Posted: 12/14/07

Seven tips for the 2007 tax-filing season

By Sherre Stephens

Get Organized.

Early preparation for the upcoming tax filing season is best. A survey for the 2006 tax season showed that 2 in 5 Americans procrastinate when it comes to filing their tax return. Whether you are an early or late preparer, here are tips to aid in preparing your 2007 tax return.

Identify Last-Minute Savings Opportunities.

Maximize retirement plan elective deferrals. The 2007 basic deferral limit is $15,500 or $20,500 for age 50 and above. If you’ve missed maxing out your deferrals for 2007, consider an IRA.

Contribute to a traditional IRA. Eligibility for making deductible contributions to a traditional IRA depends on two factors: 1) if you are covered by a retirement plan at work and 2) your modified adjusted gross income (AGI). The maximum contribution limit for 2007 is $4,000, or $5,000 if age 50 or above. Remember, your nonworking spouse may be eligible for an IRA and an additional deduction can be beneficial. To qualify, you must be legally married at year’s end and file a joint tax return. For more details on IRAs, see IRS Publication 590.

Consider a SEP, Keogh or SIMPLE plan contribution. You may be your own boss or a small business owner, so a Simplified Employee Pension Plan (SEP), Keogh or SIMPLE may be the appropriate avenue to reduce gross taxable income. See IRS Publication 560 for more information.

Note: Making the most of a retirement plan is good for you now and good for you in the future. Don’t pass up this tax tip. Although the deferral amounts for 2008 are unchanged, the maximum limits for IRAs (traditional and Roth) increase to $5,000, or $6,000 if age 50 or above.

Make Last-Minute Estimated Tax Payments.

Underpayment of taxes can result in an unwanted surprise after filing your 2007 return. In addition, the IRS can assess penalties and interest on the underpayment amount. The underpayment penalty can occur whether you are a W-2 employee or self-employed. How can this happen? If you are a W-2 employee, the withholding on your paycheck may be misaligned. If you are self-employed, there are rules about paying estimated taxes.

Note: Making an estimated payment by January 15, 2008, for the short fall amount may resolve this potential tax issue.

Make the Most of Tax Deductions.

Itemize deductions. The list is myriad and some impose thresholds in order to take the deduction. It can be tempting to take the standard deduction, especially if the filing deadline is imminent.

Calculate sales taxes. If your sales taxes are more than your state and local income taxes, take this deduction. IRS Publication 600 provides tables to guide in making this decision — based on income and size of household.

Deduct charitable contributions. To be deductible, you must contribute to a qualified organization. Unfortunately, there are those who pose as charitable entities only to get your money. Before you make a contribution to an organization other than your church or other widely recognized charitable organization, check the IRS Web site. (Keep in mind, some organizations not listed on the IRS Web site may be covered by a group exemption, meaning they are subordinate units whose parent organization has received an exemption letter.) Not only can you verify if the organization qualifies, you can check out what the IRS calls its “Dirty Dozen.” This is a list of its top 12 tax scams.

Note: Deductions help reduce your tax liability, but a little research may help you steer clear of tax scams.

Don’t Forget about IDs for Dependents.

To claim an exemption for dependents, or potentially, the child’s tax credit, you’ll need an identification number (usually a Social Security number). If you have a baby near the end of 2007, the IRS recommends asking for a filing extension date rather than claiming an exemption without an ID number—see the following tip about filing extensions.

Note: In the absence of an ID number, the IRS will deny the exemption and/or tax credit. Don’t forget, a tax credit reduces tax whereas a deduction reduces your taxable income.

File your Return on Time.

If you can’t get your return filed by April 15, 2008, file Form 4868. This form provides an extension until October 15, 2008. Nevertheless, you’ll need to estimate your 2007 tax liability and include payment for the estimated tax with Form 4868. The IRS can impose a late-filing penalty of 4.5% and a late payment penalty of 0.5% of the tax due. Both penalties are assessed on a monthly basis until paid.

Note: File a Form 4868 to avoid the penalties or the denial of a claimed exemption.

Decide if You Need Help and Where to Get Help.

The IRS Web site (www.IRS.gov) offers a number of Fact Sheets, Tax Tips (available Jan. 1, 2008), and a toll-free help number 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676).

The Tax Advocate Service (TAS) is a free, confidential service within the IRS, available to those experiencing economically difficult circumstances.

The internet offers copious tax helps.

Tax preparation software and services are viable resources.

Checklists facilitate organization and minimize frustration. Many checklists are available on the Web. Just Google “checklists for tax preparation.”

Note: Not all Websites provide reliable tax tips. Also, be aware that “2007 tax tips” may refer to the return due in 2007 for the 2006 tax year. Similarly, some references to 2008 apply to tax changes for the 2008 tax year; not 2007.

As of this writing, Congress has not acted on reforming the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). It’s anticipated that the AMT will impact nearly 4 million taxpayers this year. Reform could still happen; it’s not unprecedented for Congress to make tax law changes in December. Should this happen, the IRS will have to delay processing tax returns until March instead of its normal start date of mid-January.

