Posted: 11/10/06

Around the State

• The South Texas School of Christian Studies in Corpus Christi dedicated the Vernon Elmore library collection Nov. 2. The collection houses 40 years of manuscript sermons for students and guests to review. Elmore was pastor of First Church in Corpus Christi 23 years. The church and school have established a pastoral endowment in his honor to continue training ministers in South Texas.

• Dallas Baptist University will tip off the first regular-season game of its NCAA Division II basketball program Nov. 15 at Cameron University. The first home game will be Nov. 18 versus Howard Payne University. Blake Flickner is head coach. For more information, call (214) 333-5324.

• Richard Hutsell has been promoted to vice president for administration and finance at East Texas Baptist University. Hutsell has been employed at the school 13 years and has served as chief financial officer since 2004.

• Amy Bawcom has been named registrar at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. She will coordinate both the institutional records/ registrar’s office and the office of institutional research. Bawcom joined the UMHB faculty in 1997 as an English instructor.

• Longtime missionary Bill O’Brien, Army Chaplain Brigadier General R.L. Herring Jr. and Oklahoma legislator Ann Coody have been named the Hardin-Simmons University distinguished alumni for 2006. The honor is presented to alumni whose personal and professional accomplishments exemplify the ideals and aims of the university.

• Jenny Janda, a student at Howard Payne University, designed a T-shirt that will be presented to student-athletes on 2006-07 American Southwest Conference championship teams. Her design was chosen from artwork submitted by students from conference-member schools. Janda, a Houston native, is a senior art communication major.

Kendall and Joy Helgren

• Kendall and Joy Helgren have been appointed missionaries to central, eastern and southern Africa. Their focus will be on church and leadership development. Wedgwood Church in Fort Worth is their home church. They have two children—Lily, 23 months, and Easton, 3 months.

Anniversaries

• Hosanna Church in Poteet, 20th, Oct. 22. Juan Florez is pastor.

• Robert Krause, 10th, as pastor of First Church in Carrizo Springs, Nov. 1.

• David Mahfouz, 15th, as pastor of First Church in Port Neches, Nov. 5.

• First Church of Shady Acres in Brazoria, 50th, Nov. 12. Morning services will be followed by a meal and dedication of the congregation’s new building. The Faithful Quartet will sing. David Pate is pastor.

• Ken Cox, 15th, as pastor of First Church in New Boston, Nov. 12.

• Steven Gilley, fifth, as minister of youth at First Church in Milford, Nov. 18.

• First Church in Abilene, 125th, Nov. 19. The morning worship service in the congregation’s newly renovated sanctuary will begin the celebration. A dinner will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Abilene Civic Center. Under the theme of “A Tapestry of Faith,” the evening will include retracing of church’s history through dra-ma and photographs. Reservations for the dinner are needed by Nov. 17 and can be made by calling (325) 675-8116. Phil Christopher is pastor.

Retiring

• Paul Smith, after 25 years as jail chaplain and director of Operation CRISIS for Waco Regional Baptist Network, Oct. 10. Smith was in ministry more than 60 years and was pastor of many churches, in-cluding Speegleville, Oak Lawn and North Waco churches in Waco, Old Time Church in Riesel, First Church in China Spring, First Church in Elm Mott, Jonesboro Church in Jonesboro and Park Temple Church in Fort Worth. He also was pastor of several churches while pursuing his education at East Texas Baptist University. He was highly involved with Latham Springs Encampment, serving on its board 40 years.

Licensed

• Mark Lewis to the ministry at Dixie Frontier Church in Whitesboro.

• Justin Larriviere to the ministry at Regions Christian Center in Texarkana.

Ordained

• J.J. Mayo to the ministry at Oran Church in Graford.

• Hadley Foster to the ministry at Sandbranch Church in Bigfoot.

• Corky Holland to the ministry at First Church in Amarillo.

• Brent Barnett to the ministry at Trinity Church in Gatesville.

• Craig Curry to the ministry at South Oaks Church in Arlington.

• Craig Lloyd to the ministry at Southlake Church in Waxahachie.

• Bill Ford as a deacon at Christoval Church in Christoval.

• Gary Armer Jr., Josue Mata, John Plant and Wendell Romans as deacons at Mem-orial Church in Baytown.

• Randy Coffman as a deacon at First Church in Levelland.

• David Holcomb as a deacon at Meadows Oak Church in Temple.

• Shawn Gibson, John Kuhn, Chad Prestwood and Richie Starr as deacons at First Church in Mineral Wells.

• Joe Merrick and Cy Gibson as deacons at First Church in Palo Pinto.

• Andrew Bulin and Terry Johnson as deacons at South Oaks Church in Arlington.

