Posted: 4/02/04

ANOTHER VIEW:
Baptists & Pentecostals stand stronger on common ground

By Roger Olsen

“Holy rollers,” “religious fanatics,” “sectarians,” “crazy Christians.”

What religious group is being described? Pentecostals? Yes; by their uninformed critics. But also Baptists–in some parts of the United States, Canada and Europe.

Baptists and Pentecostals too often ignore their common ground. Both traditions stand squarely in the center of the free-church heritage eschewing ties with the state or social support by the dominant culture. Both baptize only believers and have believers-only churches. Both have deep roots in revivalism, share a warm love for Jesus Christ, are evangelistic, believe in the authority of Scripture and sing their faith in God. Both are renewal movements within Christianity that emphasize spiritual vitality over creedal orthodoxy.

And yet, for all that, Baptists and Pentecostals look askance at each other across their shared fence.

Pentecostals who defect to Baptist churches often lose friends and strain family ties. Baptists who become Pentecostals sometimes risk social standing and find themselves ostracized from their circles of friends and acquaintances. Too often, Baptists stereotype Pentecostals as “weird,” and Pentecostals disdain Baptists as “lukewarm Christians.” None of this is necessary or helpful to the greater cause of the kingdom of God to which both sides are committed.

Of course, some Pentecostals invite ridicule and suspicion from evangelicals and Baptists by engaging in extreme emotionalism or denying the Trinity. But the vast majority of Pentecostals are embarrassed by the antics of television evangelists who specialize in throwing the Holy Spirit at audiences to make them fall over and shun non-trinitarian Pentecostals from fellowship.

Pentecostals should no more be held responsible for the irresponsible acts of their own lunatic fringe than Baptists should be held responsible for the few extremists who wander around the margins of their movement spouting hatred or condemning Billy Graham for (allegedly) being “liberal.”

Researchers are increasingly examining Pentecostalism because of its explosion in developing countries. This includes mainline Protestant (generally considered liberal) social scientist-theologians such as Donald E. Miller of the University of California and Harvey Cox of Harvard University.

Cox's “Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the 21st Century” attributes Pentecostalism's success to an alleged “ecstasy deficit” in mainline Christianity. His book is an excellent example of “Pentecostal chic” on the part of scholars who seem to have no particular evangelical faith of their own.

Miller's forthcoming “Pentecostalism and Social Transformation: A Global Analysis,” co-authored with Ted Yamamori, extols the benefits of Pentecostalism for the poverty-stricken populations of developing nations. “Liberation theologians turned to the poor and the poor turned to Pentecostalism” is an increasingly popular description of the religious situation in Latin America.

Philip Jenkins argues in “The Next Christendom: The Coming Global Christianity” that Pentecostalism is about to overwhelm all the mainline and evangelical forms of Christianity in the non-Western world. Some researchers estimate as many as 50 million Christians worldwide are some kind of Pentecostals.

What is the appeal of Pentecostalism? One author called it the “vision of the disinherited.” Pentecostalism emphasizes heaven and gives people “a little bit of heaven to go there in.” This ties in with Cox's theory of religious ecstasy. Pentecostalism promises and delivers joy and peace transcending human and earthly possibilities. Especially non-Western (outside Europe and the upper half of North America) people seek a profoundly experiential religion, and a purely cerebral, liturgical or volitional (will-centered) Christianity leaves them cold.

Pentecostalism offers visible results wrought by the divine power of the Holy Spirit. The sick who cannot afford modern medicine are healed; the outcasts are given a community and place; the demon-possessed are liberated from bondage. Contrary to popular belief, most Pentecostals do not revel in speaking in tongues or ecstatic prophesying; being “slain in the Spirit” is much more common on cable television than in the average Pentecostal worship service. Nevertheless, it is true that Pentecostal services give people the freedom to rejoice and lament that North Americans often only allow themselves at sports events.

What can Baptists learn from Pentecostals and what can Pentecostals learn from Baptists?

Increasingly, developing-world Baptists are adopting Pentecostal forms of worship. The passion and uninhibited worship of the Pentecostals is characteristic of many Baptist and other evangelical churches.

Unfortunately, in the United States many Baptists and other evangelicals are going in the other direction toward more formal, liturgical worship or worship that allows no room for lay participation, spontaneity or emotion. (“Contemporary worship” is not necessarily spontaneous, Spirit-centered or uninhibited. Sometimes it can be just another kind of liturgy.)

This excludes many if not most of the ethnic groups that are finding a home in Pentecostalism. They prefer a more passionate form of worship and church life that involves intimacy, accountability and transforming experiences.

Baptists can learn from Pentecostals the freedom of worship in the Spirit; they can absorb from Pentecostalism passion manifested in tears, upraised faces and arms, joyous praise and prophetic preaching.

What can Pentecostals learn from Baptists? Baptists insist on connecting heart, head, hands and feet. Pentecostalism has tended to divorce them by reveling so much in feelings that the intellect and active service take a back seat to emotional worship. Although Pentecostals believe in the “gift of discernment” (mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12) they all too often lack the biblical scholarship and sound doctrinal teaching that is necessary to avoid religious fanaticism and heresy.

The Pentecostal challenge to Baptists is to practice wise discernment without quenching the Holy Spirit; the Baptist challenge to Pentecostals is to “go with the holy flow while still getting down to basic business.”

