Posted: 1/09/04

Court affirms inmate's religious liberty claim

WASHINGTON (ABP) — A federal appeals court has affirmed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, only a month after one of its sister courts declared the law unconstitutional.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously Dec. 8 that RLUIPA's provisions protecting the religious rights of prisoners do not violate the First Amendment's ban on government establishment of religion.

In the case, inmate Ira Madison sued Virginia prison officials after his request to receive kosher meals was denied.

Madison belongs to the Suffolk, Va.-based Church of God and Saints of Christ, which requires its followers to observe Old Testament dietary laws.

A lower-court judge in Roanoke, Va., had ruled against Madison, saying RLUIPA impermissibly favored protection of prisoners' religious rights over other rights.

In November, the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals relied heavily on that decision in issuing a unanimous opinion throwing out RLUIPA with respect to prisoners' rights.

But the 4th Circuit's decision overruled the lower court.

Congress passed RLUIPA in 2000 as a response to the Supreme Court, which in 1997 overturned a similar 1993 law as it applied to state and local governments.

Both RLUIPA and the earlier Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) were designed to restore a high legal standard of protection for free exercise of religion. The Supreme Court had lowered that standard with its 1990 Employment Division vs. Smith decision.

The 4th Circuit's latest ruling becomes the third decision in federal appeals courts upholding RLUIPA's constitutionality. The Chicago-based 7th Circuit and San Francisco-based 9th Circuit have both affirmed the law.

The conflict between those decisions and the 6th Circuit's on the issue means the Supreme Court may be forced to address RLUIPA in the next couple of years.

Posted: 1/09/04

DOWN HOME:
Attic's all clean, thanks to mama

My mama helped me clean out our attic over the holidays.

Actually, that's not entirely accurate. Mother and Daddy didn't visit our house this Christmas, and to my knowledge, Mother never has hunkered down, balanced herself on plywood decking and breathed the pungent, musty air of our attic.

But she helped clean it out just the same.

It all started when Joanna, my wife, asked me to store a couple of old mattresses and a daybed up there. (Note to the wise: If you think your children will make it to young adulthood and you've got the space, never throw away a stick of furniture. You're going to have to outfit an apartment someday.)

When I stepped into the attic, an old anxiety sprang to life. “This place is like the Dead Sea. Everything flows in; nothing flows out,” a little voice said inside my head. “Something's gotta give. Maybe you should take a few things out before you put a few things in.”

And that's why, seven hours later, after numerous treks to the trash and two trips to our community clothes closet, our attic looked better than it has since we moved in eight years ago.

A similar thing happened a few days later, when I started to change out our heating/air conditioning filters. I noticed the cobwebs on the grates over the filters and decided to vacuum them. Then I noticed the dust that had collected around all the heating/AC vents in the house. (Obviously, I haven't changed the filters often enough.)

From the ladder where I held the vacuum sweeper with one hand while vacuuming dust with the other, I could see all the dust on the ledges of doors all over the house.

And that's why, three hours later, our doors, vents and filter grates are cleaner than they have been since we moved in eight years ago.

Mother helped with them, too. At least that's the theory of my friend Dan, who claims the reason I'm so obsessive/compulsive must be that my mama potty-trained me at gunpoint. “Nothing else explains you like my 'potty-trained-at-gunpoint' theory,” Dan insists.

Now, I know Mother's never even owned a gun, much less used one to coax her children to do, uh, the right thing. But I've always appreciated Dan for caring enough about me to try to figure out why I am the way I am.

Actually, I've come up with a simpler explanation: It's my way of getting things done. If I'd woken up and said, “Today, I'm going to spend seven hours in the attic,” it would still be crammed with junk. But since I set out to move a “few” things, I did more than I'd imagined.

In some ways, that process is like following the Lord into a new year. If we knew all that 366 days would hold, we might run and hide. But if we walk with God one day at a time, we will see more than we can imagine.

Posted: 1/09/04

EDITORIAL:
SBC departure from BWA follows familiar pattern

If the Southern Baptist Convention's intention to withdraw fellowship from the Baptist World Alliance feels familiar, it should.

This is exactly how SBC leaders previously behaved toward other groups that (a) included representation from other Baptist conventions and (b) they couldn't control.

Just before Christmas, the SBC released a two-month-old recommendation from a special committee created to study the SBC's relationship with the 211-convention Baptist World Alliance. The recommendation calls for the SBC to withdraw its membership and financial support from the BWA effective next October.

The SBC committee's report accuses the BWA of following a “leftward drift” and “advocating aberrant and dangerous theologies.” Like a page from the fundamentalists' playbook for taking over the SBC in the 1980s and '90s, the report smears the BWA, claiming members don't believe the Bible and don't think Jesus provides the only way for salvation.

The BWA's executive director blasted the report. “The BWA rejects categorically this false accusation of liberalism,” Denton Lotz said. “The main orthodox beliefs are crucial–the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, the Cross, the Resurrection, the Second Coming–that's who we are as Baptists.”

