, May 12. Fenner served as executive director of Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas for two decades. In the 1960s, she served as director of the Girls Auxiliary of Texas WMU. She later was appointed as a missionary by the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board, serving 13 years in Fukuoka, Japan.

Fletcher named Elder Statesman. Jesse Fletcher, president-emeritus of Hardin-Simmons University, will receive the Texas Baptist Elder Statesman award during a June 3 service at Independence Baptist Church, near Brenham. Fletcher was president of Hardin-Simmons University from 1977 to 1991, and he served as chancellor from 1991 to 2001. The program begins with a 10 a.m. Bible study and 11:10 a.m. worship service, followed by a covered-dish picnic on the grounds of the historic church. The Elder Statesman Award recipient is selected by the officers of Independence Association to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to Baptist education in Texas.

Registration deadline nears for literacy event. May 18 marks the registration deadline for the 2007 Conference for Internationals and Literacy Ministries, slated for June 14-16 at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary. The conference, sponsored by the Baylor School of Social Work and its Center for Literacy, marks the 50th anniversary of the university’s connection to Baptist literacy ministries. It includes 25 breakout sessions, in addition to basic training workshops in adult literacy and English as Second Language. For more information or to register online, visit www.baylor.edu/ social_work/literacy or call (254) 710-3854.

Estate endows chair at Hardin-Simmons. Annuities and trusts left to Hardin-Simmons University by Lee and Lunelle Nix Hemphill enabled the school to endow a chair in the Kelly College of Business in their memory. The Hemphills were longtime members of First Baptist Church in Abilene and major benefactors of Hardin-Simmons.

DBU launches doctorate in educational leadership. May 18 marks the application deadline for candidates seeking admission into the new doctoral program in educational leadership at Dallas Baptist University. Classes begin in the summer for the research-based doctoral studies program, aimed toward adult practitioner-learners. The pilot program is designed to allow students to complete the degree in four years while working fulltime. For more information, visit www.DBU.edu/leadership/EdD.

Howard Payne campaign reaches milestone. Howard Payne University has reached the $22 million mark in its “Sharing the Vision” capital campaign. Funds generated through the campaign will be used for campus enhancements and renovations, as well as endowments and student scholarships. The university hopes to reach its $25 million challenge goal by the end of the year, President Lanny Hall 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: 5/11/07

TOGETHER:
Missions strategy that will ‘get ’er done’

In a world that is increasingly difficult to understand, where terrors and threats fill every newscast, how do we become more effective bearers of good news in our mission endeavors? How do we become friends to the friendless? How do we become powerful and winsome witnesses to the saving grace of Jesus Christ?

These are critical questions facing Texas Baptists, and we are seeking answers.

Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

Bill O’Brien, in his important monograph Challenges Confronting Baptist Missions, says the lingering impact of the enlightenment, slavery, colonialism and racism reflected in the attitudes that still shape so much of western Christianity affects negatively our ability to think in new ways about how we are to do missions in this century. The truth continues to be that “the past is not over.”

Recognizing what is behind, we move forward with grace and faith, insight and hope. We find ways to offer our enormous spiritual, human and financial resources to God in a humble and generous way. A missions strategy that will impact the future will be:

• Biblical. It will take seriously all of the Great Commission, which includes the authority of Christ, the call to go and make disciples, the assignment to baptize in his name, the necessity of teaching all that Christ commanded and the promise of his presence. If we teach all he commanded, then we will teach worship, faith and obedience toward God and love, justice and righteousness toward others.

• Prayerful. Any passionate effort for people to know Christ and be saved will be conceived in prayer and can only be sustained through prayer. Every missionary advance has given testimony to the necessity of prayer.

• Comprehensive. It will use all our resources collaboratively and unselfishly. Texas Baptists have amazingly gifted and mission-hearted leaders in our churches, associations, convention and institutions. We need to see all of our resources at work, celebrate what each is doing and work collaboratively to maximize our multiple efforts.

• Visionary. It will be as big as the kingdom of God. It will excite mission passion in our hearts. It will call us to changes we must make in order to be effective in a frightening and confusing world arena. And it has to be now.

• Understandable. We will communicate in a clear and encouraging voice what steps we can take now and what needs must be met.

• Accessible. Churches and individuals will find how they can personally take hold of one part of the mission vision and invest their skills, calling and life in that task. People will be able on a daily basis to do something specific that will impact the world for Jesus Christ.

• Effective. A true missions strategy will help people come to Christ, require Christlikeness in the “missionary” and establish churches that see themselves as the body of Christ. It will result in our churches being on mission in their communities, throughout our state and to the ends of the earth. As our cowboy churches like to say, a true missions strategy will really “get ’er done”!

