Posted: 2/29/08

Friends, family honor Wade at dinner

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS—Hailed as a man of integrity, a loving pastor and devoted husband and father, friends gathered to honor Charles Wade at a retirement dinner held prior to the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board meeting.

Wade retired Jan. 31 after eight years as BGCT executive director. Throughout the evening, speakers gently gibed Wade for his tendency to speak beyond allotted limits, praised him for his commitment to making the BGCT more reflective of Texas ethnically and racially, and lovingly recalled instances that illustrated his pastoral care for people.

Wade led with the courage of his convictions and with a gracious and welcoming spirit, said BGCT Executive Board Chairman John Petty of Kerrville.

“My generation of Texas Baptists has never known a time when we have not benefited from your leadership,” Petty said. “You have shepherded us.”

Phil Miller, leader in the Bible study and discipleship area, said the BGCT Executive Board staff always will fondly remember Wade’s “heart for people and ready smile.”

Leaders from several BGCT-related universities, childcare agencies and hospitals presented commemorative gifts to Wade and his family.

Dennis Linam, vice president for external affairs at Dallas Baptist University, announced the creation of an endowed scholarship in honor of Charles and Rosemary Wade. Linam also noted Wade will serve as an adjunct part-time professor at the school, teaching a course in the global leadership master’s degree program.

Baylor Health Care System President Joel Allison noted his board made a contribution to the medical system’s chaplaincy program in Wade’s honor.

Gus Reyes, leader of the congregational relations team on the BGCT Executive Board staff, thanked Wade for his leadership on behalf of the affinity groups that relate to the BGCT—African-Americans, Hispanics, cowboy churches, intercultural ministry and bivocational or small-church ministers.

Praising him as a “make-it-happen man,” Reyes noted that diversity within the Baptist Building staff and on BGCT governing boards and committees serves as Wade’s legacy.

Jimmy Allen, retired denominational executive and past president of both the BGCT and the Southern Baptist Convention, described Wade as “a friend and companion on the journey.”

He recalled how Wade visited him when Allen was pastor of First Baptist Church in San Antonio to learn how his congregation was making an impact in the community. In time, he said, Wade took those ideas and built on them as pastor of First Baptist Church in Arlington.

He praised Wade as a Christian who has a vital relationship with God, a pastor who “reached out to all kinds of folks” and “a man of integrity” who led with courage—particularly in the area of race relations.

“Reaching across racial and ethnic lines is just a natural part of Charles Wade’s Christian walk,” Allen said.

Bill Bruster, retired networking coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, told how he and Wade served as Royal Ambassadors under Bob Banks’ direction, roomed together at Oklahoma Baptist University and carpooled together during their seminary studies.

Bruster told humorous stories about their college days and Wade’s courtship of Rosemary, and offered thanks for their formative friendship.

“He recommended me to the first church I served,” Bruster said. “He helped shape me.”

Mark Wade described how he benefited from his parents’ example, particularly the love and respect they consistently demonstrated for each other through the years. He expressed gratitude for the Christian life his father not only taught him to follow, but also modeled for him.

“He is a man of character. You never have to doubt his word,” he said. “He is a man of integrity. He’s the same man in private as he is in public. …Words don’t mean a lot unless they are lived out in actions.”

Tillie Burgin, director of Mission Arlington, remembered Wade enlisting her to join the staff at First Baptist Church in Arlington.

“You allowed me to come on as minister of missions when I didn’t know what that was, and you didn’t either,” she said, directing comments to Wade.

But she recalled a shabbily dressed young man who came to church at her invitation on Sunday night after she had helped him during her first day on the job. That night, he walked the aisle at the church and committed his life to Christ.

“God affirmed something here,” she remembered Wade saying that evening. In time, Mission Arlington grew to become a multi-faceted ministry of apartment-based Bible studies and wide-ranging social programs for the poor.

Posted: 2/29/08

Congress considers workplace freedom bill again

By Greg Trotter

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Congress again is considering a bill to protect religious expression in the workplace, but the bill—bandied about for a decade or more—continues to draw steep opposition from business interests.

The Workplace Religious Freedom Act would require employers to be more accommodating of employees who wish to wear religious headgear, for example, or take time off for holy day observances.

The bill has broad bipartisan support and backing from an unusually large swath of religious groups, including Seventh-day Adventists, Orthodox Jews, Catholic bishops, the Islamic Supreme Council of North America and the Church of Scientology.

But it also has attracted opposition from business groups like the HR Policy Association, which represents corporate human resources departments, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Both are concerned that one employee’s religious expression may unfairly impact co-workers or customers.

Many corporations maintain Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 already protects employee rights, and they say the bill would further complicate an already complex set of rules, said Michael Gray, an attorney for HR Policy.

“The law goes too far in demanding that companies provide accommodation for one employee while risking unfairly burdening the other employees in the process,” Gray testified at a recent House committee hearing.

The debate centers on what steps an employer must take before employees’ requests become an “undue hardship” for managers.

