Posted: 5/31/06

How to help in Indonesia

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Baptists worldwide responded to the needs of Indonesians affected by a May 27 earthquake that killed more than 5,500 people.

The Baptist World Alliance dispatched its Rescue24 medical team to meet needs in a region where hospitals are overcrowded.

WorldconneX, a missions network launched by the Baptist General Convention of Texas, is exploring ways to meet needs in the area. For more information on WorldconneX's ministry there, visit www.worldconnex.org/indonesianearthquake.html.

Milfred Minatrea, who leads BGCT disaster response efforts, encouraged Texas Baptists to pray for Indonesia and for those ministering in the affected region.

“In every crisis situation, wherever tragedy occurs, the Body of Christ is present to provide compassionate relief,” he said.

“As part of the global body of Baptists, the Baptist General Convention of Texas is always on call in these situations. While immediate response has come from members of the Baptist family who are located much closer to Indonesia, we are providing financial resources to enable our brothers and sisters who are on the scene to minister effectively. We are also awaiting word of direct relief and response assistance that Texas Baptists may be invited to provide.

“At this time, we ask two things of our Texas Baptist family. First, please pray for those in the Body of Christ who are directly impacted by the devastation and for those who are coming along side them to offer relief ministries. Second, please make a sacrificial gift to BGCT disaster response to enable our effective ministry and provision of resources to care for those for who are victims of this tragic experience. Together, we can do more, in good times and bad, to share and show his love.”

To give through the BGCT to support disaster response, mail a check designated “BGCT Disaster Response” to BGCT, 333 N. Washington Ave., Dallas 75246.

Posted: 5/30/06

Baptist World Aid sends team to Indonesia

By Staff

Texas Baptist Communications

FALLS CHURCH, Va. —Baptist World Aid May has sent its Rescue 24 team of first responders to serve in the wake of an Indonesian earthquake that killed nearly 5,000 people May 27.

The relief arm of the Baptist World Alliance directed a Hungarian Baptist Aid medical team to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from its post-tsunami ministry in Nias. Another medical team will be there soon. The organization also designated $20,000 for the relief effort.

The relief team is working in conjunction with indigenous Baptist groups who also are responding in an area not far from the region affected by 2004's South Asia tsunami. These first responders will help find ways other Baptist groups can join the relief effort.

According to incomplete reports, the 6.3-magnitude earthquake killed about 5,000 people and injured more than 2,000 others. About 1,700 sustained minor injuries. Hospitals quickly were overrun by the surge in demand for services.

"It is great to see the way in which Indonesian Baptists have responded so quickly to this tragedy," Baptist World Aid Director Paul Montacute said. "The worldwide family of Baptists now needs to give generously to support the continuing relief efforts."

Financial donations to this response can be sent to Baptist World Aid, Baptist World Alliance, 405 N. Washington Street, Falls Church, VA, 22046.

Posted: 5/26/06

Former foster child finds
fulfillment as foster mother

By Miranda Bradley

Children at Heart Ministries

CEDAR PARK—Between running her own in-home daycare and caring for her family, Katina Duprey has a full schedule—so full it makes some people wonder why she would take on extra responsibilities as foster mother to needy children. But Duprey knows exactly why she does it.

“I spent a good deal of my life in foster care,” she said. “Most of my experiences were bad, but one family totally changed my life for the better.”

Duprey entered foster care when she was 13 months old, only to be sexually abused by her first foster family. After she was removed from their care, another foster family also abused her.

“It was very hard on me,” she said. “But then I spent one week with a foster family that was a great experience.”

When she arrived at the family’s home, Duprey admits, she was skeptical. After suffering previously at the hands of people who were supposed to care for her, she withdrew from her new guardians, expecting the worst.

“Instead, they just gave me space and time,” she said. “They didn’t push themselves on me. They just loved me, and that made all the difference.”

For years, she yearned to be a foster parent who could provide stability and security to children who need it most.

“Once I saw you could have a positive influence on children, I wanted to do it,” she said.

She served as a foster parent with Child Protective Services, but Duprey discovered she needed spiritual support. That’s when Dawson Clark, a fellow member at New Hope First Baptist Church in Cedar Park, introduced her to STARRY, a Children at Heart Ministries program that provides services to children and families through its emergency shelter, community-based counseling and foster care programs.

Clark, development director for STARRY, explained the ministry had expanded its foster care program to meet a growing demand for temporary in-home placement, and the ministry was seeking Christian foster parents.

“I found that the Christian aspect of the program makes a huge difference in our foster care experience,” Duprey said.

So far, Duprey has fostered two infants. Her most recent charge is just 3 months old. A baby, coupled with her own 2-year-old son and her thriving daycare business makes life interesting, she said.

Juggling all she has to handle requires the kind of Christian advocacy she said she finds at STARRY.

“The staff and I pray together,” Duprey said. “Stacy Grant (foster care coordinator for STARRY) holds me accountable in a Christian way. I never feel attacked or judged.”

Grant praises Duprey, saying: “She really has a heart for the kids and a strong desire to keep them safe. She’s an ideal foster parent for our program.”

In spite of her past, Duprey harbors no anger toward parents of abused or neglected children—one reason many children are placed in foster care.

“I try not to judge,” Duprey said. “Being a mom myself, I can understand how stressful it can be. Everyone makes bad choices that affect more than just themselves.”

Once a child is in Duprey’s home, the lines of separation are blurred. Despite the title, the word “foster” soon is eliminated from any reference to anyone in the household. No one here is a former, current or future foster anything. In their house, only one word applies—family.

“These babies are part of our family,” Duprey said. “Whatever they’ve been through, it doesn’t matter. This is their home. And it will be as long as they need it.”

For more information on foster care, contact Stacy Grant at (512) 246-4229. For other inquiries, contact STARRY directly at (512) 246-4290 or log on to www.starryonline.org.

Posted: 5/26/06

Sexual purity song still
inspires youth after five years

By Erin Roach

Baptist Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—Sexual purity has long been important to singer-songwriter Rebecca St. James, and at the fifth anniversary of the release of her signature single Wait for Me, she continues to show young people worldwide how to wait honorably for the spouse God may have for them.

The song, written by St. James as a pledge of commitment to her future husband, has inspired thousands of teenagers worldwide to remain sexually abstinent until marriage.

