Posted: 9/14/07

RIGHT or WRONG?
Doctrinal disagreements

I’ve just come across the statement:  “In essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, charity.” Where does that come from, and is it actually a valid principle for congregational relationships?

Richard Baxter, a 17th century English clergyman, is credited with a slight variation of this statement from his long and prolific career as pastor, writer and theologian. Baxter held deep theological and political convictions during a tumultuous period of English history. Eventually, he became alienated from the Church of England, but he spent his life seeking unity among numerous Protestant groups. Baxter once wrote:  “In necessary things, unity; in doubtful things, liberty; in all things, charity.”

At first glance, each phrase makes sense for congregations. There are foundational beliefs and behaviors essential to the Christian life and Christian community. There is one God. Jesus Christ is Lord. Reject these, and there is no common faith. Necessities, by definition, require unity.

Nonessentials, on the other hand, call for freedom. Congregations need to grant liberty on matters such as what version of Bible to own, whether to wear a coat and tie to worship, how often to celebrate the Lord’s Supper and whether to have a worship service every Sunday night. No harm is created when liberty is granted, because these are nonessential matters.

All congregational relationships deserve to be conducted with charity. It is easy to be loving when we agree, less so when we grapple with real differences. The New Testament teaches us to love everyone, whether we agree with them or disagree. The Spirit arms us with traits like patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control, all of which are useful in treating others in a loving manner.

Baxter’s slogan generally is a good one, but the devil is in the details. One church member believes a doctrine is essential for salvation, church membership or, for that matter, fellowship. Other members consider that same doctrine to be peripheral or nonessential. Who decides what is essential and nonessential? Most Baptist churches leave that to the congregation. But some want to empower the pastor, deacons or denomination with that responsibility. And what criteria are used to make such judgments? Many would argue the Bible. But whose interpretation of the Bible?

There is no simple, neat solution where one congregation’s essentials are another congregation’s negotiables. For this reason, the third phrase is the most useful in congregational relationships. Even when we cannot agree on essentials and nonessentials, we can treat each other with respect as brothers and sisters in Christ, and if not brothers and sisters in Christ, then as human beings for whom Christ died.

Michael Clingenpeel, pastor

River Road Church, Baptist, Richmond, Va.

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

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

Posted: 9/14/07

CYBER COLUMN:
Thinking baseball

By John Duncan

I’m sitting here under the old tree, thinking baseball of all things. John Grisham, in his book about baseball, Bleachers, says: “Football was king and that would never change. It brought the glory and paid the bills.” I am under this old oak tree, thinking baseball in the start of football season and realizing that Friday night lights and football is king in Texas while thinking baseball and the game of life. Or in the words of the poet Langston Hughes, “Jesus ain’t you tired yet?”

My life as pastor is a wonderful life. Never mind that preaching, as they say, is “between two worlds,” the temporal and the spiritual, and on some Sundays, since I preach three times on Sunday morning, I hit a single, a double, a triple or a home run. And, yes, while on some Sundays I strike out, at least I have the privilege of walking up to the preaching plate to take my swings again on the next Sunday.

My life as a pastor is a wonderful life. Not long ago, one of our church members asked me, “What do they call you around here?” I replied, “Call me whatever: pastor, preacher; hey you—and call me to dinner anytime!” The man looked at me rather seriously and said, “No, really, what do they call you?” I searched for the right words and tried to figure out simultaneously as my mind churned like a computer who “they” was and said, “I guess if I have to be called something I prefer ‘pastor.’” He replied, “Well, son, all that education, I think you deserve respect and a little formality. They should call you doctor.” I smiled as we shook hands, and about that time, because God’s timing is always perfect, a 7-year-old church member, a boy who was also my neighbor, yelled, “Hi John!” Ah, first base laughter after a Texas League single.

My life as a pastor is a wonderful life. One guy called the church one day and asked the receptionist a question. I love the questions and have a few for the Lord when I get to heaven, like “Why could the Dallas Cowboys not keep Coach Tom Landry longer? Why did the Mavericks not win a championship? And, in baseball, Lord, why could the Texas Rangers not climb out of the cellar most seasons? Why did you not give them Nolan Ryan from the start?” The guy calls the church with the question, “Is it OK if I jog when the pastor preaches?” Now “preaches” rhymes with “peaches,” and if I were from Georgia, I would eat a peach for every time people called with questions, but that was one question I had never been asked nor have heard since.

