Posted: 2/06/04

Around the State

The Baylor Alumni Association honored four graduates during its annual Distinguished Alumni banquet. Honored were Joel Allison, president and CEO of Baylor Health Care System; Carroll Dawson, general manager of the Houston Rockets and the Houston Comets; Kent Gilbreath, professor of economics at Baylor; and Betty Welch, a linguist and translator for Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Youth With a Mission, an interdenominational missions and relief organization, will host a three-day celebration of missions past, present and future Feb. 27-29. The weekend of music, teaching, celebration and thanksgiving will be held at the Twin Oaks Ranch, located six miles west of Lindale. For more information or to register, call (800) 641-1245.

Volunteers from First Baptist Church in Georgetown not only presented two single mothers, Rene Marshall and Adela Padilla, with new Habitat for Humanity homes, but also gave them a kitchen shower to stock their new homes with all they would need to sit down to a feast. The items were donated through the church's AWANAs and their Friday Folks ministry group. The church sponsored building both homes.

Edwin Twitty, a member of Sagemont Church in Houston, has received the bachelor of arts in Christian ministry degree in psychology and counseling at Leavell College of New Orleans Seminary. Dawn West, a member of Tallowood Church in Houston, received the master of arts in Christian education degree from the seminary.

Anniversaries

Ty Morris, 30th, as minister of music at Crestview Church in Midland, Jan. 13.

Harry Williams, 20th, as pastor of Mount Zion Church in Corpus Christi, Jan. 25.

Northview Church in Floresville, 20th, Jan. 25. Chuck Jennings is pastor.

Danny Quintanilla, fifth as minister of education/students at First Church in Portland, Feb. 1.

Larry Johnson, 20th, as director of missions of Ellis Association, Feb. 1.

Edward Terry, fifth, as pastor of Mount Carmel Church in Corpus Christi, Feb. 7.

First Church in Golinda, 100th, Feb. 8. Ralph Powers is pastor.

Williams Creek Church in Axtell, 25th, Feb. 15. Former pastor Duane Brooks will preach. A lunch will follow the morning service. Tommy Rosenblad is pastor.

Singing Hills Church in Dallas, 20th, Feb. 22. A special celebration service will take place at 3:30 p.m. Howard Anderson is pastor.

Roy Ford, 20th, as pastor of First Church in Hooks, Feb. 22.

Thomas Murray, 10th, as pastor of New Life Church in Missouri City.

Mario Vasquez, 10th, as pastor of Iglesia Getsemani in Eagle Lake.

John Self, 25th, as pastor of Trinity Church in Cameron.

Retiring

Charles Jones, as pastor of Second Church in Amarillo, after 32 years.

Barbara Kirkland, left, was honored with the Gaskin Church History award by the Oklahoma Baptist Historical Commission for her history of Duncan Fair Church. Mary Harmon, chairman of the award committee, made the presentation. Kirkland is a member of Woodland Heights Church in Bedford.

James Seigler, as pastor of Myrtle Springs Church in Hooks, Feb 1. He has moved to Savoy and is available for supply or interims.

Jim Lane, as pastor of Memorial Church in El Campo, Feb. 1. He is available for interims, supply or leading music at (979) 532-5263.

C.H. Murphy, as director of missions for Tryon-Evergreen Association, effective Sept. 30. He will have completed 11 years at the post and served more than 30 years as a pastor. He was pastor of First churches in Irving, Lamesa, Friona, Memphis, Silverton and Hedley, as well as Calvary Church in Weatherford and Soda Springs Church in Parker County. During his present tenure, the association has grown from 98 to 125 churches and assets of the association have grown from $240,000 to more than $1 million. Resumes for the position may by sent to Jay Gross, West Conroe Baptist Church, 1855 Longmire Road, Conroe 77304-3576.

Deaths

Arland Ames, 68, Dec. 29 in San Antonio. A postal service worker 33 years, he was a 10-year Mission Service Corps volunteer. He is survived by his wife, Ethel; sons, Michael and Alan; daughter, Carolyn Pachecano; brothers, Gerald Ames, Carl McCrillis and Harry McCrillis; sister, Norma Schmelzer; and eight grandsons.

Paul Piper, 86, Jan. 17 in Apollo Beach, Fla. Piper borrowed $17 from his parents when he dropped out of college in 1937 and from that investment built a diversified company with 1,000 employees in 15 manufacturing plants. The philanthropist later sold his shares in Piper Industries and started four charitable foundations. His contributions to Texas Baptist causes ranged from buying a tool trailer for Texas Baptist Men Retiree Builders to helping new churches pay their pastors' salaries. His gifts helped start more than 300 churches and supported apartment ministries in San Antonio, Fort Worth, Arlington and Austin. He also established a low-interest loan fund to help Texas Baptist churches finance their first buildings. He contributed to various River Ministry programs along the Rio Grande, helped build a hospital in Paraguay, supported the True Love Waits sexual purity campaign and provided scholarships for Baptist university students. He is survived by his wife, Katy; one son, Paul Jr.; sister, Elizabeth Sammons; six grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.

Dickson Ayers, 44, Jan. 20 in Sulphur Springs. He was pastor of Calvary Church in Wolfe City. Because he was uninsured, Hunt Association is collecting donations to offset medical and funeral expenses. He is survived by his wife of 13 years, Laura; sons, Walter, Will, Lincoln, Christian and Joseph; mother, Janice Ayers; and sisters, Angel Thomas and Melody Walker.