This article is not intended as a substitute for legal, accounting or professional advice. If legal, tax or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Sherre Stephens is a certified employee benefits specialist and director of executive services for GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Posted: 12/14/07

End of CBF/ABC partnership leaves future
of medical/retirement benefits in doubt

By John Pierce

Baptists Today

ATLANTA (ABP)—A seven-year partnership between American Baptists and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which has allowed CBF-related churches to buy retirement and medical benefits, will end Dec. 31.

The end of the partnership is leaving some church leaders confused about the future of their benefits. The arrangement is between CBF’s seven-year-old Church Benefits Board and the 96-year-old Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board of the American Baptist Churches.

“Churches are getting flooded with letters from both groups—much of it contradictory, by the way—and everybody is pressing for a decision here at one of the busiest times of the year,” said one pastor, who asked not to be named.

The partnership broke down when MMBB—as the American Baptist agency is known—proposed a contract extension with significant changes. The proposal would essentially have cut out the need for the Church Benefits Board as the point of contact for CBF-related participants, and CBF leaders rejected the terms mandated in the proposed agreement.

But, while the end of the benefits partnership has caused some consternation, leaders for both faith groups say it will not threaten their close working relationship.

Currently, CBF has 1,100 participants in the MMBB benefits program, representing 6.6 percent of total MMBB enrollment.

Both MMBB and the Church Benefits Board are urging enrollees to decide by Dec. 15 which organization will retain their business. That deadline has frustrated some participants, who say too little information has been provided about the medical-insurance options the Church Benefits Board will offer.

But MMBB leaders say decisions about where church employees invest retirement funds and buy health insurance can be determined after the first of the year.

Sumner Grant, MMBB executive director, said he sent a letter and response card to current plan participants in November explaining their three options—Continue with MMBB and receive the same benefits, leave MMBB and sign up for the new Church Benefits Board plan, or go with the new CBF plan for new investments, but leave assets already accumulated to be managed by MMBB.

If no response is made, Grant said, participants will remain in the current MMBB plan and participants’ employers will still be billed for benefit payments. “Obviously, if the bill is paid they will continue as members. If it is not, their membership will lapse.”

So far, most who have responded have chosen to leave MMBB.

Jim Keegan, marketing and service director of the New York-based MMBB, said of the first 101 response forms received from CBF participants, 45 elected to leave MMBB services. Another 13 decided to discontinue retirement contributions but leave current assets to be managed by MMBB, while 43 chose to stay with MMBB and continue contributions.

Meanwhile, the Church Benefits Board, headed by Gary Skeen, has negotiated contracts with new providers and is promoting its benefits programs as more flexible than those of MMBB.

According to the CBB website, the new provider for medical insurance is Educator Resources, a division of World Insurance Association. It specializes in employee benefits for private schools and churches. Retirement benefits will be offered through StanCorp Financial Group.

“CBB has identified outstanding new partners to provide high-quality medical, life and disability insurance and excellent retirement benefits to CBB clients,” according to a statement on the group’s website. “The new packages of benefits are not only competitive, but provide much more flexibility.”

One stated advantage is that CBB will no longer require clients to participate in the retirement plan in order to receive medical insurance.

But some CBF-related church leaders said that, after shifting employee benefits from the Southern Baptist Convention’s benefits agency in recent years, they are not eager to repeat that process. It’s especially daunting, they noted, during the busy holiday season.

Daniel Vestal, CBF executive coordinator, said the breakup “was not our timetable” and that churches can still take their time in deciding where to buy their benefits.

Leaders of the MMBB, founded in 1911, also want to continue serving CBF-related church employees.

“CBF members of MMBB are, in truth, MMBB members,” said Grant. “They remain members for as long as they make premium payments to our plans. They are not in danger of losing any benefits as long as their employers continue to make payments.”

Both MMBB and CBF leaders have expressed appreciation for the earlier cooperative efforts in providing benefits to church-related employees. And they insist this is not a breakdown of the increasing cooperation between ABC and CBF reflected in church starts, dual missionary appointments and a shared national meeting this past summer.

“I think our partnership with American Baptists and other Baptists is going to continue and grow even stronger,” said Vestal, noting he had met again recently with ABC General Secretary Roy Medley and Progressive National Baptist Convention head Tyrone Pitts to discuss cooperative efforts.

Still, the breakup is not welcome news to those who are being forced to make an unexpected choice between benefits providers.

“I don’t know how many people this is affecting, but I would think there would be a lot of people wondering what they should do,” said one pastor affected by the sudden end to the partnership.

Posted: 12/14/07

Huckabee’s surge in polls brings
new media attention, scrutiny

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (ABP)—Mike Huckabee has gone from long-shot candidate to serious GOP presidential contender in only a few weeks—and his media coverage has gone from curious bemusement to serious analysis of his past record.

The result is both good and bad for the former governor of Arkansas and pastor who served as president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.