Death

• Carr Suter Jr., 78, Nov. 6 in Garland, after a long illness with pancreatic cancer. Suter was associate pastor and minister of education at First Church in Garland from 1962 to 1990. In 1990, he was recognized for distinguished service by the faculty of South-western Seminary. Before coming to Garland, he was a teaching fellow at Golden Gate Seminary. He also was minister of education at First Church in McKinney, as well as churches in California and Oklahoma. Following his retirement, he taught Christian education courses in seminaries in Tanzania, Canada, Oregon and Houston. He was active in Dallas Association promoting Sunday school and Vacation Bible School programs, and served as the association’s historian. He wrote three history books on Baptist work in Dallas County, including Church Life, the story of First Church in Garland, and received the church history award for outstanding achievement in the preservation of Texas Baptist history. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Janie; son, Shelton; daughter, Amy Claunch; sisters, Lorraine Hayslip and JoAnn Murphey; and four grandchildren.

Posted: 11/10/06

Former Mexican Mafia
general baptized in Texas prison

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

HUNTSVILLE—A man who thought he was afraid of nothing took a major step in a journey he feared could have cost him his life.

A Texas Baptist evangelist recently baptized Mauricio Cardenas, former general in the Mexican Mafia, who now is imprisoned in Huntsville.

Evangelist Gilbert Herrera of Lubbock baptized Cardenas during a revival that yielded 97 professions of faith in Christ and 10 baptisms.

The act came after more than a year of conversations with Herrera and more than 15 years after the co-founder of the Texas chapter of the Mexican Mafia said he originally accepted Christ as his Savior.

In a written testimony, Cardenas said he felt convicted that he needed to accept Christ as Lord after reading Mark 5:26 on the front page of a newspaper delivered to his cell Feb. 3, 1991. That day in his cell, he prayed to accept Christ as his Savior.

But Cardenas feared letting his fellow gang members know about his new faith. He didn’t know what might happen to him when he tried to quit the gang—known for its “blood in, blood out” policy that indicates members must die to leave it.

“I wanted God in my life, but I was afraid,” he wrote. “Afraid of the consequences I had to face up to in a monster I had helped to create. So like Jonas, I said ‘No way! Find someone else!’ And I went the other way.”

Cardenas insisted God continued to work in his life, convicting him that he needed to leave the gang. God used a series of physical ailments, including two strokes and three heart attacks, to get his attention.

He finally relented to what he felt was God’s calling.

“I went to the recreation yard where there were about 40 members of the Eme (Mexican Mafia), and I told them in plain simple Spanish, ‘I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, and I am backing out the Eme. I’ve thought it over long and hard, know the consequences of this action. You guys do what you have to do. It was an honor to have served as your leader. Now, it is an honor to serve Christ.’”

As he walked away, Cardenas said his mind was at peace. “Something told me I was in God’s hands, and as long as I was in God’s hands, nothing and no one could hurt me. Not even I could hurt myself.”

The gang has not hurt Cardenas. Several months after he told them he was leaving, they allowed members to leave for religious reasons.

Other members joined Cardenas in breaking ties with the group.

Herrera praised God for working in Cardenas’ life. He testified that Cardenas’ transformation is true and can only be attributed to God, noting that God performed similar action on him—transforming him from a criminal into a minister.

“I knew that it happened, because it happened to me,” he said.

Posted: 11/10/06

Baptizing & making disciples

By Barbara Bedrick

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS – Baptists long have focused on bringing people down the aisles to make professions of faith in Christ. But how Christians live when they walk out the church doors may offer just as important a way to measure the effectiveness of a congregation’s evangelism efforts, some pastors and theologians agreed.

Churches should encourage people to come to faith in Christ, but they also need to disciple members intentionally to have the largest impact they can, they said.

“You don’t judge the health of an army by how many people sit in a cafeteria and eat chow,” said Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and author of The Purpose Driven Life. “You judge the health of an army by how many people are out on the front lines fighting the battle.”

Dan Wooldridge, pastor of Crestview Baptist Church in Georgetown, shared that sentiment.

“Baptism is one way to measure evangelism, but more and more we are asking: ‘Have we effectively impacted the community? Do they know we care, and do they know what our message is?’” said Wooldridge, second vice president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. “I believe churches need to intentionally try to saturate their communities with a loving presentation of our message of Jesus Christ.”

Making an impact on the community through lifestyle evangelism also is key for Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler. Network, the church’s Sunday evening ministry, calls for personal visits into the homes of prospects. But the church’s greatest evangelism occurs at schools, neighborhoods and in the workplace as members naturally share their faith.

“Each year, we set a goal of seeing at least 200 people follow Christ in believer’s baptism, and we have averaged more than that goal over the past 15 years,” Pastor David Dykes said. “However, a more reliable measure of our evangelistic effectiveness is how many of our members are sharing their faith with their FRAN (Friends, Relatives, Associates and Neighbors) network.”

Some leaders insist churches should look at how many people are sharing their faith combined with how many people walk the aisle.

They see that as a more accurate tool to discern the success of evangelism.

“In church history, quantitative cannot ever be the final evaluative structure of God’s movement, but it’s a good helpful tool on track to the final answer,” said Chap Clark, author and professor of youth ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary.

“The ultimate best way to evaluate our evangelism is by asking: Are we truly moving people from disconnect, from non-believers, into faithful followers of Jesus Christ?”

