Posted: 5/26/06

Adoptive parents fill
empty nest, meet child’s needs

By Marv Knox

Editor

ABILENE—New parents Anna and Mike Chancellor’s love shines brighter than all their birthday candles. And their compassion trumps conventional expectations for couples their age.

Ordinarily, 55-year-olds don’t adopt an 11-year-old son.

Fifty-five is an age when most couples enjoy their “empty nest.” With children grown, educated and independent, couples that old typically focus on the free time, discretionary income and leisure they set aside to raise a family.

But the Chancellors are focusing on homework, tae kwan do lessons, and tending to the special needs of a son who bounced from abusive birth parents, through two foster homes and past two failed adoptions before landing on their Abilene doorstep.

With sons Tim and Joseph grown and on their own, the Chancellors adopted James last year. That changed all their lives forever.

“Anna and I never saw this coming,” Mike Chancellor acknowledged, although they did talk about adoption—about 30 years ago.

They met after Mike graduated from Howard Payne University while Anna was attending East Texas Baptist University. They got married in 1974 while both were students at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

“We were one of those couples who thought we might have trouble having children,” he reported. After two years without children, they discussed adoption but also started fertility testing.

But not long afterward, she became pregnant with Tim, who was born in 1977. Joseph followed in 1979. Although they talked about adopting another child during those early years, the busy-ness of raising two active boys soon put that out of mind.

Thirteen years ago, they moved to Abilene when he became pastor of Crescent Heights Baptist Church. She soon started working at Hardin-Simmons University. An institutional grant paid for both boys’ undergraduate degrees at the Baptist school, and both parents also earned graduate degrees in counseling.

“The guys hung around through college,” Chancellor said.

“We had the perfect ‘empty nest’—they moved from home, to the dorm, to apartments. But they lived here in town, and they both would swing by.”

Tim and Joseph both graduated from Hardin-Simmons in 2000. A year later, they each moved “more than halfway around the world,” as their dad describes it. They served as missionaries—Joseph in Thailand and Tim elsewhere in East Asia.

“When they left, they really left,” their mom observed.

Tim returned home in 2003 and soon married and started a family. He now is a patrolman in Rockwall and lives in Greenville. Joseph came back to the United States in 2004. He is on the staff of Purpose Driven Ministries of Saddleback Com-munity Church in southern California.

After their sons left for the mission field, the Chancellors enjoyed their new station in life. They had more time to devote to causes they hold dear, including her private counseling practice and their joint ministry to hurting ministers and their families, as well as to their own aging parents.

Part of her private practice, Big Country Family Therapy Associates, involved working alongside a child-placement agency that coordinates both foster care and adoptions. Eventually, her primary task was to design mental health treatment for foster children.

And that’s how she met James. The boy was 7 when Child Protective Services removed him from his biological family.

“I was there the day he was placed,” she remembered. “And I did counseling with him through the years.”

By the fall of 2004, Child Protective Services caseworkers focused on getting James—by then 10 and already living with his second foster family—adopted.

A couple of attempts failed. The second time around, James already had started visits with his adoptive family. But the prospective family was not prepared for a little boy with a speech impediment who had been bruised physically, spiritually and emotionally by shameful treatment compounded by instability.

James’ caseworker, foster mother and Anna Chancellor realized they could not send him into an adoptive family that didn’t understand his special needs.

“His caseworker called the adoption off, and I had to tell him,” she recalled. “I was devastated. Usually, I try to keep my objectivity. But James just had to be adopted. As he would get older, adoption would become increasingly problematic.”

So, she went home and talked to her husband.

“Mike said, ‘We’re not too old to adopt,’” she said. “It had been in the back of my mind. But when he said the A-word, that was confirmation.”

Chancellor received separate confirmation, he added.

“We were doing an intercessory prayer study at church, using material by Andrew Murray, whose analogy is that God is like a loving father who finds great delight in his children,” he explained. “What I realized was that a lot of the great joy of my life was being a dad.

“Through the years, God had sent not only my sons, but also a lot of guys into my path whose dads were absent or distant. I became their surrogate dad, and this still was part of my life.”

As he thought about the possibility of middle-aged adoption, Chancellor weighed the human inclination toward a life of ease against the opportunity to deeply impact another child’s life.

“What an incredibly selfish thing—to feel that, by raising your own children, you absolve yourself from responsibility for anyone else,” he explained.

“Here this kid pops up. All he ever wanted was a mom and dad, to be safe and loved. How better could I spend the next 10 years than walking with a kid who never had what my boys had—unconditional love and safety?”

The Chancellors completed 30 hours of training and officially served as James’ foster parents for six months before his adoption was completed last December.

“This changed our lives completely,” she said. Not only did they re-enter the world of raising a young child, but this child carried the weight of burdens too heavy for his slender shoulders.

