Campbell recently appeared on Fresh Air, the wonderful interview program on National Public Radio. Campbell spent an hour with host Terry Gross, discussing his new book, Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership and Brotherhood.

 Campbell, a graduate of Princeton and Harvard, spoke eloquently and poignantly about his duties as a Marine lieutenant in Iraq. He described his priorities on patrol, his initial resistance to use his weapon, his feelings for his troops, his compassion and concern for the Iraqi people, and his many frustrations with urban combat.

I think you will be mesmerized, as I was, by the insights of a thoughtful and articulate soldier.

Testimony to integrity

But what I really want you to hear is a section, about 2/3 of the way through the program, when Campbell talks about honor. He's discussing the options for how a Marine can leave a war zone. I hope you'll click here and go to the website for this particular program, then click on "Listen to Thursday's Show" and tune in. (If you have an MP3 player, you can download the podcast. Otherwise, you can listen to it online.)

Hear and think about his words. But then listen to his voice. If you are not deeply moved …, well, I don't know what to think. Then, keep listening as he talks about how he and his team leaders dealt with the young Marines after a grievous injury to one of their platoon members. Listen to how he urges against hatred and revenge and steers them toward dignity and nobility.

My kind of hero

I don't know if Donovan Campbell is a Christian believer. He spoke of being blessed and of thanking God for a safe mission. Later, he spoke passionately about servant leadership. 

The world needs more Donovan Campbells.

We also can put foot to our prayers and tell our lawmakers we will hold them personally responsible if they vote to increase gambling opportunities.

This year, you can bet—or, as a good Christian, strongly predict—the Legislature is feeling the onslaught of gambling pressure like never before. A perfect storm of factors coalesced to push that onslaught.

Gambling's "perfect storm"

First was a real storm, Hurricane Ike, which wreaked havoc along the coast. Gambling advocates, preying on fear and fatigue, are saying casinos can be the salvation of Galveston.

Second is the escalating economic crisis. The gambling proponents still peddle something-for-nothing, get-rich-quick yarns. They are touting expanded gambling as the solution to many of the state’s financial woes and a way to fund important services that are languishing these days.

(Ironically, this tempts Baptists indirectly. For the most part, we’re notoriously anti-tax; we oppose government-imposed taxes. So, we turn a blind eye to self-imposed regressive taxes, like the lottery.)

Third, Texas’ new House speaker, Joe Straus, is the scion of a prominent racetrack family in San Antonio. Straus has pledged to keep his hands off gambling bills. But while he brings many virtues to the position, his very presence at the helm of the House has emboldened gambling advocates.

Putting on the pressure

So, more than 200 pro-gambling lobbyists are working the capitol, promoting at least 11 bills that would push gambling past the point of pervasiveness throughout Texas.

For example, SJR 31 would establish 12 casinos in Texas. This bill is being sponsored by Reps. Jim Pitts and José Mendez and Sens. John Carona and Rodney Ellis. In addition, HB 1308  by Rep. Norma Chavez would exempt an undetermined number of Native American tribes from prosecution against operating casinos that still would be illegal, but unregulated.

Bad bet for Texas

No matter what the lobbyists say, casinos are a bad bet for Texas. Consider data compiled by Texans Against Gambling:

• Casinos boost bankruptcy rates. A Connecticut study showed 80 percent of problem gamblers cashed in stocks or bonds to support their habit. (Creighton University, 2005)

• Casinos increase local gambling addiction rates. (National Gambling Impact Study, 1999)

• Dollars spent on gambling churn in the gambling industry, since gambling “winners” usually keep on playing and often go into debt. Very little of the money spent in casinos winds up back in the local economy, although the social costs—crime, addiction, poverty, job loss—are huge. (National Gambling Impact Study, 1999)

• Casinos boost crime. A 2006 nationwide study showed “serious” crime increases in the neighborhoods of casinos, even after accounting for economic trends and other factors. (“Casinos, Crime and Community Costs”)

So far, we’ve only taken a quick look at casinos. Gambling backers have much more in mind, like video slot terminals at racetracks and legalized poker parlors.