A German Baptist–whom the report claims denied Jesus issued the Great Commission–called the SBC committee members liars. “What is being presented as a direct quote is neither my language, nor could I identify with such a statement, which I would dismiss as theological trash,” Erich Geldbach said, providing a transcript of the speech the committee purportedly cited. The committee “is therefore guilty of trespassing at least two commandments: 'Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor' and 'Lie not one to another.'”

Defenses by Lotz, Geldbach and others aren't likely to count for much in the new SBC. It's been down this road before.

In the early '90s, the SBC withdrew from the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, which at the time represented nine U.S. Baptist conventions in Washington, D.C. For years leading up to their split, SBC leaders maligned the Joint Committee, always playing the trump card in the Baptist deck–“liberalism.” Ironically, the Baptist Joint Committee is one of the most truly “conservative” Baptist organizations, rigorously defending the principle of religious liberty that faithful Baptists have championed for 400 years. But since the SBC's representatives on the Joint Committee couldn't control the other conventions' representatives, they took their money and ran.

In 2002, the SBC's North American Mission Board severed its relationship with the District of Columbia Baptist Convention. Unlike other state conventions that relate to the SBC, the D.C. convention is aligned with two other U.S. Baptist conventions. From its foundation, it has been affiliated with the American Baptist Churches, and it also is related to the Progressive National Baptist Convention, one of the historically African-American conventions. The SBC called the D.C. convention names, most notably liberal and pluralistic, when in fact it has done a remarkable job of crossing cultural barriers to present the gospel of Jesus Christ in one of the world's most secular, cosmopolitan and culturally diverse cities. But since the SBC couldn't put a staff enforcer in place to run the D.C. convention, it took its money and ran.

So, no one should be surprised that the SBC again is pulling up stakes, grabbing its gold and heading out. The real tipping point was the fact the BWA last summer had the nerve to admit the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which the SBC leaders hate. Most of the 210 other conventions in the BWA are small and poor, but they're real Baptists, and they have refused to be bullied by the SBC brass or bought by their money.

As political strategy, the SBC's smear tactics have been effective for several reasons. First, most Southern Baptists are unfamiliar with Baptists from other conventions and countries, and human nature fears what it does not know. Second, Southern Baptists are instinctively conservative, so the possibility of consorting with “liberals” (even if it's a malicious lie) appalls and frightens them. Third, Southern Baptists have few resources for refuting their leaders' charges, so the charges stick.

Make no mistake, the new SBC is a convention dominated by fundamentalist leaders, and fundamentalists must control. What they cannot control, they abandon. And undermine. You can expect the SBC will use the money it has provided to the BWA ($300,000 this year; $425,000 before) to start another “international” Baptist organization. Perhaps that money can buy the allegiance of fundamentalist groups who will take the SBC's bullying in return for its bankroll.

The saddest aspect of this sordid affair is not how badly the BWA will suffer when the SBC inevitably pulls its allocation to the budget. The BWA will suffer, all right, but Baptists of goodwill will respond and close that gap, if not eventually make up the entire difference.

No, the saddest aspect is the SBC's loss. With all the SBC's wealth and power, its leaders don't know it, but they need the BWA more than the BWA needs them. Baptists from other countries have much to teach U.S. Baptists about faithfulness forged in persecution, joy born in rejection, humility bred in degradation, wisdom grounded in suffering, generosity of spirit springing from poverty, theology taught by trial.

Missions strategists and church historians already document a trend that, according to growth patterns, the center of Christianity is relocating to the Third World, to the Southern Hemisphere. Blinded by their own arrogance and impressed by their wealth, the SBC leaders are cutting their convention off from Baptists' link to the future of Christendom. But what do they care? If they can't control it, they don't want to be a part of it.
–Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

Posted: 1/09/04

Evangelism and Missions Conference
offers more than 30 seminars, specialized training

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

The Texas Evangelism and Missions Conference will feature more than 30 seminars providing practical insight into starting and improving ministry geared toward reaching non-Christians.

Topics of seminars at the Jan. 15-17 meeting at First Baptist Church in Richardson include deacon evangelism ministry, developing a prayer-shaped congregation, reaching the emerging culture, Sunday school and missions and understanding Hispanic culture.

Other seminars include relationship evangelism, unchanging churches in changing commities, evangelism for the 21st century, witnessing by listening, and healthy evangelism with children.

Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated specialists and staff will share their expertise in particular subjects to help Texas Baptists reach nonbelievers more effectively, said Rick Davis, director of the BGCT Center for Strategic Evangelism.

In addition to strengthening churches and ministries, the conference will inspire Texas Baptists to effectively reach out to non-Christians, according to Charles Wade, BGCT executive director.

“This year's Evangelism and Mission Conference is designed to do two things: One, give you good information and training on how to be a personal witness and how to build a stronger evangelistic church. Two, cause your heart to overflow with gratitude to God for his salvation and encourage a passion in your soul to help others know Jesus,” he said. “I will be there for every session.”