“I think deep down, young people do know that waiting is the right way to go, and they just want encouragement to wait,” she said. “I think for a lot of girls that heard it, Wait for Me became kind of their song that they were singing to their future husbands that encouraged them to be strong. I also think we girls are such romantics at heart, and it’s a song that is romantic but also pure. I think that’s why it connected.”

Richard Ross, co-founder of the True Love Waits sexual purity movement, said the song has played a large role in the success of the program.

“Wait for Me has been one of those pillar songs for True Love Waits. Both the words of the song and the purity of the artist behind it have carried great weight with Christian teenagers,” Ross said. “We know from the Reformation and the Great Awakenings that music fuels movements. Rebecca’s Wait for Me would be an example of that phenomena in our day.”

St. James said she first made a decision about purity at a True Love Waits rally in Peoria, Ill., when she was 16 years old and just starting out in the music industry.

“I saw a couple hundred other young people taking a stand for God, and I was so inspired by that but also really felt challenged to make that commitment myself,” she recounted.

“I had grown up in a Christian family, and I knew that was the right way to go, but I also knew that there was a lot of pressure on us as young people today to compromise in that area. So, I wanted to make a commitment that really would help me to stand strong.”

Sometime after that rally, her father gave her a purity ring during a ceremony the family held at home. She still wears the ring to remind her of the commitment she made.

As she progressed in her music career and became a popular figure at youth rallies and True Love Waits events, she began speaking publicly about her goal of purity. Afterward, she said, teenagers would gather around and share how thankful they were that someone else was waiting, because that made it a little easier for them to wait.

With its release in 2001, Wait for Me caught on quickly, and St. James said she has heard hundreds of stories of how it was instrumental in helping people keep their pledge for purity. Married couples tell her the song helped them to abstain from sex while they were dating, and some have even played it at their weddings because it meant so much to them.

In 2002, St. James wrote a book with the same title that expounds on the issues raised in the song. It addresses subjects such as guarding thoughts in order to make wise decisions where sex is concerned, why waiting for marriage is best, practical ways to wait in a culture that screams, “Just do it!” and a question-and-answer section on sexual purity.

St. James, a member of The Peoples Church, a Baptist congregation in Franklin, Tenn., said churches have used the book during a Bible study for teens, and the Wait for Me journals are popular because they lead students to write love letters to their future spouses.

“It just kind of helps the waiting process, because you’re making something that you can one day give to that person, and then you realize: ‘Yes, I am waiting for somebody. They’re out there, and I’m writing to them,’” she said.

The book, translated into three languages for use around the world, was re-released this spring in a soft-cover edition.

Another lesson the song’s success has taught St. James is that youth yearn for a community of peers as they face the struggle for purity.

“Just about every time I hear of a young person that has slid down an immoral path, it’s because they’ve surrounded themselves with other young people who are not living the Christian life and are not committed to God’s way,” she said.

“On the other hand, I’ve also seen a lot of young people who have waited, and I think a large reason why they’ve had the strength to stand is because they’ve dated other people that are committed to waiting, and they’ve had friends that have encouraged them in that commitment,” she said. “And I know for me, I have friends that are committed to waiting, and that encourages me too.”

When she first wrote the song, St. James said, she didn’t exactly expect it to become the big hit it is now. “I knew the song would have a strong response because of its message, but I don’t think I could have guessed quite how strong that response was going to be, because Wait for Me has become one of my signature songs now,” she said.

Jimmy Hester, who along with Ross founded True Love Waits, expressed gratefulness for St. James’ willingness to be a key spokesperson for sexual abstinence until marriage.

“Wait for Me is a statement of her belief and a testimony to many teenagers on the value of following God’s plan for sexuality,” Hester said. “The impact of this song and Rebecca’s consistency over the years has made an eternal impact on the lives of many students.”

Posted: 5/26/06

Mural artist puts church’s
children on Noah’s ark

By Marv Knox

Editor

SAN ANTONIO—Don’t be surprised if children who grow up in Trinity Baptist Church know Bible stories and names of animals better than all their friends.

Each time they attend Sunday school, they’re surrounded—literally—by Bible stories and a sizable ensemble of survivors from Noah’s Ark.

They’re learning the stories from the common walls of Trinity’s Children’s Center—beginning with the two-story entry rotunda and extending down four long hallways on two floors—which are covered in biblical murals.

Artist Shawn Bridges is their timeless teacher. But the first stroke of the murals actually occurred in the imagination of Debbie Potter, Trinity’s children’s minister.

A bequest from longtime members Alvy and May Lee Grantham enabled the church to renovate the Children’s Center. Potter instinctively knew the facility’s decorations were at least as important to the spiritual formation of children as the structure itself.

Seeking ideas, Potter visited other churches. She toured children’s buildings modeled after space ships, movie sets and cruise liners. And while she appreciated the artistry, she felt something was missing.

“I envisioned something that children could interact with—something that would trigger their imaginations,” she explained. “But I also wanted something spiritual—something scriptural.”

Her search led her to Bridges, a local artist and member of the church.

Bridges is a Baylor University graduate whose portfolio includes portraits, murals, tabletops, chairs, at least one chandelier and just about any stationary object. She’s best known for “September 11, 2001,” a remembrance of monumental tragedy and a reminder of God’s eternal care. The painting shows God’s hands encircling firefighters, police and medical workers who died on that infamous day.

Trinity’s senior adult choir, Son Shine Singers, sold 1,500 prints of “September 11” to benefit San Antonio-based Baptist Child & Family Services. The choir even traveled with Bridges to deliver the original to the Pentagon, where it hangs in Memorial Chapel.

Although Bridges had donated many paintings to the church, Potter didn’t know her well but set up an appointment to discuss painting possibilities. They met in Bridges’ living room studio, and Potter asked her to bid on painting two activity rooms so that “when the children walked in, the walls would somehow come to life.”

The project expanded greatly in the next few moments. As the minister and artist looked at a book on Noah’s Ark by Dutch artist Rien Poortvliet, they knew what they would do—put Trinity’s children on the Ark.

Even as the size of the mural expanded, the cost immediately declined. Bridges refused to accept payment. “I told Debbie I couldn’t imagine charging for my work,” she recalled.

In early May of last year, Bridges started painting a mural that surely seemed as overwhelming as building a big boat did to Noah. But before she brushed a stroke, she put her task in perspective, a ritual she repeated every day she worked on the building.

