Posted: 3/02/07

Consultant calls salvation wholeness,
not just a ‘point-of-sale’ transaction

By Tony Cartledge

North Carolina Biblical Recorder

CONOVER, N.C. (ABP)—Despite decades of tweaking evangelistic methods, scant evidence backs up the claim that many Christians are experiencing true life change, Ron Martoia believes.

Perhaps that failure is because Christians in the Western world have been prone to think of salvation as a “point-of-sale” transaction that focuses on getting to heaven instead of appreciating that Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament promise of “shalom,” a concept that suggests wholeness, wellness and peace, explained Martoia, a ministry consultant who works with churches.

Ron Martoia

The Old Testament speaks of salvation three times more often than the New Testament, Martoia said, generally in the sense of divine deliverance that brings or preserves peace.

Based on surveys he has conducted, Martoia said nine out of 10 pastors define the gospel as the good news that Jesus died for people’s sins so they can go to heaven. But Jesus rarely said anything about getting to heaven. He focused mainly on present human needs. Jesus’ self-stated mission, found in Luke 4:16-19, is derived from Isaiah 61:1-2 and incorporated the Old Testament sense of bringing deliverance, healing and wholeness.

Martoia, who spoke at a ministry conference, described the three governing “meta-narratives”—overarching stories—of the Old Testament as the themes of the Exodus, the exile and the priestly traditions of sacrifice and cleansing.

When Jesus talked about salvation and entering the kingdom of God, his focus was almost entirely in tune with themes of the Exodus and deliverance from exile, Martoia said. In contrast, modern evangelicals often focus on teaching ideas more in line with priestly themes of the Old Testament.

Preaching about forgiveness from sin becomes increasingly ineffective in a postmodern world where a sense of guilt and obligation is not widespread, Martoia said. In contemporary American culture, one can no longer assume people identify themselves as sinners in need of grace.

“People may not think of themselves as sinners going to hell, but they seek wholeness and recognize they’re not there,” he said.

So, the Genesis 1 creation of humankind in God’s image is a better starting point for evangelism than beginning with the “fall” story of Genesis 3, Martoia suggested. “What would it be like for us to begin the conversation with people as if we’re trying to live out the image of God in us and want them to live out the image of God in them?”

The inner image of God creates the yearning to believe life has purpose, life can be better and belonging is possible, Martoia said. It’s a trio of longings that correspond to faith, hope and love, he explained.

Helping others identify and get in touch with the image of God in them is more of a process than a one-time transaction. And seeing the gospel through the image of God calls for an apologetic that begins with relationships, not reason, Martoia said.

For one thing, it acknowledges the need to speak a language people understand within their own culture. Just as a missionary recognizes the need to learn the indigenous culture and speak the local language, so American Christians should recognize their culture is changing, and people need to hear the gospel in words and concepts they understand.

Gaining an understanding of salvation does not eliminate the concept of eternal life, Martoia said, and the goal remains embracing faith that leads to baptism.

However, as Jesus came to offer a gospel that led to peace and wholeness, contemporary Christians are called to be “shalom spreaders,” proclaiming good news not just to all people but to the whole person, he said.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 3/02/07

Abolitionist Wilberforce’s life a model
for modern Christians, historian says

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

DALLAS (ABP)—Even though he lived in England two centuries ago, the life and work of William Wilberforce remain important examples for modern-day evangelicals, according to the lead historical consultant for a feature film chronicling the famous abolitionist’s life.

Kevin Belmonte, a leading scholar on Wilberforce’s life and work spoke in a chapel address and a symposium at Dallas Baptist University. The Wilberforce biopic, Amazing Grace, debuted in American theaters Feb. 23.

Calling Wilberforce “one of the great souls of history,” Belmonte urged listeners to capitalize on his example of devoting his life to doing right —even against great odds. As a member of Parliament, Wilberforce worked tirelessly for decades to abolish the slave trade in Great Britain.

And although slavery in the Western world has become illegal, there are still more than 27 million slaves in the world today, Belmonte said. Producers of the film have worked to raise awareness about modern-day human trafficking.

“The film creates an opportunity for us today to confront something that is very sobering,” Belmonte said. “We live in a world where, sad to say, we really need to do what we can—as Wilberforce did.”

The author of Travel with William Wilberforce: The Friend of Humanity and 365 Days with Wilberforce: Daily Readings from the Writings of William Wilberforce, Belmonte is the director of the Wilberforce Papers Project, an initiative at Gordon College in Wenham, Mass.

“Whenever you share the Wilberforce story, the ways in which the gospel transformed his life shine through,” Belmonte said. “In the year that followed what he called his ‘great change,’ Wilberforce came to realize how important it was to watch and to pray. He realized he was called to serve something larger than himself.”

Before that “great change,” Wilberforce had lived a rather hedonistic life. Born into a wealthy merchant’s family and elected to Parliament at the tender age of 21, he made wealthy and powerful friends in college—such as William Pitt, who would later become prime minister. Although an aunt tried to steer him toward Methodism, Wilberforce was initially a religious skeptic who playfully ridiculed evangelicals, Belmonte said.

Eventually, through the patient mentoring of Isaac Milner, a professor at Cambridge University, and John Newton, an evangelical Anglican clergyman, Wilberforce made a commitment to Christ. He qualified his earlier life as “the restlessness of a heart that had yet to find its peace in God.”

Newton, who wrote the hymn Amazing Grace, had been a slave trader until his conversion to Christianity during a storm at sea.

In 1785, Wilberforce resolved to commit his life to service of God and decided to leave the political scene. But Newton lobbied hard against the idea, writing that God had called the young man to politics for “such a time as this.”

“To me, that underlines in bright colors the role of a pastor in someone else’s life,” Belmonte said, noting that if Wilberforce had not returned to politics, the slave trade might have continued in the West for many more generations.

Soon after Newton’s urgings, Wilberforce “came to a profound sense that God would indeed use him in political life.” The rest, as they say, is history.

In 1787, Wilberforce joined a growing group of activists campaigning against the slave trade. In May 1789, he told the House of Commons the slave trade was morally reprehensible, unjust and unnatural.

By 1791, he introduced the first parliamentary bill to abolish the slave trade, but his colleagues defeated it easily. Subsequent bills in 1792, 1793, 1795, 1796 and 1797 were defeated as well. But, on March 25, 1807, the Slave Trade Act received royal assent.

