Posted: 4/16/04

DOWN HOME:
Welcome Tree shines nightly

If you drive down our street after dark, you'll recognize our house. It's the gray contemporary Cape Cod. Not distinctive enough? It's the one with the Welcome Tree out front.

My friend Rusty inspired our Welcome Tree. He has a dry sense of humor. Imagine the Sahara Desert. You sometimes have to stretch to get Rusty's humor, but it's worth the effort.

Late last year, Rusty confessed in his church newsletter that he once left his Christmas Tree up until April. He got too busy in December and didn't have time to enjoy the tree enough, and he wasn't ready to take it down by New Year's. So, he left it up until after April Fool's Day.

Rusty's Christmas-to-Easter Tree floated in my imagination in late December, the day I rolled up the lights that bordered our front yard, packed the wreaths and hauled them all to the attic.

Darkness dominated the winter sky as I walked around to the garage to get the tall stepladder. I'd removed every token of Christmas-just-past except the tiny white lights clinging to the branches of the weeping-holly. (I know that's not the name of it, but it looks like a cross between a holly bush and a small weeping willow.) I decided to ease my chore by turning on the lights on that tree–easier to see and untangle them in the looming dark.

But as I climbed that ladder, a truth dawned brightly. “This tree, with these lights, is too beautiful to enjoy only at Christmas.” And in one of the best moves I made all last year, I put the ladder away and left the lights on.

At first, Joanna, Lindsay and Molly acted like I'd fallen off the ladder. On my head.

“What's with the tree lights?” they asked.

“It's the Welcome Tree,” I replied.

Through January and February, I often turned on the Welcome Tree as I got home from work, as the sun began to set. The bright lights and beauty of that tree warmed my winter nights. (Plus it made our house look sorta like a really cool Tex-Mex joint.)

Turns out, I wasn't the only one enjoying the Welcome Tree. Some evenings, it already glowed before I opened the front door to flip on the lights. Molly began using it as a landmark to tell her friends how to find our home.

Well, you know how hard Texas winds blow in March. They took a toll on the Welcome Tree. Seemed like every morning as I picked up the paper, I had to tuck a strand of lights back on a branch. One Saturday, I got out the ladder, rolled up the lights and stacked them by the front door.

When Molly noticed, she hurried into the den. “Daddy, you can't take down the Welcome Tree,” she insisted. “It's distinctive.”

Notice she said “distinctive,” not “weird.” I'd say “beautiful,” “festive” and “joyous.”

And it reminds me of Christmas, even past Easter.

Posted: 4/16/04

EDITORIAL:
Political blocs splinter on chopping block of faith

A daily newspaper headline posed an intriguing question this election year: “Can Kerry keep the Catholic vote?”

The article begged for a sidebar to answer an unspoken question: What is the Catholic vote? And its corollary: What is the Baptist vote?

Of course, no such voting bloc exists. Not 44 years after 80 percent of all voting Catholics ensured John Kennedy's presidential bid. In 1960, Baptist Standard Editor E.S. James called Kennedy “a clean young man with intelligence, ability and competence” who “should be commended for his affirmation that if he were president he would abide by the Constitution, regardless of the attitude of his church.” Still, James opposed the Catholic candidate, and judging by responses to his editorial and other reports from that era, most Baptists voted as a bloc against Kennedy.

Those blocs have been obliterated. The prediction church historian Bill Leonard made more than 20 years ago has come true: Americans of faith have clustered politically along a spectrum from liberal to conservative rather than according to traditional denominational groupings.

How could a “Baptist vote” exist when Baptists not only include Jesse Helms, Trent Lott, Tom Delay and Newt Gengrich, but also Jesse Jackson, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Dick Gephardt? Similar fragmentation exists among the Catholics. And don't forget that George W. Bush, one of the nation's most conservative presidents, is a Methodist, one of the nation's more liberal denominations.

Several factors shaped this realignment.

One of the most significant was the Kennedy candidacy itself. Prior to his election, Kennedy met face-to-face with Editor James and scores of other non-Catholic religious leaders. Each time, he professed his political loyalty to the U.S. Constitution over the pope. Wildly popular among Catholic laity, and later among many Protestants as well, Kennedy built a case that a person could separate the sacred from the secular. One's faith didn't necessarily frame one's political perspective. This probably seemed like an isolated issue at the time –a Catholic candidate vowing he could be president for all the people–but it expanded. It unleashed the coming generations' worldviews from their faith foundations.

Next, the Vietnam War fractured American society. Most specifically, it set one generation against another. As they toted the body counts and then marched in the streets, young people of all kinds of faiths felt they had more in common with each other than they did with their parents. And Americans who supported or opposed the war sensed more kinship with like-minded citizens than their adversaries, no matter their faith, ethnicity or age.

Just before the Vietnam War ended, the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision divided America yet again. In fact, abortion has become the most polarizing issue of the last 30 years. For millions of Americans, it is the quintessential cultural lightning rod/stackpole. Attend pro-life and pro-choice rallies, and you're likely to see people who have nothing else in common except their passionate position on abortion.

These are just three examples of forces and developments that realigned our theological/political culture. Others come to mind–women in the workforce, gay rights, the nation's changing ethnic demography. You can think of other illustrations. They all point to the truth of Leonard's prediction: We find affinity according to our views on issues, not denominational labels.

This makes politics more difficult, if not tedious. Gone are the days when a Baptist instinctively voted for a Baptist or a Catholic for a Catholic. In fact, a voter who's passionate about multiple issues may have a hard time finding acceptable candidates. Example 1: Imagine you consider yourself “consistently pro-life” and oppose both abortion and capital punishment. Example 2: Pretend you're strong on church-state separation but also avid for faith-based initiatives. In both cases, you might as well write in your own name for everything from dog-catcher to president.

You might think this complex matrix of issues would be good for both faith and politics. Since you know someone who shares your faith perspective but sees a political issue differently, you could build on common ground, or vice-versa. And you'd be wrong, at least most of the time. If you've been around very long, you've already heard at least one pro-lifer wonder if someone can be pro-choice and Christian, since that person “obviously doesn't believe in the sanctity of life.” And if you've been around a little longer, you've probably heard at least one social-service advocate wonder if someone can favor cutting social programs and still be Christian, since that person “obviously doesn't care about 'the least of these.'”

Guess what? Serious Christians populate the complete political spectrum. At every point, they vote the way they do because they have prayed and studied both the Bible and the issues and believe their political course reflects the claims of Christ. That's a political paradox. But it's no less true, even because it's exceedingly complex.

