Posted: 2/19/04

Christian Fitness: Body & soul

By Adelle Banks

Religion News Service

Pittsburgh, Pa. (RNS)–Larry Swain of Pittsburgh is proud of the fact he's lost more than 50 pounds in the last year and a half.

He attributes it to several factors. He wanted to wear a smaller tuxedo to his daughter's wedding. A doctor's visit showed his cholesterol and blood pressure at unhealthy levels.

And it didn't hurt when his Pittsburgh Baptist Association invited an annual meeting speaker who focused on the self-care of clergy.

Annuity Board President O.S. Hawkins (center) approaches the finish line at the Annuity Board's first annual walk for wellness at the Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix, Ariz., last June.

“He did ask me, 'Larry, what are you doing to take care of yourself?'” recalled Swain, executive minister of the association.

Swain recently was the recipient of a $300 “wellness grant” from the American Baptist Churches USA, and he used some of that money to hear that same expert address his fellow pastors at a national conference last month.

Others among the nation's denominations are sponsoring fitness walks or runs during their major meetings. Books like “Body by God” have been best sellers. And “gospel aerobics” classes seem to be on the rise.

With almost 65 percent of Americans overweight, the nation's churches are working to get clergy and their congregants to lose weight and take better care of themselves overall.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America hired a medical doctor as a consultant three years ago to help in its efforts.

When her work began, Gwen Halaas, the ELCA's director of ministerial health and wellness, found that its ministers and lay leaders were more overweight than the average American and were more prone to be under stress, depressed and less physically active.

Now, the denomination has teamed with the Mayo Clinic and set up a website focused on healthy living, including nutrition and exercise advice.

They're simply following the commandment “to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love others as we love ourselves,” Halaas said.

“What we have, through our American culture, ended up doing is really forgetting or suppressing that 'love yourself' phrase.”

Church leaders hope by having healthy leaders, they eventually will be able to redirect church money used to treat illness to better uses, she said. Leaders with less stress might also be more likely to attract younger people to join their ministry ranks.

Ministers say these arguments are hardly a tough sell. A total of 227 participants rose early to join the “Run Walk 'n' Roll” during the Lutherans' churchwide assembly in Milwaukee last summer, logging more than 2,500 miles in four days.

The Southern Baptist Convention has joined other denominations on the road to healthier members by conducting health screenings at annual meetings and giving away books on topics like reducing stress.

The denomination's Annuity Board recently launched a website for medical plan participants. The site includes a health assessment, “virtual trainer” and calorie counter among its options.

“They can look at restaurants and foods that are served in restaurants,” said Curt Sharp, spokesman for the Annuity Board. “They can determine whether they should eat a Big Mac or a fajita pita.”

Last June, at the Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix, more than 300 showed up for a first-time, 6:30 a.m. “Run for the Son.”

The one-mile run may be expanded to a five-kilometer event this year when they meet in Indianapolis.

When people aren't running with fellow members, some of them are reading up on how to be fit.

“Body by God” by Ben Lerner has been on the New York Times and Christian retailing best-seller lists. The author says he considers his book, which includes tips on exercise, diet and reducing stress, to be “a supplement to the Bible.” He encourages readers to eat foods on his “Food by God List”–which includes fruits, vegetables, turkey breast and lean beef–and to reduce their diet of “Food by Man”–shellfish, fast and fried foods and refined sugar.

“I believe if people see the body as the temple of God and that it's a gift from God and it's in fact the body by God, that they'll be more than motivated short-term to care for it,” said Lerner. “They'll be inspired long-term.”

LaVita Weaver, author of “Fit for God” agrees and said healthier diets within the church also are a part of the faith-related focus on fitness.

“You see all the time the macaroni and cheese, candied yams, ham, fried chicken,” she said.

Weaver, a fitness trainer and an assistant to the pastor at her non-denominational Clinton, Md., church, has fostered a menu change in her own congregation.

“Now we bring salads,” she said. “We also bring pasta salad, so people are now experimenting with healthier dishes.”

Marie Griffith, an associate professor of religion at Princeton University, said there is no definitive research on whether religiously based fitness programs are more successful than secular ones.

“Everybody's got sort of the pitch that our way is the best way,” said Griffith, who has focused on religion and dieting and has a forthcoming book called “Born Again Bodies: Flesh and Spirit in American Christianity.”

“I don't think we really know.”

But she said the more holistic focus on mind, body and spirit has become popular across the board, in religious circles and outside them.

People who don't have time to go to church and the gym in different places are combining their needs in a package plan.

“I think it does make … sense that people bring all these aspects of their lives together,” she said.

Victoria Johnson, an author and fitness expert in Portland, Ore., has started an online “Gospel Aerobics Directory” featuring churches and community centers with weekly or biweekly workouts set to energetic Christian music.

Johnson, who has written a book called “Body Revival” and developed exercise videos, says worship can be combined with workouts.

“I encourage everyone who walks on a treadmill to make that their morning devotional or their evening devotional,” she said.

“Let's take our time of movement and turn it into a time of worship, a time of praise and a time of devotion, a time of prayer.”

Posted: 2/19/04

Health-conscious Christians
ask, 'What would Jesus eat?'

By Alexandra Alter

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–If doctors had to identify the deadliest sin affecting Americans today, they probably would name gluttony as the No. 1 killer.

As obesity in the United States reaches epidemic proportions, with more than 60 percent of adults overweight or obese, public-policy makers and health officials are scrambling over ways to improve the American diet.