“Jog?” I asked. “Yes,” the receptionist said. “He says that he likes a church that inspires him, and when he gets inspired by the preaching, he fills with the Holy Spirit and likes to jog around the worship center while the pastor preaches.” Football is king in Texas, and I told the receptionist to tell him he is welcome, but please do not jog. I told the staff, football is king in Texas, if he jogs, tackle him, pray with him, but by all means no jogging while I preach. The guy never showed up, and I do not like peaches, but the ministry is interesting place, and you can see and hear a lot on second base.

My life as a pastor is a wonderful life. I must tell you, I am never bored and ministry is the most exhilarating, creative, energizing and exhausting place a person could ever be. I find people who live with pain and uncertainty and anxiety and misery and happiness and joy and laughter and sadness all thrown into the same heart and put on a smile like a clown when the inside feels a frown. Cheslaw Milosz once said, “There are days when people seem to me a festival of marionettes dancing at the edge of nothingness.” There is hopelessness out there, and in my life as pastor, I encourage them to run to Jesus and find hope in him and keep running amid the their marionette lives of clown and frown and find meaning, not in the madness of it all, but in the mercy and Master of all. I am at third base. Jesus ain’t you tired yet?  Will we make it home?

My life a pastor is a wonderful life, but sometimes you enter into the unknown and the cloud of the unknowing, and you gasp for breath and ask the Lord for Holy Spirit inspiration that will keep you jogging, and you pray like mad that he does not forget your name, and the Lord longs for you to call him by name, and you do, and you realize how much you need God and Christ and the Holy Spirit to jog your heart and how important life, in its spirituality and simplicity, really is. Are you following me? We’re talking baseball, life and making it home.

Josh Fant lived in our community, and I served as his pastor. He played baseball in our town and wore number 19 on his jersey and died of a heat stroke at 18. Yes, he wore 19 and died at 18. I love being a pastor, but when a young person die,s you double the grief and silence the tongue on explanations. God’s grace is sufficient, and the Presbyterian preacher George Buttrick was right, “Life is essentially a series of events to be borne and lived through, rather than a series of intellectual riddle to be played with and solved.” When Josh passed away, life hurt, events seemed like a blur, and I wanted to solve riddles: Why this? Why now? Why? Why? Why?

C.S. Lewis says in A Grief Observed that he wanted to escape the pain of grief. “If I knew any way to escape, I would crawl through the sewers to find it.” I have discovered in life’s riddles and in life’s grief that the only thing a person can really do is live through it and hang onto Jesus like a rock climber might cling to a rope.

Oh, Josh wore number 19 and lived to be 18 and loved baseball. He had a good sense of humor, and from all I can tell, followed Jesus and tried to get others to turn to him. Life, when it ends, can be summed up as time, place and people. He lived from 1989 to 2007; spent time on the baseball diamond and had a 90 mile an hour fastball, so I am told; and he touched people’s lives. At Josh’s funeral, his fellow teammates wore their baseball jerseys, and many of the people who attended the funeral wore white wristbands with a purple number 19 printed on it. Pictures and a video of Josh told stories—at birthdays, by the pond at his house, with friends, at baseball games and one at his high school graduation. It’s the text message generation, so I am sure students in the crowd had pictures of Josh on their cell phones and memories of Josh in their hearts. He was 18 and wore number 19, and if I knew any way to erase the pain, I would crawl through the sewers to find it. I guess we can all be thankful that Jesus ain’t tired yet and that he never sleeps nor slumbers nor faints nor is weary and that in the exhaustion of grief his love and comfort are real and refreshing, and his grace is sufficient even when our words are not.

One picture stands out when I remember Josh—a home-plate celebration after an exciting victory. Life is like baseball—strikeouts and home runs, errors and game-saving catches, and the agony of defeat and the euphoria of victory. Still, the point is to make it home, to home plate where Jesus lives. On the first base of life, look in, look out and look up to God because life is short. On second base, make the most of every single day. On third base, be long of the things that matter in life—love and forgiveness and kindness and friendship and encouragement. Ultimately though, we can only find our way home by knowing Christ and playing the game of life for an audience of one: Jesus Christ.

So here I am under his old oak tree, knowing football is king and thinking baseball. The crisp fall air has arrived, and reminds me that Jesus is king and that my life as a pastor is a wonderful life. Life hurts. Riddles come. And even in as the shadows lean dark and dreary over life like shadows on the field of a baseball stadium, still hope springs eternal, and Jesus never wearies of loving us in the pain or greeting us when we make it home. Or in the words of Jesus, “Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy hearted.”

