Posted: 2/19/04

LifeWay pulls VBS promotion
with questionable endorsement quote

By Bob Allen

EthicsDaily.com

LifeWay Christian Resources has withdrawn promotional materials quoting a Texas Baptist leader as endorsing this summer's Asian-themed “Rickshaw Rally” Vacation Bible School curriculum, which some have criticized as racially insensitive.

A quote from Dennis Parrott, director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Bible Study/Discipleship Center, appeared on LifeWay's website and was circulated at the BGCT Hispanic Evangelism Conference in Houston.

“I am pleased about the ministry potential of Vacation Bible School for churches in Texas, and I look forward to partnering with LifeWay in promoting 'Rickshaw Rally' in 2004,” LifeWay quoted Parrott as saying.

Parrott asked that the endorsement be removed from the Bible school promotional material because he said it quoted him out of context.

“While talking with a friend at LifeWay he was asking me if I had heard any positive words about the VBS curriculum,” Parrott said.

“I told him that since the majority of the churches are still planning to use the material that we would continue with our VBS clinics. I complimented the quality of the Bible study materials once you get past the unacceptable theme.

“He took this as an endorsement … and the rest is history. I have asked that this endorsement be removed from their website and from any printed materials, and they have agreed to do this. I have learned not to share my opinions in the future with my friends at LifeWay.”

LifeWay spokesman Rob Phillips indicated a company representative had spoken with Parrott about the matter and had nothing to add to his comments.

Some Asian-Americans have protested this year's VBS theme, saying it includes stereotypes such as rickshaws and Chinese takeout boxes that are inaccurate and offensive to Asians. The Baptist Convention of New England said officially in November that it would not promote the material. Other state conventions affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention noted concerns but opted to adapt the material rather than reject it outright.

Intercultural staff from the BGCT held meetings with a leading Japanese pastor and some Asian youth leaders in December who judged the VBS material to be inaccurate and tending to mix Asian cultures together but didn't feel it warranted a formal stand, said Becky Bridges, BGCT communications director.

The Asian church leaders gave LifeWay credit, however, for making an effort to teach children about other cultures.

LifeWay's quotation of Parrott assessed those meetings in more positive terms.

According to LifeWay, Parrott said Diane Lane, a BGCT preschool/children's consultant, polled 65 children's ministers across Texas and found about 90 percent were planning to use the “Rickshaw Rally” VBS material.

But Parrott later explained his staff is preparing to help Texas Baptist churches “use this material with an alternate or revised theme” and also is preparing an alternative curriculum that will be available online by April.

LifeWay has maintained that opposition to the VBS theme is orchestrated and represents relatively few Asian Americans. An online petition calling for LifeWay to withdraw “Rickshaw Rally” has garnered 1,217 signatures in two months.

LifeWay's response includes a “What Others are Saying” section on its own Web site, which quotes several ethnic Southern Baptists as countering criticism from the Asian community.

Phillips, LifeWay's director of corporate communications, said there is no indication the controversy is affecting sales. The company does not disclose sales numbers for competitive reasons, he said in an e-mail, but “I can tell you that sales to date are tracking with last year.”

Posted: 2/19/04

Former San Marcos Baptist Academy staffer
charged with molesting 17-year-old student

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

SAN MARCOS–A San Marcos Baptist Academy employee has been dismissed and subsequently arrested on charges of molesting a 17-year-old academy student.

Santiago “Jimmy” Morales Jr., 25, was charged with “improper relationship between an educator and a student,” a second-degree felony, the San Marcos Daily Record reported

The academy, affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, is a school for sixth to 12th graders. Of the 219 students, 54 are “day students” living off campus, and the remainder are boarding students, President Vic Schmidt told Texas Baptist Communications.

The incident allegedly occurred at Morales' off-campus apartment early Jan. 24. The student subsequently told his dorm parents and counselor. The academy terminated Morales Jan. 27, and police arrested him Jan. 30.

Morales had been a student activities/recreation assistant and dormitory residential assistant since August 2002.

Schmidt said the academy had checked Morales' background thoroughly prior to employment and “had seen no indication at all” that such an incident might occur. “We basically thought we were doing everything possible.”

The president held a “parents' day” shortly after the incident to speak with parents of students. All 219 students have remained enrolled at the academy, Schmidt said.

The incident marked the second time in four years that an academy employee has been charged with molestation, the Daily Record reported. Bradley Wayne Dixon, arrested in January 2000, was convicted on nine counts and is serving a 95-year sentence.

“It is always most regrettable when an unfortunate incident such as this occurs within any setting,” said Keith Bruce, coordinator of the BGCT Institutional Ministries Section.

“I have the utmost confidence that the board and administrative leadership of San Marcos Baptist Academy have made every reasonable effort to prevent such incidents and will respond with the highest degree of integrity and candor as they cooperate with the investigation. Certainly the welfare of the students is the foremost concern for everyone.”

San Marcos cooperated fully with authorities, said Schmidt, who made available an internal e-mail on the subject from Monty Lewis, academy treasurer.

“This is absolutely the worst thing that can be done,” he wrote. “If the administration of the San Marcos Baptist Academy learns of any possible inappropriate behavior with a student, the first call is to Child Protective Services, the second is to the police. …

“If the reporting is conducted as required by the state, and the offender is identified, our churches and agencies will have more confidence in the background checks and references that we are obtaining,” Lewis continued. “In our case, the background check was without flaw; and the job references did not reveal any problems.

“Reporting a possible offense is painful for the organization. Betrayal is always painful. The victim, the family, the supervisor, the co-workers … we have all been betrayed. The reporting does result in some level of embarrassment and 'bad press,' but it is absolutely the right thing to do.”