So, the Chancellors lifted those challenges—special education, emotional immaturity, delayed intellectual development, speech problems and hyper-needy desire for attachment.

Slowly, steadily, James has progressed, she observed. “This has been a whole lot harder than I thought it would be. … (But) the joy of having James is to begin to see him achieve. He has a lot of strikes against him. But he’s getting better. We see the little victories.”

For his part, James has embraced both faith and family. He has accepted Jesus as his Savior, and he takes pride in being a son as well as a younger brother to Tim and Joseph. “I’m part of it,” he says of the Chancellor family.

They express grateful support for the help they have received from others.

“What has made this more manageable” has been the encouragement and tangible help provided by their family and by members of Crescent Heights Baptist Church, he said. “This whole thing would have been much harder without our church family,” she added.

The Chancellors downplay the special nature of their commitment to James

“It’s not going to be perfect here. We’re not perfect,” Chancellor said. “But he’s safe, in a stable environment, in a network of folks who love him. … I can’t imagine what his future would be if he stayed in (the foster-care system) until he ages out. And many kids do.”

In fact, he thinks many more Texas Baptists ought to do something about that.

“I’m concerned about what the state of Texas did to this child,” he stressed. “James’ condition was made worse by a system that pushed him on a family who didn’t want him.”

Unfortunately, the system reflects not only a shortage of funds, but also an acute shortage of people willing to adopt Texas children.

“Over 1,100 Texas kids are in foster care, waiting for adoption,” he said. “Many Texas Baptists could take one child and do our best.

“What if 1,100 middle-aged Texas Baptist couples—couples who are in reasonably good health, whose families have been good to us—what if we step up and each take one challenging child who has been through so much? We could give them the best our lives and experiences have to offer.

“Out of 5,700 churches, I can’t believe there’s not 1,100 middle-aged couples who could do this.”

The Chancellors hope and pray other Texas Baptists will share their dream for James with all the other Jameses out there.

“How much can he recover? I pray he will be a mighty man of God, a man of faith,” she said as tears welled in both their eyes. “He’s made his first step. He understands Jesus loves him.”

Posted: 5/26/06

Around the State

• A one-week program at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor will afford children ages 10-16 the opportunity to learn basic Chinese conversational phrases and the Chinese writing system. The program will be held June 5-9 from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. Cost is $40. For more information, call (254) 295-4556.

• The Center for Cultural and Language Studies at Baptist University of the Americas will hold its annual summer cultural immersion experience June 7-14 at the San Antonio campus and culminate with a weekend practicum in Piedras Negras, Mexico. The experience begins with classroom instruction on both the beginner and intermediate levels. Conversation experience is provided through interaction with international students at the university. Field trips around San Antonio develop knowledge and appreciation of the Hispanic culture, while interaction with a local church immerses participants in the worship and fellowship practices of the Hispanic culture. The program culminates with a weekend of living among members of a church in Piedras Negras. Cost is $400 for the week, exclusive of housing. Members of Baptist General Convention of Texas churches receive a $50 scholarship through the Mary Hill Davis Offering. For more information, call (210) 924-4338, ext. 202.

• The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Conservatory of Music is taking enrollment for four Kindermusik camps to be held June 26-30. The age-group breakdowns are newborn through 18 months, 18 months through 3 years old, 4- and 5-year-olds, and 6- and 7-year-olds. Some classes require an adult caregiver attend the class with the child. Prices range from $85 to $140 and include materials. Register in the conservatory office, Room 208 in Presser Hall, by June 2.

Students from Hardin-Simmons University joined with their counterparts from Abilene Christian University in an effort to call attention to the plight of thousands of Ugandan children kidnapped each year and forced into the rebel army. The students packed up blankets, sleeping bags and backpacks and walked to the parking lot of First Church in Abilene for the “Global Night Commute.” High school and college students around the country participated in local events. About 400 people participated in Abilene.

• Baptist University of the Americas graduated 98 students this month—more than double the entire enrollment of the school seven years ago. The ceremony marked the school’s 60th class of graduates. The school is in the process of relocating from its 12-acre site to a location of more than 70 acres across Interstate 35 in San Antonio. Construction is under way for a student housing village and dorms that will be completed in fall 2007.

• Hardin-Simmons Univer-sity’s Logsdon School of Theology recognized its outstanding students during a spring awards program. Spot-lighted for their achievements were Cole Detwiler of Richard-son; Jaci Jackson of Hollis, Okla.; Cody Neinast of Little-field; Jake Mills of Abilene; Ryan Vanderland of Midland; Jessie Davis of Pensacola, Fla.; Wes Henson of Quitaque; Aaron Kahler of Midland; Jay Patterson of Lihue, Hawaii; Kathy Smith of Arlington, Carl Smith of Carlsbad, Calif.; Craig Bermender of Leander; Matt Mc-Gowan of Cross Plains; Justin Dunn of Shawnee, Okla.; Bryan Holmes of Corpus Christi; Mark Moore of Abilene; and Meredith Stone of Bryan.