John Duncan is pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, and the writer of numerous articles in various journals and magazines. You can respond to his column by e-mailing him at jduncan@lakesidebc.org.

Posted: 9/14/07

Around the State

• Tony Martin, professor of Greek, New Testament and world religions at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, will speak at a ministers’ forum at noon Sept. 20. His topic will be “Biblical Ideas Relating to the Issue of Suffering in Human Exper-ience.” The presentation will be held in Shelton Auditorium. For more information, call (254) 295-4606.

• East Texas Baptist University will hold a preview event for prospective students and their families Sept. 29. There is no cost to attend, and visitors will receive information about academic programs, financial aid, campus life, ministry opportunities, tours of the campus and tickets to the ETBU football game. For more information, call (800) 804-ETBU.

• Baylor University will hold the Parchman Endowed Lectures Oct. 2-4. Ben Witherington, a professor of New Testament interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary, will deliver the lectures, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. each day. For more information, call (254) 710-7347.

• Kelvin Kelley has been named to the faculty of Logsdon Theological Seminary, and also has been appointed assistant to Hardin-Simmons University President Craig Turner.

• Mark Tew has been named vice president for academic affairs at Howard Payne University.

• Rhonda Dyer has been named executive director of STARRY, the Round Rock-based emergency shelter, counseling and foster care arm of Children at Heart Ministries, a Baptist General Convention of Texas agency.

Anniversaries

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

• Mark Martin, 30th, as pastor of Epting Memorial Church in Denison, Sept. 14.

• Hampton Road Church in DeSoto, 60th, Sept. 23. Testimonies from charter members and special music will highlight the service. Jerry Raines is pastor.

• First Church in Sandia, 100th, Sept. 30. A meal and afternoon song service will follow morning worship. Jimmy Hisel is pastor.

• Lane Park, 50th in ministry, Oct. 6. He has served 41 years as a pastor or ministerial staff member and nine years with Marketplace Chaplains USA as a corporate chaplain. He is a member of First Church in Plano.

• First Church in Teague, 130th, Oct. 14. James Semple will be the guest speaker, and former Music Minister Josh Rhodes will lead worship in the morning service. There also will be a reunion of the 1970s youth choir directed by Jerry Morris. A catered meal will follow the morning service. A time of testimony is planned for the afternoon. For more information, call (254) 739-2353. Darrel Beggs is pastor.

• First Church in San Marcos, 150th, Oct. 20-21. Saturday will include a barbecue meal, basketball and horseshoe tournaments, and a historical exhibit beginning at 3 p.m. Sunday will include a worship celebration and building dedication beginning at 10 a.m., followed by a meal. Reservations are required for the Sunday meal. For more information or to make reservations, call (512) 392-3377. Mark Newton is pastor.

• First Church in Wolfe City, 125th, Oct. 20-21. Festivities will begin at 5:30 p.m. Saturday with a pot luck dinner followed by music, testimonies and fellowship. A meal will follow the Sunday morning service. The meals are provided, but an indication of attendance is requested by Oct. 12 by calling (903) 496-2560. Kevin Mitchell is pastor.

• Allen Heights Church in Allen, 25th, Oct. 21. Leon Aduddell will be the guest preacher, and former Minister of Music Mark Stewart will lead the music. A barbecue lunch will follow the morning service. For more information or to make lunch reservations, call (972) 727-9136. Byron Jackson is pastor.

• First Church in Smiley, 125th, Oct. 27-28. A song service will be held Saturday at 6:30 p.m. A time line with pictures, memorabilia and other church artifacts will be on display. Sunday morning’s service will feature testimonies and special music. A lunch and afternoon service will follow. People with items to include in the timeline or who need other information can call (830) 587-6133. Marvin Miles is pastor.

Deaths

• Lowell Rollins, 73, July 26 in Huntsville. After beginning his ministry in music in Louisiana, he served at First Church in Atlanta, Birchman Avenue Church in Fort Worth, Calvary Church in Beaumont, First Church in Port Arthur, and Cockrell Hill Church in Dallas. He also was a member of The Century Men and the Singing Men of Texas. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Arlene; daughters, Terri Marroquin and Marili Lindstrom; son, Lowell Jr.; sister, Rose Marie Wallace; and 10 grandchildren.

