Posted: 6/21/07

Bible Studies for Life Series for July 1

United we stand

• Acts 2:41-47; 4:23-24; 29-35

By David Harp

First Baptist Church, Stanton

Some time back, my friend and I were talking about church. He asked me if I had heard of several new types of churches that are becoming more and more popular. In particular, he asked if I had ever heard of a “cowboy” church. I said, “Yes, I have heard of a cowboy church, and there is one near where I live.”

We talked about some other human names that people identify with their various churches. Then my friend said to me, tongue in cheek, “I think if I ever start a new kind of church I’m going to start an Edward D. Jones church.” I thought for a moment and then asked, “Sounds good, but what would your tithing requirements be at the new Edward D. Jones church?”

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He said he hadn’t thought that through yet, but I’d given him some food for thought. We hear a lot about churches today. Some might say, “We sure do have a mission-minded church where we go.” Another will add, “Our church is built around the youth ministry—we are preparing for the future at our church.”

In our churches today, we have elaborate music programs and children’s facilities and senior adult centers. We want to do church right by being kingdom people and not glorifying our own “pet” ministries within the body of Christ.

Our lesson this week helps us reach this goal by asking a powerful question: “How can I support other believers?”

Good question. We sometimes forget that church isn’t always just about us. Church is where believers don’t isolate themselves, but we seek the higher good of the whole body. We bring our gifts together and use them to praise and serve God.

United in fellowship (Acts 2:42-47)

The church exploded with growth when Jesus was crucified, buried and rose again. Then at Pentecost, the glory went to God, and the blessings came down. The believers were united in their devotion to study, fellowship, breaking bread together and prayer.

When believers are together in the fellowship of unity, there is a contagious spirit in the family of God. People outside the church often are drawn like a magnet to such unity and fellowship within a church.

Let’s be clear—fellowship is more than a church social or party. Fellowship reflects an attitude where there is a shared mutual love and loyalty. This type of fellowship may include tears as well as laughter as people care for and love one another. In Acts 2, they kept it simple. No vote was required to have fellowship or prayer or to be devoted to one another or break bread together.

United in prayer (Acts 4:23-24; 29-31)

The church united together for prayer. In Acts 3, a man was healed, and that was good news. The news was so good that people heard more and more about it and wanted to know more. This disturbed the religious law keepers, so they threw Peter and John in jail.

Imagine your church beginning a jail ministry because the two leading pastors were in jail on Sunday. The people united together with the greatest forces in the entire world—the prayer warriors and God. When they prayed, they praised God and requested more boldness to speak in Jesus’ name.

We would do well to remember that prayer is a time of refreshment not employment. Howard Taylor says of his father, Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China, “For 40 years, the sun never rose on China that God didn’t find him on his knees.”

Prayer refreshes us and prayer unites us. In small groups and great gatherings, these verses call the church today to pray.

When the church faced persecution and trial, they relied fully on God and not their own strength. It brought them together and held them together. We want the unity but never the persecution. Sometimes in the life of a believer, they go hand in hand.

United in meeting needs (Acts 4:32-35)

In 2005, there was an unprecedented need around the world. Because of more than 70 disasters, a resounding call came to anyone who could and would go or others who would give financial help. Disasters have a way of bringing us all to our knees. Disasters also can bring us together. More people volunteered to go and give and serve to meet human needs in the midst of these disasters than ever before.

The believers were of “one heart and one soul” (v. 32) and willingly shared their possessions with each other, so everyone’s needs were met.

The old saying comes to mind when I read carefully verses 32-35: “You can give without loving but you can’t love without giving.”

Discussion questions

• What are some ways that we can fellowship together besides the usual church meal?

• Take a look at your recent prayer requests to God—are there any prayers that include boldness to speak the name of Jesus?

• What is bringing unity to your church?

• How can we unite in meeting needs?

Posted: 6/21/07

Explore the Bible Series for July 1

Humility can prevent a fall

• Zephaniah 1:12-15; 2:1-3; 3:11-12

By Kathryn Aragon

First Baptist Church, Duncanville

This week’s lesson is from the book of Zephaniah, which foretells the destruction of Judah by the Chaldeans (or Babylonians). The book outlines God’s outrage over worship of false gods, the coming judgment and God’s mercy toward those who obey him.

Zephaniah is not light reading. The book begins with a blast of God’s wrath. “‘I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,’ declares the Lord” (1:2). And it ends with the salve of his love: “‘At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,’ says the Lord” (3:20). How can God change his tone so quickly? What do we need to learn from this harsh indictment against Judah?

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Disobedience is pride

We tend to read the story of the Israelites with a knowing shake of the head, failing to realize we are no different. The Israelites experienced a supernatural rescue from Egypt and then doubted God’s ability to provide food in the desert. Since we know the end of the story, we can wonder at their lack of faith. Yet we, after experiencing the personal revelation of salvation through Jesus, wonder if God even listens to our prayers. Then, like the Israelites, we make our own decisions about how to live.

Although in Zephaniah we see God’s rage over our unfaithfulness and disobedience, we also hear his call to humility. But what do obedience and humility have to do with one another? To make the connection, we must grasp that unfaithfulness and disobedience are, in fact, a form of pride.

What is disobedience, after all, but an effort to preserve our own ways of doing things. Obedience is defined as the act of fulfilling a command or instruction. It demands we put aside our own wishes so the wishes of God can be fulfilled. Real obedience occurs when we value God so much that we respect his wishes more than ours.

When we disobey, we ignore God’s wishes and choose our own way. Essentially, we value our own plans more than God’s and, therefore, find it impossible to put God’s wishes above our own.

Pride is defined as an awareness of your own value, often associated with putting too much emphasis on yourself. But look again at the definition of obedience. Valuing your own wishes above others’ is not obedience. Essentially, pride, or valuing your own way, is disobedience, preferring to follow your own impulses rather than God’s.