While some Americans despair that we can return to an era of civility and principled compromise, I disagree. That's because I know of an organization where citizens from across the political landscape dwell in harmony. The Baptist General Convention of Texas. Theologically, we're traditional Baptists–conservative in the classical sense but “moderate” in the late 20th century political sense. We include principled Republicans, free-wheeling independents and conscientious Democrats. But we get along because we love God, love our state and nation, and love each other.

We may cancel each other's votes, but we know we serve the same Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

–Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

Posted: 4/16/04

Variety of issues likely to determine how evangelicals vote

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–Christian voters likely will discover the choice between the two major presidential candidates may not be as black and white as campaign ads make it out to be, some observers of the religious and political landscape note.

A significant majority of evangelical and other Christian voters supported President Bush over Al Gore in the 2000 election–continuing a trend of Christians favoring Republican candidates in national elections. Bush political adviser Karl Rove has made no secret of his desire to get as many evangelicals to the polls as possible in 2004 to boost the president's re-election chances over his Democratic rival, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

But Christian analysts of Washington politics say the issues may not be as simple this time around.

“I just think that this election is unlike the last three,” said Corwin Smidt, a political science professor at Calvin College, an evangelical school in Grand Rapids, Mich.

One reason for that conclusion is because controversial social issues may take a backseat to other concerns, such as joblessness and terrorism, even for many Christian voters, he said.

While moral issues like abortion and homosexuality often were paramount for Christian voters in previous elections, Smidt said, “the economy will be an issue for many evangelical voters” this time around.

Gay marriage continues to grab headlines, but Smidt and other political observers say the candidates' views on such hot-button issues may be less important to voters than other topics.

A recent bipartisan poll commissioned by two Christian anti-poverty organizations showed 78 percent of voters would rather hear about a candidate's position on helping the poor than about the candidate's position on gay marriage. Only 15 percent of respondents thought a candidate's views on marriage were more important.

That doesn't mean gay marriage won't be an important issue, analysts agree.

The debate over same-sex marriage began in November when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled the state must issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

The Bush campaign has used that issue to illustrate its differences with Kerry. Bush supports an amendment to the Constitution that would ban same-sex marriage.

Although Kerry has said he opposes same-sex marriage, he supports “civil unions” or other legal arrangements that would provide essentially the same rights and responsibilities as marriage. He also opposes amending the federal Constitution to keep states from enacting same-sex marriages.

Many conservative Christian activists oppose even civil unions, calling them “counterfeit marriages.” But White House spokesmen have said Bush would not support outlawing civil unions.

Polls show a large majority of Americans–and an even wider margin of evangelicals–oppose legalizing same-sex marriage. But those polls also show gay marriage as very low priority for most voters. In addition, support for civil unions has increased.

Some observers predict opposition to gay marriage will soften in time, however. Polls show younger voters support same-sex marriage and other gay rights.

A recent poll by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life revealed people in their early 30s and younger are evenly divided on gay marriage, while opposition to the practice increases steeply with age.

Although support for same-sex marriage is lower among religious young people, they still support it more than their older counterparts.

Smidt said he observed this distinction even among his students at conservative Calvin College, which is affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church. Many students distinguish between their theological beliefs about homosexuality and their civil beliefs.

“I think there's kind of a tension that goes on,” he said. “We don't want promiscuous gay relationships. So, when you're talking about civil unions of gay people, somehow that is more decent than the (promiscuous) gay lifestyle you sometimes see.”

He also noted that the more contact voters–including evangelicals–have with gays, the more supportive of gay rights they tend to become. The Pew survey's results support that observation. “I think that, basically, there's some sense–particularly in urban areas–that evangelicals know some gays, and they don't necessarily want to punish them,” Smidt said.

Baylor University's Derek Davis said the sudden emergence of the gay-marriage issue may account for its lack of decision-making importance to many voters, despite its social significance.

“I think it's a much bigger issue,” said Davis, political science professor and head of the school's J.M. Dawson Institute on Church-State Studies. “It's newer, it's fresher. People haven't made up their minds on it.”

Although abortion has proven to be a decisive issue for many evangelical voters in past elections, that too may change this year, the political scientists suggested.

Despite 16 years of pro-life Republican presidents since 1980 and nine years of a Republican majority in Congress, abortion remains legal in all 50 states. Smidt said that fact, coupled with the presence of a staunch anti-abortionist in the White House, may mute the power of abortion as a deciding issue for many evangelical voters in this election.

“I think when you tend to have someone who is supportive of your particular position … the issue becomes less of a threat because the person who is in office seems to stand where you are standing,” Smidt said.

He also pointed out that pro-life activists have focused in recent years on goals less ambitious than outlawing abortion altogether, such as the recently passed ban on so-called “partial-birth” abortions.

The success of such “common ground” measures “has tended to mute some of the activism on abortion itself,” Smidt said.

Davis agreed that for many voters–including evangelicals–abortion may not be as significant in this election as in the past.

“I think, to some extent, it's sort of a worn-out debate for a lot of people,” he said. “They've heard so much about it, and they already have their own views.”

Another issue on which evangelical voters show some ideological diversity is one Davis said is paramount in this election–the future of church-state relations.

“I think church-state issues are right at the heart and center of what our democracy is all about, what our public philosophy is all about, what the very nature of our democratic order is,” said Davis.

Bush has been a supporter of government programs to fund education and social services through religious providers. Strong church-state separationists oppose those efforts, and Bush has run up against significant opposition in Congress to his so-called “charitable-choice” and school-voucher proposals.

Nonetheless, he has succeeded in passing a voucher program for the District of Columbia, and he continues to expand charitable choice via executive order.

A Kerry administration wouldn't push such proposals, Davis asserted. Kerry has opposed vouchers and charitable-choice legislation in the past and has expressed strong support for church-state separation.

More importantly, whoever is elected president in 2004 will get to appoint at least one justice to the Supreme Court–and perhaps as many as three, Davis noted.

The court currently is closely divided on most church-state issues, and any movement in justices could tip the court's balance for years to come.

“People who would believe that we need to have a strong separation of church and state would be disappointed by (Bush's likely) appointments” to the court, Davis said.

Economic issues are more likely to be a factor this year than in the previous two elections, especially for voters in manufacturing and other blue-collar communities where unemployment is high.

Since blue-collar employment sectors tend to have higher numbers of religious voters than white-collar sectors, Smidt said, the economy may be more of a factor for religious voters than in recent elections.