• Abraham Enrriques, 70, Aug. 1 in Corpus Christi. After retiring from the U.S. Army after 31 years, he was pastor of El Redentor Multicultural Church in Kingsville, First Baptist Church in Robstown and Primera Iglesia in Robstown. He was active in the Baptist General Convention of Texas, serving as president of Varones Bautistas, and later on the Executive Board of the BGCT. In addition, he was a member of the Robstown Ministerial Alliance and moderator of both Corpus Christi Association and Coastal Bend Association. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Adela; son, Albert; daughters, Annette, Anna and Amy Enrriques; brothers, Arturo Sr., Abel, Alfredo and Arturo Jr.; sisters, Alicia Gonzales, Asenet Quintero and Anita Esquivel; seven grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

• John Vaughan, 72, Aug. 28 in Marshall. He was a professor of English at East Texas Baptist University from 1967 until his retirement in 2002. He had been a member of First Church in Marshall since 1973. He is survived by his brothers, Tommy and Harold.

• Dot Pettit, 86, Sept. 10 in Black Mountain, N.C. She and her husband were attending a reunion for emeritus missionaries at Ridgecrest Conference Center when a train struck the car she was driving. She and her first husband, Marlin Hicks, were appointed as missionaries in 1950 and served in western South America until his death in 1957. She was transferred to the Baptist Spanish Publishing House in El Paso in 1958 and continued to serve until her retirement in 1985. She is survived by her husband, Max.

Revivals

• Bell Avenue Church, Amarillo; Sept. 30-Oct. 3; evangelist, Paul Cherry; music, The Cherry Family; pastor, Danny Logan.

• Belmore Church, San Angelo; Sept. 30-Oct. 3; evangelist, Jerry Griffin; music, The Mike Anderson Family; pastor, Toby Irwin.

Posted: 9/14/07

Amarillo minister to be nominated for BGCT
second vice president at hometown meeting

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

AMARILLO—Citing his effectiveness in mobilizing laity for missions involvement, Bill Brian has announced his intention to nominate Jeff Raines, associate pastor of First Baptist Church in Amarillo, for second vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Election of officers will top the business agenda at the BGCT annual meeting in Amarillo, Oct. 29-30.

Brian, an attorney and member of First Baptist in Amarillo, noted Raines has involved more members in hands-on missions during his 10 years on the church staff than at any time in the congregation’s history.

“Jeff is one of the bright new leaders among Texas Baptists whose focus is on missions as expressed in the local church, as well as among churches cooperating in direct partnership with each other and in our BGCT,” Brian said.

Characterizing Raines as “a gifted communicator, known for his scholarship,” Brian said the BGCT would benefit from the energy and willingness to “think about missions in new ways” he would bring to the second vice president’s position.

Raines said he would not have considered himself for the convention officer’s post.

“I agreed to do it because I love the BGCT, and I want to serve any way I can,” he said.

If elected, Raines hopes he can help lead the state convention to “pursue missions and point churches toward missions,” he said.

“I want to see churches embrace the missions task themselves—to recognize we can’t give it to someone else to discharge for us.”

He has served on the board of directors for WorldconneX—the missions network created by the BGCT—since its inception, and he currently chairs the board.

Raines, 36, also hopes to increase the participation of young ministers in the state convention—particularly service on boards, commissions and committees.

“I think I can bring a perspective from my generation, and I would hope to get more of my peers involved with BGCT life through the appointment process,” he said.

Raines graduated summa cum laude both from Baylor University and Truett Theological Seminary, where he was part of the first graduating class.

He is working on a doctor of ministry degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, and his final project is a study of “an international perspective on short-term missions.”

Raines was licensed to the ministry at First Baptist Church in Arlington and ordained by Meadowbrook Baptist Church in Robinson, where he served as pastoral assistant.

He and his wife, Darcie, have a 5-year-old son, Mark.

Posted: 9/14/07

Book Reviews

This Immoral Trade: Slavery in the 21st Century, by Caroline Cox and John Marks (Monarch Books)

Two hundred years after William Wilberforce succeeded in his long crusade to abolish the British slave trade and 144 years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in the United States, at least 27 million people are enslaved in the world today.

Caroline Cox, former deputy speaker of the House of Lords, and John Marks, a human rights campaigner and researcher, highlight the modern blight of slavery in its varied manifestations—sexual trafficking, forced labor, child soldiers and debt bondage.