Make a difference

The pro-gambling lobby is well-funded and staffed. If we’re going to stop gambling expansion, we’ve all got to act and act together. Here’s what you can do:

• Visit the Texans Against Gambling website, www.texansagainstgambling.org.

•  Click “Sign the Petition” and endorse a petition against gambling expansion.

• Click “Legislative Issues” and then click “Find Your Legislator” and then write your representative and senators, opposing gambling expansion.

• Click “Donate Now," and join me in supporting this noble effort. Gambling advocates are spending millions of dollars, and opponents are swamped. Texans Against Gambling needs our help.

I guess the other runner I met out on the streets Sunday afternoon didn't need to read my February running log to know it was pathetic.

My excuse is that I've been traveling a lot lately. When I travel, I usually take along my running gear. But sometimes—and in February, I should have said "most times"—I never pull it out of my bag. 

See, we live in this wired world, and I'm obsessive-compulsive when it comes to staying "caught up" (ha!) with e-mail and other work while I'm on the road. So, I get back to my hotel room after a day of meetings, and then I try to read and handle all my e-mail and maybe take on other chores. In February, I couldn't get it done at night. So, instead of running early in the morning, I pulled out the laptop instead.

Boost up the hill

And my running log is the proof. Worse, my body is  proof.

So, I approached my much-needed run last Sunday afternoon with anticipation and dread. I knew I'd feel better later, but I also knew it was gonna hurt. Turns out, I was right on both counts.

Just past the halfway point, I turned onto Heartz, home of "the hill." It's practically nothing compared to really hilly places. But around here, it counts for a hill. I just started up when a young guy, in his mid-20s, came blazing toward me.

Maybe he is just friendly. Maybe he was floating on endorphins. Or maybe he saw the "guy who hasn't been running enough going uphill" look on my face. Whatever, just before we reached each other, he held up his hand and gave me a high-five.

I know this is sorta weird, but I can't describe what a boost that was. A friendly gesture from someone who looked like he could run a marathon and not break a sweat. Young runners like that usually get this steely, straight-ahead look and don't acknowledge folks who ran past their prime a few years back.

But this guy gave me a high five. All of a sudden, I didn't feel alone running up the hardest part of my trek. And feeling part of something outside myself, I didn't feel as tired and winded. My attitude switched from "I just wanna survive" to "what a beautiful day for a run."

'Barnabas' to others

And as I ran, I thought about the power of encouragement.

One of the greatest praises I can bestow on someone is to call them a Barnabas. Do you remember Barnabas? He was a companion of the Apostle Paul. Better than that, he was the Christian who reached out to Paul and welcomed him into the family of faith. Barnabas' name means "son of encouragement," and his mama and daddy must've known what they were doing. Imagine the impact this encourager Barnabas had on the early church and, consequently, on all Christendom.

And try to imagine the kind of impact we can have on the world around us if we practice encouragement. Maybe it's a high five. Or maybe it's an e-mail or note. Perhaps it's a hug or a homemade pie or a cup of coffee. Maybe it's a timely phone call or text message.

We all know we're living in hard times. Plenty of folks need to have their spirits lifted. Why don't we infuse the presence of Christ into their lives by encouraging them?

I've been amazed by Facebook, the hugely popular social networking website, for several years.

Do you know how it works? Basically, people can register for free, and they get their own Internet page. Except it's way cooler than that, because it creates this spiderweb of relationships, so that registered participants who acknowledge each other as friends can find each other easily, and then find other friends. And after that, make friends with their friends' friends. It's really not as complicated as that sounds.

Part of its popularity owes to the fact updating information and adding pictures is easy. Did you know college students record practically every event of their lives by taking pictures and posting them on their Facebook pages? Yep.

That's how we've kept up with our younger daughter, Molly, all the way through four years at Baylor University. She gave her mama, Joanna, her password. And since someone at every party or trip or other big event took pictures and "tagged" Molly's Facebook page, we've been able to go online and follow our kiddo and her friends all through college.

'Dinosaurs' trample Facebook

But now, Facebook may be on the verge of extinction. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder, should've cashed out in January. The good times have done rolled. Expect to read in the newspapers: "Facebook goes faceup."

