Posted: 2/06/04

Houston's Super Bowl visitors hear the gospel

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

HOUSTON–In the shadow of the grand Super Bowl extravaganza, Texas Inner City Evangelism team members found small actions can have the greatest impact.

Eight volunteers distributed 35,000 pieces of Christian literature during Super Bowl week. They were trying to start spiritual conversations so they could share the gospel with people living in the inner city, attending Super Bowl-related events and enjoying church functions.

Nearly 300 people professed Jesus Christ as Lord because of the team's efforts. Each new Christian will be connected to a local church.

God makes “divine appointments” between Christians and non-Christians, several team members said.

However, believers must share the gospel when those meetings occur if they expect non-believers to embrace the Christian faith, they added.

If Christians faithfully pray and study Scripture, they will hear God telling them to share, said Mike Martin, an ICE team member who now lives in Nashville. What to say emerges from a close relationship with God.

“I know my role in the body of Christ is an evangelist,” Martin said. “It's just natural for me to present Jesus born of a virgin, died on a cross and rose again.”

The gospel impacts people's lives, said John Shelton, pastor of Church on the Lot in Dallas and ICE team member.

Visible changes in individuals' demeanor sometimes occur when people first hear Jesus' message.

People begin to share their struggles with alcoholism and drugs. Some speak of broken families and relationships. Others are looking for hope.

“We read about changing lives in the Bible,” said Wayne Shuffield, local church consultant for the Baptist General Convention of Texas Center for Strategic Evangelism. “We say God can do it. But we are still amazed when it happens.”

While passing out tracts downtown, Shelton encountered a cold homeless man standing next to a convenience store. When Shelton started talking to him, the man asked Shelton to join him for a cup of coffee.

As the pastor drank the coffee, the man brought a homeless friend to him. Shelton led that man to Christ and gave him a Bible.

The event seemingly sparked a chain reaction, and four people made professions of faith in the next 20 minutes.

The initial homeless man distributed gospel tracts and shared his faith for the rest of the afternoon.

Other outings do not produce such visible results, but team members said they are laying the groundwork for others to share the faith.

The small act of handing out a tract can make an eternal difference, they said.

“There was a time I wasn't a big tract fan, but I've seen too many work,” Shelton said. “A lot of people haven't heard the simple presentation of the gospel.”

Posted: 2/06/04

Houston-area Baptists score
big with Super Bowl outreach

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

HOUSTON ­The Super Bowl has spring-boarded many athletes to international fame. Texas Baptists used the event to point people to something more important.

Several thousand Texas Baptists in the area sought to share the gospel with non-Christians by holding sports carnivals, volunteering in Super Bowl activities and throwing game-watching parties in the area.

Many Baptists helped behind the scenes of Super Bowl-related events and looked for opportunities to share Jesus' message.

Some assisted National Football League officials. Others stuffed evangelistic material in bags placed on seats in Reliant Stadium, where the game was held. Still others worked at the NFL Experience, an event meant to help fans understand the game better.

Eleven East Texas Baptist University students took digital photos of people enjoying the weekend festivities. They uploaded the images to www.joepix.com, where individuals could retrieve their pictures and read the gospel.

The effects of the cooperative effort will live on in changed lives long after the Super Bowl hoopla, according to Wayne Shuffield, local church evangelism consultant for the Baptist General Convention of Texas Center for Strategic Evangelism.

“A game brings the world to Texas, and Texas Baptists have stepped up in a united way to carry the message of Christ throughout the Houston area,” Shuffield said. “That's impressive to me.”

A crowd gathers in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center site of the "NFL Experience." ETBU students and other Texas Baptists milled through the crowd, sharing the gospel.

Volunteers routinely said the uniqueness of ministering around the Super Bowl presented an opportunity they could not miss. The massive influx of people from around the world offered a chance for workers to have a worldwide impact.

The Super Bowl Evangelism Project also allowed volunteers to experience the atmosphere around the game.

“I'm doing it because it's fun, and we're serving the Lord,” said Rebecca Adams, an ETBU sophomore. “It's the Super Bowl. It's something to remember.”

But workers remained focused on their evangelistic mission. They commonly spoke of wanting to share the gospel and impact people around them.

“We enjoy working with the community,” said Rachel Moss of Autumn Creek Baptist Church in Houston. “It shows we care and in turn shows them God cares.”

In all, more than 75 Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated churches in the Houston area held an evangelistic event or had members volunteer. Those efforts saw nearly 300 recorded professions of faith. About 90,000 pieces of Christian literature were distributed.

In addition to spreading the gospel, church leaders also felt they were breaking stereotypes by showing non-believers Christians can have fun. Aaron Dallas, minister of evangelism at Brookhollow Baptist Church, hopes the church's block party modeled Christian ways to celebrate.