During that time, Wilberforce wrote several books, including Appeal to the Religion, Justice and Humanity of the Inhabitants of the British Empire in Behalf of the Negro Slaves in the West Indies and A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Classes of This Country Contrasted With Real Christianity.

In Appeal to the Religion, he claimed that total emancipation for slaves was a national duty before God. In Real Christianity, he presented Christian doctrine as a basis for stopping the moral decline of the nation.

“One moral imperative … stood out to him above all others: the Golden Rule,” Belmonte said, adding that Wilberforce had a unique ability to “come alongside [people who were] polar opposites and to work together with them.”

That talent extended beyond slavery, too. He was a founding member of the Church Mission Society and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He also established the African Institution to help slaves in the West Indies and developed a Sierra Leone project to take Christianity into western Africa.

Three days before he died in 1833, Wilberforce received news that the bill for the complete abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire—the earlier law had only banned the slave trade in England itself—had passed in its third reading in the Commons. One month later, the Slavery Abolition Act freed all slaves under British rule.

Studying the life of such a great success is “profoundly rewarding,” Belmonte said. And it motivates him to live in much the same way, he added.

“It is very inspiring and encouraging to look at the life of a William Wilberforce,” Belmonte said. “I always find it encouraging to know that Wilberforce didn’t know how his story would end. He just remained faithful.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 3/02/07

CYBER COLUMN:
Awaiting spring

By John Duncan

I’m sitting here under the old oak tree, awaiting spring. The sun shines today. Birds sing the glory. And life like a river flows in the joy of ministry.

I mention the river in the flow of ministry because the life of a pastor is a life on the move, full of twists and turns, ups and downs, power-packed with the pleasant and the unpleasant. Eugene Peterson was once asked what he liked about the church, and he replied, “The mess.” C.S. Lewis says that in a Christian society there are to be “no passengers or parasites,” meaning, of course, that in the church people are Christ-followers, pilgrims on the journey, but they are not to sit idly by and watch like mere passengers but to serve and act, and, that, they are not parasites that destroy the body but “little Christs” (C.S. Lewis) who build up Christ’s body. In my years as a pastor, I have seen many passengers and parasites in the church.

John Duncan

We all know that Saddleback Community Church’s Rick Warren says the church is purpose-driven, and he is right. The Bible scholar Peter Stuhlmacher says, “The life of the church can and should appear as a sign of the righteousness of God.” He is right, also. “Daddy,” my youngest daughter once asked, “you’re the boss of the church. Aren’t you?”

“No,” I replied, “I have a lot of bosses.” Quickly I corrected my verbal joke by telling her, “God is the boss of the church.” That is right, too.

The writer of Hebrews speaks of the church as an assembly, not to be neglected, but tells us of Jesus, the great, sympathetic High Priest to whom we can go to find grace and mercy just in the nick of time (Hebrews 4:14-16). I find the church, really, is people in relationship with God in Christ through the Holy Spirit, and because of Christ, people who relate to one another. So the church is people who have a relationship with Christ who have a relationship with each other because of Christ. Without Christ, the church goes nowhere and dies like a person infested with a fatal parasite.

As a pastor, I have the privilege of helping individuals in their relationship with Christ and their relationships people to people. One thing I find is that people need an ear on the journey, as well as a guide to lead them into Christ’s light near the cross in an hour of darkness.

Not long ago, on different days, I received two calls—one requesting a priest; the other requesting communion.

The first was a call from a lady who needed a priest. She tried for days to get the Catholic priest to come and see her, but he was too busy. I am not criticizing the priest, but merely stating the fact of her comment because I know that priests, like pastors, are busy people, and who knows but what he was ill or out of town or at the hospital visiting the sick? I listen as she talked, and she asked me to come immediately, and I did. A crisis keeps no calendar and shocks and often surprises, and Henri Nouwen, a priest himself, once said, “Interruptions are our ministry.” This told, I drove my car to her house by the lake.

I drove, got lost, called her on the phone to get the directions explained again, stopped at a convenience store to look at a map, and finally arrived at her house. Her mobile home overlooking the lake provided a picturesque scene as I knocked on the door. She opened the door, told me she was deaf and could not hear well, stated that she was 83 years of age, then finally invited me into her home and began to tell me the long story of her pain. Her house like a mural, a mosaic, colorful with old carpet and stained walls, reeked of smoke with stuff piled everywhere. I listen intently as her wrinkled faced winced and tears streamed like a dripping rain down her cheeks while her dog sat at my feet. A picture hung on the wall—a picture of Jesus with piercing eyes watched over both of us. Jesus watches with eyes wide open.

I will not tell you her long story. It is much too personal, much too sad, much too painful. She stated her case, though, as she completed her long story of sorrow in the shadows. “No one wants to listen to an old woman,” she said, “but I just need someone to hear me because I need forgiveness.”

I could tell the pain had swelled beneath her soul and she like a train chugging down the tracks of life, one carrying passengers and who knows, maybe even parasites. Like a train this elderly woman needed to blow off puffs of steam to relive the pressure inside. We prayed to Jesus who watched over us and begged forgiveness, and she cried simple, sweet, sad tears.

Life is a trinity for some, a triad of loneliness, grief, and sorrow in the world. I once sat on a bus in Cambridge, England, one cold, February day. A lady, aged and sad with lines on her faced looked at me, and spoke, “”My life is very lonely since my husband died.”  Life bursts with grief, too. Christina Rossetti, the poet, wrote, “My heart dies inch by inch; the time grows old, grows old in which I grieve.” Langston Hughes once asked, “And ain’t there any joy in this town?”

I left the lady’s house. I sensed her loneliness, grief and sorrow. She needed an ear, a listening ear to find in its depth forgiveness. All I knew to do was to take her to the High Priest of forgiveness.

Then one week later, a lady called explaining that her daughter was dying and needed communion, the Lord’s Supper. “I have been trying to find a preacher in this town for days who will administer the Lord’s Supper. My daughter is dying.” I listened and felt her urgency. She pleaded with me to come, “Please come quickly!”