My logic? Zillions of people my age are on there now. That can't be cool. 

Instead of college kids talking about last weekend's party or the next big game or who's coming into town next weekend, more and more Facebookers are talking about the great times they had in college, years before today's college kids were even born. Long-lost friends are finding each other, only to discover they now look totally unlike the svelt young things they knew back when. They're sharing pictures of their grandkids.

So, by my calculations, Facebook's 15 minutes in the sun is just about to set.

But maybe I'm wrong.

A new article in the online edition of AdAge acknowledges the aging of Facebook and the other popular social networking site, My Space. Here is part of the report: "As of January, more than 50% of Facebook users and 44% of MySpace users in the U.S. were over 35 years old, according to ComScore estimates. The single biggest age demographic in the U.S. on both Facebook and MySpace is now between 35 and 44. Indeed, Facebook says its fastest-growing demo is 55-plus."

See? What'd I tell you?

But that's not so bad, apparently. "So far, Facebook's aging demos haven't turned off the college set: It's the most popular website on campus above Google and Yahoo, according to an Anderson Analytics poll of college students last fall," the AdAge story says. The story quotes eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson: "Social networking is so engrained into the lifestyle of college students that it wouldn't be any less cool because their parents and grandparents are there."

So, maybe Facebook won't go the way of the cuckoo. Terrific. I'm still learning how to "tag" my photos. And someday, I'll post 25 uninteresting things about me.

Does this feel familiar?

Lately, I've been thinking about why Facebook is so popular. The easy answer—and, in this case, I think, the right answer—is that folks need friends. Facebook is a way to locate and keep up with people who have been significant in your life. 

In a way, Facebook is a technological version of one of the most important aspects of church. It's a place to know and be known. It's a place to tell your story and listen to others. It's a place to show pictures of the things (mostly family and friends) who are most important to you. It's a place to express care and affection.

If our churches were doing that as well as Facebook does, we'd be growing like Facebook.

Harris offered to waive his performance incentive pay for 2008—estimated at $167,835—because the current economic downturn has hurt the Teacher Retirement System's pension fund and its participants.

According to a TRS news release, the system's pension fund dropped 27 percent in market value in 2008. Bad as that sounds, it contrasts nicely with the global equity markets' 40-percent tumble during the same period.

Sharing the pain

“We are all suffering during this virtually unprecedented period,” Harris noted in the TRS news release. “The value of people’s investments has decreased, and many are out of work or concerned about their jobs.  As chief investment officer of the fund, it seems to me that I should also feel the effects of this difficult time—just like many of our members.”

Harris' leadership made a dramatic impact on TRS trustees, who accepted his offer to forgo ’08 incentive pay. But they also voted to defer all remaining performance pay in the system's investment division until the fund shows positive returns for a full year.

“We place great value on the skills, expertise and performance of our staff, and we appreciate how they have helped us avoid bigger losses during the current economic downturn,” TRS Board Chairman Linus Wright said. “However, the board agreed with Harris that deferring performance payments at this time was the responsible thing to do

“My fellow trustees and I admire and respect the selflessness shown by Britt and the entire investment staff. It only reinforces what we have known all along—the professional strength and character of the TRS team.”

Imagine the impact …

Just think how much better our cities, state and nation—not to mention the world—would be if they were led by people like Britt Harris. What if such integrity were the norm? 

Harris is the kind of public leader who makes you proud to be a Baptist. He's a member of First Baptist Church in Austin and recently presented a paper, "Bible and Budgets: Recovering a Biblical Worldview," at the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission's annual conference.

Harris comes by his integrity quite naturally. His father was Tom Harris, former pastor at First Baptist Church in Harlingen and Casa View Baptist Church in Dallas and associate pastor at Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth.

Imagine the evangelistic and societal impact Christians would have on the world if we all bahaved like Britt Harris.