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

Cox and Marks conducted extensive interviews with former slaves in Sudan, Uganda and Burma. About two-thirds of the book is filled with those first-person accounts, allowing readers to hear directly from people whose stories otherwise would remain untold and whose voices otherwise would be left unheard.

Much of the 19th century abolitionist movement had its roots in Christian commitment. Cox and Marks issue a clarion call for a new movement to end slavery worldwide in the 21st century.

Ken Camp, managing editor

Baptist Standard, Dallas

Hidden Treasures: Walking the Back Roads of the Bible in Search of Truth, by Judson Edwards (Smyth & Helwys)

Hidden Treasures is a wonderful title expressing what the reader will find in this book by Judson Edwards. He takes the reader behind scenes well known to Bible readers. An example is Ezekiel 3:15, where Edwards examines the phrase, “I sat among them for several days—overwhelmed” to illustrate the best way to communicate “is to sit among them”!

Edwards has kept the chapters short and pointed. He has added questions for reflection and discussion for each chapter that makes the book useful for small groups.

I found the book interesting, probing and a fast read, which makes it a delight to all who take this journey.

I encourage you to walk these back roads of the Bible with Judson Edwards.

Leo Smith, executive director

Texas Baptist Men, Dallas

The Fred Factor, by Mark Sanborn (Doubleday)

This is a motivational book, written by a motivational speaker, based upon the life of a motivated postman named Fred who goes above and beyond the call of duty to make a positive impact upon the lives of people with whom he has contact.

Inspired by the extraordinary service of Fred, Mark Sanborn began to use their daily encounters as illustrations when traveling the country giving speeches on leadership, team building, customer service and mastering change.

Sanborn expounds upon the four qualities that represent the essence of what he refers to as the Fred Factor: Everyone makes a difference; success is built on relationships; you must continually create value for others, and it doesn’t have to cost a penny; and you can reinvent yourself regularly.

This book was such a practical portrait of how each one of us can positively impact the lives of others, I even made my children read it.

Bobby Dagnel, pastor

First Baptist Church, Lubbock

Posted: 9/14/07

Call clarification important at Baptist schools

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

Sometimes a Christian young person may report receiving a crystal-clear call from God. But more often, he or she may feel like there’s some static on the line.

That’s the conclusion of guidance directors who work with ministry students at some Baptist schools.

“A majority don’t know exactly what to make of this—whether it’s a call to vocational ministry or simply to be a good servant of the Lord in whatever they do,” said Omer Hancock, director of in-service guidance at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology.

As soon as a student at a Texas Baptist school expresses a calling to ministry, the in-service guidance office typically begins an ongoing dialogue with the student.

“At the very least, we want them to know our office exists and that we’re not just for religion majors. We’re here for any student who has an interest in ministry as a vocation,” said Jeter Basden, director of ministry guidance at Baylor University.

Each step along the way—from applying for scholarship assistance to helping students gain hands-on field experience—is designed to help students clarify their calling.

For instance, Basden noted, Texas Baptist ministerial students can apply for a scholarship offered by the Baptist General Convention of Texas. As a part of the application process, students must secure certification from their home church and a letter of recommendation from their pastor.

“This, in itself, is an affirmation of the call for the student,” he said.

See related articles: • Hearing the Call • Ministers hear call through many voices • East Texas church gives stamp of approval to 82-year-old's ministry • When it comes to missions, there's something in the water in Red Springs • Call clarification important at Baptist schools

Required courses that provide an overview of the functions of ministry help clarify calling.

“A lot of students come here as Christian young people who want to serve the Lord but maybe not in vocational ministry,” Hancock said. “We try to be positive with the student. We let them know, ‘If it’s what God wants you to do, it’s OK.’”

Some students’ call to ministry is confirmed when they are undergraduates, but “they do not have becoming the pastor of a church in their sights,” said David Garland, dean of Baylor’s Truett Theological Seminary. “I think that the seminary, however, is now the setting where this calling is being heard and affirmed.”

When he was a student, Garland recalls professors who would tap promising students on the shoulder, pull them aside and ask if they had considered graduate school.

“I would never do that today, given the over-population of Ph.D.s and the shortage of jobs,” he said.

Instead, he and the faculty who work with him encourage students who are not already considering the pastorate to recognize that God might be calling them to that place of service.