That would be a welcome shift, says Yonce Shelton, director of public policy for the Christian anti-poverty group Call to Renewal.

Christians “have much more agreement on poverty” than social issues, he said. “And that means poverty should be just as much of a topic in debate.”

Shelton's group co-commissioned the survey–conducted by a bipartisan polling firm–that determined most voters are more concerned about reducing poverty than discussing gay marriage. However, he cautioned, his group's view “is not that gay marriage isn't a moral issue.”

“We're not saying that gay marriage shouldn't be debated and discussed,” Shelton said. But it is not “the only religious (issue) in the political context,” he added.

While Call to Renewal initially supported Bush's faith-based initiatives to fund religious charities, the group recently criticized that effort's implementation.

“We just don't think that the faith-based initiative or the 'compassionate conservatism' has translated into a broader focus on social services,” Shelton said.

But another Christian economic scholar had a different take on what sort of government actions ultimately serve economic justice. While helping the poor is “an imperative” for Christians, said Sam Gregg of the Acton Institute, that goal can be consistent with laissez-faire economic views.

The Michigan-based Acton Institute promotes conservative theories of economics among Christian leaders. Gregg, the institute's director of research, said that Christians' election choices between competing economic plans often are not as clear as their choices on issues of “clear moral evil.”

Compared to abortion and euthanasia, for instance, “there's a chasm of difference … between proper Christian electoral choices on social issues and on economic issues,” Gregg said.

Gregg said more government spending on social programs doesn't necessarily represent a clear good.

Encouraging individual responsibility and work is a strongly biblical concept, he added.

Posted: 4/16/04

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for April 25

Persevere in sharing the good news of Christ

2 Timothy 2

By David Morgan

Trinity Baptist Church, Harker Heights

You may be one of many Christians who face hostility as you attempt to live out your faith. You are not alone. Others suffer with you. And the Apostle Paul's challenge to Timothy to remain strong in the faith can embolden us as we seek to persevere in our faith.

Show spiritual power

Paul charged Timothy to be strengthened constantly to overcome the hostile circumstances he was encountering. God's grace had redeemed Timothy, and that same grace would supply him with needed strength through his ongoing relationship to Christ. Staying connected to Jesus brings strength.

Paul also commanded Timothy to preserve the gospel for those to follow. He needed to entrust to others the truth which he had received from Paul. Christian truth passes from one generation to the next as faithful persons transmit it to trustworthy Christians.

Three images which Paul named impress upon Timothy the need to persevere–the soldier, the athlete and the farmer. Each metaphor highlights a different aspect of Paul's admonition to persevere.

Soldiers face harsh circumstances, need to be focused on the task and desire to please their commander. “Endure hardship” literally means “to suffer together with someone.” Paul and Timothy were struggling together, although they served Christ in different locations. Christians find strength in adversity when others suffer with them. Soldiers cannot afford to be distracted but need to concentrate on their devotion to their commander.

Success for farmers and athletes demands perseverance. Successful athletes train long and hard to excel. “According to the rules” may suggest playing by the game's rules, that is, not cheating. But more likely, it means the lengthy and strenuous preparation and discipline in advance of the contests. Farmers work long and hard on their land to produce crops.

God promises to reward believers who remain faithful. Athletes expected the laurel wreath of the victory, soldiers expected the spoils of war and farmers expected bountiful harvests. Believers anticipate eternal life as their reward. We experience part of this in this world but will fully receive the crown of life after Christ's return.

Paul instructed Timothy to consider regularly these words. God would grant him greater understanding and guidance when necessary.

Benefit others

Keeping Christ first in the Christian life is crucial. We can persevere only when we remain focused on Jesus. Worship is essential. To worship is to remember. We remember Jesus, who though crucified, was raised as Lord. We remember that this descendant of David was human. Paul proclaimed Jesus Christ as the divine-human Messiah (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Paul wrote Timothy while chained in a prison as a common criminal. He believed his suffering resulted directly from his preaching the gospel. Yet while the Romans might restrain him, they could not shackle the gospel.

The apostle willingly endured suffering because he considered its benefit on the elect. “Elect” refers to God's people. The word emphasizes God's initiative in redemption. To obtain salvation is to be delivered fully and completely from sin and death. The process begins here but will be completed in our future life with God.

Ensure rewards

Paul broke into a hymn of assurance for the faithful after mentioning eternal glory. These words, affirming God's faithfulness, surely encouraged him as he awaited execution.

This hymn highlights God's faithfulness to Christians. Paul showed in it the importance of remaining faithful to Christ. To deny Jesus was serious. While Paul stressed that Christians persevere when persecuted, he acknowledged some would weaken and fail. But even if “we are faithless, he will remain faithful.” God remains faithful and trustworthy despite human failure. The Lord keeps offering grace and mercy and remains true to his promises. God will not abandon his people.

Be approved of God

The false teachers in Ephesus apparently spent more time on doctrinal wrangling than developing Christian conduct. Paul more fully detailed the sinful conduct of the false teachers in chapter 3. Paul certainly recognized legitimate conversation on doctrinal issues but challenged Timothy to resist mere verbal discussions. The aim of teaching in church should be godly living. Words should build up believers and not weaken the church. Paul insisted that Timothy keep reminding the church about the importance of living Christ-like lives.

Timothy should model for others what it means to be worthy of the name Christian. Circumstances in Ephesus surely tested his character. He should discipline himself to be a worthy laborer who appropriately used the gospel to build up the church. A correct handling of the word of truth would help believers become more like Christ.

Question for discussion

What interferes with you sharing your faith?

Posted: 4/16/04

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for May 2

Christians are instructed to be good examples

2 Timothy 3

By David Morgan

Trinity Baptist Church, Harker Heights

Francis of Assisi remains one of the great Christians of all time. He spent his adult life caring for the poor, repairing churches and teaching his disciples. On one occasion, he told them, “Preach the gospel at all times and, when necessary, use words.” Francis taught that actions speak as loudly as words. He understood that Christians need good examples and need to be good examples.

Good examples are needed

The Apostle Paul wrote Timothy from a dungeon while awaiting execution. Days or weeks might pass, but the outcome was certain. Yet even as Paul faced imminent death, he reminded Timothy that the church needed good examples as well as good teaching. Proper belief is important; proper conduct is essential.

Opinions differ about what Paul meant by “last days.” Some think the term indicates the time just before the return of Christ. Others believe that in this context, Paul was referring to that time between Christ's ascension and second coming. In either case, false teachers in Ephesus signaled the last days had arrived. That the church struggles in an evil world would not surprise Timothy. What might shock him was that the attacks would come from inside and not outside of the church. Timothy should not falter because of these developments. They were expected.