Lewis expressed his hope that the “greatest outcome of our recent event would be to serve as a response model to our fellow organizations who minister to children and families. It is very likely that at any given time predators are among us, actively pursuing some innocent victim. Unfortunately, that seems to be the nature of our society.”

The case against Morales appears to be limited to one student. Morales has been charged under a law that took effect Sept. 1, 2003, the newspaper said. As a second-degree felony, it is punishable by two to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

Posted: 2/19/04

San Francisco grants gay couples marriage licenses

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

SAN FRANCISCO (ABP)–As thousands of same-sex couples rushed to get married in San Francisco over the Valentine's Day weekend, opponents tried to block the marriages in court.

Two San Francisco courts postponed action Feb. 17 on lawsuits seeking to halt same-sex marriages in that city.

In 2000, California voters approved the controversial Proposition 22, which banned same-sex marriages. In an act of civil disobedience, newly elected Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered municipal officers to begin granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples Feb. 12.

Since that time, more than 2,400 gay couples have been wed in civil ceremonies at San Francisco City Hall.

Two conservative California-based groups–the Alliance Defense Fund and the Campaign for California Families–are suing to have the marriages halted and those already performed declared invalid.

Attorneys for the groups were expected to cite a little-known part of the California Constitution saying administrative officers may not unilaterally declare state laws unconstitutional.

A third San Francisco court was set to hear a parallel lawsuit by a group calling itself the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for California Families, said Mayor Newsom's actions constitute “open defiance of state law and trashing of traditional marriage.”

But Newsom has argued denying marriage licenses to gay couples violates the California Constitution's strong equal-protection provisions.

“America has struggled since its inception to eradicate discrimination in all forms,” he said. “California's Constitution leaves no doubts; it leaves no room for any form of discrimination.”

Newsom drew a parallel between gay marriage and the battle for inter-racial marriages in the 1950s and 1960s.

Thousands of same-sex couples–some from out of state–lined up outside City Hall over the Valentine's Day weekend and waited through heavy rain for the chance to pay $83 and get married. According to the New York Times, hundreds of city workers volunteered, without pay, to keep the building open over the weekend so as many couples as possible could get married.

The issue of gay marriage took center stage late last year when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered that state to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in May. The Massachusetts legislators postponed a decision on an amendment to that state's constitution banning same-sex marriages.

Meanwhile, in Georgia the state Senate approved a measure banning same-sex marriages and barring recognition of such marriages from out of state.

The state House of Representatives will now take up the measure.

And in Washington, a proposal to amend the federal Constitution to ban same-sex marriages is making its way through Congress.

Several conservative political insiders have indicated that President Bush will formally announce his support for the Federal Marriage Amendment soon.

Posted: 2/19/04

Jack Graham backs SBC name change

By Tony Cartledge

Biblical Recorder

NASHVILLE (ABP)–Southern Baptist Convention President Jack Graham has called on the SBC to consider changing its name.

As “a network of churches that circle the planet,” the convention must consider changing its name to “reflect who we are and what we are doing nationally and internationally,” Graham told the SBC Executive Committee last week.

Southern Baptists are viewed in the nation and the world as leaders among conservative Christians, said Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano.

“I have loved the Southern Baptist Convention and its name,” Graham said.

“But this name that I love and you love speaks of our region and doesn't move us beyond to the great cities of the Northeast, to the West and the Midwest. It's time to consider a new name that reflects our future.”

Graham said he will appoint a name-change study committee in the next few weeks that is “geographically and generationally” representative, reflecting “the heart and compassion and theology of the SBC around the world.”

“It is my prayer that the committee can bring a recommendation to the SBC in 2005,” he said. ”Timing is everything,” said Graham, noting that “seven or eight” previous studies of a possible name change resulted in no change, including one initiated by W.A. Criswell in 1974. The last effort was in 1999.

“This is a significant, important decision,” Graham said, but “Southern Baptists are always willing to embrace significant change.

“We've seen amazing change in the Southern Baptist Convention since 1979,” he said. “We've been willing to grow, to develop, to do whatever it takes to get better at fulfilling the Great Commission.

“Why would we do this?” Graham asked. “Only one reason–to strengthen and lengthen our witness here in America and around the world … because we are determined to do whatever it takes to connect with our culture and our country and the continents of the earth.

“A name change will not change the hearts of people,” Graham said. “But it will speak to people in New York, in Los Angeles, in the Pacific Northwest, in Canada, and around the world that we are a global network of churches committed to proclaiming Jesus Christ throughout the world.”

Graham said he has floated the idea to many key SBC leaders who seem favorable to the change.

“If it will help us connect with culture and communicate the gospel, let's do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,” he said.

Graham's call for a name change came toward the end of a sermon on the theme of spiritual warfare.

Baptists face a cultural war, Graham said, illustrated by the halftime show at the Super Bowl, “which became the Toilet Bowl,” he said. The “crudeness and lewdness” of the program should serve as a wake-up call to parents who allow their children to spend hours watching MTV, he said.

There is also a political war at hand, Graham said. “There will be a very clear choice in the decision of 2004 as to what kind of leadership and values will represent our country,” Graham said, “conservative Christian values versus no values or liberal values.”

Graham did not specifically endorse President George W. Bush, but said, “I'm thankful that he is a man of faith.”

Graham said Southern Baptists should use their churches to promote voter registration and encourage political involvement. The effort is not to tell people how to vote but “to teach them to frame the election in terms of principle,” he said.

Graham said Christians also face an ecclesiastical war, illustrated by the Episcopal church's division over the election of a homosexual bishop, and a domestic war, as seen in the court order to allow gay marriage in Massachusetts.

To sustained applause, Graham said he favors a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a committed relationship between a man and a woman, and “anything else is a perversion.”

