Posted: 2/9/06

Unity marks Baylor regents' meeting

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

WACO—Unity marked John Lilley’s first board meeting with the Baylor University regents since becoming the school’s president, both he and outgoing Chairman Will Davis of Austin reported.

“Everything passed unanimously,” Davis told reporters after the Feb. 3 meeting—including the confirmation of Jim Turner of Dallas as new board chair and the approval of a new residential complex that will replace a campus landmark. Last year, the regents had named Turner chair-elect. He will assume the chairmanship June 1.

Regents authorized construction of a 700-bed residential complex, approved issuing up to $63.5 million in bonds to finance the project and agreed to raze the Brooks Hall dormitory to make room for the new development.

The Brooks Village residential facility will cost a projected $42.8 million, and an 800-car parking garage will cost about $8.3 million. The balance of the bond issue will finance utility upgrades and property acquisitions.

The complex will include a 120-seat chapel, great hall, dining room, library and resource center and classrooms.

The residential facility will incorporate some external features of Brooks Hall, including its distinctive entry archway.

Brooks Hall—a dormitory built in 1921 that houses 230 students—will be leveled when students move out after the spring semester, and the university will break ground for the new facility soon afterward, Davis said.

“It will be a little tight for one year,” Lilley acknowledged, but he said existing housing will accommodate current Brooks Hall residents.

In other business, regents approved a resolution of appreciation for Bill Underwood, who served as Baylor’s interim president seven months and more than 15 years on the Baylor Law School faculty. Underwood has been named president-elect of Mercer University in Macon, Ga.

During his tenure as interim president, Underwood “began building bridges and restoring unity that paved the way for the 13^th president of Baylor University,” the proclamation said. “Many of his successes are evident in the steps he took to begin the rebuilding of the Baylor community through his openness and transparency that fostered healing for the Baylor family.

“He encouraged others at Baylor to focus less on their differences and more on finding common ground with one another. He sought to calm the waters by creating a renewed sense of shared purpose among alumni, faculty, staff and students.”

At the regents meeting, Lilley also announced the appointments of Reagan Ramsower as vice president for finance and administration and Charles Beckenhauer as general counsel. Both had served in their posts on an interim basis.

Posted: 2/7/06
Explore the Bible Series for Feb. 19

Assist missionaries in every way possible

• Romans 15:14-20, 22-25, 28-32

By Trey Turner

Canyon Creek Baptist Church, Temple

There is a word gaining wider usage in church literature. It is coming to the forefront because of people’s search for purpose. “Missional” answers the question of how to connect the Great Commission with my own Christian walk.

It is not enough to consider being mission-supportive, though our church will continue to support our missionaries in our budget and then with the special offerings throughout the year. Being missional means being involved—intentional involvement.

Last May, a group of students from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor applied for a Kenyan mission trip. I was privileged to be a sponsor with two others from our church and another from First Baptist Church in Belton.

The trip was tremendous as we met University of Nairobi students and shared ministry together. We encouraged their faith, and they encouraged ours. Everyone from the mission team talked about the impact it made on our future mission involvement.

Some from our group now know they are called to a foreign mission field. Others of us know we are not but still were profoundly and eternally changed by the experience. Personally, I still am participating in ministry partnerships that began those weeks in Nairobi. It is time churches began being more deliberate about giving opportunities for mission involvement.

After the thorough theological discussion the Apostle Paul gives in Romans, he comes to a passage where he talks practically about what we would call mission involvement. There are some guidelines and principles we would do well to note.

Carry out missions activities (Romans 15:14-19)

Paul knows he is not the only one meant to carry the gospel, though he has particular gifts as an apostle. He already has challenged believers with Romans 10:14-15, urging others to bring the gospel message to those who have not heard.

Americans are in a unique place to be able to be a partner in spreading the gospel. It takes the desire Paul shows for seeing people born into the family of God (16-17). In the book The Disciple Making Church, the author asks as a part of the discipleship process, “Where is your Macedonia?” The question refers to Paul’s vision of the man who called out to Paul to come help him. Macedonia is the place you understand as your mission calling.

Use broad strategy (Romans 15:20, 22-24)

The Bible student needs to recognize Paul’s strategy of advancing the gospel. Though he was the apostle to the Gentiles, he took it first to the Jewish people. Some of them responded, and then he would take the gospel to the Gentiles. He would go to large cities and to port cities; both would be favorable to dispersing the message throughout the Roman world.

Paul’s strategy is to preach where Christ is unknown (v. 20). He even envisions taking the gospel to Spain (v. 24). Does our local church have a vision for reaching those without Christ? Do I have such a vision?

Assist missionaries (Romans 15:24-25)

Missionaries especially are gifted for their task, but they are not indestructible superheros. Troubles weigh them down as they would anyone. Missionaries get tired. They need to be encouraged and would thrive sharing the gospel alongside others. We may think of Paul as a loner, but he seems grateful for the encouragement and help others were to him.

Work within God’s will (Romans 15:28-29; 32)

Paul did not have an empty desire to visit the Romans, but knew he would eventually. One day, he would visit them, and it would be with God’s blessing and in God’s purpose. It was Paul’s intention to follow the will of God where and when he led.

We also will be most helpful to God’s purposes when we operate with deference to his agenda.

Pray for missionaries (Romans 15:30-31)

Paul expresses confidence in prayer. He does not ask the saints in Rome to lobby for him or come join him in his struggle. Instead, they should pray for him.

I have always been told by missionaries and their families that they will plan special events on their birthdays because they know Baptists are praying for them from the missionary birthday calendars. That is true confidence. You contribute to missionary success when you pray for their needs to be met. You pray for their families, fields, struggles and spiritual breakthrough.

Discussion questions

• Which of these things that Paul suggests have you done to serve people who serve God as missionaries? What are you not doing that you could add in the coming year?

Posted: 2/7/06
BaptistWay Bible Series for Feb. 19

Repentance requires leaving something behind

By Lex Robertson

Logsdon Seminary, Abilene

At the beginning of every year, people resolve to exercise regularly and maintain healthier diets. This is a good idea. I have made these resolutions myself for several years now. “This will be the year,” I tell myself annually.