Paul listed 19 terms that depicted the character and conduct of the false teachers. Each trait arose from inappropriate self-love. These false teachers considered themselves godly, but the gospel had no power in their lives. The stress in these verses falls on conduct.

False teachers have an egotistical love for themselves. They love money excessively. Paul had warned Timothy in his first letter about the danger of loving money (1 Timothy 6:10). Excessive pride and arrogance characterized them. They abused others and disobeyed their parents. They had no respect for others in the congregation.

Harsher descriptions of those who had rejected God's way follow. They were ungrateful and profane–they had no respect for what comes from God. They lacked natural affection for each other. “Unforgiving” suggests they resisted efforts to achieve reconciliation. They slandered others, acted in brutal ways, despised the good and betrayed their friends.

Special problems in Ephesus included rashness and conceit. They were over-inflated with a sense of self-importance and always chose self over God.

Verse 5 offers a summary of the false teachers' nature. They possessed a form of godliness even as they denied its power. They were mere pretenders. Paul urged Timothy to avoid these teachers.

The wicked character of the false teachers revealed itself in their actions in the church. They wormed their way into the homes of unsuspecting women to lead them astray. Paul was not speaking of all women but of weak-willed women, that is, those in Ephesus who were susceptible to temptation. Sin so overwhelmed these women that they were easily swayed by the words of false teachers. Sin in the women's lives prevented them from affirming the gospel's truth.

Jannes and Jambres exemplified those who could not recognize the truth. They are not mentioned in the Old Testament, but Jewish tradition named them as the magicians in Pharaoh's court who resisted Moses. They were so depraved they did not recognize the truth when Moses revealed it. Instead they opposed it. People who encountered the false teachers would recognize the foolishness of their conduct and reject them. The world still is filled with bad examples.

Good examples are available

Good examples are available. Paul mentioned two–his own life and the sacred writings. Timothy knew well the circumstances of Paul's life, personally witnessing many of his hardships. He had listened when Paul proclaimed the gospel. He had observed Paul's character as they traveled together. Timothy knew Paul remained committed to God's purpose despite his struggles.

Anyone who chooses to live a godly life faces persecution. A world hostile to Christianity spawns evil men and Christian impostors who grow progressively more evil. God had provided Timothy the means to overcome these men–follow Paul's example and remain committed to the gospel and the truths he taught.

Confidence in the gospel truth came from those who taught it to him and from the reliability of the sacred writings themselves. Timothy's mother and grandmother had provided a strong foundation for him from the “sacred letters” (2 Timothy 1:5). These certainly refer to the Old Testament Scriptures. Paul understood that the Old Testament pointed to the salvation that comes through faith in Christ Jesus.

Timothy could trust the writings because they were God-inspired (“God-breathed”). Inspired Scripture provides a positive and unique source for teaching. It can be used to help one discover lapses in one's life in both conduct and doctrine. “Correcting … in righteousness” is the positive counterpart to “rebuking.” Scripture can set a person on the correct path. “Training” suggests a process through which a person uses Scripture to develop Christian character and godly conduct. The result of Scripture working in people is that they may be ready and able to do what God calls them to do.

Question for discussion

How can you improve the example you set with your life?

Posted: 4/16/04

LifeWay Family Bible Series for April 25

The return of Christ should affect everyday life

Matthew 24:42-44; 1 John 2:28-3:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

By Rodney McGlothlin

First Baptist Church, College Station

Jesus is coming again! This New Testament teaching has been the source of great hope and endless controversy. Most of our point-making on the subject continues to miss the point.

We often act as if Jesus told us of his return simply to let us in on a little heavenly trivia. Remember that Jesus did not say, “If you know these things, you are blessed if you put them in a chart and pound the less-informed over the head with them.”

The biblical teaching on the return of Christ can be summed up in three points: He is coming again; we don't know when; and be ready. That is all I know of chartmaking. The last point is the key. This teaching is more concerned with the ethics of everyday believers than with the events of some-day history.

Jesus' disciples were simple folk, regional fellows picked up around Galilee. Matthew tells us that when they finally made it to Jerusalem, they were duly impressed with the city and its buildings (Matthew 24:1-2). They pointed this out to Jesus, as if it had somehow escaped his notice. He told them a time was coming when everything there would be destroyed.

They reacted the way we would if Jesus told us our churches would all be leveled in our lifetime. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3).

That is quite a jump from the destruction of the Temple to the “end of the age.” It seemed to them that if the Temple were destroyed; you could pretty much write off the rest of history. Their pessimism was not unlike Thomas upon learning of the death of Lazarus. He said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11:16). Despair comes quickly in the face of great loss.

Put yourself in the place of the disciples. In their lifetime, they will see their Master crucified. They will be persecuted themselves. They will see their Temple and nation destroyed. How do you go on serving in a world that destroys its temples and crucifies its messiahs?

The answer? The kingdoms of this world may be disposable, but the King of Kings is Lord of all time. He cannot be run out of town. Tear down his body, and in three days he will rebuild it (John 2:19). His body is more important than any institution of man, temples included.

That Jesus is coming again should become a foundational principle for how we face life in a changing world. Things will change. Ministry continues.

These disciples will find out they do not have to have a temple to serve the Lord. They do not need a nation to build God's Kingdom. They do not need an institution to carry on the work of the gospel. They will not need the protection of a friendly government to carry on the work of the church.

Within a few short years, they will carry the gospel into new continents. They will debate the inclusion of the Gentiles. They will adapt to new cultures, customs and languages. They will face a Roman persecution that will make the earlier trials in Jerusalem seem trivial by comparison. They will face threats of prison, beatings and executions from without. They will face heresies, jealousies and strife within.

How do they carry on? Because there is an unchangeable in life! There is an absolute. It is not some propositional absolute. It is a personal absolute. Jesus is Lord. You face a changing world with an unchanging gospel. He is here now through the witness of his church. He is here now through the witness of the Holy Spirit. And he is coming again to get his bride, the church.

Sometimes the changes that impact us are as sudden and obvious to us, as when terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center buildings. Other times, it is as subtle as a shift in worship styles.

I have a cartoon I love that shows two ladies in church, one staring at a hymnal and the other looking at a projection screen. The caption under the picture says: “Would you look at this! They are projecting hymns on the screen and printing choruses in the hymnal. Which one is it we don't like?”