But Don Colbert, physician and nutritionist, thinks the obesity crisis could be solved if Americans would pause before inhaling a super-sized fast food meal and ask themselves a simple question: “Would Jesus eat this?”

If it's loaded with saturated fats, sugar or artificial ingredients, the answer is no, said Colbert. Her book “What Would Jesus Eat?” combines biblical scholarship with conventional dietary wisdom.

“The gluttonous spirit is deadly,” he said. “I've seen so many diseases related to dietary excess, so why not go back to the owner's manual, the Bible, to see what Jesus ate?”

Jesus essentially ate a Mediterranean diet rich in whole grains, fish, fruit and vegetables and modest amounts of olive oil, meat and wine, Colbert said. Anything the Old Testament blacklists in its dietary prescriptions is out, including shellfish, pork products, horses, camels, birds of prey and other carnivores.

Colbert, a Mississippi native who studied for a year at a Bible college as well as training at medical school, said he wrote the book and its companion, “The What Would Jesus Eat Cook Book,” both published by Thomas Nelson, after realizing many of the fattest Americans are dedicated fundamentalist Christians.

“Most people say, 'Hey, it's important that I live a Christian life, but my body's not that important,'” he said. “They'll go to heaven. The only problem is, if they neglect their bodies, they'll go to heaven a lot faster.”

With six new books in his Bible Cure series, including books on combatting cholesterol, diabetes and thyroid problems through diet and prayer, Colbert's Bible-based diet empire has expanded far beyond his private practice at the Divine Wellness Center in Longwood, Fla.

And Colbert's not the only Christian diet guru urging people to ask what Jesus would eat. Christian advocates of vegetarianism say if Jesus were alive today, he would maintain a plant-based diet out of compassion for animals.

Others say Jesus would approve of genetically modified food, given his propensity for transforming and multiplying food.

Although there may be disagreement over what Jesus would choose given the option of a veggie burger, broiled lamb with garbanzo beans, or genetically modified corn on the cob, growing numbers of Christians are looking to the Bible for dietary guidance, hoping Scripture might succeed where science has failed in inspiring healthy eating habits.

Stephen Kaufman, co-chair of the Christian Vegetarian Association, hopes more Christians will start making faith-based choices about what they eat.

“There are a lot of people out there for whom diet is a reflection of their faith,” he said. “We're taught to take care of our bodies, the temple of God's spirit, as Paul said.”

Kaufman disagrees with Colbert's claim that Jesus would eat meat, arguing that although lamb and red meat may have been acceptable fare in Jesus' time, modern agricultural practices make meat an unhealthy dietary choice, as well as an immoral one.

Posted: 2/19/04

Filibuster halts lawmakers' attempt
to limit or undo gay marriage ruling

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

BOSTON (ABP)–The Massachusetts legislature adjourned its historic constitutional convention Feb. 12 without reversing the state supreme court's recent legalization of gay marriage.

With thousands of protesters gathered outside Feb. 11, legislators began debating legal measures that would limit marriage to heterosexual couples, while perhaps creating a category of civil unions for gays.

But during two tumultuous days of legislative wrangling and emotional debate, legislators were unable to pass any of four proposed amendments.

Lawmakers defeated a constitutional amendment that would have banned gay marriage. Another proposal to ban gay marriage but create legally binding civil unions for gays also was defeated.

In the end, gay-marriage supporters closed the session down with a filibuster at midnight of the second day, sending lawmakers home without resolving the legislative crisis that has divided the state and thrust it into the national spotlight.

Any constitutional amendment will require approval by voters. Angry gay-marriage opponents complained the deadlocked legislative session deprived Massachusetts voters of voicing their opinion on the divisive issue.

Another constitutional session is scheduled for March 11.

Legal experts say the constitutional showdown in Massachusetts will have an impact on the nationwide debate over gay rights and the legal definition of marriage.

In November, Massachusetts became the epicenter of that growing debate when a closely divided Supreme Judicial Court ruled a state agency could not deny same-sex couples the right to marry.

The same court ruled Feb. 4 a civil-union law under consideration would create an “unconstitutional, inferior and discriminatory status for same-sex couples,” forcing the constitutional convention.

The November supreme court decision gave the state's legislature 180 days to enact statutes creating same-sex marriage.

Instead, armed with widespread criticism of the high-court ruling from within the state and beyond, legislators proposed amending the constitution to circumvent the court's ruling and limit marriage to heterosexuals.

If the constitution is left unchanged, Massachusetts will become the first legal jurisdiction in the United States to sanction same-sex marriage.

Neighboring Vermont has a civil-union law that offers same-sex couples most of the legal rights of marriage while reserving the term “marriage” for opposite-sex couples.

Gay marriage is viewed by political analysts as a “wedge issue” in the 2004 presidential campaign.

“This is the cultural issue of our lifetime,” Ronald Crews, spokesman for the Coalition for Marriage, told the Boston Globe. “This has the same import of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, in terms of potential divide.”

Republicans are expected to use the constitutional showdown in Massachusetts to attack local Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential frontrunner.

The Democratic National Convention will take place in Boston in July, only weeks after gay couples will be able to secure civil marriage licenses beginning May 17.

Opponents of gay marriage, including a coalition of Religious Right and other conservative groups, is pushing the Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would ban gay marriage in all 50 states.

Its supporters claim it would leave it up to individual state legislatures or voters to create civil unions to provide marriage-like benefits to gay couples. But some legal scholars and gay-rights activists dispute that interpretation.