“We're trying to reach those in our neighborhood, and we're trying to show the children how Christians get together and have a good time,” Dallas said. “A lot of people have their preconceived notions of church being a stiff-necked place. We're here to show them we can have fun.”

The party, attended by more than 1,500 people, also allowed the congregation to knock down beliefs that churches are judgmental rather than caring, said DeMonica Smith, who serves as one of the church's ministers of recreation.

A "punt, pass and kick" competition at Grand Parkway Baptist Church in Sugar Land draws a crowd to the Houston-area church. The event was one of many evangelistic outreach activities during the days leading up to the big game.

“It's important for them to see we are Christians. We love each other,” she said. “We have fun.”

A block party at the Gano Baptist Mission Center provided an event tailored for children, said Kit Lowrance, who directed the gathering.

The effort also served as a lead-in to a Super Bowl watch party the next day at an affiliated mission center.

“We're using this to jump-start our Super Bowl party tomorrow, when the gospel will be clearly presented during halftime and decisions will be made,” Lowrance said.

Leaders of Cloverleaf Baptist Church, just east of Houston, used a similar method in their work. The church held a three-day revival followed by a Saturday sports carnival and a Sunday watch party to reinvigorate their congregation and evangelize people around them.

The congregation's Sunday attendance has dwindled to about 45 after drawing 600 in the past.

Some residents in the surrounding neighborhoods told ministers they did not realize the church still is functioning.

The flurry of activity sparked the community's interest as about 200 people attended the church's Saturday party. Children's smiles and laughter filled the brisk winter day.

“I hope it lets the people in this area know we are reaching out,” Pastor Allan Hughes said. “It seems like the rest of the world has forgotten this place. God hasn't forgotten this place.”

Posted: 2/06/04

Texas Baptist Men show Christian
love to Iranian refugees in tent city

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

From hurricanes in Latin America to famines in Africa and Asia, Texas Baptist Men volunteers have been some of the first responders among faith-based disaster relief providers over the last three decades.

But the Texas Baptists who recently returned from Iran were glad an Alabama group had paved the way for them.

A 15-member Texas Baptist Men team, along with three Baptist volunteers from Georgia, worked Jan. 12-20 at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Bam.

The crew cooked meals and provided medical care for displaced residents of the earthquake-ravaged city.

A massive quake the morning after Christmas left three-fourths of the ancient city in ruins.

The volunteers served under the auspices of a non-governmental agency recognized in Iran.

'God with us' disaster relief

They followed an Alabama Baptist disaster relief team. Since “Ala” sounded like the Iranian word for God, “ba” like “with” and “ma” like “us,” the group became identified locally as “God with us disaster relief.”

Fortunately for the Texans who came behind them, the Alabama group lived up to their lofty name and earned a solid reputation in the region.

When the Texas Baptists arrived in Iran, they initially received a cold greeting from a stern governmental worker, according to team leader John LaNoue of Lindale.

But when he told the official they were related to the “Ala-ba-ma” group, “it was an open door,” LaNoue said.

The Texas Baptists worked in a 341-tent refugee camp that housed more than 1,700 people.

“There was not one empty tent in the camp,” LaNoue recalled.

“There may have been three tents with one person in them, but there were some with as many as 14 in them.”

Making a statement

The Texas Baptist Men team cooked more than 3,000 meals and 5,000 cups of hot tea each day for the camp, plus an additional 1,000 meals daily for another camp that was being established nearby.

The volunteers worked 14-hour days, cooking rice, lentils and occasional helpings of lamb in massive four-foot-wide pots.

“Our men ate what the people in the camp ate, but they never sat down to eat until all the people had been served,” LaNoue said.

“It was a powerful statement to those people.”

Through interpreters, LaNoue learned that many of the people in the camp were asking: “Why have these old men come to help us? We see them working when we get up in the morning and working when we go to bed at night.”

While the crew included one 36-year-old volunteer and a 41-year-old doctor, the average age was 63. The oldest volunteer was 78.

“I called them the 'over the hill gang,' but they're on the side of the hill that knows how to do the work,” said LaNoue, who is just a few months shy of 70.

One image that indelibly branded itself on LaNoue's memory was an old Iranian man in Bam climbing to the top of the rubble where his house once stood, removing one brick at a time. He repeated that process for hours each day.

“One brick was all he could carry at one time. He was trying to find his family, who were entombed there.”

While the residents of the refugee camp publicly expressed a growing love and appreciation for the American volunteers, the Texas Baptists remained under close scrutiny by governmental officials.

Some crewmembers were interviewed up to three times a day by authorities who wanted to know why they had come to Iran.

“We told them we had not come because of politics, but because our hearts were broken by the tragedy of the people,” LaNoue said.

“We told them God loved the Iranian people so much, he had instructed us to come help them.”