Two new nationwide polls released Dec. 10 show Huckabee suddenly in a statistical dead heat with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani among Republican voters.

The CNN/Opinion Research poll, conducted Dec. 6-9, showed Giuliani garnering support from 24 percent of Republican voters, while Huckabee had 22 percent—within the poll’s margin of error. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Arizona Sen. John McCain were in third and fourth place, with former Tennsessee Sen. Fred Thompson a distant fifth.

Meanwhile, the CBS/New York Times poll, conducted Dec. 5-9, showed Giuliani with 22 percent and Huckabee with 21 percent. In that survey, Huckabee has increased his share of the Republican vote by 17 percentage points since October.

Other polls had already shown Huckabee pulling ahead of Romney in Iowa, despite the fact that Romney had outspent his fellow former governor by a margin of more than 10 to 1 in wooing voters for that state’s famous early caucuses.

The Dec. 17 issue of Newsweek, which hit newsstands Dec. 10, features Huckabee on its cover. A campaign that practically had to beg for attention from major media outlets only a few weeks ago is now beset by journalists’ inquiries.

But the attention has brought scrutiny that Huckabee has not had to endure on the national level before. The Newsweek story, for example, delves into controversies from his tenure in the Arkansas governor’s mansion, which included investigations and fines for ethical lapses and a controversy over a convicted rapist Huckabee reportedly urged paroled. The convict, Wayne Dumond, raped and killed a woman after he was released.

Just a few days earlier, an Associated Press story detailing Huckabee’s answers to a questionnaire from his unsuccessful 1992 campaign to unseat former Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.) created unwanted publicity. Among his answers were a call to quarantine people infected with the virus that causes AIDS and a harsh denouncement of homosexuality when asked about gays in the military.

“I believe to try to legitimize that which is inherently illegitimate would be a disgraceful act of government. I feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public-health risk,” Huckabee said on the questionnaire.

On the HIV crisis, he said, “If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague …. It is difficult to understand the public policy towards AIDS. It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil-rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents.”

Huckabee later said he wouldn’t retract any of his answers but that he would phrase his words “a little differently” if asked the same questions today.

In a Dec. 9 interview on Fox News, Huckabee said that, in 1992, “when we didn't know as much as we do now about AIDS, we were acting more out of political correctness than we were about the normal public-health protocols that we would have acted—as we have recently, for example, with avian flu.”

But the editors of the Washington Post, among others, took Huckabee to task for what they considered willful ignorance even of what was known about AIDS in 1992.

“Actually, in 1992, the year after basketball star Magic Johnson made the dramatic announcement that he was HIV-positive, it was already widely understood—and widely publicized—that HIV could not be spread by casual contact or even through close physical contact short of unprotected homosexual or heterosexual sex,” a Dec. 11 Post editorial said.

“It was also widely understood that the virus could be spread through blood transfusions or intravenous drug use involving needles shared with an infected person. There was nothing ‘politically correct’ about this.”

Huckabee also opposed new federal funding for AIDS research in 1992 but has since embraced government funding for combating the disease in the United States and globally.

In 1992, he also pledged not to pass any new taxes if elected to the Senate. However, he angered many anti-tax members of his own party when governor, repeatedly supporting tax increases to help fund improvements to highways and social services.

The Newsweek article also focused on critics of Huckabee’s personal style, including both Republicans and Democrats who worked with him and who characterized him as having a thin skin and a quick temper.

Huckabee told the magazine people get offended in politics. “You'll find plenty of people who will say I was the sorriest thing that sucked air into lungs,” he said. “You are going to find a lot of state legislators, both Democrats and Republicans, who are more than willing to tell you what a lousy human being I am … It was never my desire to be a member of the club, to be chummy and get along with everyone and have these guys love me. My job was to be governor.”

Posted: 12/14/07

Former atheist shapes
God-centered program in Moldova

By Craig Bird

Baptist Child & Family Services

SAN ANTONIO—Five weeks in North Carolina undid a lifetime of atheistic indoctrination for Tatiana Ceban. Nearly 14 years later, she is helping Baptist Child & Family Services craft a transitional living program for youth who have aged out of government-run orphanages in Moldova.

“The most important goal is to teach everything through God’s perspective,” she said.

Such a concept was practically unthinkable for her before 1994. Three years after Moldova gained its independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Little Samaritan Mission invited Ceban and 11 other teachers to its Smokey Mountain headquarters, paired them with American public school teachers and exposed them to Christian witness.

As the only one of the group to become a Christian, she became the first member of her family to profess faith in Christ. Her mother, sister and both of her children have become Christians in recent years.

That was just the first of many life changes that took her out of the public school system after 20 years, into her own successful youth mentoring program, through the unexpected severing of her working relationship with the government schools, and into a role with Children’s Emergency Relief International, the overseas arm of Baptist Child & Family Services.

“When we geared up to take the next step to deeper involvement in Moldova, the first name our CERI-Moldova staff suggested to head up the effort was Tatiana,” Baptist Child & Family Services President Kevin Dinnin said.