Recommending that quantification and numbers should be played down, Bill Tillman, T.B. Maston Chair of Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon Seminary, contends many times in the past, Baptists placed too much emphasis on numbers instead of on intentionality and Christ-like character.

“Numbers are not important in lots of senses,” Tillman said. “It’s not the true dimension of kingdom work. It’s hard to categorize or quantify how God is working in lives. Qualitative dimensions of discipleship include the intentionality. Whatever they say and do is a witness to the gospel. They’re authentic believers.”

There is an inherent flaw in church baptisms as the only measuring stick for effective evangelism, said Wayne Shuffield, director of the BGCT missions, evangelism and ministry area.

Sometimes people get baptized because they’re changing denominations or renewing their commitment to Christ, not taking an initial step in their newfound faith, he noted. “But Christians in today’s society must practice the art of evangelism by focusing on bringing more people to Christ for the purpose of becoming like Christ. Jesus commissions his followers to ‘go and make disciples,’ not ‘go and gather decisions,’” Shuffield said.

“The primary commandment for evangelism is to love God and love others. Christians must love God with their heart, soul and mind and fall so deeply in love with Jesus Christ we can’t help but to love lost people as Christ loves them and want to talk to them about a personal relationship with Jesus.”

Some churches focus on loving people into a relationship with Christ. “The Saddleback movement is committed to honoring the stories of others before they try to change them,” Clark said. “When people are walking with Christ authentically, they can’t help but bring others to God.”

Warren founded Saddleback Church in 1980 with only seven people and now averages 20,000 in attendance. The church lists 200 ministries to the Orange County community, and 4,500 members participate in mission projects worldwide. Its website reports Saddleback has baptized 12,000 new Christians in the past 10 years.

While Saddleback has tens of thousands of members, its pastor points to more important issues. The strength of any church is judged not on its seating capacity but on its sending capacity, Warren noted. Seeing individual lives committed to membership, maturity, ministry and mission to the glory of God drives him, he said.

Echoing the same sentiment, Wooldridge emphasizes intentionally linking church members’ lives to segments of their community through ministry. Relational or friendship evangelism and storying are two evangelistic styles proving effective.

But a new evangelistic outreach also is surfacing online where millions of unchurched and unsaved people are surfing the Internet. For example, Crestview Baptist has a website, www.peoplesharingjesus.com, where visitors find two icons noting “Good News” and “Why Baptism?” which direct traffic to evangelistic videos.

“I literally have people making decisions by watching videos—even people who live outside Georgetown, so we’re realizing you can be evangelistic on your website,” Wooldridge said.

Baptist churches that are not evangelistic, Wooldridge noted, are “like little fortresses or spiritual retreats.” He points out that Christians and churches need to penetrate the community and every culture.

Working toward that goal, Crestview started two missions—one in a nearby community, the other in a Hispanic community—in the past year. Members invested almost $150,000 in a Hispanic mission in which members have developed a literacy program and a children’s ministry, and they have blitzed the community with literature.

Crestview determined its Vacation Bible School was not reaching the unchurched, so it turned VBS into a daylong camp. More than 75 percent of the community’s children participated.

Crestview still holds revivals but not the traditional fall and spring events. Instead, the church holds a harvest weekend or a harvest Sunday. Wooldridge points out the church works hard to make the events more creative than the old-fashioned tent revival. The church offers bus rides to non-believers to encourage their attendance.

“We can’t sit at the building and wait for people to come,” Wooldridge said. “I’m absolutely convinced if we’ll penetrate the community, God will send people to the building.”

The objective is to relate in a positive way. The primary intention is to share Christ, to care for nonbelievers, pray for them and then trust God for the results.

“Not that we don’t have results, but it’s about the kingdom, not the success of the local church,” Wooldridge said.

As more faithful are equipped and more mentors are developed, the harvest for God grows, some pastors added. Churches may then start measuring their effective evangelistic efforts by the numbers of disciples they develop each year instead of baptisms.

“We bring them in, we build them up, we train them, but we don’t keep them here. We send them out to reach the whole world,” Warren said. “So, it’s our sending capacity that is our strength—not how many people we seat in an auditorium.”

Posted: 11/10/06

Poll: A good night’s sleep beats church

By Adelle Banks

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Americans eagerly anticipate getting a good night’s sleep far more than attending church, a nationwide poll shows.

The Barna Group asked more than 1,000 adults to say how much they looked forward to any of 17 activities, ranging from sleeping to completing tax forms.

Seven out of 10—71 percent—of respondents said they relished the thought of getting enough sleep. That contrasted with 40 percent who said they looked forward “a lot” to attending church services, which was the fourth most-appealing activity.

Tucked between sleep and church attendance—two activities that sometimes have been known to be combined—were spending time with friends (55 percent) and listening to music (54 percent).

Although sleep outranked church attendance, researchers found reading the Bible scored higher than reading a novel for pleasure. Nearly one-third (31 percent) of the people surveyed said they really looked forward to Bible reading, compared to 25 percent who cited reading novels.

Among the activities people seemed to find least appealing were shopping for clothing (16 percent), having a doctor’s examination (14 percent) and filling out tax forms (11 percent).