I then celebrate my new resolutions by lying around the house watching football and eating black-eyed peas and cornbread all day. “Today is just the first day of January, I still have 364 days to get on that diet and exercise routine.”

Once February rolls around, I still haven’t started. My intentions still are good, but my actions are not there. By June, even the intentions are gone. All my good intentions, when they are not matched by my actions, are meaningless.

In Luke 18:31-43, Jesus was going through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. Before he entered Jericho, he met a blind man who called out for mercy. When Jesus gave the man sight, the man immediately began to follow Jesus. His response was one of action.

When Jesus finally entered Jericho, in Luke 19:1-10, he met another man whose intentions were supported by his actions. Zaccheus, aside from being “a wee, little man” (as the song goes), was a tax collector. Religious leaders often criticized Jesus for being the friend of tax collectors. Tax collectors were despised in the community, having a reputation for being crooked.

Zaccheus had heard Jesus was coming. He climbed a tree just to get a peek at the Savior. Jesus called him down from the tree and informed the tax collector the one he had been waiting in tree for would be staying with him.

The people standing around began to talk, wondering why Jesus would be the guest of a sinner, and not just any sinner either but a tax collector.

Zaccheus did not waste time. Upon Jesus’ call, this tax collector hurried down the tree. Before the two of them even began to travel to their destination and before Jesus had said another word, Zaccheus proclaimed he would give half his possessions to the poor. Further, if he had cheated anyone (and surely he had, that was the way tax collectors worked), he would pay back four times the amount he swindled. Jesus responded by saying salvation had come to Zaccheus.

Many times, we, as Christians, are thankful for God’s grace and mercy in salvation, but we neglect genuine repentance. Like our new year’s resolutions, our repentance is just a few good intentions with no real action. That is not repentance at all.

To repent means to turn around, to leave something behind and to go in different direction. For Zaccheus, a crooked tax collector, it meant paying back even more than he had defrauded. It meant a significant sacrifice of the possessions he cherished. It meant living a life that benefited others rather than just himself.

Compare (or contrast) Zaccheus with another man Jesus met. In Luke 18:18-30, a rich ruler asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. He claimed to have kept all the commandments, but Jesus told the ruler he lacked one thing. Jesus instructed the man to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor. Upon this instruction, the rich man became sad.

The rich ruler wanted what Zaccheus received—salvation and eternal life. The reason the ruler did not receive salvation had nothing to do with the commandments or any theological tenets. He simply did not repent when Jesus asked him to do so.

Zaccheus did not even wait for instruction. When he met with Jesus, repentance seemed like the only natural response. Both Zaccheus and the other man were rich, but the other one was saddened with the thought of repentance. Zaccheus, however, repented joyfully, knowing a life following Jesus and giving to others is more fulfilling than anything money could buy.

Zaccheus’ repentance, though rewarding, was not easy. Giving back four times what he had defrauded had precedence in the Old Testament. In Exodus 22:1, anyone who had stolen one sheep was commanded to return four sheep to the person from whom he had stolen. Even though it was the right thing to do, it probably meant parting with a significant amount of the wealth he had gained honestly in order to redeem the portion he had gained in deceit. Not only that, but he gave half of all his possessions—not just half of his money, but half of everything.

Parting with money is not easy for anyone. For a person who has a lot of money, it can be downright painful, as demonstrated by the rich ruler. Giving possessions can be a relief, if a person just gives away those things he or she no longer wants, but it also can be difficult. People often define themselves by their possessions—their clothes, cars, jewelry and gadgets. Zaccheus did not care about his material possessions anymore. He had met Jesus, and Jesus was enough.

Revisiting New Year’s resolutions, I realize I am a lot like the rich ruler. I want to lose 15 pounds, I just do not want to make the necessary sacrifices. Spiritually, I hope to become more like Zaccheus, whose repentance was not mere rhetoric. The sacrifices may be a little scary, but the reward is immeasurable!

Discussion question

• What would true repentance look like in your life?

Posted: 2/7/06
Family Bible Series for Feb. 19

Push through the doubts to find God’s blessing

• Jeremiah 20:1-13

By Donald Raney

Westlake Chapel, Graham

“Am I doing what God really wants me to do?” “What if I misunderstood what God was calling me to do?” “There must be a better person and a better way to do this.”

It is likely that everyone who has sought to serve God has had these and similar thoughts at some point. No matter how committed to God’s service a person might be, doubt is an ever-present enemy. Intimidation by an exaggerated view of the size of the task and feelings of insufficiency may lead us to doubt by shifting our focus from our commitment to our abilities. A strong desire to succeed or a perceived lack of results also may lead to doubt by implanting an inaccurate picture of exactly what we have been called to do.

Such feelings are not new to those God calls. Even the great prophets of the Old Testament had similar doubts. The prophet Jeremiah wrote about his doubts and feelings concerning his call from God.

Through a series of passages scattered throughout the first 20 chapters of his book known as the “confessions of Jeremiah,” the prophet allows the reader to see how he wrestled with these feelings (Jeremiah 11:18-12:6, 15:10-21, 17:14-18, 18:18-23, 20:7-13).

We also can see how God helped Jeremiah through these times by realigning his perspective and renewing his focus. As we study these passages, we can gain much insight into how we can best deal with our moments spent dealing with doubt.

Jeremiah 20:1-6

Jeremiah had an unpopular message of divine judgment for his own people, and he was the only one telling it. More than once, he was arrested for delivering God’s message. He served as a prophet 40 years without a single convert. Most of his friends and even some of his own family turned against him (Jeremiah 12:6).

Jeremiah had plenty of reason to entertain serious doubts about his calling. On one occasion, Jeremiah had proclaimed God was about to destroy Jerusalem because of the stubbornness of the people. One of the priests had Jeremiah arrested, beaten and placed in the stocks over night.

Such treatment, however, did not deter Jeremiah. Upon being released the following morning, Jeremiah spoke a message of judgment against the priest. He said the priest would witness the destruction. He would be forced to watch the slaughter of his friends and the exile of all of Judah.

As a sign of this, Jeremiah says the priest’s name is no longer Pashhur but Magor-missabib, which means “terror on every side.” The priest himself would be carried into exile in Babylon where he would die.