• The Baylor University Alumni Association presented Jerold McBride and Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Director Charles Wade with the George W. Truett Distinguished Church Service Award. A retired Texas pastor, McBride was ordained in 1951 and served several Texas and Oklahoma churches, including more than 30 years at First Church in San Angelo. Wade was pastor of First Church in Arlington from 1976 until 2000.

• Chris Liebrum and Michael Toby have been granted honorary doctorate of humanities degrees by Howard Payne University. Liebrum is the executive coordinator of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and Toby is pastor of First Church in Woodway, where he has served 28 years.

• Dallas Baptist University awarded undergraduate and graduate degrees to 565 students this month. Degrees were presented to 376 undergraduate students and 189 graduate students. Wayne Stevenson was presented an honorary doctor of humanities degree. He is a member of First Church in Plano.

• Kellye Brooks, assistant professor of business at Houston Baptist University, received an Outstanding Advising Certificate of Merit from the National Academic Advising Association. Earlier in the year, Brooks was named HBU adviser of the year. She has been on the school’s faculty since 1992.

• David Mohn, vice president for enrollment management and marketing at East Texas Baptist University, will retire May 31. Mohn has served the school 29 years in various capacities. Mohn also served First Church in Hallsville as bivocational minister of music 25 years before retiring there.

• Daniel Breed of Bryan was presented the Williams-White Award for the practice of Christian social concern at Southeastern Theological Seminary at the school’s spring awards chapel.

• Eighty-eight students received awards at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor during the spring awards chapel. Students earned medals based on effort, academics or character; awards in an area such as scholastic achievement, service to the university or a special talent; or a monetary scholarship to use in coming semesters. Daniel McFarland of Port Lavaca, Nathan Nipp of Houston, Joshua Plant of Aus-tin, Jeremy Kee of Georgetown, David Twilleager of Copperas Cove and Aaron Van Wey of Jersey Village all received the Dorothy Hughes Weatherby Presidential Endowed Scholar-ship for ministerial students. Tiffany Jennings of Harker Heights received the George W. Truett Baptist Theological Seminary Scholarship and the Outstanding Graduating Senior in Christian Studies award. James Burns of Lorena received the Zondervan-UMHB Award for Excellence in Biblical Hebrew. Sarah Durham of Kennard received the Stella P. Ross Memorial Medal for the Outstanding Christian Young Lady, and Terence Waldron of Montgomery received the Outstanding Christian Young Man medal.

Anniversaries

• Terry Horton, 10th, as pastor of First Church in Hallettsville, April 9.

• Jerry Smith, 20th, as pastor of First Church in Clifton, May 10, not 10 years, as reported in the May 15 edition of the Baptist Standard.

• Jonathan Smith, fifth, as associate pastor at First Church in Richmond, May 15.

• County Line Church in Rogers, 150th, June 10-11. The celebration will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday with singing and fellowship. Former pastors expected to be present for Sunday’s service include Russell Pogue, Luther Dillard, Weldon Hicks and Gary Hillyard. Former music director Bruce Mercer and his family will bring the special music. A meal will follow the morning service. Steven Taylor is pastor.

• Reagan Wells Church in Uvalde, 100th, June 25. Descendents of the church’s original seven families will be recognized. Jack Nelson and Mag Gibbens will be recognized as the oldest living descendents of the originating families. Nelson, 93, serves the church as an active deacon. Also to be recognized are all the people baptized in the Dry Frio River. A lunch will follow the morning service. An open house will follow that afternoon, not only at the present building but also at the old Heard School building, where the church met for many years. A reception will be held in the fellowship hall. Alvie Stiefer is pastor.

• First Church in Perryton, 100th, July 8-9. An open house will be held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, with a hamburger cookout to be held at 6 p.m. and a worship service at 7 p.m. Former staff and members expected to participate in the evening’s worship service include Ganelle Pearce Hamp-ton, R.D. Jones, Susie Wilson, Suzanne Wood, Mike Key, Jerry Key, Nina Pinkston, Bob Law-rence, Charles Coulter, Gary Hall, Russell Pogue, O.K. Bow-en and Gerald Johnson. A continental breakfast will be available from 9 am. to 10 am. Sunday. Doug Riggs will preach. A lunch will follow the morning worship service. Church history books and cookbooks will be on sale. For more information, call (806) 435-3641. Richard Lav-erty is pastor.