The whole world seems to be thinking about the relationship of science and religious faith this week, as we mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's  birth. (In fact, the Baptist Standard and our New Voice Media partners prepared an entire package of articles on Darwin, evolution and the varieties of creationism, which you can read on this website.) Nothing this side of Galileo has inflamed so many Christians as Darwin's evolutionary tome, On the Origin of the Species.

Still, I must confess: I just don't "get" the fight between religion and science or faith and reason.

Missing the point

Oh, I understand the arguments. Some Christians feel threatened by the scientific assertion that the world came to be as it is through natural selection and an infinite number of mutations. On the other side, some scientists feel Christians who disagree with them willfully ignore plain evidence of observation. (I know those are gross oversimplifications, but I'm just pointing to the parameters. This is a blog, not a book.)

 It's just that the folks who argue most stridently miss the point—not only of their adversaries' purpose, but of their own.

The faith/reason or religion/science debate would go away if people simply acknowledged the role of each.

God & science in creation

Take creation—please.

The Bible's account in the Book of Genesis seeks to explain the Who and why of creation. In the beginning, God launched the process that resulted in humanity because God desired a loving, reciprocal relationship with other sentient beings. Genesis offers two accounts of creation that do not specifically harmonize with each other, much less current approaches to science and history. But they reinforce the Who and why of creation.

Science, on the other hand, seeks to explain the what and the how. Darwin proposed a model for explaining how the species as we currently find them came to be. Both before and certainly ever since, scientists have been proposing and testing hypotheses to demonstrate the chemical and biological processes that bring them along.

Two purposes

So, religion and science have two different purposes. No amount of logic must deduce they oppose each other. They're asking different questions, which lead to different answers, but not necessarily contradictory answers.

Religion errs when it seeks to dictate the range of answers science can discover. Science errs when it claims all its answers are final, and nothing—or, more specifically, No One—lies behind them.

I've been listening to this debate my whole life, and I've decided I'm a Christian who's comfortable with theistic evolution. The Bible—my authoritative guide for faith and practice—tells me God is the Who behind creation and God's love is the why. Science seeks to explain how life developed on Earth through the millennia.

Annoyed and/or embarrassed

Sometimes, atheistic evolutionists annoy me. They overstep their bounds, confident that because they feel they have good answers for the what and how of creation, they do not need a Who or why. But more than annoy me, they make me sad. For when they close their minds to the possibilities outside their sphere, they also close their hearts to a relationship with the God of love, Who has transformed my life and filled it with meaning and purpose. I feel sorry for them.

Almost always, however, hardline creationists embarrass me. I guess it's because we're fellow believers, part of the same family. Your kinfolk can humiliate you far more intently than neighbors and people you don't even know. Their arrogance is bad enough, but their lack of faith is worse. They think they've figured out how God did creation, and they deny the possibility of any other process. Don't you see the irony? They become the ones who would limit God.

And worse still, their stridency, anger and mean-spiritedness gives God a bad name and drives unbelievers away. That never was God's divine plan for creation.

Rudy Sanchez—a wise and loving pastor, denominational leader, mentor and friend—died last Saturday after a long illness, which he fought with his usual grace, dignity and valor.

Rudy was a Texas Baptist treasure. He provided leadership for the entire Baptist General Convention of Texas for decades. Most recently, he served as a member of  the Baptist Standard board of directors and as chairman of the BGCT Executive Board. He also guided, nurtured and encouraged three generations of leaders of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas—Convencion—which is affiliated with the BGCT.

My friend Albert Reyes, president of Buckner Children & Family Services, has written a beautifully poignant blog about the life and ministry of Rudy. It's written from the perspective of a minister who grew up under Rudy's mentorship. You can read it here.

He was something special

I knew Rudy as a gifted pastor, convention leader and board member. But I reveled in him as a friend and guide.

He took me under his wing shortly after I moved back home to Texas after living out of state for 17 years. For several of those early years, he always arranged to meet up with me during Convencion, especially during the late-evening fellowship times.

Rudy always grabbed me by the arm and took me around to meet people. The meeting part was fun. Then came the history lesson, which was terrific. After almost every introduction, Rudy would tell me not only about that person, but also her or his family and ministry. "His family comes from Gonzalez, and they have been Baptists for four generations," he would say, going on to talk about the churches this particular family has touched and the lives they have changed.