When asked, the Texas Baptists identified themselves as Protestant Christians, but they were careful not to be perceived as proselytizing.

“We're Christians. Nobody talked about it much, but everybody knew it,” LaNoue said.

Looking back on the experience, he added, “My prayer for the people of Iran is that they will have the opportunity to recognize the truth, that God will bless them with the knowledge of himself … that their physical needs will be met in such a way that they will come to recognize the Giver of good gifts.”

Texas Baptists can contribute financially to the disaster relief project by designating checks “Iranian relief” and sending them to Texas Baptist Men, 333 N. Washington, Dallas 75246-1798.

Texas Baptist Men cooked more than 3,000 meals and 5,000 cups of tea daily for a refugee camp on the outskirts of Bam, Iran.

Posted: 2/06/04

Smith nominated as TBM director
after serving as long-term interim

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Texas Baptist Men's personnel search committee will nominate interim director Leo Smith as the organization's executive director when the TBM board of directors meets Feb. 27 at Latham Springs Baptist Encampment.

The nomination culminates a year-long search for a director following the resignation of Jim Ferguson in 2002. The process included praying, reviewing TBM history and interviewing several candidates.

Smith accepted the interim executive director's position in February 2002, after resigning as the organization's president. The retired pastor has served TBM in a variety of roles for about 25 years.

Smith's leadership of Texas Baptist Men and passion for men's ministry make him the ideal candidate to be executive director, said Kevin Walker of Fort Worth, chairman of the search committee and current TBM president.

“As God revealed himself, the committee came to the conclusion that Leo Smith was the person that God has gifted and prepared to lead Texas Baptist Men. Brother Leo has demonstrated an understanding of spiritual leadership as he has directed TBM through this interim period,” Walker said.

“His leadership has been confirmed by his work within Texas Baptist Men, BGCT staff and the relationships that the organization has with other great commission groups.”

Smith, a member of South Park Baptist Church in Alvin, indicated he is honored by the nomination to lead an organization about which he is passionate.

“I'm very humbled about being nominated,” Smith said.

“I've been working with Texas Baptist Men ever since Bob Dixon came to serve the Brotherhood department of the BGCT. I have a great love for Texas Baptist Men. I've seen God move in marvelous ways as he uses the men literally around the world. To think of leading the organization is an awesome challenge.”

The next executive director will lead TBM as the group attempts to work with volunteers from churches affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

Many Texas Baptist Men members, including several key leaders, are members of SBTC congregations.

Leaders of the breakaway convention said they would start their own disaster relief organization if Texas Baptist Men would not have a relationship with their churches.

Smith tabled a 2002 motion to enter into a “fraternal relationship” with the newer convention, but the group voted to adopt the relationship in February 2003 while explicitly reaffirming its unique connection with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

TBM offices are located in BGCT facilities, and the convention pays for TBM's operating budget and some ministries.

The TBM executive director serves on the Baptist General Convention of Texas Leadership Council.

Though some SBTC-affiliated churches funnel money to Texas Baptist Men for ministry, the group is not in the SBTC budget.

Many of the other details of the relationship with the newer convention continue being outlined.

The SBTC has started its own retiree builders group.

At the last TBM board meeting, the board instructed its leaders to create a committee to study when the TBM convention should be held.

Smith said he intends to “maintain the integrity of the organization with both conventions,” while retaining a unique relationship with the BGCT.

Closer to his heart, Smith seeks to strengthen men's ministries in churches across Texas. His first priority is filling a position that will work to strengthen men's ministry in congregations.

“My real desire is for people to know Texas Baptist Men as a group of men who have a deep love relationship with God more than men who build churches and do disaster relief.”

“As God revealed himself, the committee came to the conclusion that Leo Smith was the person that God has gifted and prepared to lead Texas Baptist Men.”

Kevin Walker, president, Texas Baptist Men

Posted: 2/06/04

Texas Tidbits

Brueggemann to lecture at Truett. Old Testament scholar and noted author Walter Brueggemann will present the Parchman Lecture series March 9-11 at Truett Theological Seminary in Waco. His lectures will be presented at 3 p.m. daily in the seminary chapel and are open to the public. For more information, contact Roger Olson at (254) 710-6654.

Gregory and Seay share pulpit at Wayland. Joel Gregory, former pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, and Chris Seay, pastor of Ecclesia Community in Houston, will headline the 83rd annual Panhandle Pastors' and Laymen's Conference, Feb. 23-24 at Wayland Baptist University. Gregory will lead the conference Bible study, focusing on restoration and reconciliation. Seay will preach on bridging the generations in the church. A special session for Hispanic pastors and laymen will be held at 6 p.m. on Feb. 23 in Brown Chapel on the Wayland campus. Al Guajardo, president of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas, will speak. For more information on the conference, call (806) 291-1165.