Posted: 2/19/04

Texas Tidbits

Dodson to lead Breckenridge Village. Charles Dodson has been named executive director of Breckenridge Village in Tyler, a residential facility for adults with mental disabilities. Dodson begins his duties with Breckenridge Village, a ministry of Baptist Child and Family Services, March 15. He has been pastor of The Woods Baptist Church in Tyler seven years, and he previously served churches in Austin and Carthage. He is a graduate of the University of Texas and holds master of divinity and doctor of ministry degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Sue, have two sons, Derek and Brady.

Historical Society explores church/state issues. "Lone Star Visions of Church, State and Society" is the theme of the spring meeting of the Texas Baptist Historical Society in Austin. The meeting, scheduled in conjunction with the Texas State Historical Association, will be 10:30 a.m. March 4 at the Renaissance Hotel, 9721 Arboretum Blvd. Marshall Johnston of Baylor University will examine the influence of theologian Walter Rauschenbusch on J.M. Dawson. Christopher Lee Canipe of Baylor will present a paper on George W. Truett and religious liberty. Barry Hankins, also from Baylor, will respond to both presentations. For more information, contact Alan Lefever at (972)331-2235 or tbhc@bgct.org.

Howard Payne preview weekend slated. Howard Payne University will host Stinger Daze, a preview weekend for prospective students, Feb. 27-28. The event is designed specifically for high school and transfer students. Guests will tour the campus, visit with faculty and current HPU students, and receive information on financial aid, admissions, academics and student life. Cost is $20, which includes a T-shirt, a ticket to Spring Sing, a continental breakfast and lunch. For reservations or more information, contact (325) 649-8020, toll-free (800) 880-4478 or e-mail enroll@hputx.edu.

UMHB music teacher named to hall of fame. Robert Steinbauer of Belton will be inducted into the Gilewicz Hall of Fame at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor March 7. Steinbauer currently teaches piano at UMHB and continues a 40-year relationship with the American College of Musicians as a piano contest adjudicator. He is former head of the music department at Kansas State University, where he was named professor emeritus.

Wayland faculty honored. Estelle Owens and Don Cook, longtime professors at Wayland Baptist University, were honored during the school's annual Heritage Chapel with the Maloney Faculty Award. Owens is a history professor and chair of the division of social sciences. Cook served as chairman of the languages and literature division 33 years, and the past 12 years has held the Louise Joachim endowed professorship in literature. The Maloney Award recognizes outstanding faculty members for their academic leadership and excellence, Christian commitment and contributions to the lives of students.

UMHB preview weekend set. A concert by Silers Bald, recording artists and performers from South Carolina, will highlight the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor preview weekend, March 5-6. During the weekend, high school juniors and seniors will have the opportunity to attend classes, eat in the cafeteria and stay in the residence halls with students.

Baylor launches playwrights festival. Baylor University will honor noted Texas playwright Horton Foote at its inaugural Horton Foote American Playwrights Festival, March 3-6 on the Baylor campus. The festival will include question-and-answer sessions with Foote, a keynote address by playwright Romulus Linney, and the 50th anniversary production of Foote's play, "The Traveling Lady." Foote was named visiting distinguished dramatist at Baylor in fall 2002 and has conducted weeklong in-residence classes each semester. He received Academy Awards for his screenplays of "To Kill a Mockingbird" in 1962 and "Tender Mercies" in 1983. His play, "The Young Man from Atlanta," earned a Pulitzer Prize.

Posted: 2/19/04

TOGETHER:
Be prepared for 'Passion' follow-up

“I love him more than I ever knew possible. … I connected to a place I could have never, ever gone. I don't want people to see me. All I want them to see is Jesus Christ.”

That's what James Caviezel, the actor who portrayed Jesus in “The Passion of the Christ,” recently told a Newsweek reporter.

Churches are buying tickets for this movie, and their members are taking friends to see it.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas has prepared an ad to play in theaters inviting people to visit a Baptist church for the continuing story of redemption. Christians around the world are praying this motion picture might be an event God uses to touch hearts and change lives.

Do you remember when you first realized what Jesus did on the cross was for you? Do you remember how that prompted a willingness to follow him with your whole soul?

Thousands of people will feel that in the next few weeks. Many of them will make it to some church soon thereafter.

Be ready for them. Many will have never been to church before. They will need a warm and accepting reception.

I suspect we particularly need to be alert to their moods. They may be eager to meet people who might help them understand what they have felt. But if they seem hesitant, a big smile and a joking manner probably won't help. Welcome them, but don't crowd them. Give them a chance to be quiet. Provide them with worship guides.

Understand that their cinematic encounter with the crucified Lord may be the closest they ever have felt to God. That experience has brought them to church, hoping to find an idea about their next step. Pray God will help you connect to them.

Pastors and Sunday school teachers, let the deep places of your heart's experience with God be open to those who will hear you preach and teach. We are approaching the season when we remember the passion of our Lord, his cross and resurrection. As you prepare, ask God to help you sense what may be in the hearts of those who will sit before you after they have seen “The Passion of the Christ.”

Make the gospel plain.

Make the invitation clear.

Help people do something more than feel.

Call them to follow Christ.

Some have expressed fear that the film may spark animosity toward Jews. If you see this film and blame the Jews rather than yourself, you miss the whole point of the gospel. Do you see yourself in the crowd when you have gone along to get along, in the soldiers when you have done what you have done because you were expected to do so, or in the religious and government leaders when you have loved the status quo and feared the new thing God might be doing? If you don't, you need to pray, “Open my eyes, Lord.”

Let the words of Jesus shape our attitude toward ourselves and others. He died forgiving. All of us are guilty. All of us need his forgiveness. To those who have received great mercy, it is required that we be merciful.

I pray this film will cause all who love Christ to love the Jews and all others more than we ever have before. Unless I somehow missed it, that is what Jesus died to make possible.