“Over the years, we have built good working relationships with orphanage directors and government officials. But the introduction of a program to provide life skills to 16-year-old suddenly on their own in a safe environment needed someone with a special set of skills as an educator, a passionate advocate for children, an administrator, a motivator and a person of deep faith. We were blessed when Tatiana agreed to join us in this important effort.”

Ceban spent six weeks training with Baptist Child & Family Services—learning in a classroom, sitting in support groups of youth who have aged out of the Texas foster care system, shadowing case workers, studying mentor programs and even participating in a “lock-in” at the agency’s Kerrville Transition Center.

“I have to develop the entire curriculum from scratch for the CERI program in Moldova, so I was looking for things I could use and things that wouldn’t work because of the cultural differences between Texas and Moldova,” she said.

“There are some major differences. We have to teach about the dangers of human trafficking, and money management instruction will be different because our financial system is different. Drug abuse is not a major problem—alcohol is.”

But, like in Texas, “the most important need of kids is life skills,” she said. “They get a general education, but when they graduate from orphanage at age 16, they are pretty much helpless—no money, no family support, for many no place to stay, living on streets, vulnerable to human trafficking and crime.”

She plans to begin with a mentoring program, concentrating on graduates from the orphanages CERI already is working with, to “give them tools for life and support them.” She will look for Baptist churches to host Circles of Concern support groups, as well as serve as recruiting grounds “for young Christians who want to be involved in helping these kids,” she said. “I can train them as mentors”

On the national stage, she hopes to develop relationships with Moldovan universities and collaborate with them to train social workers.

“Perhaps in time, the universities will be asking us to offer internships for their students,” she added.

She has earned the right to be heard on the subject. Five years after becoming a Christian, Ceban resigned her job as a high school principal and established the Aletheia (Greek for “truth”) Foundation.

The mentoring program was based in public schools and targeted student in grades seven through nine—“not orphans but from poorest districts of city and dysfunctional homes,” she explained.

They met daily in groups of 12 to 15 with mentors.

“We provided food, medicine, school supplies, camps, retreats and Bible study,” she said. “Our end goal was to introduce them to church and lead them to Christianity. Our immediate educational aim was to graduate them from middle school—let them know they could go to college and provide scholarships.”

After the first year, students were paired with an elderly person. “They visited them two times a month, took them food and medicine provided by Aletheia, cleaned their houses and witnessed to them,” she explained. “The educational moment was to show them that there were people even worse off.”

Last year, the program connected 70 young people with 85 senior adults.

In September, she was notified that, while the government considered the program valuable, it no longer could be based in the public schools.

She already had declined CERI’s overtures to head up the program because “I had my own thing and was happy with it.” But when the government excluded her from the schools she realized it was “God’s design” and now, her “biggest hope” is to be able to blend that program into CERI’s transitional living program.

“We can educate the community, set up a website for orphans. Kids age out at 16, but aren’t legally adults until 18. For those two years, no one takes care of them. They are helpless. They don’t know their rights or how to get benefits—who they can ask for help. This would help all the children of Moldova. There’s nothing like that now.”

On her last day of training in San Antonio, she looked at a photo of the dedication of the BCFS Kerrville Transition Center last February.

“I dream of that day for us, a big modern building—a home for the kids to come to, centrally located so they can get to it,” she said. “That means in central Chisinau, even though real estate is very expensive. We can build something that is uniquely theirs—someplace they can come without difficulty. … Maybe at first we’ll use church facilities, but we need our own place so they will know and feel it is their place. They feel lost, in need of support—especially from Christians.

“The presence of CERI will be unbelievable. My dream is to help all the kids of Moldova. This is the small first step, but God wants us to dream big.”

Posted: 12/14/07

BaptistWay Bible Series for December 23

More than meets the eye

• Mark 4:21-34

By Andrew Daugherty

Christ Church, Rockwall

Shortly following the series of exchanges with the scribes and Pharisees about what is lawful or unlawful on the Sabbath, the conspiracy to kill Jesus grows (3:1-6). Clearly Jesus is perceived as an emerging threat to the Pharisees, and their agenda becomes taking whatever measures necessary to destroy him.

As the Gospel of Mark will reveal later, the Apostle Peter had his own perceptions about Jesus. Jesus will ask Peter a most personal question in chapter 8: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter will answer, “You are the Messiah” (8:29). We already know that for Mark, Jesus is indeed the Messiah (1:1). However, though Peter perceives Jesus as the Messiah, he still only has a dim understanding of what exactly this means.

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Of course speculation abounds in Mark about who Jesus really is, whether he is the next coming of Elijah, John the Baptist or some other ancient prophet. Peter identifies Jesus correctly, but even though Jesus is the Messiah, this will mean something different to Peter than it does to Jesus. Once Jesus begins to explain he must suffer and die, this does not fit the parameters of Peter’s expectations about what a messiah should be. Perhaps a military warrior or a political hero would be expected, but Jesus’ power will be revealed as the suffering Son of God.