Frank Patterson, 96, Jan. 20 in San Angelo. A pastor in Oklahoma and Arkansas in his early years, Patterson and his wife, Pauline, were appointed in 1939 by the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention to serve at the Baptist Spanish Publishing House in El Paso, where he served as general director until 1970. He continued to serve as a field representative of the mission board until his retirement in 1972. After his official retirement, he became acting general director of Casa Publicadora Batista in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and later served as a professor at the Mexican Baptist Seminary in Mexico City and Lacy Baptist Seminary in Oaxaco, Mexico. After retirement, he continued to preach in New Mexico and San Angelo, where he was a member of Harris Avenue Church. He was preceded in death by his wife in 2000. He is survived by his sons, Burton Patterson and Donald Aldridge; six grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

Don Warden, 74, Jan. 25 in Austin. Warden was a Texas pastor 25 years before becoming a regional consultant for the church extension department of the Baptist General Convention of Texas in 1979. In 1980, he and his wife, Laverne, were appointed missionaries by the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention to jointly support their church-starting efforts. He also participated in evangelistic and church growth efforts in many parts of the world, including Jamaica, Brazil, Australia, Moldova, Russia and the Czech Republic. After retiring in 1995, he served 16 Austin-area churches as interim pastor. He also was interim executive director of missions for Austin Association. He is survived by his wife of 54 years; sons, Gary and Michael; daughter, Stephanie Meadows; and three grandsons.

Dolores Nelson, 72, Jan. 25 in Fort Worth. She was the wife of retired Texas pastor and professor Jimmie Nelson. A graduate of Southwestern Seminary, she earned the Elizabeth Price Award for being the valedictorian of the women's graduating class. Churches she served alongside her husband included Oak Grove Church in Fort Worth, Colonial Hill Church in Snyder, First Church in Deer Park and churches in The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. She was a member of First Church in Burleson more than 30 years. She also wrote curriculum, teaching materials and devotionals for the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board. She is survived by her husband; sons, Stephen and Alan; daughter, Julie Couch; brothers, Dempsey and Michael Cate; sister, Louise Eatmon; and five grandchildren.

Events

First Church in Pasadena held an open house Jan. 25 to mark the opening of its expanded worship center and fellowship hall, an additional serving kitchen, a bridal parlor, conference room and orchestra suite. Also included were two education wings with facilities for all ages. Two hundred fifty parking spaces also were added. The 75,000-square-foot addition doubles the size of the church plant, and is phase two of a five part plan. Charles Redmond is pastor.

Tarrytown Church in Austin began a multicultural, multisensory and multifaith study of the beatitudes Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. Discussion, visual arts, movies and music will be used to examine the eight beatitudes. A number of leaders will lead the study. Ragan and Cynthia Courtney are co-pastors.

The Heights Church in Richardson will present a dinner theater production, “Peril on the High Seas,” Feb. 20-22 and Feb. 27-28. All shows are at 7:30 except the 2:30 p.m. production on Feb. 22, which does not include a meal. Call (972) 231-6047, ext. 292 for ticket information.

Wooster Church in Baytown will present a creation versus evolution seminar Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Mack Jones is pastor.

A Joy Seekers conference for women will be held March 5-6 at First Church in Center. Rose-Mary Rumbley is the featured speaker, and Kim West will lead the music. The conference begins at 6 p.m. Friday and 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Prior to Feb. 15, the cost is $20 with Saturday lunch provided. After Feb. 15, registration is $25. Childcare will be provided for children under five for a fee. A sack lunch will be provided for the children on Saturday. For more information, call (936) 598-5605.

Posted: 1/27/04

Friends of Jaclyn Robison (left) brought teddy bears to donate to the Irving Police Department to help children in crisis situations. At right, Jaclyn gets her hair cut to donate to Locks of Love.

Girl's birthday 'wish list' taught her friends:
'It's more blessed to give than to receive'

By Leann Callaway

Special to the Standard

IRVING–Instead of handing her parents a list of things she wanted for her eighth birthday, Jaclyn Robison from Oak View Baptist Church in Irving gave them a different kind of "wish list."

Her request this year was to find out how she could help others. When she heard about Locks of Love, which provides hairpieces for children who have hair loss because of medical treatments, she had her parents take her to get 12 inches of her long, golden locks snipped off.

But the giving didn't stop there. She still wanted to do more to help others in need.

Her mother, Rhonda, who teaches a 12th grade girls' Sunday school class at Oak View, suggested donating teddy bears to the Irving Police Department for children in crisis situations.

Jaclyn liked the idea, and the theme of her birthday party soon became a "giving party." On the invitations, her friends were instructed to bring teddy bears instead of shopping for presents. She ended up receiving 54 bears that went to the Irving Police Department.

"Jaclyn is a very giving little girl, and she wanted to help other people less fortunate," her mother explained. "Jaclyn thinks about what other people want, not so much what she needs or wants."

Mrs. Robison also believes that being part of a missions-minded church attributed to her daughter's desire to help others.

"I feel really great helping those kids," Jaclyn Robison said. "My friends were amazed at what I did. I think other kids could do this, too."

Posted: 2/06/04

SBC pull-out from BWA would harm
global Baptist witness, leaders say

By Ken Camp & Marv Knox

Baptist Standard

DALLAS–Southern Baptist Convention withdrawal from the Baptist World Alliance would mean not only the loss of one-fourth of the international organization's income, but also the loss of a unified Baptist witness worldwide, BWA officials told Texas Baptists.

“We belong together because we belong to Christ,” BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz repeated at every opportunity during his Texas tour.

Denton Lotz

Lotz and BWA President Billy Kim spoke to a dinner at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, a luncheon at Dallas Baptist University, a news conference and staff meeting at the Baptist General Convention of Texas office building and a rally at First Baptist Church of Plano.