We are loved.

Posted: 2/19/04

Suburban church clarifies its purpose,
learns how to resolve differences

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

COPPELL–Valley Ranch Baptist Church seemingly had all the ingredients for expansion in a growing suburb of Dallas. Young families drove church development. The congregation owned its land and facilities. More people were coming. Excitement and energy was high.

But all that was dashed eight years ago with one question: Should the church add on to its facilities?

The congregation fractured into two camps. One thought the church was not accommodating growth quickly enough; the other thought the congregation was trying to build too quickly.

Arguments broke out between members. Those driven people were used to being heard, but they were hearing equally motivated members fire back with other opinions.

Heated theological debates arose in the congregation. The pastor followed a call to another church.

The church sensed it needed some direction and called an intentional interim pastor–Bruce McGowan, director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Center for Collegiate Ministries.

The intentional interim effort of the BGCT minister/church relations office connects a church with a temporary pastor while the congregation works through its mission and identity.

Through the program, members realized they needed to identify God's purpose for the church, said member Delwin Hinkle.

“During the first 60 days (of the intentional interim), it became clear we were wrestling with questions we didn't have the answers to,” Hinkle said.

The congregation held a series of town hall meetings to discuss the church's mission and identity. Members talked about God's will for the body and theological issues.

Through the meetings, members began seeing they had much more in common than previously known. A sound theological foundation was formed. The congregation built a booklet of basic beliefs to help prospective pastors better know the church.

They identified the church's mission as expanding “Christ's reign” through every facet of the congregation's life.

Participatory decision-making is one of 11 characteristics of a healthy church adopted by the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Members formed a committee that helped the church find ways to reach the community. Relationships with Cornerstone Baptist Church in Dallas and the Global Mission Fellowship grew out of this committee.

The church gave 1,200 children Christmas presents through its relationship with Cornerstone Baptist Church last year. About six church mission teams go to South America annually. A strategy committee helped decide a new building was needed and designed it to help the church fulfill its calling.

As consensus built, business meetings became less formal because members put the congregation's purpose above small squabbles. Prayer and communication flourished.

The church called Larry Parsley as pastor in August 1999, and the church has grown under his leadership. Average Sunday attendance is about 800, and the congregation worships in a new expanded sanctuary.

When the church moved into its new building, leadership struggled with how to handle the Sunday evening service.

More than 100 people voluntarily moved into the later service to make room for growth in the morning services, but carrying on the evening service would spread volunteers too thin to serve the crowd in the new building.

Parsley had lunch with several members of the evening service and later called a town hall meeting for evening worshippers, where he retold the history of the nighttime effort.

He explained the need to end it and fielded questions. Members expressed strong feelings, but the church moved forward without conflict.

“We have had moments where bringing our people together and shooting straight with them has paid dividends,” Parsley said.

Because the members agree on the church's mission, they are willing to put aside smaller differences to carry out the congregation's purpose.

“The things we did to define who we are and what we are to be about still shapes us today,” Hinkle said.

Posted: 2/19/04

CYBERCOLUMN:
Listen to the music

By Berry D. Simpson

One morning, I was camped in a back booth of my favorite local fast-food joint, and wrote in my journal as the overhead music played “Happy Man” by Chicago—a 30-year-old favorite of mine. It was wonderful. I could literally feel my heartbeat change to match the rhythm of the song as I sat and listened and settled in. It was a pleasant sensation.

“Merely by chance/Very unsuspecting/You caught my heart/Unprotecting me/Now I’ve fallen in love with you.”

And, in fact, just a couple of days before that, I was in a favorite Tex-Mex joint (all my stories begin at restaurants) when they played a Spanish-language version of “Happy Man.” It was unmistakable, regardless of the language. All I had to hear was the opening bass line, and I was a happy man.

I was intrigued about how the music affected me physically. It settled my heart rate, slowed my spirit and quieted the ever-present buzz of thought in my brain. Nothing abstract about it.

Having said that, I realize that someone might sit next to me and not be aware that my heartbeat, even the vibrating frequency of the molecules in my brain, just changed due to a piece of music. They might not even think I was listening unless they saw me smile.

But someone sitting next to Cyndi could not possibly miss the impact of music on her. If she hears a song she likes, she’ll dance in her chair. Sometimes that isn’t enough, so she has to jump up and let the music move her whole body.

Now that I’ve lived with her for almost 25 years, I’ve learned that her responses to music are spontaneous and uncontrollable (after all, no one would react that way by choice). I think the music bypasses the part of her brain that calls for discretion and decorum and goes straight to the part that tells her to get up and move.

Either way, we are both blessed as music lovers.

A long time ago, when we first started teaching adult Bible study classes at First Baptist Church in Midland, our group director was a guy who had absolutely no connection with music. He wanted the class to sing praise songs because he’d observed that most people seemed to enjoy singing, but to him it sounded like we were all speaking Esperanto. He actually told me: “I guess everyone else likes music, but I’ve never cared one way or the other. It’s all noise to me.”

He was a good man with many redeeming qualities, but I’m glad my heart and my ears were different from his. I’m glad God gave me ears tuned to hear music.

And I loved to praise God through music. I’m fortunate to play trombone in my church orchestra, and it is a joy. There have been times when the emotion of a particular piece of music caused me to rise up in my chair, a physical response in the category of Cyndi’s (even if greatly subdued), and I often find it hard to keep playing because of the tears in my eyes.

And when I read back through my journals, I’m reminded how many deep spiritual encounters with God happened because I was ambushed by some song. I was tricked by the music. It’s happened over and over and should no longer surprise me. But it does.