UMHB schedules retirement seminar. The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and the Annuity Board of the Southern Baptist Convention will co-sponsor an investment and retirement seminar for ministers Feb. 26 in the Mabee Student Center on the UMHB campus. For more information, contact the church relations office at UMHB at (254) 295-4620 or email wmuske@umhb.edu.

Baylor provost honored. David L. Jeffrey, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Baylor University, has received the lifetime achievement award from the Conference on Christianity and Literature. The conference is an international organization allied with the Modern Language Association that encourages scholarly exploration of the relationship between literature and the Christian faith.

Howard Payne plans social justice center. A $500,000 gift from Bettie and Robert Girling of Austin will enable Howard Payne University to renovate its historic Coggin Academy building as the headquarters for a new Center for Social Justice. The center will be an undergraduate multi-disciplinary program involving the social work, sociology, psychology and criminal justice departments and the legal studies program. Built in 1876, the Coggin Academy building is the oldest school building in continuous use west of the Mississippi River.

Hardin-Simmons honors young alums. The chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission and an Internet commerce expert have been named Hardin-Simmons University's Outstanding Young Alumni. Victor Carrillo, a 1986 Hardin-Simmons graduate, is a former Taylor County judge who was appointed to the Railroad Commission by Gov. Rick Perry. Leland Harden, a 1984 graduate, is vice chancellor of institutional advancement at New Canoe University and a senior-level executive in Internet commerce. The awards will be presented Feb. 12.

DBU receives foundation gift. Dallas Baptist University has received a $250,000 gift from the Andersen Foundation of Minnesota for a new building project. The International Student Center will serve as a multi-use activity and learning center, including offices for the intensive English program, classrooms, computer-equipped study areas and a lounge for international students.

Baylor diamond leads off. Ferrell Field at Baylor Ballpark, home of the Baylor baseball team since 1990, was spotlighted as the stadium for the month of January in this year's Baseball America's Great Parks Calendar. The Waco stadium was the only collegiate ballpark to be included in the calendar. The magazine selected the Bears' diamond as the third-best collegiate stadium in the nation last year. The stadium features red brick and exposed green steel beams.

DBU enters partnership. Dallas Baptist University has entered a strategic partnership with the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics that will enable DBU students to earn a minor or concentration in linguistics. The partnership also will allow the institute's international graduate students to participate in the intensive English program at DBU prior to beginning their course work with GIAL. The institute offers training in applied linguistics and language development, including linguistics, ethnology, language assessment, literacy and Bible translation. Linguistic classes tentatively are scheduled to begin in the fall 2004 semester.

HSU prof named to national exam committee. Michelle Dose, head of the chemistry and physics department at Hardin-Simmons University, has been appointed to a national committee that writes standardized examinations covering material included in most first-semester general chemistry courses. She was named to the committee by the American Chemical Society Division of the Chemical Education Examinations Institute. The exam the committee develops will be available for use by colleges and universities around the nation in the fall of 2006.

Foundation grant boosts Wayland music lab project. A $50,000 gift from the Helen Jones Foundation of Lubbock will help fund an electronic music laboratory at Wayland Baptist University. The grant covers half of the funds needed for the project, which includes installation, faculty training and use of a 15-keyboard SoundTree technology/keyboard lab. The Jones Foundation was established by Helen DeVitt Jones in 1984 from profits from her family's share of the Mallet Ranch in Hockley County. For information on the ongoing campaign to raise funds for the music lab, contact the Wayland University development office at (806) 291-3427.

Posted: 2/06/04

TOGETHER:
Repentance offers sin's only remedy

Worshipping the past few weeks in an African-American church in Missouri City, a Hispanic church in north Houston and an Anglo church in Seagoville, I have experienced both the joy and the seriousness of worship. God is good all the time. I cherish what I see him doing in the lives of Texas Baptists.

When we worship, we offer ourselves heart and soul to God. Everything in us is touched when we enter fully into his presence.

One often-neglected part of worship is the call to confess our sin before God that we might be forgiven and renewed.

Isaiah has given us an example of confession in the midst of worship. “Woe to me! I cried I am ruined. For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5).

Like Isaiah, we must recognize our predicament and our sin–a view of ourselves we avoid as much as possible. We can look in the mirror of our own egos, and by rearranging certain patterns, we make ourselves appear amazingly attractive. Depending on our motivation, looking in mirrors can be a helpful reality check or it can be an excuse for constructing a façade.

Some of us who attend worship regularly want to go away feeling all is well in the earth. We want a God who is all-forgiving and will control things the way we want them controlled. We want to believe it doesn't matter who we are or what we do, as long as we express our love for God. We'd prefer a God who won't ask us to be responsible for our thoughts and behavior. We'd prefer a God who doesn't require us to look within for the sin that needs rooting out.