Infighting among Baptists in the United States creates “confusion” among Third World Christians who do not understand denominational politics and distinctions between various Baptist groups in the United States, Kim said.

“We need to stick together,” he said.

Softening hearts

Kim and Lotz traveled with the 60-member Korean Children's Choir, representing Kim's Far East Broadcasting Company, who performed at Texas Baptist venues and at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. Dorothy Patterson, wife of seminary president Paige Patterson, hosted the seminary reception. Paige Patterson is the author of the SBC study committee proposal to cut ties with the BWA.

Kim told reporters he had talked with Patterson on the phone, but they merely exchanged pleasantries. However, Kim said he invited Patterson to preach at his church, near Seoul, South Korea, and he hoped at that time to have a conversation of “more substance” regarding strained relations between Southern Baptist leaders and the BWA.

“He is a wonderful friend, but we see things a little differently,” he said.

Kim acknowledged his hope that the sweet voices and smiling faces of the children would “soften the hearts” of Southern Baptist leaders and cause them to reconsider the proposed separation from BWA. He pointed out that his aides told him Mrs. Patterson “shed tears when the choir sang 'God Bless America.'”

No SBC response

Even so, Kim and Lotz said they were unaware of any positive response from members of the SBC study committee to an invitation they and the vice presidents of the BWA issued. BWA leaders urged the SBC Executive Committee to table the committee motion to withdraw funding and membership from the worldwide fellowship, and they offered to meet with SBC leaders “anytime, anywhere to discuss reconciliation.”

Billy Kim

Lotz again refuted charges of any “leftward drift” in the BWA, saying the organization affirms historic, biblical Christian doctrine and that the term “liberal” is relative.

“Russian Baptists think Southern Baptists are liberal because the women wear lipstick and makeup,” he said.

Signs of support

BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade affirmed Texas Baptist support for the BWA at several venues during the two-day tour. Wade told the Plano rally, “No matter what others do, we as Texas Baptists shall, until Jesus comes, be partners together with Baptists around the world, and we will support the Baptist World Alliance.”

The BWA leaders acknowledged the affirmation not only from Wade, but from Texas Baptists wherever they went.

“I sense real support from you people,” Kim told a group of North Texas pastors and missions/ministry leaders at the Park Cities banquet.

“We need to support each other. … Let's be sweet and go on. God is bigger than any organization,” he said.

Kim called on Baptists to come together to take on a task with eternal consequences.

“I believe God has called us to a job as Baptists to fulfill the Great Commission in our generation,” he said of Jesus' command to spread the gospel “unto the ends of the earth.”

“I believe we can do it,” he said. “If we do our responsibility, God will do his work in his own time. … We're going to do things together.”

Speaking the next day at a luncheon at Dallas Baptist University, Kim acknowledged Baptists face “problems” of relationship.

“But where there are problems, we have opportunities,” he said. “And I believe the best days of the Baptist World Alliance are ahead. … We Baptists must band together, because we have the truth.”

Lotz picked up that same theme, urging Baptists to move beyond labeling each other.

“We've got to get over that and return to Scripture and what (the Apostle) Paul tells us about loving one another,” he urged.

Holding hands

Lotz illustrated the importance of exercising Baptist togetherness. In the Philippines, a young boy got lost, and searchers feverishly tried to find him but could not, he reported. Finally, someone suggested all the workers hold hands and comb the area. Soon they found the boy, but they were too late; he had died.

“Maybe if we had held hands earlier, this boy would not have died,” Lotz quoted one of the workers as saying.

“The Baptist World Alliance is Baptists all over the world holding hands so people will not die without Christ,” he insisted.

For example, the BWA supports churches in Muslim-dominated Turkmenistan, where preachers must wear hoods to protect their identities so they will not be thrown in prison. Otherwise, none of the churches would have leaders, he said.

“We defend religious freedom all over the world. That's what we do,” Lotz said. Baptists, of all people, should be champions of religious liberty because on many occasions throughout their history they have been victims of religious persecution, he said.

In Rwanda, the BWA brings Hutus and Tutsis–once-bitter ethnic rivals who slaughtered each other by the millions in the 1990s–together for worship because they are one in Christ, he said.

In Cuba, BWA leaders contacted dictator Fidel Castro and gained permission to import 50,000 Bibles and to support the house churches where many of the 200,000 Cuban Baptists worship, he added.

The BWA also is providing similar support to Baptists in such countries as China, Poland, Nepal, Russia, Cambodia, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Nigeria, he said, adding that the BWA helped Baptists obtain 10 radio stations to proclaim the gospel in Romania.

Raising a cross or a sword

Noting the perilous world situation, Lotz cited the 20th century German theologian Martin Niemoeller, who called attention to how Jesus responded to persecution and unfairness.

Facing persecution, Jesus could have cursed his opponents and called for revenge at the point of a sword, he said. “But he raised his hands to the cross and said, 'Father, forgive them. …'

“Will we raise a sword or a cross?” he asked of Baptists facing persecution across the world. “We'd better not raise a sword, because if you live by the sword, you die by the sword. We must raise a cross.”

Christians around the globe understand this, and the Holy Spirit is causing them to multiply, even in harsh circumstances, Lotz said.

Dancer with the Korean Children's Choir.

For example, 60 percent of all Christians live in the Third World, he reported, and 400 million Christians live in Africa alone. “The center of Christianity has moved from pagan Europe to Africa,” he added, predicting, “Africa will send missionaries to re-evangelize Europe, and they may have to re-evangelize the United States.”

The explosion of the gospel is happening through the power of the Holy Spirit and not the presence of Western Christians, he said.