Jesus tries many times in Mark’s Gospel to hide his true identity as Messiah (1:43; 3:12; 5:43; 8:30). This has become known as “the messianic secret.” Maybe it was because he did not want to give people the wrong impression about the kind of Messiah he would be. Perhaps he knew he could not reveal all of himself at once; that it would take some time before the disciples and others could see him for who he really was rather than for whom they wanted him to be.

Whatever the reason, the parables in this passage are situated in the larger context of the messianic secret in Mark. The “secret of the kingdom of God” is being revealed to the ones who have the ears and eyes to perceive the parables of Jesus. “For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light (4:22). The mystery of the kingdom of God is coming to light through the stories Jesus tells.

Our ears perk up when we hear someone say, “Let me tell you a story.” Usually, we don’t know what’s coming, and we are invited into a world of images, characters, details and plotlines that keep us curious about what might be coming next. Jesus used a method of teaching that took the most common elements of his day and made them shimmer with fresh meaning. Stories like these invited people to see ordinary things in new ways.

Just as his identity was slowly being revealed, Jesus teaches here that the kingdom of God will not remain hidden and invisible. Like small seeds that will sprout, grow and produce fruit, the kingdom of God will grow and flourish in a most unexpected way. A telling image of a mustard bush contrasts the kingdom of God over and against a popular image of a political kingdom as a mighty and powerful tree. Popular scholar and preacher Tom Long comments: “Jesus may be alluding to the depiction in Daniel of Babylon as a tree standing majestically at the center of th earth, with a top that reached to heaven, a tree that was visible to the ends of the earth, abundant enough that ‘the birds of the air nested in its branches, and from it all living beings were fed’” (Daniel 4:10-12).

What are great kingdoms and powerful rulers supposed to look like? According to Jesus, they don’t look like what we might think. Even though Peter names Jesus the Messiah, his understanding of what it means will change as he comes to see it from Jesus’ point of view. Likewise the disciples and others will come to see the kingdom of God from Jesus’ point of view, too.

The kingdom of God will not be a terrible and triumphant political kingdom. Yet, despite its seemingly small and insignificant beginning, the kingdom of God will not remain hidden and unseen. It will be a light that helps us keep vigil long enough to see the truth of God’s kingdom enlighten the kingdoms of this world that are blinded by power and prestige.

The poet Emily Dickinson once said that poems come at the truth “at a slant.” The same goes for Jesus’ parables. Parable itself means “cast alongside of.” It casts a story alongside some life situation, or in the case of Jesus, the stories are meant to illuminate truth about the kingdom of God. Parables are stories that say important things happen and are decided at the most ordinary level everyday. The ultimate questions of life are asked and decided through people lighting lamps, filling baskets, sharing what they have, planting seeds in the soil and beholding the mystery and miracle of God’s creation. Jesus brings our vision into sharper focus by inviting us to see the world from his perspective through the eyes of faith.

Malcolm Muggeridge has tried to help readers see the world through the eyes of Mother Teresa. In his introduction to a collection of her prayers and meditations, A Gift for God, Muggeridge recalls the time Mother Teresa of Calcutta appeared with a Nobel prizewinning biologist on a Canadian talk show. The biologist eloquently pontificated about the future of DNA advances and the dream of eternal biological life.

While the biologist spoke, Mother Teresa waited patiently until the host urged her to respond to the biologist’s scientific speculation. “I believe,” she replied, “in love and compassion.” The biologist later confessed that Teresa’s simple but profound words had taken him as close as he had ever come to a spiritual conversion.

As a Christian servant, Mother Teresa deftly stayed true to her own vision of the kingdom of God rather than being forced into a debate about science and religion. She skillfully helped the imaginative and brilliant biologist to see science and even himself through her eyes. Through these parables, we can begin to see the kingdom of God through Jesus’ eyes.

Posted: 12/14/07

RIGHT or WRONG?
Meaning of persecution

The other day, my Christian neighbor and I had an “across the fence” discussion that turned to theology. When I mildly disagreed with him, he responded, “You are persecuting me!” and walked away. Just what constitutes “persecution for righteousness sake”? I think my neighbor is acting self-righteously.

When Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount about persecution, it is unlikely he was thinking about the minor disagreements, slights and insults we experience in America today. John the Baptist was beheaded, and Jesus was nailed to a cross “for righteousness sake.” Many in today’s world face equally harsh persecution for their faith. Perhaps what constitutes real persecution is better illustrated than defined. Consider a few of the more serious reports of persecution of Baptists brothers and sisters reported to the Baptist World Alliance in 2007.

On Feb. 25, radical Muslims attacked a Baptist church in Bandung, Indonesia, destroying most of the church’s property and its contents and seriously traumatizing 200 children in Sunday school—many of whom had to be hospitalized.

On Sept. 27, a Baptist church in Sudan was attacked by a suicide bomber in full army uniform. Six children were killed, and church leaders asserted the attack was to suppress the church.