Truett also seeks to bring students into contact with ministers who find fulfillment and joy in serving as pastor of a local church, Garland added.

“In George Truett’s day, the church singled him out and said, ‘You are going to be a pastor whether you think you are or not.’ Today, that does not happen. I do not think that it happens in undergraduate programs. It now tends to happen in the seminary,” he said. 

Some students who did not plan to become pastors when they entered seminary—and even some who expressed their intention to follow God’s call anywhere except into the pastorate—change their minds while at seminary, Garland noted.

“But that is the way it is with God’s call,” he said. “You usually don’t see what’s coming.” 

Posted: 9/14/07

Candidates’ religious commitment
not a big voter draw, survey shows

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—A new survey of voters’ attitudes toward presidential candidates shows that being perceived as highly religious may not help the 2008 hopefuls much.

The study, released by two bipartisan public-interest groups, also suggests many issues most important to conservative religious voters aren’t as important to the wider electorate.

The poll involved telephone interviews with 3,002 adults in early August and was sponsored by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

“The candidates viewed by voters as the least religious among the leading contenders are the current front-runners for the Democratic and Republican nominations—Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, respectively,” the study says. “On the other hand, the candidate seen as far and away the most religious—Mitt Romney—is handicapped by this perception because of voter concerns about Mormonism.”

The survey found only 16 percent of respondents viewed Clinton, a Democratic senator from New York, as “very religious.” However, she outpaced Giuliani, the Republican ex-mayor of New York City, whom only 14 percent viewed as strongly religious.

Nonetheless, majorities viewed all major candidates of both parties as at least somewhat religious. And the two other main Democratic candidates—Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards—were viewed by more respondents as highly religious than were any of the Republican candidates other than Romney. Twenty-eight percent said they thought Edwards is very religious while 24 percent thought the same of Obama.

The next most religious major candidate was Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, at 19 percent. Sixteen percent thought former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, the latest GOP candidate to enter the race, was very religious.

Forty-six percent of respondents considered Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, the most religious major candidate.

But while a large majority of respondents—including both self-identified Democrats and Republicans—considered it important for a president to have strong religious beliefs, a significant number said they were uncomfortable with Romney’s membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

A full 25 percent of Republican or Republican-leaning voters said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who is a Mormon. Of those, only 54 percent had a favorable view of Romney, versus 82 percent of all Republican respondents.

The idea of a Mormon president was least popular among white evangelical Republicans who attend church weekly. Of that group, 41 percent said they would be less likely to vote for a Mormon.

The issues most important to voters remain foreign policy and economics rather than social controversies many conservative Christian leaders have emphasized.

“White evangelical Protestants are the only major political or religious group in which a majority (56 percent) says that social issues like abortion and gay marriage will be very important in their presidential voting decisions,” the report says.

“Even among white evangelicals, however, social issues trail domestic matters and the war in Iraq: 72 percent of white evangelicals cite the economy and other domestic issues as very important, while 66 percent rate the war in Iraq as very important to their vote.”

Among the survey’s other findings:

• The percentages of voters who think secular liberals have too much control over the Democratic Party and religious conservatives have too much control over the Republican Party have decreased since 2005.

• A large majority of respondents in all religious and ethnic categories oppose churches endorsing political candidates, with 63 percent of all respondents opposing such endorsements and only 28 percent favoring them.

• Significant majorities of the public continue to support abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research and oppose legalizing same-sex marriage.

• Diversity exists among white evangelical Protestants even when it comes to controversial social issues. Of respondents in that category, 31 percent supported both embryonic stem-cell research and unlimited or mildly limited access to abortion, and 14 percent supported same-sex marriage.

Posted: 9/14/07

Posted: 9/14/07

2nd Opinion: The importance of letting go

By Bob Campbell

Two years ago, I retired from a large church in Houston after almost 15 years of pastoral service. The day I retired, I gave up my role as “pastor” of the church.

I have elected to stay in the church with the many friends I made over the past 15 years. However, all of my friends will testify that I do not allow them to “talk” church business with me. I always refer them to the current leadership. Any member of the church will tell you that I have not said or done anything that could be construed as “pastoral” ministry in the church. I visit prospects as any member might. I never identify myself as the “former” pastor.

No pastor can stay with a congregation he has pastored if he does not recognize that he no longer holds the office of pastor. I told my congregation I wanted to stay under the following self-imposed conditions:

• I will not perform any weddings or funerals of church members. 