Others want the amendment to include language explicitly banning civil unions for same-sex couples.

The amendment's supporters say it is necessary to prevent states from being forced to recognize same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts or other states.

But many legal scholars say the Constitution would prevent states with a clearly stated policy opposing gay marriage–such as the 38 that have passed state versions of the Defense of Marriage Act–from being forced to recognize same-sex marriages from elsewhere.

Legal experts say the constitutional showdown in Massachusetts will have an impact on the nationwide debate over gay rights and the legal definition of marriage.

Posted: 2/19/04

Follow Christ's call without regard
to consequences, Mercer tells students

By Charles Richardson

Hardin-Simmons University

ABILENE–One biblical promise kept Heather Mercer from losing hope when she was imprisoned in Afghanistan: Jesus' pledge to be with his disciples until the end.

Mercer shared her story of imprisonment in Afghanistan and strong passion for missions with Hardin-Simmons University students earlier this month.

Mercer and Dayna Curry, both Baylor University graduates, captured international headlines during their 105-day imprisonment by the Taliban in Afghanistan beginning Aug. 3, 2001.

Authorities accused the two young missionaries of sharing their Christian beliefs with Muslims. They were arrested after they gave a copy of the “Jesus” video to a family who reported them to the Taliban.

While in a prison cell, Mercer recalled a biblical promise that became real to her as a Baylor student: Jesus' telling his disciples he would be with them to the end.

That promise became personal to her again, she said.

Meanwhile, Christians everywhere were urged to pray for their freedom.

Mercer believes those prayers were answered when they were freed by American Special Forces who had been sent to liberate the Afghans from the rule of the Taliban.

At one point during her captivity, Mercer truly became convinced to trust Jesus and his promises, whatever the consequences, she said.

“If I live, I live for you. If I die, I die for you,” she prayed, fully convinced she might die in Afghanistan.

Christian students should share their faith wherever God calls them to go, she told the Hardin-Simmons students.

“I believe God will call many of you to go. That's my prayer,” she said.

Loretta Fulton, Abilene Reporter-News, contributed to this report.

Posted: 2/19/04

IMB reports passing half-million
mark in baptisms worldwide for first time

By Mark Kelly

International Mission Board

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)–Southern Baptist missionaries witnessed double-digit increases in eight of their 13 categories of work in 2003, including for the first time more than 500,000 baptisms, trustees of the International Mission Board learned this month.

While more than 5,000 people groups still have little or no access to the gospel, Southern Baptist missionaries and their overseas partners also opened work among 192 people groups during 2003, said Avery Willis, the board's senior vice president for overseas operations.

Those new works included the engagement of 146 unreached people groups with a total population of more than 359 million.

Southern Baptist missionaries and their overseas partners baptized 510,357 in 2003, a net increase of 76,838 (17.7 percent).

The total number of congregations worldwide reached 87,419, a net increase of 15,516 (21.6 percent) over 2002.

That growth was fed by 16,721 new congregations, an increase of 8,314 (98.9 percent) over 2002, Willis said.

He also noted that the board uses seven criteria distinctives of Baptist churches to ensure only churches that are Baptist in faith and practice are reported.

A total of 10,031 outreach groups also were started in 2003, Willis said.

While that represented 38 fewer than in 2002, it still brought the total number of outreach groups to 47,103, a net increase of 5,648 (13.6 percent) for the year.

In other categories:

Overseas church membership surpassed 7.04 million, a net increase of 336,411, for an annual growth rate of 5 percent.

Bible teaching enrollment increased 182,806 (5.1 percent) to 3.77 million.

New Christians in discipleship training increased 42.8 percent (128,035) to 426,849.

Church members in discipleship training grew 24.9 percent (180,255) to 894,470.

Non-residential leadership training enrollment grew by 27,832 (47.8 percent) to 86,059.

Residential leadership training programs showed a net increase of 557 (2.6 percent) to 22,366.

The total number of international missionaries fielded by Baptist partners grew at an annual rate of 11.9 percent to 1,523.

The total number of Baptist partner “home” missionaries dropped by 231 (-9 percent) to 2,339.

The board atributed this, in part, to better application of the definition of home missionary as someone who goes to a people group other than his own within the same country.

When the number of new congregations is rapidly multiplying in a church-planting movement, leadership training and doctrinal integrity become vital concerns, Willis noted.

Toward that end, the trustees adopted a plan to create three permanent subcommittees to exercise “careful watch-care” over new work. The committees will “review and monitor” efforts in the areas of general administration, leadership development, and global strategy and research.

“When there are issues to be brought up, we will know where to send them to be reviewed and then brought back to the overseas committee for action,” said Jay Owens of Roanoke, Va., chairman of the IMB overseas committee.

Trustees adopted a motion directing the overseas committee “to perform routine audits of new IMB church plants and submit an annual report to the board of trustees.”

Posted: 2/19/04

TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM
Confusing partnership

FamilyNet, the Southern Baptist Convention's television entity, has just entered a three-year partnership with FOX News.

Is it just me, or does it seem strange that the SBC announces it will do business with the FOX network at the time the SBC Executive Committee votes to completely withdraw support from the Baptist World Alliance? Isn't it odd that the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is the enemy and FOX, known for sleaze, is now a business partner?

What's next? FamilyNet promos for “The Littlest Groom” and “My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé”? SBC ads during “That '70s Show”?

I guess this is the part of Empowering Kingdom Growth I don't understand.