Death

• E.P. Ramsey, 75, Oct. 25, 2005, in Crockett. He was pastor of First Church in Crockett from 1961 to 1991. He also was pastor of churches in Lufkin, Beckville, Clayton, Reliance, Garrison and Kountze. He served several churches as interim pastor after his retirement in 1991. He was a trustee for East Texas Baptist University for more than 20 years. His wife, Ethel, died 12 days after his death on Nov. 6. They are survived by their sons, Perry and Tom; and daughter, Deborah Williams.

• Johnny Barrett, 85, May 9 in Graham. He was a retired Baptist minister who was pastor of churches in Tonk Valley, Loving, Newcastle, Wizard Wells, Dublin, Vanderbilt, Goliad, and on the staff of churches in Dallas, Seagoville and Caddo. He was a member of First Church in Graham at the time of his death. He was preceded in death by his brothers,

J.B., Foster, Horace and Slim. He is survived by his wife, Rachel; daughters, Jana Golightly and Rachel Ann Hearne; sons Johnny, Billy Jack and David; sister, Louise Brooks; 25 grandchildren; and 36 great-grandchildren.

Ordaineds

• Matt Smith to the ministry at First Church in Temple.

• Jacob Flores to the ministry at Eisenhauer Road Church in San Antonio.

• Richard Alexander, Mich-ael Baze, W.E. Carpenter, Richard Fuchs, Zack Glover and Richard Lee as deacons at Macon Church in Mount Vernon.

Revivals

• Open Arms Church, Lone Oak; June 4-7; evangelist, Herman Cramer; music, Paul and Christy Newberry; pastor, Jeff Thompson.

• Reavilon Church, Green-ville; June 11-15; evangelist, Herman Cramer; music, Paul and Christy Newberry; pastor, David Hawkins.

Posted: 5/26/06

Few see church linked to spiritual growth

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

DALLAS (ABP)—Almost three-fourths of Americans claim to be Christians, but fewer than one in five considers church the place to deepen their faith, a recent survey reveals.

Less than 20 percent of American adults believe participation in a congregation is critical to spiritual growth, and just as few agree that only through participation in a faith community will they reach their full potential, the Barna Research Group reported.

Based on interviews with 1,003 adults from across the nation, the telephone surveys also found as few as 17 percent of adults said “a person’s faith is meant to be developed mainly by involvement in a local church.”

Only one-third of all evangelicals—a group considered most likely to attend church—endorsed the concept.

And while 72 percent of Americans claim they have personally committed themselves to Jesus Christ, less than 50 percent attend religious services on a weekly basis.

“These figures emphasize how soft people’s commitment to God is,” evangelical researcher George Barna said in the report. “Americans are willing to expend some energy in religious activities such as attending church and reading the Bible, and they are willing to throw some money in the offering basket, but when it comes time to truly establishing their priorities and making a tangible commitment to knowing and loving God, most people stop short.”

The results should challenge church leaders to foster a “more positive community experience,” Barna said.

Instead of a generic church model, which emphasizes attendance and experience-driven services, he said, churches should try for relationships that are less fluid in nature.

“Jesus’ example leaves no room for doubt about the significance of involvement in a faith community,” he said, adding that a “biblical understanding of the preeminence of community life” takes strategic planning and time.

The survey queried a random sampling of people 18 years and older living in the continental United States.

The geographic distribution of survey respondents corresponded to that of the U.S. population.

Posted: 5/26/06

Multi-faceted immigration ministry needed

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—While lawmakers call for comprehensive immigration reform, Texas Baptists are creating a comprehensive ministry to immigrants.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas is looking at the immigration issue from multiple angles. A complex issue such as immigration requires many different types of ministry, said Jim Young, BGCT social justice specialist.

“A comprehensive immigration ministry should address all issues of the human situation,” he said. “Holistic ministry moves from relief to development and will consider the immediate needs of food, clothing, shelter and medical attention.

“These relief opportunities will then allow the church to consider the sustaining needs of legal status, literacy, workforce development and spiritual growth. These efforts should not be limited to immigrants but to all persons and families that Jesus pointed to as ‘the least of these, my brothers.’”

For many years, Texas Baptists have sought to meet the needs of immigrants through ministries such as English-as-a Second-Language classes, clothes closets and food pantries.

The Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission has called for public policy reform that includes safe borders and a fair, efficient way for undocumented workers to become citizens.

The BGCT Immigration Taskforce, an effort supported by the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions, recently has launched an effort to train Texas Baptists to help undocumented workers seek a change in their citizenship status. About 50 people attended the first training session.

People who help immigrants with their citizenship status must be certified by the government. Two BGCT-affiliated churches currently serve as certified centers for immigration assistance.

The training sessions are part of a plan to create a statewide network of centers based in Baptist churches that can help undocumented immigrants. As individuals are trained, the taskforce already is creating a program to help churches become certified locations for immigration assistance. For information about immigration training, call (888) 244-9400.