Baptists are good at the basic business of establishing functioning agencies and organizations and planning worship services and church meetings. Pentecostals excel at the holy flow of dynamic flexibility and praise in the midst of the mundane.

If Baptists are going to ride the revival wave of developing world, non-white, non-Western Christianity–which seems to be the future of Christianity worldwide–we need to turn sympathetic (not uncritical) eyes and ears to our Pentecostal brothers and sisters and learn from them. We do not need to adopt speaking in tongues as the essential ingredient of Spirit fullness in order to do that.

If Pentecostals are going to avoid the mistakes of church history and learn how to make the spiritual functional organizationally and intellectually, they can listen to us.

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

Posted: 4/02/04

Baptist mission volunteers favor
construction projects, survey says

By James Dotson

North American Mission Board

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)–Most Southern Baptist volunteer missions trips involve construction, but evangelistic events, Vacation Bible Schools and backyard Bible clubs also are popular, a Southern Baptist North American Mission Board survey reveals.

The survey of 215 churches and 408 volunteers was conducted by NAMB last year based on activities during 2002.

The survey showed most projects are more than 500 miles from the sponsoring church. Churches showed a high level of interest in sponsoring more mission opportunities suitable for the entire family.

The survey focused on projects outside the local church community that were in the United States and Canada. It was commissioned to help NAMB and state conventions be more effective in facilitating and promoting volunteer missions, said Jim Burton, NAMB director of volunteer mobilization.

Previous information about numbers of volunteers has been available, but the NAMB effort provides additional data on distances traveled, projects conducted, funding and other details.

“To help us in our long-range planning, we felt like we had to have a more detailed picture of what's happening in SBC voluntarism,” he said, noting the research likely will be repeated regularly to track ongoing trends among the estimated 500,000 volunteers a year Southern Baptist churches send on mission trips.

The survey confirmed a suspicion that construction projects were a part of most mission trips to some degree, Burton said.

“We were a little surprised to find out that it was 52.7 percent,” he said, pointing out that means 200,000 volunteers a year work on building projects.

“We are piloting a strategy this summer where not only will crews build churches but they will also do evangelism in the community in support of the physical building they are constructing,” Burton said. “We realize that we have got to give more attention to growing the significance of that construction experience, because we estimate that Southern Baptist churches are saving about $35 million a year by using volunteers.”

Concerning the need for more family-oriented projects, Burton said: “We knew there was growing momentum for this, but this kind of blew us out of the water. We asked pastors and missions leaders if they would be interested in planning and promoting mission trips that are designated so entire families could participate together, and 82 percent said yes. So we are going to ramp up our strategy development in that area.”

Also encouraging, he said, was that most of the volunteer trips covered in the survey involved traveling distances of greater than 500 miles.

“There's always an assumption that people want to go out of town, but they don't want to go too far–generally about a day's drive,” he said.

“And what we found was that over half of the volunteers are traveling over 500 miles, and another fifth reported traveling between 251 and 500 miles. So distance isn't the issue that we thought it might be, and that's good news for our pioneer states.”

Among other survey findings:

28 percent reported being involved in evangelism ministries, 25.3 percent helped lead a Vacation Bible School, 15 percent led backyard Bible clubs, 8 percent conducted block parties and 32 percent listed other activities. Participants were allowed to select multiple ministry types.

Costs for the trips were shared between the individual and the church in 72 percent of the churches. The median amount of support was $143. Volunteers reported a median out-of-pocket cost of $175 for their trip.

5,139 volunteers participated in mission projects from the responding churches, with 52 percent above age 25. Students in grades 7-12 made up 37.3 percent of the volunteers, followed by ages 18-24 at 10.7 percent.

“This was a reminder that churches need to be passionate about mobilizing their adults as well as mobilizing their students,” Burton said.

“Adults will do mission projects, and because of the skills that they bring, they have a lot to offer.”

83 percent of volunteers reported some kind of spiritual preparation for their trip, with nearly three-fourths reporting special prayer meetings for the project. Other preparation included evangelism training (44 percent of respondents), Bible studies (40 percent) and devotional materials (38 percent).

92 percent of volunteers said their church gave them an opportunity to share their experience with their congregation, and an overwhelming number of pastors said their enthusiasm had influenced others to become missions volunteers.

88 percent of volunteers rated their experience as “very positive,” while another 11 percent chose “somewhat positive.” Only five respondents, or 1 percent, rated the experience as “somewhat” or “very” negative.

Posted: 4/02/04

CYBERCOLUMN:
The quality God blesses

By John Duncan

I’m sitting here under the old oak, tree asking what one trait does God always bless? As I ponder deep thoughts, the world spins out of control.

I write with the news fresh on my mind. Bush and Kerry drive toward the upcoming elections by plotting their economic strategies for American consumers. Do they know that consumers pay $1.44 for bread at Wal-Mart and $1.59 for unleaded gas? A 9-11 panel is still trying to solve the terror attacks on New York from September 2001. While they meet, an influential Shiite cleric from Iraq declares the terror attacks of Sept. 11 a “miracle from God.” He must worship the unknown God of Acts 17, because my God takes glory in abundant life, not explosive death.

The push for the Final Four rattles television sets across America. Who will win? Will it be Duke or the University of Connecticut or Georgia Tech or Oklahoma State?

Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant still await trial, and the news will not let up. Speaking of court, in our small tow, the front page of the newspaper printed a story about a young lady awaiting trial for a “murder for hire” on her husband. The news causes hair to stand up on the back of my head.