David Kinnaman, vice president of the Barna Group, said the data reveal how busy Americans are.

“The pace of life, the acceleration of all of the things that we have to do as Americans, is just incredible,” he said.

“So sleep becomes one of those few areas that provides kind of a mini-sanctuary for people.”

The telephone survey by the Ventura, Calif.-based marketing firm included 1,005 adults nationwide and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

Posted: 11/10/06

Bishop College may find new life

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

DALLAS (ABP)—Georgetown College President Bill Crouch has announced plans to revive the spirit of Bishop College, a historically black school that closed in Dallas in 1988.

Crouch’s plans, centered in the proposed Bishop Center for African-American Ministry, aim to re-establish the once-thriving Bishop community while at the same time to diversify the predominantly white Georgetown, Ky., school. Both schools have a Baptist heritage.

Crouch made contact with Bishop College alumni with the help of Joel Gregory, a former Southern Baptist pastor and teacher at Georgetown College, who has become a popular preacher in African-American churches and conferences. Gregory, former pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, now teaches at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary.

Roughly 200 Bishop alumni and supporters met with Crouch Nov. 2 at Friendship West Baptist Church in Dallas to discuss the proposal and form a committee to raise funds for the $50 million vision.

Founded in 1881 in Marshall, Bishop College moved to Dallas in 1961. It was a nonsectarian liberal arts school that emphasized Baptist theology and religion.

Bishop frequently hosted notable speakers such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesse Jackson. By the mid-’70s, it had more than 100 faculty and nearly 1,300 students.

Unfortunately for Bishop students, a financial scandal and a scuffle with the American Association of University Professors resulted in the school losing its accreditation and eventually filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Paul Quinn College, an African Methodist Episcopal school, now occupies the Dallas campus.

But Crouch wants to see Bishop have a physical presence again, this time in Kentucky. His reasons, he said, are both personal and professional.

“I can no longer raise my head high in pride at an institution that is focused on educating only one race,” he said. “I can no longer be a part of an educational enterprise that’s not multicultural. Because that’s the world we live in. And I’m trying to balance this educational philosophy. How can a person be truly educated if they live on a college campus for four years and their roommate is just like them?”

The vision will take careful planning and support—not to mention faith—from both Georgetown and Bishop constituencies, supporters acknowledge. Some reports list 2008 as a target year to break ground on the memorial building, called the Bishop College Center for Academics, but no specific timeline has yet emerged for the building or the scholarship program.

Georgetown College, founded in 1829 by the Kentucky Baptist Convention, has roughly 1,400 students and offers 39 majors. Officials at Georgetown have no plan to alter its curriculum; the school is in the process of gaining Phi Beta Kappa recognition. School representatives did not return phone calls regarding the current number of African-American faculty members, although Crouch said he plans to increase the number of minority staff.

In the meantime, Crouch has signed a contract to stay at Georgetown for the next 10 years. He and his committee plan to begin a national search for and recruitment of the brightest African-American students in the nation, and they will contact the top 100 companies in the Fortune 500 list to ask for financial partnerships for the endeavor.

Posted: 11/10/06

Book Reviews

The Three Hardest Words in the World to Get Right by Leonard Sweet (WaterBrook Press)

Whether Len Sweet is writing about culture, the future, evangelism, the church, leadership or the inner life of the Christian, he makes me re-read paragraphs, wrestle with his original phrases, highlight passages and, most of all, think.

He touches on all these subjects in his latest offering while examining the simple words “I love you.” Do we truly know what we are saying when we use those words, and do we understand how those words point toward the story of God and the ministry of Jesus?

We often live by the definitions of culture rather than the Bible. If we’ll choose life as defined by Jesus, then our “deathstyles” can become lifestyes of abundance, wonder and purpose—the “God-life.”

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

Other recent authors have written on these subjects, but Sweet has an approach that is novel and leaves the reader desiring the joy of what it really means to live with “The Presence” of the One who loves truly and completely.

Greg Bowman, minister to students

First Baptist Church

Duncanville

Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading by Eugene Peterson (Eerdmans)

“Read the Bible” is the admonition of Eugene Peterson’s work, Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading. Peterson’s amazement with the few American Christian Bible readers provoked this latest book.

Through effective illustrations, words of wisdom and counsel, you will find the pages drawing you back to God’s word. Eat This Book can be read quickly. However, you will want to review and consider each morsel. You will encounter in Eat This Book practical ideas for individual and corporate Bible reading as well as some insights into Peterson’s understanding of his ministry of translation.

Eat This Book would make a great gift.

Fred Ater, congregational strategist

Baptist General Convention of Texas

San Antonio

A Genetic History of Baptist Thought by William H. Brackney (Mercer University Press)

Don’t be deterred by this impressive book’s forensic-sounding title or its somewhat intimidating length—592 pages, including an extensive bibliography and index.

If Bill Brackney, formerly of Baylor University and now of Acadia University in Nova Scotia, hasn’t totally mapped the Baptist DNA, he at least explains why some members of the denominational family share few characteristic traits with others who carry the same name but bear a striking resemblance to certain non-Baptist Christians.