The BGCT Hispanic Education Taskforce also is examining immigration because of its affect on public schools. Immigrants have special economic, language and physical needs that in turn produce unique challenges to the education system.

Suzii Paynter, CLC interim director and member of the BGCT Hispanic Education Taskforce and BGCT Immigration Taskforce, noted the immigrant population in Texas creates a large mission field where Texas Baptists are needed more than ever.

“Immigration law is going to change,” Paynter said. “We know that. If we are set up to help our churches, that is another way we can facilitate ministry.”

Posted: 5/26/06

Baptist Briefs

Calvinist and evangelist square off in 1st VP race. A neo-Calvinist apparently will face off with an evangelist for first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention this summer. Mark Dever, pastor of Washington’s Capitol Hill Baptist Church and a popular leader among SBC Calvinists, acknowledged he would allow himself to be nominated for the post. Keith Fordham, an evangelist from Fayetteville, Ga., will be nominated for the slot by Bill Britt, president of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists. Fordham is the immediate past president of the conference.

Louisiana pastor to be SBC 2nd VP nominee. Jay Adkins, pastor of First Baptist Church in Westwego, La., will be nominated for second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention by Joed Rice, pastor of Central Baptist Church in Ashland, Ky. Adkins, 33, expects to graduate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary with a master of divinity degree this month. Earlier, Kentucky pastor Bill Dodson announced he would nominate Wiley Drake, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., and Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, said he would nominate J.D. Greear, pastor of the Summit Church in Durham, N.C., for the second vice president’s post.

Southern Baptists make up with Mickey Mouse. In the latest—and perhaps final—symbolic act of reconciliation between the Southern Baptist Convention and the Walt Disney empire, First Baptist Church of Orlando leaders baptized more than 100 people May 21 in a Disney World lake. The baptisms followed lifting a boycott that started in the 1990s, when SBC leaders criticized Disney Chairman Michael Eisner for instituting gay-friendly products and company policies. SBC members also decried perceived sexual licentiousness in some Disney movies. Eisner has since left the company, and the SBC formally terminated the boycott in 2005, although small pockets of the anti-Disney sentiment remain.

Baylor offers family ministry workshops at CBF. Two concurrent workshops in Baylor Social Work’s Family Ministry Academy will be offered June 21 in conjunction with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly in Atlanta. The academy is sponsored by Baylor’s Center for Family and Community Ministries and offers three one-day workshops for congregational and lay leaders on how to strengthen and support family ministries. Family Ministry 101 is an introduction to the changing dynamics of family and how congregations can meet them at their various points of need. Family Ministry 201 will explore in the morning session the concept of missional family and how congregations can meet the needs of these families, as well as the importance of shared history. In the afternoon, FM 201 offers three concurrent sessions—“Loss throughout Life,” “For Better, for Worse: Ministry to Couples at Various Stages of Marriage” and “Being Intentionally Intergenerational.” A panel discussion will conclude the day. The workshops, both at the Omni Hotel at the CNN Center, will be from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Cost is $100 per workshop, with materials included. Lunch is not provided. For more information, call (254) 710-4417.

Kentucky board affirms gay student’s dismissal. Members of the Kentucky Baptist Convention Mission Board voted to affirm the University of the Cumberlands’ recent decision to dismiss an openly homosexual student for violating the school’s code of conduct. The board action did not address a pair of lawsuits related to an $11 million state budget allocation to the University of the Cumberlands to help establish a pharmacy school. Opponents say the state money is inappropriate because of the school’s policy against homosexuals and its religious nature.

Southern Baptist Koreans meet separately from SBC. The Council of Korean Southern Baptist Churches in America will meet June 19-22 on the Wheaton College campus—one week and 800 miles removed from the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Greensboro, N.C. Council leaders decided last year to break with tradition and not meet in conjunction with the SBC annual meeting.

Posted: 5/26/06

Posted: 5/26/06

2nd Opinion:
God is sovereign over his sovereignty

By Roger Olsen

Baptists have a habit of recycling hot theological topics. God’s sovereignty and human free will is one that keeps coming around. Right now, the debate between Calvinists and Arminians is heating up again. Recently, a Baptist seminary president suggested that the Southern Baptist Convention has no room for Arminians, which should come as quite a shock to the millions of believers in free will who are loyal Southern Baptists.

What many people miss is that Calvinists and Arminians agree God is sovereign and God rules providentially over creation and predestines people to salvation. Their areas of agreement are much larger than their disagreements over specific interpretations of these biblical concepts.

Sovereignty has to do with God’s governance of all things; the Christian doctrine of God’s sovereignty is that God is in charge of the universe and everything in it. He rules over it. Providence is nearly identical with sovereignty; it deals with the way in which God rules over his creation.