I loaded my Lord’s Supper supplies, which is not a common thing, because, while I have shared the Lord’s Supper at nursing homes, I never had I done so at the hospital. I arrived at the hospital, found room 112, introduced myself and saw relief wash over a mother’s face. She walked me over to her daughter, woke her, introduced me and explained that her daughter’s kidneys and liver were failing. The daughter looked gray and yellow at the same time, a mosaic of pain as she winced and moved and shifted her small frame in the bed. We prayed, took the bread and cup in Jesus’ name, and the mother wept, while the daughter acted as if she were going to throw up. She did not and quietly slipped off to sleep. The mother thanked me and thanked me and thanked me, as if gold had been given her or even as if I had delivered a new liver for her daughter. In their pain, the two ladies only wanted to be reminded of the great High Priest who once suffered pain, to feel the warmth of the one who gives comfort and sympathy by a shimmer of light from the cross, to know Jesus the bread of life and Jesus the compassionate, suffering grace-giver in death.

Ain’t there any joy in this town? 

So, here I am under the old oak tree, scrambling beneath tears in the shadow of the cross. Churches find joy in forgiveness and in the cross, and people do, too. I called the lady I visited in the trailer home the other day. She seems fine, relieved from the pressures of her life. Her dog had been to the vet, and she thinks somewhere in her piles there was a card I sent. I heard, too, from the mother whose daughter was dying. She had been moved to the big-city hospital in hopes of finding a liver donor. And I talked to Jesus my High Priest. After all, where would the church be without him? And, where would I be without his forgiveness and his cross? Or you for that matter? Where would you be? There is joy in the town! The joy is in Jesus. To coin a phrase from an old Gatorade commercial, “Is it in you?” Is it?

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.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 3/02/07

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 3/02/07

Texas Tidbits

UMHB to ‘doctor’ teachers. The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor will launch its first doctoral program this fall, when it accepts candidates for the doctor of education degree. The new program, approved unanimously by the university trustees, is pending accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. “Moving this university into the realm of doctoral programs has been the desire of many people for many years, and we are pleased to be able to provide this next level of higher education,” university President Jerry Bawcom said. The venture has been named the Leadership in Educational Administration—LEAD—program. In conjunction with the new degree, the university will establish the Center for Leadership, Evaluation, Alignment and Research—CLEAR—to facilitate and support student and faculty research.

Tony Celelli

School of Christian Studies installs Celelli. The South Texas School of Christian Studies installed Tony Celelli as the fourth president in its 30-year history Feb. 1. The school is an independent campus with academic ties to Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon Seminary, Howard Payne University, Texas A&M University and Del Mar College. The school offers certificate programs as well as undergraduate and graduate degrees in Christian studies. Celelli emphasized the importance of the school’s “cooperative spirit” to work through partnerships: “Using our resources in concert with Howard Payne University and Logsdon Seminary, we educate leaders from various religious traditions and ethnicities. In our diversity of relationships, the unity of the gospel prevails.” Celelli, who succeeded Linn Self, earned a master of divinity degree through the school and was an adjunct professor and member of the board of trustees before becoming president. He has been a minister more than 18 years and most recently served on the staff of Second Baptist Church in Corpus Christi.

Matches made in heaven? Try cyberspace. The Baptist General Convention of Texas has launched an upgraded version of Leader Connect, its online resume-matching system. The goal is to improve the connection between churches looking to fill staff vacancies and ministers looking for a place to serve. Leader Connect allows churches with staff vacancies to create position profiles and enables candidates interested in serving in those positions to enter resume information. The system runs matches and sends appropriate resumes to churches for their consideration. A major advantage of the new system is the depth of information used to run the matches. Churches and candidates now are able to create detailed profiles of themselves and of what they are seeking. Leader Connect staff also contact churches and candidates to allow further clarification. Leader Connect is the result of a cooperative effort through the Network for Ministerial Excellence Matching Consortium, formed through a grant from the Lilly Endowment. It has undergone several months of testing and has been revised and customized to fit the needs of Texas Baptists. A church or candidate can log on by visiting www.bgct.org/leaderconnect. Because the new system asks for more information, all churches and candidates who were in the system prior to Feb. 12 must re-enter their information.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Storylist for week of 3/05/07

TAKE ME TO: Top Story |  Texas |  Opinion |  Baptists |  Faith & Culture |  Classifieds  |  Departments  |  Bible Study



• Archaeologists, evangelicals critique “Tomb” documentary

• Abolitionist Wilberforce's life a model for modern Christians, historian says

• Friends bring friends to Jesus

• SBC leaders acknowledge Baptist bloggers here to stay

• Page cautiously optimistic about Southern Baptists

• Will associations, conventions become relics?

• Tolerance, not uniformity, needed to keep SBC together



• Continuous ministry key to transforming neighborhood


• African Children's Choir symbolizes hope for future

• Parmelees' triple treat: Jesus, music & drama

• On the Move

• Around the State

• Texas Tidbits

Ethics Without Borders Conference coverage
• Politics plays role in hunger elimination, Beckmann says

• ‘Clash of civilizations' view too simplistic, expert says

• Networked church key to ministering in 21st century

• Development key in Texas Baptist fight against world hunger

• Christian Churches Together seeks united front against poverty

• Human trafficking—exotic and close to home


• Mainstream Baptists cite freedom as Baptist hallmark

• Consultant calls salvation wholeness, not just a ‘point-of-sale' transaction

• Baptist Briefs


• Christians use movie to spotlight modern-day human trafficking

• Author seeks to connect the dots between sex and God

• Students' political identities don't fit religious beliefs on social issues

• Faith Digest


• Around the State

• On the Move

• Classified Ads

• Cartoon


• EDITORIAL: Two issues resolved, 3rd straight ahead

• DOWN HOME: What's better than Wheel O'Meals?

• TOGETHER: Valley situation leads to new process

• 2nd Opinion: Peril of the church on the defensive

• RIGHT or WRONG? How to leave

• Texas Baptist Forum

• CYBERCOLUMN by John Duncan: Awaiting spring



• BaptistWay Bible Series for March 4: Stay focused on Jesus

• Bible Studies for Life Series for March 4: Jesus forgives the sin of his people

• Explore the Bible Series for March 4: Life's difficulties are faith's fuel

• BaptistWay Bible Series for March 11: Christians are empowered to minister

• Bible Studies for Life Series for March 11: Jesus opens our eyes

• Explore the Bible Series for March 11: Pursue godliness with whole-heartedness


Previously Posted
• Texas Baptists aid Missouri families

• Baptists' post-Katrina efforts in Louisiana still under way

• If heaven is filled with music, Larner arrived early

• ETBU international students offer global perspective

• Texas Acteen selected for national panel

• 'From the Dust' takes music behind bars

• Sweet tells Truett conference God is ‘defragging and rebooting' church

• Did the IMB ‘investigate' charges? Burleson, president say no

• Identity conference questions SBC's direction

• Gonzales touts religious-freedom initiative; others question Bush record

• CBF council reports declining revenues, adopts new budget

• Covenant most important Baptist event since Civil War, Allen says

• BGCT takes decisive action to prevent future abuses

• Board clarifies its responsibilities, messengers' rights


• See complete list of articles from our 2/19/ 2007 issue here.