A cat birthed a kitten with a genetic defect in Germany. The four-eared kitten finally found a home. Oh, the joys of a kitten finding a home where a little girl can sneak the kitten into her room at night and cuddle it and let its soft fur sleep next to her gentle face.

Drizzle drips from the sky, and rain soon comes to paint mother earth the colors of spring, which means, of course, that Daylight Savings Time comes, and we will all lose an hour of sleep. I have not found the hour of sleep that I lost last year.

The news rattles the earth, and I am thinking of that one quality God always blesses.

Not too long ago, a relative in the mountains of Spruce Pine, N.C., died. His name was Adam Duncan. He was my father’s uncle. He drove a dump truck all over the Blue Ridge Mountains, hauling dirt, quartz rock, flint, sand and asphalt. He once upon a time cultivated bees that made honey. I once saw him put on a silver suit with a mask that looked like something that a knight wore while fencing from the Middle Ages. He donned the suit and reached in the white wooden box with gloves and pulled out a honeycomb. He combed the honey and put it in a Mason jar for putting on homemade biscuits.

He took popcorn on Friday nights to my two aunts, never missed church and often led the singing. If the car broke down, he would be the one to call. If the roof leaked, he would be the one to phone. If a snow storm blew in and you needed groceries from the local store, he would risk his neck to make sure you had groceries.

He loved to sing the old trusty hymn “Trust and Obey” in the mountain church not far from his house. When he died, two senior adult men talked about Adam, describing him: “I would choose Adam Duncan as the most faithful man in church.” God blessed Adam. His most faithful task was being the first to arrive at church and the last to leave the church. Why? Adam locked and unlocked the church every Sunday, come rain or sunshine, snow or sleet, drizzle or fog.

And so here I am under the old oak tree, pondering faithfulness. The Bible says, “Moses my servant was faithful in all my house” (Numbers 12:27). Adam exhibited faithfulness. Faithfulness is taking the trash out on trash day. Faithfulness is turning your homework in on time. Faithfulness means remembering your daughter’s birthday. Faithfulness is doing the laundry before it piles too high. Faithfulness is changing the oil in the car every 3,000 miles. Faithfulness is daily Bible reading and daily prayer. Faithfulness is the consistent doing of necessary things, even when you do not feel like it. Faithfulness is trusting and obeying Jesus, even when the world spins out of control.

The old oak tree does not have a lock and key for Sunday, but churches need to be opened and unlocked. Doors need unlocked and locked on Sundays, but more than that, God needs the faithful and their faithfulness. It is the one quality God always blesses.

John Duncan is pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, and the writer of numerous articles in various journals and magazines

Posted: 4/02/04

DOWN HOME:
Tax time reminds him of wife's love

Every now and then, someone says something that puts life into perspective.

This just happened to me.

Joanna looked across the room and told me: “Here. I need you to sign this.”

Jo repeats those same seven words words at exactly the same moment every year. Right before she hands me our tax statement and a ball point pen.

“Here. I need you to sign this.” They're seven of the most loving words my wife says to me all year long.

Not because they're romantic. Not because we don't have to pay taxes. Not even because she doesn't tell me she loves me every day.

But when she speaks those words and hands me that pen, she's showing me she loves me.

See, the last time I completed a tax return, it fit on a postcard, and the largest number on it had four digits. OK, maybe three.

This was long ago. Jimmy Carter lived in the White House. “Small” computers were the size of a Buick. Baptists only sang hymns in church. I had hair on the top of my head.

The year was 1979, and we were about to get married. I completed my tax return, which took all of about, oh, three minutes.

I dropped it in the mailbox at Hardin-Simmons University, where Jo and I were seniors. She still lived near the edge of a shadow cast by an authoritarian youth guru, and she announced: “Next year, you should do our taxes, because you'll be the head of our household.”

I still remember my exact response: “That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say.”

There I was, a religion and journalism student who didn't know anything about money, about to marry a business education major who knew all about money. I loved words; she adored numbers. Why should I ever fill out a tax return when I was about to marry a woman who could complete a dozen tax returns while I balanced my checkbook?

So, praise God from whom all blessings flow, all I've had to do every April is sign my name, wish the IRS happy returns and thank God for a numbers-savvy wife.

That's not to say we don't have a complementary marriage. I'm better at some things: I can change lightbulbs and clean the kitchen better than she can. I'm more patient with the dog and less afraid of bugs. I'm really good at polishing shoes and (when appropriately inspired) re-caulking the shower. Let's see now … I can clean out leftovers and organize the medicine cabinet.

And that's it. She's better at everything else, from giving our daughters practical advice to organizing vacations to whipping up dinner to knowing when to “chill,” as she advises me.

So, while the rest of America moans and groans as the IRS beckons, I thank God for my wife, who complements all my weaknesses. And loves me enough to do the taxes.

Posted: 4/02/04

EDITORIAL:
Buckner: Christ's presence today

How can you simultaneously hug an abused preschooler in Longview, provide parenting skills to a too-young mother in Lubbock, counsel a fragile family in Laredo and teach neglected teens how to prepare for adulthood in Lufkin?

How can you place a baby with adoptive parents in Seymour and at the same time give teens in Beaumont the skills they need to stay off drugs and help inner-city children enjoy God's beautiful world in the Hill Country near Burnet?

How can you pray with a widow in Austin as you help a couple in Dallas cope with the frailties of age?