Jeremiah certainly could have allowed such an experience to rob him of his commitment to his calling. As he sat in the stocks that night, he may have questioned whether it was worth the pain and considered apologizing the next morning. Yet through the doubts, the certainty Jeremiah had in his divine call enabled him to remain committed to fulfilling that call. As we face our own doubts today, Jeremiah’s example shows us the first step in dealing with them is to remain faithful to do what God has called us to do.

Jeremiah 20:7-10

While Jeremiah remained faithful to carrying out his calling, he continued to wrestle with doubts. He wondered if he had understood God correctly. He wondered if he could or should continue to preach the same message of judgment. He even wondered if God had deceived or misled him.

In Jeremiah 20:7-10, the prophet takes all of the doubts and questions directly to God. He is clearly angry with God. God is supposed to protect those who serve him. Yet Jeremiah has faithfully obeyed God’s instructions and has experienced only pain and disappointment.

Yet when Jeremiah tries to withhold the message to avoid further persecution, God’s message torments him from within his heart so that he cannot keep it to himself. Jeremiah understandably feels trapped in a life of suffering and honestly pours all of his frustrations out at God. Many times people do not want to express real negative emotions and feelings to God. They have real questions and anger toward God concerning God’s character or actions, but feel expressing these to God would be inappropriate.

But God knows our thoughts and feelings and wants us to be open and honest about them. Jesus has experienced those same emotions and feelings. He understands and is able to help us deal with them, but only as we admit to having them and tell God about them.

Jeremiah 20:11-13

Often, we are able to release and overcome anger and doubts simply by verbally expressing them. As Jeremiah poured out his heart to God, his initial anger at God was gradually replaced by remembrance of God’s work and protection in his life. While Jeremiah’s foes had persecuted him, God always had been there to protect his life.

Jeremiah also had lived to see God punish many of those who had opposed Jeremiah and his message. Even as he prays that God would exact vengeance on his enemies, Jeremiah is confessing that God not only can punish, but does in fact punish those who oppose his servants. Although doubts would continue to arise, Jeremiah’s experiences had provided him with a sufficient foundation for renewed hope and confidence in the future.

Like Jeremiah, we can push through and overcome our doubts by remembering that the same God who called us will provide all we need to accomplish that for which he called us.

Discussion questions

• Have you ever experienced opposition while fulfilling God’s call? How did you handle the situation? What happened?

• How do you feel about expressing anger toward God?

• What doubts about your relationship to God or his calling have you recently (or currently) dealt with? How did you work through them?

Posted: 2/7/06

North Carolina paper moves to preserve freedom

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

CARY, N.C. (ABP)—The Biblical Recorder, newspaper of North Carolina Baptists, will choose some of its own directors in a move to preserve its journalistic freedom, the newspaper’s leaders said.

Beginning this fall, the 172-year-old newspaper will nominate four people to open seats on its 16-member board, bypassing a convention nominating committee the leaders fear is stacking the board with “agenda-bearing conservatives.”

The cost will be significant, however. The Recorder, with an annual budget of about $900,000, will likely lose a total of $400,000 in funding from the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina over the next four years.

The move—invoking an unusual option in the convention’s bylaws—will not negate the newspaper’s relationship with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, which still can elect or reject the newspaper’s nominees. But it will give the Recorder some insulation against censorship in the theologically diverse but deeply divided convention, its leaders said.

“In most other state conventions where agenda-bearing conservatives have gained control of the state paper’s board, they have either muzzled the editor through censorship, or replaced him with someone who could be counted on to promote the party line,” said Editor Tony Cartledge. “A free Baptist press was lost in those conventions.”

Baptist newspapers and news services have been a frequent battleground in the Southern Baptist Convention’s 27-year-old controversy between fundamentalists and moderates, which now has migrated to the state conventions.

Cartledge informed the convention’s committee on nominations in late January of the Recorder’s December decision. The newspaper’s directors took advantage of a 1992 amendment to the convention’s governing documents that allow its 12 affiliated agencies to nominate up to 50 percent of its directors. In return, the entity gives up a similar percentage of its funding from the convention during the time those directors serve—four years in the Recorder’s case.

The newspaper is the first North Carolina agency to exercise the option. But in a similar action, the Baptist Retirement Homes of North Carolina recently voted to start naming its own trustees. Meanwhile, a convention committee is studying its relationships with five affiliated colleges.

“We exercise this option with deep regret,not only for the loss of funding but for the increasing polarization in BSC life that has led us to believe that, for the time being, this decision is necessary in order to safeguard and preserve the charter principles of a free press for the future. We have no agenda for changing our relationship to the BSC,” said Joe Babb, chairman of the Biblical Recorder board.

Mike Cummings, the convention’s acting executive director, said he is not troubled by the Recorder’s decision. “I hope it doesn’t give the impression that the Recorder doesn’t need the money because I know it does and deserves Cooperative Program support,” he said, adding he would prefer the Recorder invoke the trustee-nomination provision rather than face more difficult issues the other agencies could face.

Typically, each president of a North Carolina Baptist entity gives the nominating committee a list of potential trustees—generally twice as many as the number of vacancies—and the committee usually nominates people from that list.

Last year, however, the committee nominated people from those lists for every entity except the Recorder, Cartledge said.

“The committee accepted only two of the eight names submitted by the Recorder and excluded the other six without providing any rationale for doing so,” he said.

“As for why these good people were excluded, all we have to go on is the chairman’s statement to Conservative Carolina Baptists (Oct. 20) that the committee wanted to put more conservatives on the Biblical Recorder board.” Several other agency presidents were surprised when the committee rejected some of their nominees as well. The committee said some were excluded because they belonged to churches affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists, which has an open policy toward homosexuals. But none of the Recorder’s excluded nominees were members of Alliance churches, Cartledge said.

If the North Carolina Baptists vote this fall to reject the Recorder’s nominees, convention bylaws require their replacements come from the newspaper’s list of other recommended directors.

Cartledge said having conservative directors for the newspaper is not the issue.