Supporters of the bill, including Richard Foltin, legislative director for the American Jewish Committee, say a 1977 Supreme Court decision weakened protections when it found that anything more than a minimal added cost was to be considered an “undue hardship.”

The proposed bill says employers must accommodate employees unless it means a “significant difficulty or expense.” It would also provide tests to clarify terms like “reasonable accommodation,” and “undue hardship,” Foltin said.

“This bill will clarify the employer’s responsibility for accommodation,” Foltin said.

Some opponents also are concerned a redefinition might affect the rights of third parties—other employees who would have to cover for fellow workers, for example.

Helen Norton, a law professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, raised the scenario of a patient who is denied access to contraceptives from a hospital employee who objects on moral or religious grounds.

Under the current law, the hospital would not have to make an exception for that employee, but the proposed bill would change that, Norton said.

But supporters say the bill gets to the very heart of American religious freedom. Seventh-day Adventists, for instance, hold worship services on Saturdays, and believers shouldn’t be forced to choose between work and faith, said James Standish, the church’s legislative affairs director.

“If we raise our daughters to be Seventh-day Adventists, how can we know they won’t be discriminated against?” he asked, pulling out a poster-sized picture of his children.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., a cosponsor of the bill, said she was confident language could be crafted that would satisfy all sides—as long as all parties are open to compromise.

“We’re not that far apart,” she said. “If we can come out with a bill that everyone complains about and no one is happy with, that’s a good bill.”

Posted: 2/26/08

Buckner to resume mission trips to Kenya

By Analiz González

Buckner International

NAIROBI, Kenya—The signing of peace agreement in Kenya—and reports of stablization throughout the area—led Buckner International to announce it will resume sending volunteer mission groups to Kenya in the summer.

“This is a result of our U.S. missions staff listening closely to our staff in Kenya,” Buckner President Ken Hall said. “It’s an answer to prayer that Kenyans have recognized the need for peace and that our teams will be able to be the hands of Christ to a country that needs healing.”

The decision opens the opportunity for previously scheduled church teams to send volunteers to Kenya. It first will affect summer trips planned by four churches—Valley Ranch Baptist Church in Coppell, First Baptist Church of Amarillo, Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas and Memorial Baptist Church in Columbia, Mo.

“We’ve been in constant contact over the last month with our Kenya staff, and things are much more stable now,” said Randy Daniels, vice president of global initiatives at Buckner. “A peace accord was signed … and all Kenya is celebrating. They anticipate stability, continued growth. The climate has dramatically changed over the last few weeks.”

Kofi Annan, past secretary general of the United Nations, mediated a power-sharing agreement between rival political factions in Kenya after riots broke out following a disputed presidential election. President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga agreed to the peace accord Feb. 28.

Buckner’s reinstating the trips will be an encouragement to the Kenyan children and staff, Daniels said.

“Not going over there would be akin to not seeing your family for a year,” he said. “When Kenyans see us in their country, it reassures our staff that they have our support. We are with them, walking beside them. We won’t abandon them. I mean, we weren’t going to put people at risk, and they understood that in Kenya, but they will be celebrating our presence now.”

Buckner set Feb. 28 as the deadline to make a decision because the mission groups need to plan their flights early, Daniels said. Early that day, he received a message from Dixon Masindano, director Buckner Kenya, saying the peace accord was signed and things looked positive for mission trips.

“Unfortunately, it was too late for our college interns to go because they need to start raising funds early on,” he said.

“When the turmoil started, we wanted to switch the (mission teams) to travel to another country instead,” said Victor Upton, vice president of missions resource group. “But they wanted to hold and pray about it. And it came through for them.”

Posted: 2/29/08

RIGHT or WRONG? True religion

Our pastor has just preached a sermon in which he said the Epistle of James says true religion is characterized by how we treat orphans and widows. We have neither in our small community. So, how do we express true religion?

Your pastor should be commended for alerting you to an important principle straight from the New Testament. And commendations to you for taking the point seriously. You obviously want to make direct transfer from the Scriptures to real life.

In your case, the literal orphans and widows are not immediately around you. Of course, taking Scripture seriously means we must continue to find the points of enacting the directives of Scripture, even if a quick, direct application cannot be made.

In the case of “widows and orphans” the theme predates even James, in fact, into the antiquities of the Old Testament. You can find these points of instructions from God in the Pentateuch, the prophets and the wisdom literature, all of the three major divisions of Old Testament Scripture. As you find those passages, you will note that often the “widows and orphans” phrase had added to it “sojourners” or strangers. One can read the book of Ruth and ascertain that Ruth fit each of those descriptive categories. Boaz’s responses to her can be noted as how a faithful follower of Jehovah would treat those who came into the community from somewhere else and without the usual means of livelihood.

And there we are on how we can understand this phrase in our own time. The “widows, orphans and sojourners” became what can be called a prophetic formula. The prophets used the phrase to appeal to their audiences toward how they should treat those in their midst who were disadvantaged, oppressed, physically challenged—anyone who needed assistance from others to make way through life. The prophets insisted how one treats others depicts either an authentic or an inauthentic faith practice.