Frank Dudley

Harlingen

Inflammatory rhetoric

I would like to comment on Charles Foster Johnson's column, “Now is time to do unto the SBC as it's doing unto the BWA” (Feb. 9).

The Cooperative Program dollars given through the Baptist General Convention of Texas currently are divided 79/21. The BGCT keeps 79 cents of every dollar given. Every year, we see the Cooperative Program getting less and less cooperative.

Now Johnson is calling for Texas churches to defund the SBC and all their causes. This is an irresponsible reaction to the situation taking place between the SBC and the Baptist World Alliance.

Johnson must realize that would mean defunding both the International Mission Board and North American Mission Board and the Texas Baptists who are on the mission field through them.

For the Standard to publish this inflammatory rhetoric is to foster a continued atmosphere of dissension. The question now raised is whether the Standard and the BGCT support this view or not.

Micah Meurer

Amarillo

BWA's 'liberalism'

SBC leaders used two key words to justify their actions–“liberals” and “liberalism.” Those two words hide the real reasons for their actions.

When these leaders began their quest to take over the SBC, word was spread that there were “liberals” teaching in SBC seminaries and such persons should be removed. All seminary teachers and professors were tainted by their broad accusation. Doubt was placed in the minds of many SBC people about the condition of the seminaries, even though such persons did not know whether there were any “liberals.”

SBC leaders espoused the word “liberals” so that they could obtain control over the SBC and become the holders of its main offices and positions.

These SBC leaders have alleged that the Baptist World Alliance is guilty of “liberalism.” The “liberalism” of the BWA is admitting the CBF as a member. Everything was all right with the BWA until that time. These leaders did not care what all the other Baptist organizations did and stood for or what other organizations joined the BWA.

Like an unhappy bully, the SBC will take its marbles from the game and start another game.

Hornor Shelton

Waco

Commands of men

“Crybaby committee” should be the name of the SBC study committee that recommended leaving the Baptist World Alliance. A crybaby lies to mother for sympathy.

Fundamentalists gave up controlling the BWA like they gave up controlling the BGCT. They screamed “liberal” against the Baptist Standard and the BGCT. They compete with their new Texas convention.

This scheme worked once, so they cried “liberal” against the BWA. They made the mistake of quoting a man who was not dead and destroying records. The man replied: “All your allegations are totally unsubstantiated. … I beseech you … to repent and turn from your wicked ways.”

Red-faced, with no evidence and none of the 210 conventions joining a competing BWA, they suggest using “BWA” money for teaching seminars.

They'll probably teach that the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message (which fired missionaries opposed) is their doctrinal guideline. This mandatory creed is an example and a slap in the face of Jesus' warning about “teaching as doctrines the commands of men” (Matthew 15:9).

Every church is allowed up to 10 messengers to the SBC annual meeting. I hope SBC messengers use Mordecai's gallows meant for the BWA to end the study committee's reign of control.

Will you be a messenger to lead the SBC to restore autonomy of the church and individual priesthood and return the CEOs' control to the Holy Spirit? If we can do this, we can stand with all Baptists of the world to lift up Jesus.

Rex Ray

Bonham

Expected Outcome

This is in response to revoking scholarship funds from a Truett Seminary student (Feb. 9). His name is Matt Bass, and he is a friend of mine. He is likeable and charismatic.

About a month ago, he “came out” to me. Needless to say, I was shocked to discover that he was gay.

But I was not surprised by the responses from Baylor University and the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Both have clear and openly stated policies about homosexuality. It logically follows that neither entity can fund a gay student's ministerial education. If either did, then they would not be acting out of their integrity.

I believe this situation will prove to be good for both Matt Bass and Truett. I know Matt will be more comfortable in an accepting environment, and since he is now out in the open about his orientation, he must be feeling much better. I wish and hope Matt nothing but the best.

On the flip side, this can be good for the seminary also. Truett's detractors have constantly accused the seminary of being liberal and even pro-homosexuality, mostly because of its connection with the BGCT and its shaky relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention. Now Truett can show its nay-sayers it is firmly standing on a position that rests well within Christian and Baptist tradition. But more importantly, Truett is upholding God's word by taking action in this situation.

Matt Barnes

Waco

Jesus calls

Scripture shows homosexual behavior only in opposition to God (Romans 1:19-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10). When Scripture speaks to the natural order and marriage with gender specificity, it references only heterosexual relationships.

Even if we discount the scriptural condemnations, there still remains no scriptural affirmation of homosexual behavior.

It is reasonable to believe Scripture identifies homosexual behavior as sin. It also is scripturally reasonable for Christians to call other Christians to repentance. Thus, it is reasonable when Truett Seminary holds a practicing, unrepentant gay student accountable for his homosexual behavior (Feb. 9).

Truett took a loving approach, offering redemption if Matt Bass would repent.

Many advocates of homosexuality argue that their position is absolutely correct but do not cede the reasonableness of opposing ideas. This leads to uninformed, sometimes slanderous, diatribes against those who lovingly try to live out their own scriptural convictions.

Society has fostered a sense of entitlement to a sexual relationship, regardless of orientation. Many homosexuals have projected this sense of entitlement onto Scripture.

Upon seeing the difficulty of making the scriptural argument, they rationalize that God could not have created them with a predisposition to desire something sinful, readily ignoring that all humans, despite being created by God, experience temptation.

Such thinking suggests that, instead of using Scripture to discern God-pleasing behavior, we consult our predispositions, rendering Scripture meaningless.