You think my comparison of terrorism and tunes is extreme? Show me a church that has split over 9/11, and I will show you a hundred that have fractured over what kind of songs we will use to praise our King. Shame on us. Jesus told terrified disciples they would keep on going because he would surely come again. We give up when folks don't want to hum our tunes.

These Second Coming texts were not given to make us arrogant about the future. They were given to help us cope with the present and to remain faithful throughout centuries of changes. In Matthew, it is a church continuing to be faithful in a world of radical institutional and political changes. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, it is a church staying true to the course even after the death of faithful members. In 1 John 2:28-3:3, it is about continued spiritual formation until Christ appears. “We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

Jesus is coming again. Therefore, you can be faithful in the midst of any changes.

Question for discussion

What emotions and actions does the return of Christ stir in you?

Posted: 4/16/04

LifeWay Family Bible Series for May 2

We know him if we obey his command to love

Proverbs 3:5-6; 1 John 2:1-11

By Rodney McGlothlin

First Baptist Church, College Station

How do we know anything? Some things we know simply as facts. We have studied them and committed them to memory. Much of our formal education involved this kind of learning and knowing.

Other things we know experientially. That is, we learned these things through life experiences. My grandfather would call this the “school of hard knocks.” Learning is an equal-opportunity employer. There are no age restrictions on learning. Old dogs can learn new tricks, and new dogs need to learn the things old dogs have known for ages. The best learning involves an integration of the facts of life and the experiences of life.

John spent a lifetime getting the facts of the gospel to the people. His own purpose statement for writing his gospel said: “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).

Knowing the facts was to lead to belief in the Savior. He wrote Revelation so we might know about his presence with us and his purpose for us even in times of suffering. Knowing the facts was to lead to faithful living in tough times.

In John's epistles, he turns to the question of how we can know what we believe and how we can put ourselves to the test. How do we know we are the children of God? Let's look at the tests John prescribes in 1 John 2:1-11. How can we know we know him?

“We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands” (1 John 2:3). Two stories from Scripture illustrate this better than a thousand words of exposition.

Saul went to war against the Amalekites. He was told by God he would receive no spoils of war because all was to be destroyed. Saul decided to spare “everything that was good.” Samuel went out to meet Saul upon his return from battle. Saul tried to tell the prophet he spared the good things in order to sacrifice them to God. Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22).

In a parable with a similar point, Jesus told of a man with two sons. He instructed each of them to go into the vineyard and work for a day. One said he would not go, but later went and worked. The second said he would go but never did. Jesus asked, “Which of the two did what the Father wanted?” (Matthew 21:31). The answer was the one who obeyed. A good test of our faith is found in what we do, not simply in what we know.

“This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:5-6). The danger in the “obedience test” is one of legalism. The Pharisees prided themselves on their obedience, but most of them did not follow Jesus. When people noticed the courage of Peter and John, they did not comment on their dedicated obedience to the law. “They took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). To follow Jesus means more than to simply obey the law.

Do you witness to people because you are commanded to or because you have come to love people and their need for a Savior? Jesus saw the crowds of people and had compassion on them, not because God commanded him to, but because they were needy (Matthew 9:36).

It bothers me to hear people say, “I love you in the Lord.” Does that mean they only like me out of obedience to God? I don't think Jesus told us to love people out of obedience alone. I think he actually expected us to love them. Following Jesus puts obedience in the context of a relationship. We obey because we are loved. We obey because we love Jesus. We obey because our relationship with him leads us to a willing compliance with personal trust rather than simply an outward observance based on laws and codes.

“Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble” (1 John 2:10). Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).

It seems pretty clear. How does the world know we love Jesus? How can we know we love Jesus? It will be known to all by how we love one another. Put your faith to the test.

Questions for discussion

One of the ways John sought to spread the gospel was through his writings–what means are you using to share the good news of Jesus Christ?

What assures you that you have a living, vital relationship with Jesus Christ?

How do you keep from doing things out of a feeling of obligation, but instead as a natural progression of your relationship with Christ?

Can you serve Christ while filled with animosity?

Posted: 4/16/04

Welfare bill with funds for charities stalls in Senate

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–Disputes over the minimum wage and other contentious election-year issues have stalled congressional reauthorization of a welfare reform program that includes funds for religious charities.

The dispute killed, for the time being, the Personal Responsibility and Individual Development for Everyone (PRIDE) Act.

Most congressional observers believe the bill won't come up again until after the November elections. The bill would be the first congressional reauthorization of the federal welfare-reform program first passed in 1996.

That legislation included provisions for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program that explicitly allowed government to fund social services through churches and other religious providers. Church-state separationists have opposed the program as a violation of the First Amendment's ban on government support for religion.

But supporters of the concept have said it merely places religious social-service providers on equal footing with secular providers in competing for government contracts.

President Bush has made a priority of expanding such funding of religious providers to include other federal social-service programs.

Although he has consistently run up against opposition in Congress, he has expanded the so-called “faith-based initiative” through several administrative and regulatory changes.

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) has offered an amendment to the PRIDE Act that would expand the provisions allowing religious participation to the government's largest social-welfare program, the Social Services Block Grant.

The provision includes explicit authorization for religious groups to receive government funds under the program, even if they discriminate on the basis of religion or ideology in employment.

However, that was just one of many controversies surrounding the bill.

Senate Republican leaders refused to allow a vote on an amendment to the bill that would have raised the federal minimum wage. As a result, Democrats filibustered the bill.

A motion to close debate on the bill–which would require a super majority of 60 votes–failed on a 51 to 47 vote. The vote broke down along party lines, except for retiring Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.), who voted to end debate.

Santorum accused Democrats of being obstructionists and blocking the bill with “non-germane amendments.”

Democrats such as Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) countered with the charge that Republicans didn't want to be forced to vote against raising the minimum wage in an election year.

Instead, the chamber passed a temporary resolution continuing the program through the summer.

Posted: 4/16/04

Churches and charities slow to feel
effects of economic recovery, analysts point out

By Mark O'Keefe

Religion New Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–A rising stock market and recovering economy have many of the nation's 1.2 million nonprofits feeling optimistic again, but it could take months–even years–before they see big financial benefits.

“Nobody is singing 'Happy Days are Here Again' yet, but they've stopped singing the Chicken Little tune that the sky is falling,” said Diana Aviv, president of Independent Sector, a national coalition of nonprofits and philanthropy-minded corporations, based in Washington, D.C. “There is still a cautious attitude of 'let's wait and see.'”