Jesus continued this idea when he talked about “the poor you will always have with you.” He was making a realistic assessment of life in this world, but also that the poor around us constitute a concrete reminder of who we all are without the protection and sustenance of God. Further, as Jesus vividly enacted, he initiated conversation and received conversation with an overwhelming number of people in the first century society who were “people who had less.” They were people who had less than those who were able to make a living and provide for family and kingdom work.

So, authentic Christian faith can be seen, for others and for ourselves, in how we treat not only “widows and orphans,” but anyone who is not our kind, is in need of help at whatever level. Therefore, look at your community again. My guess is that there are people who need your actions which depict “true religion.”

Bill Tillman, T.B. Maston professor of Christian ethics

Logsdon School of Theology

Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene

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

Posted: 2/26/08

New exec pledges to lead BGCT to
discover & fulfill ‘kingdom assignment’

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS—Commitment to a “kingdom assignment”—ensuring every person in Texas has the opportunity to respond to Christ by Easter 2010—can help unite Texas Baptists, Randel Everett told the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board just prior to his election as executive director.

The board voted 78-6 to elect Everett, pastor of First Baptist Church in Newport News, Va., as executive director at a Feb. 26 meeting in Dallas. He succeeds Charles Wade, who retired Jan. 31. Jan Daehnert is serving as interim executive director until Everett assumes the executive’s post in April.

Chairman Ken Hugghins of Huntsville noted the executive director search committee “came to unanimity” in recommending Everett after seeking God’s direction and listening to Texas Baptists.

Everett’s commitment to historic Baptist principles, effectiveness as a communicator, lack of political agenda, ability to build coalitions, cultural sensitivity, theological soundness, and passion for missions and evangelism led the committee to recommend him, Hugghins said.

“Randel Everett cares about Texas, and he cares about people worldwide,” he said. “He cares across ethnicities and across generations. He relates well to people.”

God has a “kingdom assignment” for Texas Baptists as they seek to share the gospel in an increasingly diverse context, Everett told the board.

“We no longer live in Acts 2,” when the Apostle Peter was able to address an audience with a shared understanding about God’s acts in Israel’s history, Everett said.

“We live in a pluralistic Acts 17 world,” he continued, comparing postmodern culture to the time when the Apostle Paul addressed a philosophically and theologically diverse crowd at Mars Hill.

Many non-Christians today remain unimpressed by rational, linear evidence or proof of the gospel, but they crave something spiritual beyond themselves, he added.

“They want authenticity,” he said. “They want hope.”

Everett challenged Texas Baptists to take risks and set high goals, casting off anything that weighs them down and encumbers them.

“If we are not operating in the arena where great failure is a possibility, we are not operating in the arena of faith,” he said.

Challenging Texas Baptists to discover and fulfill their “kingdom assignment,” he presented a two-year evangelistic goal.

“By Resurrection Sunday 2010, give every person living in Texas the opportunity to respond to Christ in his own language and context,” he urged.

Rather than categorizing and labeling people, Everett urged Texas Baptists to focus on Jesus.

“Some want to know if I’m an SBC guy or a CBF guy or a BWA guy. I hope you’ll come to the conclusion I’m a Jesus guy,” he said of questions regarding his affinity for the Southern Baptist Convention, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Baptist World Alliance.

Everett responded to questions from the board regarding:

• Cooperation. A director asked if he would reach out to Christians from “the other state Baptist convention”—the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

Everett noted his involvement in a Scripture distribution campaign in Newport News, Va., that included both Baptist General Association of Virginia and Southern Baptist of Conservatives of Virginia churches, as well as congregations of other denominations.

“I pray that we will work with anyone who shares our kingdom assignment,” he said.

• Longevity. Pointing to George W. Truett as a “hero” and model, Everett said as a young pastor, he dreamed of serving one urban congregation 40 years. Instead, most of his pastorates have been relatively short in tenure.

“Almost every church I served was a church in crisis of some kind,” he noted. “That has been the kind of ministry to which it seems we have been called.”

But Everett said he believes the varied experiences as pastor of diverse churches and leader of an educational institution “makes sense” when seen as preparing him for the role of BGCT executive director.

“I hope to spend the rest of my vocational life with you,” he said.

• Unity. A director asked how Everett would promote healing and unity in a climate of “disharmony” among BGCT-related churches.

“I believe we are united around a common goal—a simple, clear vision,” he said.

By uniting around a short-term goal—such as a two-year evangelistic emphasis—Texas Baptists can clarify their identity and begin to discover a longer-range vision, he stressed.

• Diversity. Texas Baptists must demonstrate racial and ethnic diversity, both in terms of staffing and in the selection of people to responsible leadership positions, Everett said.

“If we don’t, it will be at our own peril,” he said.

But Texas Baptists should recognize the opportunity to bridge racial and ethnic divisions as a privilege, not a burden, he stressed.

“I thrive on diversity,” Everett said. “I see it as an expression of the mosaic of God’s love.”