There is a scene from the “Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair,” when the children were told by Aslan to search for a particular clue that would point them on their journey. Yet in their haste and self-pity, struggling to find their way across a series of deep vertical trenches, they missed the clue. Later on, they had a chance to see those same trenches from an elevated position and discovered they were actually the words “under me” carved into the rocky ground. Finally, understanding the clue they had missed, they re-entered the trenches and found the path Aslan had prepared for them.

Music often is the elevation in my life that gives me a better view of the clues God has left for me. I hear a lyric, or I am moved by a melody, and the message of God becomes very clear. The path he has prepared opens up.

I recently read a question in my daily devotional: “Have you noticed that any significant event in Scripture seemingly encourages someone or something to break into song?” God’s call to praise permeates the whole of scripture.

Even C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite writers (a man who did not care for group worship and never appreciated music personally), asked, “Could it be that the music completes the love and serves as the delight of the relationship itself?”

Berry Simpson, a Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church in Midland, is a petroleum engineer, writer, runner and member of the city council in Midland.

Posted: 2/15/04

CYBERCOLUMN:
"Yes" of the heart

By Jeanie Miley

“Yes, I agree with you.”

The words were right, and so, I took the words at face value and made my plans, based on what I thought was an agreement.

Only later, I found out that while the person said “yes,” everything else within that other person was screaming “no,” and I didn’t have the life experience to hear the real message that was underneath the words.

If I had paid attention, or if I had been more astute at reading tone of voice and facial gestures, I would have seen the signs and could have saved myself a lot of trouble. As it was, I had to pay, big time, for the behavior of another person whose “yes” meant “no.”

Reflecting on Jesus’ invitation to “believe and receive,” it strikes me that Jesus knew well the duplicitous ways of human beings, and so he made it clear that it isn’t enough just to give mental or verbal assent to a proposition. Instead, if you really want to be transformed and live the abundant life that is available through the mystery and miracle of the living Christ, then you really do have to welcome that transforming Presence into every single nook and cranny of your life.

When a stranger comes to my front door and rings the doorbell, I open my door, but he doesn’t get to come in and join my family at the dinner table. We take care of business, and then he goes on his way, and I go back to my life, as usual, before he interrupted me.

The bookcases in my study are lined with books about the life of Jesus, for the facts and interpretations about him have been a source of ongoing fascination to me for my entire adult life. My hunger to know the historical Jesus and to learn his teachings is never fully satisfied.

Intellectual assent to the facts of Jesus’ life, however, as good as it is, isn’t enough. Just “saying yes” to the facts isn’t enough. As long as Jesus remains a doctrine to be argued, a theory to be explored, a set of facts to be memorized or a concept to be analyzed, I can keep that Change Agent in the book cases, neat and manageable, or on the front porch of my life, closing the door and going back to business when I am ready.

When someone I love comes to my house, on the other hand, I prepare my home and turn on the porch light. I throw open the door and embrace the person with gladness and open arms, receiving him with celebration and bringing him into my home and give him a seat at my table. And if the person arriving happens to be one of my children or a precious friend, I may even meet that person on the driveway, I’m so happy to see him!

The One who calls us “friend” doesn’t want to be boxed up in a theory or a doctrine. The living Christ wants us to open our minds and hearts to receive the fullness of all that he is into the innermost rooms of our lives. It is in the welcoming embrace that a relationship with Christ really does begin to heal us, liberate us and empower us to be and become all that a human being, made in the image of God, can be.

Saying “yes” in a verbal agreement is a beginning. If there is really going to be a transformation, however, that “yes” must be accompanied by a welcoming “yes” of the heart.

Jeanie Miley is an author and columnist and a retreat and workshop leader. She is married to Martus Miley, pastor of River Oaks Baptist Church in Houston, and they have three adult daughters.

Posted: 2/06/04

'The Passion of The Christ' more than a movie

By George Henson

Staff Writer

DENTON–“The Passion of the Christ” will spark a stampede from theater seats to church pews, and Christians need to be ready to answer the questions the movie raises, Steve Pate believes.

Pate, associate director of missions for Denton Baptist Association, predicts a pilgrimage to America's churches not unlike what happened after terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001.

“People came to our churches in droves after 9/11, and they didn't get the answers to their questions, and they're not there now,” Pate pointed out. “If we don't get them this time, we may not get another chance, because they are going to stop thinking of the church as a place where answers to life's hard questions can be found.”

Pate urged pastors in his association to prepare for the film's Feb. 25 Ash Wednesday opening: “Whatever you've got planned for preaching, you'd better jettison that and answer the questions that people are going to be coming with.”

Pate suggested pastors cover subjects such as the accuracy of the Bible, the humanity of Jesus, the necessity of Christ's painful death by crucifixion and evidence of the resurrection.

“This film brings up a lot more questions than it answers, but I don't see how anyone can see it and not think of it as a tool for evangelism. True, this is not the altar call, but it can be the start of a spiritual journey whereby people turn their lives to faith in Jesus Christ,” Pate said.

“It really does raise more questions than it answers, but they will know the death that Jesus went through was really brutal. It's up to the church to tell them the beatings and the death on the cross were for them,” Pate said.

“The film shows what Jesus suffered, but there's no transference that this was for me. There's nothing in the film like that. The church has to do that.”

Denton Association has contracted with the United Artists theater at Vista Ridge Mall in Lewisville for two early showings of the movie.

While the movie will not be shown there during its release on Feb. 25, the movie will be shown one time on both Feb. 23 and 24 in a 300-seat theater. Pate is certain that churches within the association will buy those 600 seats well before those dates arrive.

“As soon as the e-mail goes out to the churches, those seats are gone,” he said.

This is simply an opportunity that can't be missed, Pate said. Outreach Inc. has called the film “perhaps the best outreach opportunity in 2,000 years.”

In addition to changing sermon topics, Pate also has suggested churches in his association prepare special seeker Sunday school classes so visitors can ask questions rather than just sit through a standard lesson.