One reason for less-than-unbridled enthusiasm is the seriousness of state budget crises, which can mean less government money for nonprofits. Still, there's plenty of reason to smile as individual donors, corporations and foundations appear ready to write large checks for good causes again.

“The phones are ringing off the hook,” said Stephen Adler, chief executive of JAMI Charity Brands Marketing, which connects companies and causes from its New York City base. “A lot of folks that told us to take a walk last year are starting to call us. We're starting to look at a sunny outlook after a pretty chilly year.”

A financially healthy nonprofit sector is good news for the general public. Historically, nonprofits have addressed societal needs in ways business and government do not, whether with free medical clinics mending bodies, colleges challenging minds, arts organizations stimulating imaginations or religious groups stirring souls. The nonprofit sector also is an important cog in the overall economy, employing nearly 10 percent of the nation's workers.

For many nonprofits, the late 1990s were the happiest of days, thanks to a roaring economy, solid government support and increasingly generous donors. But the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a bearish stock market, the war in Iraq and state government shortfalls changed the mood from buoyant to downright gloomy.

From the summer of 2000 to December of 2001, the twice-a-year Philanthropic Giving Index, similar to a consumer confidence index for charitable giving, showed three straight declines for the first time since the Great Depression. After a slight spike in the summer of 2002, the index sank again until December 2003.

“Uncertainty is the enemy of investment, and it's also the enemy of philanthropy,” said Patrick Rooney, an economist who is the director of research at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, which produces the index. “Part of your economic security is whether you'll be alive tomorrow. When you have heightened fear of war or terrorism, that can have a negative impact on some donors.”

A mood swing appears to have begun last fall. The giving index released last December showed a 15 percent increase from the summer of 2003, bringing it up to a level last seen immediately after Sept. 11, 2001.

The index measures perceptions of senior fund-raisers, not actual giving to charities. That data won't be available for a year or more.

History gives further reason for confidence. Rooney said the best predictor of increased giving is a rising stock market, particularly the Standard & Poors 500 Index, which spiked 26 percent in 2003.

Dorothy Ridings, president and chief executive of the Washington-based Council on Foundations, made the same point. “The fact that the stock market was up about 25 percent at the end of the year means, I would say, that you'll see about an equivalent increase in foundation grant-making,” she said.

The increase won't be immediate, however. In planning how much to give to charities, many foundations use a portion–typically 5 percent–of a rolling three-year average of their stock market portfolios.

But even if they could move quickly, it's unlikely foundations could plug the holes left by state budget woes. According to the New Nonprofit Almanac, governments provide 31 percent of revenues for nonprofits, while foundations provide 2 percent.

“Government spending is not going to zoom back up at the state and federal level,” said Alan Abramson, director of the Nonprofit Sector Research Fund at the Aspen Institute in Washington. “I think nonprofits are in for a few more years of crunch.”

In states where budget crises have been severe, nonprofits are scrambling to make up the difference.

In Mobile, Ala., state funding to the Mobile Child Advocacy Center was reduced from $167,000 to $147,000. To provide the same level of care to children victimized by sexual abuse, the center will have to dip into its reserves. If more money doesn't come in by June, services may have to be cut.

“Last year was very tough,” said Patrick Guyton, the center's director. “We're hoping this year will be better. We're hoping the economy of Alabama will improve, increasing (our) funds, … but we're just not sure yet.”

Posted: 4/16/04

Churches must face up to hard financial truth, speaker says

By Tony Cartledge

Biblical Recorder

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (ABP)–Churches, conventions and Christians face a bleak future if congregational leaders do not actively engage cultural shifts and the perils of consumerism, speakers recently told a national stewardship conference.

Loren Mead, founder of the Alban Institute and author of “Financial Meltdown in the Mainline,” said, “We are in bad trouble in the churches,” and “we won't be out of it in your lifetime or mine.”

Churches increasingly depend on a donor base that is getting both older and smaller, he said. Meanwhile, younger adults are racking up more personal debt and giving less to the church.

Funding efforts tend to be erratic and short-term, focused on survival or breaking even, Mead said.

“A lot of churches don't know how to do anything else, and when the church is focused on survival, there is less energy for mission.”

Most churches have no significant financial reserves, he said. Financial planning is disconnected from the congregation, and members who are concerned about financial matters often face resistance from clergy and lay leaders who don't want to deal with it.

“We have lost generations of young adults, youth and children by not teaching stewardship,” he said.

Mead outlined a long list of growing financial challenges for churches, beginning with extensive deferred-maintenance issues, a particular problem for older and larger churches. Churches have put off needed upkeep “because we've had a pinch in our budgets for a long time.”

Churches are increasingly being asked to pay taxes, or fees in lieu of taxes, in order to receive city or county services, he said. A rising number of lawsuits are increasing church liability costs, medical insurance premiums increase annually, demographic shifts often take members away and competition from other good causes continues to rise.

“Nobody in the church is talking about this,” Mead said. “We think one good year will fix it.” The picture looks bleak 10 years down the road, he said, but “we're so focused on getting through this year that we're not looking down the road.”

Mead said churches must start talking directly about finances, training clergy as well as children and youth to appreciate the importance of giving. Pastors must get over their reluctance to understand and talk about financial matters.

“We must stop being amateurs in fundraising” and get professional help, he said.

Annual campaigns should be well-planned and administered, he said. Regular capital campaigns should be planned to deal with routine maintenance. And systematic planned giving efforts should reach every member.

Baptists in particular need to get over their prejudice against endowments and actively encourage members to include the church in their estate planning, he said.

Howard Dayton, founder and CEO of Crown Ministries, said money has a spiritual as well as a practical impact on churches. He said 2,350 verses in the Bible deal with money. How Christians handle money has a direct correlation to their intimacy with God, he said, because money is God's major competitor.

American consumer debt is up 20 percent in the past two years, while savings are down by half, Dayton said.

One-sixth of Americans will gamble in a casino this year, and the number of bankruptcies could reach 1.6 million, he said.

Meanwhile, charitable giving as a percentage of income continues to decline, and the younger generation is unlikely to reverse it.

Adults 35 years old and younger have more debt, less savings and are less generous than any previous generation, Dayton said.

Pastors should talk and teach members how to handle all their income, not just 10 percent of it, he said.

Though pastors may feel unprepared or hesitant to talk about money matters, “teaching God's people to handle God's money is a big thing,” he said.

Dick Towner, author of “Good Sense Resources” and affiliated with the Willow Creek Association, said the misuse of money is an evil power that opposes God.