“I put my hands on the wall and said a prayer for my church,” she noted. “And I thanked (God) for letting me be his paintbrush. If I can just be God’s paintbrush, it would be the best thing I could ever be.”

Within about four months, Bridges transformed the entire rotunda and the ground-floor hallways of both wings of the building into the Ark. The rotunda is light, airy and soaring. Not coincidentally, it’s populated primarily by birds of every imaginable sort. The background for the hallways is dark—wooden-boat dark. Visitors can imagine they’re in the hold of the ship, down where it’s dark but crowded hoof-to-snout with animals.

Bridges’ identification with small children crops up in just the right places. She painted countless tiny animals, such as a mouse beside an elephant’s foot, or a butterfly, right at eye level for toddlers and preschoolers. Sunday school teachers claim the animals seem to soothe fussy children, and youngsters have been seen “petting” their furry friends.

Noah’s Ark is home to 500 animals, not counting insects, mice and scurrying creatures too numerous to tally.

When the sea of paint cans subsided and all Noah’s animals came to rest on the Children’s Center walls, Bridges didn’t slack off. She painted her way up a winding staircase and down both halls of the center’s second floor.

One hallway depicts stories from the Old Testament, beginning in the Garden of Eden. The mezzanine level of the rotunda features the birth of Jesus, and the New Testament resumes down the other hall. Bridges painted 21 Bible stories, including a small David felling the giant Goliath and a young Jesus teaching rabbis in the temple.

Now, even though the paint—93 gallons; enough to cover 32,500 square feet of wall space—is dry, the project isn’t exactly complete, Bridges said.

“I keep seeing things I need to add—crickets and frogs and lilly pads,” she explained, acknowledging the project never will be finished “as long as I see a blank place on the wall.” For the time being, she’s “just trying to catch up on commissions” she set aside to paint at Trinity.

Although the murals teach children about Bible stories and God’s love, the project taught Bridges about patience. “I want to get things done and blast on through. But I couldn’t do that,” she said of the 11-month-long project. “I had to persevere.”

As she painted month by month on essentially the same work of art, she gained an appreciation for the work of others, whose tasks never are completed and whose progress can’t be tracked.

“Take my husband; he’s a professor of accounting,” she said. “I hope there will be many honest accountants out there because of him. But (day to day) he can’t see it.”

Bridges’ respect for children’s Sunday school teachers also grew. “I really appreciate all the teachers and workers who keep doing work that nobody sees,” she noted. “They touch so many lives.”

And speaking of being touched, Bridges said she has been blessed by the children’s response to her murals.

“I heard about a little boy who made a profession of faith” in Christ, she recalled. He was intrigued by Bridges’ painting of Jesus walking on water and the reaction of the disciples. His teacher explained the disciples were afraid.

“I don’t want to be afraid anymore,” the boy said as he asked Jesus to be his Savior.

Another child studied the Resurrection, where Jesus revealed his identity to Mary Magdalene. After a moment, the child carefully touched the hurt place in Jesus’ hand.

“Those are the things that make me want to paint the whole education building,” Bridges said, sounding as if she might have thought about a scene or two.

“This is my gift to my church,” she told San Antonio Woman magazine. “But it was also the most fun thing I have ever done. The kids were so involved. They kept coming to me, asking questions.” Thanks to a gifted artist’s gift to her church, generations of children will find the answers on the walls of their church, too.

Richard A. Marini, a writer and Trinity Baptist Church member, contributed to this article.

Posted: 5/26/06

The Da Vinci Code based
on a hoax, scholars agree

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

DALLAS (ABP)—The most debated movie of the year, The Da Vinci Code, is built on a premise revealed as a hoax more than 10 years ago, prominent historians, art experts and theologians agree.

Dan Brown’s best-selling book, The Da Vinci Code, centers around a secret group called the Priory of Sion, which Brown claims protects the centuries-old secret that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had descendants of royal blood in France.

“What the book plays on is a complete hoax,” said New Testament scholar Darrell Bock of Dallas.

“The Priory of Sion doesn’t exist,” scholar Craig Blomberg of Denver agreed. The Priory of Sion—depending on whom you believe—was created in 1099 and included such historical luminaries as Leonardo Da Vinci and Isaac Newton or was created in 1956 by a deluded anti-Semite named Pierre Plantard, now dead, whom the French government convicted of fraud.

Scholars have worked for years to disprove Plantard’s claims, which culminated with him claiming a right to the French throne by virtue of his connection to the ancient bloodline. One of the most recent investigations into the Priory of Sion came in a 60 Minutes broadcast in April, which determined Plantard’s claims to be utterly false.

Some Christians offended by the suggestion Jesus had a double life are boycotting the movie.

Despite its questionable premise, lackluster reviews and the boycott, industry observers say the movie—released May 19—will be one of the biggest of the year. The Barna Research Group estimates the movie will make more than $300 million at the box office, putting it among the top 20 money-makers of all time.

While the movie promises to flourish at the box office, that success wouldn’t come without the book as an ultra-successful precursor. A survey by Barna indicated two out of every three people who see the movie will have read the book. Brown’s novel hit the top of the New York Times best-seller list 18 weeks in a row. With more than 47 million copies in print, the book has tapped a nerve in American culture.

Part of that cultural allure comes from the hidden information, secrets and riddles layered throughout the book. Much of what Brown writes hinges on his idea that many famous pieces of art include a code about biblical events. His riveting writing style combines every element of mystery writing, historical fiction and suspense. In short, readers become members of an elite club, and as those “in the know” feel an elevated status at being privy to such important information.

Some of the core elements in Brown’s book include fragments of truth, said Bock, a New Testament professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, who wrote Breaking the Da Vinci Code: Answers to the Questions Everyone’s Asking.

For instance, Constantine, the Nicene Council and the canonical process are key elements to modern Christianity, he said. And that’s what makes it so easy for readers to be misled.

But Brown’s claims about Constantine, the council in Nicea and the canon, Bock said, are completely untrue. Many of his other claims, like the fact that Jesus himself never claimed to be divine, easily can be discredited by the New Testament alone.

“There’s very little (of Brown’s book) that’s true,” Bock said. “Virtually everything else is wrong. What the book plays on is a complete hoax.”