“I have recommended a number of conservative candidates in past requests, and they have served well,” he said. “But when presenting potential candidates, I have always told the nominating committee that whether a board member favors conservative or moderate theological positions is not an issue to me. What is important is that the person appreciates traditional Baptist distinctives and is committed to the mission of the Biblical Recorder.”

Rejecting nominees without cause could lead the committee to nominate people “antagonistic” to an organization’s mission, Cartledge said.

According to the Recorder’s charter, the publication is “to maintain and safeguard the inalienable rights and privileges of a free press, these rights and privileges being consistent with the traditional Baptist emphasis upon the freedom, under Christ, of both the human spirit and Baptist churches.”

“One cannot overestimate the importance of a free press that covers the news objectively rather than serving as a controlling body’s public relations tool,” Babb said. “Often in the face of unwarranted criticism, the Biblical Recorder has provided that valuable service to North Carolina Baptists since 1833, and we hope to continue that tradition for many years to come.”

Last year, Louisiana Baptists were asked to dissolve its 119-year-old newspaper, the Baptist Message, and merge it into the convention’s public relations department. Messengers to the November state convention defeated the plan after opponents complained the newspaper would lose its journalistic freedom.

In other states, fundamentalists have restricted editorial freedom, elected sympathetic editors or established new publications to compete with the convention’s newspapers.

This article is based on reporting by Tony Cartledge and Steve DeVane of the Biblical Recorder.

Posted: 2/3/06

Texas Baptist Forum

Worshipping worship

Baptists, do some discerning. We’ve left our first love and followed after the things of the world. More of our churches are worshipping the worship, entertaining the eyes, the flesh, and allowing Hollywood to dictate how sinners are drawn into the church. 

• Jump to online-only letters below

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

“If as a film company we could only work with people who were completely sanctified, then the film would never have been made.” Producers of End of the Spear The new movie about American missionaries and tribesmen of Ecuador received criticism from some Christians because lead actor Chad Allen is gay. (ABP) “Faith in Christ isn’t just about waiting for him to take you to the promised land at the end of time. It’s also about being his steward on Earth during your life until such time.” Susan Pace Hamill Tax expert at the University of Alabama law school, who wrote a biblical interpretation of Alabama’s tax code during her studies at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/RNS) “A multilingual church is harder than work. Sometimes, it’s pure hell. Everybody walks around offended sometime. (And) I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” Ramiro Peña Pastor of Christ the King Baptist Church in Waco, whose composition is 35 percent Anglo, 50 percent Hispanic, 15 percent African-American “and some wonderful Asians,” testifying on behalf of multiracial churches at a workshop sponsored by Mission Waco

We’re to go into the world and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. We’re not to conform our worship services to worldliness in order to entertain the sinner into heaven or satisfy the converted into a lifestyle of compromise, lazily allowing a Hollywood movie to somehow bring people to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. 

If Disney has made inroads into the Baptists through a fable of pagan creatures, witches and a four-footed beast and has modern Christian culture going ga-ga over the fact that “its” movie has made it to the big screen and churches can celebrate “Narnia Nights” in the holy place of God, built for a Holy God’s worship, then, indeed, we are in the last days. 

If our leaders would rely on God’s word and the Holy Spirit for direction, there would be no need for marketing or entertainment to draw the lost to God. “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, for they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables.”

Carol Vance Jr.

Rogers

Souls who come home

A freelance writer in a conference at Oklahoma University asked the editor of The Saturday Evening Post, “What style and what subjects will make the pages of the Post?”

His answer: “There is no particular style or subject. If you get a byline in the Post, you have to touch me—make me feel it.”

Today, I recall his statement and remember something from long ago. It was a 30-minute prayer session before a revival service. A father poured out his soul for his wayward son. That night, his son committed his life to Christ, and the father shouted, “Thank God, my boy has come home!” It touched us all. We felt it!

Baptists would do better to forget styles and methods of worship and pour out our souls for those who need to come home!

M.G. Upton

Orangevale, Calif.

Approach subject with humility

The Baptist Standard is to be commended for publishing Brent Walker’s common-sense article about intelligent design, which certainly reflects the position of most people of faith and many scientists that the science of evolution and a belief in a creator God can be harmonized.

Only extremists on both sides, creationists and metaphysical naturalists, insist on a dichotomy, and both are philosophically on slippery ground. Both sides should approach the subject with humility rather than an agenda.

Creationists’ “scientific arguments” can be either logically discredited or shown to be philosophical in nature, going back to St. Thomas Aquinas’ Proofs of God. Evolution, on the other hand, while still the best scientific theory on how life forms change with time, still has not yet reached consensus on such fundamental issues as how life arose on this planet.

Most Christians have no cognitive dissonance with believing that God created all things, including life, but leaving the details of how for scientific investigations.

Dolan McKnight

Richardson

Advent and gift giving

“Baptist churches learn to embrace Advent rituals” (Dec. 19) was interesting. When the Berlin wall went up in August 1961, we lived in Munich, Germany, for the next three years. Advent calendars and Advent wreaths were enjoyed by the Bavarian Catholics. Those of us who enjoyed the Advent wreath custom brought our Advent candleholders home to the States. It was frowned upon in those days as being a Catholic custom.

This article included an ugly flaw: A pastor bought a $1,100 Advent stand and gave it to his church as a gift. After he left, he learned it was hidden and went back and retrieved his gift. That is terrible!

If he gave it as a gift, he needed to turn loose of it. What is this business of retrieving gifts?

If I give my son a shirt and then find it in the back of his closet, what gives me the right to take my gift back? Once I give it, it is his to do with as he pleases.

I believe the same thing about this Advent stand. If he wanted one for his new church, he could spend another $1,100 and make a gift of it or keep it for himself and drag it out only when he wants to share it with others.

We try to teach our children about gifts. Gifts should be freely given, with no strings attached. Suppose the gift of God’s love could be retrieved and taken back by God!

Julie Myers

Stephenville

Death did not enter the world until Adam sinned

I am disappointed with Brent Walker’s 2nd Opinion article (Jan. 23), in which he advocates making illegal the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. Since evolution remains an unproven theory, other competing theories can and should be taught. Scientists who advocate intelligent design make many compelling arguments, and children would benefit from exposure to these ideas.