Everett, 58, served nine years as president of the John Leland Center for Theological Studies in Arlington, Va. While he was at the helm, the center received accreditation from the Association of Theological Schools.

His last three years at the Leland Center overlapped the beginning of his pastorate in Newport News. He also served five years at Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church, Va., a 3,000-member congregation in suburban Washington, D.C.

Previous pastorates were at First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla.; First Baptist Church in Benton, Ark.; Inglewood Baptist Church in Grand Prairie; and First Baptist Church in Gonzales. He also was assistant minister of missions at First Baptist Church in Dallas.

Everett was chairman of the Baptist World Alliance’s education and evangelism commission from 2000 to 2005 and has held other positions with the BWA.

He served on the BGCT Executive Board from 1978 to 1979. Other denominational leadership posts included president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention Executive Board, moderator of Peninsula Baptist Association, trustee of Florida Baptist College, and a member of the national ministry partners study committee and the budget committee for the Baptist General Association of Virginia.

Everett earned his doctorate and master’s degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and his bachelor’s degree from Ouachita Baptist University. He also holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Richmond.

He and his wife, the former Sheila King, have been married 35 years. They have two children—Jeremy, 32, who works as a community ministries director with Baptist Child & Family Services in San Antonio; and Rachel Froom, 28, of Ramrod Key, Fla. They have two grandsons.

Posted: 2/27/08

Bible Studies for Life Series for March 9

Hey yous guys–or, faith in
the second person plural

• 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

By Gary Long

Willow Meadows Baptist Church, Houston

Urban slang of the northeast United States is as rich and as different as the two-step cadence of the Texas drawl. In fact, every region of our country has deeply rooted ways of verbal expression. A notable difference is the word used for the plural second person pronoun. For you non-grammarians I’m referring to “ya’ll” or “yous.”

Allow me to illustrate. When I call all three of my kids to dinner I say, “Ya’ll come downstairs, supper’s on the table.” If I were from Joisey (that’s New Jersey), I would say, “Hey yous, get down for da dinner.” Either way, all three children know I’m talking to all three of them.

What in the world does that have to do with today’s Bible study? A lot, actually.

In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Paul is using the second person plural form of the pronoun “you” to speak to the church about being God’s sanctuary. It’s extended imagery that essentially says to the Corinthian church member, “All of you (yous/ya’ll) are the ones who make up the sanctuary of God, you are the body of Jesus.”

In other words, church, we’re in this together.

The primary thrust of this lesson has to do with making morally good choices because we play host to the living God with our bodies as God’s sanctuary, but an important feature of the choices we make is the work of living the faith together. If “no man is an island” unto himself, this is distinctly so, Paul would argue, among those of us who make up the church.

You might call it a “You Plural” kind of faith. Yous Guys. Ya’ll. You’ns.

The church has been criticized fairly by the dominant culture for being hypocritical and divisive. There is, however, a way that you and I as individuals can help overcome our negative reputation. It lies in remembering this: We are the hands and feet of Christ and we are the body of Christ.

While the metaphor may be overused, it is no less accurate due to usage. And if we are the body of Christ, we need to live like we love God. In a world critical of the church, every act of kindness, every act of inclusion, every way you get to know your neighbor, helps gain ground for the church’s reputation.

The church honors God when we live out our inseparable links to one another—faith in Jesus Christ. It’s an invigorating idea to know we are not alone in the faith journey. We can draw precious energy and positive support from one another as we study Scripture, worship together and fellowship with one another. Sometimes church life is just a bowl of blissful togetherness.

Other times, it seems to me the faith journey would be simpler and less argumentative if I didn’t have to deal with the others in my church family. I’ve pondered the perfect church on more than one occasion and basically have decided that at certain times the perfect church would have three things: me, a study, and a steeple. That’s because sometimes I’m embarrassed, frustrated or confused by the things churches do. There are times when I want to just drop the forms of institution and yell “Abandon ship!” to everyone, thinking every person for him or herself would be the ideal.

But for some mysterious reason unknown to me, I never yell “Abandon ship!” For some reason, I stay plugged in to the church despite the bickering and odd ways of shared life. I suppose it has to do with recognizing that the institution of church has been good to me. More than it has been a place of frustration, the church has been a place of refuge, comfort, safety. More than it has been a place of disagreement, the church has been a place of edification, strength and grace in the Gethsemane moments/days/seasons of life.

After all, I don’t think I could teach my preschooler that “God is love” all alone. And I know my teenage daughter wouldn’t be the spiritually mature young lady she is without the care of adults and youth ministers who care passionately about people in the worst phase of all of human development—adolescence. And three weeks ago, when I was stuck on my sofa for six days with the flu, who brought me soup and tissues and oranges? You know who. The body of Christ.