But if we do not turn our eyes inward to search the paths of our walk, we miss the cleansing and renewing that worship can bring to our lives.

In true worship, it can feel as though the heavens open and God appears.

We see our emptiness. We come face to face with our prejudice, guilt, pride, unloving spirit, critical attitude, jealous ways, greediness, laziness, lack of concern for hurting people and indulgence in destructive diversions of the flesh. We confront our carelessness for being poor stewards of the life God has given us. Unless we are willing to admit our sin, we journey through life in denial and arrogance.

Experiencing the holiness of God through worship illuminates our sin and unworthiness and awakens us to the glory reflected in a holy God. Facing the truth of our condition frees us to respond in humility to God's call to be his servants.

We don't get rid of sin and guilt by ignoring our wounds, pretending we aren't bitter and unforgiving, or rationalizing our wrongdoing by saying we aren't as bad as some people.

When our hearts condemn us and guilt lives in our souls, there is only one remedy for the sickness. Seeing the love and mercy of God, we must turn repentantly from our sin and sorrow, trusting him for forgiveness.

Healing and renewal come only through the forgiveness of Jesus Christ who loves us while we are sinners, just like we are.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

We are loved.

Posted: 2/06/04

West Texas children's choir warms
up to idea of making a difference

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

VALERA–The weather may be cold, but some West Texans are staying warm because of a children's choir that set out to make a difference in its community.

Valera Baptist Church children's choir members recently collected several bags of shirts, pants and jackets for a nearby benevolence ministry.

The project offered children a way they could touch their community in a tangible way, said Reta Beck, the pastor's wife and one of the group's leaders.

And the children became excited about the effort. They reminded their parents about it for weeks leading up to the date when the clothes were to be donated. They went through their clothes looking for anything that did not fit or they no longer wore.

The project helped the children become more aware of the needs around them, according to Maricela Morris, who has 6-year-old and 8-year-old boys in the choir.

“They realized there's more to life than what we do every day,” she said. “They know people get sick. They know people need clothes.”

Collecting clothes was how the church participated in M.A.D. (Making a Difference) For Christ, a Baptist General Convention of Texas effort to involve families and groups in community ministries.

Church members were excited when they learned about the choir's ministry during a worship service, said Larry Beck, pastor of Valera Baptist Church.

“It was a great opportunity to do hands-on ministry,” he said. “They did a great job with it.”

Choir members were encouraged by this effort, Reta Beck added. They are looking forward to future service projects.

“I think it made them feel really good,” she said.

Posted: 2/06/04

State Department names chief
violators of religious liberty worldwide

By Rob Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–The State Department's annual report on the status of religious freedom across the globe includes some familiar faces among its chief offenders.

According to the recently released report, China, Burma and North Korea remain among the world's most egregious and systematic violators of religious liberty. Meanwhile, several nations with close ties to the United States–such as Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Israel–continue to repress their citizens' religious freedom either through overt legal oppression or through unequal enforcement of laws that, on paper, protect religious freedom.

Highlighting five broad categories of ways in which nations suppress religious freedom, the report's executive summary listed nations that exemplify each:

Totalitarian or authoritarian regimes that attempt to control their citizens' religious belief or practice. Nations such as North Korea, Burma and Cuba continue to “regard some or all religious groups as enemies of the state because of the religion's content, the fact that the very practice of religion threatens the dominant ideology …, the ethnic character of a religious group or groups, or a mixture of all three,” according to the report.

Governments that exhibit official hostility toward minority or unapproved religions. Countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, “while not necessarily determined to implement a program of control over minority religions, nevertheless are hostile to certain ones or to factions of religious groups identified as 'security threats.'”

Governments that neglect in some cases to prevent discrimination against, or persecution of, minority religious groups. In states such as India, Egypt and Indonesia, the report says, “governments have laws or policies to discourage religious discrimination and persecution but fail to act with sufficient consistency and vigor against violations of religious freedom by non-governmental entities or local law-enforcement officials.”

Nations with legislation or policies that single out specific religions for discrimination. According to the report, Belarus, Israel and Russia are countries that “have implemented laws or regulations that favor certain religions and place others at a disadvantage.”

Nations with otherwise robust democracies that officially stigmatize religious minorities by “wrongfully associating them with dangerous 'cults' or 'sects.'” The report notes that government officials in many Western European nations–such as Belgium, France and Germany–have doggedly investigated minority groups such as Scientologists, even though their members or officials have not been found to have committed any crimes.

The report also noted that religious liberty “does not exist” in Saudi Arabia. It also said that the Saudi government in 2003 “continued to enforce a strictly conservative version of Sunni Islam and suppress the public practice of other interpretations of Islam and non-Muslim religions.”