The good news is that Jesus still calls us all to repentance and salvation in him.

Daren Butler

Houston

Real sanctity

Apparently the state of Massachusetts has given its approval to gay marriage. This is now the topic of discussion everywhere. I am amazed at the arguments used to justify positions on both sides of the issue.

I must say the most irritating arguments are made in the name of Christ. They are irritating because the Christian community says gay marriage destroys the sanctity of marriage. This is a very hypocritical argument coming from a community that has accepted the de-sanctification of marriage by their complete acceptance of divorce among their flocks, most often without any regard for the reasons for the divorces.

The Bible speaks of few acceptable reasons for divorce. But Christians divorce for any and all reasons.

The divorce rate among Christians is as high, if not slightly higher, than it is in the non-Christian society. Christian families are trashed, adults and children are shattered and the bitterness goes on and on. Divorce, the destruction of families and the resulting broken hearts do not demonstrate the sanctity of marriage.

In the Bible, we are told God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). If God hates divorce, why don't Christians?

Truly marriage is pertinent. The definition of marriage is pertinent. So is the sanctity–the real sanctity–of marriage.

Mike McNamara

Conroe

Condescending tone

In the story “Homeless advocates see little hope beyond spiritual renewal” (Jan. 12), volunteer Charles Little from Cornerstone Baptist Church in Dallas said, “God can help them (homeless) overcome vices that keep them homeless.”

Little's point is valid, but I believe his observation is misguided and hurts the cause of working to remove people away from a terrible situation like homelessness. The spirit of the rest of the article and others in the issue seemed to continue this condescending tone.

My wife and I work with the homeless, and we know a man who has successfully achieved sobriety and is a wonderful example of God's work in a troubled life. Have his problems gotten better? Truthfully, they have gotten worse. After being released from a treatment center, he had no place to go and became homeless last summer. He has overcome his vice, but that hasn't created a new place for him to live, a helpful treatment for his severe diabetes or a way to get to his hometown to clear up legal matters against him.

You can take away the drugs and the alcohol, and homelessness can still be overwhelming and terribly debilitating. God has provided this man with a stronger relationship with him, and his testimony brings tears to the eyes. But at the end of the day, he is still looking for a warm place to sleep and a healthy meal to wake up to.

Scott Jeffries

Abilene

World security

God created the earth long, long ago. God planted in the earth a tremendous potential for the formation of abundant natural resources. They would be used millions of years later by God's most important resource, humankind. God knew one day humanity would discover some of the wonders of God's creation and live in a mechanized world. There would be an increasing demand for the ground's slow-forming raw materials.

Today, it is interesting to note the most industrialized nations depend on less-developed countries for needed supplies of oil and metals. No nation has every resource it needs. Could the purposeful way resources were distributed around the world have been the Creator's means of bringing humankind closer to oneness with God and to oneness with his neighbors?

In these critical times, the world's survival will be determined by how fairly and lovingly neighbors share the earth's resources. God is glorified when people from different racial, religious and socio-economic backgrounds collaborate to meet each other's needs.

Now is the time for nations to put aside selfish national pride and begin to work together in the interest of world security. My first allegiance should be to God and then to my neighbor.

Peace, without war, is possible in an emerging global community.

Paul L. Whiteley Sr.

Louisville, Ky.

Posted: 2/19/04

Logsdon student returns to South
Africa for 10 months of study, service

By Loretta Fulton

Abilene Reporter-News

A summer trip to Africa two years ago evoked two powerful emotions in Jessica Glaze– homesickness and a deep sympathy for the poverty-stricken people she encountered.

Glaze, a Hardin-Simmons University junior from Seymour, had swept the memory of the homesickness under the rug when the opportunity arose to go back to Africa to help the people who so moved her.

She left Abilene recently for two semesters of study at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

Although she will be a full-time student, Glaze, 21, also will volunteer at the nearby African Cooperative Action Trust, a Christian-based agency that helps people of the region learn skills and trades.

The seeds for the 10-month adventure were planted in the summer of 2002 when Glaze and other students accompanied Rob Sellers, professor of missions at Hardin-Simmons' Logsdon School of Theology, on a trip to Kenya and South Africa.

Seeing children begging in the streets is a sight Glaze will never forget.

She had seen poverty in the United States on student mission trips, but this was different.

“The sheer amount of poverty was overwhelming,” she said.

The powerful memory stuck with Glaze. But after returning home, she wasn't sure if what she was feeling was mere emotion or if she had a true calling to serve the people she saw.

Then, things started falling into place. She learned she could transfer credits from the University of KwaZulu-Natal to Hardin-Simmons and that her scholarships would apply there.

She found out she could volunteer at the cooperative that provided aid to the people she wanted to help.

The final piece came one day as Glaze read a verse from the book of Isaiah.

The prophet heard God asking, “Whom shall I send?” And Isaiah answered, “Here am I; send me.”

That Scripture convinced Glaze of what she must do.

“Right then I knew that God was calling me back to South Africa,” she said.

For the next 10 months, Glaze will live with a family she stayed with on the previous trip. She will take courses in African theology, Greek and Hebrew.

Glaze's professor, Sellers, said he wasn't surprised by the decision.

It wasn't the first time students have responded to the wider world once they have been exposed to it, Sellers said.

“They get into this other culture, and their eyes are opened,” he said.

Sellers and his wife were missionaries to Indonesia for 25 years.

