Archives
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Cadets learn Islam as part of ‘winning the peace’
Posted: 5/25/07
Mohammed Aly (right), a member of the Islamic Center of Jersey City, N.J., introduces himself to West Point cadet Chris Beeler. (RNS/Saed Hindash/The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.) Cadets learn Islam as part of ‘winning the peace’
By Wayne Woolley
Religion News Service
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (RNS)—The lights in a Jersey City mosque flickered at dawn, and more than a dozen West Point cadets stirred in sleeping bags scattered across the prayer room.
As Imam Hussein Wahdan began the melodious call to prayer in Arabic, bearded men filed past the cadets, kneeled and then bowed to the floor to begin their morning worship.
05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Chaplain strives to be the presence of Christ in war zone
Posted: 5/25/07
Baptist Chaplain Alan Rogers talks with Marines in Iraq. (Photo courtesy of Alan Rogers) Chaplain strives to be the
presence of Christ in war zoneBy Bob Perkins Jr.
Associated Baptist Press
L ANBAR, Iraq (ABP)—Chaplain Alan Rogers has baptized a Marine in an Iraqi river under armed protection. Needless to say, it was a quick job.
A Marine Corps corporal asked Rogers to baptize in the Euphrates River in Iraq, near the Syrian border.
05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Family collects tributes to fallen soldier as ‘sacred relics’
Posted: 5/25/07
Family collects tributes to
fallen soldier as ‘sacred relics’By Wayne Woolley
Religion News Service
OUTH AMBOY, N.J. (RNS)—It happens every time a U.S. soldier or Marine dies in Iraq. The bad news immediately spreads across the base like wildfire, and in the troop recreation centers, Internet connections are shut down.
Commanders don’t want word of the death to reach the soldier’s family before military officials personally deliver the news. Once the knock at the family door comes between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., the electronic blockade back in Iraq is lifted and a torrent of e-mails flows from the battlefield to the dead soldier’s family in America.
Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Sebban, 29, died in Iraq this spring. Sebban’s family received a flood of supportive e-mails and letters from soldiers who served with him in Iraq. (RNS/courtesy 82nd Airborne Public Affairs Office.) 05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Chaplains prep West Point cadets for spiritual warfare
Posted: 5/25/07
Chaplains prep West Point
cadets for spiritual warfareBy Gregory Tomlin
Baptist Press
EST POINT, N.Y. (BP)—Southern Baptist chaplains Col. John Cook and Lt. Col. Darrell Thomsen, along with other chaplains at West Point, mourn the loss of 51 academy graduates since the war began.
Still, new cadets keep coming with a desire to serve. Among the cadets are Cook’s twin sons, both “plebes”—first-year students. Despite the risks involved with service, Cook said he is proud his sons, Jonathan and Joshua, have chosen to attend West Point.
U.S. Army Chaplain Col. John Cook, a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, points to the grave site of 2nd Lt. Emily Perez, the first female West Point graduate to be killed in Iraq. Cook is the U.S. Military Academy chaplain and senior adviser to the superintendent on religious affairs. (BP Photo) 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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San Antonio volunteers serve wounded warriors
Posted: 5/25/07
San Antonio volunteers
serve wounded warriorsBy George Henson
Staff Writer
SAN ANTONIO—Two teams of volunteers at First Baptist Church in San Antonio are working to minister to soldiers and families during some of their most trying times.
Tom and Nell Kolterman lead a team of volunteers who provide and serve a meal to soldiers and their families at Powless House, a residential facility at Fort Sam Houston for wounded soldiers who need long-term outpatient care provided by Brooke Army Medical Center.
05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
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2nd Opinion: Leave judgment in the parking lot
Posted: 5/25/07
2nd Opinion:
Leave judgment in the parking lotBy Robert Tucker
The challenge of a classically trained musician to adapt to new worship styles without abandoning the old was both daunting and rewarding. My commitment to providing the finest in worship experiences led me to a crossroads in my musical journey. The desire to incorporate and become a part of the emerging church in a praise-and-worship setting meant that I needed to know something about it and to learn how to become a part of it. The old adage “if you can’t beat them, join them” has never been more true than in my case of trying to become a part of the praise-and-worship team—“team” in the broad sense of the term.
Specifically, our church had a team—a small group that included a few singers, a drummer, a bass player, a guitar player, and a pianist and organist. Perhaps out of default or due to my jazz background on the piano, suddenly it became my duty and obligation to provide leadership at the keyboard. I met this requirement with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Probably similar to a skydiver on his first dive or in my case a solo French horn player in an orchestra, I was confident of my basic skills but completely at a loss on how to use them. Can I fit in and learn this new system, and am I capable? Will I enhance the worship experience for the people, or will I ruin it? Is this good for the church?