Walker’s article fails to mention Darwin’s theory of evolution is not compatible with the Bible. Charles Darwin believed animals, which he said were our ancestors, have been living and dying for millions of years. Yet the Bible states that death did not enter the world until Adam sinned.

Romans 5:12 reads, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin.” In addition, 1 Corinthians 15:21 states, “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.” Evolution has death occurring before sin, but Genesis 3 clearly says that death comes after—and as a result of—sin. 

As a Christian, Walker should support intelligent design, for Romans 1:20 states, “For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (see also Psalm 19:1). If Walker believes this verse, how can he not support intelligent design?

Intelligent design scientists simply point out the evidence for God’s existence in nature. Their evidence is not a religious text, but scientific facts found in nature. How could this possibly be unscientific?

Tim Overton

Louisville, Ky.

Meat, lifestyles and rising medical costs

According to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the national cost of medical care escalated to $1.9 trillion in 2004. This represents a 7.9 percent increase over the previous year, or nearly three times the 2.7 percent rate of inflation.

In terms of the national economy, the cost of medical care now accounts for a record 16 percent of our gross domestic product and ruins the profitability and international competitiveness of our industries. In personal terms, it amounts to $6,500 for every American, or $15,500 per household. It represents a major financial burden, lost productivity, personal misery and premature death.

The real tragedy is that most of the diseases associated with the outrageous cost of medical care are self-inflicted through flawed lifestyles. These include inactivity, smoking, substance abuse and meat consumption.

Yes, meat consumption.

According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, nearly 1.4 million Americans are disabled, then killed prematurely each year by heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and other chronic diseases that have been linked conclusively with consumption of animal products. That accounts for 56 percent of all deaths, and presumably, for a similar percentage of medical costs, or more than $1 trillion.

Most of us have no control over the national cost of medical care. But each of us has a great deal of control over our household’s $15,500 share every time we visit our local supermarket.

Dylan Stellin

Dallas

Invasion of privacy

The power abusers who use the nation’s resources to invade our homes with high-tech spy equipment and exploit the American family should be reprimanded. I believe in the president’s course for the country. I support our troops and believe in their mission. I see great improvements for the economy in 2006.

However, we must protect the privacy of the American home. The abuses of power that are going on in Texas are appalling. When power abusers are allowed to defile the American home, they make a mockery of the freedom we are fighting for.

Changes need to be made to protect Americans from an invasion of privacy in their own homes. I believe in America and the American dream. America is and always will be the home of the brave and land of the free! We must up wake from our complacence and elect those who will ensure that America does not become a chilling depiction of how the power of the state could come to dominate the lives of individuals through cultural conditioning.

Let us use our rights as voters wisely for the upcoming elections. We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night, my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Roman Stockton

Katy

Posted: 2/04/06

CYBER COLUMN:
Reflection on tears

By John Duncan

I’m sitting here under the old oak tree, thinking of a family from Lake Butler, Fla.—Barbara and Terry Mann, who lost five children and two nieces in a fiery car crash when their car was sandwiched between a school bus and a tractor-trailer. The grandfather of the children grieved so hard that he died when he received the horrible news. Friends lit candles, and flowers with wreaths decorated the town, and memorial services followed. Residents of the town marched the streets and sang “Amazing Grace.”

The parents weep and grieve.

Then just recently, here in Texas, a 77-year-old man wandered aimlessly into a deep thicket of woods and could not find his way out for four days. He survived on rainwater and cried out for help so long he nearly lost his voice. He said, “Every day I screamed, hoping somebody would hear me.”

Tears push out when loneliness surrounds and no one hears your cry for help.

A police officer found the famished and dehydrated man and rescued him. The man said he did not feel alone because of his faith in God. A blanket of stars comforted him amidst thoughts of death and tears.

Another news story tells us about a baby in Brazil floating in a bag on a lake. No doubt, somewhere on the journey, the baby agonized in trauma and fear and wailed, dripping tears.

I find myself thinking almost every newscast reverberates with tears—murders, court cases, car wrecks, car bombings, protests, pipe bombs, drug deals, teenage suicide and athletes in the sadness of defeat sitting on the bench crying because the dream of a championship trophy has died, at least for the moment.

The poets of old spoke often of tears.

• Lord Byron: “We two parted in silence and tears.”

• Emily Dickinson: “The soul has bandaged moments.”

• John Donne, poet and preacher at Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London during the London plague, when funerals were a daily custom: “Drown my world with my weeping earnestly.”

• Gerard Manly Hopkins: “Now no matter, child, the name: Sorrows springs are still the same.”

• Czeslaw Milosz: “And the sea battering the shore. And ordinary sorrow.”

• Alfred Lord Tennyson: “Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean.”

Tears prove healthy, a catharsis, a cleansing like soap and water on the hands. Everyone cries—a skinned knee, a slammed finger, standing at the grace site of your sweet grandmother, a baby dies before it ever starts living, bad news comes—even tears of joy, celebrating the elation of a goal accomplished or a dream realized. Tears supply life with rain to renew the soul for future days.

I have cried on occasion in my life: The day I took my daughters to college, tears running down my cheeks and me blubbering down the interstate after I dropped them off. My 10-year anniversary at Lakeside Baptist Church, where I pastor. Every time I took my wife to the doctor the first year after her cancer. Thos are just a few.

Sometimes, I lay in bed at night and think of my wife, all she’s been through and how much I love her and Valentine’s Day soon coming and all. And I shed a single, sometimes double, idle tear, the slow drip of a tear that gently slips out of my eye and falls freely on the pillow.

I have talked about tears to say this: Of all the things rarely mentioned about Jesus is this: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Preachers often speak of this verse as the shortest verse in the Bible or an easy memory verse. The context is the death of Jesus’ good friend, Lazarus. He died. The moment swirled with drama and grief, and Lazarus’ sisters said: “Lord, where in the world have you been? Why did you not come sooner?” The Bible succinctly presents Jesus’s response: Jesus wept.

Tears mean you are alive. Tears mean you experience love. Tears mean life spits pain. Tears mean that life presents problems and dilemmas. Tears mean that life has joy. Tears mean that you remember. Tears mean that you wish you could forget. Tears trickle and tickle and flow and go and pour and drip and are salty and real.