In short, he believes churches should depart from their regular routine in order to accommodate people who are drawn by the film.

Jesus, portrayed by Jim Caviezal, carries the cross in a scene from "The Passion of the Christ," a film by Mel Gibson. (c) 2003 New Icon Distribution Inc. A Newmarket Films Release.(Philippe Antonello Photo)

“I'm a huge planning person, but to quote (Henry) Blackaby, 'Our job is to see what God is doing in the world and to get on board.' It's obvious looking at newspapers, the Internet and television that this is something God is active in,” Pate said.

“If churches deal with the questions these people who come are asking, there could be a huge harvest. If they don't, there will not be any.”

Pate, who has seen the film, warns Christians not to see the film alone. Instead, he urges Christians to take non-Christian friends or family members with them.

“This movie is so hard to sit through that if someone says, 'I'll go and check it out, and then I'll take someone,' they won't go back,” he said.

Pate said he would see the movie again, but he would do it only with a non-Christian and only because “evangelism is what makes my heart beat fast.”

Pate also is cautioning youth ministers who take their youth groups to make sure all have signed permission slips in hand, because the film is rated R for the violence of the crucifixion. He also advised youth ministers to provide time for discussion after young people view the film.

“They are going to need to talk about what they have seen,” he said.

The film has affected him greatly, he acknowledged.

“To see this film is a life-changing event. I will never approach the cross the same way. See this film, and you will never approach the Lord's Supper the same way. You can't. It's impossible,” he said.

“But if you want it to be a life-transforming event, take a lost person to see it with you. Don't go without taking a lost person with you.”

While he believes the movie is a great opportunity for the church to show itself relevant to society, Pate is concerned about what will happen if churches fail to take advantage of the opportunity.

“If we don't have answers to society's questions, there is a real danger that the culture will reinvent itself and leave the church right out of it.

“We can't blow this. This is the greatest chance for the churches to show their relevance since 9/11. My worry is that 9/11 was easy, and we blew it. This is hard.”

Posted: 2/06/04

Shuttle Columbia widows'
grief gives gospel global platform

By Bonnie Pritchett

Baptist Press

HOUSTON (BP)–Sandy Anderson and Evelyn Husband endured the most horrific year of their lives, but they insist they have not grieved as ones who have no hope.

Theirs has been a public grief following the tragedy that took the lives of their husbands Feb. 1, 2003, and left a mark on millions of people around the world.

The loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia–just 16 minutes from touchdown in Florida after a 16-day mission in space–gave the two women a global platform for spreading the gospel.

It is not a platform they stepped upon voluntarily. But they are determined to honor the memories of their husbands and set an example for their children by proclaiming the faith in Jesus Christ their husbands shared.

During a Jan. 25 tribute to the lives and testimonies of Columbia Shuttle Commander Rick Husband and Payload Commander Mike Anderson, the widows of the two astronauts testified of God's provision during the past year.

Grace Community Church, where the Husband and Anderson families attend, hosted the memorial concert featuring recording artist Steve Green and the church choir.

Green had become friends with the Husband family years earlier, making his tribute more than a professional overture.

“It has been such a blessing to celebrate Mike's and Rick's lives,” Husband told the crowd. “We have grieved so horribly, but not without hope.”

“It's (God's) strength that gives us the power to stand,” Anderson added. “He gives us a future and a hope.”

Anderson said she was so proud both men knew Jesus Christ as Savior and had answered life's deepest question.

Noting the uncertainty of life and its end, she said, “It doesn't matter how many days we have. It's the content of our days.”

The days of Mike Anderson and Rick Husband were filled with their faith in Christ. And it is that faith that sustains the families left behind and steels their determination to make something good of something gone terribly wrong, the women testified.

Commander Rick Husband

Fielding questions during a news conference prior to the concert, Anderson and Husband mentioned their faith in almost every answer. When asked how they have dealt with their losses, Husband said, “It's been the most difficult year I've ever been through, … (but) in the midst of absolute anguish you can have joy” because of faith in Jesus.

What has been painful, Husband said, is thinking of “all of the lasts”­the last prayers with Rick or the last time he came through the door of their home.

Anderson said time has helped in the healing process, but ultimately, “What helps the most is my relationship with my Lord Jesus Christ.”

Anderson added she appreciated the support and prayers from the community.

Husband laughed and said she believes the children are dealing with the situation better than the two mothers. Laura, 13, and Matthew, 8, are the Husbands' children. The Anderson girls are Kaycee, 10, and Sydney, 12.

“My kids are doing much better,” Anderson said. God has made so many provisions for them, she added.

Both men were tremendous fathers, Husband said. They had their priorities straight­God, family, career.

The influence of the men on the lives of their children­even in such a relatively short time­is evident in how the children are dealing, in faith, with the loss of their dads. They hold no bitterness, no anger, she said.

When asked if they saw their husbands as “larger than life” as the world does with its heroes, Anderson laughed and said: “He was just a real person. … He was a very kind man. He was a good dad, a good husband. I miss talking to him.”

She misses all the things about him as a husband, she said.

Less than two weeks before the launch, Mike Anderson had a specific prayer request for his church family.

Husband recorded the statement in her book, “High Calling,” released Jan. 13: “Rick and I have prayed for a successful mission,” he said, “but also that somehow God would allow everyone to see our faith in him. We'd like to ask for your prayers as we get ready to go on this 16-day mission. And not only prayers for a safe flight but also that in some small way we can use this platform to really let people know what we believe and let God's message get out there.”

Rick Husband was equally prophetic on the night before the launch.

In the book, his wife recalled him saying, “I still have such a sense that God is up to something special with this mission.”

God has used the Columbia tragedy to touch countless lives, Evelyn Husband said.