God hates pride

Seeing pride as disobedience opens the doors to understanding Zephaniah’s message. You see, disobedience is not the root of our problem; pride is. When we find it difficult to obey God, we merely display the symptoms of pride, which is a far deeper problem. But what is pride? Nothing less than elevating ourselves to the status of god. Pride is self-worship.

Throughout the Old Testament, God repeatedly warns the Israelites against worshipping anyone but him. He even devotes two of the Ten Commandments to this mandate, ending with the consequences of disobedience: “You shall not bow down to (idols) or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:5-6).

But pride especially is dangerous because it clouds our thinking and leads us astray. It causes us to believe we are centered in God’s will, when we really are centered on ourselves. It makes us blind to our sins and creates an atmosphere where talking one way and living another is perfectly justifiable.

God hates pride because it separates us from him and challenges his authority. “Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord, she does not draw near to her God” (3:1-2). God desires us to lean on his wisdom and knowledge as little children trust in their parents. He wants us to seek his guidance for how to live our lives rather than trusting our own ways. But pride never submits and therefore can never really draw near to God.

Humility restores us to God

Humility is defined as an attitude of submission and respect. Instead of seeking its own will, it seeks God’s. Humility, then, defeats pride and creates an atmosphere where obedience seems right and natural. And why does God desire this? Because the proud will be destroyed, and God does not desire that anyone perish. “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger” (2:3).

After his harsh denouncement of proud idolaters, God gives the humble a special salve of blessing. “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing” (3:17).

But proper humility is a delicate balancing act. To humble ourselves, we must understand our smallness and insignificance while remembering our great value in the eyes of God. On the one hand, we are so full of sin we are as filthy rags. On the other, God knows the number of hairs on our heads. We are to come boldly before his throne, but be silently awed by his presence.

As with every other Christian attribute, the right balance can only be achieved through a personal and intimate walk with God. We tend to want rules to live by. But there are only two rules that never fail: Put God first, and put others ahead of ourselves. Everything else requires God’s personal leading.

That is, after all, what God wants. We were made to enjoy close fellowship with him. And his chief complaint in Zephaniah is that we “turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him” (1:6).

Humility is an attitude, not a standard set in stone. It comes from valuing God’s will above our own. And it causes us to seek him every day to find his direction, striving to obey him no matter what. Pride goes before a fall, according to the old saying. But humility can put us back on our feet. Pride separates us from God, but humility restores us.

Discussion questions

• What are ways we disobey that seem easy to justify?

• Why don’t we see those things as sin?

• Describe how a humble person interacts with others.

• Describe how Jesus interacted with others.

• Would you say Jesus was humble? How does that change your perception of Christlike humility?

Posted: 6/20/07

Baptist bloggers calling it quits,
turning to other methods, ministry

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP)—The most prominent Baptist bloggers who led a two-year revolt against the Southern Baptist Convention establishment have abandoned their Internet-fueled campaign, but they insist they will continue the crusade for more openness in the SBC with other methods.

Marty Duren, Benjamin Cole and several other young voices in the denomination announced recently they won’t be blogging about SBC issues anymore.

“Bloggers have been successful at guiding conversation,” Duren wrote on www.sbcoutpost.com, one day after the annual SBC meeting. “But for lasting change to take place, it must move into larger realms with more participants at more levels.”

But Wade Burleson, whose dispute with fellow trustees of the SBC International Mission Board in 2005 became a rallying cry for the online revolution, says he will continue to blog, even “redoubling” his efforts, for the sake of the missionaries.

The bloggers are widely credited with electing South Carolina pastor Frank Page as SBC president in 2006. They used the election to broaden participation in the denomination beyond the entrenched fundamentalist leaders who have controlled the convention for more than two decades.

After Page was re-elected June 12, the young reformers’ candidate for first vice president was defeated. But they achieved their second big victory a day later by getting denominational approval for a statement declaring the SBC’s revised doctrinal statement—the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message—“is sufficient in its current form to guide trustees in their establishment of policies and practices of entities of the convention.”

That edict, designed to halt the “narrowing of parameters” that has pushed some charismatics, Calvinists and other minorities to the SBC’s margins, may not have its intended effect. Some SBC agency presidents immediately said the Baptist Faith & Message is a “minimal” statement, not an “exhaustive” one.

But the bloggers insist they won that battle and are not leaving the fight discouraged.

“I am abandoning no effort to which I have committed myself for the sake of reforming and refocusing the Southern Baptist Convention,” Cole said in an interview after announcing his change of focus on his blog (www.baptistblog.wordpress.com).

“I am shifting to new methods,” said Cole, a pastor in Arlington, whose attacks on Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, have shocked even his supporters. “No agenda for reform will succeed if bridges are burned at every turn. I have become a polarizing figure, and I knew that was an unavoidable consequence of raising the concerns that I have in the manner that I chose.”

Duren, a pastor in Buford, Ga., said he will be going back to school, spending more time with his family, focusing on ministry, and blogging occasionally—but not about SBC politics.

“It is time for the conversation to expand beyond the blogosphere—way beyond the blogosphere,” Duren said. “In fact, if those who have merely been watching the conversation do not begin contributing to it, it may cease—and sooner rather than later. If reform in the SBC is dependent on a few blogs to bring it to pass, then the old ship is closer to the cliffs that we thought.”

In addition to Duren and Cole, other Baptist bloggers—including Art Rogers (www.twelvewitnesses.com) and Allen Cross (www.downshoredrift.typepad.com)—announced they will stop blogging or change topics.

Burleson, whom Duren described as “ever-optimistic,” said he will continue commenting on SBC issues. His blogging about new restrictions on missionaries in 2005 so upset his fellow IMB trustees that they tried to remove him from the board—a historical first.

“I have decided to stick it out for the good of the missionaries on the field and the future of the SBC as a whole,” Burleson, a pastor in Enid, Okla., said in an interview. “It has never been about me. It is about two competing visions of what our convention should look like in the years to come.”

“In the end, the broad, cooperative, conservative, peace-loving, gospel-telling, missions-oriented view of the SBC must win out,” Burleson said. “I’m committed to ensure it does.”