Their interest was spurred by two-year mission trips after they graduated from college.

Now, Sellers wants his students to have that same exposure to different cultures.

Each summer he takes groups to different parts of the world, with a trip to Spain and Morocco planned this year.

In 2001, Sellers led a group to Europe, and one of his students, Jeff Hobbs, returned for an 18-month stint with the International Baptist Church of Zurich.

“His whole horizon has changed,” Sellers said.

He expects the same will happen to Glaze.

She's not quite sure what to think about being so far away from home for nearly a year.

The thought of the people she will be serving keeps reassuring her she made the right decision.

“That's really what I want to do,” Glaze said, “help the people who need it most.”

Jessica Glaze

Posted: 2/19/04

NAMB stops endorsing women
for military, federal chaplain positions

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

ALPHARETTA, Ga.–The North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention will stop endorsing women to chaplain positions “where the role and function of the chaplain would be seen the same as that of a pastor.”

The action apparently ends SBC endorsement of female military and prison chaplains but will not necessarily preclude NAMB from endorsing women as hospital chaplains.

NAMB trustees took the action during their winter meeting, where they noted military and federally employed women chaplains serve in a pastoral role because they administer the Lord's Supper, baptize, preach, counsel and perform weddings and funerals.

Endorsing women to minister in that capacity would be inconsistent with the “spirit of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000,” according to Terry Fox, NAMB trustee chairman and pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Wichita, Kan. The document limits “the office of pastor” to men.

The move affects new Southern Baptist women chaplains in the military, Federal Bureau of Prisons and Department of Veteran Affairs. Outside military and federal roles, chaplains are not viewed as pastors, Fox said.

Following discussions with military and civilian chaplains, the trustees came to understand soldiers often view military chaplains as pastors, Fox said. Soldiers look to the ministers for counseling, weddings, funerals, preaching and baptisms.

“If you think the military chaplain is not seen as a pastor, you're kidding yourself,” Fox said.

He argued the pastoral role sets military chaplains apart from those who work in other venues such as health care.

However, many hospital chaplains routinely perform most of the acts that NAMB trustees deemed fit for a pastor only, according to Mike Patrick, chaplain at the Hendrick Health System in Abilene. They counsel patients, perform weddings and funerals and lead worship services.

But hospital chaplains rarely administer ordinances, choosing to leave those to church staff, said Patrick, who has ministered in the hospital since 1990.

That self-limitation does not stop people from viewing him as a pastor, he said. Individuals commonly use the term in referring to him and look for chaplains to provide spiritual guidance.

“It is a generic term that many people use in ministry for someone representing God,” said Patrick, who is endorsed by the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Of the approximately 2,500 NAMB-endorsed chaplains, 196 are women.

Twenty of the 430 NAMB-endorsed military chaplains are women.

Seven endorsed female chaplains work for the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Those already endorsed by NAMB and ministering in those fields can continue serving.

Chaplains working in any setting typically are required to be endorsed by a denominational entity. NAMB is the Southern Baptist Convention endorser.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship also endorse chaplains and will continue endorsing women military chaplains.

NAMB formed a task force to examine the issue following a motion at the SBC annual meeting by two military chaplains who felt NAMB should make ordination a requirement for endorsed military chaplains.

Ordination is not required by the military to be a chaplain but can be required for a denominational endorser.

Endorsement is necessary to be a military chaplain.

The trustees' decision follows NAMB's 2002 action to stop endorsing all ordained women, but Fox insisted the action does not spell the end of Southern Baptist women chaplains.

They play a crucial role in Southern Baptist work, he said.

“The one thing I was real excited about is there was a stronger affirmation of women chaplains than I thought would be there,” Fox said.

The testimony the trustees heard distinguished hospital chaplaincy from military chaplaincy, Fox said.

Hospital chaplains are not called to perform many of the pastoral duties that military chaplains are to carry out, particularly when dealing with the Lord's Supper and baptism, he noted.

“I think we are satisfied,” Fox said. “We are happy with women being hospital chaplains.”

Sherry Blankenship, member of the NAMB task force and a non-ordained chaplain at Missouri Baptist Medical Center in St. Louis, insisted women chaplains serve under different circumstances in hospital and counseling roles.

She gives a “devotional” every other-week during a worship service for a crowd “about the size of a Sunday school class,” but said she is viewed as a “caregiver,” not a pastor.

She maintains the role of pastor is for men, as stated in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.

Posted: 2/19/04

National Digest

Requests for help rose last year. Requests for emergency food and shelter assistance increased last year in the 25 cities surveyed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The 2003 survey found that requests for help with food increased by an average of 17 percent over 2002 and requests for shelter increased by an average of 13 percent. Unemployment and various employment-related problems were cited by the most cities as the leading causes of hunger. Fifty-six percent of the cities surveyed reported that people in need of food were turned away because of a lack of resources. A much larger percentage of participating cities–84 percent–said emergency shelters had to turn away homeless families due to a lack of resources.

Giving from Episcopal dioceses down. The Episcopal Church has seen a 7 percent drop in contributions from local dioceses since it voted last year to approve an openly gay bishop, but officials say it may be premature to link the two developments directly. A Feb. 9 report to the church's Executive Council revealed a drop of about $2 million in six months, the first tangible measure of the fallout from the controversial decision to approve openly gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The conservative dioceses of Dallas and Pittsburgh have said they will no longer send money to church headquarters. Forty dioceses said they will meet their pledges, and 42 dioceses will send a lower amount. Twenty-four dioceses have yet to finalize their budgets.