Posted: 2/27/08

Explore the Bible Series for March 9

Learning about God’s faithfulness

• Genesis 29:16-27; 31:1-3, 38-42

By Donald Raney

First Baptist Church, Petersburg

How many times have you heard someone ask, “Where was God when that happened?” Perhaps if you really were honest, you would have to admit you have asked the question. The Bible is full of God’s promises to bless and protect his followers, but the difficulties and tragedies of life can lead even the most mature believer to moments of doubt and questioning those promises.

While this is seen most vividly during times of national crisis, individuals also can experience times of doubt in their daily lives. Perhaps he or she is passed over for a deserved promotion at work or experience unexpected financial or health problems. These questions appear even more acute when we see those around us with no apparent relationship to God prospering.

The story of Jacob presents the reader with a picture of one who gradually came to understand that all he had was due to God’s blessing. From being the deceiver who stole his brother’s birthright and blessing to a man of faith and reliance on God, the life of Jacob can teach us much about the faithfulness of God and how we can come to rely on it. Whether facing deception, hardship or hostility, God calls every believer to maintain faith and trust that God always will remain faithful to us.

Faithful despite deception (Genesis 29:16-27)

It is part of our sinful human nature. In our quest to get the most out of life, we can resort to deception and manipulation of others. We see this every day. Politicians make promises in order to gain votes only to forget them after the election. Advertisers twist and distort facts about their products. Characters on television and in movies lie and cheat to gain the upperhand while the canned laughter response subtly suggests it not only is okay, but humorous. It can be easy to overlook or dismiss such actions until we are the victim of deception.

For most of his life, Jacob lived up to his name, “deceiver.” He had used trickery to gain most of what he had. Knowing this, many, especially those who have been the victim of deception, may come to Genesis 29 and think, “It finally caught up to him. The deceiver was deceived.” Yet these thoughts should not prevent us from seeing that God continued to bless Jacob in fulfillment of his earlier promises. God was faithful in spite of Laban’s deception and, in fact, would use the results of that deception to bless Jacob even more as Leah would give birth to four sons. Jacob’s story teaches us that while the believer may occasionally be deceived by someone else, God’s faithfulness to his word is more than able to overcome human deception.

Faithful despite hostility (Genesis 31:1-3)

In addition to our willingness to deceive to get what we want, humans also possess a predisposition toward hostility in response to a perceived injustice against us. This hostility may not be physical in nature, but always will be an attempt to balance the scales or tear down the one who committed the injustice. This is perhaps most clearly evident in the vast number of personal injury lawsuits filed each year. Whether there is merit in the claims or not, our perception is that we have been injured, and someone needs to pay. In such cases, there is always a victim who is left to wonder why it happened.

During his time living in Laban’s household, God continued to bless Jacob. Genesis 30:25-42 records that God enabled Jacob to acquire a sizeable flock of his own from Laban’s flock. While these verses describe Jacob’s actions in securing the sheep, the reader should not lose sight of the fact that it was God acting on his behalf. This ultimately created jealousy and animosity toward Jacob among Laban’s servants and they sought to turn Laban against Jacob. Their efforts apparently worked as the relationship between Laban and Jacob became strained. Yet God clearly still was working to protect and bless Jacob even to the point of enabling him to return home.

Any believer who desires to “let their light shine” before non-believers should expect to face criticism and even hostility. But we should never forget that God’s faithfulness is certain regardless of what anyone else might do or say.

Faithful despite hardships (Genesis 31:38-42)

Living in line with the promises and purposes of God is hard. A life of surrender to God’s leadership is diametrically opposed to the way the world operates. It is contrary to our natural predispositions. Because of this, our human nature along with forces beyond our control can create difficulties along our path. At these times, it is easy to begin to wonder if we are on the right path or if God is helping us.

Jacob initially had planned to work for Laban seven years. Instead, Jacob had been required to work 20 years. He still bore the divine promises, but still was separated from his home. For 20 years he had toiled, doubtlessly wondering about how, when or even if God’s promises would be fulfilled. He certainly had to ask God numerous times how his current situation and hardships fit into the big picture. Yet God was indeed working in not only blessing Jacob within the situation in spite of the hardships, but also in preparing the way for Jacob’s eventual return to his family home.

Whenever we face problems or hardships in our Christian lives, we need to remember these are not signs God has forgotten or abandoned us. We simply need to raise our eyes, get a look at the larger picture of what God is doing, and praise God he is constantly faithful to his word to us despite our current circumstances.

Posted: 2/25/08

Bible Studies for Life Series for March 2

Did You Take Your Smart Pill Today?

• 2 Timothy 3.16-17

By Gary Long

Willow Meadows Baptist Church, Houston

According to USA Today, Americans are spending more than $1 billion a year on dietary supplements, many of which are aimed at increasing brain power. “You can rub Rogaine into your scalp to try to regain the hairline of your youth. You can inject Botox into your forehead to smooth time's inroads, at least temporarily. And, some scientists predict, you'll eventually be able to pop a pill to freshen up the inside of your head as well.” (USA Today, July 7, 2004).

It seems that many of us want a mental jump start. College kids who aren’t diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) are taking Ritalin to cram for finals. Professional public speakers are popping a drug called Provigil (made to treat narcolepsy) so they’ll be alert during presentations.