As I played and sought to fit in with the team, I noticed the response of the people was not negative or bored but rather was worshipful and meaningful. In addition, the sounds emanating from the guitar were intriguing due to the added tones used for harmonic color and musical interest. Furthermore, the rhythm was multi-dimensioned, with a syncopated complexity that almost defied notation. The music was engaging, creative, spontaneous and emotionally charged.
In other words, my entire training and musical thought processing were altered, and I began to rethink some things.
05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
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When it comes to counting church members, the devil’s in the details
Posted: 5/25/07
When it comes to counting church
members, the devil’s in the detailsBy Amy Green
Religion News Service
WASHINGTON (RNS)—The Southern Baptist Convention, with about 16.2 million members on the books, claims to be the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. But Tom Ascol believes the active membership really is a fraction of that.
Ascol, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Fla., points to a church report showing that only 6 million Southern Baptists attend church on an average Sunday.
05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
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DOWN HOME: Adjustment needed in half-empty nest
Posted: 5/25/07
DOWN HOME:
Adjustment needed in half-empty nestJoanna and I are negotiating a phase of parenthood I’ve never seen written up in any book.
That’s amazing in and of itself. How could any aspect of parenthood go unexamined, unchronicled, unsold to desperate moms and dads frantic to figure out how to raise Junior and Bitsy to responsible adulthood?
Maybe this part got overlooked precisely because it’s so close to adulthood. Nobody thought to, well, think about it.
I’m talking about summer during college.
05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
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EDITORIAL: The future of Texas depends on this
Posted: 5/25/07
EDITORIAL:
The future of Texas depends on thisThe Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board made several far-reaching decisions during its spring meeting May 21-22. As significant as all of them were, the influence of one could extend well beyond the others.
First, the board approved a 15-member search committee to nominate the convention’s next executive director. This leader will help shape and focus the convention during the coming years, and the influence could extend for decades.
Second, the board accepted the suggestion of Stephen Wakefield, the convention’s attorney, not to file lawsuits to recover funds lost in the Rio Grande Valley church-starting scandal. “The likelihood of recovery of significant funds is speculative at best,” Wakefield told the board. Although many Texas Baptists are disappointed, his logic is solid. And while criminal charges still may be filed, this brings one portion of this sad saga to a close.
Third, the board allocated proceeds from a recent gift to help retire the debt on Breckenridge Village at Tyler. The ministry to special-needs adults has been strapped since it opened about a decade ago. By ensuring financial viability, the board can secure care for many of God’s children for generations.
05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Faith Digest
Posted: 5/25/07
Faith Digest
Many professors take dim view of evangelicals. About half of nonevangelical university faculty acknowledge they don’t have warm feelings about evangelical Christians, a new survey shows. A survey released by the San Francisco-based Institute for Jewish & Community Research found 53 percent said they have “cool/unfavorable feelings” toward evangelical Christians. In comparison, 30 percent said they had favorable feelings toward them, 9 percent were neutral, 4 percent said they didn’t know and 4 percent refused to answer. One-third of non-Mormon faculty reported unfavorable views of Mormons. Views about other religious groups were more positive, with Muslims getting a 22 percent unfavorable rating, followed by atheists (18 percent), Catholics (13 percent), persons not practicing any religion (10 percent), nonevangelical Christians (9 percent), Buddhists (4 percent) and Jews (3 percent). Faculty from any particular group were excluded from rating other members of their faith. Results of the online survey were based on a sample of 1,269 faculty members at 712 four-year colleges and universities. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Archaeologists uncover Herod’s tomb. Israeli archaeologists believe they have discovered the tomb of King Herod. Professor Ehud Netzer from the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem said his team discovered the tomb during ongoing excavations at Herodium, a once-magnificent palace located nine miles south of Jerusalem, in what is now the West Bank. Pointing to intricately carved remains from the excavation, Netzer said his team discovered a grave, fragments from a sarcophagus and a mausoleum on Mount Herodium’s northeastern slope. “The location and the unique nature of the findings, as well as the historical record leave no doubt that this was Herod’s burial site,” Netzer said. Herod, who was appointed by the Romans, ruled Judea from 37 to 4 B.C. The New Testament says Jesus was born during Herod’s reign and Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt because the king planned to kill the infant Jesus.
05/25/2007 - By John Rutledge
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