Posted: 6/03/06

CYBER COLUMN:
'Jesus sells!'

By Jeanie Miley

The words coming from my television stopped me in my tracks.

“In the next segment, we will hear a report on how Jesus is big business,” the news reporter announced while enticing visuals played across the screen right before the commercial for the latest drug for pain relief.

Curiosity hooked me, and so I waited around for the segment on national television, but a kind of anguish has followed me around ever since. Every time I see a “religious” bumper sticker or T-shirt, I remember the holy reverence with which I was taught to speak the name of the Holy One. I remember grave cautions against taking God’s name in vain.

After watching the segment about how Jesus sells, I kept on turning the concept of “Jesus sells” over and over in my mind. Going about my day’s activities and taking care of my business in this consumer-oriented society, a song from my childhood that I haven’t heard in a long time popped up from the archives of my memory. It’s a long, long way from “Jesus saves” to “Jesus sells.”

I talk to myself about how I’ve become an old fogey. I keep trying to push myself to open my mind a bit, and I keep hearing people tell me that Jesus, himself, would adapt to the culture in order to get the word out about himself. “Isn’t what matters that people hear about Jesus?” people ask me. “Don’t we have to use methods to spread the gospel?”

Somehow, though, I just can’t make it sound right to sing, “We have heard the joyful sound. Jesus sells, Jesus sells,” and somehow, I just can’t make it right that Jesus is big business.

I keep wrestling with this whole idea of Jesus being a hot item. I wonder if Jesus can save if we are more concerned about selling him than knowing him. Is selling Jesus serving him—or serving another master? It’s hard to tell sometimes, isn’t it?

I keep on wondering if Jesus can save if we see him primarily as a product. Don’t people then become objects to us, potential buyers to us, and isn’t it awfully easy to become more concerned with counting up our profit when Jesus is a product? It’s hard not to get confused about what comes first, isn’t it?

Are we so shaped and formed by our consumer culture that we have lost the ability to discern the difference between what is hype and what is Real? Have we become so calloused by our consumerism that we have lost the ability to know what it means to enter into a relationship with Christ, thinking that selling Jesus is ministry?

I do know for sure, however, that Jesus saves. I know that it is possible to have a personal, dynamic, intimate love relationship with the living Christ, and I know that living Christ who dwells within my heart has the capacity to heal and transform, liberate and empower. I know that Jesus is about the business of making people whole and healthy and that salvation is the most important thing that can happen to a human being.

The truth is that Jesus can save, no matter what, but when our minds are focused on the bottom line, the next client or purchaser, the competition and the best way to close a deal, it has to be harder for him than it ought to be.

“Does it really matter,” someone asked me, “as long as people are hearing the gospel?”

That’s a point, I guess, but is it the real point?

Jeanie Miley is an author and columnist and a retreat and workshop leader. She is married to Martus Miley, pastor of River Oaks Baptist Church in Houston, and they have three adult daughters. Got feedback? Write her at Writer2530@aol.com.

Posted: 6/01/06

Burleson charges IMB trustee 'coercion'

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

ENID, Okla. (ABP)—Wade Burleson is calling for the Southern Baptist Convention to investigate “manipulation” and “coercion” by his fellow trustees of the International Mission Board.

But the Oklahoma pastor backed down from his threat to publish details of those alleged abuses on his blog, saying a formal SBC-level investigation is “a better road” that will allow “for all to defend their actions before things are made public.”

“I know that not everyone will be pleased with my decision not to go public with details that serve as the basis for this recommendation,” he wrote in his blog June 1, “but I have an absolutely clear conscience that I am doing exactly what the Lord would have me do.”

Burleson, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, is a first-year trustee of the International Mission Board, the SBC’s flagship agency, which selects and directs Southern Baptists’ 5,000 global missionaries—the largest missionary force of its kind in the world.

Earlier this year, IMB trustees accused Burleson of using his blog to violate trustee confidentiality, prompting them to try to have him removed from the board. He complained he never was given the chance to hear the specific allegations or respond to them. After an outcry from the SBC’s rank and file, the trustees let Burleson stay on the board, but they passed a policy forbidding dissent.

In a June 1 posting on his blog, Burleson said a motion will be introduced at the June 13-14 annual Southern Baptist Convention calling for appointment of a seven-member ad hoc committee to investigate “five concerns”:

“Manipulation of the nominating process” by which the Southern Baptist Convention elects IMB trustees.

Attempts “by one or more” chief executives of SBC agencies “to influence and/or coerce the IMB trustees, staff, and administration”—an apparent reference to Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The appropriateness of closed-door meetings—“forums and executive sessions”—by IMB trustees, “as compared to conducting business in full view of the Southern Baptist Convention,” and the exclusion of “any individual trustee” from meetings of the full board without SBC approval.

Imposing “new doctrinal requisites” on IMB employees and missionaries that go “beyond the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message,” the SBC’s conservative doctrinal statement required of all missionaries—a reference to the IMB’s much-criticized policies against private prayer languages and defining an appropriate baptism.

“Suppression of dissent” among trustees, such as the IMB’s new policy that prohibits any trustee or employee from publicly criticizing board decisions.

Dozens of motions are introduced each year at the SBC annual meeting. Most are rejected, ruled out of order or referred to the affected agency. Burleson’s motion, however, invokes SBC Bylaw 26B, which will require messengers to vote on the motion during their two-day meeting rather than refer it to another body. Invoking Bylaw 26B reportedly would require approval by two thirds of the messengers voting, however.

It is unclear who would appoint the investigation committee, but it could be the SBC’s newly elected president. The motion requires the committee to bring a progress report to the SBC Executive Committee and its final report to the next Southern Baptist Convention meeting in June 2007.