Brackney traces the multiple—sometimes contradictory—strains of thought that have shaped Baptists’ theological identity.

Within the swirling mix of Calvinism and Arminianism, fundamentalism and modernism, social gospel activism and evangelistic revivalism, he identifies a common theology that is biblically oriented and Christ-centered and that places high value on personal religious experience, local-church autonomy and liberty of conscience.

Brackney begins with the earliest Baptist confessions of faith, noting similarities to English Congregationalist and Dutch Mennonite faith statements.

He moves through the four centuries that follow, giving thorough attention not only to the academic theologians who influenced generations of student ministers, but also to pastor-theologians and writers of hymns whose sermons and songs directly shaped the theology of people in the pews.

It seems surprising, therefore, that Herschel Hobbs is noted only in passing for his role in chairing the committee that drafted the 1963 Baptist Faith & Message, with no mention made of his influential Sunday school commentaries or state Baptist newspaper columns.

Some Texas Baptists might wish for a bit more about the Southern Baptist theological tradition with which they are most familiar, as well as its varied offshoots such as Landmark Baptists and J. Frank Norris-style fundamentalism.

But they will benefit from the attention Brackney gives to other traditions—British, Canadian, African-American and Northern/American Bap-tists.

In a footnote, Brackney mentions he hopes to follow up this book with another volume on Baptist thought beyond Britain and the United States.

However long that takes, it will be worth the wait if it matches the breadth and depth of this work.

Ken Camp, managing editor

Baptist Standard

Dallas

Posted: 11/10/06

Baptist Briefs

Arkansas Baptist philanthropist dies. John Heflin Jr., an Arkansas businessman and philanthropist, died Oct. 26. Heflin, who died from cancer at age 61, was a major donor to Baptist causes, including the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Arkansas and Ouachita Baptist University at Arkadelphia, where he attended college. Heflin also represented the Religious Liberty Council on the Baptist Joint Committee board. In 2004, he was named Philanthropist of the Year by the Association of Professional Fundraisers. He was a member of Second Baptist Church in Little Rock.

Nevada Baptist meeting includes commissioning. The Nevada Baptist Convention included a commissioning service for 20 Southern Baptist International Mission Board short-term missionaries during its annual meeting in Reno. During the business meeting, Nevada Baptists approved a $2.57 million budget for 2007—a 3.5 percent increase over the current year.

Seminary prof sees young-earth belief as crucial. Kurt Wise, professor and director of the Center for Theology and Science at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, insists that unless Christians believe the earth was created by God 6,000 to 7,000 years ago, many of the foundational doctrines of the Bible crumble. The same data that leads geoscientists to conclude the earth is billions of years old also indicate fossils range from thousands to billions of years in age, he noted. “This includes such things as human fossils hundreds of thousands to millions of years old and such things as disease and suffering of animals hundreds of millions of years older than that,” Wise said. “If humans really date back that far and Adam lived far enough in the past to be their ancestor, then the genealogical record of Genesis 5 is wrong and thus the Bible and its author, God, are wrong. In this case, Adam’s sin could not be passed on to all humans, and such things as agriculture, religion, marriage and even human death would have preceded Adam and Adam’s sin.”

Arkansas Baptists approve task force report. Messengers to the 153rd annual meeting of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention approved a ministry task force report that includes recommendations to regionalize Executive Board ministries, increase the percentage of Cooperative Program funds forwarded to Southern Baptist Convention causes, and explore bringing the Arkansas Baptist News, currently a convention agency, under the Arkansas convention Executive Board. Each recommendation will be referred to other Arkansas convention committees or boards for further deliberation. The 837 messengers also authorized the Arkansas convention Executive Board and its officers to build a Baptist building in a new location if the existing building in downtown Little Rock sells. The potential relocation results from the donation of five acres in west Little Rock by an anonymous Baptist deacon and hinges upon the start of construction as soon as possible. The land was appraised at just under $1 million.

Mississippi Baptists approve record budget. Messengers from the Mississippi Baptist Convention’s 2,114 churches approved without opposition a record Cooperative Program budget of more than $33 million during their annual meeting. The $33,188,934 budget for 2007 represents an almost 6 percent increase over the current budget and will result in $11,616,127 going to Southern Baptist Convention causes. Messengers also voted to permanently close the convention’s multi-million-dollar Gulfshore Baptist Assembly near Pass Christian and sell the property. It was destroyed completely by Hurricane Katrina. Larry Otis, chairman of the committee charged with evaluating the facility, told messengers that rebuilding estimates of more than $46 million, strict new building codes, and post-Katrina insurance rates of more than $1 million per year helped convince the committee to not restore the Gulfshore facilities.

Posted: 11/10/06

Military, hospital chaplains face similar challenges

By Alison Wingfield & Bob Perkins Jr.

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

ATLANTA (ABP)—As a children’s minister many years ago, Julie Rowan felt stuck in a rut. Now Rowan, a chaplain in the military, rarely stays in one place. And that’s just how she likes it.

“I absolutely love it,” she said. “There’s excitement because you do something different every day. If I got out of this, I’d be bored.”