The sessions correspond to the areas Texas Baptists indicated they wanted addressed, Davis added. Participants will be able to dialogue with specialists in a small-group setting regarding issues they are facing.

“The seminars are geared to meet the needs expressed in last year's evaluations,” Davis said.

River Ministry training also will be offered to help leaders of spring break mission trips grasp the needs and culture along the Texas- Mexico border, said Dexton Shores, director of BGCT River Ministry. Sessions will give pointers on planning mission trips and insight into specific ministries in the region.

Conference participants also have the opportunity to meet border missionaries during the conference to discuss specific projects where churches can help.

The training helps insure a mission trip is fruitful for the travelers as well as the host church, Shores said.

“Prepared groups are so much more effective in strengthening border churches,” he said.

The Texas Evangelism and Missions Conference's keynote speaker is author Calvin Miller. Other orators include Ray Still, pastor of Oakwood Baptist Church in New Braunfels, and evangelist Ronnie Hill.

Chris Seay, pastor of Ecclesia Church in Houston, will lead a film festival and discussion forum. Other activities include a worship session led by Texas Baptist evangelists.

Tickets are required for a dinner with Calvin Miller, missional church breakfast, senior saints luncheon, smaller church minister and spouses banquet and an African American Fellowship banquet.

For more information about the TEMC, visit www.bgct.org/evangelism/TEMC or contact the Center for Strategic Evangelism at 888-269-3826.

PaPosted: 1/09/04

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Jan. 18

God values greatly the lives of all people

Exodus 1:1-2:10; Proverbs 24:11-12

By John Duncan

Lakeside Baptist Church, Granbury

The world spins out of control with violence. Think for a moment of how life is undervalued in the circle of life–an angry man commits murder, killing his wife; an innocent child dies at the hands of an incensed soldier under the command of tyrannical dictator's order; a child never breathes on her own as she suffers a quiet death inside her mother's womb; or a teenager commits suicide in the anxiety of self-rejection and in the rage of an internalized, uncontrolled anger.

Life casts a dark shadow when it is managed poorly and when the life itself is not valued as God values it. God yearns for abundant life to be proclaimed. God longs for his deliverance to take action in a world of violence. God in his wisdom aims for the innocent to find help and protection in the swirl of violence. Who supplies such help?

Proverbs 24 can't be read without thinking of John 3:16. The realities of the world diminish God's light, but the joyous hope of God's love shines light in the darkness. God's love aims to deliver peace that stops the hand of violence.

Where do we see the tension and drama of God's love at work in a world of violence? The Christian fights for justice that defends the rights of those to whom injustice falls (Proverbs 24:11-12). Die-trich Bonhoeffer said, “The violent language of human hands is fearful when there is no justice.” Where there is no voice for justice and no hand of justice, chaos and destruction rule furiously with violent voices and hands. The innocent experience abuse, fear and sin's angry extreme–death.

Exodus

Exodus records the power of God in valuing human life (Exodus 1:15-21). The children of Israel fought through the slavery and bondage of Egyptian rule. The children of Israel were doing three things in Egypt: (1) building marvelous cities for the pharaoh of Egypt; (2) encountering tremendous burdens that crushed the spirit of the children of Israel as well as pushed them to emotional, physical and spiritual exhaustion; (3) growing in their population as the Israelite families expanded (Exodus 1:10-12).

As the burdens, pressures and fears of the Israelite people weakened their minds, souls and bodies, their faith in God strengthened. Amazingly, the Egyptians attempted to apply greater pressure and to “crush the Israelites to pieces” (Exodus 1:13-14), but their numbers still increased. Fearing the population growth of the Israelites might overtake the Egyptian population and desiring to crush the Israelites with oppression, the Egyptians ordered the male babies to be killed at birth (Exodus 15-16).

Faith in God, by its very nature, provides, protects and nurtures. God provides for his people, including providing for daily needs as well as supplying an escape route in times of temptation (Philippians 4:19; 1 Corinthians 10:13). He protects his people when they trust him in the pressures and oppressive circumstances of life (Genesis 22:14). He nurtures his people as he seeks to deepen their faith in him. He supplies faith for the journey and places people in the paths of life in order to meet needs and fulfill his plan. Rarely will God minister to a need without using people.

Midwives

God provided the midwives to protect his people (Exodus 1:17). The midwives faced a test of faith and conscience. Martin Luther says in such times where we struggle with conscience we must look to God and fix our gaze on Christ so that “during these struggles of conscience, we must learn to let go of ourselves.” For the Christian, faith produces a conscience that does the right thing in a crisis. Faith spurred the conscience of the midwives to deliver the male babies and to reject the command to kill. The Egyptians objected to the midwives' actions, but the midwives prevailed because, as they described, the babies were being delivered quickly (literally, “lively”). Why did the midwives prevail? Why did justice prevail? Why did the soft baby boys prevail?