Graham announces LA crusade plans. Evangelist Billy Graham has announced plans to hold a summer crusade in the Los Angeles area at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. Graham, who was recently released from the hospital after undergoing hip surgery, will lead the Greater Los Angeles Billy Graham Crusade from July 29 to Aug. 1. Graham's crusade in the Los Angeles area in 1949 brought him to national attention. The upcoming event will mark his seventh evangelistic campaign in the region.

Muslim group leaves marriage coalition. After an anti-gay-marriage coalition came under withering criticism from many Jewish and Christian conservatives, a Muslim group that some say has terrorist ties has left the Alliance for Marriage. The alliance announced the Islamic Society of North America had resigned from its advisory board. The ISNA is currently the subject of a congressional investigation.

Gospel Grammy winners named. Michael W. Smith earned his third Grammy when his "Worship Again" album was named best pop/contemporary gospel album at a recent Los Angeles awards ceremony. Winners in the other gospel music categories are:

Best rock gospel album: “Worldwide” by Audio Adrenaline

Best Southern, country or bluegrass gospel album: “Rise and Shine” by Randy Travis

Best traditional soul gospel album: “Go Tell It on the Mountain” by the Blind Boys of Alabama

Best contemporary soul gospel album: “… Again” by Donnie McClurkin

Best gospel choir or chorus album: “A Wing and a Prayer” by the Potter's House Mass Choir, directed by Bishop T.D. Jakes.

Dallas pastor to receive NAACP award. Bishop T.D. Jakes will receive the President's Award at the upcoming NAACP Image Awards. Jakes, pastor of the Potter's House in Dallas, is the author of more than two dozen books. "Bishop Thomas D. Jakes has been called the 'Shepherd to the shattered,'" said Kweisi Mfume, president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The 35th awards ceremony will be taped March 6 in Los Angeles and broadcast March 11 on Fox. Previous winners of the civil rights organization's President's Award include tennis celebrities Venus and Serena Williams, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and former President Bill Clinton.

Compiled from Religion News Service & Associated Baptist Press

Posted: 2/19/04

On the Move

Jason Bien to First Church in Richmond as minister to students and parents.

E.M. Byford to Temple Church in Hereford as interim pastor.

Bill Cathey to First Church in Sachse as interim pastor.

Otis Conner to Emhouse Church in Corsicana as pastor.

Ron Cook to First Church in Mart as interim pastor.

Bryan Crittendon has resigned as pastor of First Church in Gordon to become a Navy chaplain.

Jim Curtis has resigned as minister of music at Elmwood Church in Abilene.

Greg Dills has resigned as pastor of First Church in Sachse.

Mike Ecker to Eastridge Church in Amarillo as pastor.

Aaron Groff to Paramount Church in Amarillo as minister of youth.

Barron Harris to Malone Church in Malone as pastor.

John Hill has resigned as pastor of First Church in Aquilla to become an Army chaplain.

Robin Hoffman to University Church in Denton as pastor.

Don Inman to Shiloh Church in Itasca as interim pastor.

Richard Jackson has resigned as interim pastor of First Church in Grapevine.

Bradley Maybin to First Church in Amarillo as minister to students.

Michael McKay to Brentwood Church in Houston as minister of worship and praise.

Larry Morris has resigned as minister of music at First Church in Royse City.

Rodney Payton to First Church in La Vernia as music minister.

C.W. Parker Jr. to Central Church in Pampa as pastor from First Church in Marlin.

Bill Pritchett has resigned as pastor of First Church in Argyle.

Lyn Rice to Hillcrest Church in Brownwood as pastor.

Brian Robertson to Bonita Church in Nocona as pastor.

James Sain has completed an interim pastorate at Alamo Heights Church in Midland and is available for supply, interim and intentional interim at (806) 995-4343.

Jim Standard has reconsidered his resignation as pastor of Second Church in Lampasas and remains the church's pastor.

Ray Vowell to Union Hill Church in Alvord as pastor.

Chris White has resigned as minister of students at First Church in Midlothian.

Dan White has resigned as assistant pastor of Columbus Avenue Church in Waco.

Zak White to Central Church in Luling as youth minister.

Tim Williams to Northside Church in Victoria as pastor from First Church in Kenedy.

Posted: 2/19/04

Movie's proponents call 'Passion of Christ'
stained-glass window for the 21st century

By Greg Warner & Trennis Henderson

Associated Baptist Press

NASHVILLE (ABP)–While Mel Gibson's “The Passion of the Christ” will graphically show movie audiences the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, it's up to Christians to explain why Jesus went through the pain of the cross, Christian leaders say.

“The film will teach them what Jesus did,” said Morris Chapman, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, in a written advisory to churches. “We must teach them why he did it.”

In an hour-long interview on ABC's “Primetime,” Gibson acknowledged the movie covers only the last hours of Jesus' life, giving viewers an incomplete record of his life and message. But he said the movie is an accurate account and the one he felt inspired to make.

In recent weeks, Gibson has screened the controversial movie for religious leaders nationwide. Conservative and evangelical leaders have emphasized the evangelistic potential of the movie, noting many viewers leave the theater in tears and distraught over the gruesome crucifixion story.

“I have to say that my heart was stirred to the very core,” Chapman told members of the Executive Committee last week.