Posted: 3/02/07

RIGHT or WRONG? How to leave

How should a pastor or other staff person relate to a search committee and terminate a relationship with their church? What ethical guidelines should shape such a situation?

As anyone associated with a Baptist church has experienced, the comings and goings of church staff members always are trying times. Since Baptists celebrate the autonomy of the local church, staffing churches comes down to decisions and actions of individuals, committees and congregations. In such a situation, any event affecting changes in congregational leadership always will be scrutinized and questioned by others and must be guided by ethical principles.

Human-resource professionals encourage people to present their resumes and interviews so as to offer the best possible version of themselves. But vocational ministers should be guided by integrity instead of the drive to be employed. While a search committee wants to see the best image of a person, the committee also desires to know what ministry actually will look like under this person’s leadership. Even though a minister believes a church may want a traditional/conservative/ fire-and-brimstone-preaching pastor, the progressive/liberal/narrative preacher he/she truly is should not be hidden in the hope that once hired the congregation could be changed. And vice-versa. A lack of integrity in representing oneself to a search committee can lead to a disastrous relationship between a minister and the church he/she is charged to lead, as well as the failure of the church to reach its intended mission.

When it comes to terminating a relationship with a church, it is better to look at the situation as terminating employment rather than relationship. Most ministers hope the ministry they worked toward with a congregation will not end when he/she no longer is employed. For that reason, concern for the congregation should shape how a minister leaves his/her ministry position.

A few suggestions for showing that concern include:

• Developing lay leadership—especially when a minister knows a change is coming—can help preserve the consistency of congregational ministry after the minister leaves.

• A minister should seek to keep rumors from hindering the end-portion of his or her work in a church. If the possibility of a departure is leaked to only a few people, rumors may begin, and he/she could lose the trust necessary to continue leading a congregation.

• Although a minister may experience frustrations with his/her place of service, one’s last Sunday is not the time to unload everything he/she may have wanted to say. A staff member’s departure is difficult enough for a congregation without the burden of hearing about all the church’s dirty laundry.

A final appeal to congregations and personnel committees is appropriate here: While leadership turnover is hard for a church that values consistency of ministry, please do not underestimate how difficult the changes are for the ministers and families who pour out their lives in the service of Christ’s church. While the situation of ministers coming and going is stressful for a congregation, a concern for the welfare of a minister and his/her family is a vital part of a church expressing the love of Christ to their leadership in return for the leadership and care that has been provided.

Meredith Stone

Recruitment coordinator, Logsdon Seminary

University pastor, Crosspoint Fellowship

Abilene

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

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Updated: 3/02/07

Texas Baptists aid Missouri families

By Barbara Bedrick

Texas Baptist Communications

MOUNT VERNON, Mo.—A 21-person Texas Baptist Men team is providing relief in southwestern Missouri, where President Bush has declared a disaster area.

For the fourth time in less than two months, Texas Baptists are helping families across the Midwest recover from what Missouri officials are calling the worst winter storm in 50 years. It pounded several states and claimed at least 90 lives.   

“Three TBM chainsaw crews from several Baptist associations across Texas are helping families,” said Gary Smith, TBM disaster-relief director. “Our crews are about 70 miles southwest of Springfield in response to a request by the (Southern Baptist) North American Mission Board.”

Baptist volunteers are working to move storm debris and cut down, trim and remove trees and downed limbs left by the storm. The ice-coated trees have caused dangerous situations in the Midwest.

Earlier this month, tree branches snapped, fell and killed a 9-year-old girl who was walking her dog.

TBM disaster-relief volunteers recently transported a generator to the fire station in Seneca, Mo., to create a “warming station” for elderly residents and fire crews, Smith noted.

Over the last several weeks, Baptist relief workers from 11 states helped dig out neighbors in Missouri, where more than 100,000 families were without power after the year’s first ice storm downed power lines across the state.

First Baptist Church in Webb City, Mo., with more than 1,000 members, was another storm victim. At least five people were inside the church when its roof collapsed under the weight of the ice and snow, but no one was injured.

While disaster-relief workers help Missouri families, a TBM chainsaw crew also has returned to northeastern Oklahoma, which was hit hard by ice storms.

The Harmony-Pittsburg Baptist Association unit has responded to provide further assistance in Locust Grove, Smith said.  

Fifteen chainsaw teams—1,000 Baptist relief workers—from 17 states have responded to the call for volunteer assistance across the Midwest.    

TBM crews joined Baptists from Missouri, Alabama, Illinois, Arkansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Mississippi, New Mexico, Tennessee, Louisiana, Kentucky, Indiana and South Carolina to provide disaster relief in Oklahoma and Missouri.

Responding to Midwest needs, Baptist volunteers already have prepared more than 100,000 meals, completed more than 3,300 chainsaw jobs and provided nearly 500 showers and laundry loads.

Volunteers also have recorded 33 professions of faith in Christ among winter-storm victims.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Updated: 3/02/07

BGCT implements responses
to church-starting scandal

By Marv Knox

Editor

DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas has implemented steps to prevent recurrence of a church-starting scandal that rocked the convention last year, a special study committee told the BGCT Executive Board Feb. 26.

Still, follow-up action is needed to complete the prevention process, the committee added, noting vigilance will be required to ensure that new church-starting policies are effective and secure.

Oversight group Chairman Jim Nelson.

The committee’s report followed in the wake of a scandal uncovered by outside investigators last year. The Executive Board hired the investigators in May and received the investigators’ report in a called meeting at the end of October.

That 42-page report revealed the BGCT had spent $1.3 million to start 258 churches in the Rio Grande Valley over a six-year period, but only five churches remained. Some of the supposed starts were “phantom churches” that never existed, it said.

The report cast a shadow on three Valley pastors—Otto Arango, Aaron de la Torre and Armando Vera—who led the churches that sponsored the alleged new congregations. It described how at least some of the $1.3 million had been misappropriated for other purposes.

• See complete list of Valley funds scandal articles

The report also demonstrated how weaknesses in the Executive Board’s church-starting system—specifically lax oversight, suspended policies, and complex tracking and accounting systems—enabled the scandal.