The babies lived because of faith in God. The midwives trusted God's purpose for their own lives. They possessed a ruthless trust that trusted God's judgment and in their consciences faith produced actions of justice fitting with the kingdom of God. They trusted God and lived out faith in the crisis of a fog, always following God's path in the expected hope of God's plan and protection.

Moses

In a similar vein, Exodus 2 reveals the story of Moses, how his mother and sister preserved his life by placing him in a basket on the Nile River. Moses was protected, delivered from the Nile River and provided a place for nurture and education in pharaoh's home. God valued Moses' life, just as he valued the lives of male babies in the days of Egyptian oppression.

God values human life. He values its soul, salvation, purpose and eternal destiny. That is why God sent Jesus. Jesus appealed to justice and pleaded on the behalf of the innocent and oppressed. He calls his people to value human life even as he does.

Question for discussion

Does considering once again God's valuing of human life call any new avenues of ministry to mind?

Posted: 1/09/04

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Jan. 25

Wisdom for establishing a home built to last

Selected Proverbs

By John Duncan

Lakeside Baptist Church, Granbury

The greatest challenge facing the family today is time. Managing time, finding time and spending time as a family persistently haunt the family. Proverbs begs us to invest time in our families and thus to live by God's wisdom.

The writer of Proverbs declares, “Through wisdom a house is built; and by understanding it is established: and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches” (Proverbs 24:3-4). A house is built by taking time to build it properly and by laying a spiritual foundation reinforced by the strength of God.

A house?

When the writer of Proverbs speaks of a house, he speaks of the intricate web of relationships comprising the home–husband-wife; parent-children; and the extended family. Today that includes single parents and blended families. Families discover wisdom in two relationships: (1) a relationship with God; (2) a relationship with other family members based on the relationship with God. How do families build a wise house? How is understanding established? How is spiritual knowledge transferred?

Foundation

Christ forms the foundation for the home. Salvation in Christ reinforces the home. Christ's death, burial, resurrection and love are reinforced through discernment and discipline. Discernment (“understanding,” Proverbs 24:3) is taught so Christian principles influence what is right and wrong, what is good and bad, what is moral and immoral in God's eyes. Chuck Swindoll says that home is the “cutting edge” place to produce maturity and wisdom. It also is the “place where life makes up its mind.” Discernment taught in a home teaches a spirit of discernment ready for use in service to Christ in the real world. A person who has a strong spiritual home life will be prepared for making wise and spiritual decisions in life.

Discipline (Proverbs 24:24, “knowledge”) also is acquired through teaching responsibility. Parents who demonstrate wisdom work to instill a God-kind of wisdom to their children through discipline. The discipline of a parent equips the child for patience in times of difficulty and gratitude in times of blessing. Each of these two vital training essentials requires time and relationship in the house.

Walls

The writer of Proverbs personifies a home as full of wisdom. The four walls of the home serve as four spiritual qualities for family life to please God. The four qualities are love, a bond of commitment, patience and faith. The wall of love connects to Christ's foundation. The love necessary for a home to be healthy is the sacrificial love of Jesus (John 3:16). Such love requires mutual interest and care.

Another wall connected to Christ the foundation is the bond of commitment (Genesis 1:26-27). It joins a relationship to unified purpose, happiness and support. It inspires encouragement between family members in the home.

A third wall is patience. Patience is two-fold: (1) the ability to be slow to pay back a wrong (Galatians 5:22-23); (2) and the ability to stand strong and united under the pressures (James 1:3-5).

A fourth wall is faith, the ability to trust God in the realities of family life–crisis, sickness, conflict, marriage, raising children, financial pressures and death. Faith inspires a confidence in God that solidifies a family and deepens love in the anxiety of family life.

Windows

The writer of Proverbs speaks of chambers in the house. The chambers are rooms filled with all precious and pleasant riches (Proverbs 23:4). The riches are substantive things that bring cohesion and unity to the family–furniture, memories and respect for one another.

Beware, though. The furniture, memories and mutual respect in Jewish life represent more than symbolism and “stuff.” A home where Christ is honored requires more than necessary “stuff” for the family relationship to be healthy. It needs spiritual substance. What substantive “stuff” fills the rooms of a house to produce riches?

Three things are necessary for a home. I liken them to the windows of a house, tools for removing darkness and supplying light. One is prayer. P.T. Forsythe says, “Prayer alone prevents our receiving God's grace in vain.” Grace sheds light on a healthy family. Two is God's word. Grace taught in the home ultimately generates happiness and joy, even in crises (Dueteronomy 6:1-10). Three is communication. Communication may serve as the most essential “stuff” for the home–communication with God and with each other, even in the challenges of family life. Still, love covers a multitude of sins and relaxes tense moments (James 5:20).

Roof

Every home needs a roof for protection from hailstorms, rainstorms, furious winds and blistering heat. What protects a home? Grace and truth protect a home (John 1:14). While grace and truth protect the lives in the home, the roof only survives if the foundation and walls remain intact. How do they remain intact? They remain intact through forgiveness–Christ's and each others'.

