Posted: 9/01/06

Around the State

• Southwest Winds, from the U.S. Air Force Band of the West, will present a concert Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at Hughes Recital Hall on the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor campus.

• Baylor University awarded degrees to more than 500 summer graduates last month. During the ceremony, Charles Kemp, senior lecturer at Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing and clinical director of the Agape Clinic in Dallas, was presented the Abner V. McCall Humanitarian Award, and Charles Wade, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, was presented the George W. Truett Distinguished Church Service Award.

• East Texas Baptist University nursing student Julie Parker has been named the recipient of the “Promise of Nursing” scholarship for the Dallas/Fort Worth regional area. The $5,000 scholarship is to be used for tuition, books and academic fees.

• Cameron Mason, a student at Wake Forest University Divinity School, Katherine Gil-bert, a student at the Candler School of Theology of Emory University, and Kendal Smith, a student at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, have been named a Congrega-tional Fellows by the Fund for Theological Education. The $5,000 award each received will match support they will receive from Wilshire Church in Dallas.

• Michael Graham has been elected chairman of the board of trustees for Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. He is a member of Park Cities Church in Dallas.

Anniversaries

• South Park Church in Beaumont, 80th, Aug. 13. The church plans a celebration and rededication when repairs from Hurricane Rita are completed. James Blackwell is pastor.

• Travis Bryant, 10th, as minister of music and singles at First Church in New Boston, Aug. 13.

• First Church in Vega, 100th, Sept. 3. Geary Martin is pastor.

• Hamby Church in Abilene, 100th, Sept. 10. Festivities will begin when Glenn Lawrence arrives in horse and buggy to speak about the early life of the church and community. Several other former pastors also will share memories of their ministry at the church. The day will include singing, fellowship and a chuckwagon barbecue. For more information, call (325) 548-2772. Harold Barnes is pastor.

• Elm Grove Church in Belton, 95th, Sept. 10. The morning service will feature former pastors and music by several gospel singers. A lunch and afternoon program will follow. Dale Gore is pastor.

• Joe Rogers, 10th, as pastor of Morgan Mill Church in Morgan Mill, Sept. 17. Former Pastor Ronnie Fox will speak in the morning service. A lunch and concert by local musicians will follow.

• Fellowship Church in Longview, 30th, Sept. 17. Former pastors Kenneth Mills, Wayne Gooden, David Lawson and Ben Clayton will attend. A catered meal of catfish and chicken will follow. Call (903) 720-6219 for reservations. Ronnie Hood is pastor.

• David Valentine, fifth, as pastor of First Church in Huntsville, Sept. 26. A celebration lunch will be held Oct. 1.

• Jay Farrar, 50th, in the ministry. He is pastor of Christ’s Fellowship by the Bay in Corpus Christi. His previous service included almost 30 years as pastor of Lexington Church in Corpus Christi, and he was vice president of South Texas School of Christian Studies five years.

• First Church in Lampasas, 150th, Oct. 1. A catered lunch will follow the morning service. Photos of church functions are being sought. For more information or to make reservations for the lunch, call (512) 556-3673 before Sept. 20. Rick Willis is pastor.

• First Church in Seminole, 100th, Oct. 7-8. A banquet requiring reservations will be held Saturday. Singing, preaching and lunch will be held Sunday. Former pastors and staff will be featured in all services. For more information or to make reservations, call (432) 758-3291. Randy Gressett is pastor.

• Calvary Church in Hughes Springs, 40th, Oct. 8. The 11 a.m. service will begin with a roll call of charter members. A catered lunch will follow the morning service. For more information, call (903) 639-2936. Ron Dyess is pastor.

• Hickory Tree Church in Balch Springs, 65th, Oct. 14-15. A covered-dish luncheon will be held at noon Saturday and will include a time of fellowship. A catered meal will follow Sunday’s service. For more information, call (972) 286-3289. Jack Rodgers is pastor.

• San Gabriel Church in Thorndale, 150th, Oct. 15. Anyone with memorabilia from the church’s history is asked to call J.C. Payne at (512) 862-1403. The celebration will begin at 10 a.m. with former Pastor John Roark preaching. Former Pastor Randy Osborn will speak in the worship service, followed by a meal. John Stanislaw, former member and pastor of First Church in Coleman, will speak in an afternoon service.

• Grace Church in China Spring, 25th, Oct. 15. John Whitlatch, the first pastor of the church, and former Pastor Ross Davis will speak. A meal will follow the morning service. Erik Emblem is pastor.

Retiring

• Geary McManus, as pastor of Knobbs Springs Church in McDade, Sept. 10. He has been pastor of the church 33 years. He also was pastor of First Church in Lyons, Providence Church near Caldwell and First Church in Lott. A reception will be held in his honor from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

• Dewayne Beaty, as associate pastor and minister to senior adults at First Church in Longview, Sept. 17. He came to the church 33 years ago as youth and recreation minister. He has been in ministry 51 years. A reception will be held at 6 p.m.