Her husband requested that his funeral services tell of the reality of Jesus Christ.

“I do believe that God has had his hand in this,” she said. “God did not have an off day” on Feb. 1, 2003.

Husband said she could talk for hours and still not tell all the ways God has worked in the lives of people since the Columbia disaster. When she feels tempted to indulge in self-pity, Husband said, “I'm encouraged by a life that has been touched.”

And lives continued to be touched during the Sunday evening memorial concert.

One poignant moment occurred when a video was shown of Rick Husband singing during an Easter production at the church.

The live choir on stage joined their voices with their former choir member as he sang, “Were it Not for Grace.”

Tears flowed freely more than once during the course of the evening.

One such moment was when Green sang “Evelyn's Song,” a song he wrote for Husband, never intending to release it or sing it in public.

But with her permission, he shared his personal tribute with the audience.

At the end of the concert, Husband and Anderson thanked Green for his friendship and dedication.

The women presented the singer with a photo montage of the Columbia crew and flight. Some of the photos were from a roll of film recovered from the shuttle debris.

Both women signed the gift, which, Husband joked, significantly increased its value.

But the gift that drew an emotionally visible response from Green was a gift from Husband.

She said her husband had listened to Green's music during workouts on the Columbia mission.

Among his few personal effects found and returned to his wife was Green's CD.

“All the other CDs were fragments,” she told Green. “Yours wasn't.”

She presented the CD to Green, who was obviously moved by the story and the significance of the gift.

Husband and Anderson said they knew more emotional turmoil awaited them, especially as they prepared to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Columbia tragedy, including the dedication of a Columbia monument in Washington.

But Husband said she has learned to deal, in part, with her grief simply by worshipping God.

When she is involved in “the intimacy of worship, the grieving goes away. I don't know how, but (God) does,” she said.

Posted: 2/06/04

TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
Liberal un-Christian stance

Marv Knox just can't seem to get it. He continually takes every opportunity to malign the Southern Baptist Convention, as in his Jan. 12 editorial about the SBC's proposal to defund the Baptist World Alliance.

He ignores the fact that many people take time to be informed about what the SBC does stand for, which are our basic Christian principles, in spite of the liberal thinking of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Everything was fine with him back when the liberals were in control, but now he attempts to poison people's minds toward the SBC. This is such an un-Christian stance for him to take.

Helen Watson

Winnie

Christian worldview

John King worries that “Christian worldview” may be a dangerous concept; he believes it opens the door to theocracy and is therefore contrary to Baptist sensibilities (Jan. 12).

I've never viewed it as an ideological Trojan Horse for theocracy. Rather, the Christian worldview–in my understanding and that of most evangelical philosophers and theologians–is simply the Christian answers to life's ultimate questions. It is simply basic, foundational theology.

Everyone has a worldview; a person's worldview is his or her perspective on the meaning of life–why there is something rather than nothing and why humanity and human persons exist.

The Christian worldview begins with the idea that, in the words of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's lecturer-at-large James Sire, “God is God, and I am not.” We take that for granted, but it starkly contrasts with other worldviews that view the self as a spark of the divine or deny the very existence of a personal God.

Nothing in the Christian worldview encourages theocracy; many Baptists and other free-church Protestants who eschew theocracy are in the forefront of the development and communication of the Christian worldview. The Christian worldview is simply shorthand for a Christian philosophy of reality that is God-centered.

Roger E. Olson

Waco

Illegal aliens

I want to give another view to the article on ministry to illegal aliens (Jan. 26).

There is nothing wrong helping those in need who enter our country legally.

I do have a problem with aiding and facilitating undocumented persons who are found here. Any undocumented person should be given basic needs and turned in to U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services. To do any less is facilitating and aiding someone who does not have a legal standing to be here.

To act according to the ideas presented by David Guel is to undermine the legal guidelines of immigration set up by the U.S. government. This is a case where we must have a balance between law and grace, not blatant civil disobedience.

Guel's example of the Hebrew midwives disobeying Pharaoh is at best an apple-and-oranges comparison. The Old Testament example is a case of not committing murder. This is a case of being in America without legal status.

Michael L. Simons

Cleburne

Political churches

The coming months will demand strong faith if members are to survive in their political churches. The questions: “Do I love my Savior and my church enough to stay, or shall I leave? Can I survive in my church when its leaders are constantly downing my choice of politics and preaching the opposite political party?”

Pastor, go ahead and promote your preferences for voting! But how many members and lost people will part company with you?

Many born-again Christians belong to both political parties, even though some pastors deny it.

Most of the voting adults I have known have the intelligence and knowledge to make up their own minds as to which candidates they sincerely believe to be the best ones. They don't need the prejudices of dominating clergy to constantly ignore their wisdom.

The “priesthood of the believer” ought to include all believers in their political choices as well as their religious decisions. Some of us have the “right to be wrong” in the eyes of others.

Our judgment and/or approval by God is between each one of us and his Lord, and not by church-elected leaders.

Gilbert Thornton

Longview

Strange world

You know it's a strange world when France and Willie Nelson stand up for the Prince of Peace and religious leaders applaud the apostles of war.

Robert Flynn

San Antonio

Memorial & grace

In the year since the tragic bus wreck Feb. 14, 2003, Memorial Baptist Church in Temple has become a stronger, more loving and unified church.

The church has sold the location it occupied since 1913 to an African-American congregation and meets in an elementary school and at Meadow Oaks Baptist Church.

Groundbreaking for a $4 million, 34,000-square-foot facility will be Feb. 15 at 4 p.m. on 10 acres. Construction should be completed by June 2005.

Sunday school has increased 38 percent since moving out of the old building in November. Sunday evening attendance is up 50 percent. And a mid-week service has increased 35 percent. Giving has increased 10 percent.