• I will not participate or criticize the business and ministries of the church or its pastoral leaders. (I do not attend any of the business meetings of our church.)

I have met our new pastor at his request and at the encouragement of the pastor-search committee. I assured him that he can count on my verbal support. I told him: “If I do not like what you are doing, I will pray. If I really, really do not like what you are doing, I will pray.” Why would anyone ever do anything else? I believe prayer is the most powerful action any Christian can ever take. Why would I resort to any other method of voicing my displeasure?

All ministers who resign must in actuality “genuinely resign” all duties and responsibilities of the position they are leaving. The new minister needs complete freedom to minister to any personal crisis in the congregation. This establishes his pastoral relationship to the membership. He will change things, because we must always look for better ways to communicate the gospel. He will cancel some programs or ministries I started. God bless him in following God’s will as he understands it.

If a former minister cannot let go, he should move far away from the church so that he will never be “tempted” to interfere. He should never go back to preach or speak, except at the personal request of the church’s current pastor.

Bob Campbell is the retired pastor of Westbury Baptist Church in Houston and a former president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Posted: 9/14/07

DOWN HOME:
Lessons learned at a busy intersection

Commuting is a microcosm of life.

Many folks, bless their souls, live in small towns, where commuting is nothing. But those of us who drive miles through city traffic every day view the gamut of human nature on the streets and expressways and overpasses of our lives.

This morning on the way to work, I witnessed the extremes of kindness and reckless selfishness within 15 seconds.

The Good Samaritan appeared first. Her dark-blue SUV grabbed my attention, because it was stopped on the left side of the road—out of the traffic lanes and partway onto the grass.

Then I saw the driver. Immediately, I knew what she was doing. She had waded out into the tall grass, still damp with morning dew. Her posture signalled her intent. She bent forward slightly at the waist, and she gently clapped her hands in front of her as she spoke into the distance. I followed her eyes and found what I knew I would see: A stray mutt, cowed by the whizzing traffic, shivering on the far side of the median, just a few feet from oncoming traffic.

Of course, you can debate the wisdom of parking a vehicle on the edge of a median in the middle of Dallas rush-hour traffic. But you’ve got to give that woman stars for care and compassion. No telling how many cars and trucks pass that spot every hour all day long. The little dog wouldn’t make it out of there alive unless someone stopped to render aid.

Seconds later, I nearly watched a wreck. The dog-gone (at least I hope it’s dog-gone) median is formed by two lanes of traffic that merge before splitting again so drivers can head to Dallas or Fort Worth.

The traffic flow through this ill-designed intersection “works” because most people remember what they learned in kindergarten: When two lines come together to form one line, it’s polite to let every-other person from each line take a turn.

This morning, a self-absorbed gal in a bright-red sports car nearly ran a white mini-van off the road because she apparently feels she’s too important to wait for one vehicle to get on the road in front of her.

OK, they weren’t going that fast, so nobody would’ve been injured. But thousands of commuters behind them could have been delayed by one person’s need to gain one car-length on the freeway. What a jerk.

Driving on in to work, I thought about the woman who took the time and accepted the risk to save a stray dog and the one who risked others’ property and time to “save” a few seconds.

And then I wondered about Christians today. Are we the kind of Christ-followers who risk our own safety and give our own time to help save people on the median between heaven and hell? Or are we so concerned about our own souls that we risk bouncing others into oblivion, just so we make good time through life?

–Marv Knox

Posted: 9/14/07

EDITORIAL:
Good news from MTV, of all places

The best way to ensure the happiness of teens and young adults is to envelope them in the embrace of family.

A new study sponsored by MTV and the Associated Press revealed the most significant factor contributing to teen happiness is family. Spiritual faith also is a vital contributor to teens’ and young adults’ emotional well-being. Conversely, many of the supposed happiness-providers that dominate teen- and young-adult-oriented media—money, fame, sex and drugs—finished far down the list. And some of them even cause unhappiness, survey respondents said.

The majority of American young people lead happy lives, the poll found. Sixty-three percent of survey participants aged 13 to 24 said they are very happy (21 percent) or somewhat happy (42 percent). Another 22 percent said they are “neither happy nor unhappy.” Only 15 percent said they are somewhat unhappy or very unhappy.