Predestination is another doctrine linked to God’s sovereignty, but it is not identical with providence. Predestination is the biblical teaching that God foreordains or foreknows which of his human creatures will be saved. The “elect” are chosen by God. On these doctrines, Calvinists and Arminians agree. They disagree on the role free will plays in whether a person is among the elect and thus predestined by God. Calvinists deny free will as power of contrary choice and argue that God’s grace is irresistible. Arminians believe in free will as power of contrary choice and say grace is never imposed on anyone; people can and do resist the grace of God.

Following Dutch theologian Jacob Arminius (who died in 1609), Arminians believe God is sovereign. In fact, God is so sovereign that he is sovereign over his sovereignty. In other words, God limits his power to make room for human power of free choice, including freedom to resist grace. Free will is not a relic of human goodness that survived the fall in the garden; it is a gift of God’s grace that enables us to respond freely to the offer of Christ in the gospel.

Calvinism is belief in divine determinism; God is the all-determining reality who sovereignly plans and controls all events, including the free choices of humans. Arminians ask how free people can be if their decisions are controlled. Arminians wonder how God is good and loving in light of the combination of evil in the world and God’s all-determining sovereignty and power. Even the most die-hard Calvinist hesitates to lay sin and evil at God’s doorstep. After talking about God’s all-determining power, they wince at saying God determined the fall of humanity in the garden or Hitler’s holocaust. A hardy few press on and say God even caused the terrorist acts of Sept. 11.

Those of us who believe in real freedom of will, liberty and power of contrary choice see that as the only escape from making God the author of sin and evil. A God who determines people to sin, even if only by “efficacious permission” (withdrawing the grace necessary not to sin), is the ultimate sinner. A God who could save everyone, because salvation is unconditional, but passes over many—sending them to eternal damnation—is morally ambiguous at best. As John Wesley commented, if this is love, it is such a love as makes the blood run cold.

Admittedly, most Calvinists do not follow the logic of their own view of God’s sovereignty to its good and necessary conclusion. They affirm God is loving, but they say that “world” in John 3:16 refers not to everyone but to people of every tribe and nation—the elect. God loves all people in some way but only the elect in every way.

Arminians embrace the universal love of God for all people created in his image and likeness. God is not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9) because he desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).

Clearly, God does not completely get his way, because he is sovereign over his sovereignty and allows sinful people to thwart his will. But that in no way detracts from his greatness or power; it is evidence of his self-limiting and loving respect for people.

Roger Olson is professor of theology at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary.

Posted: 5/26/06

TBM volunteers rebuild homes in Cross Plains

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

CROSS PLAINS—Texas Baptist Men Retiree Builders helped two families in West Texas rebuild their lives by rebuilding their homes.

A team of builders finished building one Cross Plains home and rebuilt another in three weeks. A wildfire in early January affected more than 90 homes and killed two people in the community.

Bill Pigott, who coordinates TBM’s retiree builders, said the group was pleased to be able to help two families whose needs were identified by First Baptist Church in Cross Plains and by city officials.

“The main thing we went to Cross Plains for was not necessarily to build anything,” Pigott said. “I know God can make things happen. He can build buildings. Our main purpose was to impact the community.”

In the process of building the homes, TBM volunteers had the opportunity to share their faith with many people. They spoke of why they were there and what they hoped to accomplish.

“God did not call us to build,” Pigott said. “He called us to witness. Building is just a tool to witness.”

Posted: 5/26/06

DOWN HOME:
Saturday morning, with Grammar

Grammar and I went for a ride.

Her friends know her as Helena Moore. But to me, she’s always been Grammar, my mother’s mother.

Grammar lives in Fort Sumner, a farming village on the high plains of eastern New Mexico. It’s far from our home in Lewisville, and I don’t see Grammar nearly as often as I’d like. When my friend Stacy invited me to preach in Muleshoe, and I realized I’d be within a short drive of Fort Sumner, I extended my stay to visit Grammar.

Not long after I arrived on Friday, Grammar asked what I’d like to do on Saturday. I think she already knew: “Drive out to see that wind farm east of town.”

Grammar and I always have fashioned ourselves as explorers. When I was a kid, she’d take me for long walks beside the railroad tracks. We’d discover turtles and pretty rocks, the occasional feather, and all sorts of other treasurers. So, I hoped she’d want to go explore the wind farm up on the mesa.

Grammar jumped at the chance. (Well, no. Women her age don’t jump anymore. But she quickly agreed we should go.)

A few feathery cirrus clouds painted the sapphire New Mexico sky as we trekked toward the mesa. I couldn’t help but recall the story Chad Clanton tells about a conversation between the writers Willie Morris and Eudora Welty as they drove across the Mississippi delta: “‘Eudora,’ asked Willie, ‘would you like to go down Paradise Road?’ Eudora slowly smiled and replied, ‘We'd be fools if we didn't.’”