“The gospel is moving all over the world without white missionaries,” he acknowledged, noting Christ didn't give the Great Commission to white Westerners, but to the whole church.

To back his claim, he noted Third World Christians already have sent out 20,000 missionaries to other countries, and a new church is started every day in China, where, in some places, 5,000 young people gather on weeknights to read the Bible together.

'Get in the river'

Speaking to U.S. Baptists who think, “We're so big we don't need the BWA,” Lotz told a parable from Africa about a small elephant who couldn't cross a streaming river because of the strong currents. Soon, some larger elephants noticed the plight and stood in the river to form a “bridge” out of their backs, so the smaller elephant could cross safely over.

“Baptists need to get the big elephants off the bank and into the river–quit fighting and drinking coffee and eating donuts and get in the river.”

Touching on some of those same ideas at the Plano rally, Lotz pointed to the Korean Children's Choir as representative of the emerging Christian church.

“The church of the 21st century won't be white Americans,” he said, reiterating his appeal: “We need to stay together so we can be re-evangelized by one another.”

Marked as a praying church

In his message to the Plano rally, Kim noted that the largest Presbyterian, Methodist and Assembly of God churches in the world now are in South Korea. “What about the Baptists? Give us time. We'll get there,” he said.

Christians in South Korea grew in the last 50 years from fewer than 1 million people in 4,000 churches to 13 million Christians in 40,000, primarily because of prayer, Kim said.

“The Korean church has experienced revival because it has been marked as a praying church,” he said.

Kim urged Baptists in the United States not only to pray for revival in their own country, but also for unity in the worldwide Baptist fellowship.

“We love Southern Baptists, and we want to stick together,” he said. We want to pray together and reach the world together.

“Pray for us over the next two months that God somehow will turn around our situation.”

Appealing to individuals

Dallas Baptist University President Gary Cook, who helped arrange the BWA events in the region, urged Texas Baptists to support the worldwide organization.

“We are always going to support the BWA, even if our leaders take (the Southern Baptist Convention) out,” Cook said.

Now is the time for Baptists with a world vision to pray for and give to the BWA, Cook urged. Baptists around the world, many of whom are desperately poor and often persecuted, need the alliance's support and encouragement, he added.

Cook called on individuals and churches to make direct financial gifts to the BWA.

“Just because people in Nashville vote to remove money they've promised doesn't mean we can't give it directly,” he stressed.

Texas Baptist churches that give through the BGCT adopted budget can support the BWA by selecting that organization as a recipient of the worldwide portion of its Cooperative Program gifts.

Gifts to the Texas Baptist world hunger offering also benefit BWA by providing about one-third of the support for projects sponsored by Baptist World Aid, the BWA's relief and development agency.

The BWA also is enlisting Global Impact Churches that will support the worldwide fellowship with annual gifts of at least $1,000 and individual “Friends of the Baptist World Alliance” who will pledge a minimum of $100 a year.

For more information about direct giving to BWA, contact Alan Stanford at the BWA, 405 N. Washington St., Falls Church, Va. 22046; (703) 790-8980.

Posted: 2/06/04

Homeless coalition names Austin one of the 'meanest' cities in U.S.

WASHINGTON (ABP)–American cities are becoming increasingly hostile to the plight of the homeless, according to a report by an advocacy group that ranked Austin among the top 10 “meanest” cities.

Almost 70 percent of the cities studied by National Coalition for the Homeless have passed one or more laws since January 2002 specifically targeting homeless people. Las Vegas topped the group's list of cities that are “meanest” in their treatment of the homeless.

Not only do new laws make it harder to live on the streets, the group said, but many cities make it illegal for charities and other organizations to perform life-sustaining activities while refusing to allocate sufficient funds to address the causes of homelessness.

In Milwaukee, for instance, a church was declared a public nuisance for feeding homeless people and allowing them to sleep at the church, the coalition reported. In Gainesville, Fla., police threatened University of Florida students with arrest if they did not stop serving meals to homeless people in a public park.

The “meanest” cities, cited by the National Coalition for the Homeless, are: 1. Las Vegas, Nev.; 2. San Francisco, Calif.; 3. New York, N.Y; 4. Los Angeles, Calif.; 5. Atlanta, Ga.; 6. Cincinnati, Ohio; 7. Key West, Fla.; 8. Austin; 9. Orlando, Fla.; 10. New Orleans, La.; 11. Sacramento, Calif.; 12. Milwaukee, Wis.; 13. Santa Cruz, Calif.; 14. Miami Beach, Fla.; 15. Jacksonville Beach; Fla.; 16. Hollywood, Fla.; 17. Santa Monica, Calif.; 18. Nashville, Tenn.; 19. Honolulu, Hawaii; 20. Boulder, Colo.

Posted: 2/06/04

Baptist Briefs

Reccord to NRB board. Bob Reccord, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board, has been appointed to the National Religious Broadcasters board of directors. He will complete the unexpired term of Campus Crusade's Bill Bright, who died last year. Other Southern Baptists serving on the NRB board include former SBC presidents James Merritt and Charles Stanley, Richard Land of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and "Left Behind" co-author Tim LaHaye.

Seminary Extension leader dead at 84. Ray Rigdon, who led the SBC's Seminary Extension ministry from 1969 to1988, died Jan. 16 in Nashville, Tenn., after a lengthy illness. He was 84. Prior to his Seminary Extension work, Rigdon worked for the Georgia Baptist Convention and served with the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board for two decades.

CBF studies partnerships. A seven-member committee of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's Coordinating Council is studying how the fellowship funds and evaluates its partner entities, such as Truett Seminary and Logsdon School of Theology. Charles Cantrell, an attorney from Mountain View, Mo., is chairman of the committee, which includes Matt Cook of Rosebud.