“The failure of the local church to give adequate attention to financial matters prevents the church from fulfilling its redemptive potential,” he said, and is “the largest example of self-marginalization in our history.”

Towner said all the biblical references to money boil down to three truths: God created everything, God retained ownership of all he created and humans are made trustees of part of God's creation. Trustees have more responsibilities than rights and are held accountable for what they do with what is entrusted to them, he said.

Towner also advised churches to institute a ministry of financial stewardship that teaches, trains and supports church members.

An effective financial ministry is both practical and spiritual, assisting people who are “seduced by the gospel of materialism” while “looking in all the wrong places for the contentment that only Jesus can provide,” he said.

Posted: 4/16/04

Pastor Israel Rogriguez encourages one of the families from his church, Primera Iglesia Bautista in Piedras Negras, as they struggle to clean up after the flood devastated their home. This home is about three blocks from the Rio Escondido that flooded April 4 for the first time in at least 100 years. At right, Baptist University of the Americas students (from left) Cheyenne Solis of Texas, Josue DeAlva of Puerto Rico, Carlos Valencia of Colombia and Paco Perez of New Mexico help clean out the contents of a flood-ruined home in Piedras Negras.

Baptists flood Piedras Negras with assistance

By Craig Bird

Texas Baptist Communications

PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico–A killer flood shattered the heart of Villa de Fuente on a recent Sunday evening. In the days that followed, Mexico and Texas Baptists worked side-by-side in the Piedras Negras neighborhood to get it beating again.

“At first, the morning after it happened, people were just crying,” said Israel Rodriguez, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista, who spent two days driving the church's ambulance while looking for the 100-plus members of his church who were initially reported missing. “But now they are happy because they see a lot of people have come to help.”

Carlos Valencia, a student at the Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio, talks with a woman in Piedras Negras who has received copies of a Spanish-language New Testament distributed by Texas Baptist volunteers. (Craig Bird Photo)

• See Related Articles: Flood victim calms children with Noah's ark story

It was a task that called for multiple resources after the placid low-water Rio Escondido turned savage. It took only half an hour for the water level to surge from 18 inches to 25 feet–on a night when no rain fell on Piedras Negras.

At its apex, the resulting lake stretched a half-mile on either side of the river, damaging about 600 homes, killing at least 35 people and leaving 20 missing. Practically all the contents of the homes were ruined by the muddy residue the ebbing water left behind.

Though in shock and grieving the loss of family and friends who had drowned or disappeared, residents returned to their homes and began trying to rebuild their lives. Often, they scraped the mud away with bare hands or stray shovels found among the debris. Some attempted to clean the silt from their clothes, but the stench overpowered them. And word soon came that everything the water had touched was likely to be contaminated.

So, while the government opened temporary housing shelters and feeding centers, set up emergency clinics to immunize against tuberculosis and dengue fever, and passed out giant squeegees, shovels and bottled water, Baptists and other volunteer groups began coming to the community's aid.

“My first thoughts (after hearing about the disaster) were for our church members–we had 18 families lose their homes,” Rodriguez said. “But my second thought, when I had time, was to call the National Baptist Convention of Mexico and then Dexton Shores (director of Texas Baptist River Ministry, part of the Baptist General Convention of Texas). I knew Dexton would get the word to the rest of Texas Baptists.”

The morning after the Sunday flood, Shores arrived with a truckload of blankets, clothes and drinking water. Tuesday afternoon, a Texas Baptist Men feeding unit from Bluebonnet Baptist Association crossed the border with a water purification system.

The next morning, two chaplains from the BGCT-affiliated Victim Relief program arrived from Houston to provide trauma counseling.

That afternoon, the first of two trucks from Buckner Baptist Benevolences, loaded with sacks of food and boxes of clothes and toys packed around the primary load of new shoes, pulled into Iglesia Bautista Emanuel in the center of Villa de Fuente.

By evening, four students from the Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio were on hand to help wherever they were needed.

Later in the week, seven “mud-out” units operated by Texas Baptist Men joined the effort.

“That was the biggest need after the initial food and clothing was provided,” Shores said. “Every building in the neighborhood was coated with thick, sticky mud, and the power sprayers were really helpful.”

Meanwhile, the Mexican convention gathered monetary support and dispatched a truck loaded with blankets from Mexico City along with teams of volunteers to help residents clean the mud from their homes.

Operating primarily out of Iglesia Bautista Emanuel–the only Baptist church in Piedras Negras to be flooded–and a community social club six blocks away from the church, where Texas Baptist Men set up a feeding center, local Baptists and the Texas volunteers linked up.

Just a couple of hours after the sanctuary of Emanuel was finally clean–all the ruined pews piled in the street–it reopened as a distribution center for the goods donated through Buckner.

“We've been wearing the same clothes for three days–the clothes we had on when we escaped,” one woman said as she waited patiently in line. “My daughter has been barefoot the whole time, and I'm worried she might get sick from the contaminated mud.”

Meanwhile, at another table, the Victim Relief counselor talked with anyone who needed a listening ear and a compassionate heart.

Drenched and mud-coated family portraits lie in the foreground as students from the Baptist University of the Americas haul damaged furniture from a flooded home in Piedras Negras. At right, a child in Piedras Negras receives a hot meal provided by Texas Baptist Men volunteers.

“They need to understand that while this flood was certainly not normal, the feelings of fear and anger and loss that they feel are completely normal,” said Don Perkins, associate director of Victim Relief.

Emotions were deep and jagged.

Victoria Aparicio, who with her husband started the church in 1968, returned to clean-up work after attending the graveside service of the only Emanuel member to drown. The 71-year-old man, a new Christian, and his family were clinging to a utility pole. His wife was rescued, but the man, his daughter and a granddaughter all died.

“Please ask Texas Baptists to pray for our people,” she pleaded, wiping tears from her eyes. “We think the death toll is much higher than is being reported.”

Iglesia Bautista Trinidad only had one family flooded out, “but we are hurting because all of us have friends and family and neighbors who suffered a lot,” Pastor Geronimo de la Cruz Mesa said. The displaced Trinidad family was temporarily living in a room at the church.

“They tried to drive out, but the car stalled, so they just ran,” Mesa explained. “Eventually the man, his wife and their 4-year-old daughter had to climb up on a roof. The next day, they found their car exactly where they left it–but there were two other cars piled on top of it.”