Parents and family are the far-and-away dominant factors in young people’s happiness. Asked to cite the “one thing in life that makes you happy,” 46 percent of young people named spending time with family, friends and loved ones. Seventy-three percent of survey respondents said they are very happy (41 percent) or somewhat happy (32 percent) with their relationship with their parents. Eleven percent said they are somewhat unhappy with their parents, and only 2 percent are very unhappy.

Asked to name their heroes, U.S. young adults’ top answer is their mother (29 percent), followed by their father (21 percent), followed by their parents (16 percent).

The young people also projected a positive image of family in their answers regarding their own expectations. Ninety-one percent said they believe getting married will make them happy. Ninety-two percent said they definitely (52 percent) or probably (40 percent) want to get married, and 64 percent said they “very likely” will be married to the same person their whole life.

Faith and spirituality also are important to many young people. Sixty-five percent of respondents ranked “religion or spirituality” as important to them, with 11 percent claiming it is the single most important thing in their lives, followed by 33 percent who said it is very important and 21 percent who ranked it as somewhat important. Those feelings eclipsed actual church attendance, with 36 percent of young people saying they attend religious services at least once a week and 7 percent noting they attend once or twice a month. Seventy-five percent said “God or a god-like figure” has some impact on their personal happiness.

While almost no young people suggested money or material possessions provide happiness, 70 percent said they want to be rich someday. But only 29 percent indicated they want to be famous.

The full reports on this survey are available online at www.mtv.com/thinkmtv/research and http://surveys.ap.org/. They offer volumes of information that will be enormously helpful to parents and caring adults who work with young people.

The survey reinforces the importance of strengthening parenting skills. Although peer pressure and other influences impact young people tremendously, parents still provide not only the greatest source of happiness but also the most significant influence on teens.

Churches could significantly expand the impact of their student ministries if they would include training, equipping and encouraging parents as part of their programming. Too often, churches—and especially youth ministers—feel they must shoulder the burden for spiritual formation in teens’ lives. But if we will help more moms and dads to be effective parents who provide role models for how to live lives of faith, we will enable them to pass their most important legacy—faith in Jesus Christ—on to their children.

Posted: 9/14/07

Faith Digest

Religious activists fast for debt relief. A group of religious activists began a 40-day fast Sept. 6 to advocate for legislation that would cancel the debts of the world’s 67 poorest countries, according to the Jubilee USA Network, an alliance of more than 80 religious denominations and faith communities. 2007 is a Sabbath year, according to Jubilee USA, which in the Old Testament meant creditors were expected to cancel the loans of fellow Hebrews. In June, Reps. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., introduced the 2007 Jubilee Act in the House of Representatives. Jubilee USA says its goal is to get a hearing on the bill and similar legislation introduced in the Senate.

Confucius joins Jesus at courthouse. Napoleon, Confucius, Hammurabi and more than a dozen other historical figures have joined Jesus Christ on the wall at a Louisiana courthouse in a bid to reassure visitors that the court wanted nothing more than to showcase people who helped to create the laws of civilized nations. Officials mounted the additional portraits one week before a scheduled court hearing at which the Louisiana ACLU planned to ask a federal judge to remove the Jesus portrait. The ACLU has sued the court, the city of Slidell, St. Tammany Parish and Judge Jim Lamz, saying the portrait and the accompanying words, “To know peace, obey these laws,” violates the First Amendment and the separation of church and state.

School revises move-in policy to avoid religious conflicts. The University of California no longer will force students to choose between observing religious holidays and move-in days at dormitories, according to a new system-wide policy. Previously, Jewish students had complained that move-in days often conflicted with the Jewish High Holy Days, such as this year, when move-in day is scheduled for Sept. 22, during Yom Kippur. Under the policy, schools with move-in days that conflict with a religious holiday must change their schedule so no student will have to choose between fulfilling their religious obligations and moving in. While the Jewish High Holy Days were the impetus for the change, the new policy applies to all religions.

Court strikes down restrictive school terminology. A Texas court has struck down a state requirement that religious higher education institutions must meet specific standards before they can call themselves a “seminary” or use certain terminology to describe their degrees. The Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of HEB Ministries, which runs Tyndale Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. The state had fined the school $173,000 because it had not been authorized by a state educational board to grant degrees. The case also affects two other religious institutions—San Antonio-based Hispanic Bible Institute and Dallas-based Southern Bible Institute—that joined the case as additional plaintiffs. In an effort to ban so-called “diploma mills,” the state had enacted a law that restricts the terminology a school can use about educational attainment unless a school has received a certificate of authority from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.