The Bible also tells us that Jesus weeps for the city (of Jerusalem). He sees it in its sorrow and sin, and he weeps. He cares.

So here I am under the old oak tree, thinking of that family in Florida, and that man who cried for three days and nearly lost his voice and no one heard, and a crying baby floating on the lake. And I’m wondering if Jesus weeps. I think he does. I know he does. He’s alive, and he cares for you!

John Duncan is pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, and the writer of numerous articles in various journals and magazines. You can respond to his column by e-mailing him at jduncan@lakesidebc.org.

Posted: 2/3/06

RIGHT OR WRONG?: Friends with a pot of gold

A friend approached me the other day with what he called “a tremendous money-making opportunity.” To participate, I needed to give him $1,000 up front, and my part would be to find people who would put up $1,000 to me. He’s my friend, so how should I respond?

This question raises two important ethical issues. The first concerns the nature of this “money-making opportunity.” It sounds like a Ponzi scheme. These illegal pyramid schemes are named for Charles Ponzi, who duped thousands of New England residents in a postage stamp speculation scheme in the 1920s. Ponzi promised his investors he could double their money in 90 days. The average investor gave Ponzi $300. At the height of his scheme, he had estimated income of $1 million per week. Ponzi went bankrupt and was sent to prison. Later, he re-emerged in Florida and began a pyramid land scheme. He went to prison again and died in poverty in Brazil in 1949.

One might be tempted to think such scams were only successful in the past. Unfortunately, they continue to work in the 21st century. Based on a “rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul” principle, the schemers, like Ponzi, use the investments of new investors to pay off early investors. But eventually, the whole enterprise collapses.

Many people cannot see the endemic problem with such schemes. I am reminded of a friend who was excited about going into the “worm farm” business. When asked to whom he was going to sell the worms, he responded, “To people going into the worm farm business!”

There are several obvious problems with participating in such a scheme.

First, the New Testament teaches that we are stewards of everything that God entrusts to us. As 1 Peter 4:10 puts it, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” That’s why we have an obligation to investigate any “money-making opportunities” to ensure that they are sound investments.

Second, if you know that such an opportunity is bogus, you are encouraging immoral, if not illegal, behavior by participating. Jesus said, “What good is it for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul?” And the eighth commandment is still, “You shall not steal.”

Third, if you know that the scheme is bogus or even questionable, it would be wrong to involve anyone else—especially a friend—in such an enterprise. To do so would be the equivalent of profiting from the poor. Jesus and the Hebrew prophets condemned such behavior.

All of this brings me back to the second major ethical issue. This concerns the characterization of the person who approached you as a “friend.” Many Christians have been approached with similar propositions. Usually, they are approached by someone they perceive to be their friend. I question whether this perception is accurate. Would a real friend involve you in a questionable enterprise?

There are companies that specialize in pyramid marketing. Some of them encourage Christians to recruit fellow church members. Often this is done under the guise of a friendly invitation to a church member’s home. When you get there, you discover you have been tricked into listening to a sales presentation. Those issuing these invitations are told by their employers to conceal the true nature of the invitation. There is no doubt that this marketing technique works, but it is certainly not Christian and should not be employed by anyone claiming to follow the teachings of Christ. Tell your friend: “I can’t participate in this kind of investment. I don’t want to trade on my friends.”

Philip Wise, pastor

Second Baptist Church

Lubbock

Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.

Posted: 2/3/06

ABP hires Dallas-based news editor

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP)—Associated Baptist Press has hired Hannah Lodwick Elliott to become the organization’s Dallas-based news editor. Elliott began her new duties Feb. 1.

Elliott’s hiring fills a position left vacant since the fall of 2002, when cuts in funding from many of the news service’s traditional sources forced it to lay off long-time Managing Editor Bob Allen.

“After three years of carrying the daily responsibility of the news service, I am more than a little pleased and relieved to have Hannah’s help,” Executive Editor Greg Warner said. “This will allow me to focus more on writing, while giving better leadership to the rest of the staff. We are all going to benefit from restoring our staff to nearly full strength.”

Elliott, 24, graduated magna cum laude from Baylor University in 2004. Since then, she has been employed by Weber Shandwick, a public relations agency, working out of the company’s Dallas office on its American Airlines account.

While in college, Elliott gained experience as a reporter and editor for the Lariat, Baylor’s student newspaper, and in the sports department for the Waco Tribune-Herald. She also worked for KVTZ-TV News in her hometown of Bend, Ore.

She served as an ABP intern in the summer of 2003.

She married her high-school sweetheart, Spencer Elliott, Dec. 31. He is employed by the brokerage firm JPMorgan in Dallas.

“I’m excited about the chance to explore Baptist life in the region and in the nation.” Elliott said. “I think that matters of faith and belief are becoming more and more prominent in the national mindset, and I am looking forward to the chance to write and report on this.”

Elliott will work from Dallas, in office space provided by the Baptist Standard, which has cooperated with ABP for years. Marv Knox, editor of the Standard and a member of ABP’s board, said he looked forward to deepening the historic relationship between the two news agencies.

“As both an editor who relies on ABP news and a board member who cares deeply about ABP, I am thrilled Hannah has joined the staff,” Knox said. “She will make ABP an even stronger, faster, more reliable and more effective source of news and features. And because she will make ABP stronger, she will contribute to the strength of the many newspapers, like the Standard, that depend upon ABP.”

Posted: 2/3/06

Around the State

• The fifth annual Baylor University Sacred Harp Singing will be held Feb. 11 in the Great Hall of Truett Theological Seminary. For those new to Sacred Harp singing, a singing school will be held beginning at 9:15 a.m., with the official sing starting at 10 a.m. After a lunch break, singing will begin again and conclude at 3 p.m. Singing from the Sacred Harp, or shaped note singing, was a method used widely in smaller Protestant churches in the South to teach church members to sing parts. At this free event, all are welcome to come and go. For more information, call (254) 710-2360.

• Dallas Baptist University will hold its Patriot Preview Weekend for prospective students Feb. 11. At the one-day event, high school juniors and seniors have an opportunity to experience campus life and learn more about choosing a college. Students and parents are offered a series of informative seminars, as well as fellowship opportunities with other families and DBU faculty. Information on financial aid options, the admission process and campus life are highlighted. The cost is $25 and includes two meals for students and their parents. For more information, call (214) 333-5360.