The book depends heavily on secret societies—Interpol, Knights Templar, the Masons and the Priory of Sion. According to Bock, the Priory of Sion, as Brown described it, didn’t even exist. And if the society doesn’t exist, much of the historical “facts” in Brown’s book crumble as well.

“The Priory of Sion is a complete hoax by four Frenchmen in the 1950s,” Bock said. At the front of the book, under a large heading titled “Fact,” Brown wrote, “The Priory of Sion—a European secret society founded in 1099—is a real organization.”

Others, however, have come to different conclusions about the little-known sect from the French town of Annemasse.

Some experts agree the earliest traces of a Prieure de Sion appear in 1099 as a Hermetic or Gnostic society that combined paganism and Christianity. Later known as the Order de Sion, led by First Crusade leader Godfroi de Bouillion, it may have become the founding group for the Knights Templar, a medieval military order created to ensure the safety of Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem.

Other historians, however, say the Priory of Sion simply turned into Jesuits in 1617. They pinpoint the founding date of the society much later—1956—and insist Plantard capitalized on a supposed secret fortune and papers hidden by a French priest in his extravagant church in Rennes-le-Chateau.

The rest of the evidence supporting the significance of the society, researchers like Bock say, is bogus. The Priory of Sion, said Blomberg, distinguished professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary, “was a hoax created by a group of friends in order to try to present Pierre Plantard as a living Frenchman with a (made-up) genealogy claiming him as heir to the French throne.”

Author of The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, Blomberg wrote a critique of The Da Vinci Code for the Denver Seminary’s theological review. He maintains the society was disbanded in the 1980s.

French records show a society registered July 20, 1956, and they list Plantard at the helm. Plantard’s integrity, however, remains suspicious. Laura Miller wrote in a Salon.com article titled “The Da Vinci Crock” that Plantard had a history of “fraud, embezzlement and membership in ultra-conservative, quasi-mystical and virulently anti-Semitic Catholic groups.”

The priory, as keeper of supposedly ancient bloodlines, “sought the reunification of Europe under the dual leadership of an orthodox Roman Catholic Church and a divinely ordained monarch, somewhat like the Holy Roman Emperor and preferably French,” she wrote.

In the 1960s, Plantard and his cronies began fabricating parchments alluding to a line of Merovingian and Frankish kings. Plantard used this “evidence” to substantiate his claim to the throne. During the same time, Plantard deposited the parchments into the French national library, hoping later to use the library as outside verification for his scheme.

Unfortunately for Plantard, his plans didn’t last as long as he hoped. In 1993, an investigative judge searched Plantard’s home and uncovered evidence that Plantard’s claims to royal blood were a fraud. Plantard eventually admitted under oath that he had fabricated everything, and he had to cease all activities related to the promotion of the Priory of Sion. He lived in obscurity until his death in Paris in 2000.

Despite the debunking, a book called Holy Blood, Holy Grail raised interest again in the Priory of Sion. Written by Jonathan Cape in 1982, the book—like The Da Vinci Code—argues Jesus survived the cross to marry Mary Magdalene, and their descendants emigrated to southern France. Once there, Cape wrote, the descendants established a Merovingian dynasty the Priory of Sion protected.

Now, more than two decades after Cape’s book, Brown has restarted interest in the line of French kings. According to Bock, that trend in historical Jesus fiction won’t end soon. “This is just the beginning,” he said. “Brown’s book is not the first one (to make the claim). There have been a lot of other books out there. I think we’ll see a lot more of this stuff coming out.”

For his part, Blomberg said the reason there’s such a market for Da Vinci-type books is the pop culture mentality. Unfortunately, he said, people will believe things they read in an “ahistorical” setting, especially if it appears to challenge historic Christianity.

“Paradoxically, those same people will not accept far better documented evidence in support of historic Christianity when presented with it,” Blomberg said. “This demonstrates that there is a spiritual as well as historical problem present.”

On the positive side, Blomberg said, that spiritual challenge provides an opportunity for Chris-tians to tell others the facts. Books like The Da Vinci Code don’t have to be negative for society, he said, even if they do make false claims.

While some Christian leaders are calling for a boycott of the movie, most theologians urge Christians to see the movie in order to talk with non-Christian friends about its content. Both Bock and Blomberg advocated reading the book and seeing the movie.

“If we react as if we’re threatened, if we censure the book and movie, we play into the hands of those who are already deceived into thinking we have something to hide, or that we’re anti-intellectual, or that the facts aren’t on our side,” he said. “As the great English writer, G. K. Chesterton, put it a century ago, ‘When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing; they believe in anything!’”

Posted: 5/26/06

World religion study enhances respect

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

ARLINGTON, Va. (ABP)—A new study suggests mandatory teaching about world religions in public schools can increase teenagers’ respect for religious freedom and other constitutional rights.

The research studied 400 ninth graders who took the course in the Modesto, Calif., public schools. The district has offered the class since 2000. It is the only required course of its type in the United States, said Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the Freedom Forum’s First Amendment Center, which sponsored the study.

Modesto’s program offered a unique opportunity to ask, “What does it mean to take religion very seriously in the curriculum?” Haynes said. “In many places, people are very afraid to touch it; many teachers and administrators are afraid that if you touch it, you’re going to get into trouble.”

But the study “shows the ingenuity and initiative of Modesto paid off,” said Emile Lester, the study’s co-author and a professor of government at Virginia’s College of William and Mary.

Modesto—population around 200,000—is located in California’s Central Valley, sometimes referred to as the state’s “Bible Belt.” Unlike other areas of the vast and diverse state, the Central Valley has long had a largely Protestant population, with a high percentage of conservative evangelicals. How-ever, recent decades have seen dramatic growth in Asian immigrants to the area—among them large Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist and Hindu communities.

As part of a response to tensions that arose in the late 1990s in Modesto, the district began a “safe schools” campaign to find ways to get students to respect each other’s differences. One of the ways district and community leaders suggested was by teaching more about religious differences. After consulting with educators, parents, students, lawyers and local religious leaders, the district designed the half-semester course and began teaching it in 2000.

The class initially studied seven major world religions in the chronological order of their establishment. The course also included study of the First Amendment’s guarantees for freedom of conscience, taking note to include that atheists and agnostics also are protected by the same guarantees.

“Modesto handled the inevitable tensions brought about by diversity in a productive way, by crafting a course on world religions and the American tradition of religious liberty,” said Patrick Roberts, a political scientist at Stanford University, who was the study’s other co-author.