John Hanford, U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom acknowledged that Saudi Arabia “has been very close to the threshold” for being designated a Country of Particular Concern, a designation reserved for gross violators of religious freedom. But rather than apply that label, the State Department has chosen to work with the Saudis toward improvements in religious freedom, he added.

Hanford also said, although Saudi law officially represses all religions except for a strict interpretation of Sunni Islam, other countries with more liberal laws on religious rights nonetheless repress their citizens' religious freedom far more violently than does Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has repeatedly recommended CPC designation for Saudi Arabia, and the State Department has repeatedly declined to confer it on the oil-rich kingdom, which has long had close ties to the U.S.

Hanford expressed concern about French President Jacques Chirac's support for a ban on Islamic headscarves and other public expressions of individual religious belief in French schools. Noting Chirac's declaration that the French principle of official government secularism is “non-negotiable,” Hanford said, “our hope is that religious freedom is non-negotiable as well.”

Ongoing development of Afghanistan's new constitution also concerned Hanford, particularly a clause in the first public draft of that document providing no Afghan law could be contrary to the principles of Islam.

“Who is going to interpret this clause, and how?” Hanford asked. “We want to be sure that we don't end up with 'Taliban lite'.”

The annual report is in its fifth year since the International Religious Freedom Act established both Hanford's office and the independent Commission on Religious Freedom.

Posted: 1/26/04

Christians needs to reclaim
their storytelling heritage, Seay says

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

RICHARDSON—Christians reflect the Creator, and it's time for them to claim their place as the primary storytellers in today's culture, a postmodern pastor told the Texas Evangelism and Missions Conference.

Chris Seay, who is pastor of both Ecclesia Community Church and West End Baptist Church in Houston, said Hollywood and its secular storytellers have supplanted the historic importance of Christian artists.

But he encouraged believers in Jesus to reflect the creative spark God has given them.

"We've become a people not of the story but of the propositions," Seay said in critique of much Christian communication. Today, however, believers need to "tell the story of God in creative and beautiful ways."

"This story of Christ is a romance," he continued. "He chooses to love and pursue us" despite sin and rebellion.

Seay showed short films made by members of Ecclesia and others for an annual film festival the church sponsors.

One recreated the story of Jesus with children as most of the main characters, including Christ. Another mirrored the biblical book of Ecclesiastes in a contemporary setting by reflecting the seeming futility of life. Yet another, without words, showed how one man's patient, unseen efforts led to saving the lives of two other men.

Some of the films were funny, some dark. Most were several minutes long, one less than a minute. They all provoked thought and pointed toward deeper meanings, Seay said.

In evangelizing people today, believers need to make several transitions, he asserted.

Recognize that the Christian's role is to be provocative. "We've got to enter into a dialogue where we don't quickly provide all the answers to questions they're not even asking yet," Seay said.

Believers must "poke 'em in the eye with truth," he said. "We're meant to provoke, to create a response in people."

That does not mean manipulating people, he explained. "The burden is on us. … We should naturally" tell the "beautiful, wonderful story."

Be open to transformation. Christians often read the Bible only to gain knowledge and are not asking God to change them, he asserted. The Bible is not meant to be thrown at people, Seay said. God "would say to us, 'Yes, I gave you this Bible, but pull your heads out of it … and do the things I told you to do.'

"We have forgotten too often that this is about Christ," Seay added.

Remember it's all about grace. Christians need to re-examine their attitudes about the sinful behavior of non-Christians, he maintained. "We just don't get the gospel," Seay said. Christians are "preaching and teaching morality" rather than faith. "We've become so focused on behavior" that "we've forgotten faith and grace."

"There is no power to change apart from Christ," Seay said. Once people come to Christ "they are empowered to change."

Live the gospel. Incarnation is important in evangelizing the lost, Seay said. It refers to "God dwelling among people and living the truth."

People are like renters passing through. "We have an 80-90 year lease on this place," and Christians have to be about the incarnate work, the pastor said. "How can we do it at arm's length? … Christ gets up close."

Posted: 1/30/04

CYBERCOLUMN:
The preacher and the cannibals

By Brett Younger

When I was in the eighth grade, an evangelist came to our church for a week-long revival and offered the same lengthy invitation each night: “If you are not a Christian, then you need to come to the front, make a profession of faith and become a Christian right now. If you are a Christian, but have strayed into sin, then you need to come and rededicate your life. If you are a Christian and feel God tugging at your heart, then God is calling you to come to give yourself to full-time Christian service.”

The evangelist was not easily dissuaded, so each night people went to the front to make decisions. By Thursday, the ones in my youth group who had not made some kind of decision were beginning to look suspect. I was already a Christian. I had been baptized when I was eight and had not strayed into sin. Some of my friends had started to stray into sin, but none of them had invited me to join them yet.