The Texas Baptist Men feeding unit was relocated twice–the last time to Villa de Fuente at the request of Guadalupe Morales, the wife of the governor of the Mexican state of Coahuila, who coordinated much of the relief effort. Impressed with the range of assistance Texas Baptists were providing–and the willingness of volunteers to work completely under the direction of Mexican officials, she wanted the Texas Baptist Men to be in the center of the hardest-hit neighborhood.

“Because people try to take advantage even of tragedies to slip things across the border illegally, the procedure called for all aid coming from the United States to be unloaded at the international bridge and then reloaded into Mexican army trucks for distribution,” Shores explained. “But Mrs. Morales got that waived for Texas Baptists so our trucks could come straight through.”

Rodriguez credited the partnership between the National Baptist Convention of Mexico and the Baptist General Convention of Texas with allowing the rapid and efficient relief efforts.

“Thanks be to God that three months ago we started organizing the partnership that was signed last November,” he said. “Certainly we couldn't foresee this, but because we were planning other joint projects already, we were able to coordinate the response of the two conventions quickly.”

Felix Castillo, bivocational pastor of First Baptist Church in Eagle Pass, worked with Rodriguez much of Monday and Tuesday in the church ambulance. One encounter in particular left him deeply shaken.

“Tuesday some people flagged because they had found a body,” Castillo said. “He looked like he was about 3 years old, just lying there, so small. One man took off his shirt and covered him up. We all were crying. That night when I got home, I hugged my children (a 16-month-old son and a 3-year-old daughter) a lot longer and a lot harder than usual.”

Castillo–whose small church collected and donated 50 bags of food and clothing the day after the flood–planned to bring as many volunteers from Eagle Pass as he could over the weekend to help with the cleanup. He sees the work as an opportunity rather than a hardship.

"Some people may say, 'Why should I help those people in Piedras Negras? They aren't my responsibility–I don't know them,'" he explained. "But this is a wonderful opportunity to be faithful to what God told us to do. We aren't merely helping other people. We are being kind and loving to Jesus himself. Remember, he said when we helped people who are weak and hurting, we are doing it to him.

Posted: 4/16/04

Flood victim calms children with Noah's ark story

By Craig Bird

Texas Baptist Communications

PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico–As a relentless flood poured through the bedroom windows, Ramona Juarez calmed her terrified grandson with the story of Noah's Ark.

Standing in the kitchen sink as the water–thick with silt–swirled around her thin shoulders, she led her family and neighbors in singing hymns.

Less than 72 hours later, stagger-weary from pulling her destroyed belongings out of her house and struggling to clear the piles of mud from the floors, she stood outside her church, Iglesia Bautista Emanuel, talking with Texas Baptist volunteers who had come to Piedras Negras to help “victims” like her.

Several times tears overcame her, but she quietly turned aside suggestions the story was too painful to complete.

“I want to tell you everything that happened,” she insisted. “Because I want God to be glorified for what he did for us.”

Juarez, a 53-year-old widow, lives with her 30-year-old mentally handicapped daughter. But Sunday evening, April 4, when two of her grandchildren stopped by to visit around 7:30 p.m., the 12-year-old granddaughter, Alduvi Barrios, was agitated by reports that the Rio Escondido, 10 blocks away, was rising. But the stream, which normally runs 12 to 16 inches deep, had not flooded in 100 years.

Less than 30 minutes later, the unthinkable was knee-high and the danger obvious.

“I told everyone we were going to our neighbor's house, but my daughter was frightened and grabbed onto the door,” Juarez said. “Finally, she let go, but then she grabbed my shoulder. It hurt, but I got her and the two grandchildren to the neighbor's.”

Meanwhile, the neighbor went out to crank the car and drive them to safety. But a surge of water swept over the hood, killing the engine and driving him back inside. He and his wife stayed in the kitchen, while Juarez and her three charges went into a bedroom.

“This is God's will. He will take care of us,” she kept assuring the children.

“And they were pretty calm until the bed starting floating” after the water breached the bedroom window, she said. The neighbor yelled he was going to get his boat so they could get out–which gave Juarez the opportunity to tell the story of God saving Noah and his family from the flood with an ark.

Alduvi Barrios rubs mud off a framed prayer on the wall of her grandmother's house.

But when the current swept the boat out of the neighbor's hands, 8-year-old Jorge Barrios panicked.

“What will save us now?” he cried, clinging tightly to Juarez, who was still trying to keep her daughter calm.

“We have another ark that Noah didn't have,” she assured him. “God sent Jesus into the world to save us. He's our ark. He'll take care of us.”

Comforted, the child calmed down again.

But still the water rose, and when the mattress was saturated, it started to sink–starting with the corner where Juarez's daughter, the heaviest of the four, was sitting. She grabbed Jorge by the neck, choking him until Juarez “talked hard” to her and got her to let go. Then, clinging to each other and wading through waist-high water, they forced their way into the kitchen.

Hoisting her daughter and two grandchildren atop free-standing cabinets that reached nearly to the ceiling, Juarez and the two neighbors stood on the stove and sink, the husband nervously checking the water level with his flash light and calling out reports as it steadily climbed. Juarez held her daughter's head, and the neighbor held her feet to keep her from rolling off into the water.

But before the water reached Juarez's chin, the flood halted. Alduvi recognized it first and called out in the darkness for the neighbor to check again. “It's down about an inch,” he agreed.

That was good enough for Juarez. “Let's all give thanks to the Lord,” she announced. “God has shown us that the water will not rise any more and that it will go back down the same way it came up. We're safe now. Let's sing.”

So they did, joining in on a song whose title literally translates as “On the Other Side of the Sun” but has the meaning of “Just Over in Glory Land.”

Soon they discovered the water level was higher inside the house than outside and, once the neighbor was able to pry a door open, the last of the water rushed out into the night. The group huddled together and began making their way toward higher ground, meeting friends and neighbors who also had survived and who, like them, were among the 2,000 people now homeless in their neighborhood of 6,000.

“It was really cold, and we felt it more and more as we walked, but after six or seven blocks, we came upon a rescue team,” she explained. It was now 2:30 a.m.–six hours since the ordeal had started.

The rescue team had been digging people out of the mud and helping them down from roofs and trees. When Juarez and the others appeared, they asked them, “Did you escape all by yourselves?”

“No,” Juarez answered confidently. “We didn't get out by ourselves. God saved us.”

Later, at the emergency shelter, radio and newspaper reporters asked her where she learned the survival skills that kept her and her family alive.

“I haven't had any experiences with things like this,” she explained. “But I have a really strong God.”