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Around the State
Posted: 5/25/07
Yvonne Li received an opportunity to succeed at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor nearly 40 years ago when she obtained a full scholarship. After receiving her degree in 1966, she went on to earn a master’s degree in biochemistry and a doctor of medicine degree. The university’s tennis courts deteriorated to the point that the school had difficulty hosting matches. Li, remembering how the university gave her an opportunity for success, was grateful for the chance to do something to show her thanks, she said. Around the State
• The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor will offer an English-as-a-second-language class for adults who want to improve their English skills in preparation for entering university-level classes in the fall. Registration is June 4, and classes begin June 6. For more information, call (254) 295-4556.
• East Texas Baptist University awarded 102 degrees during its spring commencement ceremony.
• Dallas Baptist University granted 337 undergraduate degrees and 201 graduate degrees at its spring commencement ceremony. Dallas entrepreneur David Moon also received a doctor of humanities degree. Moon is the founder of Sam Moon Trading Company. He has served as a deacon at Korean First Church in Dallas since 1984, now called NewSong Church. He also serves on the DBU board of trustees and has established a scholarship fund for Koreans and Korean-American students attending seminary and Christian universities.
• San Marcos Academy’s freshman sprinter Theresa Nealon won first place in the 400-meter race at the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools state track meet held at Baylor University. She ran a 60.91-second race, winning by .03 of a second.
05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Book Reviews
Posted: 5/25/07
Book Reviews
Rescued: A Novel, by John Bevere and Mark Andrew Olsen (Bethany House)
A $12 million vessel on its way to Barbados becomes a 57,000-pound guided torpedo after its captain and sole crew member dies from cardiac arrest. A tourist submarine excursion in the path of the deadly vessel promises more than a leisurely end to a weeklong church-couples’ cruise. In the aftermath of a terrible underwater accident, the adventure is just beginning.
Life and death, grace and obedience, eternity and the here-and-now all come into focus in John Bevere’s novel. Rescued tells the story of a preacher, his family and his congregation as they learn God’s truths can’t be manipulated to make them feel better about life decisions. It is an extended parable reminding us that all are called, but few chosen. It is an eloquent plea for all Christians to return to the basics of salvation.
What are you reading that other Texas Baptists would find helpful? Send suggestions and reviews to books@baptiststandard.com. From the first pages, it becomes obvious Bevere has written an extended sermon. Before long, though, the story takes over, and we become enmeshed in the drama unfolding before us. Though the lesson takes precedence over plot, a danger in the Christian fiction genre, it’s a lesson we all need to learn.
05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Baptist Briefs
Posted: 5/25/07
Baptist Briefs
Latin American Baptists elect president. The Union of Baptists in Latin America’s Executive Committee unanimously elected Raquel Contreras as UBLA president during a recent meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She will serve as president until April 2009. Contreras recently was re-elected president of the Union of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Chile, composed of 27,781 members and 326 churches. Under her leadership, the union reconciled with the Convention of Baptist Churches of the Chilean Mission after 30 years of division and conflict between the two groups. UBLA is one of six regional bodies of the Baptist World Alliance and represents conventions and unions throughout South America, Central America and Mexico. Contreras is a BWA vice president and a member of the BWA Executive Committee and General Council, as well as several committees.
Heritage & History Society to present awards. The Baptist Heritage & History Society will honor a church historian, a student, a denominational entity, a state convention executive and three ministers at an awards luncheon scheduled in conjunction with its annual meeting, June 7-9 in Campbellsville, Ky. Bill Leonard, founding dean of the Wake Forest University Divinity School, will receive the W.O. Carver Distinguished Service Award, the society’s highest honor, for his career contributions to Baptist history. Bonnie Oliver, a religion student at Memphis Theological will receive the Norman W. Cox Award for the best article published by the society in 2006—“The Life and Times of Barbara Jordan: A Twentieth-Century Baptist and Political Pioneer.” The North American Baptist Heritage Commission in Sioux Falls, S.D., will receive the Davis C. Woolley Award for outstanding achievement in assessing and preserving Baptist history. James Porch, executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, will receive the Carolyn Blevins Meritorious Service Award in recognition of his leading the Tennessee Baptist Convention to provide complimentary office space for the society. In cooperation with the H. Franklin Paschall Chair of biblical studies and preaching at Belmont University in Nashville, the society also will present the 2007 winners of the Baptist Heritage Preaching Contest. The first-place winner is Brent Jones, a Baptist minister and doctoral student in American history at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville; the second-place winner is Steve Hollaway, pastor of Latonia Baptist Church in Covington, Ky.; and the third-place winner is J. Adam Tyler, pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Buckingham, Va.