More than $1 million from the estate of member Johnnie Punchard added to money from the sale of the property and donations from members totals more than $2 million in the building fund. A “re-pledge” campaign gave members an opportunity to reassess pledges made 18 months ago, since some lost spouses in the wreck and others had been affected by medical bills. Nearly $400,000 was pledged for the next 18 months.

Memorial is evidence of God's grace.

Robert Mattson

Temple

BWA: Noble cause

How sad I was to read the comment made by the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Jack Graham, referring to the Baptist World Alliance. In Baptist Press, he said the BWA is “becoming a marginalized organization which is having a smaller and smaller influence for the gospel.”

I have known the BWA for 44 years.

When I was a teenager, they met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. My father was the coordinator of that congress and an eyewitness of many miracles God performed. The impact of that congress opened the country for an incredible expansion of the gospel that continues to this day.

Of this continued impact, I am an eyewitness, since I served from 1988 to 2003 in Brazil as a missionary. The BWA influences the world in which we live on a daily basis. The gospel permeates the world thanks to this great organization.

It is a noble cause to be involved with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ around the globe by being partners with the Baptist World Alliance. May we Southern Baptists reject the report that will be brought to the Southern Baptist Convention this year, recommending that we defund and separate ourselves from the BWA.

Eddy Hallock

Carrollton

Henry was not a Southern Baptist

In announcing the death of Carl F.H. Henry, you stated he was a Southern Baptist (Dec. 22).

Carl Henry was not a Southern Baptist and in fact was fairly critical of Southern Baptists most of his career. He wrote of Southern Baptists that their serious theological writing had ended with E.Y. Miullins and/or W.T. Conner.

For the time he was in Washington as editor of Christianity Today, he was a member of Capitol Hill Metropolitan Baptist Church. That congregation was SBC-oriented and dually aligned with the American Baptist Churches, through its relationship with the District of Columbia Baptist Convention.

Henry previously was a member of American Baptist churches and taught at two American Baptist seminaries, Eastern and Northern. Later, in a second Washington sojourn, Henry was connected with Cherrydale Baptist Church in Arlington, Va., an independent Baptist congregation closely related to Washington Bible College and Capital Bible Seminary.

Bill Brackney

Waco

Humility a key to evangelism

Concerning the Jan. 26 page 1 article on evangelism, I can only say that some evangelists’ understanding of the great commission is about as shallow as rain on a stone.

I had a vision once of a vast field that was covered with foundations for churches but no churches. One of the things that prompted me to enter the ministry was the failure of the church to live out Ephesians 4, bringing people to maturity on the meat of the word. Being born again and Spirit-filled does not equate to sanity, much less being an affective human being.

As a counselor having ministered to pastors’ wives and children, I can tell you that a man can preach “love” in theory and be completely inept in application. Our church wars are proof enough. The gospel of the kingdom of God is perfectly thorough, providing a great deal more than salvation. Spiritual maturity is not proven in endless scholarship or excellence in baptistism. Neither is it the making of human facsimiles of Jesus for the world to see.

Spiritual maturity is a humility that facilitates Christ’s manifest presence through us. Let the world see the real deal. We don’t need more 20 percent Christians having been brought up by evangelists only. We also need the teachings and ministry of the apostle, prophet, pastor and teacher.

Stan Foy

Mount Vernon

Challenge to support the BWA

Considering the critical times in which we live, in a world where Christians are severely challenged in many countries, it seems a very inopportune time for Baptists in the United States to withdraw support from the Baptist World Alliance. Many struggling unions and associations look to it for spiritual guidance and resources.

I, therefore, as a concerned Christian layman, challenge 425 churches (including the one of which I am a member) to place $1,000 in their 2004 and subsequent budgets to be sent directly to the Baptist World Alliance to replace lost revenue and show Christians around the world our support for their work.

For so many years, this network has provided spiritual support for struggling peoples in times of crisis. It would be unconscionable for us to turn our backs on them at this time.

In the furthering of the cause of Christ and fellow Baptists of various nationalities and cultures, won’t you join me in this undertaking?

Howard E. Gregory

Fredericksburg, Va.

God's valentine

Hebrews 13:5-6 contains God’s Valentine to all of us. There God tells us to not give ourselves to the love of money but be content with what we have, for we will always have God with us.

And we should not fear the possible abuse or rejection of people with power to hurt us for “never will God leave us; never will God forsake us.” We can experience the power of this Valentine by accepting it.

The assurance that comes from in-depth believing in God’s promise that we are not alone is a sound basis from which we can work to solve all our problems. Everything that opposes our growing human development pales in comparison to the knowledge that we are not alone. God accepts us by grace in spite of our sins as if we were already a perfect children of God. We are not alone. We need only to affirm this with our hearts to begin experiencing the power of it.

Of this positive Valentine from God, Romans 8:31 says, “What then shall we say in response to this, if God be for us who can be against us?” Receiving this Valentine of God’s presence with us, in spite of our sins, means we can no longer use our weakness as an excuse for our laziness.

We must obey the prophetic voice that says, “Let the weak say, ‘I am strong’” (Joel 3:10). And then get involved in the battle for the good in life.

Alvin Petty

Friona

Harbor all lawbreakers?

I read with interest and dismay “Does biblical command to care for aliens depend on their legal status?” (Jan. 26).

First of all, they are “illegal” aliens, not undocumented. They are here illegally. I believe with all my heart we need to present the gospel to all that we can and help those hurting and in need, but as Christians we are also to obey our laws as long as it is not contrary to God’s laws.

The article cited a very poor example, comparing the midwives sparing the male Jewish newborns and disobeying the king’s orders. I don’t believe our government is killing captured illegals. I ask, “Is the church to harbor and give sanctuary to all breakers of the law?

F.A. Taylor

Kempner