Deans named at Southern Seminary. Russell Moore has been named dean of the school of theology and senior vice president of academic administration at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Moore, 32, succeeds former dean Daniel Akin, who recently was elected president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Previously Moore was assistant professor of theology at Southern and executive director of the seminary's Carl F.H. Henry Institute for Evangelical Engagement. James Scroggins was named dean of Boyce College, Southern Seminary's undergraduate school. Before his appointment, Scroggins, 32, was minister to students at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville and assistant professor of youth ministry at Boyce College. He succeeds Jerry Johnson, who has been elected president of Criswell College in Dallas.

NAMB names new chaplaincy director. Pete Sharber has been named director of chaplaincy evangelism for the North American Mission Board. Sharber served nine years as an infantry officer in the United States Army, including two tours in Vietnam for which he was awarded the Bronze Star four times. After completing his studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a two-year pastorate in Texas, he returned to the Army to serve as a chaplain for 11 years at military posts in Georgia, New York and Germany. Sharber, 64, has been pastor of First Baptist Church in Hazlehurst, Ga., since 1989.

CBF chaplaincy leader receives COMISS Medal. The COMISS Network has awarded George Pickle, associate coordinator for chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, its highest honor, the COMISS Medal for outstanding service as a pastoral care leader. Previous recipients of the medal are psychoanalyst Erik Erikson and Catholic priest and noted author Henri Nouwen. Pickle, a graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Seminary, has been a certified professional chaplain since 1989.

CBF chaplain receives Bronze Star. Mjr. Scott Sterling, ethics instructor at the U.S. Army Chaplain School in Fort Jackson, S.C., was awarded the Bronze Star in January for "exceptionally meritorious service while serving as a battalion chaplain" in Iraq. Sterling was deployed with the 260th Quartermaster Battalion from Hunter Army Air Field in Savannah, Ga., last February and remained with the battalion until its return in November. Endorsed by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in 2002, Sterling has 16 years of total military service.

Posted: 2/06/04

Coalition draws fire for Muslim connections

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)– Conservative evangelicals involved in an anti-gay-marriage coalition are drawing fire from some of their ideological and spiritual comrades over associations with a Muslim group.

A prominent Southern Baptist and other conservative evangelical leaders have denounced a coalition of groups that oppose gay marriage because it includes a Muslim group they believe supports terrorism.

A series of articles in the conservative Jewish World Review has raised allegations that a pro-terrorism Muslim group is a part of the Alliance for Marriage.

The alliance is an umbrella group pushing for passage of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would ban marriage and the “legal incidents thereof” for same-sex couples.

Many conservative evangelicals–including Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Richard Land–have endorsed the amendment effort.

The Jewish World Review repeated accusations–voiced first by a terrorism expert–that the Islamic Society of North America supports terrorism by conducting fund-raisers for Palestinians accused of terrorism and by hosting conference speakers who defend radical Islamic terrorists.

Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation has reportedly declined to serve on the advisory board of the Alliance for Marriage because of the group's connection with the Islamic group. The Jewish World Review also reported comments by evangelist and former Southern Baptist Convention president Bailey Smith critical of the AFM.

“Is there any group that is hurting the world more than radical Islam?” Smith asked, according to a column by Jewish World Review writer Evan Gahr. “You can't mix darkness with light.”

Representatives of the Alliance for Marriage have declined to discuss the issue but reportedly have distributed letters from their attorney, noting that ISNA is not considered a terrorist group by the State Department. The letters also cite other terrorism experts who do not consider it a radical group.

Meanwhile, a group of messianic Jews also is taking some of their fellow conservative evangelicals to task for their associations. In a Jan. 6 story, the Washington Times publicized a Jews for Jesus year-end fund-raising letter in which the group's president sharply criticized several Christian leaders for their participation in the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

Jews for Jesus President David Brickner said involvement in the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is questionable because the pro-Israel group's leader, Chicago rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, is an outspoken public opponent of Christian evangelism of Jews.

Posted: 2/06/04

ANOTHER VIEW:
Now is time to do unto the SBC as it's doing unto the BWA

By Charles Foster Johnson

The Southern Baptist Convention's recent decision to quit the Baptist World Alliance all but completes its 25-year rewrite of what it means to be Baptist.

George W. Truett, legendary Texas Baptist pastor and founding light of the BWA, wouldn't recognize the revision.

The time-honored and hard-fought values of individual priesthood, freedom of conscience, congregational self-determination and cooperative missions are distant echoes of the once-great denomination.

Truett knew the human soul was shaped with an inviolate freedom to embrace or reject its Shaper, each individual is competent and authorized to make this critical decision, and this voluntary principle lay at the heart of all true religion.

On this concept of freedom, Truett's generation built the Southern Baptist Convention. Thousands of Baptist churches throughout Texas and the American South freely dared to trust the Spirit to connect their varied congregations into a remarkably vital denominational community.

It was freedom that formed the Southern Baptist Convention, but the revised SBC no longer believes in freedom.

A denomination that believes in freedom doesn't require its theologians and missionaries to sign a creed and fire them if they refuse.

A denomination that believes in freedom doesn't dabble in partisan politics or advance a brazen political agenda.

A denomination that believes in freedom doesn't scapegoat women as the cause of Eden's fall or deny their right and responsibility to serve God as they are called.

A denomination that believes in freedom doesn't censor its press and censure its critics.

Violation of freedom has destroyed the Southern Baptist Convention that George W. Truett built and loved. The freedom and cooperation he so carefully cultivated has been replaced by fear, conformity and coercion.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas is the one Baptist jewel that the SBC revisionists have not succeeded in reprogramming and is the last best hope for preserving the Baptist identity Truett worked so hard to create.