Duren, Cole and Burleson said the movement they helped start will continue.

“I believe that there is incredible momentum for swinging this convention back toward the center of conservatism, rather than follow a few leaders into their headlong rush for independent fundamentalism,” Cole said.

“I hope that a new crop of ‘dissenters’ have been emboldened to step forward,” Duren said. “The reality is that only the leaders of the SBC … can address many of the issues that need to be addressed.”

Others in the blogosphere admitted more discouragement with the lack of reform and level of resistance. Many said they will focus their efforts on networking outside the SBC or with others committed to non-traditional ministry.

“I entered the Baptist blogosphere for the ultimate purpose of opening doors for younger leaders in the SBC to have a voice that was not being sought and not being heard,” Duren wrote in his blog. “To some degree this has been accomplished. This (blog) has been a place where their voice could be heard. But it does seem that more and more younger leaders are simply walking away for non-denominational pastures.”

But Burleson said the recent changes in the SBC have been “astounding” and predicted “other young, reformed-minded bloggers will arise” to replace the first generation.

“The movement has incredible momentum,” he said. “It will not shrivel up. There is now in place a very real sensitivity to the narrowing of the parameters of cooperation in the SBC that was not present just two years ago. …

“Change is happening. Of course, any time new ideas and people begin to arise, the status quo pushes back. Opposition is to be expected. But the men and women I’ve met are not easily dissuaded from their objectives of advancing the kingdom of Christ through the SBC.”

Posted: 6/20/07

In historic move, First Baptist Decatur
calls Waco woman as senior pastor

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

DECATUR, Ga. (ABP)—First Baptist Church of Decatur, Ga., has become the largest church associated with the Southern Baptist Convention or the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to hire a woman as senior pastor.

In a closed business session after Sunday morning worship June 17, nearly 400 members voted to call Julie Pennington-Russell as minister. The proposal, approved by a show of hands, went unchallenged in a discussion session.

Pennington-Russell, 46, currently is senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Waco, a post she has held since 1998. She had previously worked as a pastor at Nineteenth Avenue Baptist Church in San Francisco. She will begin her new job Aug. 19, succeeding Gary Parker, who resigned.

The church, with 2,700 members, is one of several historic congregations in Decatur, which now is surrounded by metropolitan Atlanta.

“The thought of coming alongside this remarkable congregation in this world-class city at this moment in history fills me with a huge joy,” Pennington-Russell said. “Our family is eager to hoist our sail with this great community of Christ-followers.”

In a statement to the Decatur church about Pennington-Russell, search committee members said they spent 800 hours considering 64 candidates for the position. The committee also consulted an outside panel of six people “knowledgeable in Baptist life today.”

“At the end of the process, however, our selection was unanimous. Every member of the committee expressed the conviction that the Holy Spirit has indeed led us to our final selection,” the statement said. “We truly believe that (Pennington-Russell) embodies all of the qualities you asked us to find in a pastor, and we are convinced that, like us, you will learn to love her and admire her for her depth, her joyous Christian spirit, and her dedication to the gospel message.”

While the SBC doctrinal statement, the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, states that “the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture,” a recent study by Baptist Women in Ministry identified female senior pastors in 117 congregations currently or previously affiliated with the SBC. More than 1,800 women have been ordained to serve in various ministry roles, the study reported.

Pennington-Russell graduated from the University of Central Florida in Orlando and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif. She is completing a doctor of ministry degree at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary. Pennington-Russell and her husband, Tim, have two children.

First Baptist Church of Decatur, with a history reaching back to the Civil War, was founded as a Southern Baptist church. According to the church’s website, however, 80 percent of its members now designate their denominational support to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and roughly 20 percent support the SBC. In 2006, the church reported an average Sunday school attendance of roughly 450 people.

Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and an opponent of women as pastors, agreed Pennington-Russell’s selection precedent-setting. For a church with the history and prominence of First Baptist Decatur to call a woman as senior minister is “undeniably historic,” he said in a June 5 post on www.conventionalthinking.net.

“This move increases the visible distance between the Southern Baptist Convention and the constellation of moderate Baptist organizations disaffected from the denomination. The distance is theological, cultural, ideological—and growing,” Mohler wrote.

Updated: 6/19/07

Ruth Graham, wife of evangelist
Billy Graham, dead at 87

By Matt Kennedy

Associated Baptist Press

MONTREAT, N.C. (ABP)—Ruth Graham, the wife of evangelist Billy Graham, died June 14 at her home at Little Piney Cove in Montreat, N.C. She was 87.

An author, philanthropist, Congressional Gold Medal winner and mother of five, Graham fell into a coma June 13. Her health declined rapidly from a bout with pneumonia a few weeks prior. She had been bedridden for several years with degenerative osteoarthritis.

At her request, Graham had stopped receiving nutrients through a feeding tube for the last few days of her life, a spokesman for the family said.

Graham was laid to rest in a private funeral June 17 in the recently dedicated Billy Graham Library. A public funeral service took place June 16 in the Anderson Auditorium at the Montreat Conference Center in Montreat, N.C.

Billy Graham, who has Parkinson’s disease, prostate cancer and fluid on the brain, announced earlier this year that he will be buried beside his wife in the garden when he dies. In a public statement, Graham discussed his love for his wife of nearly 64 years.

“I am so grateful to the Lord that he gave me Ruth, and especially for these last few years we’ve had in the mountains together,” Graham said. “We’ve rekindled the romance of our youth, and my love for her continued to grow deeper every day. I will miss her terribly and look forward even more to the day I can join her in heaven.”

In a 2005 interview with Larry King, Billy Graham was asked whether he would like to die before his wife.

“Well, I'd like to see us hold hands and go together because I love her so much,” he responded. “And I love her more now. Interestingly, I love her more now, and we have more romance now, than we did when we were young. We both agree to that.”

While her husband went on long crusades around the world, Ruth Graham often looked after their two sons and three daughters, who are all involved in ministry in some capacity.

Her eldest son, Franklin Graham, who leads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association founded by his father, described his mother’s strength in a public statement.