On Oct. 7, Rami Ayyad, 29, a member of Gaza Baptist Church in Palestine and manager of the Gaza Bible Society Bookstore, was found murdered, leaving his pregnant wife, Pauline, and two young sons. The Bible Society building has been attacked on numerous occasions.

Consider our forebearers, as well. Early in American history, Christians faced serious persecution. The Virginia Baptist Historical Society owns the rusty iron lock and key from the Culpeper, Va., jail where more than a dozen Virginia Baptist ministers and laypeople were imprisoned for their faith between 1769 and 1774.

In 1771, Virginia Baptist John Waller was jerked off the preaching platform, had his head beaten against the ground and then received 20 lashes with a horsewhip. David Burrow and Edward Mintz were nearly drowned by an angry mob that interrupted their preaching to “baptize” them. And Baptist preacher Elijah Brown was kidnapped and placed aboard a ship with the instructions that he was to be gotten rid of.

So, perhaps we do an injustice to our forebearers in the faith and those Christians in more than 40 nations today who face imprisonment, violent persecution and even death by casually using the word “persecution” to describe the minor slights and insults we face.

Alan Stanford

General secretary, North American Baptist Fellowship

Director of mission advancement, Baptist World Alliance

Falls Church, Va.

Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.

Posted: 12/14/07

Around the State

• The School of Christian Studies at East Texas Baptist University will sponsor a trip to Greece next summer. The trip will focus on locations associated with the Apostle Paul and his ministry. The trip departs May 30 and returns June 10 after a final evening in Vienna, Austria. A $500 deposit is due Feb. 1. For more information, call (903) 923-2182.

• William Brackney was the keynote speaker for Dallas Baptist Univeristy’s Gallup Lecture. He addressed issues of Baptist identity and tradition within the academic world.

• Howard Payne University bestowed two honorary degrees during Dec. 15 commencement ceremonies. James Guenther and Cynthia Clawson each received honorary doctor of humanities degrees. Guenther has served as general counsel of the Southern Baptist Convention more than 40 years. An alumnus of HPU, Clawson has been a Christian recording artist more than four decades and is a member of the Texas Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Seventy-two undergraduate degrees also were awarded.

• Nearly 800 Baylor University students expected to participate in commencement exercises Dec. 15. During the ceremony, the Abner V. McCall Religious Liberty Award was to be presented to U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards.

• The Collegian, Houston Baptist University’s student newspaper, has received an All-American rating from the Associated College Press—the seventh time the publication has received the designation. The staff also garnered seven Baptist Press Excellence in Journalism awards.

Anniversaries

• Dan Stephens, 10th, as minister of music and senior adults at First Church in Wimberley, Nov. 11.

• Lee Rickaway, 10th, as minister of education at First Church in Duncanville, Dec. 9.

• First Church in Mineral, 125th, Dec. 9. Joe Burke is pastor.

Event

• First Church in Alvin is planning homecoming activities for April 12. For more information, go to www.fbcgathering.com or contact Delane Hargrove at (281) 331-4827 or Billie White at (281) 585-6095.

Posted: 12/14/07

Book Reviews

Christianity’s Family Tree by Adam Hamilton (Abingdon Press)

How did all the Christian denominations come to be? What do they believe? More importantly, what can they teach me about being a better disciple of Jesus Christ? These are the questions Adam Hamilton’s Christianity’s Family Tree sets out to answer.

As the name implies, Hamilton views the various denominations as part of the whole Christian family. Seen from his self-acknowledged United Methodist viewpoint, Hamilton’s outlook on church history is charitable and lucid. He neither ignores nor dwells on the major theological differences. Instead, he finds the strengths all Christians can learn from the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican, Baptist, Pentecostal and Methodist traditions.

What are you reading that other Texas Baptists would find helpful? Send suggestions and reviews to books@baptiststandard.com.

Christianity’s Family Tree is first and foremost a book of discipleship, and it never strays from this main goal of making “more authentic and effective disciples of Jesus Christ.” Through solid historical and theological detail, Hamilton delivers a read on the denominations that will inspire faith. It is ideal for any small group that desires to learn how the history of the various churches can deepen their journey with God.

Todd Ferguson, associate pastor for youth and children,

Willow Meadows Baptist Church, Houston

Harvest of Hope: Stories of Life-changing Gifts by Kay Marshall Strom (IVP Books)

Have you ever received a gift catalog? Not the kind offering luscious food or handy gadgets, but the kind providing opportunities to fill hungry children’s stomachs, vaccinate babies or buy “Jesus Loves Me” lambs. Perhaps you considered making a purchase but wondered if your gift could really help. Before tossing that catalog in the recycle bin, read Kay Marshall Strom’s Harvest of Hope: Stories of Life-changing Gifts that chronicles real people whose lives dramatically changed because they received such a present. From prenatal care in Senegal and wheelchairs in Poland to sewing machines in India and village wells in Cambodia, Strom personalizes the gifts wrapped in physical help and spiritual hope.