Two weeks after it received the report, the Executive Board met in another called session to chart a course correction. The board approved five motions designed to clean up the scandal and prevent future problems.

The first motion called for implementing seven recommendations suggested by the outside investigators. It instructed Executive Board Chairman Bob Fowler to appoint an oversight group to “closely monitor the timely implementation of thse recommendations”

Jim Nelson, an Austin attorney, chaired that oversight group and presented a six-page report on its findings.

The oversight group believes Executive Board Executive Director Charles Wade and the board’s staff have worked very hard “to ensure what has happened won’t happen again,” Nelson told the board.

Executive Board member Helen Price.

He guided the board through the oversight report. The central feature is a step-by-step evaluation of responses to the outside investigators’ seven recommendations:

• “The guidelines for church starting should be reviewed and revised.”

New church-starting guidelines have been developed, Nelson announced. The board received them the following morning

“The oversight group thinks that the guidelines, when adopted, will provide the basis for accountability of all parties and for protection of the tithes and offerings of Texas Baptists being used for church starts,” Nelson added, reading from the report.

“This, of course, will be the case only as far as these procedures are followed and adhered to. Especially important here is that there be no relaxation of the policies and standards. The staff has incorporated that into its procedures.”

The oversight group urged the Executive Board’s missions funding group to maintain consistent review of the church-starting process, insisting on “compliance with all rules and guidelines.”

• “More accurate and accessible mortality rates are needed.”

“Mortality rates” assess how many church starts succeed versus how many fail. This material was “difficult and cumbersome to retrieve from the BGCT’s system,” the oversight group reported.

BGCT President Steve Vernon.

Executive Board staff recognized this problem and started trying to improve the system even before the investigators began their work, but a new and improved system was not in place at the time, the oversight group’s report stated.

“Implementation of this recommendation is complete,” the report noted, stressing that “futher tracking of this system is essential.”

• “Record keeping needs to be integrated and coordinated.”

Investigators complained the Executive Board’s record-keeping system, which could assign as many as three tracking numbers to a single church, impeded their investigation. More importantly, it prevented convention leaders from receiving meaningful data on which to base decisions, they added.

A new system to integrate records has been put in place, and “final integration” is expected by April 1, the oversight group said.

• “Better internal controls are needed.”

Procedural changes have been made to control how church-starting funds are issued and to document use of the money, the oversight group noted, adding the entire process is expected to be completed before the Executive Board’s next meeting, May 21-22.

• “Accounting design and control of reporting system.”

This correction is intended to provide the Executive Board’s accounting office control over documentation of funds, as well as how funding is processed and delivered.

This new system is in place, Nelson said. “That’s not to say fine adjustments won’t be needed,” he added, noting improvements in the system can be made incrementally as needs arise.

• “Response to allegations must be immediate.”

“The staff wants this. The staff is more anxious for this to be implemented than is the board,” Nelson said.

The oversight group reinforced that imperative in its report, stating, “The staff itself is bound with the responsibility to begin immediately upon notice to address and solve any problem creating the allegation.”

Implementation of an internal auditor should enable rapid response to allegations, and that process is being guided by the board’s audit committee.

In addition, the board’s staff is investigating an online “whistleblower” service that would enable Executive Board employees to register concerns anonymously.

• “Trust, but verify.”

The oversight group’s report noted implementation of the investigators’ recommendations “will make great strides in the mechanical and process operations” of verifying that church-starting guidelines are followed.

“Relying on trust is extremely important in the work of the kingdom, and such work is so important that it (must) be accompanied by monitoring, documenting and control,” the oversight group’s report stressed. “The key here is accountability, and the oversight group is confident the staff is committed to fostering a culture of accountability.”

The second motion approved in November called for raising the Executive Board’s church-starting guidelines to policy level. The motion instructed staff to present the church-starting policies to the board’s missions and ministries committee.

The oversight group noted the Executive Board’s staff had started this process prior to the Valley investigation. New church-starting policies were presented to the committee in December and were unveiled and discussed at the board’s February meeting.

The third motion called for creating “an internal audit function that will report to the audit committee.”

The oversight group noted the board’s audit committee previously began a process of creating such a function. During the meeting, the audit committee provided an update on progress in putting an internal auditor in place.

The audit committee is leading a risk-assessment process, which should be completed later this spring, reported Harold Richardson of Tyler, chairman of that committee.

Originally, the committee thought outsourcing would be the best approach to handling this ongoing audit function, Richardson said. But cost estimates are high, and the committee is considering other options, such as a staff auditor.

“We believe we can take care of 2007, and we will continue to study the feasibility of finding an individual to come on board,” he said.

“These actions are in full compliance with the motion,” the oversight group reported.

The fourth motion directed the board’s executive director, in consultation with legal counsel as well as convention and board officers, to consider “the full range of methods for recovery of funds misused or misappropriated” by the individuals mentioned in the investigators’ report, and to initiate appropriate actions to recover the funds.

Nelson and Wade reported that convention leaders, both staff and elected officers, had met with the three pastors identified in the investigators’ report.

“In each case, we expressed our sorrow and our request that they would make restitution,” Wade said, noting each meeting also included prayer.

In two of the three cases, convention leaders and the pastors agreed to try to continue talking about the situation, Wade said. In the third case, the pastor’s attorney instructed the convention not to contact his client directly.

Convention leaders “have taken every action they have been advised to take,” the oversight group reported.

The situation is complicated, because legal civil proceedings can be complex, tedious and time-consuming, Nelson told the board.

Discussion about the proceedings illustrated that complexity. In the middle of questions regarding the fourth motion on the possibility of civil lawsuits, a board member inquired about progress on the fifth motion—that the investigators’ findings might be reported “to any appropriate government investigatory agency” for possible criminal action.

Nelson explained legal actions of either nature—criminal or civil—could impact each other. So, the convention’s staff and officers, as well as the board, would need to be deliberate and paitent.

Steve Wakefield, the Executive Board’s attorney, confirmed documents prepared by the investigators have been turned over to the U.S. attorney’s office in Brownsville. This step would comply with the fifth motion, seeking criminal charges.

“We’re waiting on the U.S. prosecutor in Brownsville to decide whether to go forward” with criminal charges, Wakefield said. “We have not received word” on that decision, but he is remaining in “continual contact” with the prosecutor’s office, he added.

Executive Board Chairman Fowler praised both the staff and the oversight group. “They were very diligent in their work,” he said.

Wade also commended the oversight group. “I’m pleased the committee worked so thoroughly and diligently and were so personally invested in their work,” he said. “I’m grateful they affirmed the work of the staff, who worked so faithfully to implement the assignment.”

Fowler asked the staff to provide a full report on progress, which will be available before the Executive Board’s May meeting. He pledged the board would continue to monitor the issue.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Updated: 3/02/07

Board clarifies its responsibilities,
messengers’ rights

By Marv Knox

Editor

DALLAS—Messengers to Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meetings never again will be told the convention’s Executive Board has “preempted” their authority, if the board has its way.

During its winter meeting Feb. 26-27, the Executive Board approved two documents—a proposed constitutional amendment and a “statement of understanding”—to clarify messengers’ ultimate authority and the board’s responsibility.

Executive Director Charles Wade

The Executive Board’s actions grew out of a controversial parliamentary ruling during the BGCT annual meeting last November in Dallas.

• See complete list of Valley funds scandal articles

Immediately prior to that annual meeting, the Executive Board met in closed session to formulate its response to an investigation of misappropriated church-starting funds in the Rio Grande Valley. As part of that response, the board directed its executive director, in consultation with attorneys, to evaluate whether to present findings of the convention’s investigation into the scandal “to any appropriate government investigatory agency.”

During the annual meeting, a messenger offered a motion that would have instructed the Executive Board to turn its findings over to the FBI.

Reading from a ruling drafted by parliamentarian Bart Tichenor, BGCT President Michael Bell ruled the motion out of order. The ruling reasoned the Executive Board’s prior action had “preempted any action by the convention.”

That ruling set off protests from across the convention, with Texas Baptists affirming the right of convention messengers—each elected by a local congregation—as the BGCT’s ultimate authority, especially when the annual meeting is in session.

Speaking to the Executive Board more than three months later, Charles Wade, the board’s executive director, called the ruling “a dagger to the heart” of many Texas Baptists.

“Baptists treasure the right of individual members to speak their convictions, both in the local church and at the annual meeting,” he said.

Wade proposed a three-page statement regarding the ruling, as well as a constitutional amendment, both designed to settle convention authority.

The constitutional amendment would create a new paragraph “A” in section 1 of article VII in the BGCT Constitution.

It states: “The Executive Board shall have charge and control, except when otherwise directed by the convention, of all the work of the convention, including missions, education and beneficence, in the interim between sessions.”

Executive Board members overwhelmingly ratified the amendment without debate. It will be presented to messengers to the BGCT annual meeting next November in Amarillo.

When the Executive Board considered Wade’s “statement of understanding,” board member Bruce Murray of Austin said: “What happened was like a shot heard around Texas. (But) this statement is too long; it needs to be cut.”

Several board members echoed Murray’s sentiments. They called for a one-page statement that clearly affirms messengers’ authority while detailing Executive Board responsibility.

A small group of board members and staff met after that session and later presented a one-page, four-paragraph “statement of understanding.” It reads:

“The Executive Board understands and confirms that it has always considered itself to be a ‘servant board.’ It understands that it exists to serve Texas Baptists, the churches and messengers to the convention’s annual meeting.

“This board understands that it has no power or authority except to the extent messengers have delegated it authority under the convention’s articles of incorporation, constitution and bylaws, and as the messengers may further direct it to act.

“This board recognizes that certain duties delegated to it by the convention and under its governing documents are so delegated because they can be handled by the board acting as a smaller body with more available time to consider and to act and, in some cases, with a greater degree of confidentiality, if appropriate.

“This board understands its role to be that of a steward. The Executive Board regrets the parliamentary ruling at the 2006 annual meeting. This board does not intend in any way for its actions prior to an annual meeting to ‘preempt’ the role of messengers. Rather, this board seeks to perform its duties faithfully between annual meetings.”

During discussion, board members repeatedly expressed their appreciation for the leadership and integrity of Bell, who was convention president last year and presided at the annual meeting.

In the closing moments of the meeting, the board ratified a resolution affirming Bell’s leadership, offered by Anthony Bruster of Texarkana.

The resolution states: “The Executive Board expresses its sincere appreciation to Michael Bell for his godly leadership and guidance, and the board is thankful for his service to this body and for his many significant contributions to the work of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/28/07

BaptistWay Bible Series for March 11

Christians are empowered to minister

• Acts 2:1-24

By Leroy Fenton

Baptist Standard, Dallas

The emotions of empathy and joy of seeing God’s Holy Spirit move in a congregational experience where lives are changed, marriages are mended and persons are brought from lostness into new life affirm the value of the gathered church in God’s plan of the redemption of our world.

Such victories are electrifying and transforming. Worshipping God in a place of gathered souls always has that possibility for sin to be confessed, forgiveness to be experienced and God’s will to be discovered. God’s empowering Spirit, like the unpredictability of the wind, can change any gathering of believers into a heaven-sent, Spirit-filled, supernatural experience.

From the mind of the Father, this infilling of and by the Spirit is a holy gift. The Spirit gives life, power and ignition to believers for the saving work of God. There are many personal powers, but the gift of the Holy Spirit is spiritual power, the greatest of them all. God’s Spirit of truth is the believer’s strength, comfort, advocate, teacher, reminder, boldness and oneness with the Father (John 14:15-31). Without the Spirit of God, the church will falter and fail in its mission of proclamation and lose its vision of purpose. With the Spirit of God, there is a new quality of life and work.

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I accepted—hook, line and sinker—the typical Baptist polity of the autonomous local church under congregational governance with Christ as the head. The more I studied, the more I was convinced the people of God could best serve through the traditional local Baptist church with a leader called to be the pastor and a congregation who would be led of God, under their own priesthood, empowered by the Spirit to become and to produce what Christ expected the church to be and to do.

However, rather than changing the world, the church struggles for significance, depending on its own power and performance while maintaining a status quo and indulging in its own gratification.

Today, most of the churches of most evangelical mainstream denominations are plateaued or declining, often are controlled by leaders who give lip-service to the Great Commission, are more prone to build an institution than the kingdom of God, and filled with well-meaning people apathetic about human and spiritual needs.

God’s church often is sustained out of duty and from human ingenuity, experiencing the death of vibrancy and effectiveness. Churches make uninformed and uninspired decisions that concentrate on budgets, buildings and banquets rather than on the unsaved, the hurting needs of the community or the worldwide needs of missions. With buildings to maintain and programs to create, a congregation can care more about the way of worship than the work inspired by worship, more about attendance than attitude, more about themselves than others, more about the impression of a sermon than the inspiration of the Spirit, more about paying the mortgage than proclaiming the master.

