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Texas Baptist Forum
Posted: 3/14/08
Texas Baptist Forum
Positive 1st impression
Randel Everett made a positive impression the day he was elected executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
• Jump to online-only letters below Letters are welcomed. Send them to marvknox@baptiststandard.com; 250 words maximum.
“What we evangelicals should have known before and have now demonstrated again … is that we aren’t quite as popular in the public square as we like to think. We may carry a pretty strong Word, but we also carry a fairly limp stick.”
Joel Belz
World magazine founder, writing about the need to “end the illusion” about the political force of evangelicals (World/RNS)“There is a tendency on the part of some religious folk to see God with human characteristics, and then they assign to God some of the most damaging and destructive of human characteristics. I think there is a danger of having God conform to our image, rather than trying to conform to his.”
Ted Strickland
Governor of Ohio (RNS)“The separation of church and state is like oxygen to the fire of religious liberty.”
Jon Meacham
Newsweek editor (CBS News Sunday Morning)I was impressed by his strategy, which will allow us to direct our focus on our genuine passion for the lost people of Texas. I sensed we have elected an authentic leader who can guide us without hesitation.
His convictions help me define what type of leader he will be for this moment—a leader whose focus is God’s priority to save the lost ones.
03/15/2008 - By John Rutledge
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Oxford researchers get $4 million to study origins of belief in God
Posted: 3/14/08
Oxford researchers get $4 million
to study origins of belief in GodBy Brittani Hamm
Religion News Service
LONDON (RNS)—Oxford University researchers have been given nearly $4 million to investigate the origins of belief in God.
The three-year project titled “Empirical Expansion in Cognitive Science of Religion and Theology” is designed to determine if belief in a deity is instinctive or learned. It will be funded by the Pennsylvania-based John Templeton Foundation.
03/15/2008 - By John Rutledge
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Robbie Seay Band musically tells story of ‘God who created and pursues us’
Posted: 3/14/08
Robbie Seay Band musically tells story
of ‘God who created and pursues us’By Leann Callaway
Special to the Baptist Standard
HOUSTON—On weekdays, Ecclesia Church in Houston serves as a community outreach center, farmer’s market, art gallery, coffeehouse and recording studio. On Sundays, its space becomes sanctuary to the homeless and drug-addicted, as well as to the high-profile attorneys and suburb-dwellers who fill its seats.
And it serves as home base for the Robbie Seay Band—worship leaders who shape the church’s identity and are shaped by it. Ecclesia’s services are a mix of liturgical elements such as weekly communion and communal prayer along with experiential worship, with artists painting during the service.
03/15/2008 - By John Rutledge
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Study links subprime mortgage crisis to U.S. poverty & hunger
Posted: 3/14/08
Study links subprime mortgage
crisis to U.S. poverty & hungerBy Matthew Streib
Religion News Service
WASHINGTON (RNS)—The poorest counties in the United States are among the hardest hit by the subprime mortgage crisis, according to a study released by the Christian anti-hunger advocacy group Bread for the World.
The report, titled “Home Ownership, Subprime Loans and Poverty,” found a strong correlation between poverty rates and percentages of mortgages that are subprime.
03/15/2008 - By John Rutledge
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UMHB Easter pageant draws thousands
Posted: 3/14/08
UMHB Easter pageant draws thousands
Standing as the risen Lord on the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor campus, Josh Hobratsch gives the Great Commission to all who will listen at the conclusion of the annual Easter pageant. Nearly 5,000 spectators gathered to watch three live Easter pageant performances March 12. The pageant involved about 200 students in the production. Hobratsch said he was grateful to play Christ but did not feel worthy.
“I believe that as Christians we all have the task of living lives just like Jesus, no matter how demanding or impossible it may be,” he said.
Senior management major Josh Hobratsch of Walberg portrays Christ carrying his cross as one of the Roman soldiers, Ryan Ohendalski of Huntsville, takes him through the crowd of onlookers on the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor campus. (UMHB Photos/Carol Woodward) Hobratsch portrays Christ hanging on the cross during the 69th annual UMHB Easter pageant.
03/15/2008 - By John Rutledge
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Texas Tidbits
Posted: 3/14/08
Texas Tidbits
HBU sues NCAA; seeks Division I status earlier. Houston Baptist University is suing the NCAA in an effort to reduce by four years its probation period to become a Division I athletic program. If successful, the school would have to wait two more years before becoming a top-level athletic program. The school joined the NCAA last year after being part of NAIA 17 years. Shortly before HBU petitioned to become a provisional member, the NCAA told HBU the governing body changed its constitution in April to increase the probation period from three years to seven. In the lawsuit, HBU contends an amendment like this requires a two-thirds affirmation by member bodies, which didn’t take place. HBU officials declined to comment on the case.
Hardin-Simmons takes steps to name search committee. Hardin-Simmons University trustees Chairman Hilton Hemphill will appoint a search committee and advisory committee to recommend a university president to succeed Craig Turner, who has announced plans to step down from the post May 31. Trustees authorized Hemphill to name the committees with input from both the board of trustees and the administrative council. Trustees will comprise a majority of the search committee, which also will include staff and faculty representatives. The advisory committee will include representatives from various Hardin-Simmons constituencies, including the board of development, alumni board, faculty, staff and student groups. Hemphill hopes to have the committees in place for an initial meeting in late March, and the search committee will consider employing a national search firm to seek and screen applicants. Hemphill said he hopes the process will be completed in six to nine months.
03/15/2008 - By John Rutledge