What’s this all about? Why are we so eager to be smart that we’re willing to pop pills?

There is a hunger in our culture for knowledge because we believe that in this information age that knowledge equals power.

The apostle Paul would agree.

I would suggest that a great deal more practical knowledge could be gained if we took seriously the guidance offered in 2 Timothy. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3.16-17).

The problem for most of us, though, is that we are a generation (or two or three) of the quick fix, the easy solution, the microwave meal. The reality is that, while Christians would agree that all scripture is God-breathed, few of us are willing to do the work of inhaling God’s word into our souls.

Today’s lesson in Bible Studies for Life tells us that the Bible can help us live confidently in a fearful, uncertain world. Agreed. But today’s lesson also says that we have to make a commitment to study the scriptures on a regular basis. Yea, verily, even daily.

Paul urges Timothy to be brave, to take encouragement in suffering, and to have no shame in the gospel. He tells him to persist in proclaiming proudly the message of Christ, and to keep doing the things he had learned from the Scriptures. Paul assumes that Timothy has studied his Scriptures and has learned the life lessons they contain.

That may have been a safe assumption for Timothy, but it’s not likely a safe assumption for Christians today. Our modus operandi is to find the smart pill, but reality is that the process of being spiritually formed humans requires time, love, and tenderness. Like the nurture of a house plant or a farm crop, growth comes slowly – sometimes it’s visible, and sometimes it’s not. But the bottom line is that it calls on us to put our energy into the discipline of daily reading of Scripture at the same time it calls on us to wait on the work of the Holy Spirit to manifest the teachings of Scripture in meaningful ways.

What’s more, there is sometimes pain in the spiritual growth that comes through the discipline of reading the Scriptures. That’s because, when we submit to the authority of the Bible for living our lives, there is a cost associated with living by the Book. Playing by the rules that the Bible proffers necessarily reshapes our ethics in a countercultural way. Playing by the rules of the Word of God redefines our values, our consumer choices, our parenting, our birthing and our dying.

While submitting to the authority of Scripture is sometimes a painful and hard way of living, it is also a victorious way of life. While God doesn’t necessarily bless or curse based on our moral behavior, there is a certain peace in the believer’s life that comes from living by the Book. The Hebrews refer to this as shalom, or peace and wholeness that comes from God. It is based in the truth that the authority of Scripture in our lives does not provide a set of rules to prevent us from having fun, but rather that Scripture offers wisdom and guidance that protects us from the consequences of bad decisions.

A personal story elucidates this best. Once I went snowboarding with a group of friends. Coming out of a restaurant, one of my friends accidentally picked up a snowboard that didn’t belong to him, rather than his own. He didn’t realize his error until the next morning when we were about to hit the slopes again. He called the rental shop stamped on the board, but couldn’t figure out how to get the board back to the rightful owner, nor could he figure out what happened to his board. We all assumed that the other person had his board.

We snowboarded that day; he used the board he’d inadvertently picked up. The next day we returned to the restaurant and, lo and behold, his board was still there. This is when the ethical conundrum became apparent – he had two boards and one didn’t belong to him.

I could tell that my friend deliberated this a lot. After all, he could have returned to Texas with two boards, both worth well over $300. No one would have ever pursued the matter, after all, insurance would cover the lost board. Even the manager of the restaurant and the worker at the resort lost and found “winked’ and encouraged him to keep the board.

My friend was not content with this alternative. The next morning he diligently tracked down the rental shop and we all departed our vacation early so that he could go 40 miles out of his way to return the board. I asked him privately why he didn’t just keep the board.

His answer?

“I guess I’ve just been readin’ my Bible too much lately.”

Updated: 2/25/08

Meet Our Bible Study Lesson Writers

Gary Long, writer of the Bible Studies for Life series, is a “husband to one wife, father to three children, and pastor to a whole herd at Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston.”

Kenneth Jordan, author of the BaptistWay lessons, is pastor of First Baptist Church in Alpine, Texas.

Don Raney, author of the Explore the Bible lessons, is pastor of First Baptist Church in Petersburg. He holds a doctorate in Old Testament from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Posted: 2/22/08

Pastor-politician points to Muslims as
source of Kenyan violence; experts disagree

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS—Religious extremism prompted much of the violence surrounding Kenya’s disputed presidential elections, according to a Kenyan expatriate and Baptist pastor who lost a bid for a seat in parliament. But international experts with contacts in the region point to ethnic and political divisions—not religion—as precipitating the bloodshed.

International media reported widespread violence erupted throughout Kenya’s rural areas after the nation’s electoral commission declared incumbent President Mwai Kibaki defeated challenger Raila Odinga, and Odinga’s supporters claimed the voting was rigged.

Solomon Kimuyu

But Solomon Kimuyu, a Dallas resident who has maintained his Kenyan citizenship, said he saw televised images of the violence long before the polls closed, just prior to a media blackout in Kenya. And he asserted members of Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement with close ties to the National Muslim Leaders Forum orchestrated much of the rioting.

Muslim extremists tied to the opposition party pledged long before the election that if certain conditions were not met prior to the Dec. 27 voting, violence would result, he insisted.

But Joel Barkin, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Iowa and senior associate with the Center for Strategic & International Studies, said his sources in Kenya reported no involvement by Muslim extremists in orchestrated violent demonstrations.

“The violence has been interethnic, not religious,” he said.

Barkin pointed to different types of violence surrounding the elections. Some violence was organized, but he insisted it was generated by rival political factions who seized on tribal differences, not fomented by Muslim extremists.

Some violence was spontaneous, breaking out in reaction to the allegations of rigged elections. And some of the violence was caused by police who were “overly aggressive and who killed more than 100 people,” he said.

William Zartman, director of the conflict management program at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, agreed some violence was planned well in advance of the election.

“Militias were prepared and ready to move,” he said.

But like Barkin, he saw the differences in Kenya in terms of ethnic groups and political parties, not along lines of religion.

“I’ve heard nothing about Muslim involvement,” he said. “Of course, that’s not proof to the contrary. But I don’t see religion as a major element in this conflict.”

Kimuyu, however, insisted he had a one-of-a-kind vantage point for observing the developments surrounding Kenya’s election.

“I was in a unique position as both a pastor and a politician. I was in meetings where I heard what the politicians were saying, and I was in meetings where I heard what the bishops were saying,” he said.

Kimuyu participated in interfaith meetings with religious leaders as a representative of the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, he explained. And he joined political strategy meetings as a candidate for parliament.

In early fall, Kimuyu appeared almost certainly headed to a parliamentary seat to represent Machakos township, about 35 miles east of Nairobi. He had received the nomination by the Kenya African National Union, he represented the Akamba tribe who dominate the area and polls showed him receiving 80 percent of the expected vote. He was the first Kenyan in the United States—living his what his countrymen call “the diaspora”—to be nominated by a major political party.

But when the party that nominated him was folded into a coalition Party of National Unity, another candidate was given the new party’s endorsement. Kimuyu ran as the United Democratic Party of Kenya candidate, but he was soundly defeated.

While violence in Kenya has been portrayed as a spontaneous reaction to injustice and vote fraud, Muslim radicals planned much of it in advance, Kimuyu insisted.

And while “we will never know” if the election was rigged by the party in control, he maintains voters unquestionably were threatened and harassed by Muslim supporters of the opposition party.

“People were prevented from going to the polls, and people were prevented from counting votes,” he said.

He also pointed to a controversial document the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya posted on its website. It was purported to be a memorandum of understanding between Odinga and his party and the National Muslim Leaders Forum. The document appears to have been signed by Odinga and Sheik Abdullah Abdi on Aug. 29, 2007.

The posted document states Odinga agreed to rewrite Kenya’s constitution within six month to declare Sharia, or Islamic law, legally binding in the country’s Muslim-declared regions in exchange for the Muslim leaders’ endorsement. It also includes provisions banning open-air Christian meetings in Kenya’s northeastern and coastal areas and ordering primary schools in those regions to conduct daily madrassa classes promoting Islam.

The National Muslim Leaders Forum disputed the document’s authenticity. On Nov. 27, BBC News reported the Muslim leaders dismissed as propaganda the claim that they made a deal with the opposition political party to impose Sharia anywhere in Kenya.

Muslim leaders did not deny making a pact with the Orange Democratic Movement, but they insist it was intended to end discrimination against Muslims in Kenya.

Regardless of the exact nature of the agreement, division among Kenyan evangelicals in general—and Baptists in particular—enabled the Muslim minority with the power to broker a deal with a national political party, Kimuyu asserted.

“The church has failed its own people,” he said. “The church is split.”

On that point, Barkin and Kimuyu agreed, at least to some degree. Divisions within the churches of Kenya, who had sent representatives to serve as election observers in recent years and had helped keep the peace, contributed to the problems surrounding the December election, Barkin noted.

Kimuyu has lived in the United States more than two decades, earning degrees from Howard Payne University, Dallas Baptist University and the University of North Texas and launching several homes for home for children and youth.

Before moving to Texas, he served as pastor of Athi River First Baptist Church in Kenya, general secretary of the Baptist Convention of Kenya and vice president for the All-Africa Baptist Union.

When he ran for office, Kimuyu made the Micah Challenge a centerpiece of his platform. The Micah Challenge is a church-based campaign in developing nations of the Southern Hemisphere to achieve the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals—cutting global poverty in half by 2015, reducing child morality and fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria and other preventable diseases.

Kimuyu remains committed to those goals. And while he is concerned about the “loss of moral authority” by multiple parties both inside and outside Kenya, he wants to stay engaged in both political and religious reform in his homeland.

“I will be back,” he said.

Posted: 2/22/08

Gloer named to Garland Chair
of Preaching at Truett Seminary

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

WACO—Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary paid tribute to two faculty members simultaneously when Hulitt Gloer was installed as inaugural holder of the school’s David E. Garland Chair of Preaching—an endowed post named in honor of the seminary’s dean.