Burleson insisted an SBC investigation would be the fairest way to address his allegations against his colleagues. In the meantime, however, he said he will continue to serve on the board and to blog about his experiences.

“Blogging has been my attempt to energize and mobilize grassroots Southern Baptists in their understanding of, and participation with, the International Mission Board’s ministries through a greater comprehension and appreciation of the IMB’s work,” he wrote.

Burleson’s conflict with his fellow trustees started last December when he used his blog to criticize their adoption of two new regulations against missionary candidates’ use of private prayer languages—considered a form of tongues-speaking—and requiring prospective missionaries to be baptized by churches that affirm certain doctrinal beliefs. Burleson and others say those requirements are excessively narrow.

The majority of trustees—meeting in a closed-door session—voted in January to ask the SBC to take the unprecedented action of removing Burleson from the board. In March, they rescinded that request but barred Burleson from serving on any committees, which are the primary mechanism for trustee involvement. They also asked him to stop blogging and to apologize in front of the trustee board. He has done neither. But he says he will apologize for any demonstrated breaches of policy.

At the trustees’ most recent meeting in May, their executive committee accused him of a new, unspecified violation of trustee confidentiality, again related to a closed-door meeting. Chairman Tom Hatley of Arkansas barred Burleson from attending all future closed-door sessions.

Burleson, on his blog, initially said he would accept that punishment. But he changed his mind two days later, writing May 26 that he would defy Hatley’s ban by attending all sessions of the full board. He also said he was considering revealing details of his IMB experience, which he said proved some trustees violated the board’s rules against caucusing and demonstrated an organized effort to undermine IMB president Jerry Rankin.

It is unclear what allegations Burleson would make about behind-the-scenes interference by Paige Patterson and other SBC agency leaders. However, Patterson circulated a lengthy report by a seminary professor critical of the IMB’s direction under Rankin.

Posted: 6/01/06

SBC Executive Committee
drops '10 percent' recommendation

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP)—The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee has amended a recommendation that the convention encourage the election of SBC officers “whose churches give at least 10 percent of their undesignated receipts to the Cooperative Program.”

The move came amid scrutiny of the two announced SBC presidential candidates—Ronnie Floyd, pastor of First Baptist Church in Springfield, Ark., and Frank Page, pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C.

Critics said Floyd, former Executive Committee chairman, should not be considered for SBC president because his church gives less than one fourth of 1 percent of its undesignated receipts to the Cooperative Program, which funds state, national and international ministries.

The Springdale congregation gave $32,000 in 2005 through the state Cooperative Program—0.27 percent of undesignated receipts of $11,952,137. Another $189,000—1.8 percent—was sent to the national Cooperative Program but bypassed the state, while $489,862 was given to designated SBC causes, church staff members said.

For the same period, First Baptist Church in Taylors gave $535,000—12.1 percent—of its $4.4 million in undesignated receipts.

Now, SBC leaders have rescinded the 10 percent endorsement altogether. The Executive Committee officers released a statement saying they had changed their minds because the “recommendations never were intended to create controversy.”

“Messengers will have a number of decisions to make about a host of issues,” the statement continued. “We hope the revised recommendations will make it possible for messengers to wholeheartedly embrace our initiative to increase support for the Cooperative Program.”

Executive Committee President Morris Chapman said the officers changed their suggestion about giving because they didn’t want it to be viewed as a “litmus test” for candidates, according to a report in Baptist Press, communications arm of the Executive Committee.

“The members of both the executive committee and the (ad hoc Cooperative Program) committee strongly believe in the autonomy of the local church and fully understand that only a local church can decide what portion of their tithes and offerings will be given through the Cooperative Program,” Chapman said. “The language of the recommendations keyed on the word, ‘encourage.’ Nevertheless, if we can dispel misunderstandings about the report, we are obligated for the sake of God’s kingdom and the convention to do so.”

The initial special report came from an ad hoc Cooperative Program Committee, chaired by Anthony Jordan, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.

Jordan told Baptist Press said he was disappointed with the proposed revisions. The 10 percent goal was “never intended to be law” but to “challenge Southern Baptists,” he said.

“The revisions made by the Executive Committee do not change the reality that we can do more together than we can alone,” he continued. “The Cooperative Program is our chosen way of mission support. It deserves our best.”

Along with rescinding the suggestion of a specified amount for Cooperative Program giving, Executive Committee officers also encouraged churches to methodically increase their giving to the program, although they stopped short of mandating a growth rate. Neither did they mention a target percentage to which churches should aspire.

Posted: 6/01/06

BaptistWay Bible Series for June 11

Pray for the freedom to live faithfully

• 1 Timothy 2:1-7

By Joseph Matos

Dallas Baptist University, Dallas

The early church was a minority group with virtually no political impact. At times, it faced persecution. And as the first century progressed, persecution increased from localized outbreaks to an empire-wide venture.

So, isn’t it rather ironic that we find Paul instructing Timothy to see to it that when prayers are offered in worship, they be given even on behalf of those in government? Today, we continue the practice; but I wonder if the motives, content and desired outcomes of our prayers are the same as Paul had in mind.

Up to this point, Paul has dealt with the problem of false teachers and offered Timothy some general instructions for leading in the Ephesian church. From chapter 2 throughout the duration of the letter, those instructions become more specific.

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It appears the focus of Paul’s comments in chapter 2 is on the worship service. The first seven verses deal with the matter of prayer, the need for the activity, its types and the motives behind it. In the course of this instruction, as is Paul’s practice from time to time, he will digress slightly. But his digression is not likened to chasing a rabbit; he has significant theological and practical comments to make that will allude to the problem Paul is addressing.