We are loved.

Charles Wade is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.

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

Posted: 5/11/07

Dallas church teams with Buckner
to help AIDS orphans in Kenya

By Mark Wingfield

Wilshire Baptist Church

USIA, Kenya—Sixty Kenyan 4- and 5-year-olds started school for the first time recently, thanks to the missions effort of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas and Buckner International.

Working with Buckner and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Wilshire provided funds for construction of a child development center in Busia, Kenya. The building now is open, and its two classrooms are being used to teach preschoolers—something not previously available in this area, where the opportunity to go to school begins later and often is dependent on a family’s ability to provide items such as a school desk. The Wilshire child development center comes equipped with its own desks for young students to use.

Children in Buckner care in Busia, Kenya, participate in a child development center.

Adjacent to the center is a kitchen, where lunch is prepared each day for the preschoolers. A medical clinic soon will be built on the same site, thanks to the donation of a Wilshire family.

Through KidsHeart Africa, Wilshire is sponsoring another 50 school-age orphans in the care of Buckner International. KidsHeart is a strategic initiative originating with Buckner and endorsed by CBF for church partnership. Wilshire was the first individual church to take on a child development center project through KidsHeart.

A five-member team from Wilshire traveled to Busia in late April, the third journey for Wilshire to this site. Through this trip, the Wilshire volunteers checked on the children in Buckner care and provided additional medical care, spiritual nurture and personal attention.

“The children had grown and overall looked healthier than last August when we were there,” said Linda Garner, Wilshire’s parish nurse and a professor of nursing at Baylor University’s School of Nursing. “Sammy was walking and running on a leg with no open ulcer like he had then.”

Previous Wilshire teams treated a variety of illness, such as Sammy’s skin ulcer, that would be commonly treated in the United States but for which medical care often is not available in Kenya.

Linda Garner, parish nurse at Wilshire Baptist Church and a professor at Baylor School of Nursing, examines a child in the Buckner program at Busia, Kenya. Many of the illnesses treated in Kenya would be easily prevented in the United States but often go untreated there due to lack of medicine and medical personnel.

Nancy Stretch, a nurse practitioner in Garland, and Garner examined 25 of the children for illness-related issues. “We were able to provide medicines for current problems as well as leave some for use in the future,” Garner said. “We also saw a few of the foster parents and a few folks from the community.”

They also were reminded how simple treatments make life-changing differences.

“I talked with one of the pastors of the church who walked to the camp to get medicine for his mother who had fallen and ‘dislocated’ her hip,” Garner said. “I couldn’t determine whether it was dislocated or broken. In either case, she could not walk and was having a lot of pain. He said the medicine we had given her in August helped her arthritis and asked if he could take her some more. I gave him the biggest bottle of Ibuprofen I could find.”

Mollie Menton also returned to Busia for a second visit on this trip.

“It felt as if I had never left,” she said. “It felt like home.”

Menton, a Baylor University graduate who now works for the Wilkinson Center in Dallas, served as trip leader and coordinated a Vacation Bible School for the Buckner children.

“We took puppets, which were a huge hit with the kids,” she explained. “Just imagine a puppet show that needs to be translated into Swahili.”

Near the child development center, Texas Baptists recently installed a water well that has brought hope to the community.

“What an amazing sight,” Menton exclaimed. “To talk with a lady who used to walk two hours to get water and now has to walk only 10 minutes is incredible. Also, the children drinking from the well just took my breath away.”

Garner, too, was moved by visiting the well.

“On the way back from the well, I met two women going to draw water with their huge yellow bucket. They stopped to chat and tell me how wonderful it is to have clean water for the first time. Previously, their water was dirty or ‘thick,’ and now they have clean water to use. The woman who was talking was so excited to be able to take clean water home to her family. She reminded me of the Samaritan woman described in the Bible who found the living water.”

Wilshire has made a multi-year commitment to Busia through KidsHeart Africa. By maintaining ties with the same location and people, a much greater impact results, said Minister of Missions Jason Coker.

“The most profound experience I’ve had in this partnership is seeing the change in the orphans. When I went to Busia for the first time in May and met the foster children, they all seemed dazed and confused—almost as if they were stunned and had no feeling. In December when I returned, it was like I met different children. They laughed and played. Their eyes contained hope.

“In the time span from May to December, these children were given a hope that fed their hungry bellies, clothed their naked bodies and sheltered their homeless beings. They were different kids. They were alive for the first time in a long time.”

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