Building a house takes time. Building a spiritual home involves making time for the precious spiritual. Keeping a home healthy requires forgiveness to flourish like a flower at the front door.

Question for discussion

Where do your spiritual home improvements need to begin?

Posted: 1/09/04

LifeWay Family Bible Series for Jan. 18

Human life is sacred in the sight of God

2 Samuel 11:1–12:25; Psalm 139:13-16

By David Jenkins

New Hope Baptist Church, Big Sandy

In reviewing the lives of the Old Testament patriarchs, who would have chosen David, a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22), to so brazenly sin against God? Not only did David's sin involve his own lust and passion, it caused him to disregard the sanctity of human life in planning the murder of an innocent man. In that dark hour of David's life, he broke three of the Ten Commandments–he coveted his neighbor's wife, committed adultery and committed murder (Exodus 20:13, 14, 17).

This lesson will provide opportunity to emphasize the importance of human life at every stage of existence, beginning with conception. The issue of abortion continues to be a growing malignancy within our society. Many Christians are guilty of taking lightly the miracle of human life and its sanctity in the sight of God.

The slippery path toward sin (2 Samuel 11)

David was a man who honored God and provided an example of humility and piety before his people. God had rewarded David with significant military victories, because of which he was able to lead Israel to a position of high respect among the nations. Ancient Near Eastern rulers customarily led their troops to battle. Being the military genius he was, David was not accustomed to sending his armies to battle without his personal leadership. Victory after victory, perhaps, had caused David to become increasingly confident in his own military planning and prowess. While he remained in Jerusalem, David dispatched his army to fight against the Ammonites, and they were brilliantly successful.

One day, David apparently took a longer afternoon siesta than usual, and he awoke when the sun was setting and the cool breezes were blowing. Refreshed from his nap, David decided to take stroll on his palace roof. The age-old adage, “An idle mind is the devil's workshop,” proved itself true for David.

From the roof of David's palace, he saw a beautiful young woman bathing on the roof of her house. The temptation found fertile soil in David's wandering mind, and he sent for her. He learned her name was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David's elite warriors.

When he discovered he had impregnated Bathsheba, David sent word to his military commander, Joab, to send Uriah to him. David pretended to reward Uriah, suggesting he spend time with his wife. Uriah, proving to be more honorable than his king, refused to go to his wife, insisting that, in deference to his fellow warriors, he would not indulge himself in that pleasure. After Uriah refused David's second attempt to have him spend time at home, David notified Joab to see that Uriah was sent to the most dangerous area of the fighting, which resulted in Uriah's death.

When a messenger from the battlefront delivered the news to David that not only Uriah but “some of the king's men” were killed, he shed no tears for Uriah or his other elite troops who were killed. Bathsheba did mourn for her husband, and after the period of mourning was past, David had her brought to his palace where, in time, she gave birth to a son. The historian added the simple but prophetic statement that God was displeased because of what David had done (v. 27).

The high cost of disobedience (2 Samuel 12)

Chapter 12 reveals the rapid movement of divine judgment upon one who had sinned knowingly against God's commandments. It was a stroke of God's wisdom that led him to confront David indirectly by way of the prophet Nathan's parable (vv. 1-4). David's indignant reaction to the situation (vv. 5-6) paved the way for Nathan's brief but piercing word of condemnation: "You are the man!" (v. 7). Then, to a stunned David came the burning accusations concerning David's sin (vv. 7-12). Coupled with David's shameful act of adultery, he had taken an innocent life when he had Uriah killed in the heat of battle. After that cowardly act, David had shown no inkling of remorse.

Crushed by what he had done and whom he had hurt, David repented of his sin, and God graciously forgave him. Still, David reaped the consequences of his sin in that he had caused God's enemies to show contempt, and the son born to Bathsheba would die.

God's purpose for human life (Psalm 139:13-16)

Verses 13-16 of this inspired psalm, which is attributed to David, contains one of the most profound expressions of God's focus in creation found in the Bible. In a masterful way, the psalmist showed how God wove together both the physical and the spiritual parts of man. This reveals the intensity of God's concern for human life. The psalmist was in awe as he considered how he was “fearfully and wonderfully made.” God saw the undeveloped embryo and set forth his purpose for all of the days of that person's life. How tragic, indeed, for foolish humans to despise life when it is conceived by daring to end it through abortion!

Questions for Discussion

If you are a parent, describe your feelings when you and your spouse first learned you would have a child.

Posted: 1/09/04

LifeWay Family Bible Series for Jan. 25

Learning to wait for God's timing signals growth

1 Samuel 26:1-25

By David Jenkins

New Hope Baptist Church, Big Sandy

The setting of this lesson finds David at one of the most critical and frustrating times of his life. He is a fugitive from King Saul, who, because of his great jealousy, has determined to hunt David down and kill him. In the hill country west of the Dead Sea lived the Ziphites, descendants of Ziph, the grandson of Caleb (1 Chronicles 2:42). David had fled to this area to hide from Saul and his army.