The tug on my heart must be a call to full-time Christian service. It sounded right. Part-time Christian service didn’t seem like much of a commitment. I thought about it, prayed about it, talked to my parents (who took this way too seriously), wondered whether I could find institutions that would pay me to seek God’s will, and made a public decision to give my full-time whole life to God.

I made this decision with fear and trembling because I sincerely believed that I was opening myself up to all kinds of trouble. I imagined that I would end up as a missionary to an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean. My assignment would be to take the gospel to a tribe of sun-worshipping cannibals. I would row ashore in my canoe, tell the native women to wear shirts, lead them down “The Roman Road,” and be taken to the chief.

He would say: “Missionary, if you renounce Jesus,” (I always imagined the chief speaking English) “then we will let you go home to your refrigerator, recliner, and televised sports, but if you insist on believing, then we will throw you into this huge kettle of boiling water and have you for our main course.”

The drums would stop pounding. The natives would stop chanting. The birds would stop singing. My heart would almost stop beating, but then it would pound as I, much like Martin Luther, defiantly said: “When I was in the eighth grade I promised to die for what I believe. Throw another log on the fire.” The story of my martyrdom would be in Guideposts and Christianity Today, and later condensed in Reader’s Digest.

None of that has happened yet, but I’m only 42. Most days, my heart doesn’t pound with excitement. I haven’t been mentioned in Guideposts or Christianity Today or known much of the drama that gets condensed in Reader’s Digest. Looking back, the evangelist should have said, “If you are uninterested in fame, money and sanity, you may want to consider becoming a minister.”

Brett Younger is pastor of Broadway Baptist Church, Fort Worth. This is an excerpt from "Who Moved My Pulpit? A Brief and Amusing Look at the Ministerial Life," available in April from Smyth & Helwys Publishing.

Posted: 1/30/04

COMMENTARY:
"We belong together, because we belong to Christ!"

By Denton Lotz

Sunday, Feb. 1, is Baptist World Alliance Day of Prayer, when Baptists all over the world remember they are one in Jesus Christ.

Almost 100 years ago—July 17, 1905—in London, England, Southern Baptist and British Baptist leaders met and together with many others from around the world formed the Baptist World Alliance. Next year, we expect that thousands upon thousands of Baptists from around the world will gather in Birmingham, England (July 27-31, 2005) to celebrate the Baptist World Alliance centennial. All Baptists are invited to this BWA birthday celebration.

With the proposed withdrawal of the Southern Baptist Convention from the BWA, many are wondering what kind of celebration it will be! It will be a joyous time, a wonderful time of fellowship, praise and inspiration under the theme “Jesus Christ Living Water!” You are invited to join with brothers and sisters from around the world to celebrate the unity we have in Christ! That’s why the theme for the centennial has been “Together in Christ 1905-2005.” In a time when the world is separated by terrorism, ideological conflict and national and sectarian movements, as Baptist Christians we must be a model of that unity for which Christ prayed. You are a part of the BWA. Plan to attend the world congress in 2005!You are all welcome!

When Baptists first came together in 1905 to form the BWA, they were aware of the Apostle Paul’s injunction in 1 Corinthians 1:10: “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” The theme of so much of the Pauline epistle is a call for unity. Romans 12:16 commends, “Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited.” Philippians 2:1-2. appeals to us all, “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” That is what the BWA is all about:

Together in Christ in evangelism.

I have just come from Cuba, and what a joy to experience the movement of the Holy Spirit, creating new house churches across the country. Since 1995, there has been an increase to 2,500 house churches, in addition to 2,000 churches and missions. Together in Christ, Baptists are witnessing in a wonderful way to Christ’s perfect gift of salvation! What a joy to see thousands of young men and women come to faith in Christ. They are part of the BWA. Do not desert them. They need your love and support!

In 1990, there was only one Baptist Church in Moscow. Today, there are 52. Do not desert the Russian Baptists who for long suffered from religious persecution! Indeed, we belong together because we belong to Christ!

Together in Christ helping the needy.

In cooperation with Hungarian Baptist Aid, Baptist World Aid has helped recover earthquake victims in Iran and India. BWAid gives food to the starving in Mozambique and Ethiopia. Baptist World Aid has helped flood victims in China, hurricane victims in Honduras, and projects to aid women in India and street children in Brazil.

Do not desert your bothers and sisters in these countries! They need your help, your fellowship and your love! Indeed, we belong together, because we belong to Christ!

Together in Christ, we defend persecuted Christians.

A pastor is imprisoned today in Turkmenistan; the BWA is defending his religious freedom. Through the United Ntions and in contact with governments, the BWA protests religious persecution of our brothers in sisters in difficult places.

Often parts of the former Soviet Union have imposed strict laws prohibiting the free exercise of religion. The BWA defends the right of Baptists to pray and worship without hindrance from the state!