SBC President Jack Graham added, “You'll never get closer to the cross this side of heaven” than by watching Gibson's movie. “It's absolutely wonderful that in these days the cross is being lifted up for all to see who Jesus is,” Graham added. “… You can't watch it and stay the same.”

Many Christian companies are selling evangelistic materials geared to viewers of the movie, calling “The Passion” an unprecedented witnessing tool. But others are worried all the attention from Christians eager to win converts could taint the movie's impact.

The film, set for release Feb. 25, Ash Wednesday, is rated R for violence. Some viewers say it is shocking or even “unwatchable” because of the brutality of the crucifixion.

Mel Gibson is part of a traditionalist Catholic sect that has retained the Latin mass and rejects the modernist reforms of the Vatican II councils. “The Passion” is based on a literal reading of the crucifixion accounts of the four New Testament gospels and was intended to be shocking, Gibson said.

Early criticism of “The Passion,” even before filming began, leveled charges of anti-Semitism against Gibson. Jewish critics have since said that Gibson, though not himself anti-Semitic, would inspire anti-Jewish feelings with the film.

Gibson reportedly deleted one controversial quotation from Matthew in which the Jewish mob accepts responsibility for the crucifixion. The dialogue, though still in the film in Aramaic, does not appear in the subtitles. The entire movie is in Aramaic and Latin, with English subtitles.

In interviews with Newsweek and “Primetime,” Gibson said the film does not blame Jews as a group. “We're all culpable. I don't want to lynch any Jews. … I love them. I pray for them.” He told “Primetime” that anti-Semitism is “un-Christian.”

Meanwhile, Jewish film critic Michael Medved, a frequent and respected critic of Hollywood, warned fellow Jews they were missing the point.

“The organized Jewish community and its allies in interfaith dialogue may not welcome 'Passion,'” he said, “but overreaction will provoke far more anti-Semitism than the movie itself. … By agonizing so publicly about the purportedly anti-Semitic elements in the story, the Anti-Defamation League makes it vastly more likely that moviegoers will connect the corrupt first-century figures with today's Jewish leaders.”

The SBC's Chapman said: “As conservative evangelical Christians, we love the Jews and the Jewish nation. We respect them as God's chosen people. We know he sent our Savior through the Jewish people.

“Since the Jews called for the death of Jesus, does it mean they were the sole persecutors of Jesus? No, a thousand times no,” he said. “Then who nailed Jesus to the cross? We did. The entire human race nailed our Lord to the cross.”

Chapman acknowledged Gibson's conservative Catholic beliefs but said those views, even if wrong, do not keep people from seeing a true picture of Jesus in the movie. Chapman quoted another Executive Committee staff member who said God can use “those who are theologically deficient to effectively accomplish his purposes.”

Frank Ruff, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' field representative to the SBC, declined to take issue with the view of Catholics as “theologically deficient.”

Ruff said films like “The Passion” are “our 21st century stained-glass windows. It makes more of an impact than just words.”

Posted: 2/19/04

BGCT, San Antonio Baptists to pilot
volunteer disaster response network

SAN ANTONIO–The Baptist General Convention of Texas plans to launch a disaster response network of trained church members who could respond to psychological and spiritual needs in crisis situations.

The convention is hoping to start regional teams of church members trained by the National Organization for Victim Assistance who could serve in widespread and personal crises such as disasters, unexpected deaths and violent crimes.

Teams will work in concert with Texas Baptist Men's disaster relief efforts and victim relief ministries.

Having quick responders to traumatic situations is critical, said Bobby Smith, director of the BGCT chaplaincy relations office. Crises leave people looking for help.

“Wherever you have a natural or man-made disaster, there will be people in need of support and crisis counseling,” Smith said. “Our goal is to connect people who are prepared to help with people who need help.”

People first experience crises as emotions, according to Jim Young, director of the BGCT Missions Equipping Center.

The faster counselors help them articulate how they feel and what they encountered, the less the chance of those individuals experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, Young said.

The convention, in partnership with San Antonio Baptist Association, plans to pilot a regional team. Associational staff is writing preliminary materials and encouraging chaplains, ministers and lay leaders to go through NOVA training.

Camille Simmons, coordinator of ministry missions for the association, said leaders are focusing on being prepared for disasters. Prepared individuals respond faster and more effectively.

Training includes how churches can be sites for shelters, medical distribution and counseling.

Members are taught how to best respond in counseling situations as well as how they can meet immediate physical needs.

How the church reacts reflects directly on the Christian faith, Simmons said.

Large groups of people, including non-Christians, turn to the church in times of crisis, she noted. Baptist churches should reach out lovingly in the name of Christ.

“Pastors have to stand in front of a congregation,” she said. “What are they going to say? How are they going to say it?”

Association leaders have become the unifier of the faith community as San Antonio seeks to become better prepared for a disaster as well. The city is networking groups together who could respond to crises.

Through this effort, Baptist organizers made connections with hospitals, city officials, the Red Cross, Salvation Army and leaders of other denominations.

The San Antonio effort is working, Simmons said. Baptist leaders mobilized 1,500 people to minister during the 2002 floods that struck the city.

They have trained about 150 people to work with Texas Baptist Men disaster relief units.

BGCT and San Antonio Association leaders hope the South-Central Texas effort will serve as a model for other regions. The BGCT is seeking to have a team in each association. Several directors of missions attended a NOVA training session.

“San Antonio is the pilot, but we hope it will be used across the state,” Simmons said.

For more information about the emerging network or NOVA training, contact the BGCT chaplaincy relations office at (214) 828-5277.