Make no mistake about it: The SBC is gunning for Texas Baptists. That's why they sent the chief architect of the denominational hostile takeover to preside over the seminary in Fort Worth.

Why shouldn't they? Baylor University, the Baylor Health Care system, Buckner Baptist Benevolences and 20 other fine Texas Baptist institutions would be a treasure trove for them to control.

BGCT churches continue to serve as collection agencies for the Southern Baptist revision of Baptist history, passing through millions of dollars annually to the SBC.

At present, 21 cents of every undesignated dollar the BGCT receives from the churches goes straight through to the SBC, thus underwriting their own demise.

Such a funding mechanism is sheer insanity. It confuses freedom's friends and empowers freedom's enemies.

All freedom-loving Baptists should advocate in their congregations the immediate defunding of all SBC causes.

Now is the time for the churches of our great Texas Baptist family to cease bankrolling the revision beyond all recognition of cherished Baptist freedoms.

Charles Foster Johnson is pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio

Posted: 2/06/04

Cornerstone helps other ministries
along Rio Grande meet human needs

By George Henson

Staff Writer

QUEMADO–In the barren, sun-baked terrain between Eagle Pass and Del Rio, a mustard seed of faith grew into a ministry much larger than Steve and Lori Mercer ever imagined.

The couple came to Texas from Indiana with an eye to opening a children's home in South Texas. They had been foster parents for many years and wanted to expand their ministry by sharing their love with even more children.

After they joined First Baptist Church in Quemado, they initially wanted their new ministry, Cornerstone Children's Ranch, to be linked directly to the church. But Pastor Terry Simons counseled them to remain an independent organization so non-Baptists might be more likely to help.

Lori and Steve Mercer

State regulations soon quashed the couple's plans for a children's home. Mercer had earned an undergraduate degree in social services, but the state required a master's degree in the specialty to administer a children's home.

That stumbling block became a stepping-stone, however. Now, rather than ministering to a few dozen children, they are meeting the needs of more than 26,000 people of all ages. “My God had better ideas than we did,” Mrs. Mercer said.

They launched a relief ministry that helps to provide food, clothing, medical supplies, automobiles and other supplies to individuals and institutions on both sides of the Rio Grande, she said.

“We work with unwed mother homes, orphanages, medical clinics and churches. We take it to the churches, and they distribute it to the people they minister to in their communities. Also, some of it has to go to the pastors themselves because some of them give all they have just to keep their churches going,” Mrs. Mercer said.

They also help a ministry to illegal aliens who are being deported to Mexico. Most are far from home with no money and no food.

Many of these people, mostly men, receive Christ as they have reached rock bottom and are open to the possibility that something is missing from their lives, she said.

After listening to the message of the gospel, they are given food and encouraged to take the message they have heard back to their villages.

As the Cornerstone ministry has grown, so have its needs. Del Rio-Uvalde Baptist Association helped the ministry secure a 10-acre site for construction of a 6,000-foot warehouse.

It stores washing machines, dryers, food, clothing, medical supplies and even an optical machine that is being kept until construction is completed on an eye clinic in Mexico.

“Just about anything someone can put on a truck, we can find a home for,” Mrs. Mercer said.

The Mercers' ministry filled a niche in the region, said Jack Calk, retired director of missions for Del Rio-Uvalde Baptist Association.

“Bringing all these things together in one place and then distributing them is one of the things we needed to have done in the area, rather than trying to do it piecemeal,” he said.

While financial, food and medical donations always are needed, the ministry's most crucial needs are prayer and volunteers, Mrs. Mercer said.

“Prayer will always be our No. 1 need,” she said. “All of this depends on God's provision.”

The answer to some of those prayers would be in the form of more volunteers.

“Piedras Negras has a population of more than 1 million people. River Ministry does an awful lot of work down here, but there are still so many people whose needs are not being met,” she said.

The Mercers plan to build a new headquarters for Cornerstone Children's Ranch, complete with apartments for volunteers.

But finances dictate the construction be done by volunteers. Currently the camp has hook-ups for two RV campsites, and it is to be expanded.

Volunteers also are needed to install the camp's meat lockers so the ministry can store and distribute more meat.

None of that is anything like what the Mercers thought they were coming to Texas to do, but they say it's all right.

“I think the Lord sometimes uses your plans to gets you where he wants you until you realize what he wants you to do as he reveals his will for your life,” she said.

Cornerstone Children's Ranch can be contacted at (830) 757-1993.

Posted: 2/06/04

Waller prescribes dose of humility
for preachers with dubious doctorates

By George Henson

Staff Writer

GORDONVILLE–Some pastors touting the title “Dr.” before their names need a refresher course in ethics, according to a paper awaiting publication in the journal Christian Higher Education.

The treatise by Rusty Waller, bivocational pastor of First Baptist Church in Gordonville, is titled “Higher Education Credentials of American Clergy: Ethics or Antics?”

In addition to being a pastor, Waller is dean of institutional research and effectiveness at North Central Texas College in Gainesville, where he ensures the college meets regional accreditation standards.

Waller also helped Baptist University of the Americas achieve certification from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to grant undergraduate degrees. Baptist University of the Americas also earned a certificate of accreditation from the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges.

When it comes to graduate-level education, regional accreditation is important because it provides a clear standard of academic requirements, Waller contends.

Attorneys, teachers, architects, doctors and other professionals are required to earn degrees from regionally accredited schools, he noted. Such accreditation indicates the level of scholarship mandated to attain the degree.