Prayer: Its types and results (2:1-3)

It is important to note that Paul is not offering suggestions in these verses. His first words are, “I urge,” indicating the strong need for the following activity to be carried out (see Romans 12:1). Also, he has placed priority on these instructions to Timothy when he says “first of all.” At the outset of his instructions to Timothy, then, Paul exhorts him on the matter of prayer. In these verses, Paul describes the kinds of prayers to be offered, the persons for whom the prayers are to be offered and the desired results of the prayers.

Paul uses four words for prayer in verse 1, and the NIV provides good translations of these words: “requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving.” In other words, Paul calls for prayers in keeping with 1) making one’s needs known, 2) prayers in general, 3) praying on behalf of others and 4) praying words of gratitude. While there are distinctions between each of these, Paul may be speaking more collectively of the practice of prayer in general.

For whom are these prayers offered? He exhorts these prayers be made for “everyone.” But very quickly, he mentions “kings and all those in authority.” These would include the Roman Emperor (Nero at the time of this letter), provincial kings and other leaders at different levels of government.

With the many challenges facing believers at this time, this seems revolutionary. But this is consistent with teaching in other places in scripture as regards the believer’s attitude toward government (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17). Paul urged believers to live out Jesus’ description of his kingdom; it is not of this world (John 18:36). Consequently, they were not to take over government, but live their lives within its system.

This leads to the desired result of such prayers, which is “that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” Paul desires a situation where believers can live in freedom. Though God ultimately grants the authority of human government (Romans 13:1), believers live within the framework of those governing authorities.

Paul urged prayers be made on behalf of governing authorities so believers would be granted the freedom to live as God called them. Paul’s assessment of such a life lived is clear: “This is good and pleases God our Savior.” What honors the Lord is his people living the life they are called to live.

God and the gospel (2:4-6)

Paul’s reference to “God our Savior” leads to a “digression” in order to remind Timothy about God and his gospel. God, says Paul, “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (v. 4). Paul confesses there is just one God, affirms that there is only one way (“mediator”) to God, and ensures that the price for the salvation (“ransom”) for all has been paid. Yes, there is only one way of salvation, but clearly that offer is given to all. In saying this is “the testimony given in its proper time,” Paul is reminding Timothy this is the content of the gospel.

Paul’s role in the gospel (2:7)

Reminiscent of his comments in chapter 1 about God’s grace toward him in saving and calling him, Paul reflects on his role in this gospel. God appointed Paul as a herald, an apostle and a teacher to the Gentiles. Paul then affirms the truthfulness of his calling (“I am telling the truth, I am not lying”).

In the United States today, we benefit from earlier Baptists who worked diligently to ensure we (and people of all faiths or no faith) can live with religious freedom. However, do we pray as Paul instructed, that conditions remain stable for us to live our Christian lives freely? Or do we pray that our agendas succeed?

May we heed afresh Paul’s call to prayer “for everyone” and in the process inspect the content and motives of our prayers. Are they in line with Paul’s instructions?

Discussion questions

• Do you pray for all our country’s leaders or just for those with whom you agree religiously and politically?

• What is the essence of your prayers for our country’s leaders?

• Do you pray for the leaders of nations where there is no religious freedom? Why or why not?

• How might living out the Christian life in freedom lead to the salvation of others as God desires?

Posted: 6/01/06

Family Bible Series for June 11

Refuse to compromise faith regardless of costs

• Daniel 6:3-5, 10-13, 16, 19-23, 25-27

By Greg Ammons

First Baptist Church, Garland

Even the smallest compromise can be damaging. If 99 percent of all prescriptions were filled correctly in our nation, almost 200,000 Americans still would be given wrong prescriptions. If 99 percent of mail parcels were delivered properly, 1.7 million parcels still would not reach their intended destinations.

The same principle is at work in the spiritual realm. Our faith in Jesus Christ is to be uncompromising. We must not allow room for even the smallest compromise. In the Old Testament, Daniel is a wonderful example of refusal to compromise.

Demonstrate blameless character (6:3-5)

King Darius ruled the Persian empire. Although the Israelites were enslaved, the Persians gave some young Hebrew men responsibilities within the kingdom. Daniel was one of the young Hebrew men who served in the Persian government yet remained faithful to the God of Israel (v. 3).

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Jealous administrators within the Persian government tried to find fault with Daniel but could not do so. He was completely trustworthy (v. 4). The men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do wth the law of his God” (v. 5).

Christians today must demonstrate blameless character as well. Our lives are to be lived in such a manner that they do not bring disrepute to the name of Christ. Former basketball coach John Wooden would tell his players: “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Reputation is what others think you are, but who you really are is displayed in character.”

Exercise undaunted faith (6:10-13; 16)

A decree was issued that everyone in the Persian kingdom was to worship King Darius. Undaunted by the command, young Daniel prayed to God three times a day, as was his custom (v. 10).

A group of men noticed Daniel praying and approached the king about the young Hebrew’s disobedience (vv. 11-13). So, the king ordered Daniel be thrown in the lion’s den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you” (v. 16).

Daniel’s faith was undaunted by a pagan king’s decree. He was faithful to serve the God of Israel in spite of his circumstances. Yet, it took courage for him to do so.

As Christians, we often are in circumstances that require us to exercise undaunting faith. It takes courage to stand for Christ in the midst of our society. Whether it is a businessman who does not compromise a business deal, a single mother struggling financially or a widow who faces the loneliness of each day, it often takes strength to exercise our faith in Christ.