To my knowledge, nobody’s ever called Highway 252 “Paradise Road.” But it’s a pretty ride, with God’s glorious plains stretching out to every horizon.

Grammar lamented the drought that has gripped her corner of the world for several years now. She decided somebody must be feeding the cattle, because they look too fat to be living off the sparse sage and prairie grasses up on the brown mesa.

When we reached the top, we marveled at the 210-foot-tall machines that convert the wind that sweeps the plains into electricity that powers homes and businesses for miles and miles. Uncle Norman told us the New Mexico Wind Power Center is the third-largest wind farm in the world, with 136 turbines producing up to 200 megawatts of electricity.

Grammar and I got a charge out of the wind farm. But its primary purpose that day was to provide us with an excuse to ride along in the sunshine, chatting about everything that came to mind and listening to the music of each other’s voices.

I can’t tell you how many walks Grammar and I took when I was a boy and she was the age I am now. Scores, maybe hundreds. Back then, I took them all for granted, because I assumed we’d take many more.

Now, time constrains us. We know we’ll never take another long walk together, and we can’t count on many car rides, either.

So, I’ll cherish that Saturday morning drive in the country. With my lively and resolute Grammar at my side, it was a trip down Paradise Road.

— Marv Knox

Posted: 5/26/06

EDITORIAL:
Americans AWOL in the worship wars

First, the good news: A new survey conducted by the Barna Group reveals Americans have increased their behavior significantly in five of seven religious categories:

• Forty-seven percent of U.S. adults say they read their Bible at least once a week outside of church. That’s the highest level since the 1980s, a 16-point climb in 11 years.

• Weekly church attendance has rebounded, from 37 percent in 1996 to 47 percent this year.

• Small-group participation has reached a new high, with 23 percent of adults saying they meet for Bible study, prayer or personal relationships outside of Sunday school. That figure compares to 17 percent a decade ago.

• Volunteerism also is up. Twenty-seven percent of adults say they volunteer at church, reversing a low of 20 percent.

• Sunday school attendance, which fell to a historic low (17 percent) in the mid-’90s, has bounced back to 24 percent of adults.

• Even the two activities whose frequencies have not changed are high: More than four out of five adults (84 percent) told pollsters they prayed in the past week. And 60 percent of born-again Christians said they have shared their beliefs about Jesus with an unbeliever.

Now, the not-so-good news: Another Barna survey shows Americans are “inconsistent in their spiritual perspectives.” This is bad news for local churches:

• Only 17 percent of U.S. adults agreed “a person’s faith is meant to be developed mainly by involvement in a local church.” Just one-third of evangelicals and 20 percent of non-evangelical born-again Americans agreed.

• Similarly, only 18 percent said they believe spiritual maturity requires involvement in a local congregation.

• Although a majority of Americans say they want their lives to matter, only a minority (44 percent) are strongly committed to “personally make the world and other people’s lives better.”

• While a slim majority (54 percent) of adults say they would “do whatever it takes to get and maintain … a deeper connection with God,” less than half (44 percent) age 40 and younger are so committed.

Ironically, Americans’ perceptions of the value and importance of church have declined while the battle over how to conduct church—specifically worship—has escalated. Advocates of various worship styles have acted as if their version is (a) uniquely inspired by God and (b) the “fix” for ensuring a vital congregation.

Meanwhile, more Americans are deciding that’s all a crock. They’re thinking they don’t need the church in order to square themselves with God. And, quite possibly, they’re figuring all the fussing and fighting over worship actually detracts from their ability to worship and follow God.

So, Barna’s surveys show us it’s time to turn loose of the worship-stones we’ve been throwing at each other. We must turn our energies toward revitalizing our churches so that Americans realize they’re oases of spiritual nurture in an arid and secular world. Let’s start with three steps:

• Build community.

People need people. That’s why the personal dimension of church is vital. Other believers embody Christ to each other. We need to provide more ways for people to build deep and lasting friendships through church. Sunday school classes and other small groups are a start. We also need to look at how we can help people connect through affinities, neighborhoods and needs.

• Improve Bible study.

Short-term, this won’t produce tremendous change. Long-term, it will make a huge difference, when people begin to see how the Bible applies practically to their lives. If a church has an abundance of good Bible teachers, then Bible study groups can be small and also can provide wonderful community. But if a church has few good teachers, it should focus on quality Bible teaching, even if the groups are large, and then build community elsewhere. God only knows how many people have been turned off from church and the Bible by bad teaching.

• Make life meaningful.

Many of our churches have been so focused on appealing to worship consumers they’ve overlooked something far more important than musical genres—meaningful activity produces meaningful lives. If our churches will provide people with guided, hands-on, significant opportunities for ministering to and serving the needs of others, people will come to realize church is a place of significant value. And that will produce a cycle of outreach and response that is absolutely (there’s only one word for it) evangelistic.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard.