Since the prophet Samuel had anointed David when he was very young to be the next king of Israel, David had lived with great anticipation of the fulfillment of God's plan for his life. He discovered that God's seeming delays were designed for his spiritual growth and preparation for his coming task. David matured remarkably through these experiences during which he lived in constant danger of losing his life.

A bold maneuver

For the second time, the Ziphites sent representatives to Gibeah to reveal David's whereabouts to King Saul (23:19; 26:1). No doubt they did this not because they disliked David but for fear of their lives. Probably they remembered the massacre at Nob, where Saul had killed the priests and their families and all they owned because they had helped David (22:19). How often have we failed to defend someone whose reputation is being attacked because we feared the consequences of getting involved?

In his mad rage to find and kill David, Saul chose 3,000 of his crack troops and went down to the Desert of Ziph. David, hiding in the desert, sent scouts from the men who were with him to locate the place where Saul and his men were camping for the night. In the midst of his army, Saul lay down to sleep. Beside him was Abner, his army commander. One of David's loyal men, Abishai, agreed to accompany David into Saul's camp under cover of darkness. They made their way through Saul's sleeping troops to the very center of the camp. They stood and looked at the sleeping Saul, his sword stuck in the ground at his head, and his valiant general, Abner, asleep beside him.

An unbelievable confrontation

As David and Abishai observed the sleeping Saul, who was not the wise servant of God David was, Abishai asked permission to thrust Saul through with his spear and destroy the man who was committed to killing David.

From the human standpoint, that seemed to be the heroic thing to do. But David reminded Abishai that Saul was still God's anointed king over Israel. He would not think of laying a hand on God's anointed. God would take care of Saul in his own time. David was willing to continue trusting God with his life, even when he could not understand why things were happening as they were.

Often we find it tempting to “help God out” by trying to make things happen sooner than God intends for them to. Interfering with God's timetable often spells disaster.

Even though David would not harm Saul, he felt that it would be a good lesson for the king for him to know what could have happened. David took Saul's spear and a canteen of water and withdrew to a place above and apart from the camp. The historian wisely added a statement that made it clear how David was able to do what he did without being detected. Neither Saul nor any of his thousands of troops awoke because “the Lord had put them into a deep sleep” (v. 12).

Even though David was a shrewd warrior himself, his life was continually protected from Saul's sword by God and not by David's cunning. Sometimes we are guilty of forgetting that we weathered our difficult times not in our own strength but in the strength of the Lord.

A victorious conclusion

From his vantage point on a hilltop adjacent to Saul's army, David called out first to Saul's army and his general, Abner. Showing them the spear and jug of water he had taken, David rebuked them for not properly guarding their king. Then he called out to Saul. He insisted he was innocent and begged Saul to tell him how he had wronged the king. Saul did not accuse David of anything, admitted he wronged David and said would not seek to harm him again (v. 21). The promises didn't last because of Saul's uncontrollable hatred for David. The lesson for us is that wrong attitudes can fester within us for so long we can suppress them no longer.

Sometimes people seek to do us harm, attack our reputation and discredit our efforts to serve God. We try to reach out to them, but to no avail. Other times, we act as Saul did. We harbor ill feelings toward others and seek to prove our conclusions by gathering every negative fact against them we can. The solution is a simple one, but exceedingly difficult for us to accept. God has a timetable in regard to our lives. Our problem is to acquiesce to his schedule and scrap ours!

Questions for discussion

What is the best stance to take when you are wrongly accused of something for which you are not responsible?

What usually happens when you run ahead of God?

Posted: 1/09/04

Fire-eating evangelist knows how to draw crowds

By Leann Callaway

Special to the Standard

NASHVILLE, Tenn.–When people say Brad Goad is “on fire for the Lord,” they aren't kidding.

Goad is an evangelist who uses the arts of juggling, mime, comedy and fire-eating to attract audiences so he can present the gospel.

“It is entertainment with a message,” he explained. “There are people who might not listen to a preacher or even musicians, but they will come to see this crazy fire-eating juggler. The juggling, fire-eating, mime and comedy routines are all fun, but seeing how God puts it all together to glorify himself is incredible.”

During his college years at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, he was encouraged by the Baptist Student Union director to use his juggling talents as a creative way to share the gospel.

“I won a talent show at Hardin-Simmons, and the BSU director saw me perform,” Goad explained. “Immediately, he asked if I would perform at a fellowship for the BSU, which forced me to do more than just a fun comedy routine. He was also instrumental in getting me other gigs during my college years in area churches, youth groups and other BSU groups in West Texas.”

During this time, he decided to add another element to his routines.

“I was doing some shows with a friend who did illusions and comedy,” he said. “One day, my friend was working on some routines dealing with fire and found a book that showed a picture of a fire-eater. So we decided to teach ourselves how to eat fire in our dorm room. By the way, that's not recommended.