And how can you duplicate these ministries all over Texas–from Amarillo to El Paso to Harlingen to Port Arthur to Rockwall and other cities and towns in-between?

Individually, of course, you can't.

But as a Texas Baptist, you have participated in all these ministries and more through the efforts of Buckner Baptist Benevolences.

For 125 years, Buckner has stood in for Texas Baptists at the point of human need. R.C. Buckner envisioned a ministry that would pour the love of Christ into the lives of broken, hurting orphans. Empowered by God's Spirit, it has multiplied many times over, to include service to abused and neglected children, at-risk teens, troubled families and aged saints.

Through it all, Texas Baptists have embraced Buckner's ministry as enthusiastically and affectionately as “Father” Buckner embraced those orphans. That's because we view the Buckner ministries as our opportunity to serve those whom Jesus called “the least of these”–the hurting, disenfranchised, powerless.

No, we can't all directly serve the children, families and elderly in Buckner's care. Logistics make that impossible. But Texas Baptists love to enable Buckner to be there. Our gifts to the Baptist General Convention of Texas' Cooperative Program budget and our direct contributions help sustain Buckner's varied ministries. Our volunteers provide people power for Buckner projects. And those folks among us who work for Buckner invest their very lives in these ministries.

As Texas Baptists, we talk about “being the presence of Christ” for people in need. Well, that's what Buckner is all about. Jesus is a loving intake worker to a family of abused children. Jesus offers a gentle hug and a shoulder to cry on for a young mother placing her baby for adoption. Jesus is a wise, experienced teacher for a troubled teenager struggling to find meaning apart from booze and drugs and sex. Jesus takes many forms, but he's present every time a Buckner staffer or volunteer dries a tear, teaches a skill or holds a gnarled, arthritic hand.

One of my favorite moments happens when I open the Baptist Standard and see a story about a Buckner need–maybe a family to adopt a Russian orphan, or volunteers to help a ministry or a call for new shoes for orphan souls. In that instant, I know the phone lines at Buckner are about to light up, because Texas Baptists love helping Buckner be the presence of Christ.

So, thank God for Buckner, which celebrates its 125th anniversary this month. The latest BGCT directory lists 35 Buckner ministries all across the state. And as you thank God for Buckner, thank God also for her seven sister organizations in Texas–Baptist Child & Family Services, South Texas Children's Home, Texas Baptist Children's Home & Family Services, Baptist Memorials Ministries, Baptist Community Services, Golden Palms Retirement & Health Center and Hendrick Retirement Living.

God has multiplied “Father” Buckner's vision, enabling Texas Baptists to bless thousands of people who desperately need to feel Christ's presence.
–Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

Posted: 4/02/04

Experts discuss proper role
of religion in public education

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS–A “strong consensus” has developed regarding the appropriate role of religion in public schools, a church-state legal expert said.

Oliver Thomas, a constitutional lawyer who helped draft the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, spoke during a recent “Finding Common Ground” meeting in Dallas sponsored in part by the Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

“There is no such thing as a legal safe harbor,” Thomas said, referring to how legal interpretations vary and change. But in relation to religion and public education, “fortunately, we have been able to create as safe a harbor as one can conceive.”

“You are on very safe footing, not only legally but politically,” he noted, referring to very similar interpretations of current law coming from both the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations.

This consensus has developed around the notion of “substantive neutrality,” Thomas said.

“We don't want government in the business of playing church,” he said. “But, on the other hand, we don't want the government in the business of, in any way, discouraging or failing to protect religion and religious liberty.

“Substantive neutrality is a way to talk about living in a society where one's religious affiliations or lack thereof do not advantage or disadvantage you in the republic.”

During a question and answer time, he noted that “teachers are understandably confused about some of these issues” because accurate information is not always getting to them.

Charles Haynes, senior scholar with the First Amendment Center in Arlington, Va., also spoke at the Dallas gathering. He said the Clinton Administration sent every public school principal in the nation information reflecting the consensus regarding religion in schools. One year later, a survey indicated that many of the principals had no knowledge of it.

A Dallas school teacher at the event said religion is kept out of schools for 12 years, then, she complained, it surfaces in commencement exercises.

Thomas responded that “no school district has no religion” in it. “Church-state separation does not mean you do not have religion in schools,” he said

Each student brings his religion to school with him, and textbooks should “take religion seriously,” he said, citing the role of religion in the civil rights movement and in the founding of the nation.

At commencement exercises, Thomas said, it is OK for a student speaker to refer to God, but it is not appropriate to ask other students to participate in a religious expression such as prayer.

Haynes described the importance of public schools being “laboratories for democracy and freedom.” The “civic mission” of schools in turning out good citizens needs to be renewed.

“There are more than 16 words in the First Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution, Haynes said, referring to the religious freedom portions.

While religious freedom and the liberty of conscious it implies are critical, all five freedoms ­ religion, speech, press, assembly and petition ­ are all “deeply important.” Those freedoms have been used over and over to call Americans to “live up to the founding principles.”

Other sponsors of the Finding Common Ground event were the American Jewish Committee, the Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Fund and the Jack Lowe Foundation Fund.

Posted: 4/02/04

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for April 11

Worship is proper response to resurrection

Matthew 28

By David Morgan

Trinity Baptist Church, Harker Heights

On the first day of each week, Christians across the world gather to worship. On the first day of the week following Jesus' crucifixion, as the day dawned, Mary Magdalene and another Mary returned to his tomb to grieve (Matthew 27:61). Mark and Luke tell us they planned to anoint Jesus' body with ointment and spices (Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1). What they sought was closure. What they experienced was commencement.