During her 10 years in the military, Rowan, 41, has served all over the world. In addition to stateside assignments, she has been deployed in Germany, Afghanistan and Iraq. She currently is deployed for a three-month stint in Iraq.

While in Afghanistan, Rowan spent most of her time working in a hospital on the base. She led services at the Bagram Air Base chapel every Sunday and worked with locals in humanitarian projects. She and her staff also distributed shoes, clothing and gifts sent from churches in the United States.

In her role as a brigade chaplain in Iraq, Rowan travels from post to post ministering to between 500 and 1,000 soldiers at each stop. In addition to handing out Bibles, Rowan provides counseling and leads worship services wherever there is space available—even from the back of a Humvee.

“You pull it up to an area that’s safe, pull the back down, and that can be the altar,” Rowan said. “You do what you’ve go to do under the circumstances.”

Ronald Howard is a chaplain both in an Alabama hospital and in the Navy Reserve. He applies many of the same techniques in patient care as he does in managing staff for the Navy. The biggest difference, he said, is that at the Navy headquarters in Washing-ton, he ranks as a captain. “The saying goes that as a chaplain in the military, you wear two collars,” Howard said. “Knowing when to be a chaplain and knowing when to use your rank as a senior officer is invaluable.”

A senior reserve chaplain, Howard spends one week every two months working at the Navy’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, the headquarters command for Navy medicine. His role is to serve as an adviser to the surgeon general on religious and moral issues, as well as to manage the deployment and utilization of reserve chaplains.

As a military chaplain, he faces the challenge of leading services consistent with tradition but respectful of other beliefs.

As associate director of pastoral-care services for DCH Health System in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Howard faces many similar issues. Recently, a Muslim patient was in critical care when Howard offered to help his family.

“I spoke to his wife and told her that we realized it was important for his bed to be facing towards Mecca,” Howard said. “When I offered to have him moved to another room, her jaw dropped. Some of the staff were griping about the move, but I think we showed that by showing respect and concern to other people, we gain their ear.”

Keith Parker, a pastoral counselor and analyst, treats patients holistically to unlock deep-seated emotional problems, even using dream analysis as a tool for healing.

Parker, like military chaplains Rowan and Howard, is endorsed by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. But he has a private practice with Connestee Counseling in Brevard, N.C. He also works at the Brevard Cancer Center. He recently worked with a terminal cancer patient who had suffered much and finally found peace about dying. Unfortunately, a member of the patient’s family thought the patient had quit believing in God’s ability to do miracles.

“The family member was making it much more difficult on the patient,” Parker said. “But we were able to build some bridges. Usually you are dealing with folks who (have) a lot of guilt and shame from other times in their lives. The thing I try to do is to help them realize that they shouldn't put more guilt on any other member of the family. And we try to help the patient deal with death with grace and dignity.”

And after spending 23 years in Europe training chaplains, Parker said he still feels as strongly as ever about the importance of chaplaincy and counseling in the medical field, both in the hospital setting and in private practice.

“It’s very clear that the entire spiritual dimension is crucial in both physical health and mental-health problems,” he said. “It may not mean that the problem goes away; it may be something the patient learns to live with.

“Going through the process of finding hope is very exciting as a counselor. You get down in the trenches with them and minister to them, not preach at them or get into their heads.”

Posted: 11/10/06

Family care eases a little of single mothers’ stress

By Miranda Bradley

Children at Heart Ministries

ROUND ROCK—More than volleyballs were served in the gym at First Baptist Church of Round Rock recently.

Single mothers involved in the Texas Baptist Children’s Home family care program enjoyed baked potato soup, salad and homemade cookies prepared by a professional chef in the church’s new First Life Center—a far cry from their typical Monday-night meal of ham-and-cheese sandwiches.

“We’ve been hoping for community or church volunteers to offer a service like this for our program nights,” said Melanie Martinez, family care supervisor. “We are so thrilled that goal is being realized.”

Theresa Twyeffort, a professional chef, felt a calling to offer her services once a month to the program.

“After taking a tour of TBCH, I was so moved by what was happening with this ministry that I was moved to tears,” she said. “The children are so well cared for and so loved. I knew I needed to move outside my comfort zone and search for an area where I could help.”

Twyeffort, her 16-year-old daughter, Jessica, and Twyeffort’s friend Lea Wilder immediately wanted to serve with the ministry.

“I was so impressed by the home-like setting,” Wilder said. “You can tell people work there because they care, not because they are just collecting a paycheck. And the family care program was great because it gave the moms a place to get grounded so they could succeed.”

Texas Baptist Children’s Home, a Children at Heart ministry, was founded in 1950 by the Henna family of Round Rock to provide a “real home for children.” In the ’70s, the ministry extended its mission to include single-mother families. But instead of providing simply a roof overhead, the agency set out to provide opportunities for mothers to gain independence through parenting classes, job training and placement, budgeting courses and counseling.

“We want these families to leave here ready to succeed in life,” said Martinez. “That means providing them the skills necessary to make a change, to be better.”