Garland joined the Truett faculty in 1997 after more than 20 years at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Garland, a New Testament scholar, serves as the William M. Hinson Professor of Scriptures and was named dean last year.

Gloer left the pastorate at First Baptist Church in Corpus Christi in 2000 to become professor of preaching and Christian Scripture at Truett Seminary. Previously, he served 13 years as a professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also taught at North American Baptist Seminary and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Gloer earned his undergraduate degree from Baylor University, his master’s degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and his doctorate in New Testament studies from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

A $1 million gift by an anonymous donor—together with $500,000 from the Eula Mae and John Baugh family foundation and gifts from a half-dozen other donors—established the endowed chair of preaching at Truett Seminary in Garland’s honor.

Randall O’Brien, Baylor University’s executive vice president and provost, called the anonymous donor “our Theophilus,” referring to the individual to whom Luke addressed his Gospel and the New Testament book of Acts and whose name means “lover of God.”

While the donor’s name remained unknown, several characteristics of the person seemed apparent—the person loved God, possessed wealth and generously invested his or her riches in God’s work, he observed.

“Although we cannot serve God and mammon, we can serve God with mammon. My guess is that a camel just went through the eye of a needle,” O’Brien said.

In a sermon following the installation, Gloer challenged seminary students attending the chapel service to embrace their calling as ministers of reconciliation.

He pointed to Jesus’ healing of a demon-possessed man who lived among the tombs as a picture of what God did for humanity through Christ, and what Christ’s followers are commissioned to do.

“God in Christ reached into our world and picked up the pieces—broken, scattered, fragmented—and put them back together again,” he said.

Gloer presented the Amish community’s ministry to the family of the gunman who shot 10 children, killing five, in the West Nickel Mines School as a modern parable of reconciliation.

“The world was stunned, but the Amish understood the ministry of reconciliation,” he said. “The world could not understand and said they must have been crazy. They weren’t crazy. We are crazy. They were in their right minds—the mind God gave them, the mind of Christ.”

Posted: 2/22/08

Panhandle speakers encourage personal
evangelism, trust in God’s provision

By Teresa Young

Wayland Baptist University

PLAINVIEW—Obedience to God requires seeing people as God sees them, as well as trusting him to provide for needs. That was the advice two keynote speakers offered the 87th annual Panhandle-Plains Pastors’ and Laymen’s Conference at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview.

Supported by eight area Baptist associations, the conference featured Bible study by Wayland religion professors and special messages by Calvin Miller, Christian author and professor at the Beeson Divinity School at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.

Sandy Maddox urges Baptists to see past the masses to individuals who need Jesus.

Others on the program included Sandy Maddox, inspirational speaker from Orlando, Fla., who also led the women’s lunch session, and Leighton Flowers, director of youth evangelism with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Christian singer Blake Bolerjack presented a concert.

In his message, Miller read from 1 Kings: 21-22 about the downfall of King Ahab due to greed and selfishness. He referred to the passages about the prophet Elijah being fed by ravens and the widow during a hard time.

Miller told a parable of his own—the story of a televangelist who met his fall after planning to deceive a sick woman so her insurance policy would allow him to purchase a new jet plane.

“It is an irrational, absurd season. We are living in a selfish, egotistical day,” Miller said, noting that the same attitudes plague people now that existed in Ahab’s time. “We have the call of God on our lives, and we’re never going to get rich, at least in money, but I wonder if the ravens can really keep us alive.”

Miller’s message focused on the “irrational, wonderful providence of God,” which he said should be the sustenance for pastors and other laypersons when struggling with financial issues.

Calvin Miller, author and professor at the Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, speaks about the “irrational, wonderful” provision of God.

Relating a story from his own experience, when unexpectedly an anonymous donor provided a year’s tuition at Oklahoma Baptist University, Miller encouraged believers to trust in God for provision and let those answered prayers sustain them.

“We often look at how bad our life is, and though hard times hit we try to hang on, but the honesty is that the irrational providence of God can carry you a long way,” he said. “If you love God and trust him, he will give you the desires of your heart, as long as your desires are for him. He doesn’t care if you have things; he wants you to love his Son.”

Maddox drew from the Apostle Peter’s encounter with Jesus when Christ asked, “Who do men say that I am?”

She encouraged the conference participants to make a point of taking Jesus to people, one at a time.

“There is a world full of people out there beyond these walls who know something about who Jesus is but not everything,” she said. “The world is clamoring for our time and attention, and we often rush through our day and past the masses. We see the people, but we don’t see them at all. And they are hungry for us to tell them about Jesus.”

Maddox recounted a challenge her pastor had presented his congregation—to focus on faces in the masses as they pass by, even snapping photos on a camera to encourage close-up encounters with people.

The key, she said, is to focus on the face, and then focus on the heart and soul and take Jesus to the people.

“Too many times, we walk by people maybe every day, and they may just waiting for us to show them Jesus,” she said.