Believe the truth (28:1-6)

Matthew wrote the only Gospel to record that an earthquake accompanied the resurrection. The earthquake occurred just prior to or as the women arrived. An angel descended with it and rolled away the stone. He then sat down on it to signify completion or triumph. The earthquake demonstrated that God was working in ways beyond human possibility.

The earthquake and the appearance of the angel shocked the guards, paralyzing them with fear. The angel assured the women they had nothing to fear, that Jesus was no longer dead but alive. He invited them to look into the tomb and see that Jesus was gone. He also reminded them Jesus had predicted his resurrection (Matthew 16:21; 17:23; 26:32).

Angels appear at the beginning and end of Matthew's Gospel to explain events. An angel announced to Joseph that God was miraculously working in Jesus' birth. Here the angel announced that God had miraculously raised to life this same Jesus.

Share the good news (28:7-10)

The messenger further instructed the women to tell the disciples Jesus had risen and he would meet them in Galilee. The words, “is going ahead of you,” are used in Scripture for a shepherd leading his flocks (Mark 10:32; John 10:4).

Two sets of emotions–fear and joy–stirred within the women. As they left quickly to carry the angel's message to the apostles, Jesus appeared and surprised them. Matthew's use of the name Jesus reminded his readers the Jesus whom the women had known in the flesh was now their risen Lord.

The women fell before him, grabbed his feet and worshipped. This was a normal way to show subjection to a king. Their clutching his feet shows this was not a vision. Matthew wanted to stress that Jesus was alive.

Jesus encouraged them to not be afraid and repeated the angel's command to tell the disciples that Jesus would meet them in Galilee. He used the more intimate term “brothers” to refer to the disciples.

The women responded to seeing the risen Jesus by worshipping him. They also shared their experiences with the disciples. Encountering the resurrected Christ inspires one to both worship and witness.

Beware erroneous conclusions (28:11-15)

The sentries Pilate assigned to guard the tomb hurried to the city to tell their story, as did the women. The guards carefully related to the chief priests what had happened. The chief priests conferred with the elders. They determined the best response was to bribe the soldiers to lie–say the disciples came and stole the body while the guards were sleeping. The Jewish authorities promised to protect the soldiers should Pilate hear of their story. Many Jews believed the soldiers' story. The lie persisted among Jewish circles even as Matthew wrote his Gospel.

Worship the Lord (28:16-17)

The 11 remaining disciples heard the women's report and journeyed to the mountain in Galilee that Jesus had specified. We cannot identify the mountain, but Matthew's emphasis on mountains draws a parallel between Jesus and Moses.

Mountains played significant roles in both of their lives. Moses, the old law-giver, received his call and received God's law on Mount Sinai. Just prior to his death, God summoned him to Mount Pisgah, where he viewed God's promised land and then died. Jesus, the new law-giver, instructed his disciples on this mountain in Galilee and on the one where he delivered the Sermon on the Mount.

The other Gospels report that Jesus appeared to the disciples while they were in Jerusalem. Matthew focused on the meeting in Galilee because Jesus wanted to emphasize that the good news about him was to be shared with all people and not just Jews in Jerusalem. Galilee had a large Gentile population.

When the disciples saw the risen Christ, they fell on their faces. Their first reaction was worship, but Matthew candidly related some doubted. Thomas appears not to have been the only skeptic.

Seeing is not always believing. The women saw and believed, but the soldiers did not. Some disciples believed immediately, but others hesitated.

Worshipping the living Christ is the proper response to Christ's resurrection. We should not become bogged down in details and proofs. Our response to the resurrected Christ should be the same as the women and disciples–worship.

Questions for discussion

What makes you believe that Jesus has been resurrected?

Is worship a priority in your life?

Posted: 4/02/04

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for April 18

Paul gives Timothy his final marching orders

2 Timothy 1

By David Morgan

Trinity Baptist Church, Harker Heights

A more somber tone looms over the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy than in 1 Timothy. Second Timothy has the feel of his last will and testament. He was writing from a severe imprisonment (2 Timothy 1:8; 2:9) which he believed would end in his execution (2 Timothy 4:6). He considered this letter to be his final opportunity to instruct and encourage his young protégé.

We sense his deep love and concern for the young man who would continue Paul's heritage in the ministry. He reminded Timothy to be steadfast in the faith. He urged Timothy to resist the false teachings that still plagued the Ephesian church.

Remember our joint heritage (1:3-5)

Paul opened his final letter to Timothy the same way he began many of his letters–with a word of thanksgiving. He consistently thanked God for Timothy in his prayers. He could remain involved in Timothy's life by interceding for him even though prison bars and oceans separated them.

The apostle affirmed he had served God with a clear conscience. He was not excusing his persecution of Christians. Instead, he was asserting that he was serving God to the best of his knowledge prior to his encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus. His conversion transformed this mistaken understanding. Paul felt he was serving the same God as his Jewish forefathers. His being a Christian was the continuation of what God had started with the chosen people of the Old Testament.

A deeply personal reflection interrupted Paul's prayer. He ached to see Timothy again. He remembered the sadness when they parted but longed for the joy a reunion would bring.