Deaths

• Leonard Conner, 88, May 30 in Granbury. He was pastor of churches in New Mexico and Michigan. Until the time of his death, he was active member at Southside Church in Granbury. He was preceded in death by eight brothers and sisters, two grandchildren and a great-grandchild. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Mary; daughters, Frankie Crow, Lyndell Torode and Cynthia Baker; sisters, Helen Campbell and Johnnie Deavenport; 17 grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren.

• Marion Harris, 86, July 21 in Marshall. He was a pastor and preached revivals 56 years. He was pastor of Live Oak Church in Gatesville, First Church in Devers, First Church in Mineola, First Church in Marshall, First Church in Jefferson and New Colony Church in Linden. While a full-time evangelist, he also served several churches as interim pastor. He was a trustee of East Texas Baptist University and served on the Executive Board of the Baptist General Conven-tion of Texas. He was preceded in death by his brother, Wesley; and sister, Elizabeth Ayers. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Eleanor; sons, Tom and Tim; brother, Murray; sister, JoAnn Means; and four grandchildren.

• James Liebrum, 81, Aug. 15 in Dallas. Raised at Buckner Orphan’s Home, he became a deacon and Sunday school teacher at Casa View Church in Dallas. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Ella Mae; daughters, Rhonda Watson and Carla Ruff; sons, Chris and Cary; eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

• Jesse Lunsford, 96, Aug. 28 in Austin. He was pastor of churches in Rogers, Rochester, Taylor and Houston. His last pastorate was First Church in Beeville. In 1951, his life took a new path as Laura Booth, a widow in his church, asked him to take her 637 acres to establish a home to take care of the needs of children. In 1952, Lunsford helped found South Texas Children’s Home. Lunsford was the home’s administrator until his retirement in 1973. He was preceded in death by his wife of 37 years, Ethel; his second wife, Lois, who preceded him in death by only 11 days; brother, Leon; daughter, Jessica; and granddaughter, Ami. He is survived by his sons, Bob, Jim and Bill; daughter, Lil Abshier; five grandchildren; and two great-granddaughters.

Revivals

• Belvue Church, Kermit; Sept. 10-13; evangelist, Jerry Oliver; music, Calvary Singers; pastor, Danny Fitzpatrick.

• Preston Highlands Church, Dallas; Sept. 17-20; evangelist, Herman Cramer; music, Paul and Christy Newberry; pastor, Jeremy Johnston.

Posted: 9/01/06

Book Reviews

The Passion: The True Story of an Event That Changed Human History by Geza Vermes (Penguin Books)

Geza Vermes, professor emeritus of Jewish studies at Oxford University, was reared as a Roman Catholic who, as an adult, discovered and embraced his Jewish heritage and faith. He is a prolific researcher and writer about Jesus studies, and the publication of his monograph Jesus the Jew was a watershed event in the renewal of our understanding of the Jewishness of Jesus’ environment.

In The Passion, Vermes takes a more popular approach to analyzing the last days of Jesus’ life. Starting with his understanding of the legendary aspects of Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion, Vermes proposes to tell “the true story of an event that changed human history.”

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

To that end, Vermes compares and contrasts the gospel accounts with Jewish and secular documents that were written both at the same time and later than the gospels. Using study methods familiar to most seminary students, he concludes the gospels are not trustworthy historical documents because the gospel writers are primarily interested in telling the events from particular theological perspectives. These “biases” prevent us from getting at “the true story,” he argues. Rather, “the true story” can only be told by paying close attention to the scant information about those days that are recorded in the Jewish and secular documents of the time and recently thereafter.

It will not take the reader long to realize Vermes does not apply the same critical criteria to these documents as he does to the gospels. He is much more willing to take these documents at face value.

His conclusion regarding the true events of those last days will startle most (I would say all, but these days, who knows?) Christian readers. For Vermes, Jesus was a Galilean charismatic preacher/healer whose life ended in tragedy and death because he failed to realize God never intended to rescue him from the predicament of his trial and execution. Nevertheless, in Vermes’ thinking, Jesus has value even today because of his inspiring and persistent faith in the face of suffering.

This is, for Vermes, “the true story of an event that changed human history.”

These serious problems aside, the book does offer value for the Christian reader. First, Vermes represents a perspective on the life of Jesus that has wide currency in certain circles. It never hurts to know what others are thinking. Second, the book has a wealth of information about Jewish traditions that shed great light on the events surrounding Jesus’ death. His descriptions of the actions of Pilate, the Sanhedrin, Annas and Caiaphas are well worth reading.

In the end, though, the book falls under the weight of expectations. The events he describes are not events that would change human history. They wouldn’t even change one person’s life. In order for that to happen, it would take something like what the gospels describe—an event that changed human history.

Sam Underwood, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Farmers Branch

Paul Meets Muhammad: A Christian/ Muslim Debate on the Resurrection by Michael R. Licona (Baker Books)

What if, through the latest in artificial intelligence and hologram technology, the modern-day world could witness a debate between the Apostle Paul and the prophet of Islam, Muhammad? And what if the topic was the case for Jesus’ resurrection?