When the church does its work in its own strength, it is afraid to confront the culture on the outside for fear of upsetting the traditions on the inside.

Faithless to a fault, the church converts to fear, and the building becomes a sanctuary from the challenges of the world. Worship, the means of beckoning the waiting Spirit of God, becomes an end within itself and the primary laurel leaf of service.

Without the Holy Spirit, worship is powerless and worshipers seldom respond with, “Here am I, send me” (Isaiah 6:8). Where there is no vision, selfishness and pettiness prevail, and people hold on to their possessions, hide their spiritual gifts, hype their personal authority, hand out anemic excuses and harbor hurts and hostilities.

Luke’s early history of the church in Acts, addressing the problems within the church, demonstrates the power of spirit-filled Christians as the gospel sweeps across land, oceans, nations, peoples and barriers to knock down the doors to hell and crush the head of Satan.

The anticipation

The gathered cadre of believers must have been seriously intent and excitedly expectant with anticipation, much, much more than children waiting for Christmas. Acts 1:12-26 invites us into the thinking process of these early believers as they obey the ascended Christ (v. 12). The place and people are identified (vv. 13-14), the unity is noted as the praying begins (v. 14), the leader surfaces (v. 15), the authority of Scripture and prophecy is acknowledged (vv. 16-20), and Matthias replaces Judas to bring the number of apostles to 12. It would seem that between the prayer sessions, the believers took care of business to prepare themselves for the mission ahead, depending entirely on the plan of their living Lord, promised in Joel (2:28ff), spoken of in Matthew (3:11-12) John (16:7), Luke (24:49) and Acts (1:4,5, 8)

The articulation

Concerning Pentecost, 2:1—Pentecost (meaning “50th”), often called the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Harvest, coming 50 days after the Passover, was an appropriate symbol of the great harvest of people who would respond to the power of God and the preaching of Peter. Like the Passover, Pentecost would attract huge crowds of people tao Jerusalem as required, some of whom would have first-hand knowledge of the supernatural miracle of speech and experience conversion into this new spiritual kingdom of the resurrected Christ, the Son of the living God.

Luke simply says, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place,” assumed to be the upper room (2:1). “Together in one place” is more a physical reference of location rather than a reflection on unity of heart. We may assume those gathered were unified in prayer following the request of the risen Christ and asking for a revelation of God’s plan and power for the ages.

Concerning power, 2:2–4—Following the crucifixion and resurrection, both incredible adventures of faith, the phenomenon of Pentecost was astounding and breathtaking. The apostles had experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit but not the Spirit’s power. For example, John 20:22 tells us Jesus “breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

What “suddenly” took place was not the beginning of the church but the empowering of the existing church to launch its mission to the ”uttermost parts of the earth,” a new phase in God’s eternal plan and a new enriched quality of life. The Spirit fell upon “the whole house” and all were filled and “began speaking in tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (vv. 2-4). Incredible and comprehensive, the enabling work of God begins in earnest.

Wind and fire were ancient symbols of the nature of God and portend the spiritual nature of man. Essential to the events of Pentecost is the communication and demonstration of a powerful spiritual life, a product of the energy and essence of God. We are to understand the human spirit can resource the Spirit of God for empowerment for the divine purposes of holiness, love, evangelism, missions and service.

The sequence begins with “a sound like the blowing of a violent wind … from heaven,” (v. 2) which I interpret to be like that of a Texas tornado dropping out of the sky. The sound may have represented the crescendo of thousands and millions of voices blended together in force like a shout to get attention. Instead of being destructive, what happened was constructive. Not only did they hear, but they “saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them” (2:30).

What appeared to be a large mass or cluster of fire separated into smaller parts to connect with each individual in a spectacular way. There was no heat from which to recoil and no flying debris to dodge, only the sound and sight of the symbolic conferring of the power of God upon these gathered souls. What was heard and seen expressed itself in the heart, soul and spirit of each individual and surely took their breath in astonishment (v. 6). “Other tongues,” (v. 4), refers to foreign languages, never used before by the apostles but spoken and understood through the enabling of the Holy Spirit (v. 6). Paul appreciated speaking and hearing for understanding as he testifies in I Corinthians 14:6-13.

There was a supernatural infusion by the Spirit of motivation, skill, desire, focus, enthusiasm, faith and boldness. The Spirit also was at work awakening and wooing the hearts of those present and attentive to the sight and sound of the miracle of speech from the fullness of God. The miracle spilled out of the upper room into the streets like water out of a broken dam. Suddenly, the promise was fulfilled, and what happened could not be contained.

The miracle in Jerusalem at Pentecost was the means by which Christ opened the world to the stimulating and penetrating work of Christ through the Holy Spirit, the third manifestation of the Trinity. Jerusalem was the fountainhead of the dispersion of the Christian movement to the ends of the earth (1:8).

Concerning proclamation, 2:5–13—Reading Luke’s account of the empowerment of the church, it is obvious the proof of the infilling power of God is boldness in witnessing. Clearly, these are tongues that speak words that are sensible, understandable and intelligent—a witness from the mouths of bold individuals, all speaking passionately. The miracle is one of hearing. The crowd, from various parts of the world (v. 5), understood every word as though spoken in their native language (vv. 8-11).

Any theology of “glossolalia” must come from some other place in Scripture, for it cannot be found here. Pentecost is a one-time event, never again necessary to repeat though its impact continues forever. The infilling of the Spirit may come over and over again to the individual, but Pentecost is unque. When the Spirit comes, the obvious tangible proof is that the tongue cannot hold back the powerful message of a resurrected Christ who saves from sin, changes lives and ministers to all in need.

The central fact of Pentecost is the empowerment by the Holy Spirit to initiate the mission of Christ to redeem mankind. The masses have missed the Master’s calling and empowerment while content with having a little light hidden under the basket. The silence of today’s Christians forebodes the conclusion that it lacks the filling of the Holy Spirit.

God was showing his disciples anyone can speak up for Jesus, all can share their experience of faith and everyone can expect God’s ever-present Spirit to help formulate words, concepts, phrases, sentences and paragraphs to listening hearts.