Timothy's genuine faith, as well as that of his mother and grandmother, spawned Paul's gratitude. Apparently Timothy grew up in a home strongly committed to God.

We should never underestimate the influence of a Christian home. We should gratefully remember the blessings and relationships God bestows on us.

Use your gift (1:6-7)

Because of Timothy's genuine faith and his timid nature, Paul reminded him to stir up the gift that resided in him. God's gift certainly surpassed Timothy's natural abilities. God used others through the laying on of hands to bestow the gift to Timothy. That others had recognized God's work in Timothy stimulated the young man to action. God's gift provided Timothy what he needed to accomplish the work to which God had called him and Paul had commissioned him. God could overcome Timothy's timidity with power, love and discipline. God provided the young pastor with strength and love for those he served. All Christians need to use self-control or discipline to accomplish their God-given work.

Demonstrate courage (1:8-12)

Paul urged Timothy not to keel over under opposition and falter in the faith. He challenged his colleague to share with (“join”) Paul in his trials and suffering. God would empower Timothy to remain strong as God had bolstered Paul. Paul considered himself to be a prisoner of Christ and not of Caesar. He also encouraged Timothy to remember Jesus' faithfulness before Pilate as a motive to be courageous. To follow Christ is to carry one's cross of suffering and shame.

God called the pair to salvation and to service. They had received their salvation through God's choice and God's grace and through no effort of their own. God's purpose to redeem humanity extended back into eternity, but God's intent had been made visible through Christ becoming human. Christ's work rendered death powerless and displayed for all to see the life and immortality possible through the gospel (“the good news of Christ's revelation of God”). The apostle asserted that God commissioned him to proclaim the gospel boldly and publicly and then instruct others in Christian living.

Paul accepted his suffering because he was convinced God would never let him down nor desert him. He refused to lose confidence in the gospel. Paul entrusted his proclamation of the gospel to God and knew that God would preserve the message until the day of judgment. As Paul had overcome difficulties, so too should Timothy.

Remain steadfast in your faith (1:13-14)

Paul had drawn a blueprint for Timothy's teaching. He knew that circumstances would force Timothy to expand the message as necessary. Paul reminded Timothy of the Holy Spirit as his strength to guard the gospel. Protecting the truth of the gospel was essential in a setting filled with false teachers.

Paul again cited his own life as an example of guarding the faith. Some of Paul's earlier allies in the faith had rejected and abandoned him. In contrast to those who had deserted him, Onesiphorus (“bearer of profit”) stood by him in the imprisonment. He had ministered to Paul and was not deterred by Paul's imprisonment, signified by “my chains.” He diligently searched for Paul in Rome until he found him. He was eager to associate with Paul in his suffering and ministry. Paul prayed for God to bestow mercy on him because of this ministry.

Questions for discussion

Who will carry on your spiritual legacy?

Who has been your mentor?

Posted: 4/02/04

LifeWay Family Bible Series for April 11

God's grace gives testimony to his great love

Matthew 28:1-10; Ephesians 2:4-9

By Rodney McGlothlin

First Baptist Church, College Station

In college, I drove a Ford Pinto. You may remember that particular puny pony as the one with the optional exploding rear end.

It also had something few cars today seem to possess. It had a metal dashboard. It was like having a refrigerator door right there in the car, the ideal place for magnetic art. I had a magnet on it that read, “Smile! God loves you.” The letters were arranged in old English script over a scene of the three empty crosses on Calvary's hill.

I picked up a friend after class who was having the kind of bad day that seemed to promise an even worse semester. He looked at the magnetized message on my dashboard and asked, “How do you know God loves you?” From the pages of Matthew's gospel we can find sufficient witnesses to tell us the facts of God's love. From Paul's letter to the Ephesians, we can find the grace needed to accept his love.

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were the first to make the discovery that the grave had lost its victim (Matthew 28:1). There was an earthquake, and then the women were touched by an angel. He told them not to be afraid and to go tell the disciples to go to Galilee if they wanted to see Jesus. They went. Jesus appeared to them on the way, greeting them and repeating the instructions of the angel.

The first witnesses of the resurrection were women. They did as Jesus told them. They were effective communicators. According to Matthew, the disciples made their way to Galilee on the basis of the preaching of the two Marys. “Then the disciples went to Galilee … then Jesus came to them” (Matthew 28:16, 18).

“How do you know God loves you?” I do not always feel loved. I do not always receive God's love. I often do not show God's love to others. But when I look at the cross, I have no doubt that God loves me. He loves me so much only Calvary could tell the story. The cross is the objective truth that God has entered into this world to bring his people to himself. The song we learned as children still says it best: “Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so.”

“How do you know God loves you?” This love must become more than an objective truth. It needs to be subjective truth as well. Heart knowledge is needed as much as head knowledge. From the facts of Matthew's resurrection narrative, we move to Paul's resurrection application. He began the second chapter of Ephesians with a description of the human spiritual condition.

His summation? You were dead–“Dead in transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Then comes some of the greatest words in the entire Bible: “But God … made us alive … raised us up … and seated us in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 2:4-7).

In these words, we are suddenly transported from the spiritual morgue to the delivery room. In the birthing room of salvation there is only one midwife allowed, and her name is grace. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

I am grateful for the witness of Mary Magdalene and the “other” Mary. I am grateful for the witness of my parents, my brother, my pastors and teachers. But none of these witnesses brought me into God's kingdom. My church did not give me birth. My denomination did not forgive my sins. My works did not give me a single breath of new life. My best efforts did not result in spiritual self-delivery. It was all “by grace.” God's grace.