"My father would not have been what he is today if it wasn’t for my mother,” Franklin said. “She stood strong for what was biblically correct and accurate. She would help my father prepare his messages, listening with an attentive ear, and if she saw something that wasn’t right or heard something that she felt wasn’t as strong as it could be, she was a voice to strengthen this or eliminate that. Every person needs that kind of input in their life, and she was that to my father.”

Ruth Graham had endured frail health since 1995, when she contracted spinal meningitis. She previously had developed a degenerative back condition in 1974 that resulted in chronic back pain. Bedridden or wheelchair-bound since the late 1990s, Ruth continued to provide a source of inspiration and support for Billy Graham through her prayers and counsel, a statement from the family said.

Graham is survived by her husband, Billy; daughters Virginia, Anne Morrow and Ruth Bell; sons Franklin and Nelson; 19 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.

Posted: 6/24/07

BaptistWay Bible Series for June 24

A desperate cry for hope

• Job 16:1-8, 18-21; 19:1-7, 23-27

By Crystal Leake

Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene

For two semesters of my graduate work, I worked as a student chaplain at a psychiatric hospital. One day, I was working with a teenage group. One of the girls and I were talking. This was her third admittance into the hospital.

She sarcastically mentioned her new bracelet. To my amazement, it was an intensive care unit bracelet. Doctors and nurses had worked for days to keep her heart beating. She had swallowed many prescription pills. She explained to me that the therapists continued to tell her she had attempted suicide.

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She pleaded with me to believe she really wanted to live. “I just wanted to sleep awhile through the pain” she exclaimed. Although she still was a young girl, it seemed her life had been filled with suffering and left her with a feeling of hopelessness. She had experienced many things in her life that were out of her control.

The physical pain and emotional anguish she felt ran deep into her soul. She refused to believe she had attempted suicide. She was not looking for death. Rather, she was looking for a temporary release from her pain. She refused to believe those around her. I looked deep into her blank stare and saw a glimmer of hope. Her words echo in my mind even now as I write her story, “I just need God.”

Those who know not speak loudest

The book of Job is well known to both Christians and non-Christians alike. In times of trouble and suffering, we turn to Job’s life for comfort and sometimes even to justify our anger towards God. Job’s story is one of great suffering and tragedy. When tragedy strikes in the form of death, illness, loss of job or divorce, what do we do? Often, we look to our friends and comforters to share in our suffering.

Like us, Job had three friends come to his aid. Upon first sight of Job, the three friends joined him in his sorrow. They sat in silence and mourned with Job seven days and nights. It was only after Job broke his silence that the friends attempted to give him words of advice. In Job’s eyes, they failed to give him comfort.

What do we do when the advice of friends and mentors only adds fuel to the fire of our anger and resentment? Hurt is deepened when our closest friends seem to be against us as much as the situation at hand.

Job’s friends had advised him to repent of whatever sin he had done. From their point of view, he brought this tragedy upon himself. In Job 16:1-6 and 19:1-4, we read two speeches in which Job responds. Job dared to see God in a different light than his friends. Job refused their ramblings and advice. The irony is that Job’s comforter, God, also was seen by Job as his adversary. Job, like the girl in the story, chose not to listen to his friends. He sought solace from what he saw as the source of his pain.

God as enemy and friend

Job’s cry (in Job 16:7-8; 9:6-7) was against the order of the universe. When one does good, one should receive blessings. When one does not, one should not receive blessings.

This idea was held by many believers of Job’s day. It was not, however, working for Job. Job’s friends decided he must have committed a sin or this would not have happened. Job claimed innocence in his suffering. Job cries out in chapter 19 verse 6-7. He tells his friends, “God has wronged me … though I cry … I get no response.” How lonely Job must have felt.

We as Christians draw our strength from God’s gentle whispering Spirit that comforts in ways that are mysterious to us. What do we do when we feel as Job did? When there is no comfort in the whisper to be heard? Think back to a time when you felt God was not there. Do you remember how you felt?

In Job 19:23-27, we read of Job’s faith in the promise of redemption. One dictionary defines the word “redeem” as “to get or win back” and/or “to free from what distresses or harms.” Job greatly needed God to free him from his distress. What about Job’s desire to have God win him back into relationship with himself? Job’s anguish is obvious in every speech he makes. More than anything, Job desires God to win back his heart: “I know that my Redeemer (the one who will win my heart back) lives” (Job 19:25). Job’s faith in God’s character shines through in 19:23-27.

When all else fails, even the God we blame will be the God that will restore. God will win our hearts back. The girl in the story may relate most with Job. Her desire is that Job’s words will be true in her life. That God will win her heart.

Discussion question

• How and why is there hope in tragic situations?

• How does God redeem you daily?

Crystal Leake is a master of arts student in the family ministry program of Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon Seminary in Abilene.

Posted: 6/24/07

Bible Studies for Life Series for June 24

Renew your devotion daily

• Deuteronomy 28:10-15; 30:1-3, 6, 11-14, 19-20

By David Harp

First Baptist Church, Stanton

Finding the right leader can be a great challenge for God’s people. Many churches are seeking the person God would have for them to lead and minister among his people.

Several years ago, many Baptist conventions began to train some men across the states to be “intentional interims” for churches. By nature, this process tells us the church and the intentional interim have a purpose and a plan to “work through” together while a search is made to find a new leader and pastor for a church.

Finding successors is not limited to the church. Many years ago, the New York Yankees were saying goodbye to a real hero, Bobby Richardson. Richardson was the second baseman and the quiet leader of his team. He had prayed about the end of his career. He felt that God had a higher purpose for his life and that it was time for him to move on.

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Management disagreed. Del Webb, the Yankees co-owner, pushed a blank contract across the table and asked Richardson to fill it in. He pushed it back across the table, saying: “The Yankees have treated me well, and I am not interested in filling in the blanks in that contract. My interest is filling in the blanks in my life as a husband and a father. My last game was my last game.”

Moses was leading the people to settle in the Promised Land without settling for less in their relationship with God. This is a mark of a great leader. If they truly would be Promised Land people, they would remember in a passionate and obedient way the Lord who kept all his promises to them.

Are we a people who remember? Is our relationship with the Lord one of passionate obedience?

Come before God (Deuteronomy 29:10-15)

All of God’s people were gathered in his presence. The purpose of their worship was to renew their commitment to God. Some would enter into this covenant for the first time. Others would renew their commitment to the covenant. This renewal of the covenant included all the people of God. This corporate act of worship and commitment was a spiritual marker in their walk with God.

What happens when we worship God? Each time we come before God, we retrace our spiritual steps and are reminded of who God is and all God has done in our lives. He alone is God and is deserving of our highest and best. When we come before God in worship, we exchange our heart for his.

Return to passionate obedience (Deuteronomy 30:1-3, 6)

Moses knew how hard-hearted his people were from 40 years of wilderness experiences. God revealed to him that they would one day forget him and be exiled from the land. In spite of this, God provided hope. They turned from their sins and returned to the Lord. He provided an opportunity for them to renew the covenant.

The emphasis is on how God would gather them and deliver them from exile. It is God who renews and restores his repentant people. He enabled them to love him with all their hearts and souls. God alone gives new life.

Have you followed the Lord for a long time? Has your love for him grown darker or is it brighter today?

I am preparing a funeral message for a precious family as I write these words. Loss and grief can do strange things to us. I met a wonderful 79-year-old man named Jerry who has lost the love of his life. He shared with me that each night, he spends the last few hours searching the Scriptures and reflecting on God’s word. I’d say my new friend Jerry has kept his passionate obedience for the Lord. Jerry preached to the preacher today.

Realize you can know and obey (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

Moses gives God’s people a stirring word of encouragement. We would do well to look closely at his words. Moses says some things about our eternal God:

• God is not incomprehensible (not difficult to understand).

• God is not inaccessible.

• God is near.

• God is approachable.

We all need a word of encouragement from time to time. Any leader worth his or her salt will want to lift the people in their relationship to God. Moses points us to our relationship with God, reminding us that he longs to love us and be near us daily.

Choose life today (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

Moses set before his people two choices—life and death. There were no other choices. God’s way leads to life and blessing. Their way led to death and curses. God offered himself to his people to give them life and peace. Now people must renew their commitment to life. They must guard against temptation and hold on to the Lord.

Bobby Richardson came to our area a few years ago, and I had an engaging conversation with him. This was a real treat for me. He bubbled as he told me of having two sons who are pastors. He looked me in the eye and said, “My son is my pastor!”

Bobby Richardson chose life with God and life with family over life with the Yankees and millions of dollars. Bobby has no regrets over his decision. You may know that Bobby Richardson has ministered to many of his Yankee teammates over the years. He tells them: “Choose life. Look to the Lord and be saved.” Good choice, Bobby. May we make the wise choice of choosing life.

Discussion questions

• In what ways do we settle for less in our relationship with God?

• How can we ignite more passion in our commitment with God?

Posted: 6/24/07

Explore the Bible Series for June 24

Habakkuk’s lessons on genuine prayer

• Habakkuk 1:2-3, 5-6, 13; 2:2-4; 3:16-19

By Kathryn Aragon

First Baptist Church, Duncanville

Some say God answers prayer in three ways: “Yes,” “No” or “Wait.” Others encourage us to “pray it through,” suggesting either our lack of faith or the spiritual powers that be are preventing our prayers from reaching heaven.

When times are tough and we’re looking to God for answers, the feeling that God isn’t responding or that our prayers hover somewhere just under the ceiling can be discouraging. But Habakkuk gives a good picture of prayer and some interesting thoughts about it. As we read the book, we get to sit in on the prophet’s private conversation with God. It’s personal. It’s real. He simply talks to God as if God were in the room with him.

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All too often we think of prayer as a church event. We think there are rules and, if we don’t do it right, it won’t work. But prayer is not an incantation. It’s a conversation with God, like the one Habakkuk has.

Habakkuk lives in a time much like our own. His nation, once the jewel of God’s heart, had become corrupt and had turned its back on God. Our nation, too, was founded on faith in God. But we have grown cold, and in the name of religious freedom, Christianity is suppressed. We live in a culture devoid of Christian principles that laughs at faith. Meanwhile, God is silent.

Like Habakkuk, we can’t help but question God. Does he hear us? Does he respond to our prayers, or did he only respond in Bible times?

Lesson one: Prayer is faith

The first thing we learn from Habakkuk is the right attitude about prayer. Most of our prayers are responses to suffering, unjust treatment or difficult decisions. We want to stay in God’s will, but the Bible doesn’t speak directly about our personal situations. When prayer goes unanswered for any length of time, we can’t help but wonder how we should respond. Is God’s silence an answer? Or is God suggesting he’s already equipped us to choose our action? Should we continue to pray, strengthening our prayers as Daniel did with his persistence? Or will God consider our repeated requests “vain repetitions”?

We want rules. But as stated above, prayer isn’t an incantation, and there is no single right or wrong.

Think about it. Prayer itself is an act of faith. What are we doing when we pray? We’re talking to an unseen power whom we trust to have the answers. To people who don’t believe, prayer is silly, a crutch for the weak. But for Christians, it is our strength. It’s our comfort. And it gives us peace.

So what do we do when there seems to be no answer? If prayer is genuine, it begins with faith. It must also end with faith. When those who really trust in God receive no answer, they continue to trust. They listen to their hearts for the still, small direction the Holy Spirit gives, and then they choose an action. Sometimes it is to wait patiently. Other times it is to continue in prayer. And other times, our hearts begin to change, and we don’t resist. We recognize our answer as internal change, not external direction.

This trust, this listening for God, is faith. “But the righteous will live by his faith” (2:4). Without it, our prayers are useless.

Lesson two: Prayer seeks God’s heart

Another lesson we can learn from Habakkuk is that prayer isn’t about us. Genuine prayer expresses our desires or fears only so we can hear God’s heart about the issue. Genuine prayer isn’t looking for confirmation about an action we already have decided to take; rather, it presents the idea only as an effort to learn God’s preference. Genuine prayer is not about trying to convince God our way is best. It’s about learning what God thinks is best. But this will never happen unless God can get a word in edgewise. “But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (2:20).

Sometimes God speaks clearly, as a voice. Other times he directs our thoughts or changes our hearts. He speaks through his word and often will bring Scripture to mind. But God does speak. We must simply tune in to him. The static of this world often drowns out his message. If we aren’t listening carefully, walking in a state of prayer, we won’t even be aware of his presence.

But sometimes we do hear God; we just don’t like what we hear. Like Habakkuk, we argue with God, wondering how he possibly could be right. These moments are the decision points in our walk with God. We must then answer the vital question: Will we turn away from God because he doesn’t make sense, or will we trust him no matter what? Hopefully, as Habakkuk, we’ll say, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (3:17-18).

Lesson three: Only genuine prayer works

We keep asking for rules. But there’s only one rule when it comes to relating to God. We can’t be fake. Only genuine prayer will work. So the question must be asked: What is genuine prayer?

• Genuine prayer begins with a right attitude. It is humble, aware of the greatness of God and our unworthiness to come before him. It is genuine sorrow for being less than God desires us to be. It is being thankful to God, in spite of life’s circumstances (Psalm 51:1-17).

• Genuine prayer also trusts God. It cries out to him boldly. It knows he has an answer and is willing to wait for it. It plans to obey whatever answer is received (Hebrews 4:16, Mark 14:36, Luke 18:1-8).

• Genuine prayer is not done to impress others. It is a private conversation. It expresses concerns and desires, but also listens (Matthew 6:6-7, John 10:3-5).

• Genuine prayer is continuous. Sometimes, formally, it speaks aloud. But other times, it is a silent reliance on and awareness of the ever-presence of God (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Psalm 5:1).

• Genuine prayer believes God always is right and knows he is listening. It understands prayer doesn’t have to be perfect but trusts God to know what we mean and what to do with our honest confessions. It flows from a desire to please God and see his will done (James 5:16, Romans 8:26, Matthew 7:7-8, Matthew 21:22).

In their discourse, God assures Habakkuk that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord” (v. 2:14). Prayer is the evidence of our belief that his glory surrounds us even now. Let’s follow Habakkuk’s example and speak honestly to God, looking for his truth. Then let’s commit to follow his truth wherever it may take us.

Discussion questions

• When you pray, do you try to follow formulas or do you speak honestly to God?

• Do you really believe God will answer?

• If God were to answer your prayers clearly, are you prepared to obey him no matter what?

• What does it mean to pray continuously? Do you do it?

Posted: 6/15/07

Cheap cheese heroin a deadly snare for teens

By George Henson

Staff Writer

DALLAS—A killer is stalking Hispanic teenagers, and it is beginning to claim a wider circle of victims, a group of Dallas-area youth ministers recently learned.

The killer drug—cheese heroin—has become a favorite of many Hispanic teens, because a single dose in a small plastic bag sells for only about $2, said Javier Rios, a drug intervention/prevention and gang consultant with the Dallas Independent School District and interim pastor of Iglesia Bautista Compañerismo Oikos.

It is a tan-colored powder usually snorted through the nose with a tube, straw or small ballpoint pen. The mixture of black tar heroin and crushed Tylenol PM tablets is highly addictive and very dangerous. More than 20 deaths in the Dallas area have been attributed to the drug. And arrests for possession of cheese are on the rise, so that number may increase.

Most cheese users—and fatalities—have been Hispanic so far, but the drug’s use is spreading among Anglos.

Nobel Schear, youth pastor at Royal Haven Church in Dallas, discovered three girls in his youth group were using the drug. His initial concern sprang from the girls displaying a lethargy that wasn’t normal for them.

“I started asking myself, ‘Why are they so tired?’” he recalled. He asked their parents, but was assured they were getting plenty of rest. The next week, one of the girls was caught at the school with cheese.

While the name may sound innocuous, the drug is deadly and addictive.

“Heroin is heroin is heroin,” Schear said. And its inexpensiveness makes it easy to slip by parents.

“It’s $2 a shot. So, it’s very cheap. Most parents would not even think to ask where $2 went. So, we need to be very aware of what’s going on,” he said.

Lethargy is a definite symptom of cheese use, Rios said.

“The liver transforms heroin into morphine. That’s why these kids who are dying are not walking around then suddenly falling over. They are all laying down. These kids go to sleep and don’t wake up,” he said.

Other signs of cheese use include excessive thirst, disorientation, and a sudden change in grades or friends.

“If you see something that is totally out of place for that child, a big red flag should go up,” he said.

Rios and Schear urged youth ministers to let school counselors know they are available as a resource.

Many youth are afraid they will be arrested if they tell someone at school, but they don’t have that same fear about telling someone at church, Shear said. Alleviating that fear may help some young people come forward.

Schools are looking for churches to become more involved, Rios said. Federal funds are available to churches—especially congregations in high-crime neighborhoods—to fund programs to help, he noted. But churches have to decide if they want to tap into those funds, in light of potential church-state entanglement.

Parents also need to be more involved with their children, Rios said. His conversations with parents have shown most can’t name their children’s five best friends. “I don’t mean their street names or nicknames, but the name their mama gave them and their last names, too,” he said. They also should know the names of their teachers.

The reason most parents don’t know is because their children don’t trust them with that information. “We need to help parents get back in tune with their kids,” he said. “I believe the church is a place where people come to get healed—spiritually, physically and mentally.”

Posted: 6/15/07

Faith and hip-hop culture
combine in beach ministry

By Barbara Bedrick

Texas Baptist Communications

GALVESTON—Wearing the signature red bandana of the “Bloods” gang, Marcus jumped from his Mustang convertible, popped open the trunk and pulled out an AK-47. His friends shouted: “Shoot ‘em! Shoot ‘em!”

The potentially deadly face-off developed after another driver cut in front of Marcus’ car, ripping off its front end.

Inching his feet toward the angry, gun-wielding young man, Johnny Flowers, pastor of Wynnewood Baptist Church in Dallas, began to talk to Marcus.

“You don’t want to do this,” Flowers said. “Don’t waste your life like this.”

Texas Baptist students offered prayers of safety for these young men and others they encountered during Texas Beach Reach in Galveston.

The young gunman “who had been prepared to kill another wept on my chest like a baby,” Flowers recalled. “He was just a kid….”

It seemed like a scene from a violent movie, but Flowers said it’s often a real-life weekend scenario for him. And this time, a young man’s life was changed forever.

“He cried like my daughter, and he ended up then and there making a decision for Christ,” Flowers said.

Those kind of life-changing encounters are not altogether unusual for volunteers with Texas Baptist Beach Reach.

Typically, young people the Baptist volunteers meet are “focused on sex, getting drunk and getting high,” Flowers said. To share the gospel with them, Christians must find a way to pierce a wall of sight and sound—the blaring music, flashy cars and young people showing off their sound systems that are a signature of hip-hop culture.

Or they must find a way to intersect that culture. From rapping to breakdancing and beatboxing, Texas Baptists pulled out all the stops to reach the young people.

Texas Southern University Baptist Student Ministry Director Bertha Vaughns led mission effort, designed to evangelize to more than 40,000 young people who converge on Galveston each year.

Student missionaries share their faith and pray with visitors at Texas Beach Reach 2007.

Vaughns has found that one of the most effective evangelism tools has been the distribution of a hip-hop DVD called The Passion of the Ultimate Player.

Texas Baptist Men cooked a free pancake breakfast for young people on the beach. Volunteers provided bicycle taxi service and offered to take free photos of groups and individuals as a way to start conversations that could provide witnessing opportunities.

The evangelism effort was a partnership between churches in Union and Galveston Baptist associations, the Baptist General Convention of Texas and Texas Baptist Men. Bethany Baptist Church, First Southwest Baptist Church and First Metropolitan Baptist Church, all of Houston, and Family Unity Baptist Church of LaMarque particularly led in the outreach.

“We had 110 missionaries and volunteers which included Baptist Student Ministry students from four campuses, church members from 26 congregations, 20 Texas Baptist Men volunteers and 20 students from the Baptist Student Ministry at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston who rendered first aid,” said Gerald Davis, BGCT community development specialist .

Teddy, staff member of Christian-based photographycompany, breakdances during outreach at Texas Beach Reach in Galveston.

Ira Antoine, a BGCT African-American affinity group strategist, noted the event allowed volunteers to “share and show the love of Christ in a very non-confrontational, culturally relevant manner.”

Volunteer teams reached out through a pool gathering at a major hotel, a car show and a Christian photography ministry.

“This event gives us a venue to intersect the hip hop audience sweeping our culture today,” Davis said. “We had Christian hip-hop music, fellowshipped, shared the gospel and had many participate with flashy cars in the new car show venue.”

One of the venues that enabled volunteers to share the gospel was JoePix. Through this effort, photos were taken at different Texas Beach Reach events, and then young people were driven to view their photos on a website where volunteers presented a Christian witness and secured their contact information.

“This was the missing piece last year and will aid in follow up, intersection and ministry with hundreds of unchurched individuals,” Davis said. “Afterward we assign certain BSMs to minister to the young people expressing interest, and we invite local churches who are committed to follow up.”

Ministry organizers say this year volunteers made 1,450 contacts, prayed for 525 people, led six people to rededicated their lives to God and eight people to make professions of faith in Christ.

Posted: 6/15/07

Buckner helps single mothers
on the road to self-sufficiency

By Whitney Farr

Communications Intern

The women traveled a dark road. They spent years trying to get somewhere but always ended up in the same place. They were single moms struggling to provide, and their road was filled with potholes—unpaid bills, little mouths to feed and employers who required higher education which, due to responsibilities, they could not attain.

But Buckner Family Pathways, a self-sufficiency program based in Dallas, was out on the road in front of the group, filling in potholes with things like rental subsidies and child care, making the road of life a little smoother.

Five graduates from the Family Pathways program were honored at a recent graduation brunch for their accomplishments. Each woman stood with tears in her eyes and gave a testimony of life-changing experiences.

Family Pathways Manager KaSandra Jones exchanges a heartfelt hug with graduate Karina Espericueta.

“I have never been one to finish anything,” Kimberly Evans said. “But today I stand before you and I have finished. I never knew what God had for me, but now I know—I am meant to be a teacher.”

Women who thought they would never get the opportunity to work for an academic diploma have gone above and beyond.

“I’ve already got my degree, and I’m going for another one,” Robin Cole said. “I’m very thankful that Family Pathways helped me meet my challenge.”

Karina Espericueta used to live with her two children and her mother. She never believed that she could make a better life for herself.

“The best thing about Buckner Family Pathways is the encouragement from the staff,” she said. “Every time they see us, the encourage us, saying things like, ‘You can do it.’”

In the past she had daunting jobs with odd hours and thought she could never get anything better, she said. But now, “I have the confidence that I can do whatever I want.”

Espericueta is moving from Family Pathways into her own apartment and will begin saving money to make a down payment on a house for her family. She earned her degree as a licensed vocational nurse, something she never could have done without the support of Buckner, she said.

Espericueta also talked about the impact Family Pathways has made on the lives of her children—Matthew, 7, and Carolina, 9.

“My kids have learned the kindness of people and how these people love to help others,” she said. “In the future, hopefully they will be that way.”

Leslie Melton mentioned the life-changing role Buckner played in her 4-year-old daughter Emily’s life.

“Family Pathways gave my daughter the opportunity to have a normal life,” Melton said.

Before entering the program, Melton and her baby lived in a halfway house in Oak Cliff. She was trying to recover from a long battle with drug abuse and had nowhere else to go. About 17 female drug users lived in the three-bedroom house at any given time—a dangerous environment for her and her baby, she said.

“This place is all about the kids,” Melton said, after explaining about all the activities, opportunities and attention the children receive. This past year, her daughter Emily was surprised with Christmas presents, a new and exciting experience for her, she said.

As Melton shared details and stories about her hardships in the past, she admitted she had some trust issues. When she first heard about the program, it was hard for her to believe anyone would want to help her without expecting something in return.

“Everyone was so nice. I wondered what they were up to,” she said with a laugh. “But after being at Family Pathways I’ve learned that not everyone is out to get you.”

Melton admitted that she has spent many years “on the opposite side of the law,” but now, after earning her degree in criminal justice, she plans to become a probation officer to help people like her former self.

“I’m so proud of me.” she said. “Anyone that knows me, where I’ve been and where I’ve come from, would be proud of me, too.”

Jasmine Dabbs shared a similar story of success and hope. She recently graduated from high school and received a scholarship to the University of Texas at Dallas, where she will attend in the fall. She thanked KaSandra Jones, manager of Family Pathways, for a program that provided the things she will need during her freshman year of college—everything from laundry baskets to spiral notebooks.

In addition to the Family Pathways program in Dallas, Buckner also provides support to single parents through Buckner Family Place in Lufkin, Midland and Amarillo. Like Family Pathways, the programs are designed to help families achieve lasting self-sufficiency, break the cycle of domestic violence and eliminate patterns of spousal and child abuse and neglect. The programs provide accessibility to child care, rental subsidies, counseling, tutoring and vocational placement opportunities to help participants.

The mother in Family Pathways agreed; the driving force behind their success is their children.

“They are the reason that I live, get up in the morning and go to college,” Evans said. “Because I want to show them the path they should follow.”

The road for these graduates used to be a roundabout, but Buckner provided an exit ramp. And now, after their hard work and perseverance, they are on a road that is headed straight for their dreams.

“This program will definitely help those who want to do something with their lives because the support is extraordinary,” Espericueta said.

Posted: 6/15/07

CYBER COLUMN:
Stomping, shouting, and listening for God

By Brett Younger

Two weeks ago, my 13-year-old son, Caleb, and I decided at the last minute to go to a Fort Worth Cats baseball game. We bought our general admission tickets and headed out to right field to find a seat, but the people in our section weren’t sitting. We hadn’t realized that they had given general admission tickets to this game to all of the elementary school students in the Fort Worth ISD who had perfect attendance. The bleachers were overflowing with 7- and 8-year-olds attending what appeared to be their first baseball game.

They didn’t show any signs of interest in the game itself, but they were fascinated with stomping on the metal bleachers. Unfortunately, they had more enthusiasm than rhythm. It sounded like hail on a tin roof. When they tried to clap in time, it also was without any recognizable rhythm. We were, however, in sync when we sang YMCA with the motions.

This was not a crowd that appreciated the intricacies of a sacrifice bunt, a well-timed change-up or hitting the cut-off man. The biggest cheers weren’t for any player, but for Dodger the Mascot, whose goal is to stand between me and the game. It was like watching baseball while trapped in the play area of a Chuck E. Cheese’s.

It was fun, but it wasn’t the way I watch baseball. A baseball game, and I don’t want to make too much of this, is like a Sabbath, a visit to the church of baseball. I’m a fan who takes it seriously. I know this makes me sound like I wear a pocket protector, but I keep score using an intricate system of hieroglyphics that provides a running tally of what every batter does. This is how real fans watch baseball.

The Cats were soon losing by eight runs, so many of the people who paid more than $4 for their tickets went home. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but in the sixth inning we moved one section away from the knothole gang.

Stomping may be a fine way to enjoy a game, but it’s not the way some of us experience baseball.

Recently, we went to my son Graham’s high school graduation. The sign over the entrance said, “No Noisemakers. No balloons.” You might think: “That’s unnecessary. No one would bring noisemakers or balloons to a solemn ceremony like graduation.” You would be wrong. The metal detector would also be a clue that this was not your father’s graduation.

Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, which is normally the home for less rowdy events like TCU basketball, was filled with signs celebrating Victoria, Teddy, Luz, Doogie, Little Jelly and a host of other 18-year-olds. I was one of the lucky ones not seated behind someone with a banner.

The students, even the ones wearing sunglasses indoors at 8:00 at night, were much better behaved than the parents who screamed through the choir’s anthem.

The person seated directly behind me had a special talent for ear-piercing whistling. This is a skill he loves to share. Someone I wished ill brought a plastic clapper—which was even more irritating than the air horns and cowbells. Imagine if they had allowed noisemakers.

As the graduates’ names were called, spectators shouted, screamed, shrieked, screeched and squealed as though they were shocked to hear their loved one’s name called.

It wasn’t a bad graduation, but it wasn’t exactly what I would have chosen. I felt like such an old white man. Back in my day, there were more men in suits and ties than baseball caps and cowboy hats. We waited quietly for the first strains of Pomp and Circumstance. The students acted as though they were not surprised to have graduated.

We listened solemnly as the speaker droned on about how the word “commencement” means “to begin,” and so this is not the end of something, but the beginning of a lifelong journey, a time of marching to the beat of our own drummers, taking the road less traveled, lighting candles rather than cursing the darkness, following our hearts. We applauded politely at the end. It was dignified, serious and meaningful in its way.

Shouting may be a fine way to celebrate a graduation, but it’s not the way some of us experience important rites of passage.

The same is true within the church. Some worship fast and loud, and that is a fine way to celebrate God’s goodness, but it’s not the way some of us experience God’s presence. Most of the time, God isn’t loud and overwhelming. When we worship, we find silence as holy as the sounds. For some of us, God whispers more than God shouts, so we need to listen carefully.

Brett Younger is pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth and the author of Who Moved My Pulpit? A Hilarious Look at Ministerial Life, available from Smyth & Helwys (800) 747-3016. You can e-mail him at byounger@broadwaybc.org.