First Baptist Church of Round Rock offers facilities free of charge for the women’s program night therapy sessions. Children are cared for in the church nursery and also provided a hot meal each week, as well as activities and games.

Twyeffort’s offer eases the burden a bit for the mothers so they can enjoy more time in group sessions.

“This way, they don’t have to stop, make their sandwiches, and then sit down to eat,” Martinez said. “They can really slow down and enjoy dinner while fellowshipping with each other.”

Martinez hopes more people will step up to fill in the weeks between Twyeffort’s expert cuisine.

“It doesn’t have to be fancy,” Martinez said. “A group could offer to purchase pizza for the ladies or bring casseroles. We just want them to have a hot meal just once a week where they don’t have to do a lot of work.”

Twyeffort knew—in one sense—the single mothers already had plenty on their plates. Often they have fled abusive spouses, financial strain or homelessness with their children. Most women in the program have few job skills, which means they often are starting from scratch.

She wanted to serve those women by easing a bit of their strain.

“Here is an example of how three people can find a way to volunteer a few hours and actually make a difference,” Twyeffort said.

The women served by family care are hungry for more than just a main dish, Martinez added. They come to group therapy to feed off one another’s strengths and bear up each other’s burdens. Dinner is just an added bonus.

“The Bible tells us to feed those who are hungry,” she said. “By meeting their physical needs, we can meet their spiritual needs more effectively.”

For more information about family care, contact Martinez at melanie.martinez@tbch.org. For more information on Texas Baptist Children’s Home and other related Children at Heart Ministries, visit www.childrenatheartministries.org.

Posted: 11/10/06

’Tis the season for the Yuletide battles

By Chansin Bird

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Midway through November, people already are fighting about Christmas.

Several Christian groups are banding together again to combat what they call the “War on Christmas.” Their targets—retailers who refuse to say “Merry Christmas,” schools that ban Christmas carols and Scrooge-like secularists who they say want to take Christ out of Christmas.

Liberty Counsel, a conservative legal watchdog group, already kicked off its annual “Friend or Foe” campaign. “We started it earlier this year than last year because of the overwhelming response,” said Erik Stanley, the group’s chief counsel.

“We wanted to give people enough time this year to report issues regarding Christmas so they can be resolved before Christmas.” The campaign in-forms Americans about what’s legal for religious expression during Christmastime. Liberty Counsel also offers free advice and defense for public schools that do not “censor” Christmas.

Last year, Liberty Counsel received hundreds of calls from across the country from employees who were prohibited from saying “Merry Christmas,” students who weren’t allowed to sing Christmas carols or wear red and green clothing, teachers who were reprimanded for displaying Nativity scenes and those upset by city councils renaming Christmas trees “Holiday trees.”

But the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State disputes that a “War on Christmas” even exists.

“In all of last year, when they tried to make a big issue of this, they came up with no examples of any so-called ‘War on Christmas,’” said Joe Conn, a spokesman for Americans United. “It’s completely a figment of (the Liberty Counsel’s) and Jerry Falwell’s imaginations.”

Americans United looked into the facts of each of the examples Liberty Counsel cited as “so-called attacks on Christmas” and found them without merit, he said.

“Some cases were completely bogus, and others had one or two facts that were distorted beyond reason. Occasionally, you’ll have a discussion in the community … but there is certainly no war,” Conn said.

Posted: 11/10/06

CityReach/Lift Up America
alliance feeds hungry families

By Barbara Bedrick

Texas Baptist Communications

FRISCO—Waiting in a long line failed to faze Joe Patterson, pastor of Greater New Zion Baptist Church in Dallas. He knew he would soon receive more than 1,000 pounds of chicken as part of the Baptist General Convention of Texas City Reach 2006.

Visiting with other Baptist pastors and FC Dallas soccer team players fresh from the playoffs, Patterson was pleased to participate in the BGCT City Reach Lift Up America alliance to help others.

“We are excited to be a part of this City Reach opportunity,” he said. “This will enable us to help hundreds of hungry families in our community.”

The BGCT partnered with the FC Dallas team, Lift Up America and its corporate sponsors, including Tyson, Interstate Batteries and Ty Beanie Babies.

Gathering to reap the gifts, Baptist ministers and church members loaded up vans and trucks to provide for North Texas children and families who have no food.

“This gift—1,000 pounds of chicken—will help meet the needs of those less fortunate in our county, and more importantly help us share the gospel,” said Melinda Polk, director of Kaufman Christian Help Center. “This partnership is wonderful for our families and our children.”

Hefting boxes of food, batteries and dolls, FC Dallas soccer team players teamed up with Texas Baptists to help distribute donations from the Lift Up America Day of Sharing Nov. 6.

Founded in 2004 with a mission to serve communities across the country, Lift Up America provides necessities to families nationwide. It will provide more than 2,600 North Texas families meals for several weeks.

“Our partnership with Lift Up America gives us the opportunity to help provide resources that we often take for granted,” said Clark Hunt, investor/operator of FC Dallas. “Our team is proud to take time to give back to the community in this heartfelt mission.”