So when a pastor begins calling himself “Dr.” when he does not hold an accredited doctoral degree, it hurts his witness, Waller contends.

“Pastors need to be aware that the use of the title 'Dr.' without having a regionally accredited degree is deeply offensive to those in other professions who have to work to maintain their credentials,” he explained.

Waller said he first considered writing on this topic as he saw televangelists taking on the title “Dr.” He was unable to ascertain the source of most their degrees, he said, “which tells me it's a very bogus situation.”

His investigation revealed a number of places where an unaccredited doctoral diploma can be secured for a minimal amount of cash. One site for the Progressive Universal Life Church currently will throw in a doctor of divinity degree for free if a doctor of philosophy in either religion or theology is ordered for $175.

Waller went a step further, however, and decided to see what he could determine about the credentials of a sample of Baptist General Convention of Texas pastors.

He sent questionnaires to 200 pastors whose churches matched a representative sample of the size and ethnicity of the convention.

Only 105 of those surveys were returned, of which 35 pastors claimed doctoral degrees. Seven of those 35 doctorates, 20 percent, came from non-regionally accredited doctoral programs.

Waller said he would stop short of saying only 20 percent of the sample had degrees from non-regionally accredited schools, however, because only 52 percent of the pastors in the pool responded.

“I have questions about the non-respondents and where their credentials are from,” he said.

“I would speculate that those who returned their questionnaires didn't see anything wrong with having non-regionally accredited degrees.”

He postulates that some who did not respond may have been more aware.

But he does acknowledge a wide spectrum of sources of non-regionally accredited degrees, “from the most bogus of diploma mills to actual institutions” of merit.

At the high end of that spectrum, Waller places Luther Rice Seminary, the most common source of non-regionally accredited degrees among those surveyed.

However, while not a place to buy a diploma without study, the independent seminary should not be viewed on an even par with fully accredited seminaries such as Logsdon School of Theology at Hardin-Simmons University or Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary, he asserted.

Luther Rice Seminary is accredited by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, a certification that requires less strenuous examination than that offered by regional commissions such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

The United States Department of Education views TRACS on the same level as the Association of Theological Schools, the nation's primary accrediting agency for graduate-level theological education.

However, both Logsdon and Truett are accredited not only by ATS on the national level but by SACS on the regional level.

And to Waller's perspective as an educator, that makes a huge difference.

“Other professions require doctorates from regionally accredited institutions,” he said. “Why should pastors settle for less?”

Waller does not suggest that a regionally accredited degree should be a requirement for the pastorate, or that the education that can be gained at some schools, such as Luther Rice, is not without merit.

“I have no problem with a person pursuing an education wherever they choose, but I do have a problem with them putting 'Dr.' in front of their name” if they do not hold a regionally accredited degree, he said.

That especially is true if a pastor knowingly obtains a degree not acquired by scholarship on the doctoral level, Waller said.

“Credentials without education can only be for men to look at.”

Likewise, it is unethical for a pastor who receives an honorary doctorate, such a doctor of divinity degree, to affix “Dr.” to his name, Waller said.

Reading his paper probably won't change the minds of those who already have secured non-accredited degrees, Waller admitted. But he does hope to impact future decisions.

“I don't really think writing this will stop anyone who is using the title 'Dr.' from using it, but I hope that some young pastors out there considering this will get their doctorates from regionally accredited institutions,” he said.

“I've been a pastor from 29 years, but I can understand how a young man might look and see that he can have a doctorate here for $700, and over there it's going to take years of commitment and ask, 'What's my motivation to do that?' if they don't understand all the issues.”

Posted: 2/06/04

DOWN HOME:
Valentine's plans cross in the mail

The best-laid Valentine's Day plan of this man and his mouse almost got tripped up by our friendly neighborhood mail carrier.

Joanna, my Valentine, called the other day and asked about a certain charge on our credit card bill from one of her favorite stores. Man, I hoped that piece of mail wouldn't come through until after Feb. 14.

Give me credit for trying hard. I began thinking about what to give Jo for Valentine's Day weeks ago. I looked in catalogs and shopped online. I considered a range of possibilities and narrowed my choices. Finally, I settled on The Gift.

Then came the hard part: When to order.

On one hand, this store is notorious for putting merchandise on backorder. That would never do. Wrapping a picture of a present in a box on Valentine's Day makes about as big a splash as saying the dog ate it.

On the other hand, if I ordered too early, the credit card bill would come, and Jo would at least know where I've been shopping. That's because we have a financially transparent relationship. Correct that. My half of the relationship is transparent. Jo's the bookkeeper in our family. I never know if we've got enough in the bank to buy a pair of socks; she knows the whereabouts of every penny. So, that makes sneaking around to buy gifts sorta tricky.

Anyway, I went online and took the risk. A couple of clicks of my computer mouse, and the gift was on its way. Unfortunately, so was the credit card bill, which arrived at home two days after the gift arrived at my office.

The phone rang. “What's this about a charge from (blah-blah-blah) on our MasterCard bill?” Jo asked.

“Can't say right now. I'm busy,” I replied, stalling as my heart sank.

After work, I pondered what to say about Jo's Valentine gift. I settled on a straightforward approach: “About that credit card bill, why don't you pretend you never saw it? I'm not good at sneaking around to buy you gifts, but my heart's in the right place. I tried hard this year–started early and everything. But you know how they are about putting stuff on backorder, and I wanted your gift to get here on time. So, even if you figure everything out, just remember it's coming from the guy who loves you more than life itself, and when you open the box, act surprised.”

I rehearsed that speech all the way home, but as soon as I started, my smart Valentine offered two words of wisdom: “Let's not talk about it. And why don't you get your own credit card and have the bill sent to your office?”