05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Chaplain ministers at world’s busiest U.S. military trauma center
Posted: 5/25/07
Chaplain ministers at world’s
busiest U.S. military trauma centerBy Patricia Heys
Associated Baptist Press
U.S. AIR FORCE THEATER HOSPITAL, Iraq (ABP)—At the U.S. Air Force Theater Hospital in Iraq, the sounds of Army Blackhawk and Marine Sea Knight helicopters are a call to duty for Air Force Chaplain Shane Gaster.
Gaster, one of more than 90 military chaplains endorsed by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, is stationed at the Air Force Theater Hospital—the busiest U.S. trauma center in the world. He works 12-hour shifts, six days a week, ministering to wounded men and women brought in by helicopters and humvee trucks.
Baptist chaplains James Kirkendall and Shane Gaster visit at Gaster’s office at the U.S. Air Force Theater Hospital in Iraq. (Photo courtesy of James Kirkendall) See Related Articles:
• Frontline Ministry: Baptist chaplain meets spiritual needs in combat
• Chaplain ministers at world's busiest U.S. military trauma center
• As the war goes on, so does the work of military
• DEPLOYED: Baptist pastor ministers in Iraq
• Cadets learn Islam as part of winning the peace
• Chaplain strives to be the presence of Christ in war zone
• Southern Baptist tapped as Army chief of chaplains
• Family collects tributes to fallen soldier as “sacred relics
• Chaplains prep West Point cadets for spiritual warfare
• San Antonio volunteers serve wounded warriors05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
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As the war goes on, so does the work of military
Posted: 5/25/07
As the war goes on,
so does the work of militaryBy Marcia Nelson
Religion News Service
CHICAGO (RNS)—Once you’ve seen the brutal face of evil, you start looking for the tender face of God, Chaplain Robert Barry said.
Barry is an Air National Guard chaplain who spends his summers working with injured soldiers at Landstuhl military hospital in southern Germany, where American military personnel are taken after they are wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
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DEPLOYED: Baptist pastor ministers in Iraq
Posted: 5/25/07
Chaplain Joel Jenkins prepares to go out on a convoy. Jenkins, pastor of First Baptist Church in Charlottesville, Va., was called up to active duty last June and has been serving in Iraq. DEPLOYED: Baptist pastor ministers in Iraq
By Jim White
Virginia Religious Herald
HARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—Joel Jenkins, pastor of First Baptist Church of Charlottesville, Va., temporarily changed congregations last year—and the relocation was extreme. Jenkins, a longtime Army Reserve chaplain, was called to active duty in Iraq last June with barely a week’s notice.
For the past 11 months, Jenkins has called a forward operating base in Baghdad’s international zone home. He is assigned to the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq, which employs military and civilian forces from several nations to train and equip Iraq’s army, navy, air force and police force.
Jenkins with Commander Lieut. Gen. Dempsey of the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq. See Related Articles:
• Frontline Ministry: Baptist chaplain meets spiritual needs in combat
• Chaplain ministers at world's busiest U.S. military trauma center
• As the war goes on, so does the work of military
• DEPLOYED: Baptist pastor ministers in Iraq
• Cadets learn Islam as part of winning the peace
• Chaplain strives to be the presence of Christ in war zone
• Southern Baptist tapped as Army chief of chaplains
• Family collects tributes to fallen soldier as “sacred relics
• Chaplains prep West Point cadets for spiritual warfare
• San Antonio volunteers serve wounded warriors05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Frontline Ministry: Baptist chaplain meets spiritual needs in combat
Posted: 5/25/07
FRONTLINE MINISTRY:
Baptist chaplain meets spiritual needs in combatBy Barbara Bedrick
BGCT Communications
The closer people get to a foxhole, the more spiritual they generally become, a frontline military chaplain observed.
Tough circumstances—and the accompanying escalated interest in spiritual matters—provide countless opportunities for military chaplains like U.S. Navy Capt. Bill Perdue of the 1st Marine Division, who recently returned from a one-year tour of duty in Baghdad and Fallujah as a multi-national Marine Expeditionary Force chaplain.
Ministering on the front lines, U.S. Marine Chaplain Bill Perdue travels with commanding officers near Baghdad. (BGCT Photos courtesy of Bill Perdue) See Related Articles:
• Frontline Ministry: Baptist chaplain meets spiritual needs in combat
• Chaplain ministers at world's busiest U.S. military trauma center
• As the war goes on, so does the work of military
• DEPLOYED: Baptist pastor ministers in Iraq
• Cadets learn Islam as part of winning the peace
• Chaplain strives to be the presence of Christ in war zone
• Southern Baptist tapped as Army chief of chaplains
• Family collects tributes to fallen soldier as “sacred relics
• Chaplains prep West Point cadets for spiritual warfare
• San Antonio volunteers serve wounded warriors“On three occasions, rocket and mortar fire landed within 50 yards of our chapel and killed a civilian contractor 30 feet away,” Perdue recalled.
05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