Students, whom researchers interviewed in-depth before and after the students took the course, emerged more likely to have respect for those of other religions and for religious freedom and other First Amendment ideals.

For instance, prior to taking the course, 80 percent of students said it was acceptable for students of all faiths to wear religious symbols on their clothing while in school. After taking the course, 85 percent agreed with that statement. There were similar increases in the percentage of students saying a candidate’s religious views should not exclude him or her from public office, and people of all faiths had an equal right to erect religious displays on private property.

Although the increases were modest, the researchers said, they nonetheless were statistically significant.

The study also suggested students had a marked increase in the respect they held for other First Amendment ideals after taking the course. For instance, only 25 percent of the pre-course students agreed that whichever political or social group they liked least should have the right to hold public rallies. After the course, 35 percent of students supported extending that right to their least-favored group.

The study also found students gained more respect for the similarities between world religions after taking the course. Prior to the course, about 46 percent agreed with the statement, “all religions share the same basic moral values.” Afterwards, more than 63 percent agreed with that statement.

But that result did not reflect an increase in syncretistic religious beliefs among students, the study’s authors stressed. There was not a statistically significant decline in the percentage of students who agreed with the statement, “I believe that one religion is definitely right, and all others are wrong.”

“Religious conservatives might worry that the course sheds light on similarities of religions traditions, but simultaneously might promote relativism,” Roberts said. “Modesto shows that, even in the most diverse of school districts, this conclusion is wrong. Bringing religious differences out in the open can help students realize that, in America, even religious believers and nonbelievers share a belief in the freedom of conscience.”

That’s because the course was not designed to change students’ views of their own faith, and because parents and religious leaders of all stripes were included from the beginning in the curriculum’s development, said a Modesto teacher who helped design the course and teaches it.

“The religious leaders in our community were very enthusiastic and very supportive of what we wanted to do and what we were trying to do,” said Jennie Sweeney, who teaches the course as well as history classes at Modesto’s Johansen High School. She also serves as the social science curriculum coordinator for the school district.

The full report is available on the First Amendment Center’s website at www.firstamendmentcenter.org.

Posted: 5/26/06

Attorney hired to guide
church-starting fund investigation

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

HOUSTON—The Baptist General Convention of Texas has engaged Brownsville attorney Diane Dillard to investigate alleged mishandling of church-starting funds in the Rio Grande Valley.

“The investigation will seek to determine if church-starting funds were misapplied in the Valley either in a significant number of isolated instances or as a part of a more coordinated process or scheme,” said BGCT Executive Board Chair Bob Fowler of Houston.

Dillard was selected by Fowler and Executive Board Vice Chair Jim Nelson of Austin, along with the BGCT officers—President Michael Bell of Fort Worth, First Vice President Steve Vernon of Levelland and Second Vice President Dan Wooldridge of Georgetown.

Fowler characterized Dillard as a “widely respected business attorney, known throughout the state” for her service to the Texas legal profession and leadership in promoting the ethical standards of attorneys.

She is the former chair of the 7,000-member Real Estate, Probate and Trust Section of the State Bar of Texas, practiced law in Houston and now teaches business law at the University of Texas-Brownsville.

Dillard and her husband, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, have maintained their membership at South Main Baptist Church in Houston. Since relocating to the Valley, they have attended the Episcopal Church of the Advent in Brownsville.

Dillard is a graduate of Baylor University and Baylor Law School and is past president of the Baylor Alumni Association.

Suspicions surround the large number of cell-group missions reported as church-starts in the lower Rio Grande Valley from 1996 to 2003.

If Dillard discovers funds were misapplied, she has been asked to identify the time frame involved, the extent of the misapplication, how the misapplication occurred, who initiated the misapplication, what persons or organizations inappropriately received funds and who was aware of any misapplication, Fowler said.

“Those who believe that every dollar spent on church starts over a period of years will be specifically identified and accounted for are likely to be disappointed,” he said. “As an attorney who represents corporate clients exclusively, I know an investigation that extensive would be extraordinarily expensive.

“The Executive Board has a responsibility to be certain that what the convention spends in pursuing this matter reflects the board’s ongoing stewardship of the gifts that churches and individuals have entrusted to it. That very real budgetary constraint will be the only specific limitation placed on Ms. Dillard in conducting the investigation. But we are confident she’ll do a thorough job.”

Dillard is authorized to engage investigators and other support personnel as she deems appropriate. Consequently, she has indicated Michael Rodriguez—partner in the Brownsville law firm of Rodriguez & Nicholas—will work with her in conducting the investigation. Rodriquez is a former prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Dillard’s client in the investigation is the convention itself, not the Executive Board or the staff, Fowler said. She will report to Fowler and Nelson as representatives of the convention during the course of the investigation. The final report will be presented to the full Executive Board for any action, including any recommendation to the full convention, no later than the September board meeting.

“While we expect Ms. Dillard to report everything significant that she uncovers and can substantiate, matters outside of the Valley church-starting funds allegations will be beyond the scope of her investigation,” Fowler said.

Posted: 5/26/06

Executive Board endorses
ongoing probe in Rio Grande Valley

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board overwhelmingly endorsed an ongoing investigation into alleged mishandling of church-starting funds in the lower Rio Grande Valley.

With only one dissenting vote, the board approved a Church Missions & Ministries Committee recommendation endorsing an investigation initiated by the board’s chair and vice chair and the convention’s officers.

The committee recommended the board endorse the convention-initiated investigation rather than launch its own probe as requested by Palo Pinto Baptist Association’s executive board.

At the recommendation of its Administration Support Committee, the board also approved up to $50,000 for the investigation and granted the board’s chair and the BGCT executive director the ability to authorize an additional $50,000, if needed.

The money will be drawn from contingency funds in convention reserves—not Cooperative Program budget money.

Questions surround cell-group missions reported as church-starts in the lower Rio Grande Valley from 1996 to 2003. Critics claim some church-starts that received BGCT financial assistance never existed, and some individuals profited by claiming to start multiple, nonexistent “mystery missions.”

BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade told the board he had heard concerns expressed off-and-on several years about how church-starting funds were used in the Rio Grande Valley. But every time he inquired about the issue, he felt satisfied by explanations received indicating proper procedures and policies had been followed.

After questions resurfaced last year around the time of the BGCT annual meeting, Wade said further inquiries by staff generated “more heat than light.”

Consequently, he initially contacted an accountant he knew from First Baptist Church in Arlington to investigate the alleged improprieties. The accountant, Mike Steiger, offered his services as a volunteer, Wade said.

After Palo Pinto Association passed a resolution calling for an independent Executive Board investigation—and after some critics raised questions about Wade’s personal ties to Steiger—all parties involved agreed to engage an attorney to head the probe. “We could not afford any perception of a conflict of interest,” Wade said.

So, BGCT Executive Board Chair Bob Fowler of Houston and Vice Chair Jim Nelson, along with the BGCT officers—President Michael Bell of Fort Worth, First Vice President Steve Vernon of Levelland and Second Vice President Dan Wooldridge of Georgetown—enlisted Brownsville attorney Diane Dillard. (See related story.)

In his opening report to the board, Wade stressed the importance of finding out the truth behind the allegations.

“If there has been wrongdoing, we will identify it and hold accountable any who participated in it. If there are ways to make amends to those who have felt hurt or misunderstood in these matters, we will do so. If there are lessons to be learned about how we can improve our church-starting strategies, we will learn them and implement corrective procedures,” he said.

“I would encourage us all to be kind in our comments about others, patient as the process works out, prayerful for all who are involved and willing to act decisively when we know the truth.”

Roberto Cepeda, chair of the Church Missions & Ministries Committee and pastor of First Baptist Church in Los Fresnos, said ongoing controversy had paralyzed church-starting initiatives and strained fellowship among churches in Rio Grande Valley Baptist Association.

“We cannot effectively address church-starting in the Rio Grande Valley until this issue is addressed and taken off the table,” he told his committee.

The Executive Board also approved an additional $250,000 grant above budgeted funds for WorldconneX to help the missions network create a system that will enable Baptist churches to send their own international missionaries. Money will be drawn from the J.K. Wadley Mission Fund.

In other business, the board:

• Adopted a policy manual regarding legal matters; the BGCT annual meeting; convention institutions, ministries, programs and services; the board; and its employees.

• Accepted and approved the 2005 financial audit report by Grant Thornton. The audit provided an unqualified or clean opinion that the financial records materially and fairly presented the convention’s financial position and results of operations.

The auditor recommended some net assets be reclassified and about $1 million in Texas Baptist Men assets not be included in the BGCT financial statements since the BGCT does not nominate a majority of the TBM directors.

• Approved a recommendation that the BGCT preserve its state convention matching retirement contribution for ministers and the protection section—life and accident insurance—for all eligible church employees through GuideStone Financial Services. That will require the BGCT to begin absorbing one-half of the cost of the protection section in 10 percent increments over five years beginning next year.

• Appointed Pat Gross of Hunter’s Glen Baptist Church in Plano, Bob Herrera of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, Julio Guarneri of Iglesia Bautista Getsemani in Fort Worth, Sandra Martinez of Cliff Temple Baptist Church in Dallas and Charlotte Greenshaw of First Baptist Church in Garland to the Missions & Ministries Committee’s missions funding group.

• Named Betty Morton of First Baptist Church in Plainview to the board of Baptist Community Services, replacing a vacancy created by the death of Bob Callen.

• Adopted a resolution of appreciation for Doug Hodo, who retires June 30 after more than 19 years as president of Houston Baptist University.

• Approved restated articles of incorporation for Hendrick Medical Center, allowing the medical center to elect one-fourth of its governing board.

• Adopted a resolution recognizing the 300th anniversary of Philadelphia Baptist Association—the oldest surviving Baptist association in the United States—next year and encouraging a special emphasis on Baptist associations in 2007.

Posted: 5/25/06

BaptistWay Bible Series for June 4

New Testament churches faced challenges

• 1 Timothy 1:1-19

By Joseph Matos

Dallas Baptist University, Dallas

In many ways and in differing contexts, we tend to have “good old days” syndrome. We long for the way things used to be, as if to say current circumstances are undesirable. One common practice is to compare the church of today with that described in the book of Acts (see chapters 2, 4 and 5). Seldom do today’s churches exhibit the harmony among believers and their devotion to the apostles’ teaching described in that book. This leaves us longing for “the good old days.”

A closer reading of the New Testament, however, reveals the good old days really weren’t always that good. Much of it was written to address some kind of problem facing the churches. There were internal conflicts and external threats; there were matters of doctrine and of behavior. One could almost make the case that if the church had no problems, there would have been no occasion to write the documents we have.

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1 and 2 Timothy and Titus are known as the Pastoral Epistles. And while they are instructive in many ways, Paul did not write these as “Introduction to Ministry” manuals for Timothy (in Ephesus) and Titus (on Crete). For in addition to instructions on the appointment of various types of leaders and what should be taught to different age groups, he also wrote to equip these men to respond to threats from false teachers who would influence the churches toward wrong beliefs and immoral behavior (and often the two were interrelated).

Timothy’s task: Remove the false teachers

After the opening salutations to Timothy, Paul gets right to the point. He reminds Timothy why he left him in Ephesus, to “command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer” (v. 3). The prohibition is against teaching something different (see vv. 10-11 ). Likewise, Timothy was to put an end to their focus on "myths and endless genealogies" (v. 4).

Interpreters still debate whether Paul referred to a form of Gnosticism (understanding “genealogies” as eons) or a form of Judaism (mythical interpretations of Old Testament genealogies). Paul makes clear at the end of verse 4 the results of such: these “promote controversies rather than God’s work—which is by faith.” It appears Paul is concerned with teachings which (and teachers who) clearly oppose the central tenets of the faith as well as quibble over secondary matters. Paul instructs Timothy to put a stop to these people.

Paul then clarifies for Timothy the goal of his command. He wants Timothy to draw people back to love. Apparently, these people were not concerned about love but about their pet beliefs. Paul identifies the source of love—a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith (v. 5).

But those in question “wandered away from these” (v. 6). Instead, they have majored on minors. Paul calls it “meaningless talk.” Ironically, these people also wanted to teach the law. But Paul declares their ignorance leaves them woefully inadequate for such a task. He says, “they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm” (v. 7).

Paul also hints at the potential for them to misuse the law. So in verses 8-11, Paul describes the function of the law; it is mainly to pronounce judgment on those who would break it. But in addition to acts of sin, the law also judges “whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine” (v. 10). Sound doctrine—that is, healthy, whole, correct—is defined by the gospel Paul was entrusted to preach (v. 11). Reminiscent of Galatians 1:8-9, Paul sets the standard for what is correct teaching; it is the gospel he originally preached.

God’s amazing grace toward Paul

His comment about being entrusted the gospel calls Paul to reflect on what a great privilege it is and how unlikely a candidate he originally was for the task. He humbly acknowledges the work of God’s grace and mercy in his life. He was a “blasphemer” a “persecutor” and a “violent man” (v. 13). Reflecting on his call then reminded Paul that truly “Christ came into the world to save sinners” (v. 15).

When Paul thought of sinners, he declared himself the prototype: “of whom I am the worst.” He again acknowledged he was where he was because of the mercy shown him and nothing else. Thus, in contrast to these would-be teachers who were arrogant despite their ignorance, Paul expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to serve the Lord. Such reflection caused Paul to burst out in praise to God (v. 17).

Timothy’s task: Fight the good fight

Paul once again turns to his command to Timothy (v. 5). Paul’s instructions to Timothy are in keeping with the words of Timothy’s original call and commission, and if Timothy would put them into practice he would “fight the good fight” (v. 18). It is difficult to know whether “keeping faith and a good conscience” (v. 19) constitute the means by which he would fight or its outcome. However, Paul’s command to press on is accompanied by an example of failure.

Hymenaeus and Alexander “rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith” (vv. 19-20).

Once Timothy purged the church of unhealthy doctrine and behavior, he could take Paul’s prescription for maintaining a healthy church.

Do not be disheartened to learn the early church was not perfect; instead take heart that we have instructions from the New Testament on how to respond to wrong beliefs and immoral behavior.

Discussion questions

• How could false teachings enter the church so soon, even during the lifetime of the apostles?

• Did the church in Ephesus remain true to Timothy's leadership (see Revelation 2:1-7)?

• What unhealthy doctrines and moral failures threaten our churches today?

Posted: 5/25/06

Family Bible Series for June 4

Caleb demonstrated an enduring faith

• Numbers 13:30; 14:6-9; Joshua 14:6-14

By Greg Ammons

First Baptist Church, Garland

Legend says Phedippides, a Greek soldier, was sent to Athens to announce the powerful Persian Empire had been defeated at the Battle of Marathon. Supposedly, he ran the entire distance from Marathon to Athens without stopping—21.4 miles. After the messenger announced to the city of Athens that the Persians had been defeated, he promptly collapsed and died. From this legend, the name “marathon” has become associated with an endurance race of a similar distance.

During June, our lessons will focus on godly men of faith. In this week’s lesson, we examine Caleb, a powerful man of God whose faith endured the years. Much like the Greek soldier, Caleb endured to the very end. In looking at Caleb’s example, we can see how our faith can endure as well.

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Meet faith’s challenges (Numbers 13:30; 14:6-9)

The Israelites were at a challenging crossroad. They were encamped at Kadesh-Barnea, on the southern edge of the Promised Land. God had promised the land to his people, yet they were fearful of the land’s inhabitants. The Israelites had heard the people were large, vicious and powerful.

As a result, the Israelites decided to send spies into the land to observe and return with a report. Each of the 12 tribes had one representative on the “spy committee.” When the 12 men returned with a report of the land, only Joshua and Caleb said the Israelites could meet the challenge. Caleb said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it” (13:30).

The majority won and the Israelites decided not to attempt to conquer the land. Caleb grieved over the decision and tore his garment as a sign of his displeasure (14:6). He had faith to meet the challenge and encouraged God’s people to do the same. “And do not be afraid of the people of the land. … Their protection is gone but God is with us. Do not be afraid of them” (14:9).

Life often issues challenges to us. The challenge may appear in the form of a relationship fracture, a financial difficulty, death, an illness, the loss of a job or another area. Yet, believers can face any challenge with faith and know the same God who empowered Caleb will strengthen them.

Believe God's promise (Joshua 14:6-9)

The Israelites wandered in the wilderness 40 years after refusing to believe God’s promise. Later, Joshua and Caleb were the only spies allowed to enter the Promised Land since they believed God.

As Hebron was given to Caleb, he spoke with Joshua about believing God’s promises. Caleb recalled: “I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report about my convictions” (v. 7). Caleb stated, “I followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly” (v. 8). As a result, God promised Caleb, through Moses, the land upon which his feet walked would be his inheritance. Caleb’s children would enjoy the land forever (v. 9). Caleb believed God’s promises.

There are more than 2,000 specific promises made by God throughout the pages of the Bible. Believers can claim these promises and know our Lord will not break one of them. Someone noted God’s promises do not break when you lean on them.

Perhaps you are in a situation where God wants you simply to claim his promise. The eternal God of the universe does not lie. You can trust his word.

Remain loyal (Joshua 14:10-14)

Caleb remained loyal to God many years. He was 45 years old when Moses sent him to spy out the Promised Land. He was 85 years old when God gave him Hebron as his inheritance (v. 10). The Lord blessed Caleb with strength and the possession of a land because he was loyal to his God. “So Hebron belonged to Caleb … because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly” (v. 14).

Polycarp was the faithful Bishop of Smyrna from A.D. 70 to A.D. 155. He was a powerful witness for Jesus Christ and remained loyal to his faith in the midst of persecution. He was urged by the Romans to recant his faith or die. Polycarp replied: “For 86 years, I have served my Lord, and he never did me any harm. How then can I now blaspheme my King and Savior?” The executioner replied: “I have respect for your age. Simply recant and live.” Polycarp refused to give up his faith and was burned at the stake.

Many Christians today have served faithfully many years. Through both joys and trials, their faith and service have remained strong. If you find yourself inconsistent in your daily walk, make a commitment today to become more faithful. God blesses loyalty. May you serve with strength in the coming days and be a person, like Caleb, whose faith endures to the very end.

Discussion questions

• What challenges have you faced recently as you try to live by faith?

• Which of God's many promises has brought you the most comfort?

• What keeps Christians today from being more loyal to Christ?

Posted: 5/25/06

Explore the Bible Series for June 4

Exploring the problem of evil in the world

• Job 1:1-2:13

By James Adair

Baptist University of the Americas, San Antonio

Why do bad things happen to good people? Why is there so much suffering in the world? If God is good and also all-powerful, how can God allow evil to exist?