Strom closes with the story of a first-grade class that voted to raise funds to buy a goat for a family in Niger and ended up leading their community to donate “one goat, two sheep, one donkey, one camel and school supplies for 34 students.”

If you enjoy stories about the difference one Christian can make, read Harvest of Hope, peruse Strom’s appendix of reputable organizations, and then decide what difference you can make with your gifts.

Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president

Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas, Waco

Humble Leadership: Being Radically Open to God’s Guidance and Grace by N. Graham Standish (Alban Institute)

Humble Leadership replaces misguided expectations of the pastor as ego-driven CEO with a clear biblical model of leadership. Leaders should possess humility, or rather, humility should possess the leader.

After examining the scriptural model of humble leadership, Graham Standish leads the reader in self-examination of why true humility often is missing. Both deeply biblical and interesting, the book also is practical.

Humble leadership only is achieved through a vibrant prayer life, prioritizing unity and Spirit-led living, and Standish tells how to make these things happen.

Standish illustrates how the practice of humility positively has impacted his own church in common situations like conflict and building projects and denominational relationships.

A churchwide study of this book would be a good investment. At a minimum, Humble Leadership ought to be in the hands of pastor-search committee members, so they would have a clear image of what they should be looking for, and ministers, so they would be called back to the biblical roots of leadership.

Karl F. Fickling, coordinator

Intentional Interim Ministry

Baptist General Convention of Texas, Dallas

Posted: 12/14/07

Baptist Briefs

Three of ten recent SBC seminary grads are Calvinist. Nearly 30 percent of recent Southern Baptist Convention seminary graduates now serving as pastors identify themselves as Calvinists, according to findings by LifeWay Research and the North American Mission Board Center for Missional Research. In the SBC at large, by contrast, the number of pastors who affirm the five points of Calvinism is about 10 percent, said Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research.

Pastor’s name found on hit list. Suspected terrorists included a Baptist pastor on what appears to be a hit list, the Baptist World Alliance reported. Ertan Mesut Cevik, pastor of a Baptist church in Izmir—Turkey’s third-largest city—received increased police protection after his name was found on a list carried by three suspected terrorists. The three, who have been arrested, are suspected of planning wide-scale attacks after a large cache of weapons was found in their possession. Cevik has been under police protection since April, after he hosted a funeral service for one of three Christians who was killed in Turkey. After the funeral, a Turkish newspaper article accused Cevik and his church of engaging in “coercive evangelism” by using money and drugs to attract young people. The church denied those charges.

African-American woman named president of academic society. An American Baptist theologian has become the first African-American woman elected president of the nation’s largest professional society for religion professors. Emilie Townes, the Andrew Mellon Professor of African-American Religion and Theology at Yale Divinity School, is the new president of the American Academy of Religion. The group’s membership includes thousands of academics who teach religious studies or theology at institutions of higher learning.

Baptist Heritage Preaching Contest entries solicited. The Baptist History and Heritage Society, in cooperation with the H. Franklin Paschall Chair of Biblical Studies and Preaching at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., is accepting sermon submissions for its annual Baptist Heritage Preaching Contest. Sermon manuscripts are due by Feb. 15, 2008, and the first-place prize is $400. The winner will preach the winning sermon during the 2008 annual meeting of the Baptist History and Heritage Society, May 22-24, in Atlanta. The winner’s expenses will be paid to attend the meeting. For more information, visit http://baptisthistory.org/preachingcontest.htm.

CBF MKs get tuition break at N.C. schools. Seven Baptist colleges and universities in North Carolina will offer undergraduate tuition scholarships for children of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship missionaries. The schools are Campbell University in Buies Creek, Chowan University in Murfreesboro, Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, Meredith College in Raleigh, Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem and Wingate University in Wingate. Each school will offer an eight-semester scholarship for full-time study to missionary dependents who meet the school’s admission standards. Room, board and other costs will be funded through one of CBF’s endowments. The group is working to increase the existing $870,000 endowment to $2.5 million in order to provide for these expenses. Bluefield College in Bluefield, Va., and Mercer University in Macon, Ga., offer similar scholarships.

Posted: 12/14/07

Posted: 12/14/07

DOWN HOME:
Topanga’s lucky tree wasn’t aglow

You almost have to be a hurdler to get around our house these days.

Blame the dog. Or the Christmas tree.

We should’ve seen this coming when we got a new puppy last spring. But we were in love with our little flicker of fur and gave no heed to the morrow—or at least to the Christmas season.

Topanga made herself right at home from Day One. Very soon, Joanna and I understood what the breeder meant when she told us, “This dog wants to be a person and sees no reason why she shouldn’t be a person.”

In many ways, Topanga reminds me of our daughters, Lindsay and Molly, when they were toddlers, except that she’s way better at fetching. No matter when, she wants to be in the same room with us. If we’re in the kitchen fixing dinner, she’s there with a toy in her mouth, bumping my leg, begging me to throw it. During dinner, she’s at my side, paws on the chair, sniffing my napkin like it’s about to turn into raw steak. When we watch TV, she’s on the back of the couch, dropping a toy on my shoulder, sniffing my ear like it’s about to turn into raw steak and begging me to throw. And if I’m in the back trying to work, she’s jumping up in the chair, sniffing my laptop like it’s about to turn into raw steak, then grabbing a toy and begging me to throw.