• Baylor University history professor Thomas Kidd has been named the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship. The $40,000 stipend will allow him to work full-time on his forthcoming book Awakenings: The First Generation of American Evangelical Christianity, which is under contract with Yale University Press.

• Ron Brown has been named associate vice president for enrollment management/ director of financial aid at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Brown has worked at the university more than 17 years.

Anniversaries

• Dan Tice, fifth, as minister of education and youth at First Church in El Campo, Jan. 1.

• Byron Williamson, fifth, as pastor of Calvary Church in Rosenberg.

• Keith Brister, 10th, as pastor of First Church in Duncanville, Feb. 1.

• Gary Oncken, 15th, as music minister at Wildewood Church in Spring, Feb. 19.

• First Church in Balmorhea, 100th, March 11-12. Saturday will include a time of refreshments, fellowship, and fun and games beginning at 1 p.m. Donnie Melton, pastor of First Church in Rosenberg, surrendered to preach at the Balmorhea church as a high school student and will preach in the morning service. The Lord’s Supper also will be observed as a part of the 10 a.m. service. A lunch will follow. Roy Byrd is interim pastor.

Deaths

• Robert Coble, 73, Jan. 7 in Lufkin. A former student at Southwestern Seminary, he was a pharmacist at Memorial Hospital in Lufkin 33 years. He also served First Church in Lufkin as a deacon and preschool teacher. He was preceded in death by his brother, William; and sister, Eueline Pattillo. He is survived by his wife, Joy; daughter, Buffy Reitz; and one granddaughter.

• Jarman Bass, 82, Jan. 20 in Dallas. A 1943 graduate of Baylor University, he was an active Baptist layman. A longtime member of Park Cities Church in Dallas, he served nine years as a trustee of Baylor University and Baylor Health Care System. For six years, he was a member of the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. He also served as a trustee of the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. He was preceded in death by his wife, Llewellyn. He is survived by his daughters, Bettie Vandivort and Beverly Childs; three grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

• Bobbie Bennett, 74, Jan. 20 in Garland. He was a Southern Baptist pastor, and also retired after 21 years of service in the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command. He was preceded in death by his sister, Helen Blake. He is survived by his wife, Lorene; sons, Duane, Bobby and Gary; daughters, Lora Aber-nethy and Malinda Vasquez; brothers, Howard Bennett and John Townsend; sister, Ruthie Howard; and 10 grandchildren.

• Sam Randolph, 71, Jan. 21 in Comanche. He was pastor of Texas churches 42 years, including First Church in Comanche, where he served from 1982 until his retirement in 1996. He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Patti; mother, Grace; daughters, Kim Atkins, Stephanie Bucking-ham, Melinda Wilkinson and Jill Lewis; sisters, Betty Nelson and Myrna Fort; 10 grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

• John Max Cox, 78, Jan. 24 in Denison. A Howard Payne University graduate, the school awarded him an honorary doctorate in divinity in 1992. An educator and minister, he served colleges and universities in Texas, Arizona, California and Oklahoma. He also was pastor of First Church in Murphy and Edhube Church in Bonham, as well as two churches in Oklahoma. He also was minister of education and music at Central Church in Pampa. At the time of his death, he was a member of Parkside Church in Denison. He was preceded in death by his sister, Bethel Lea Orrick. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Billie Sue; daughter, Kathy Cox; son, David; sisters, Marcia Rives, Martha Whatley, and Claudine Creel; and one grandson.

Events

• Youth at First Cambodian Church in Houston recently presented a play to share the gospel message with their peers. About 175 people attended the play, with several making professions of faith in Jesus Christ. Savann Kruoch is pastor.

• First Church in Arlington broke ground on a $1.85 million expansion of the Hamill Welcome Center and entrance areas to the sanctuary Feb. 5. The project, scheduled for completion in late summer, is the first of 22 projects that will touch nearly every part of the church campus. Dennis Wiles is pastor.

• Cowboy Church of Ellis County’s grand opening for its newly constructed worship center will be held at 10 a.m. Feb 12. A dedication is slated for 5 p.m. that day, followed by a concert featuring award winning artists Susie Luchsinger and Mike Hammock, as well as some cowboy church bands from the area. The building is designed to seat up to 1,800 people, but seeks to maintain a country/ rural flavor. For more information, call (972) 935-9801. Gary Morgan is pastor.

Ordained

• Garrett Wooten, Dustin Messer, Steven Rothschild, Braxton Edwards, Joshua Price, Stephen Simmons and Adam Whigham to the ministry at Paramount Church in Amarillo.

• Kent Slack to the ministry at First Church in Gainesville.

• Ruben Harrison Jr. to the ministry at Primera Iglesia in Laredo.

• Ricky Passmore to the ministry at Crosspoint Fellowship in Pleasanton.

• Pete Houpt to the ministry at Trinity Church in Pleasanton.

• Ron Shuffield to the ministry at Ridgemont Church in Abilene.

• Jim Ellis and John Batson as deacons at Indian Hills Church in Grand Prairie.

• Tom Galbreath, H.C. Maples, Toby Owen, Julia Robinson and Oscar Voirin as deacons at University Church in Fort Worth.

• James Barton, James Wilson and Chris Zimmerman as deacons at First Church in Temple.

• Jeff Cade, Dalton Morrison and Brian Wear as deacons at First Church in Paris.

• Bryce Briscoe, Gerald Dickens and Mark Hearn as deacons at Memorial Church in Baytown.

• Roger Dreessen, Fred Huff and David Stone as deacons at Central Church in Luling.

• Garrett Cox, Mike Brister, Mike Webb, Paul Sanderford and Randy O’Rear as deacons at First Church in Belton.

Revivals

• First Church, Canyon Lake; Feb. 5-8; music, Clifton Jansky; evangelist, Bubba Stahl; pastor, Gordon Hightower.

• Porter Springs Church, Crockett; Feb. 12-15; music, Sherman and Tammy Aten; evangelist, Malcolm Ellis; pastor, Carl Standley.