Concerning prophecy, 2:14-24—Peter’s message focuses on Christ as the fulfillment of prophecy. He, along with the 11 other apostles, stood before the crowd. Peter, now the bold spokesman and leader, addresses the charge of drunkenness (v. 15) by referencing the prophecy of Joel (Joel 2:28-33). Peter knew that to be successful in convincing the Jews, his own people, that Jesus was the promised Messiah, he had to appeal to prophecy.

Joel’s prediction is quoted, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people …” (v. 17), and “Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days …” (v. 18). Peter’s defense affirms the experience at Pentecost—the wind, fire, tongues—was the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy, and Jesus is the God-designated and appointed (Acts 2:22 “a man attested to by God”) Messiah.

The Messiah, Jesus, would reign over a spiritual kingdom, not a national messianic kingdom of this world. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (v. 21) further indicates salvation transcends any national, geographical, racial or political barrier (see Acts 1:8).

Addressing the heart of the matter, Peter, the first to declare, “you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” (Luke 9:20-21) is the first to preach Christ as the resurrected Savior (v. 24). Peter references the life and work of Jesus, the Nazarene, his sacrificial death on the cross and his resurrection. The fact of the resurrection becomes the heart of gospel preaching.

Today’s church is hamstrung by poor theology, biblical illiteracy, debilitating fear, inadequate stewardship, ritualistic traditionalism, arrogant attitude, petty distractions, struggling organizations, hypocritical witness, anemic faith and adulterating selfishness. The faults within the church can be corrected when touched by the Holy Spirit of God and when it recaptures its missional purpose.

The mission of the church, inspired and empowered by God’s Spirit, is to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. This mission has been chosen for the church and is the focus of the church’s soul. The initiative of the church resides in the heart of God and is inspired by, energized by and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

The church must be empowered and transformed by the Spirit of God to assume its historic, proper and powerful role in our world. The church must function for its primary purpose and not for itself.

Take the mystery out of Pentecost, and let the power of our witness penetrate the spiritual darkness of our communities and our world. Stop focusing on building a church and rather build the kingdom of God.

Discussion question

• Do we rely on our own strength and ignore the Spirit’s power?

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/28/07

Bible Studies for Life Series for March 11

Jesus opens our eyes

• John 9

By David Harp

First Baptist Church, Stanton

I’d like to introduce you to Helen. Helen is a radiant Christian and an overcomer. Helen is 87 years young. She has buried two husbands and one son.

Helen is a recovering alcoholic—more than 50 years of sobriety, one day at a time! Nearly 20 years ago, she faced a new, nearly insurmountable obstacle. Helen lost her sight. Surgeons and specialists all did their best, but this blindness could not be overcome.

Many of us reading these lines have heard a doctor say, “Learn to live with it.” How does one “learn to live with” blindness after seeing mountains and flowers and faces of children and grandchildren? Helen has overcome through her faith in God and with encouragement of her church family and her friends. She says she is one of the most blessed people in the world today.

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Some 15 years ago, she received a special, wonderful gift from an agency for the blind—a seeing-eye dog. Jackie, a black Labrador, is Helen’s constant companion, walking in the mall, going to AA meetings and always to Belmont Baptist Church in Pueblo, Colo. Jackie has her place under the pew, where she gets comfortable and often falls asleep and sometimes snores during worship.

Helen is my mom, and her testimony is that her blindness is only temporary. Mom often says, “One day very soon, I will be in the presence of my Lord, and I will see again, for all of eternity.” Some people might say Helen Harp has “spiritual sight” that many seeing people do not.

Our Bible study teaches the impact of a personal experience with Jesus. John’s Gospel is about the Son of Man who can transform us and bring light into a person’s life.

Our lesson in John 9 introduces us to a man born blind. There was not much good news for him. In most Bible dictionaries, blindness and blessing is one article, one short sentence apart. For a man born blind, a blessing must have seemed a lifetime away.

The blind in the first-century world often were reduced to a life of begging. One day, Jesus passed by, and everything changed for the man in John 9 who was born blind.

The biblical account immediately draws us in. The disciples debate the man’s cause of blindness. They ask, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (v. 2). Jesus quickly brushes away the debate, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned” (v. 3).

Then Jesus does the work we know him for best—he focuses not on debates or dialogues but on the individual with the need. However, John carefully states in this chapter that physical blindness is not the point here. There is a much deeper level that demands our attention—spiritual blindness.

The first section of our Bible study is John 9:8-10. Earlier in the passage, Jesus has given the man born blind his healing instructions. Jesus spit on the ground and made mud. Jesus applied the mud to the man’s eyes and told him to “go and wash in the pool at Siloam” (vv. 6-7).

The blind man obeys Jesus’ instructions and receives his sight. The neighbors always had seen him as a blind and begging man —but now he sees. They ask: “‘Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?’ Some claimed that he was. Others said, ‘No he only looks like him.’ But he himself insisted, ‘I am the man’” (v. 8). This section closes with a question, “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked (v. 10).

The next section of the Bible study is the interrogation of the blind man’s parents in John 9:20-22.

The Pharisees were powerful people. They had authority to put people out of the synagogue. This might explain the fear of the parents of the blind man. This would mean a loss of social security and business opportunity. This would mean a loss of fellowship and community. This would mean humiliation.

Our next section of Bible study leads us to John 9:24-25, 30-33.

Throughout this passage, it must be pointed out a blind man sees with greater clarity while the most religious among them grow increasingly blind. The man has received healing, and it is his main focus in each conversation. It becomes more than his testimony; it becomes his life: “Once I was blind, now I see” (v. 25).

At this point, the former blind man cannot tell the religious leaders much about Jesus. They bombard him with their questions: “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” (v. 26). He responds: “I’ve already told you, and you did not listen. Do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” (v. 27).

His life has changed, and he knows Jesus is responsible for the change of his life. The Pharisees want no part of Jesus. How can he come from God, performing miracles on a day when folks worship?

In our final section of Bible study, we see a blind beggar becoming a worshipper (vv. 35-39). The seeing man now says, “‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshipped him” (v. 38).

Jesus opens the eyes of the blind. We don’t need more inspiration from self-help gurus. We need the transformation Jesus Christ alone can bring. He brings us the light. He brings us life. He offers and waits for our trust. Trust involves enlightenment, a growth in understanding and then commitment—an expression of personal belief.

Discussion questions

• What prevents us from seeing spiritually?

• What enables us to see spiritually?

• What keeps us from committing our life to Jesus?

• What helps us know that our faith in Christ is valid?

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.