I remember when the girls were, oh about 2, and I would pretend to go to the bathroom, just to get a break, and, of course, it wouldn’t work. A little girl would be banging on the door, “Daddy!”

Topanga’s like that, except that the girls were way better at saying, “Daddy!” With Topanga, it comes out more like, “whhhhhhn-whnn-whnn-whnn-humphf.”

So, the evening Jo and I put up the tree, we enjoyed a wonderfully quiet dinner. Suddenly, the silence overwhelmed us, and we asked at the same time, “Where’s Topanga?”

Well, I didn’t have to search the whole house. I walked straight into the living room, and Topanga looked up with the light cord from the tree still in her mouth, hanging by the teensiest slivers of copper.

If we had plugged the lights in, I’d be writing Topanga’s brief but thematic obituary.

So, I replaced the light cord, and we went out and bought child gates for two doors. Now, if you want to go from the rest of the house into the living room, dining room and back bedrooms, you’ve got to hurdle.

If we weren’t protecting the light cord, we’d be protecting the ornaments, which Topanga fervently believes in her canine cranium are really toys for her to—what else?—fetch.

Topanga’s fascination with the tree reminds me of Lindsay and Molly’s toddler fascination with Christmas decorations. And for all our warnings of children and protection of dogs, only one person in our family ever knocked over a Christmas tree. Me.

–Marv Knox

Posted: 12/14/07

EDITORIAL:
The gospel in one stunning eyeful

Christmas pageants often remind us Baptists of something we’re all too prone to forget: Worship can engage all the senses. The Baptist branch of the Christian family tree grows mighty close to the huge Protestant Reformation branch, which rejected the Roman Catholics’ statuary and the Orthodox’s icons, so precious few visual elements remind us of the God we worship and the Christ we adore. We also don’t go in for all that incense, which just might cause us to think of the Holy Spirit, whose pervasive presence we desperately need. Since most Baptists long ago substituted juice for wine and unleavened chicklets for bread, we gave up on the sense of taste in worship. And with screens flashing songs and Scripture, many of us don’t even enjoy the tactile sensation of holding a hymnal and caressing a Bible anymore.

Maybe an ear should be the Baptists’ symbol for worship. We’re all about listening to fine singing and good sermons. But you could check your eyes, nose, tastebuds and fingertips in the foyer of most Baptist churches and get along in worship just fine.

Except at Christmas. One of the best things about our Christmas pageants is they remind us worship should be a sensory experience. If your church is anything like ours, this is the one time of year when you can go to a worship service and enjoy a sensory feast. Even if your shepherds don bathrobes and your wise men drape themselves in bedsheets, a Christmas pageant is a celebration for all the senses. (OK, unless your pageant’s “actors” include a donkey, sheep, goats and/or a camel or three, your sense of smell probably isn’t stimulated.) Often, after the music has ceased, we recongregate in the fellowship hall to enjoy Christmas goodies. Let’s hear it for the tastebuds.

Our church’s 2007 Christmas pageant certainly did not disappoint. We’re blessed with a terrific choir and an excellent orchestra, so music always floods our sanctuary with vibrant, joyful reminders of the splendors of this season. This year was no exception. Truly superb.

But the part of the pageant that moved my heart more than any other was a visual moment, just a few seconds that transcended time and eternity. It focused every eye—and heart and mind—on “the reason for the season,” as folks like to say this time of year.

Not so long ago, our church added “angels” to the Nativity section of the pageant. Maybe we had standing-still angels before, but these representatives of the heavenly host add a rhythmic vitality to the story of Jesus’ birth. Translation: They’re dancers. Now, don’t get your dander up. They perform ballet and maybe even some gymnastics, and their elegance and joy multiply the beauty and majesty of the Greatest Night on Earth.

Near the end of the Nativity, after Mary, Joseph, the Baby, shepherds and wise men all gathered, four angels entered the stage, carrying two long, shimmering golden strips of cloth. They caused the cloth to ripple, and the effect was lovely, and I made a mental note to congratulate the choreographer. Then, just as the music reached its climax, the angels popped their strips of golden sheen high into the air, and two of the women held tight to the ends of their cloth and dashed underneath the other cloth. In an instant, the music peaked and the dancers pulled their cloths tight, and there it was:

The Cross.

We glimpsed the gospel in one stunning eyeful: Right beside the manger, overshadowing Mary and Joseph and the Babe, stood the Cross. Altogether in poignant splendor—the Christ, and the sole-holy reason he came to Earth on that star-drenched, melodic night.

Remember the Cross this Christmas. We love the Most Innocent of all innocent babies at Christmas. But remember why he came to Earth. Tell others the story—the whole story. It’s the best present you can give.