“It honestly took about a year of practice to get good enough and calm enough to perform it in a variety of settings.”

After graduation, Goad worked three years with the North American Mission Board and served as the director of creative arts ministry for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.

“It was so much fun using all these gifts that began as hobbies and seeing how God continued to open doors of opportunity to minister to people,” he said. “Since there were people all over the world gathered in one place, it was a great opportunity to share Christ.

“People may not realize that in the host city of the Olympics, there are preliminary competitions and events for several months prior to the actual Olympics–so there were multiple opportunities to use this creative ministry and develop routines. One mime routine I did was called 'The Altar,' which was about giving your whole heart to God and how he gives you a brand-new life through Jesus Christ.”

In 1993, Goad moved to Nashville, Tenn. to begin working with LifeWay Christian Resources. Within a few years, he was in charge of the adult discipleship training and enrichment sections for their curriculum.

“Through this, I was able to help people maximize their gifts in a specific area of ministry,” he explained. “This was the area where Beth Moore Living Proof Live events were birthed. We also broke new ground–combining events with discipleship training for Beth's course 'Jesus the One and Only' in Israel and 'Beloved Disciple' in Greece and Turkey. It was an incredibly exciting ministry.”

But in 2002, Goad felt God leading him back to full-time service through creative evangelism.

Now he shares his innovative ministry with all ages at church outreach events, Upward Basketball banquets and other events across the country.

“I especially enjoy performing for college groups,” he said. “That age group has always been special to me because my own spiritual growth during that time was so significant. It was during those years that God prepared me for what I am doing now, in ways that I couldn't even appreciate back then.”

Posted: 1/09/04

Evangelist Graham falls, undergoes
hip replacement surgery in Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.–(ABP) Evangelist Billy Graham underwent partial hip replacement surgery last week in Jacksonville, Fla.

While he was in Jacksonville for a routine checkup at the Mayo Clinic, he reportedly fell in his hotal room on the hospital grounds.

When he could not get out of bed the next morning, Graham was checked into St. Luke's Hospital.

There, doctors determined he had broken his left hip.

During the operation, a surgical team removed the ball of Graham's fractured femnur and replaced it with a metal prosthesis. He is expected to make a full recovery.

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Spokesman Larry Ross said the evangelist still plans to announce his 2004 schedule of crusades later this month.

“He will have sufficient time for healing and therapy to maintain his ministry as planned,” Ross said.

“He has said he has no plans to retire until God retires him.”

Graham has been a Mayo patient for more than 50 years.

For the past 10 years, he has made the trip from his North Carolina home to Jacksonville twice a year to receive treatment for Parkinson's disease.

Posted: 1/09/04

Iraqi pastor looks ahead to
bright future, not back to prison

By Sara Horn

LifeWay Christian Resources

BAGHDAD, Iraq (BP)–It would be hard to imagine a time Maher Abdul Mageed hasn't smiled. The Iraqi pastor lights up a room, whether it's in his church or at the hospital where he helps translate for Iraqi patients.

But there were plenty of times he had reason not to smile. The low point came as he was interrogated in Saddam Hussein's military intelligence prison–the most feared prison in all Iraq. He knew the same men who were questioning him had severely tortured other prisoners, and he wondered whether he ever would see home again.

Mageed professed faith in Jesus Christ in 1994 after first hearing the gospel from his brother, who had left Iraq for another country. Within a year, Mageed felt called by God into vocational ministry, although there was no training in evangelism he could obtain in Iraq. Under Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, it was extremely difficult to preach the gospel in Iraq; doing so could result in a three-year trip to prison.

A father and husband, Mageed decided to start a media ministry. He reasoned that audiotapes, books, CDs and videos offered the easiest way to preach the gospel without being accused of specifically proselytizing for his faith. Using double-deck cassette players, he worked until midnight each night taping various Christian programs. His wife then helped copy the tapes while she cooked. He was eager to share his tapes and CDs with fellow members of the church he attended, the sole Arabic evangelical church in the area where he lived.

Word began to spread throughout the church and surrounding neighborhoods about Mageed's ministry, a development that concerned several local local church council members who also belonged to the Baath Party.

“They asked me to stop my media ministry and said it was becoming a problem,” he recounted. “I asked them why. They were fearful that Saddam would close the church.”

Over the next few months, Mageed tried his best to meet the council's requests, without giving in to shutting down his ministry altogether. Still, the moment came when he was asked to do just that.

The leader of the church council confronted him on everything he had been doing–from passing out tapes to printing and distributing a flyer outlining the plan of salvation.

“I told him, 'I'm not doing anything wrong,'” Mageed said. “He told me, 'You don't like to obey my orders.' I just said, 'I don't like to not obey my Jesus.'”

The next evening, Mageed was sitting in his living room chair, watching TV and eating peanuts in his pajamas and robe when someone knocked at the door.

Two men, security agents for Saddam Hussein, quickly informed him he must not open his mouth or make any sudden movements. A man who had frequently borrowed tapes from the ministry stood there as well. He quickly pointed to Mageed and nodded to the men, leaving as quickly as he came.

The pastor thought quickly and made up an excuse, which gained him permission to run upstairs to his wife. He told her what was happening and instructed her to hide the mountain of audio cassettes and videotapes they had brought home from the church.

In all, 10 evangelical pastors were arrested that day. Mageed spent five days in a 4-by-4-meter room with five Muslims who had been accused of political crimes. When he was brought in for interrogation, a cold chill ran through his body as he was told what the charges were.

“They had been listening to the CDs I passed out,” Mageed said. “One of the recordings talked about a leader's integrity, and the fact that the best leaders in the world are Christians.

“To them, that meant I was opposing Saddam being the leader of the world. That was the lowest moment for me, because I knew they had torture devices. I started praying.”

Five days later, Mageed was released unharmed, although many of the other pastors were imprisoned until right before the war began.

Today, Mageed and his family enjoy new freedom to worship and share their faith. They have started a church, and about 90 percent of those who attend are new believers.

“Jesus filled us with more purpose,” said Eman, Mageed's wife. “He filled us with a great ambition to tell the people about grace and God's good news.”

More than 10,000 Iraqis already have been touched by Mageed's media ministry. He believes the future will only get better.

Posted: 1/09/04

Pastor sees prayer as a black-and-white matter

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

KIRBYVILLE–Prayer is as simple as black and white for Charles Burchett, pastor of First Baptist Church of Kirbyville.

Several years ago, the self-described battler embarked on a fight without knowing where it would take him. He noticed an unusual number of traffic accidents were occurring in the small East Texas town. Coupled with the accidents was a disproportionate number of deaths.

He gathered his fellow pastors, and they began to pray about the situation every Friday. Within 10 months, the number of accidents decreased greatly. But Burchett continued praying.

He became impressed that the vehicle deaths were related to racial tension in the area. He started praying about what to do about it and encouraged his congregation to do the same.

Prayer became the foundation of the congregation, Burchett noted. Members remodeled some of their facilities to have a prayer room. The congregation holds Wednesday evening prayer services about community issues. Prayer is interspersed throughout the church's services and meetings.

Focused prayer is one of the 11 characteristics of a healthy church adopted by the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

The prayer time grew to a full-fledged spiritual battle against racism, according to Burchett. But rather than praying for God to punish racists, the congregation asked God to heap blessings upon racists.

Burchett, an Anglo who serves as prayer chairman for Sabine Neches Baptist Area, invited African-American pastors to speak at his church, and he went to several predominantly African-American events.

“In war against the spirit of darkness, you have to do so in the opposite spirit or you're actually fighting for them,” said Buchett, a BGCT regional prayer coordinator.

When James Byrd, an African-American, was killed in 1998 by three white men who dragged him behind their truck near Jasper, located 19 miles north of Kirbyville, Burchett enlisted a group of pastors from Jasper and Newton to speak out against the racially motivated crime.

A week later, the pastor was called to speak at the Texas Republican Party Prayer Breakfast in Fort Worth, where he repented for the way Anglos have treated African-Americans.

After that, he was invited to speak at a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's counter assembly to the Ku Klux Klan's gathering in Jasper. There he repented on his hands and knees for how the “white church” treated African-Americans.

Many in the audience wept loudly.

Burchett's actions drew sharp criticism from many in East Texas. Rumors swirled about him, he said, but the pastor continued his outspoken behavior, believing he was following God's direction.

“Jesus has won the victory for us, but we have to work through the process,” he said. “It is work. It is a battle. The hard part is sometimes the enemy has a human face.”

In 2003, 21 Anglo pastors, including Burchett, and their wives invited a group of African-American pastors and their wives to dinner at First Baptist Church. The Anglos served the African-Americans a “lavish dinner” and waited on them.

The Anglos ate in the kitchen, alley or not at all, much like African-Americans were pushed away from dinner tables in the past.

Many of the African-American pastors and their wives broke into tears, he said.

The meal was followed by a united worship service. Burchett led the Anglos to repent on their knees for their race's treatment of African-Americans.

At Thanksgiving this year, African-Americans and Anglos had a large organized meal together for the first time in Kirbyville's recent history. More than half the pastors at the First Baptist Church dinner were African-American.

Burchett said he believes his actions under the direction of God are creating an “atmosphere of righteousness” that will affect the unrighteous. African-Americans feel more comfortable at his church now than any time during his 25-year tenure leading the congregation, he said.

Anglos are becoming more open to African-Americans, and many are reconsidering their preconceived notions, Burchett said. Black resentment and anger over past treatment at the hands of whites also appears on the downslide. But the pastor continues his work.

“Hearing the Lord and doing what he says has opened doors, but it's all based on prayer,” Burchett said.