Grace is the gift of God. It is not pay for a job well done or reward for noble effort. It is not the luck of the draw. It certainly is not a capricious action on God's part where he chooses to bless some and condemn others. Grace makes faith possible. It enables belief. It empowers spiritual growth. It turns sinners into saints and atheists into missionaries.

I have never found a definition of grace that fits well. How can you describe the indescribable? It's like trying to verbalize a sunset. You have to see it, and you have to experience it. In the pages of Scripture, we read of the resurrection of Jesus. In the church, we hear contemporary witnesses tell of how Christ has come alive in them. When we hear and when we believe, we can experience the resurrection of Jesus in our own lives.

“How do you know God loves you?” I know he loves me because of the cross. But more than that, I know he loves me because he came into my life when I put my faith and trust in him. Just as he was raised from the dead to never die again, he has come into my life and will never leave.

Our world still needs powerful witnesses of the resurrection of Christ. The two Marys are available as witnesses today only through the pages of Scripture. We are the ones who will have to verbalize this message in the world today. When you do, you will find there is another who will join you in manifold witness. Her name is “grace.” By grace, and only by grace, others will come into his kingdom too.

Question for discussion

How do you know God loves you?

Posted: 4/02/04

LifeWay Family Bible Series for April 18

Jesus Christ is the church's one foundation

Matthew 16:13-19; Ephesians 2:17-22

By Rodney McGlothlin

First Baptist Church, College Station

Have you ever built a house? I have done volunteer building with Habitat for Humanity. It is a great organization that takes folks like me and uses them to build good housing for families who need some help. Fortunately for them, Habitat provides supervisors to make sure my fumbling efforts do not result in a tumbling house.

This week's lesson is about Jesus, the church builder. Of the gospel writers, only Matthew places the word “church” on the lips of Jesus. Even Luke, who used the word more than 20 times in Acts, never used the word in his gospel. “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18).

The most important and undisputable part of this text is “I will build my church.” Jesus is the builder of the church. It will be built upon his finished work on the cross. It is built to be his habitation, not ours. It is built to be on mission for him and with him. It will be his bride. He will come again and take his bride to heaven for all eternity. When he comes to get the church, he will take it to another place he has built. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). It is his church.

A good foundation is needed for any building. Jesus said, “On this rock I will build my church.” We understand immediately that he is speaking of the foundation of the church. But what does the word “this” refer to?

Some have said it is Peter. He is certainly vital to the early days of the church. Read the first 10 chapters in Acts and remove any reference to Peter. It would be a vastly different story. But was Peter the foundation of the church?

Some have said the “rock” to which Jesus refers is the confession of Peter. The church would be built upon folks like Peter who would confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Certainly this is closer to the truth. I have personally never met Simon Peter. I have met thousands of people who have followed his example in believing that Jesus is the Christ. These folks, like Peter, still are forming a foundation for the future of the church.

I have to believe Jesus was referring to himself when he said, “On this rock I will build my church.” Peter was there. He should know what Jesus meant. He seemed to indicate most that Jesus himself was the foundation (1 Peter 2:4-8).

Perhaps our hymn writer said it best: “The church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord; she is his new creation, by Spirit and the word. From heav'n he came and sought her to be his holy bride, with his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died” (Samuel John Stone).

The church Jesus builds is not a fortress for saints. It is not a defensive location for spiritual pacifists in the battle for the souls of humanity. Jesus said, “And the gates of hades (death or hell, take your pick!) will not stand against it.”

I am afraid some of us hear these words and think of another hymn, “Hold the Fort.” We envision a scared group of believers hanging on to an overmatched fortress on the frontiers of Christianity, besieged all around by a satanic foe bent on our destruction. That is not the image of this text. A gate is a defensive weapon. In this case, it is the defense of a satanic stronghold. The image is one of a victorious church on the march with her builder and head, Jesus Christ.

We ought not to think of all satanic strongholds as residing outside the church. There are plenty of evil empires within our own midst. We confess spiritual faith and practice material acquisition. We speak of obeying the prophets of God but spend more time tracking the profits of Wall Street. We have become a market-driven, felt needs, consumer-oriented, success-seeking church that often bears little resemblance to the Savior of Calvary's cross. What do we know today of sacrifice and service?

In the current culture wars, we cry about the loss of values, and we begin to sound more like victims than victors. We whine to government and puny politicians to “protect our values” and forget we already have a king who can lead us to victory, first within the church and then within the world.

He still is building his church, and we need his transforming presence within our own congregations. Let's be faithful to our Lord and to his call! The walls will still fall.

Questions for discussion

What makes you a good component for Jesus to build his church with?

What weaknesses are inherent in any church due to the building blocks involved?

What can be done to put more emphasis on Christ as the foundation?

How do we ensure that churches do not become fortresses to keep Christians safe and secure, but instead are outposts from which the army of Christ can march boldly into battle under the banner of Christ's love?

Posted: 4/02/04

Two-thirds of Americans dissatisfied
with moral climate, Gallup Poll says

WASHINGTON (RNS)– An annual Gallup Poll found nearly two-thirds of Americans are dissatisfied with the country's moral and ethical climate.

But younger people seem to be less pessimistic than their elders, the poll revealed.

Gallup's annual Mood of the Nation poll found that 64 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the country's moral climate, while 35 percent say they are satisfied.