Posted: 2/3/06

Baptist Briefs

Challenge grant to benefit Richmond seminary. Harwood and Louise Cochrane of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., have agreed to match every gift, dollar-for-dollar, contributed to the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond’s “Building our Future … Together” fund-raising campaign through July 31, 2007, up to $3 million. Gifts and pledges already received for the campaign total $8.4 million toward a base goal of $15 million and a challenge goal of $19 million. The Cochranes’ matching gifts will be earmarked for renovating a dormitory building with an eye to creating more of a residential campus community, seminary spokesman Nathan Taylor explained. Other gifts given in response to the challenge will be applied to the fund-raising campaign’s other goals. The seminary’s three other buildings currently are undergoing major renovations. For more information on the campaign, call (804) 355-8135.

GuideStone assets reach record high. GuideStone Financial Resources—formerly known as the Southern Baptist Annuity Board—closed 2005 with an all-time high in total organizational assets of $8.9 billion. In addition, the 13 GuideStone funds available to Southern Baptist participants turned in a positive performance for 2005 as well as positive returns since their inception on Aug. 27, 2001, agency officials reported.

Illinois Baptist executive director elected. The Illinois Baptist State Association board of directors unanimously elected Nate Adams as executive director during a special meeting. Adams, vice president for mission mobilization at the North American Mission Board, begins his new duties March 1. He succeeds Wendell Lang, who left the Illinois state convention last May to become senior pastor of West Jackson Baptist Church in Jackson, Tenn.

Louisiana College plans preview events. Louisiana College has scheduled two “Walk Like a Wildcat” preview events, Feb. 9-10 and March 9-10, to allow high school students to spend the night on campus in a residence hall and attend classes and extracurricular activities with current Louisiana College students. Students interested in participating in one of the events should contact the admissions office at (318) 487-7259 or (800) 487-1906 or register online at www.lacollege.edu/campusvisit.

Waco foundation pledges grant to heritage society. Christian Missions Concerns, a Waco-based foundation, pledged a $15,000 matching grant to the Baptist History & Heritage Society for the October 2006 publication of a series of pamphlets on Baptist origins. The pamphlets will be distributed free of charge to churches to educate Baptists about their origins in England and history in America. For more information, contact Charles Deweese at cdeweese@tnbaptist.org.org, or (800) 966-2278.

Youth Ministry Lab scheduled. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s annual Youth Ministry Lab, April 7-8, will include a conference for volunteer-led youth ministry programs in small churches. Other sessions will focus on youth ministry in large churches, student ministry, student praise bands, student leadership, adult volunteers in youth ministry and training for international missions experiences. Youth Ministry Lab speakers include Doug Fields, student pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., near San Diego; Ken Davis, a motivational speaker and communicator from Nashville, Tenn.; Allen Jackson, professor of student ministry at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary; Mark Matlock, founder of Wisdom Works Ministries; and Emir Caner, a former Muslim who is now dean of The College at Southwestern. The Joel Engle Band will lead the lab’s worship sessions. For more information, call (817) 923-1921 ext. 6239 or visit www.swbts.edu/youthlab or www.sbcstudents.com.

N.C. retirement homes to name own trustees. The Baptist Retirement Homes of North Carolina has adopted bylaw amendments that allow the corporation’s trustees to elect their own successors. Previously, the bylaws called for trustees to be elected by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, which also had the power to remove trustees. Baptist Retirement Homes, founded in 1951, operates retirement communities in Albemarle, Asheville, Concord, Hamilton and Winston-Salem. A letter mailed to more than 9,000 Baptist leaders, residents and others said the criteria for choosing trustees has not changed—they still must be Baptists, with at least three-fourths holding membership in North Carolina Baptist churches. The changes were approved during a December meeting of the Baptist Retirement Homes trustees.

Posted: 2/3/06

Internet porn a click away for teenagers

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

An increase in the number of computers around the house may lead to a higher number of marital problems for the first generation of adolescents maturing with Internet access in their rooms, some youth ministry specialists assert.

For many young people, pornography is simply a click away as an increasing number of teenagers can surf the Internet without supervision in their rooms, said Leighton Flowers, who leads the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ youth ministry efforts.

In this environment, teen viewing of Internet pornography is extremely common, according to Scott Helbing, chief operating officer of Pure Online, a group that helps teens address their addiction to pornography.

Nearly every young man his organization has spoken with across the country has looked at pornography, as have an increasing number of young women, he said.

A recent survey revealed 70 percent of teens ages 15-17 said they have “accidentally” come across Internet pornography, Helbing noted. One-fourth of boys have lied about their age to gain access to a pornographic website.

In a survey of senior high school students who attended BGCT Super Summer events, 85 percent said they have struggled with pornography on some level, Flowers said.

Such common issues with pornography may harm the marriages of this generation, Flowers and Helbing fear. Social scientists commonly agree that pornography can desensitize a person to sexual acts, dehumanize sex and create intimacy issues.

“Pornography can drive a huge wedge between spouses and ruin the intimacy God has intended in the sacred bond of marriage,” Flowers said. “For singles, pornography can become a replacement for true sexual intimacy and can give them false expectations and mental scars that will only have a negative impact on their future relationships.”

Pornography creates a desire for more frequent and intense images to satisfy the same craving, Helbing said. Addiction, obsession over sex and an objectifying of women can result, he added.

However bad the effects of pornography are on the individual, the societal effects may be even worse. This is the first time American society has been this infiltrated by pornography so pervasively, Helbing said.

“We know the long- term effects on the individual,” he said. “In extreme cases, it can lead to child pornography, prostitution, and criminal punishment. I don’t think we yet know the consequences to society from the long-term exposure to pornography by a significant portion of the population.”

The potential emotional and relational damage of pornography is why Christ warned people of things that make them “lust in their hearts,” Flowers said. Teens are faced with this temptation more than ever before. How they handle it may determine the fate of their relationships, he insisted.

“We are in the midst of a huge social experiment in that we are waiting to see the impact of raising a generation with the Internet at its disposal,” Flowers said. “What will the impact be on the marriages of this cyber-spaced generation? I don’t know, but the possibilities scare me.”