That’s the setup for an interesting and creative fictional debate written by Michael Licona, director of apologetics evangelism at the North American Mission Board and an experienced debater in his own right.

Using interactive dialogue throughout most of the volume, the book contrasts claims of the Qur’an with those of Paul’s epistles and adds some modern scholarship to develop an easy-to-read apologetic for the resurrection.

Licona is careful to be faithful to actual Islamic arguments against the resurrection, while he uses his own extensive research on the historical and biblical evidence for the risen Christ.

The setting may be fictional, but the arguments are real and helpful for anyone—Christian, Muslim, apologist or interested truth-seeker—who seriously wants to study the claims for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some may even want to take Lee Strobel’s advice from the foreword of the book and give a copy to a Muslim friend to begin a healthy and respectful dialogue on this most central topic of Christianity.

Greg Bowman, minister to students

First Baptist Church

Duncanville

Posted: 9/01/06

Baptist Briefs

GuideStone offers help to plan staff compensation packages. GuideStone Financial Resources has launched an online presentation—along with a free workbook—to help church personnel and finance committees plan staff compensation packages. The presentation comes on the heels of the release of the 2006 SBC Compensation Study, which showed the average salary and housing allowance for full-time Southern Baptist pastors was $49,952, an increase of 7.4 percent since 2004. Income statistics for other positions, including bivocational pastors, support staff members and other positions also are reported in the bi-annual compensation study. The study and the planning financial support presentation and workbook can be accessed at the GuideStone website, www.GuideStone.org, or by calling GuideStone at (888) 984-8433.

NAMB honors BGCT for church planting. The Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board recognized the Baptist General Convention of Texas for posting 1,924 church starts from 1999 through 2005—the highest number of any Baptist state convention. NAMB’s church planting and evangelism personnel recognized 18 state conventions during a mission celebration at Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina.

Virginia seminary offers online courses. The School of Christian Ministry at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, Va., will offer two four-week online courses, Sept. 11 to Oct. 8. “Baptist Identity” provides an overview of Baptist heritage and how it influences current church ministry. Participants study Baptist origins, developments and theological emphases, and reflect on the Baptist identity in relation to church theology. “The Church: A System of Relationships” examines congregational life from the perspective of family systems theory. Registration cost for each course is $150, and partial scholarships are available. For more information, call (888) 339-2877 or e-mail lmcgehee@btsr.edu.

Posted: 9/01/06

Posted: 9/01/06

2nd Opinion:
Letters impact immigration reform

By Baldemar Borrego

Because the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas has called for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform, I appeal for your support.

This month, Congress returns to work following August recess. A major item of business is the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill. Write to your senators and representative to let them know you support a fair and due process to allow millions of people to come out of the shadows. This is a historic opportunity, and the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas fully supports this bill.

The resolution adopted by the Hispanic Baptist Convention this summer during our annual meeting celebrated in Arlington called for:

• Providing the people of the United States protection from terrorist threats and illegal immigration.

• Supporting comprehensive immigration reform that provides work authorization, guest-worker programs, and lawful residence to responsible immigrants who do not have criminal records.

• Providing a way to adjust U.S. status without requiring immigrants to leave the country as stated by Section 245 (I) of the U.S. Immigration Code.

• Promoting family reunification for those who live in the United States for a year or more and keeping them from punishment by closing sections 212 (a)(9)(C) and 212 (a)(9)(b) of the Immigration Code.

A resolution adopted by the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas in 2003 states:

“Whereas, the allure of freedom and the possibility of prosperity are in the hearts of all people, and

“Whereas, people are constantly leaving their homelands at great personal cost to seek freedom and prosperity, and

“Whereas, Texas has become a leading receptor of undocumented immigrants with more than 1 million in the state, and

“Whereas, the Bible teaches and the ministry of Jesus instructs believers are to minister to the ‘alien’ and the ‘stranger’ in the land, and

“Whereas, it is not a violation of federal or state law to provide ministry to undocumented immigrants,

“Be it resolved that this Hispanic Baptist Convention speaks forcefully and clearly in opposition to the current system that hinders the search for freedom and prosperity and that the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas encourages the adoption of new legislation that would unshackle the immigrants,

“Be it further resolved that the convention encourages a proactive involvement of ministry activity among undocumented immigrants through prayer and action, and

“Be it further resolved that we call on our brothers and sisters in the Baptist General Convention of Texas to adopt a similar resolution at their convention meeting in Lubbock later this year (2003).”

Recently, ministers participated in a conference call with White House aide Carolyn Hunter to bring us up to date on immigration reform. Maite Arce, executive vice president of National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders in Washington and David Guel of the Baptist General Convention of Texas staff were the key instruments God used to conduct that conference call.

As Congress returns from its recess, we must send our letters to our congressmen in their district offices immediately. Thanks for your support in this matter.