Trust God fully (6:19-23)

Daniel was thrown into a den of hungry lions. This was the customary punishment for all disobedience to the king. At dawn, King Darius rushed to the den to see Daniel’s fate. The king was fond of the young Hebrew and secretly hoped Daniel’s God would take care of him (v. 20).

The king called into the den to see if there was a reply. Daniel answered, “My God sent his angel and shut the mouth of the lions" (v. 22). King Darius was overjoyed and ordered Daniel lifted out of the lion’s den. When Daniel was examined, no wound was found on him because he had trusted in his God (v. 23).

The leaping ability of the African impala is impressive. The animal is able to jump to a height of 10 feet, while covering a distance of more than 30 feet. Yet the impala is easily contained in a zoo with a three-foot wall. Interestingly, the impala will not even attempt to jump if it cannot see where its feet will land.

There are times in following Christ in which the believer must trust God fully in the face of a frightening situation. Faith is trusting although we cannot see where our feet will land. Daniel fully trusted in the midst of the lion’s den, and God honored his faith.

Give a powerful testimony (6:25-27)

Daniel’s faith in the face of the lions was a powerful testimony to a pagan nation. King Darius issued a decree that in every part of the kingdom citizens were to fear and reverence the God of Daniel (v. 26). The king stated: “For he is the living God, and he endures forever. His kingdom will not be destroyed and his dominion will never end” (v. 26).

God may have placed you in a difficult situation in order for you to exercise your faith and give a strong testimony to the power of the Lord. His greatest work often is done in the midst of difficulty.

In the early days of the Salvation Army, William Booth and his associates faced intense criticism. Booth encouraged his colleagues: “Fifty years from now, it will matter very little how others treated us. However, it will matter a great deal how we treated God’s work.”

In the face of your situation, refuse to compromise your faith regardless of the cost. As a result, God’s work will be accomplished, and you will give a powerful testimony to his name.

Discussion questions

• Describe a person you know who has blameless character.

• In which areas are Christians tempted to compromise the most?

• Describe a situation in which you trusted God fully.

Posted: 6/01/06

Explore the Bible Series for June 11

Be careful how you diagnose sin in another

• Job 3:1-14:22

By James Adair

Baptist University of the Americas, San Antonio

When calamity strikes a person’s life, he often can count on friends and family to be there to comfort him. Unfortunately, he also often can count on adversaries, detractors and amateur theologians to be there to increase his misery.

Job has just suffered an unimaginable loss of family and property, and his “friends” have come to “comfort” him. As it turns out, they provide very little comfort. Perhaps it was Job’s friends who caused someone to concoct the saying, “With friends like these, who needs enemies?”

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It seems clear that Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar really do see themselves as Job’s friends, present to lend a helping hand. What Job needs, they all think, is a refresher course in proper theology, based on the simple idea that human beings live in a moral cause-and-effect universe, where God metes out rewards and retribution according to our deeds.

That Job might be an exception to the rules does not even enter their minds. Job has suffered a tragedy, so he must have deserved it. Job sees matters a little differently, and this difference of opinion sets the stage for the first round of debate, which appears in Job 3-14.

This cycle of debate, to be followed by two more, has Job make a speech about his condition, followed in order by each of his three friends. Job comments on his friends’ speeches immediately after they speak, and the cycle ends with a final speech of Job.

Job 3

In Job’s introductory speech, he speaks of death as the great equalizer. In death, all people receive equal treatment from God, which appears not to be the case in life on earth. Job doesn’t understand why, since he has had to suffer so much, God ever allowed him to be born.

The question of suffering is one Jews and Christians alike have dealt with in many different ways over the centuries. In fact, in some ways, Job’s story mirrors the experience of the Jewish people through the ages.

Buddhists, on the other hand, have a different way of looking at life. Buddhists accept suffering as a natural part of life, and though there are ways of living to minimize suffering, it cannot be avoided altogether.

Job’s view of the question of suffering is actually closer to the Buddhist view than to that of his friends, who see all but the most trivial of suffering as a punishment for sin. The viewpoint of Job’s friends might seem like a caricature, and perhaps the author intended it to be one, but some people still hold to a similar view of the world—a view discredited by both the book of Job and a dispassionate evaluation of the world.

Job 4-5, 8, 11 (Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar)

Older scholars sometimes tried to draw a distinction between the viewpoints or personalities revealed in the speeches of Job’s three friends, but their responses to Job all seem to reflect the same general perspective, so it is convenient to deal with their speeches as a group.

One characteristic of the speeches of Job’s friends is they frequently quote proverbial material that presents a traditional, cause-effect view of the universe. “Who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?” asks Eliphaz (Job 4:7; see Psalm 37:25: “I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken”). “Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty,” he advises (Job 5:17; Proverbs 3:11). “Those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same,” he comments (Job 4:8; see Hosea 8:7; 10:13).

Bildad and Zophar likewise offer advice that reflects traditional wisdom. “God will not reject an innocent person” (Bildad, Job 8:20). “(If you repent,) your life will be brighter than the noonday; its darkness will be like the morning” (Zophar, Job 11:17; see Job 10:22; Psalm 88:18).

The real problem with the proverbs Job’s friends quote is not that they are incorrect; it is that they were never meant to be applied universally, in every situation.

Part of wisdom is knowing when a particular proverb applies in a given situation and knowing when it doesn’t. Job’s friends lack such wisdom. For them, Job’s guilt before God is apparent. “Does God pervert justice?” asks Bildad (Job 8:3), but his question is misplaced. Job suffers not because God perverts justice but because all suffering is not a punishment for sin.

Zophar chimes in, “Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves” (Job 11:6). But Zophar makes this statement from the perspective of a faulty theology, for Job already has been described in the book as blameless (Job 1:1).

Some Christians today continue to make the mistake of Job’s friends, blaming the victims of calamity for their own suffering. People sometimes suffer because of mistakes they have made, but innocent suffering hardly is a stranger in this world, as those who lost loved ones in the recent Indonesian earthquake have learned.

Job 6-7, 9-10, 12-14 (Job)

When reading the words of Job, it is important to remember that Job has no idea about the wager between God and Satan described in the first two chapters of the book. Many scholars suggest, in fact, the prose introduction and conclusion were later additions to the book, added to give a new theological perspective (not necessarily the same as the poetic, main section of the book). Regardless of one’s view, however, the speeches of Job should be read with the understanding that Job does not know why he is suffering, and he wants to find out.

Job alternates between defending himself from his friends’ attacks and addressing God. Like his friends, Job believes his suffering can be tied directly to God’s actions. Where he differs from his friends is over the question of whether his suffering is deserved. He addresses this issue directly in Job 6:24: “Make me understand how I have gone wrong,” he asks his friends.

Perhaps Job formerly held a theology similar to theirs, but he now recognizes its inadequacy to deal with real-life situations such as his. “Give me specific misdeeds, don’t just quote theology to me,” Job tells his friends. “Your proverbs are maxims of ashes” (Job 13:12).

He maintains his innocence when speaking to God as well, but he is not hopeful he will get a fair hearing, for God has all the power and wisdom, while Job has none. There is no impartial arbiter (or umpire) to judge between Job and God (Job 9:33), though Job wishes there were one. Because of the inherent improbability of winning a legal battle with God, Job frequently despairs of life, yet he persists in seeking God. Like the psalmist in Psalm 89, even though God does not answer, Job will continue seeking.

Discussion questions

• Have you ever experienced a situation in which a friend’s attempt to comfort someone who was suffering actually made the situation more difficult?

• If we believe a person is suffering at least in part as a result of his or her sins, is it our responsibility to confront them with their misdeeds?

• What are some examples of proverbs that cannot be applied in every situation? (Proverbs 22:6; Proverbs 26:4-5).

Posted: 6/01/06

UMHB offers military
counseling degree program

By Laura Frase

Communications Intern

BELTON—A new, Pentagon-approved program implemented by a Texas Baptist university will have lasting effects on the military—nationally and internationally.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, near Fort Hood, created a master’s degree program in marriage and family Christian counseling, which has caught the military’s eye for their chaplains.

With 7,075 divorces reported among enlisted personnel in 2005, military marriages need as much help as they can get, family life experts in the armed forces insist.

“With the stresses put on military families during war, having well-trained chaplains who will provide effective and ethical counseling is crucial,” said David Scheider, director of the Family Life Training Center at Fort Hood.

The family life counseling training program is offered at only two locations in the United States—Fort Hood and Fort Benning, Ga. Two schools offer this program near Fort Hood—UMHB and Tarleton State University.

Chaplains can choose between the two, but “the major aspect UMHB offers is the opportunity to ask faith questions in the classroom. This will facilitate better theological integration for the chaplains,” Scheider said.

Raylene Statz, psychology department chair at UMHB, is pleased with this new “blending of spiritual, religious and moral concepts with human development.”

Because “many students wanting to become counselors have recognized a spiritual emptiness in the public with whom they hope to work,” the new program was formed where “a synergy has been created that benefits students and the public they will serve after becoming licensed practitioners,” she said.

Scheider believes the program is perfect for the chaplain’s mission because it “encourages theological integration for chaplains who specialize in counseling … and is designed with 100 percent of the courses applying directly to working with couples and families,” Scheider said.

Currently, seven military chaplains are enrolled in the intensive 16-month program at UMHB, and about 70 chaplains are waiting to enter the program. Each group begins and completes the program together.

“Students are excited about the chaplains coming into the program and look forward to a mutual sharing of knowledge, ideas and experiences,” Statz said.

While all chaplains already hold a master’s degree in religious studies, emphasis on counseling is needed as soldiers continue to be deployed, placing stress on families and military personnel alike.

“Chaplains have no choice whether or not to counsel soldiers and families. The only choice is whether or not they will do it well,” Scheider said.

Based on reporting by Carol Woodward of UMHB Communications

Posted: 6/01/06

CERI ministry in Africa pairing
with groups to help orphans

By Craig Bird

Baptist Child & Family Services

Dearing Garner found Blessings in Africa—and he expects to find ongoing blessings from assisting orphans in several African nations.

Garner, who retired recently after 27 years as pastor of First Baptist Church in Kingwood, leads Children’s Emergency Relief International’s expanding ministry to Africa. CERI, the international arm of Baptist Child & Family Services, already has ongoing work in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

On a recent survey trip, Garner said, “I met a charming baby girl in Johannesburg who was named Blessing—and was HIV-positive. Then in Otutulu, Nigeria, there was another beautiful orphan with the same name—and a large cyst on her head. When we arrived in Uganda, I would not have been surprised to find yet another girl with that name in the refugee camps along the Nile River.”

These Nigerian children are among 237 cared for by Daniel Edeh at the Ministry of Mercy. The orphanage is one of three new partnership being launched by Children’s Emergency Relief International, the global arm of Baptist Child & Family Services. (Photo by Dearing Garner)

What he found—by any name—were African-led ministries that matched the Texas Baptist agency’s mission.

“First and foremost, we wanted to provide viable ministry to orphans—or as they are now called ‘OVCs’ (orphaned and vulnerable children)—who need someone to believe in them through longterm relationships. Second, we wanted to partner with national leaders who have God’s heart for children. And third, we looked for ministries not already at the end of a Western mission agency’s or non-government agency’s pipeline. We are not looking for places we can go one time, take photos and leave. We want to repeat CERI’s pattern in other countries of establishing and maintaining long-lasting, on-going relationships.”

Though he found a match in all three countries, it was unexpected in South Africa.

“I went to Johannesburg to meet with (Texas missionaries) Scott and Ana Houser, but I really thought there would be nothing there that we were looking for,” he acknowledged. “But the needs are just more hidden. You can find horrific slums six blocks from $2 million homes.”

When the Housers introduced him to Hannah Kitele, “I knew when I looked at her that she had the mind of God for the HIV-positive babies she has taken into her own home.”

Kitele, a former Muslim who trained with Mother Teresa, had some minimal support that allowed her to hire two part-time helpers. but that funded ended in April. By the time Dearing and his traveling companion, Houston businessman Trey Stiles, headed for Nigeria, they had promised to secure the $200 to $300 a month the St. James de Chantal Home needed temporarily until permanent financing could be arranged.

In rural southeastern Nigeria, Dearing connected emotionally and spiritually when he met Daniel Edeh, head of Ministry of Mercy since 1992.

Children at Ministry of Mercy orphanage in Nigeria sleep on the floor, huddled together.  Children’s Emergency Relief International is organizing volunteers to provide medical and evangelistic care for them this summer. (Photo by Dearing Garner)

“God gave him, at last count, 237 orphans—many of them handicapped—who call him Papa,” Dearing said.

Their biggest need is medical care and a balanced diet, he noted.

“There are cripples and children with TB; polio; ring-, hook- and round-worms; yellow fever; and malaria,” he added. “In the last eight months six children have died.”

A church already meets on the compound, but the entire facility needs a security fence, kitchen and another dorm. There is no organizational support for Ministry of Mercy, but the children of missionary Caroline Gross—who started the work in the 1940s—provide some funds.

In Uganda, the Mercy Home for Children in the capital city of Kampala, founded and operated by 27-year-old Angela Namatovu has nice buildings provided by an Italian ministry.

“But they are on their back financially and struggling to put food on the table,” Dearing noted. “She cares for almost 130 children—mostly AIDS orphans. But at least one child came down with malaria every day we were there.”

Money pressures have not dimmed Namatovu’s vision.

“She feels the Lord leading her to work with the masses of children in northern Uganda who have been caught in the long-running civil war by the Lord’s Resistance Army against the government,” Garner explained. “An estimated 1.5 million people have been displaced, and the LRA captures children and turns them into soldiers. They are made to watch their parents slaughtered—and often forced to participate in the killings. And Western aid agencies have documented the terrible sexual and physical abuse they undergo. Even if they escape, they face tremendous emotional problems as well as the mere struggle to survive.”

A group of Ugandan orphans who escaped from the Lord's Resistance Army that terrorized the country north of the Nile River are on the hearts of Angela Namatovu and Dearing Garner. (Photo by Trent Stiles)

Namatovu took Dearing and Stiles across the Nile River to a mud-hut refugee camp of 1,100 people—many of them orphaned children—on the edge of LRA territory.

He says he “looked into those refugee children’s souls through their weary eyes—they have seen more atrocity than most adults and are hungry and need clothes. I pray that CERI can help Angela begin work among them too.”

CERI, “isn’t going to cover the whole continent,” Garner admitted. “But we can make a difference in the lives of the children we saw. If we can give them a childhood and a concept of a God who loves them, imagine what they can do for Africa? When a kid prays, it is powerful. When they pray, they can raise up a nation—and Africa will change itself.”

He is organizing volunteer teams for both Nigeria and Uganda this summer. Plans for South Africa are still being developed. For more information, e-mail dgarner@cerikids.org , call (210) 787-0535 or visit www.cerikids.org.

Posted: 6/01/06

Ring of Champions saving
children's future through mentoring

By Laura Frase

Communications Intern

DUNCANVILLE—When Carless Talton talks with young offenders in juvenile detention centers, they recognize she speaks with the authority of firsthand knowledge.

Talton relates her personal experiences as a former drug addict and prostitute and tells them about her rebirth as a Christian. Now she serves as regional director for Ring of Champions, a program sponsored by Bill Glass Champions for Life Ministries.

Talton was introduced to Christ in 1989 after she was arrested for drug possession and then admitted to a hospital to treat gangrene in her leg. At the hospital, a nurse told her how much Jesus loved her and about his desire for her to have a better life.

At that point, Talton said, her attitude was, “I don’t get into God’s business, and he don’t get into mine.”

After another arrest, a judge gave Talton a final chance to clean up, sentencing her to 10 years probation and admitting her into a rehabilitation center.

During the process, Talton promised God she would serve him if he helped her out, but soon forgot about it, she said. That was until she passed through an area in East Dallas where she used to turn tricks as a prostitute and saw a sign for a Bible college. Talton wanted to attend college and serve God, but she was afraid they wouldn’t accept an ex-con.

To her surprise, she said, “they were all excited that God sent me here.”

Talton didn’t forget her promise to God and gave her testimony at a church one morning. That testimony made an impact on Jim Lang, then vice president of prison ministries for Bill Glass Ministries. He immediately asked her to be a platform speaker at Champions for Life events, and she has been with the organization ever since.

Talton reaches out to young people with “I’ve been there” stories, making it easier to build their trust. Ring of Champions needs volunteers like Talton—or anyone who is willing to help save a child’s future by becoming a mentor, she said.

Mentors commit to 12 weeks with a child, spending one hour a week with them. In the first three to four weeks, the young people are testing the mentor to see if he or she will stick around, Talton said, and it takes about two months to form a relationship. Twelve weeks is the minimum requirement, but mentors may continue with the juvenile as long as they like.

Most mentors decide they want to do it for the rest of their life after their first experience, said Louis Korom, communications coordinator of Bill Glass Ministries.

Talton wishes a group like this had touched her life when she was struggling.

When she was on the streets of East Dallas, she encountered Christians who preached the gospel to people in need. But afterward, they would leave the people to whom they witnessed on the street, confused and not knowing what to do, she said.

“When we leave, we give our contact information and leave teammates in the area that can help,” she added.

Unfortunately, hundreds of children are left without a mentor, she continued.

“We are always getting new kids, and the crime rate for kids is escalating,” Talton said.

Diane Perkins, chair of the board of Dallas/Fort Worth Ring of Champions, was fearful before her first youth prison facility experience.

“I was nervous about going, and after I went, I said I would never go back again,” she said. She described the young people as hard and their faces blank.

“But I watched Carless grow through her experiences, and I felt God’s call. This fall, I will be a mentor for kids,” she said.

Finding volunteers to mentor troubled children is difficult, Talton said.

“Nobody wants to step up, because there is no glory in what we do,” she said. “We’re just trying to keep kids from spending 20 years on the streets like I did.”

Korom believes people choose not to volunteer because “they think they don’t relate to that particular background, if they’ve grown up as a Christian all their life. Just showing up is all youth want.”

Champions for Life Founder Bill Glass agreed volunteers seldom are assigned children who are a perfect fit for them.

“The most unlikely people are totally effective with them,” Glass said.

The foundation continues to look for help in any way possible.

“As a ministry, we are looking for partnering churches, so when we open a new unit or have new kids, we are going to need more mentors, and we need somewhere to turn where they are prepared,” said George Huey, director of evangelism at Bill Glass Champions for Life. “We need lots of prayers.”

Perkins insists hundreds of children in the United States need mentors, but churches focus on sending missionaries to other countries.

“We need to look right here. We don’t have to go to a foreign country, and you don’t need a visa to be a mentor,” she said. “We just need people to share the love of Jesus to those who have never known that love. Just mentor a child.”

Glass believes Ring of Champions has been a success since its start in 2000, but the program needs more volunteers.

“We give them the Lord, substitute fathers, counseling and mentoring,” he said.

Ring of Champions is growing nationwide, and volunteers are needed in all areas.

“The most important thing we can give them is hope,” Talton said.

The lack of volunteers affects future generations everywhere, Perkins added.

“The Lord has shown me we have to invest in these kids. They are our future,” she said.

For more information on volunteering as a mentor, contact Carless Talton at (972) 298-1101, ext. 305.

Posted: 6/01/06

Baptisms by Ruben Rios (left) will help fill the new sanctuary of Iglesia Hispana in Gatesville.

Gatesville church helps Hispanic
congregation move to new building

By Elizabeth Staples  

Communications Intern

GATESVILLE—Live Oak Baptist Church focuses on family. And in recent years, the family has expanded.

About three years ago, a group of Hispanics in the area joined several people at Live Oak Baptist Church and proposed to start a new Hispanic church. After meeting on their own for a few months, they were led to a 71-year-old retired pastor, Ruben Rios. He quickly joined in their vision and became the pastor of the new Hispanic congregation, now called Iglesia Hispana.

Rios led Bible studies nearly every night, teaching and praying with the group. The group grew so large during the next year, the church moved into the old sanctuary of Live Oak Baptist Church.

Live Oak Baptist Church joined with Iglesia Hispana to start more Bible studies, English-as-a-Second-Language classes and a night of worship, games and preaching for youth and children on Friday nights.

“To me as a pastor, it’s not about programs and plans but about being available to the community and to the Lord,” said David Diggs, pastor of Live Oak Baptist Church.

Live Oak Baptist Church gave $50,000 to Iglesia Hispana to buy three acres of land, and Habitat for Humanity helped build a parsonage for Rios and his wife.

 “Our church doesn’t have a mind set at all of (Iglesia Hispana) being a mission,” Diggs said. “We look at it as just another church, and we’re just helping our brothers and sisters get started.”

After three years of raising money, Iglesia Hispana has raised almost enough money to finish its own facilities. The generosity of members from Live Oak Baptist Church and Iglesia Hispana has provided enough money to begin the construction of the new church.

Three weeks ago, Iglesia Hispana held its first Bible study in the frame of the church’s new building.

“They were so excited to finally have their own building they just couldn’t wait to meet in it,” Diggs said.

Iglesia Hispana currently has about 25 members, including three families who recently joined, and church leaders expect the congregation to grow rapidly.

“We are missionaries who have united our dream with the dream of Live Oak Baptist Church to become one dream, and a church came out of that,” Rios said.

Primera Iglesia Bautista in Alice will send a group of their youth July 17-22 to work alongside the youth at Live Oak Baptist Church and offer Vacation Bible School for the children of Iglesia Hispana.

“It’s amazing how God works in ways we never dreamed,” said Diggs. “We’re here to reach Gatesville and everyone in our community and then reach out to the rest of the world. Our motto is: ‘Live Oak Baptist Church—The Family You’ve Been Waiting for.’”

Posted: 6/01/06

Willow Meadows youth want
'art car' to be message of hope

By Karen Campbell

Union Baptist Association

HOUSTON—Take a late 1980s mud-racing Buick, add the exuberance of youth and the perspective of Katrina evacuees, plus a little paint and creativity with a touch of faith-based hope and an Art Car is born.

This year’s recent Everyone’s Art Car Parade featured the usual array of lowriders, classic cars, and what can only be termed “rolling contraptions” among the more than 250 entries in an annual event that attracts more than 200,000 spectators.

Katrina evacuee Autumn Luers-Pereira and Joma Kennedy from Willow Meadows Baptist Church work on an ArtCar. Matt Peters is in the distant background.

The lineup also included a combined project of Willow Meadows Baptist youth and Katrina evacuees, illustrating vividly that “expressions of faith” can take many forms.

Susan Brock, who has worked with the church youth art team for the last three years and served as co-director for the Katrina shelter/relief efforts at Willow Meadows, first saw a potential link between the previously planned parade entry and the need to address a growing negative public reaction to Katrina evacuees.

“I know that once the crisis mode finished, there was a lot of unrest in me, and it helped to talk to other people about it, and I know that it’s provided a piece of that for the kids. If they can get a grip on what they just came through and get some positive message about it … that’s what we hope the car can do,” Brock explained.

During the months the youth from New Orleans and Houston have worked on their own testament to unity, they were peppered with reports of Katrina evacuees tied to various acts of violence and school disturbances.

Kristen Johnson from Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston puts some creativity into the project.

The Houston Chronicle reported a study by Rice University sociologist Stephen Klineberg that revealed Houston residents have grown “increasingly weary and wary of the 150,000 Louisiana evacuees” who settled in Harris County. Three-fourths of the Houston-area residents surveyed said the influx of Katrina evacuees has put a considerable strain on the Houston community, and two-thirds said evacuees bear responsibility for a major increase in violent crime. Many said Houston will be “worse off” rather than “better off” if most evacuees remain here permanently.

Willow Meadows believes there is another, relatively untold story, and the Art Car makes for a vivid illustration in the unfolding tale.

“The only requirement we had was that it be completed on time, that it deal with Katrina, and it had to have Christian message,” Brock said.

The youth determined Mardi Gras colors would be a key element to the car, as well as a depiction of rising waters and an interactive element that has allowed the creators to offer up life lessons on the chalkboard-like sides.

“We wanted to engage people with not just art they look at but art that involves them on a deeper level,” Brock said of the invitation to respond which will be offered to the crowd during the parade’s weekend festivities.

With New Orleans youth concentrating on one side of the car and Willow Meadows youth addressing the other, the roof is where the two communities came together in what is intended to be a message of hope.

Ross Childs and Victor Sanchez from Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston take a break from decorating their Art Car.

“The experience of the car, working on it, interacting with it, is kind of a therapy and more important than the artistic expression. The experience is the goal—not the final project,” Brock concluded.

Willow Meadows has no plans to keep the car, and Brock hints it may return to mud racing and continue to tell the Katrina story.

“One of the lessons that has already been written on the car is that it’s the people you know, not the stuff, that matters,” he said. “So, by not keeping the car, we’re not holding on to it. We’re letting go.”

Posted: 6/01/06

Wayland band members
amazed by reception in Russia

By Jonathan Petty

Wayland Baptist University

MOSCOW—Wayland Baptist University’s Pioneer Band recently traveled to Russia, performing indoor and outdoor concerts in conjunction with the country’s Victory Day celebrations.

The band spent four days in Moscow and four in St. Petersburg, performing in three of Europe’s top concert halls—the Moscow Conservatory, Tchaikovsky Conservatory and the A Capella Concert Hall in St. Petersburg.

The band’s packed schedule found them in Gorky Park on May 9, Russia’s Victory Day, celebrating the end of the World War II.

Wayland Baptist University band director Tim Kelley points out the Wayland band listing near the top of a program poster outside of the Moscow Conservatory.

“We were the group that performed on either side of the minute of silence that they observe,” Wayland band director Tim Kelley said. “For a group from America to be the group that was there to share that with them was incredible.”

While students enjoyed the outdoor performances, Kelley said the indoor concerts were unforgettable—playing in venues specifically designed for concert bands for audiences comprised of the nation’s intellectual elite.

But it was the sound that most impressed the group.

“The acoustics in the Moscow Conservatory—when you play those first few notes, you’re thinking ‘I don’t know what happened, but we have all just died and gone to heaven,’” Kelley said.

At the Moscow Conservatory, the band premiered Victory Day for Symphonic Band, which Gary Belshaw, assistant professor of music at Wayland, composed specifically for the trip.

“As soon as the piece was done and I recognized him and the crowd realized the composer was in the audience with them, everybody was on their feet clapping,” Kelley said. “They were so appreciative.”

The band students had a newfound appreciation for Belshaw’s work after playing it in that setting.

“To a lot of people, when we were practicing it and playing it here, it didn’t make a lot of sense. I heard a lot of students say we just didn’t really get it,” said Jared McCarthick, a senior music education major from Lovington, N.M. “But once we got over there and played it in that setting, I got it. It made sense. It was unreal, and the crowd just loved it.”

Wayland Baptist University band students saw ornate architecture, such as the golden copulas on this cathedral within the Kremlin walls, throughout their eight days in Russia.

Back in the Wayland band hall, Kelley reflected on the whirlwind trip.

“It’s not until you’ve taken a trip like this that you realize how important and how meaningful it is,” he said. “The Minister of Culture traveled with us while we were in Moscow. They had world leaders from 40 or 50 countries at that thing, and security in the central part of the city where all these events were held was intense.

“To have someone sitting on the bus with you and you pull up to a barricade and he just shows his face and waves his hand and the barricade opens and they let us through … When it’s that kind of person who is traveling with you, all of a sudden you realize how important this really is to the Russian people. They had their highest-ranking government official in the area traveling with us to give us the passage that we needed.

“This was beyond anything we could have imagined beforehand, and we have a lot of imagination around here.”