Heart and soul

Rudy's introductions and history lessons helped me get reacquainted with Texas and especially with Convencion. But more importantly, they offered a window into the heart and soul of this dear man. He knew so much about so many people because he loved them so deeply. I always looked forward to those times at Convencion with Rudy because the flame of love that glowed in his heart brightened my life.

Rudy's homegoing fills so many of us with sadness. We know it's our loss, not his. He is well and whole today, worshipping alongside the Savior he loved and served his whole life. But we miss him and will miss him dearly. 

The best way we can say thanks for the life he lived among us is to pray for his wife, Ruth, and the family in these days, but also to love and care for others the way he did. Lives will be changed.

Not too long ago, I wrote my Down Home newspaper column about getting stopped by a state trooper for driving nine miles an hour over the speed limit in southern Oklahoma. 

I didn't intend to drive nine miles per hour over the limit. I did intend to drive four miles an hour too fast, operating on the theory that police and highway patrol officers will "give" you five miles an hour. Fortunately, I have a clueless face. Officer Smith apparently realized I did not realize the speed limit in that part of the world is 60, and he gave me my anticipated four-miles-per-hour grace.

More recently, I wrote a blog, which I then turned into an editorial, about the sorry state of ethics these days. I've been dismayed by Olympic hero Michael Phelps, who betrayed  millions of young people who look up to him by smoking marijuana. And like you, I've been disheartened by the parade of politicians who—we've been finding out—dodge their taxes and/or bend other laws to suit them.

Connecting the dots

After proofreading the editorial page, my friend and Baptist Standard colleague George Henson came by my office and asked: "So, does ethics apply to speeding?"

I just hate it when someone connects the dots of my haphazard thinking.

Levels of sin?

But George's question got me to thinking some more about ethics and behavior and about criticizing others while excusing myself.

For example, is driving four miles an hour over the speed limit—the amount I intended to drive—a moral lapse (which, theologically speaking, we call a sin)? Or is five miles an hour of ignorance, added to four miles an hour of intention, a sin?

Where do honest mistakes end and sin begin?

And, if we sin in one area of our lives, does that disqualify us from criticizing any sin in the lives of others? (If so, criticism should disappear from the face of the Earth.)

When I was a kid, a summer youth minister or Sunday school teacher (I don't remember which) said sin is sin, and all sins are equal. At the time, I more or less agreed. We were talking about the broad concept of SIN, "missing the mark" of God's intention for our lives and actions. Even one sin is enough to separate us from God. So, sassing Mother or assassinating the president were "equal" in that they would stain a person with sin.

Of course, sins are not equivalent. Some are worse than others, much worse. Even if I intended to go nine miles over the speed limit on an open highway, that's not as bad as dodging more than $100,000 in taxes or smoking marijuana and tarnishing a golden role model.

Humble perspective needed

Still, George's gentle reminder that I, too, broke a law is on point. 

The world needs us to hold each other accountable. People must speak out against injustice, fraud, immorality and the like. 

But we must speak with humility when we criticize others. We must never forget we're broken, too. We all make mistakes. And we must be as quick to hold ourselves accountable as we are to call others to task.

Rust stains have smirched 2008's golden boy: Michael Phelps , winner of eight gold medals at the Summer Olympics, has admitted smoking marijuana after a photo circulated, showing him sucking on a bong.

President Obama's pick for health czar has come down with a bad case of tax flu: Tom Daschle has been scrambling to save his nomination for secretary of health and human services, apologizing for failing to pay more than $120,000 in taxes. (Oh, and don't forgetBill Richardson and Timothy Geithner.)

And you don't want to even think about how many financial moguls have betrayed others' trust: Merrill Lynch's John Thain, Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, and, of course, all the big wheels who ran the U.S. auto industry off the road. (Maybe you can argue a good case for taking the auto execs off the list. They've been publicly arrogant and selfish, too out-of-touch to even try to hide their indiscretions.)

Who's Hypocritical?