Coordinating 17 churches and ministries, the BGCT expedited distribution of corporate donations, 20,000 pounds of chicken, hundreds of batteries and dozens of dolls.

“We are blessed to be a part of this corporate humanitarian event to help reach hundreds of families in our communities,” said Gerald Davis, BGCT community development specialist.

“It is estimated that nearly one in three children will drop out of school; the likelihood increases when students are faced with extra challenges. Hopefully, the donations of these caring corporations will help end the cycle,” said Dave Hannah, CEO of Lift Up America.

The Lift Up America Day of Sharing was one of dozens of City Reach 2006 events happening prior to the BGCT annual meeting in Dallas. More than 400 people attended community block parties at Valley View Baptist Church in Farmer’s Branch and Keystone Baptist Church in Fort Worth.

“This is our first outreach to the community since I arrived as pastor three months ago,” said Damon Halliday, pastor of Keystone Baptist Church. “In that time, the church has grown from 15 members to 100.”

The City Reach event included a mime performance about Christ’s return, a Christian comedian, basketball tournaments for children, a live band and a message from Christian athlete and world champion power lifter Randall Harris.

“Shy away from the things that will destroy your dreams in life,” Harris said.

Texas Baptists also were slated to work with Habitat for Humanity to help build homes in south and west Dallas.

Posted: 11/10/06

Moms fed up with sexpot dolls

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

DALLAS (ABP)—American mothers are fed up with overly sexy dolls, according to a recent report from Synovate, a market-research firm.

The study, which surveyed 1,010 mothers with daughters 4 to 9 years old, found 85 percent of mothers are “tired of the sexpot dolls and characters” in stores. Nine out of 10 moms in the study said they wish young girls walking the toy-store aisles could find more positive role models on sale.

One Christian theologian welcomed the study and urged parents to push for dolls that embrace a “holistic” and less erotic view of the female body.

Meanwhile, Jim Forrest, vice president of consumer and business insights at Synovate, said the study served as proof that the pervasive feelings mothers have about sexualized dolls should be recognized, especially from a marketing point of view, by doll manufacturers.

“The overall feeling of the moms is that there are not enough dolls and role models that they consider are good for their daughters,” Forrest said. “They have a sense that most of what their daughters are getting in the toy store or in the media is not appropriate for them.”

Researchers used questions with no details relating to specific dolls or demographics, Forrest said. Instead, they asked questions regarding the selection of dolls available and whether, if the dolls were real girls, mothers would let their daughters spend time with them.

According to the report, 88 percent of moms polled wish for a wider selection of dolls available to represent girls they would like to befriend their daughters. And 93 percent of mothers said the most important attribute for a doll is that it serve as a positive role model.

The study was commissioned by a manufacturer of wholesome dolls—AG Properties, which owns the Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears and Holly Hobbie brands. Strawberry Shortcake, which emerged in the early ’80s, and Holly Hobbie, created in 1967, are traditionally “wholesome” characters, as are the Care Bears.

Other survey findings include:

• Ninety-six percent of moms think young girls are too concerned about physical appearance.

• Ninety-eight percent said they wished girls thought it’s OK not to look perfect.

• When buying a doll for their daughter, 75 percent of moms surveyed said the girl’s request for the doll was one of the most important factors in deciding what to buy.

• Eighty-eight percent of moms worry that young girls want to emulate the look and style of “inappropriate” types of dolls.

• Ninety percent say the most important factor is that the doll is wholesome.

Donna Mitroff, an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communications, is an expert in children and the media. In a statement about the Synovate survey, she expressed relief that parents have begun to react to the “prevalence of provocative, hyper-sexualized images” in dolls and media.

“Several important research studies have pointed out that there is a prevalence of hypersexualized images and role models in both the media and consumer products made available to young girls,” she said. “These images and role models have a direct impact on the sense of self that young girls are developing during their developmental years.”

But besides affecting body image, promiscuous-looking dolls promote an unbiblical depiction of gender roles and identity, some experts assert.

Mimi Haddad, president of the Center for Biblical Equality, said Christians should challenge the notions of beauty and gender objectification in society.

“The body is underrated by modern media,” Haddad said. Many dolls emphasize attributes like large breasts and small waists, she said. But God created the entire body—hands, feet, ears, arms—for his work and pleasure. “Can’t we look at parts of the body that aren’t erotic? Let’s get a more holistic view of the body. Our view of the body is far too narrow.”

Ideally, the toys parents give their children should reflect the identity and beauty that God gives women, said Haddad, a founding member of the evangelicals and gender study group of the Evangelical Theological Society.

Parents should guide children toward toys with traits that display the fruit of the Spirit or the use of God-given talents, Haddad said. For instance, a doll dressed as a doctor or scientist could contribute much more to a girl’s ambitions than one dressed in a swimsuit.

“It would be interesting to devise a line of children’s clothes and dolls that signified some of the redeeming work of God’s kingdom,” she said.

“What if we had dolls that gave the message that a young girl could be a world-famous peacemaker? Or that she could be an engineer that solves the problems of global warming? Or a Bible translator that brings the gospel to people who have never heard it in their own language?”