Do not desert Baptists suffering from lack of religious freedom in many countries in the Middle East and Asia. Do not desert those suffering for righteousness’ sake. Indeed, we belong together because we belong to Christ!

Together in Christ we fellowship.

The BWA congresses and youth conferences, seminars and council meetings are opportunities to fulfill the biblical mandate for fellowship: “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John1:7) Who will ever forget when, at the BWA congress, one of the first Baptists from Albania confessed, “I did not know I had so many brothers and sisters.” Indeed, as Baptists gather, we can sing for joy, “What a fellowship, what a joy divine!”

Biblical fellowship is suffering with those who suffer from religious persecution, crying with those who cry at the great injustices of evil systems of government, holding hands with those who face a lonely and oppressive future, rejoicing with those who rejoice over new-found freedom, and the story goes on. From 1950 to 1980 Billy Graham, was always one of the main speakers at the Congress, and he often began by saying: “Yes! I support the Baptist World Alliance.”

Come to England in 2005 have real Christian fellowship in Jesus’ name! Indeed, we belong together, because we belong to Christ!

Millions of Baptists will celebrate BWA Day on the first Sunday of February. Join hands with your brothers and sisters as your local congregation unites in prayer and praise for that unity that alone comes from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Indeed, because we belong to Christ, we belong to one another! Thanks be to God!

Denton Lotz is the general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance.

Posted: 1/30/04

COMMENTARY:
Breaking the DaVinci Code

By Dwight A. Moody

Dan Brown wrote a book, and for weeks it has been at the top of the New York Times bestseller list.

I understand why: I could not put it down.

If you like architecture, history and religion mixed into a crime story, this book is for you. But if you demand historical accuracy, be careful.

The basic premise of the book is what Brown calls “the greatest cover-up in human history.” Jesus was not celibate: He married Mary Magdalene, who was with child at the time of the crucifixion. Mary escaped to France, gave birth to a daughter named Sarah and lived under the protection of the Jewish community. The remains of Mary Magdalene are stored in the Holy Grail, supposedly hidden somewhere in England.

All of this seems preposterous. No historian or theologian of any reputation puts any stock in such a flight of fancy. But on a corollary theme, there is much truth—namely, that Roman and Christian authorities of the fourth and fifth centuries suppressed minority traditions and assigned to them the word “heresy.” It was, in part, an effort to centralize power for political effect for both church and state.

As regards other elements of this best-selling who-done-it, I am in the dark—Masons, Knights Templar, Priory of Sion, Opus Dei; to say nothing of cryptology, religious symbolism in medieval art, and the Louvre in Paris.

Seems the company of the curious is a large crowd indeed. Book clubs and research groups have sprung up to look into these things.

Two new movies are likely to do the same.

“The Gospel of John” opens Jan. 23. It follows word for word the biblical text—not the Greek, of course, but Today’s English Version. This modern text is more widely known as the Good News Bible. (It is the work of Robert G. Bratcher, a 1941 graduate of Georgetown College. He spent a career as translator for the American Bible Society.)

“The Passion of Christ” hits the big screens Feb. 25. Mel Gibson is the writer, director and producer of this movie. He weaves material from a medieval mystic into the biblical narrative of the last 12 hours of Jesus’ life.

The Gibson movie has received much more attention than the Bratcher movie. Many Catholic and Evangelical leaders have attended preview showings and have come away with glowing endorsements.

Others are not so sure.

Passion plays have a long history of anti-Jewish bias. For centuries, the worst time to be a Jew in a Christian community was during Holy Week, when passion plays incited the religious fervor of the people. Too often this fervor was directed against the Jews who were called “Christ killers.” About a decade ago, the Vatican released new guidelines on passion plays, including a prohibition on assigning blame for the death of Jesus.

But once again, works of art will force the reading and viewing public to seek the truth, to sort the facts from the fictions presented to us by books and films.

Even NBC news is getting into the groove, with a documentary exploring the question, Who killed Jesus?

There are, of course, four answers to such a question. Jewish and Roman authorities plotted against Jesus; Roman soldiers did the nasty deed of arresting, taunting, scourging, and crucifying. But neither of these is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

The classical answer of Christian theology is simple: We killed Jesus. Jesus died because of our sin; he died for our sin. His blood is upon our hands.

But there is (as C.S. Lewis said about Narnia) a deeper magic. Here I quote Jesus himself: “Nobody takes my life; I lay it down.”

Jesus foresaw his death; Jesus moved toward the conflict that precipitated his death; Jesus embraced his death as fulfilling his mission in the world; Jesus accepted responsibility for his crucifixion.

But public discussion on these matters is a good thing as is artistic expression of them. A large part of the freedom of religion is the liberty to explore these things in the public arena without interference from any media, political or religious authority.

Copyright 2004 by Dwight A. Moody, dean of the chapel at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky.