Posted: 1/09/04

TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
Christian worldview

When I hear someone speak of a need to return to a “Christian worldview,” I shudder. The concept sounds good but is interpreted in too many ways to be helpful to the Christian community.

Usually, it is a term loaded with political overtones, promoted by those who have little or no Baptist orientation and belief. It tends toward being a dark cloud seeded with crystals of thought from formerly state-sanctioned church movements. The problem is that although it looks good, the rain of spiritual reform never reaches the ground.

Many of those who perpetuate this concept come from denominations that were birthed as state churches, and their desire is to create some kind of “theocracy” that unfortunately is really government by their own theology. If enacted, such a government would make the outside of man subject to some standard of conformity but do nothing for the heart of man.

It would change Micah's admonition to do justly and love mercy into loving justice and denying mercy. It also would negate Micah's third admonition to walk humbly with God, as such overlords would be doing his service rather than truly serving him.

Didn't Christ come to change hearts and not to whitewash tombs? Didn't he say, “My kingdom is not of this world”?

I believe a Baptist “Christian worldview” would contain two precepts for self-accountability: Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself.

John King

Waco

Uncooperative convention

The Southern Baptist Convention needs to change its name. “Baptist” no longer describes who they are.

The SBC ruled out of order the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer in 1988, compromised the Baptist emphasis on religious liberty advocated in the separation of church and state, and forced a creed upon anyone who wishes to serve in the SBC. These are just a few of the examples that prove the SBC is not Baptist at all, but anti-Baptist.

Now, a committee has decided the SBC should no longer associate with other Baptists around the world through the Baptist World Alliance.

Instead, they want to associate with like-minded “conservative evangelical Christians.” They have finally admitted, then, that the SBC is not of the same mind as all of the other Baptists in the world.

Since they admit they are no longer Baptists, they should change their name to more accurately reflect who they are. How about the Southern Convention of Uncooperative Narrow Conservatives?

Wesley Shotwell

Azle

Spiritual blasphemy

Some people claim the Judeo-Christian God and the Islamic Allah are the same. While this affirmation has become politically correct, especially since 9/11, it is spurious and amounts spiritually to blasphemy.

Islam is defined as “the religious faith of Muslims including belief in Allah as the sole deity and in Mohammed as his prophet.” The logical conclusion: God of the Bible and Allah cannot possibly be the same, since Mohammed is nowhere mentioned in holy Scripture as a prophet of God, Allah or anything else.

Also by definition, God and Allah cannot be the same, since the recognition of Allah as “sole deity” rules out the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jesus (the last prophet) and me. To believe that God and Allah are the same is to believe that the Holy Bible and the Koran, the only document in which Mohammed and Allah appear, are both inspired of God, instead of just the holy Scripture. Unthinkable!

Allah is an abstract idol like the Baal or the tangible golden calf, with neither the “prophets of Baal” nor Aaron, the calf's builder, nor Mohammed more than an errant, empty voice, signifying nothing.

But God's Jesus, the Savior, redeemed the world (no conditions). It's called reconciliation.

Jim Clark

Lexington, Ky.

Tremendous success

The new format for the annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, tested in Lubbock in November, was a tremendous success, at least if measured by the crowds attending new breakout sessions on a variety of subjects ranging from using demographics to reach lost people in our communities to bringing to our churches college-level classes through the Texas Baptist Laity Institute. These were two of the sessions that I chose. In both there was standing-room only.

Having the missions celebration on Monday night helped to bring a larger attendance to that important part of every BGCT annual gathering of messengers.

Congratulations to outgoing President Bob Campbell, Executive Director Charles Wade and to all of the staff and volunteer committees involved in attempting something new at the annual meeting in order to serve better the churches and their messengers, and doing so with such great results. Well done.

Bill Brian

Amarillo

Good choice

Our congratulations to everyone on the selection of Ken Camp as the managing editor of the Baptist Standard (Dec. 22).

In many years of working with him, Ken has shown the ability to get to the heart of an issue/story and present the essence in an understandable way.

He has earned the respect of people all over Texas and the Southern Baptist Convention.

We are all blessed by having Ken on the Baptist Standard staff at this critical time.

Sam & Polly Pearis

Universal City

Posted: 1/09/04

Church's 'Moon Rock'
concert benefits foreign missions

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

IRVING–A group of First Baptist Church young adults raised more than $1,000 for international missions. All they needed was a little Moon rock.

More than 300 people, including many Dallas Baptist University students, bought tickets for the church's “Moon Rock Benefit”–a rock-and-roll concert to raise funds for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, which funds Southern Baptist Convention international missions.

The effort provided an avenue for young people with little money to feel like they are making a large impact on missions, according to Andrew Autry, who brought the benefit idea to Pastor John Durham. By paying what they could for a ticket, young people could take part in a larger effort.

“A lot of people who came to see a rock concert left feeling proud of what they did,” Autry reported.

The evening featured four bands–Madly, Crimson, Flying Machine and Spaceman Spiff–who regularly provide a Christian presence at secular venues in Dallas-Fort Worth. Each band played the benefit for free.

First Baptist Church in Irving is one of 206 key churches, flagship mission-minded churches resourced by the Baptist General Convention of Texas Missional Church Center.

Durham reminded the audience the money was going to fund foreign missions through the IMB. Video clips of overseas ministry played between bands.

The words and video helped the young people connect with an effort they may not understand fully, Autry said. He believes churches often do not adequately explain what the offering funds and non-Christians cannot even understand the terminology.

When an explanation is given, youth are eager to give what they can, Autry said. “I don't think the offering was the biggest reason when they came in, but I hope when they left they took something else.”

Posted: 1/09/04

Joy multiplied with nursing home shopping network

By George Henson

Staff Writer

WIMBERLEY–The elderly woman's eyes lit up as she saw the baby doll on top of a pile of plush animals. She scooted across the room as quickly as her paddling feet could pull her wheelchair, never taking her eyes from her prize.

Finally, wheelchair next to the table, she reached for the doll. But her fingers barely reached the bottom of the box–not enough to grasp it.

She settled back briefly into her wheelchair, her eyes firmly locked on the baby perched above. Then she propelled herself out of the chair, grabbed the blond-haired, blue-eyed doll and fell back into the chair.

Turning the doll to face her, she brushed the hair back from its eyes, and the smile on her face shone even more brilliantly than the light still blazing in her eyes.

Days later, a little girl received the doll for Christmas unwrapped. Her grandmother said it was much too beautiful to cover up.

Such joy multiplied as the 112 residents of Deer Creek of Wimberley nursing home did their Christmas shopping free of charge, thanks to donations from First Baptist Church, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and the local Lion's Club.

Residents of the nursing home selected four gifts, enabling them to give something to friends and family and participate fully in the holiday.

2003 was the eighth year the Woman's Missionary Union at First Baptist Church in Wimberley participated in the ministry. It marked the second year for the Episcopal church to participate and the first year for the Lions.

The WMU members wrapped the gifts, complete with gift tags. They also stocked a refreshment table with punch and cookies.

Shoppers could keep their selections for themselves.

“They might take something for themselves, and that's fine, because even though we hope it's not the case, it might be the only gift they receive,” said Mary Kate Riddle, WMU president at the Wimberley church.

Some of the gift selections were new, and others were gently used, according to Tess Wilson, organizer of the event for the last three years. When making her plea for contributions, “I just ask them to think what condition they would like to receive a gift in,” she said.

Church members start bringing gifts for the bazaar in October, putting them in a box at the church, Smith said.

She empties the box quickly so people can see it is empty and be encouraged to refill it. She stores the gifts at her home until the big day and sorts them into categories such as jewelry, books, purses and billfolds, socks and more general items, making “shopping” easier for the residents.

Dorothy Arthur, who has participated since the ministry began, said the bazaar is an important part of her holiday season.

“I like to see these people find things for themselves and others. They just seem to enjoy it so much,” she said.

Betty Flournoy, who took care of the refreshment table this year after years as a wrapper, said the fact that many recipients of the ministry are long-time residents of the community and friends makes it even more special.

The bazaar is a definite blessing to the residents, said Kimberley Flores, assistant activities director at Deer Creek.

“They don't get to get out to do this, so to bring this to them so they can participate in the traditions of Christmas and do their own shopping–their faces are all just lit up. This is wonderful.”

Posted: 1/09/04

On the Move

Cody Bloyd to Fellowship at Field Store in Waller as youth minister.

Dusty Daniel has resigned as youth minister at First Church in Stanton.

Jamie Long to Fellowship Church in Lubbock as minister to children.

Ryan Reed to First Church in O'Donnell as youth minister from Greenwood Church in Midland, where he was youth minister intern.

Bradley Roark to Fellowship Church in Lubbock as pastor of youth and programming from Living Truth Community Church in Columbia, Mo., where he was pastor.

Kebirn Rush to First Church in Johnson City as pastor from Danieldale Church in Lancaster.

Ed Sena to Lubbock Area Association as director of church starts and church services.

Jeff Simms to Southern Church in Philippi, W. Va., as pastor from First Church in Hull.

Bruce Troy to Gaston Oaks Church in Dallas as pastor from First Church in El Paso, where he was associate pastor and minister of education/evangelism.

Posted: 1/09/04

Russian seminary leader seeks churches to adopt students

By Marv Knox

Editor

ABILENE–A Russian Baptist leader has come to Texas, looking to complete the formula for effective ministry in his homeland.

Alexander Kozynko's equation has plenty of numbers:

He's president of the 10-year-old Moscow Theological Seminary of Evangelical Christians-Baptists.

Creation of the school fulfilled an 88-year dream for Russian Baptists. “The first prayer for this school was said in 1905, at the first Baptist World Alliance meeting in London,” he reported.

The seminary offers three academic programs, the two-year master of divinity and three-year bachelor of theology degrees, plus a certificate for youth leadership.

The first seminary class consisted of 17 students. Now, the enrollment has grown to 57 students, and 29 of them will graduate next spring.

The need for trained ministers is enormous. Russia spans 11 time zones. The country is home to 147 million people, but only 1,400 Baptist churches. That's a ratio of only one Baptist congregation for every 105,000 people.

“Our goal is to train many more students for the ministry–not only for the Russian Baptist churches,” Kozynko said. “We train many ministers from Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia and some from Kazakhstan.

“For Eastern Europe, our seminary is pretty important. Some of the smaller (Baptist) unions don't have a seminary. They have Bible institutes. Some of their students can be trained at this seminary.”

The seminary's location limited enrollment for most of its first decade. Housed in the Russian Baptist headquarters building, the seminary couldn't accept more than 25 students. Consequently, only 72 students graduated in nine years.

Now, a newly renovated building provides room for about 200 students, enabling the seminary to increase enrollment and produce many more pastors and teachers who will spread the gospel across Russia and Eastern Europe.

Unfortunately, one number still is missing. It's $3,000–the annual cost of tuition, books, and room and board for each student.

That figure is beyond the grasp of many Russian and Eastern European ministers and the churches that want to help them get an education, Kozynko reported.

“We require the students to pay tuition,” he said. “But the churches who are recommending them, they really are not able to provide scholarships. … We still look forward to increasing the number of students if we can get enough churches to provide financial and prayer support.”

That's why Kozynko has been visiting the United States–seeking churches that will commit to “adopt a student for three or five years and also support them as they begin ministry,” he explained.

“I am really glad to extend our contacts to several places in the United States–Indiana, Illinois and Texas,” he said, adding with a chuckle, “I have been told the real Baptists are in Texas.”

Kozynko's proposition–adopt a Moscow Seminary student and help launch a lifetime ministry–provides churches with a chance to impact Russia and Eastern Europe with the gospel, said Ronnie Prevost, professor of church ministry at Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology and a member of the Moscow Seminary board of trustees.

“It's going to prove to be the mother seminary of Baptist work for the foreseeable and long-range future of Russia,” Prevost said of the school.

The impact of that reality is more far-ranging than Baptists familiar with U.S. schools might imagine, he added. “Not only is the seminary producing ministers–pastors and youth ministers–for the churches, but graduates are going out and starting Bible schools, Bible colleges and seminaries in their home regions.”

For example, Kozynko told about a graduate who went back home to Minsk, Belarus, to become a pastor, but he also started a Belarusian Baptist seminary.

“They are expected to start schools that will be doing the training of ministers,” Prevost said.

“It's almost an accelerated paradigm of what we've seen as Baptists in the United States. … The ideal for any country is for the ministers to be trained within the context of their culture. They know their people best.”

When the young ministers land in their fields of service, they find unimaginable need but also incredible openness, Kozynko said.

“In this way, we can affect society in a positive way,” he said. “Drug use and alcohol are destroying our society. … They are empty in their souls.

“But the Slavic people–Russians as well as Ukraines and others–are open to the good news. … Many people are after the truth in their lives.”

For more information about Moscow Seminary and the scholarship program, see the school's website at www. mbs.ru/fornlang.ver/en/index.html.

Posted: 1/09/04

Samaritans want to share vision
of peace with other people in Middle East

By Michelle Gabriel

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–The Samaritan Israelites–a people despised in the biblical era as unclean and decimated by centuries of violent conflict but who have adopted a policy of total disarmament–want to share their peaceful vision with other countries in the Middle East by building an international peace center.

In early November, Samaritan Benyamim Tsedaka, chancellor to the Samaritans' high priest Shalom Ben Amran, made his annual diplomatic visit to the United States, meeting with government officials, lobbyists and charitable organizations and sharing updates about the Samaritans.

His goal was to garner support for a Samaritan-run international peace center he would like to build on the sacred Mount Gerizim, near Nablus, where many of the remaining 672 Samaritans live.

The Samaritans, who live mainly in Israel and Palestine, have special, close relationships with their neighboring communities. Tsedaka said these friendships are unique in the fiercely divided Middle East.

The Samaritans' friendly relationships with two of the warring nations in the world and their modern-day policy of non-violence after millennia of conflict make them ideal candidates to build a peace center in the Middle East, he said.

He hopes the center can be built by 2009 at a cost of $25 million.

“Jerusalem, according to the Bible, will be a place of peace at the end of the day,” he said. “But it is a place of war over everything, and much bloodshed and much confrontation between the Arabs and the Jews. This is not a city of peace.”

The holy mountain where half the Samaritan people reside, Mount Gerizim, is the one place where leaders of both Israelis and Palestinians can come in peace, he said. In the Penteteuch–the first five books of the Bible–venerated by Samaritans and Jews alike, it is the “mountain of blessings,” where Moses spoke to the Israelites. The name holds true today, Tsedaka said.

On Mount Gerizim, people from both Israel and Palestine are “sitting down with one another,” Tsedaka said. “This is what gave me the idea to write the proposition” for the center. “Why do they have to go to Geneva if they have a little Switzerland in their place where they can meet and make peace talks?”

Another motivation for the center is the history of his people, he said. The Samaritans are the descendants of the tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel, but their origins and separation–and the animosity–from what emerged as Judaism are murky, according to biblical scholars.

Although the Samaritans once numbered more than 1 million, they had dwindled to a scant 146 in 1917 because of wars, persecution and forced conversion to other faiths.

Because of their sparse numbers, little is known of the Samaritans outside of the Middle East besides the New Testament story of the “good Samaritan” told by Jesus.

Today, the Samaritans are a curious blend of ancient traditions and modern amenities, according to Tsekada.

Ben Amram, the current high priest, is believed to be the 130th lineal descendant of Moses' brother, Aaron. They have preserved the tunes to the oldest songs mentioned in the Torah and can sing the ancient melodies of their forefathers. They have preserved a unique language and script and perpetuate their cultural heritage by an enduring tradition of educating children about their Samaritan ancestors.

But they also drive cars and wear modern clothes. Since Samaritans are a people, not a nation, their members reside in either Israel, Palestine or Jordan. They work in their respective countries–something Tsedaka hopes will change if the peace center is built.

“The bottom line is the future of my people,” Tsedaka said. “They will work (at the center), they won't have to go to other places to work.

Ralph Benko, Tsedaka's spokesman on his U.S. tour, said the Samaritans are a people unique among devoutly religious groups, such as Mennonites or Hasidic Jews.

“The Samaritans are a very cosmopolitan people,” he said. “They have assimilated all the best of the modern world without losing the essence of their faith and traditions.”

But Benko said their small numbers, pacifist views and good relationships with the bitterest enemies in the Middle East could hurt the chances for their proposal to build the peace center.

“Some people think the aspirations of the Samaritans are romantic and impractical because they are such a small people,” Benko said. “When I hear that, I ask if they have ever heard a parable of the mustard seed. I offer you the Samaritans as the mustard seed with the power of faith. God willing, they will be the seed for peace.”

Posted: 1/09/04

Religious community challenged
to stand against international sex trade

By Karen Long

Religion News Service

CLEVELAND–Sister Clare Nolan recently stood before a packed audience at the City Club of Cleveland and asked her listeners to think about some numbers: Somewhere between 700,000 and 2 million women and girls are taken beyond their national borders and forced into prostitution each year.

Further, 1 million children are channeled into the sex industry annually, starting as young as 6.

In Asia, pimps buy girls for about $300; virgins cost $3,000 to $5,000. Asian girls delivered to the United States retail for about $20,000.

Each year, crime syndicates transport about 50,000 foreign women and girls into the United States to sell into prostitution, roughly an entire baseball stadium crammed with human chattel.

Then Nolan challenged the Cleveland audience to do something about it.

Nolan, an expert on human trafficking at the United Nations, defined prostitution as unvarnished gender violence. In Thailand, a popular destination for Western sex tourists, she has met women who contemplate suicide daily and who live in permanent gynecological pain.

Such girls and women are akin to prisoners of war, Nolan said. They are duped, coerced, beaten, raped, drugged, intimidated and kept in isolation.

Unlike the illegal trade in drugs, women can be sold again and again.

Nolan dismissed voluntary prostitution as a popular myth.

“If there is anything that excludes women from the human family, it is prostitution,” she said. “Such women become symbols, the classic fallen woman; or jokes, the world's oldest profession; or fantasies like 'Pretty Woman.' But they are always denied their individuality and personhood.”

U.S. men who travel abroad are struck by the prevalence of prostitution, said Joe Cistone, executive director of International Partners in Mission, a small, faith-based foundation that brought Nolan to Cleveland. It makes grants to fight human trafficking.

“What breaks my heart is to be propositioned by children, 6 and 7 years old,” Cistone said. “There are boys, girls, women. If you go to Bosnia on business, some just assume they should send a 16-year-old up to your room.”

Crime syndicates are ruthless, said Cistone, who ran a refugee center in Rome 10 years ago.

In Eastern Europe, he said, it is typical for criminals to videotape their gang rape of a young girl, show her the tape and threaten to send it to her parents unless she submits to sex slavery.

Such exploited women are found in war-torn, impoverished and unstable regions and imported into wealthy nations such as Italy, Israel, Japan, the United States, Holland and Germany. International Partners in Mission helps pay for Roman Catholic sisters, wearing religious habits, to go into European streets and rescue immigrant women who have been forced into prostitution.

Joan Brown Campbell, former general secretary of the National Council of Churches, who gave the invocation before Nolan spoke, said she saw similar exploitation in the Philippines.

“Nothing made me weep more or made me more sad than the trafficking in not only young girls but young boys too,” she said.

“It is very hard to see and very hard to get over.”

Nolan, a Roman Catholic nun, agreed that notions of male entitlement fuel prostitution.

“In my church,” she said, “we have recognized a lot about sexual exploitation of children by clergy. The clergy are one of the most privileged of male groups in a patriarchy.

“We have seen it here in the U.S., notably in Boston, and also recently in church structures throughout Africa.

“This is not simply an unfortunate aggregate of individuals with problems. This is a system clearly out of balance.”

Posted: 1/09/04

Survey explores connection between students & God

LOS ANGELES (RNS)–The proportion of college students who attend worship services drops from more than half to less than a third between freshman year and junior year, according to a study at the University of California at Los Angeles.

The Spirituality in Higher Education survey found 52 percent of students frequently attend services before entering college, but that segment dropped to 29 percent by the third year of college. Seven in 10 students said they had attended at least one service in the past year.

The findings are part of a survey of 3,680 students at 46 colleges and universities.

Despite a drop in worship attendance, researchers say college students are intensely interested in spiritual matters but often find limited outlets to express their spirituality.

Just over half (53 percent) of students said time in the classroom had no impact on their spiritual development, even though college juniors said their desire to integrate spirituality and develop a meaningful philosophy of life had grown since they arrived on campus.

“The survey shows that students have deeply felt values and interests in spirituality and religion, but their academic work and campus programs seem to be divorced from it,” said Alexander Astin, director of UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute.

The survey found that more than three-quarters of students pray or discuss religious issues with friends. About one in five students expressed skepticism on spiritual matters, from belief in God to the creation of the universe to feeling “a sense of sacredness.”

Posted: 1/09/04

Texas Tidbits

DBU names missions professor. Southwestern Seminary missions professor Robert Garrett is joining the faculty at Dallas Baptist University. As the first professor of missions at DBU, he will develop the university's missions studies curriculum at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, as well as coordinate student missions programs.

Robert Garrett

A former missionary to Argentina, Garrett was a professor at the Seminario Internacional Teologico Bautista in Buenos Aires from 1981 to 1994. He served as a guest professor at Southwestern Seminary in 1994, prior to his election to the faculty the following year. He served as director of the seminary's World Missions Center from 1996 to 1999 and has held the George W. Bottoms Chair of World Missions since 1999.

ETBU graduates 69. Lynn New, psychology professor and dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences at East Texas Baptist University, delivered the charge to the 69 graduates at the school's commencement ceremony last month.

Baylor social work grads get high marks. According to the Texas State Board of Social Work, graduates from the Baylor School of Social Work Bachelor of Arts program achieved a 100 percent passing rate on its licensing exam. Graduates from the Baylor Master of Social Work program achieved an 88 percent passing rate. The overall passing rate for Texas schools is 69 percent.

HBU celebrates Founders' Day. Voddie Baucum was the featured speaker at Houston Baptist University's Founders' Day convocation last month. The event also featured the debut of "Christ is Our Foundation," a hymn composed by Ann Gebuhr, music professor and director of the HBU School of Music.

Pinson lectures set. "The 'Baptist' in Houston Baptist University" is the theme a lecture series by Bill Pinson Jan. 22-23 at HBU. Pinson is executive director emeritus of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and volunteer director of the BGCT Baptist Distinctives Committee's Texas Baptist Heritage Center.

UMHB accreditation reaffirmed. The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools announced last month that the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor's accreditation was reaffirmed. The action followed two years of self-study and peer review by college administrators across the nation. Universities generally go through the accreditation process every 10 years.

DBU graduates 365. Dallas Baptist University awarded degrees to 265 undergraduate and 100 graduate students at its Dec. 19 commencement. Hubert Martin, chief financial officer at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, received an honorary doctor of humanities degree. Martin' tenure at Southwestern Seminary spans three decades.

Benefit concert marks centennial. Baylor University's School of Music will celebrate 100 years of conferring music degrees with an on-campus benefit concert Jan. 23. "Collage: Degrees of Excellence" will feature all performance areas of the music school. Proceeds benefit Baylor School of Music scholarships and programs. For ticket information, call (254) 710-1161.

Posted: 1/09/04

TOGETHER:
BWA merits Texas Baptists' support

Voices from around the world sing “All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name.” This is how each meeting of the Baptist World Alliance begins, and it always is one of the most spiritually moving experiences of my life.

Many years ago, I pastored an English-speaking Baptist church in Baumholder, Germany, for two years and learned to appreciate the challenge that Baptists face when they are a small minority in a sea of official but nominal Christians.

Later, I gave an address to a work group at the Baptist World Alliance meeting in Stockholm, Sweden. Since coming to serve Texas Baptists, I attend BWA meetings and am overwhelmed with gratitude for and amazement at the profound faith and commitment of our Baptist brothers and sisters. There are 211 national Baptist unions and conventions involved in the BWA, representing 110 million Baptists around the world.

Texas Baptists have been an integral part of working with the European Baptist Federation, an organization affiliated with the BWA, in creating new mission strategies for Eastern Europe. Our Texas Partnerships Resource Center, led by Don Sewell, has provided encouragement and $50,000 annually to help establish a church planting office that coordinates the work of more than 25 indigenous church planters in Eastern Europe. In 2002, the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger provided $136,600 for the BWA's Baptist World Aid to use in seven projects in Africa and Asia. Texas Woman's Missionary Union enjoys a close fellowship with the BWA Woman's Department.

Bill Pinson, executive director of the BGCT for 18 years, greatly increased the involvement of our staff in BWA work. This participation has brought great rewards to Texas Baptists as we have gotten acquainted with our Baptist brothers and sisters from many nations of the earth. Their faith and courage in the midst of challenges that we in America can scarcely understand has been an inspiration to us all.

Historically, the Southern Baptist Convention has been a faithful and supportive partner with the BWA in fellowship, evangelism and ministry. However, a special committee now has recommended that the SBC sever all relationship with BWA, citing “aberrant and dangerous” theology. I know BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz and BWA President Billy Kim of Korea, pastor of one of the strongest Baptist churches in the world. Both of them are faithful preachers of the Bible and its gospel. Neither of them is a liberal in his theology.

Baptists do not agree on every detail of every doctrine, and there always has been room for debate and disagreement on some issues and on the nature of methods. But to suggest the BWA is unfaithful to the great doctrines of Baptist life or uncertain about the facts that Jesus is the way of salvation and the Bible is true and trustworthy and authoritative for Baptist life is simply false. The German theologian who is cited in the SBC committee's statement has answered the charges made against him by saying, “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.”

Texas Baptists will continue to support the work of the BWA because we believe in the importance of preserving the unity of our witness for Christ with Baptists around the world.

We are grateful for the consistent commitment of the BWA to a strong biblical and historic Baptist faith; to mission work that, following the example of Jesus, is both evangelistic and responsive to human needs; to religious liberty everywhere in the world; and to Baptist life and work on every continent. Knowing the Baptist people from every continent has been a genuine gift to Texas Baptists.

The world of Baptists does not depend on the Southern Baptist Convention's money for its life and progress, but Baptists of the world grieve over the SBC leaders' decision to sever ties with the BWA and the millions of Baptists it represents. And we must tell the truth about the BWA–not allow these false accusations to continue.

World Baptists still desire a continued relationship with Southern Baptist churches, and Denton Lotz has made it clear that all Southern Baptists are welcome to come to the BWA centennial celebration in England in 2005.

For the sake of a lost world and for the advance of the kingdom of God, it is more crucial than ever to maintain truly global relationships. Baptists need a common and united witness. I am confident the BGCT will continue in its glad support and involvement in the life and work of the BWA.

Several weeks ago, Billy Kim and Denton Lotz were invited by Dallas Baptist University and the BGCT to be in Texas the last week of January. Kim brings with him the beloved children's choir of his church. On Tuesday, Jan. 27, they will sing and he will preach at DBU in the morning, at the Baptist Building in the afternoon, and in a rally of support at First Baptist Church in Plano that evening.

We encourage all Baptists who are committed to the gospel of Christ, believe and live under the authority of Holy Scripture, care about the unity of Baptist people, are passionate about living out the great commands and the Great Commission of our Lord, and want to be inspired and encouraged by the life and witness of Baptists around the world to step forward in prayerful, personal and financial support of the BWA.

In 2003, the BGCT contributed more than $175,000 to the work of the BWA. The BGCT Executive Board will be asked to recommend a larger commitment in 2004. Many of our churches have included the BWA in their own budgets because they want to support work of Baptists around the world. Texas Baptists and other supportive Baptist congregations can take similar steps.

In spite of difficulties, rumors and misrepresentations, the work of God goes forward.

We are loved.

Posted: 1/09/04

Voucher bill awaits Congress

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–Several significant church-state issues will be hanging in the legislative balance when Congress reconvenes late this month.

The Senate recessed before Christmas after failing to pass a funding bill for several federal agencies. The legislation includes a measure to create the first federal school-voucher program, targeted for schools in the District of Columbia.

The House provided final passage to the bill on a 242-176 vote. In the Senate, some objections to the legislation meant it could not be passed at least until the Senate meets again Jan. 20.

The massive $328 billion package is a catch-all spending bill that provides funding for 11 federal agencies and for the District of Columbia's government.

The voucher program would provide scholarships of up to $7,500 a year to low-income D.C. students to attend the private school of their choice–including religious academies. Many church-state separationist organizations oppose such voucher programs as a violation of the First Amendment's ban on government support for religion.

However, the Supreme Court ruled last year a school-voucher program in Cleveland passed constitutional muster because government money flowed to the religious schools through the genuine private choice of parents.

Many Democrats and some moderate Republicans have objected to the voucher provision and other aspects of the bill–such as its softening of a gun-control law–that House and Senate leaders reportedly slipped in at the behest of the White House. This was done even though both houses of Congress have not approved the measures individually.

If passed, the bill would create the nation's first federally funded voucher program–a precedent that voucher opponents don't want to see set. Because of objections over the vouchers and other aspects of the bill, it may face a filibuster when Senate leaders bring it to the floor again. The bill is HR 2673.

A handful of other bills touching on moral or church-state issues also are pending in Congress:

Gay marriage. The Federal Marriage Amendment has been introduced in both houses. It would amend the U.S. Constitution to ban marriage and “the legal incidents thereof” for same-sex couples. Both versions have been referred to their respective chamber's Judiciary Committees. The House version (HJR 56) has garnered 107 co-sponsors.

Government funding for religious charities. The House has passed two bills re-authorizing government programs that contain provisions expanding the government's ability to provide funding to religious groups to perform social services.

The School Readiness Act (HR 2210), which authorizes funding for the federal Head Start early-childhood-education program, passed the House July 24. It contains a provision explicitly allowing religious organizations receiving Head Start funds to discriminate in hiring practices on the basis of religious ideology. This would repeal anti-discrimination provisions under which Head Start has operated for years.

That bill is now before the Senate Education Committee. Many observers believe it will have a more difficult time in the Senate than in the House.

In May, the House added similar provisions to the Workforce Reinvestment and Adult Education Act of 2003 (HR 1261).

However, the Senate passed a version in November removing the employment-discrimination exemption. The bill is now before a House-Senate conference committee to hammer out the differences between the two versions.

Partisan political involvement by religious groups. Legislators who think churches should be allowed to endorse or oppose political candidates without losing their tax-exempt status are making the second attempt in as many years to amend Internal Revenue Service codes. The latest version of Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., titled the “Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act,” currently sits in a House committee and has 165 co-sponsors.

Although the House soundly defeated a similar bill last year, the legislation has strong support from many Religious Right leaders and organizations. They claim churches, pastors and religious organizations are being unfairly silenced on political issues by IRS regulations. Opponents claim the bill threatens religious liberty and gives religious groups political privileges that other tax-exempt organizations don't enjoy.

This year's version of the bill is HR 235. It has not moved out of the House Ways and Means Committee since it was introduced there 11 months ago.

Posted: 1/09/04

CYBERCOLUMN:
Prospects for the New Year

By John Duncan

I am sitting here under the old oak tree, treasuring the prospects of a new year. My mind pulsates with the pleasures of ministry and a simple goal for a new year—to make more personal visits as a pastor.

My great Uncle John lived in a small town in South Louisiana for over 35 years. He made his living as a medical doctor. He learned the art of medicine in the Navy. He treated soldiers at Normandy during World War II.

I remember as a child of no more than 6 or 7, somewhere in the late ‘60s, of riding with him when he made a house call. Do doctors still make house calls in the 21st century?

I stepped out of the car and walked beside my uncle. Rain fell. The rain fell on huge trees in front of the house, huge South Louisiana bayou trees tangled with vines and drooping limbs bending to kiss the ground.

We walked up the steps, stood on the wooden porch, and a woman greeted us at the screen door. We stepped inside the house, and my physician uncle disappeared carrying his black doctor’s kit, stethoscope and all.

I stood. I waited while leaning against the wall with my hands behind my back next to the screen door in the kitchen. I watched in silence. Minutes later, my great uncle returned. He spoke a few soft words, and we journeyed into the rain under the dripping South Louisiana bayou trees and into the car that felt like an umbrella. That is all I remember.

Do doctors still make house calls in the 21st century? Do preachers still make house calls in the 21st century?

My New Year’s resolution is to make more house calls.

The ministry unfolds in the drama of three noble things—a tree, a Person and people. The tree stands tall, a cross covering us from life’s storms like an umbrella. The Person lives as the dynamic Christ who rearranges the priorities of life and heals the heart shattered by sin, pain and unexpected attacks on life. The people march in the mud puddles and daily tasks of life as the saints of God or as those whom Christ desires to know him as the Saint of saints.

And that stands as the reason for more pastoral house calls: Storms come; the mud creates a mess of life; rain drips, drips, drips; the cross stands tall like a tree soaking up the storm; Christ makes house calls knocking on the door of the heart, and people need people. The Apostle Paul calls Christ and people needing people the church. The church is a glorious wonder.

So here I am under the old oak tree. You have heard my new year’s resolution.

"For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!’" (Romans 10:13-15)

And how can they hear unless the preacher makes at least one house call?

John Duncan is pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, and the writer of numerous articles in various journals and magazines