These questions deal with the issue of theodicy, or the justice of God, and they are issues people have wondered about since the time when the idea of monotheism arose. Polytheistic religions have no such questions, first because their deities aren’t necessarily seen as good, and second because no one god or goddess is all-powerful.

Monotheistic religions that rely heavily on ritual as a means of appeasing God can get around the problem by proclaiming the person who suffers has broken some taboo or hasn’t performed the required ritual in the right way. Another way that people within a monotheistic system can avoid the issue is by assuming the person who suffers (or some family member, as in John 9:2) has sinned and is therefore deserving of punishment.

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One of the main themes of Job and Ecclesiastes—books that present alternatives to the traditional wisdom perspective found in Proverbs—is that we don’t live in a moral cause-and-effect universe. Over the next three months, we will explore these two books in some depth, to see how they answer questions that arise in a world in which God often doesn’t act as we might expect and in which God sometimes acts contrary to our idea of fairness.

Job 1:1-22

One common explanation for why people suffer is that they deserve it, that God is paying them back for a life of sin or for specific evil deeds. Groups and individuals often are blamed for their own misfortunes, as when some people blamed the terrorist attacks of 9/11 on the sins of Americans in general, or when others blamed the devastation of Hurricane Katrina on the sins, of New Orleans citizens.

Such attempts to rationalize human suffering fail when applied to the book of Job (as they do when applied to real life situations as well). The author of the book states unequivocally in the first verse that Job was “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” He did not suffer because of his sins.

That is not to say Job was perfect, though some translations, notably the King James Version, use the word in 1:1. However, according to any system of justice based on merit, Job did not deserve to suffer the loss of his family, property and health as he did.

So we return to the initial question: why do bad things happen to good people? The first chapter of Job suggests three answers to that question. First, good people sometimes suffer because of sin. That doesn’t necessarily mean they suffer because of their own sin. Job suffered because of other people’s sin. The Sabeans stole Job’s oxen and donkeys, and the Chaldeans stole Job’s camels, and both groups killed some of Job’s servants. Job suffered because of the sins of the Sabeans and the Chaldeans.

Second, good people sometimes suffer because of natural disasters. The fire of God (lightning?) burned up Job’s sheep and some more servants, and a great wind caused the house where Job’s children were eating to collapse, killing them all. Lightning strikes, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, blizzards, heat waves, floods, tsunamis—these all are natural disasters that affect good and bad alike.

It’s important to note that these two causes of suffering are not mutually exclusive; suffering caused by natural disasters also can be caused in part by sin. When Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras in 1998, thousands of people were living in squalid conditions on the sides of hills in the capital of Tegucigalpa. Huge mudslides buried these people alive.

That people should live in such conditions when the world has the riches to provide decent housing for everyone is an indication of structural sin, which combined with a natural disaster to magnify the suffering of the poor. Ask yourself a question: will more people die when a hurricane hits Florida or when one hits Bangladesh? Why? Poverty is a structural sin that makes natural disasters worse than they otherwise would be. It is no accident the poor in New Orleans suffered disproportionately from Hurricane Katrina last year.

Third, good people sometimes suffer for unknown, and ultimately unknowable, reasons. The scene in heaven where Satan accuses Job and God lets Satan do his worst to Job is obviously a literary device (How would the author find out about Satan’s challenge to God?), but it raises an important question: is God a capricious God who plays games with the lives of people? If so, then what do we mean when we say God is good?

Believers must be content at times to accept suffering without knowing a reason, if there even is one. Suffering and death are natural parts of life, as are joy and contentment. We frequently ask why God lets us suffer, but do we ever ask why God lets us rejoice? What have I done that God should bless me with the family, health and possessions I have? How can a good God overlook my sins and failures?

The mysteries of life are great, but I have confidence the God I serve is aware of everything that happens to me and cares about me deeply. In the end, that’s more important to me than knowing why things happen.

Job 2:1-8

The first two chapters of Job are one of only three Old Testament passages that refer to Satan; the others are 1 Chronicles 21:1 and Zechariah 3:1-5. In fact, in the references in Job and Zechariah, “Satan” should not be understood as a proper name, since the Hebrew literally reads “the Adversary” (the meaning of the Hebrew word satan).

Unlike in the New Testament, where Satan appears frequently as evil personified, the Adversary in the Hebrew Bible functions as an accuser, similar to a prosecuting attorney who brings charges against one presumed to be righteous. Satan is not castigated in Job for causing Job so much suffering, for the ultimate responsibility for Job’s dilemma lies not with Satan but with God, who permits Satan to act. The changing idea of Satan within the Old Testament and between the Testaments is a good illustration of the development of doctrine over the centuries during which the Bible was being written.

Job 2:9-13

After she sees the calamity that has befallen her husband, Job’s wife urges him just to “Bless God and die,” according to the Hebrew text. But of course she didn’t really say, “Bless God and die.” She said, “Curse God and die,” as the ancient versions and most modern translations indicate.

Why does the Hebrew text say what it says? At some point in the transmission of the text, scribes decided juxtaposing the words “curse” and “God” was a bad idea, because a person innocently reading the text could actually pronounce a curse on God, albeit unintentionally.

Changing the text to prevent an inadvertent curse may strike modern readers as strange, but it raises two important points. First, it reminds us the words we say are important, for they reflect our view of God. I’m not talking here primarily about profanity, as in a list of words we shouldn’t ever say. I’m talking mainly about the content of our speech, which is more important than the specific words we use.

Second, changing the text to avoid an accidental curse reminds us that while we should avoid cursing God with our speech, it is even more important to avoid cursing God with our actions. The name of God can be dragged through the mud without ever uttering a single cuss word, so it is dangerous to put so much emphasis on avoiding profane speech that we forget to stress the importance of avoiding profane deeds.

Discussion questions

• How do you respond to someone who says something like this: “Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment on New Orleans because of the city’s sins. Does God punish the good along with the wicked” (Genesis 18:22-33)?

• What do you make of the wager Satan makes with God? How does the portrayal of God in Job 1-2 compare with the way you picture God in your mind?

• How does the portrayal of the Adversary in Job 1-2 compare with the picture of Satan we find in the New Testament?

• What are some ways in which people can curse God through their actions?