Baldemar Borrego is president of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas and pastor of Nueva Esperanza Baptist Church in Wichita Falls.

Posted: 9/01/06

DOWN HOME:
Just take a picture of living-room stuff

You probably realize husbands and wives speak a different language. Even when a couple’s words are all English or all Spanish or all Mandarin, they speak a different language.

I’ve known this for decades. But a recent development reminded me it’s a distinction that impacts a marriage significantly.

When Joanna said, “Let’s sell our house and buy a new one closer to where you work,” I thought my wife actually meant, “Let’s sell our house and buy a new one closer to where you work.”

What she really meant was, “Let’s sell our house and replace a bunch of the old furniture I don’t want and then buy a new one closer to where you work.”

In case you skipped the lesson where your teacher explained how words work, those two sentences are entirely different.

Jo clarified their meaning one night as I reflected on the physical challenges of moving a house full of furniture into another house. Along the way, I said something about moving the living-room couch, chairs and coffee table.

“Oh, those aren’t going to the new house,” she announced.

“Ah, I see,” I said. I didn’t. Dense husband that I am, I never contemplated that we might not move the couch and chairs from our living room to another living room.

It’s not like they’re worn out. They’re living room furniture, for goodness’ sakes. People don’t sit on living room furniture. They look at it as they walk through the living room to the den, where people sit in chairs and on couches that actually happen to be comfortable.

Unbeknownst to me, we bought the old living-room couch and chairs several fashion eons ago. This was back when peach and teal were the “in” furniture colors. Now, peach and teal are “out.” And so are the couch and chairs from our soon-to-be-departed living room.

When we move into the next house, I’m going to suggest we go down to the furniture store and take photos of the prettiest couch and chairs we can find. Then, we can blow up the pictures and hang them in the living room, where we can look at them any time we want—just like real living-room furniture.

But Jo says we’ll use the living room in our next house more. She’s usually right, so I’ll take her word for it.

Actually, getting rid of old stuff has been kind of fun. Everybody should “pretend” to move every five years or so, just so you don’t accumulate too much junk. We’ve been in our house almost 11 years, and I was amazed when we dug into the closets and garage, not to mention the attic, which I mentioned awhile back.

As I’ve loaded up furniture to give to family, hauled other things to the local charity and carried the unsalvageable stuff to the alley, I’ve had time to think about blessings. All this once was a treasure—and some of it still is to others. If I ever feel envious of someone else’s larger house or cooler car, I hope God reminds me I once gave away a couch because it was teal.

–Marv Knox

Posted: 9/01/06

EDITORIAL:
Offering touches lives across Texas

The next time you pass an offering plate or pick up your checkbook, remember your fellow Texans. Think about your brothers and sisters in Christ who are being released from state penitentiaries, struggling to remain faithful as they step back onto the mean streets of their past. Focus on the seemingly endless stream of undocumented workers in Texas who desperately need a Savior. Try to imagine African-American cowboys, living a generations-old heritage but also finding new life in Jesus. And don’t forget young mothers seeking to break the bonds of abuse while pointing their children to a better, safer future.

These are but a few beneficiaries of the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions, which churches affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas gather in the fall. The goal this year is $5.1 million, and every dollar represents a story, a very real need:

• Sie Davis took his first breath in prison, because his mother gave birth to him while she was locked up. Years later, a bruising battle with drugs put him back in the same prison where he was born.

Eventually, the power of Christ helped Davis, a four-time convict, overcome the addictions that kept landing him in prison. Then he launched Church of the Called-Out Ones for ex-offenders, and he began teaching other people to start ex-offender churches. He also partnered with the BGCT to write a manual for operating ex-offender ministries.

The Mary Hill Davis Offering helps make his ministry possible. “A lot of people in prison, they reach for the Lord because they’re serious,” Davis explains. “We need to be there as a church to help them.”

• Undocumented workers’ physical, spiritual, educational and emotional needs are enormous. The solutions—like so many social and political challenges these days—are extremely complicated. And they’re often controversial.

But through the BGCT Immigration Taskforce, Texas Baptists are reaching out to them in Jesus’ name. In one initiative, the Mary Hill Davis Offering is underwriting an effort to train Texas Baptist church members to help undocumented workers change their citizenship status.

Backed by that same spirit of care, Texas Baptists allocate Mary Hill Davis Offering and Texas Baptist World Hunger Offering funds to provide a meal for about 150 people each month at the Oasis in Ojinaga, Chihuahua, in the Mexican desert. In addition to food, volunteers distribute tracts and Bibles, share their faith and pray with Mexican travelers. “It’s one facet of fulfilling the biblical mandate to share the gospel in all the world,” explained Ed Jennings, director of missions for Big Bend Baptist Association.

• Minnehulla Cowboy Fellowship in Goliad, believed to be the first church for African-American cowboys, busted out of the chute this summer—offering a rodeo followed by worship. It’s sponsored by Minnehulla Baptist Church, assisted by BGCT affinity-group leaders and supported in part by the Mary Hill Davis Offering.

The idea for the western heritage church sparked in the mind of Minnehulla Baptist’s pastor, Ronald Edwards. He hated watching church members and prospects feel torn between worshipping in church and participating in rodeos. So, the congregation tapped into the cowboy church movement, allowing locals to cowboy up and also worship God. “We thought if we could identify with our roots and teach their children where their ancestors came from and to tap into their culture and their taste, maybe we could reach them more effectively,” Edwards reasons.

• Tanji Lamar didn’t want to move into My Father’s House, Lubbock. “But it was the only door I could go through,” she recalls. “My husband had just left. I had no way to pay my bills.” Like hundreds of other young mothers who were abandoned and abused, she participated in Christian Women’s Job Corps, a ministry sponsored by Woman’s Missionary Union and supported by the Mary Hill Davis Offering that teaches job skills and life skills in a Christian context. And it changed Lamar forever. “This place has radically changed my life,” she says.

Woman’s Missionary Union calls the Mary Hill Davis Offering “the cutting edge of Texas Baptist missionary thrust.” This year, the offering is allocated to 86 ministry causes. If funded, every one of them will bear eternal benefits. And every one left unfunded will mean lives not touched by the gospel. The Mary Hill Davis Offering deserves our sacrificial support.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard. John Hall of the BGCT Communications Team and Managing Editor Ken Camp contributed to this editorial.

Posted: 9/01/06

Environment reveals evangelical rift

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

DALLAS (ABP)—Al Gore’s controversial documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, has revealed a diversity of opinion among Christians when it comes to the environment.

On one end of the spectrum are evangelicals who accept the scientific evidence for global warming and hold a thoroughgoing com-mitment to more regulation and “green living.” At the other end are conservative Christians skeptical of the science and willing to trust free-market solutions and incremental change to protect the environment.

In a recent Entertainment Weekly article, Gore said climate change isn’t a political issue but a moral issue. Gore, who attends New Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Carthage, Tenn., has said he will donate the profits from the film—now the fourth-highest grossing documentary—to the Alliance for Climate Protection.

“This isn’t a political film,” Gore said in the article. “It’s about the survival of the planet. Nobody is going to care who won or lost any election when the earth is uninhabitable.”

John Houghton was one of the first evangelicals to take those threats seriously. A former professor of atmospheric physics at Oxford University, he was knighted in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II.

Houghton, whose work helped shape the Christian environmental movement, provided a framework for many evangelicals who came after him. He focused mostly on awareness and credible science in verifying the effects of global warming. That approach paved the way for a progressive, long-term view of environmental consciousness.

Many of Houghton’s concerns are reflected in Gore’s film. In a 2005 presentation to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Houghton said a rise in sea level would cause disastrous problems for people living in low-lying areas like Bangladesh and southern China.

Furthermore, extremely high temperatures in central Europe during the summer of 2003 led to the deaths of more than 20,000 people—an event that could indicate the ramifications of future increasing temperatures.

And a warmer world would lead to increased evaporation of surface water and more precipitation in general, Houghton continued. A greater frequency and intensity of floods and droughts would prove especially traumatic for developing countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where events like these already occur. Gore’s documentary mirrors these concerns.

Many Christians have embraced the film as a welcome, if sobering, call to environmental action. But the response has not been uniform. Although many evangelicals now take environmental threats seriously, their approaches differ widely.

Some accept the scientific evidence for global warming and embrace a thoroughgoing commitment to environmentalism. Others are less convinced by the science and more pragmatic about solutions.

“The economist in me has to look at the issues, but my take is that I doubt I would be as alarmed as Al Gore is,” said P.J. Hill, a professor of economics at Wheaton College, an evangelical school in Wheaton, Ill.

Hill agrees global warming is real. But unlike Gore, Hill says he’s not ready to claim “scientific consensus” on the causes and consequences.

Hill is a fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center, a Montana-based think-tank that uses market principles to address environmental problems. While materialism and consumption most often are blamed for degradation of the environment, Hill says such market forces also can be used to solve the problem. He wants to show people that attention to the environment will in fact benefit them and the economy in the long run.

Environmental protection should be “about doing careful work with the environment, with respect to the poor, the marginalized, and the people without a political vote,” said Hill, who co-wrote Eco-Sanity: A Common Sense Guide to Environmentalism and Who Owns the Environment?

Glen Stassen, a Baptist who teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., falls on the progressive side of the spectrum. He believes government should create just policies that give incentives for “green” living. But he also contends inner change is the best remedy for consumerism and materialism.

Christians must, in their minds and hearts, follow the example of Jesus in order to produce change in the environment, said Stassen, noting that greed, consumerism and materialism lead to environmental destruction.

Stassen, co-author of Kingdom Ethics, says careful stewardship of God’s creation is not only a nice thing to do but is a biblical mandate. Once Christians realize they’re actually a part of creation themselves, they may decide to stop exhausting resources and start cultivating them, he said.

Hill, the economist, sees things quite differently. When it comes to economics and the environment, he said, stewardship means different things to different people. “It has trade-offs. One of the most important things people can do is encourage economic growth,” he said. Part of Hill’s work is done through the Interfaith Council for Environmental Stewardship, which emphasizes care for the poor through environmental conservation. Critics have said the group endorses “free-market environmentalism” and prioritizes the needs of humans over nature.

But Hill said the group started as a way for Christians to “seriously think about the environment and make sure the issues were well-grounded and that we were doing good work.” Christians have a responsibility to care for “God’s good creation” in a way that doesn’t penalize poverty-ridden countries, Hill said.

It’s presumptive for “rich Americans” to impose environmental standards on countries that can’t afford them, he insists. For instance, smoldering, abandoned coalmines in China cause massive air pollution. But local governments don’t have enough money to close the mines, Hill said. A solution, he added, could be that Americans help create economic systems that fund clean-up efforts.

Good work is the bottom line, Hill maintains, whether it means rejecting materialism, living in smaller homes, conserving water or simply driving fuel-efficient cars.

Other Christians aren’t so sure humans are culpable for global warming at all. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), a Presbyterian and chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, famously contended that global warming is the “greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.” Environmental “extremists” go too far and current environmental regulations “are not based on science,” he has said.

“As a result, they usually do harm and put undue restrictions upon the freedoms of many Americans,” Inhofe wrote on his website. “The political agenda of extremists must not dictate our efforts to provide common-sense protections that are based on science.”

As part of his work against “extreme” environmental action, Inhofe uses the Oregon Petition—an assertion that scientific consensus about global warming does not exist—as proof that “natural variability, not fossil-fuel emissions, is the overwhelming factor influencing climate change.”

The petition, issued by the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, was signed by more than 17,000 scientists and was used to oppose the Kyoto Protocol, an international environmental agreement.

Despite the lack of total consensus on climate change—and on Gore’s film—evangelicals inspired by John Houghton continue to build what Houghton called “a sufficient sense of urgency and resolve” to produce solutions.

“People often say to me that I am wasting my time talking about global warming,” Houghton said in his report to the Senate. “I reply that I am optimistic. … I believe God is committed to his creation and that we have a God-given task of being good stewards of creation—a task that we do not have to accomplish on our own because God is there to help us with it.”

Posted: 9/01/06

Florida interview stirs controversy

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) —Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) has caused a major stir with comments, published in the Florida Baptist Convention’s newspaper and picked up by national media, suggesting the separation of church and state is a lie and failure to elect Christians to public office will cause governments to “legislate sin.”

The Florida Baptist Witness recently published a package of articles and interviews with candidates in the state’s primary elections for governor and United States Senate.

In response to a question about why Florida Baptists should care about the primary election, Harris said, “If you are not electing Christians, tried and true, under public scrutiny and pressure, if you’re not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin.” When asked about the role people of faith should play in politics, Harris seemed to disparage church-state separation, referring to it as “that lie we have been told.”

“And if we are the ones not actively involved in electing those godly men and women and if people aren’t involved in helping godly men in getting elected, then we’re going to have a nation of secular laws. That’s not what our founding fathers intended and that’s (sic) certainly isn’t what God intended,” she said.

Several Florida politicians—Republican and Democrat alike —lambasted Harris’ remarks. Harris’ campaign released a “statement of clarification” Aug. 26 attempting to douse the firestorm.

“In the interview, Harris was speaking to a Christian audience, addressing a common misperception that people of faith should not be actively involved in government,” the statement said. “Addressing this Christian publication, Harris provided a statement that explains her deep grounding in Judeo-Christian values.”

Posted: 9/01/06

Texas Baptist Forum

Special in God’s sight

Thank you for your 2nd Opinion column on stem-cell research (Aug. 21). Please allow me to put a personal face on an aspect of that discussion. 

Letters are welcomed. Send them to marvknox@baptiststandard.com; 250 words maximum.

“While the Lord loves the Jewish people as he loves all people, the church is now the people of God. Events related to the modern state of Israel are not to be connected specifically with Revelation or other books of biblical prophecy.” Jim Denison Pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas and daily blogger (GodIssues.org) “The United States, a so-called Christian country, has a double standard. With one hand, it gives bombs to Israel, and with the other, it gives milk and flour to those affected by the bombs. Is this Christian? Forget Christian, is this human?” Albert Isteero Editor of the Arabic-language edition of The Upper Room daily devotional guide (United Methodist News Service/RNS) “The terrorists sent bombs and bullets. … Let’s respond with Bibles.” Johnny Hunt National spokesman for Muslim Bible Day, a project that distributes Bibles in Muslim countries. (www.muslimbibleday.org /RNS) “In terms of a religion, it’s not the religion that is the terrorist.” Robert Mueller FBI director, speaking about the arrest of an alleged Islamic terrorist cell in Miami. (Congressional Quarterly/RNS)

My grandson was adopted as a frozen embryo by my son and daughter-in-law. Because another couple with leftover embryos viewed these “preborn babies” as special in God’s sight, they allowed them to be adopted. As a result, our grandson was born. He has made two trips to the White House in his short life, and hopefully he will be used of God powerfully in whatever he chooses to do.

Again, thank you for the article. May we always be challenged to take the moral high road, for in so doing, we will always be right.  Misunderstood, probably; considered taking our standards from another world, hopefully; achieving the only recognition that will ultimately matter, assured.

Jack L. Jones

Tyler

God, Israel & ‘End Times’

Wayne Allen couldn’t be more wrong (Aug. 21).

Israel is a vastly secular state. Even if it were an orthodox religious-Jewish state, the promises their ancestors looked forward to were fulfilled in Christ. Christ came to establish a kingdom not confined to Palestine, but one that would cover the whole world. Abraham had prototypical faith 430 years before any law established national identity. “The Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe” (see Galatians 3:15-22).

To deny that Christians are the true, spiritual, Israel of God is to deny our relationship with Abraham and his seed—Christ (Galatians 3:16, 29).

Allen goes against such Baptists as Gill, Fuller, Dagg, Boyce, Hovey, Broadus and Carroll, just to name a few.

I’m all for evangelizing Israel, but don’t think for a minute that they are still related to God’s promises by faith.

Ben Macklin

Fort Worth

Get rid of Marv Knox as Joyce Slaydon suggests? (Aug. 21)  God forbid. Who would we have to create all this controversy? 

If every subscriber will be honest, the first thing they turn to when they receive the Standard is the letters, then the editorial. Then they write a letter or want to. 

You keep the hair raised on the back of our necks. Although I don’t always agree, I love your “mischievous streak.” 

One other thing though: If Wayne Allen said it (Aug. 21), I believe it.

F.A. Taylor

Kempner

I am still shaking my head and wondering how someone with such complete ignorance of Scripture has gone unchecked in what should be an authoritive position as editor of the Baptist Standard. I have noticed your carnal statements in years past, but none has disturbed me as I am now.

Your statement about “End Times” (Aug. 7) is so unscriptual and dangerous to the church. I consider your words a warning to those of us who hold to the teachings of Christ: Beware of the tares among us who come in sheeps’ clothing to mislead and fill the mind with lies.

He who touches Israel touches the apple of God’s eye.

Judy Brown

Sulphur Springs

I heartily endorse the “End Times” editorial. It eloquently reflects the teachings of Jesus.

Tim LaHaye and John Hagee are disciples of John Nelson Darby, a defrocked 19th century Church of England priest, who is responsible for the “rapture” theology. Theologians and biblical scholars generally do not recognize the “rapture” theology.

Darby’s strange biblical interpretation has become the 21st century basis for America to start World War III and the Battle of Armageddon. In many respects, it’s like David Koresh on a much larger scale.

Hagee, probably the most radical of the Darbyists, recently formed a new Christian Zionist organization called Christians United for Israel. According to The Nation, CUFI says supporting the aggressive policies of Israel is a “biblical imperative.”

Condoleeza Rice quoted Hagee’s words about “birth pangs” to justify hers and the president’s opposition to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Israel’s war against Lebanon. While opposing a cease-fire, they rushed rockets to Israel and sent humanitarian aid to Lebanon.

It appears that Hagee and other Darbyists openly oppose the separation of church and state, but they have no problem with the separation of church and ethics.

Charles Reed

Waco

I re-read Romans 10 and 11 right after reading Wayne Allen’s letter (Aug. 7) and still have no problem at all believing that the Apostle Paul “writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, believed the church was the New Israel.” 

I would encourage Allen to re-read Ephesians 2 and 3, particularly 2:11-3:6.  Saying the church is the New Israel doesn’t exclude Jews, but rather includes all believers in Christ Jesus—Jew and Gentile, alike.  After all, Paul writes that God’s ultimate purpose was not to graft believing Gentiles into the Jewish nation, but to take both believing Jews and Gentiles and make “one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility” (Ephesians 2:15b-16). 

And Allen needn’t worry about “our laymen” being led astray by the Standard.  Many so-called laymen and women are incredible students of God’s word, as much or more so than some so-called clergy.

Pamm Muzslay

El Lago

Complements and compliments

In his response to Bubba Stahl’s June 26 letter, Davy Hobson (July 24) seems to not take note that “compliment” and “complement” are not synonyms. 

Doubtless Stahl’s intent was to call attention to the fact no one denomination of Christians stands totally alone in having a sincere desire to spread the gospel of Christ around the world. Therefore, we seek to work alongside those who hold to the central truths of the word of God, rather than loudly and publicly competing with them for the attention of the unevangelized.

Having been many years on the mission field, and having observed the effective work done by other denominational groups in bringing people into a personal saving relationship with Christ, I know full well that our efforts are “complementary” to those of other groups.

Like Hobson, I would find it difficult to pay “compliments” to doctrinal errors or distortions. But our emphasis should be more on proclaiming the straightforward gospel truth than on carrying on a public debate over minor doctrinal issues.

Incidentally, I would be interested in knowing about whatever denomination it is he has found where everyone can “completely agree” on all its precepts. Certainly it is not the Southern Baptist Convention I have known and loved for some 60 years.

Charles Alexander

Benbrook

Posted: 9/01/06

Evangelicals part company
with Bush on North Korea

By David Anderson

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—When evangelical pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren announced he would undertake a preaching mission to North Korea next year, it raised a number of eyebrows in the conservative religious community.

North Korea, after all, is a keystone in President Bush’s “axis of evil” and, according to the State Department and human rights organizations, a gross violator of human rights and religious freedom.

Heightened tensions between the reclusive regime and the West over North Korea’s test of seven missiles forced Warren, author of the hugely popular Purpose Driven Life books, to cancel a preliminary trip this summer to Pyongyang.

But Warren insisted his preaching visit would go on next year despite criticism from some evangelicals and the Bush administration’s efforts to totally isolate the country.

“Regardless of politics, I will go anywhere I am invited to preach the gospel,” Warren said.

Warren’s stance is just one of a number of indications that, at least on foreign policy issues, the president no longer can automatically count on the support—or at least quiet acquiescence—of conservative and moderate evangelicals as he did in the run-up to the war in Iraq.

Whether the differences on North Korea will translate into differences on other issues remains to be seen. Evangelicals have been mostly silent—neither critics nor cheerleaders—on the continuing crisis in the Middle East and the Bush administration’s unrelenting support of Israel’s offensive in Lebanon and Gaza.

Only one evangelical organization—the International Chris-tian Embassy in Jerusalem—has said it “will pray for Israel’s unqualified victory” over Hezbollah and Hamas, according to a summary of position statements compiled by two major Jewish groups.

Evangelist Franklin Graham, head of the relief agency Samaritan’s Purse, forcefully has laid out evangelical differences with the administration regarding North Korea.

Graham, who has visited North Korea, recently told the PBS program Religion & Ethics Newsweekly he wanted to encourage the administration and Congress to change the U.S. approach to the communist nation.

“We need to talk to the North Koreans face to face, period,” Graham said. “Eyeball to eyeball. And there is a lot that can be accomplished if we simply do that.

“I think probably North Korea is the most dangerous place on the face of the earth right now. You’ve got a country that I feel is kind of backed up against a wall.”

North Korea has indicated it will not engage in talks with the United States until Washington ends its financial sanctions against the country.

Graham took a dim view of the value of the sanctions.

“Whatever sanctions, what little we may be able to bring to bear on North Korea, it’s just going to end up hurting the people worse,” he said. “It’s not going to hurt the army, and I don’t think it’s going to hurt (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Il.”

Graham said he was “not breaking ranks with the president” but was “encouraging the president to change his strategy, just a little bit.”

Separately, two other high-profile conservative evangelicals—Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals—signed on to an effort pressing a joint humanitarian and human rights approach to North Korea rather than the administration’s single-minded focus on arms control.

The coalition includes such liberal groups as Americans for Democratic Action, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and the American Humanist Association.

“At the earliest practicable date, the United States should propose an unconditional humanitarian aid initiative to improve the health and lives of the people of North Korea, doing so in such form as will ensure that the benefits of the initiative will be provided on a needs basis,” according to the 18-point plan announced in recent weeks.

The coalition cannot be accused of taking a “soft” stand on the erratic North Korean regime, but it also represents a break from the administration’s approach.

Churches in South Korea—mostly associated with mainline Protestant denominations—also are pressing Bush to change U.S. policy toward North Korea. They, like Graham, want Washington to lift sanctions and move toward stabilizing diplomatic relations.

“It is generally understood (in South Korea) that the sanctions against North Korea since 1950 have been enforced by the U.S.A. in its own political interest,” the head of South Korea’s national Council of Churches told Bush in a July 7 letter.

“Experts indicate that the sanctions against North Korea have been one of the significant causes of the increasing suffering of the North Korean people,” Anglican Bishop Kyung Jo Park said in the letter.

Park urged the United States to look toward normalizing relations with North Korea.

“We believe that the (July 5) missile testing by North Korea contributes to the deterioration of relations between North Korea and the U.S., and between North Korea and Japan,” Park said.

“Therefore, we strongly assert that true peace in Northeast Asia cannot be established without normalizing diplomatic relations between North Korea and the United States, and between North Korea and Japan,” the letter said.

Posted: 9/01/06

On the Move

• Gerald Bastin has resigned as pastor of Tilden Church in Tilden.

• David Bush to Six Mile Church in Six Mile as founding pastor.

• Jeff Huckeby has resigned as pastor of First Church in Earth.

• David Keith has resigned as interim minister of music at Broadway Church in Fort Worth, where he served 12 years.

• Phil Moore to Northside Church in Corsicana as minister of music and media from First Church in Dumas.