Pollsters say the “fairly dim view” on American morality was likely influenced by corporate scandals involving Enron and Martha Stewart.

Other factors cited included Janet Jackson's “wardrobe malfunction” at the Super Bowl halftime show and increasing attention paid to gay marriage.

Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 seem more optimistic–in the 2003 and 2004 polls, 53 percent of younger Americans said they are satisfied with the country's morality.

Among older adults, the highest level of satisfaction– 38 percent–was found among those ages 30 to 49. Among Americans ages 65 and older, only 29 percent were satisfied.

The generational divide is “a pattern that has existed for several years,” said Heather Mason, Gallup contributing editor.

“Adults under the age of 30 grew up in the era of the Internet, music videos and cable television shows that continued to push the moral envelope and may not remember a time when profanity and sexual content were more taboo,” she said in Gallup's briefing report.

The annual poll of 1,004 adults, conducted each January, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Among respondents ages 18-29, the margin of error was plus or minus 6 percentage points.

Posted: 4/02/04

Church struggles to learn legal lessons from bus accident

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

ELDORADO–About five months after a bus crash claimed the lives of nine senior adults on a church-sponsored trip, members of First Baptist Church in Eldorado planned their first major out-of-town trip since the accident.

Last October, a bus owned by First Baptist Church ran into the back of a parked tractor-trailer rig near Tallulah, La. The bus, driven by a church member, was taking 15 senior adults on a tour of historic sites. Five church members and three of their friends were killed in the accident. One of the injured passengers died several weeks later.

Recently, the church took a group of teenagers and young adults skiing near Durango, Colo.

“We decided it was time to get out and do something–time to get on with our lives,” Pastor Andy Anderson said.

Getting to that point has been a slow process of healing. But in planning the trip, one decision was made easily, Anderson noted.

“We chartered a bus,” he said, adding that for the foreseeable future, “we're totally out of the transportation business.”

In addition to the trauma of death and injury the church endured, the congregation also faced fines from an agency church leaders had never heard of before–the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. And they discovered to their dismay they were considered motor carriers engaged in interstate commerce

A representative from the federal agency arrived in Eldorado the day after the wreck. One month later, the church officially received notice it was charged with five violations of the agency's regulations and fined $2,280.

Most of the violations centered on record-keeping–failing to implement an alcohol and controlled substance testing program, using a driver not medically examined and certified, failing to maintain a driver qualification file and failing to require the driver to make a record of duty status.

There were no accusations of substance abuse; the charges focused on the church's failure to maintain a medical records file on the driver and to have in place a substance-use testing program.

The church also was fined for operating a passenger-carrying vehicle without having $5 million public liability insurance. The church had $1 million in public liability insurance.

At the time of the accident involving the Eldorado church, federal safety regulations applied to private motor carriers such as churches and schools and for-hire carriers operating vehicles either designed or used to carry more than 15 passengers in interstate commerce.

In mid-December, the regulations became even more stringent.

All safety regulations –except for requiring a commercial driver's license and a testing program for alcohol and controlled substances–now apply to “for-hire motor carriers operating vehicles designed or used to transport between nine and 15 passengers for direct compensation, in interstate commerce, when the vehicle is driven more than 75 miles from the driver's normal reporting location,” according to a statement from the agency's consumer and public affairs office.

For churches, that raises more questions than it answers. If no money changes hands but a Texas church takes a busload of members north of the Red River, is it interstate commerce?

“Interstate commerce occurs whenever transportation across a state line occurs,” said David Longo, public affairs officer with the federal motor safety agency.

If a church transports people across a state line in a vehicle designed or used to carry 16 or more passengers, then it is a private motor carrier subject to the agency's safety regulations, he said.

However, it is not subject to record-keeping requirements, he said.

The relevant question is whether the church is a for-hire motor carrier, Longo explained.

“If no fee is collected by the church either directly or indirectly–such as through a total package charge–the church is not operating as a for-hire motor carrier,” he said.

“Furthermore, if the transportation service is not available to the public at large, the church is not operating as a for-hire motor carrier.

“If the church only operates a vehicle designed or used to transport nine to 15 passengers, and it is not operating for-hire, it is not subject to FMCSA regulations.”

The key is not whether the driver is paid or a volunteer; rather, what matters is whether the church is compensated for interstate transportation.

But even then, the matter is not clear-cut. Apparently, it depends–at least in part–on the size of the vehicle and whether the church is providing transportation to the general public.

Longo considered the following hypothetical situation: “A youth group goes to an out-of-state summer camp 200 miles from home. Participants pay the church in advance for lodging, food and camp conference fees. While 99 percent of the teenagers are church members, a few are friends or relatives of the members participating. They travel in church-owned 12-passenger vans.”

This group does not fall under federal regulations, he said.

“The church is not being paid for the transportation, and the transportation is not available to the public at large. Thus, the church is not operating a for-hire carrier,” Longo said.

“Since the 12-passenger van is not being operated for compensation, it is not considered a commercial motor vehicle, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations do not apply.”

That explanation left leaders of First Baptist Church of Eldorado puzzled about why the regulations applied in their situation, particularly since four of the five charges against the church concerned record-keeping violations.

But for now, the church is choosing to use charter bus transportation rather than trying to decipher federal regulations.

“When it comes to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration … I'm not sure we've learned all that much.

“We still don't understand what the rules are,” Anderson said.