Posted: 5/26/06

TBM volunteer bricklayers
help build church in Ethiopia

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia—Texas Baptists joined hands across the world to help construct a church building for Ethiopian Christians.

A team of Texas Baptist Men bricklayers worked with a Texas Baptist couple serving as volunteer missionaries to help build the walls of a church in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.

Ray and Lauralee Lindholm serve as Texas Envoys through the Baptist General Convention of Texas

The men built the walls for the first story of the Baptist church. A second story will be added later. Several churches will move from a tent they have used the past 15 years to the permanent building when it is finished. The church needs additional funds and materials to complete the building.

TBM volunteer Travis Maynard said construction was a way for the team members to live out their faith.

“Our main purpose was to encourage the people and then come back and tell people what is going on there,” Maynard said.

Lonnie Green, another member of the bricklayer team, echoed Maynard’s thoughts.

“Laying the bricks is one thing, but they can do that,” he said. “I think just seeing us over there encouraged them. It was a very humbling experience.”

Maynard was impressed by the Ethiopian Baptists. They have few material items but are sustained by their faith, he said.

“I never saw a frown on their face,” he said. “All the evangelicals over there are just so happy. It’s all they have, but that’s enough.”

Posted: 5/26/06

First-time parents receive
help at Port Neches church

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

PORT NECHES—At First Baptist Church in Port Neches, help for first-time parents begins before children arrive.

Ministers make an extra effort to connect with expectant mothers, knowing pregnancy can be a joyous but challenging time of change for first-time parents. Staff members help support mothers-to-be emotionally and inform them of assistance the church provides after birth.

Interaction helps expecting parents build trust with church staff members they may not know, said Donna Smith, minister of preschool and children’s ministry at First Baptist Church. As a result, parents become more willing to leave their children at the church for Mother’s Day Out activities later.

The relationship continues through birth. The congregation presents each new mother a gift basket, and a Bible study class arranges to bring the new parents dinner on several nights.

First Baptist Church is one of many Texas Baptist congregations that believe connecting with first-time parents early is crucial for the parents and the child. The sooner a congregation can help parents focus on the spiritual development of their child, the more likely it is to be a priority.

Most spiritual development should take place at home, said Susan Sosebee, minister to families with children at Calvary Baptist Church in McAllen. That is where children spend most of their time and can be most influenced in their early years. Children learn more in their first five years than young people do while they are enrolled in college, she asserted.

“The primary goal is to raise your child to walk with the Lord and have them love God with all their heart, soul and mind,” Sosebee said. “And in that love, have them turn around and love others.”

For their part, churches are teaching children biblical lessons from infancy. Some Scripture is read to infants even before they can understand it, but biblical teaching mostly involves modeling faith. Infants learn to trust by being cared for by the same nursery worker every week. They learn God loves them by having people love them.

“You start it with a foundation,” Sosebee said. “It’s like a building. The foundation is the most important thing.”

Churches use a variety of outreach approaches to help parents with childrearing. Calvary Baptist Church in McAllen and First Baptist Church in Port Neches have offered parenting classes that teach adults about child development.

Smith and Sosebee said the classes attract people who either are not involved in the congregation or barely involved in the church. They want more help strengthening their new families.

“It’s really interesting, people who attend those classes … they want that bond with someone who is going through the same scenarios as what they are going through,” Sosebee said. “They will come and will bond with those people.”

The church, in turn, finds a ministry opportunity. It collects each family’s contact information, and church members can follow up with them. First-time parents from the church can build a relationship with non-churchgoing parents.

Smith has invited groups to her home for dinner, hoping people can bond and support each other.

“I want them to make some sort of connection with other people,” Smith said. “I want them to know Christian people aren’t crazy. They have fun.”

Other congregations are using One By One Ministries in their outreach to parents. In this program, parents are teamed with trained mentors from churches who visit young parents at least once a month for 45 minutes. They commonly meet more than that.

Mentors provide encouragement and practical support for parents who need it, said Linda Hibner, acting executive director of One By One Ministries. Typically, the ministry serves adults who were referred by pastors, pregnancy centers or social service agencies.

Parenthood provides an opportunity for the church to impact generations, Hibner said. Adults typically are more open to receiving help when their life changes. They are willing to listen to Christian counsel to improve the lives of parents and children.

“We feel like there’s an opening, a softening of the heart, when a pregnancy enters someone’s life,” Hibner said.

No matter the approach, ministers say the most important action parents can take is spending time with their children in their early years. Church leaders are trying to make sure that time includes conversations about faith.

“What is really important for new families is … you have to model your faith for your children,” Sosebee said. “So when you rock your children to sleep at night, you sing little songs about how you love Jesus—Mommy and Daddy love Jesus.”