Well, Valentine's Day is almost here, and I hope Jo hasn't guessed what I got her. I haven't prayed about it, because I figure the Lord doesn't really care what I buy for her as long as I'm a faithful and loving husband and daddy.

What's she getting me? Maybe a credit card.

Posted: 2/06/04

EDITORIAL:
Let's talk about sex some more

America needs to talk about sex.

“Yeah, right,” you say. “That's all we've been talking about for days, ever since halftime at the Super Bowl, when millions of folks got an eyeful of Janet Jackson's breast. The last thing we need is more talk about sex.”

Well, not exactly.

We need to talk about the beauty and glory of sex.

That's right. And people of faith ought to dominate the discussion. For too long, pop singers, talk-show hosts and sitcom stars have defined how culture thinks about sex. That's enough. We're the ones who know the real story: God created sex, both as utility and gift. It's the way all animals make babies. But it's also how we express our deepest and most abiding feelings of love and find our surest sense of acceptance.

Some theologians say the only relationship more intimate and profound than a faithful, monogamous married woman and man “making love” is the indefinable unity of the Trinity. At its purest, as God intended, sex truly is a religious experience.

We need to talk about the value of sex.

God made us as whole, relational beings, and God gave us sex, in part, so we could experience the depth of relationship. That's why, in the parlance of popular psychology, we're “hard wired” for sex. No wonder advertisers use sex to sell everything from cars to toothpaste to soft drinks. People need sex, and marketers of every stripe try to connect fulfillment of our sex drive with their products.

Of course, that misses the point completely. The more we seek the emotional and spiritual fulfillment that only God-given sex can provide by slogging through the tawdry sleeze of commercial smut, the more we crave what we cannot have. The kind of sex that saturates society only stirs senses that cannot be sated. Check the research on pornography; rather than fulfill a need, it stokes fires that consume. Author Fredrick Buechner puts it this way: Lust is the craving for salt of a man dying of thirst.

So, sex is powerful exactly because it's inherently important to who we are as creatures designed by God. Yet when it is defiled, it leads us further from God's design, with all the heartache that comes with separation from our Creator.

We need to talk about the ubiquity and degradation of sex.

Do you ever wonder why you can't say “Kleenex,” “Xerox” and “Coke” when you mean facial tissue, photocopying and soft drinks without threat of a lawsuit? The manufacturers know their brands are cheapened when people start using them as generic terms for other products, particularly inferior products. Too bad God doesn't have a lawfirm to sue product pimps who violate the holy intention of sex. The ever-presence of sex has stained its purity and diluted its potency. And sex's rampant cheap imitators–near-nudity, vulgarity, the insinuation that it's not much more than a handshake hello or a kiss goodnight–have degraded its value.

“Cheap sex” never has been a more accurate term. Not just because it can be bought on a street corner for $20 or viewed in a movie theater for $7, but because culture's treatment of it says it's not worth much. Don't believe it? Talk to middle school and high school students.

We need to talk about the economics of sex.

This is where you can make a difference. Only one factor explains why Jackson, Justin Timberlake, CBS, MTV and the NFL all participated in the Super Bowl breast-flash. Money. Lots and lots of money.

As long as corporate America, the media and “stars” profit from their version of sex, we're going to have it beamed into our retinas. So, we've got to convince them sex will cost more than it pays. In a few minutes on the Internet, you can find all the addresses (regular and e-mail) you need to write the FCC, the networks, local TV and radio stations and advertisers–especially advertisers–to tell them you will not tune in to or buy products from sex abusers.

And you can turn off the TV and read a book.
–Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

Posted: 2/06/04

EDITORIAL:
Seminary's homosexuality stand
consistent with BGCT precedent

Commentators expressed surprise that a student at Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological Seminary lost his scholarship because he is gay.

They shouldn't be shocked. The Baptist General Convention of Texas–which counts Baylor among its nine affiliated universities–has not changed its understanding of homosexual activity.

Matt Bass, a Truett student since 2001, lost his scholarship in December, several months after he told friends he is gay. Seminary students typically receive financial support from Baylor and the BGCT to offset the high cost of tuition. While Bass was not expelled, he left because he could not afford to continue his studies there.

The Bass episode represents but the latest in a string of stands the BGCT has taken to say homosexual activity is unacceptable:

In 1982, messengers to the BGCT annual session approved a resolution that said, “The homosexual lifestyle is not normal or acceptable in God's sight and is indeed called sin.”

In 1996, the BGCT Messenger-Seating Study Committee presented a report, approved by the convention, that said: “The Bible teaches that the ideal for sexual behavior is the marital union between husband and wife and that all other sexual relations–whether premarital, extramarital or homosexual–are contrary to God's purposes and thus sinful. Homosexual practice is therefore in conflict with the Bible.”

In 1998, the BGCT Administrative Committee and Executive Board voted to decline to receive any financial contributions from University Baptist Church in Austin, which had ordained a homosexual man as a deacon.

The Administrative Committee's recommendation to the Executive Board said: “Churches should seek to minister to all persons, including those who continue in sinful practices. The love and grace of God embraces all persons and instructs all Christians to share God's love with others. We commend those who seek to minister to those persons who engage in homosexual behavior. We cannot, however, approve of churches endorsing homosexual practice as biblically legitimate.”

The Baylor student handbook sexual misconduct policy addresses homosexual acts, incest, adultery and fornication.

In reference to Truett Seminary's decision to revoke Bass' scholarship, Dean Paul Powell said: “Our standards of right and wrong are the Scriptures. If we ever abandon them, we're out of business. There's no reason for us to exist.”