If we were playing the Who's Hypocritical? game, you wouldn't break a sweat to come up with your own list. In fact, working together, we probably couldn't keep up with all the new revelations.

The Phelps-weed flap surprised me the most. Like, oh, 6 billion other folks, I naively figured he was too disciplined to swim into the Great Barrier Reefer. But the guy obviously hasn't spent his whole life in the pool. On the up side, he admitted his mistake. Unfortunately, he simultaneously forgave himself for acting "in a youthful and inappropriate way." He's made gazillion$ in part because he seemed like a great role model. So, it's hard to forgive this mess as "youthful" indiscretion. Grow up, Mike.

The discomfiting thing about Daschle is that his tax dodge ISN'T a big surprise. Democrats are disappointed; Republicans are repulsed. But every time we get a new administration, we encounter more so-called leaders who live above laws they don't particularly like. If these high-profile politicos—who should know the whole world watches them—skim on their taxes, it really makes you wonder who else is, too. 

I'd write more about the indiscretions of the titans of business and industry, but you know their stories, and I'm trying to avoid a headache.

Low expectations

Here's the deal about ethics: We don't expect much anymore. The unspoken-yet-acknowledged postmodern mantra seems to be, "Rules are made to be broken."

Ironically, this could be a golden age for ethical Christian behavior. Why don't we all come to understand that if we live lives of honesty, integrity and transparency, we validate the faith we proclaim?

One great example

One of my favorite Bible stories is recorded in Genesis 39. A young man named Joseph had matured beyond his self-centered adolescence. When  the world's first cougar, Mrs. Potiphar, tried to seduce him, he literally ran the other way. He could've slept with his owner's wife, and yet he did the right thing. Nobody had to know, and yet he did the right thing. It cost him dearly, and yet he did the right thing.

The rest of Joseph's story plays out in the remaining chapters of Genesis. Because Joseph stood for honesty and ethics, God enabled him to save Egypt, much of the Ancient Middle East and his entire family from famine.

I wonder what God could do if all believers lived such lives.

This week, Baptist communications professionals from across Texas (as well as the Baptist Standard’s New Voice Media partners from Associated Baptist Press, the Religious Herald in Virginia and Word & Way in Missouri) are meeting in the Hill Country. We gathered at Camp Buckner near Burnet for an annual continuing education/fellowship retreat we call the Baptist Media Forum.

One of our keynote speakers has been Abe Levy, the talented and insightful religion reporter for the San Antonio Express-News.

He covers the whole range of religion, from Baptists to Catholics to Muslims, and everything in-between.

Levy cited “five possible religious trends.” See if they line up with your observations and experience. Here they are, with some commentary from me:

1. The house-church movement is influencing the nation’s mega-churches.
Mega-churches generally are described as congregations that regularly involve 2,000 or more people in attendance. They’re huge. Even for Texas.

But an even newer (and, really ancient) development is the house church—a congregation that meets in a, you guessed it, home.

For the past couple of decades or so, mega-churches did most of the influencing among America’s churches. The leading mega-churches have practically become denominations within themselves. They’re full-service, one-stop religion providers. And like their commercial counterparts, the “big box” stores that crushed their smaller retail competition, the mega-churches dominated the religious landscape.

But Levy sees a shift. “Some mega-churches are decentralizing,” he said. Many of them are starting smaller “satellite” locations. They’re starting home Bible studies. They feel free to form partnerships with other religious groups.

2. “The Roman Catholic Church is becoming more orthodox and traditional,” Levy reported.

Pope Benedict XVI has reinstated four bishops who have rejected the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, which took place 45 years ago.

And, in a somewhat ironic twist, Levy sees ultra-conservative Protestants partnering with Roman Catholics on issues—but not necessarily theology—where they see eye-to-eye.

(Baptist church historian Bill Leonard forecast this 25 years ago, when he predicted American Christianity would begin to coalesce along a spectrum of conservative to liberal, rather than the traditional strata of denominations.)

3. Technology is impacting churches like never before.

Sophisticated church staffs are using mapping technology to analyze the growth trends—and needs for ministry—in their communities.

Also, “online communities” that don’t necessarily recognize congregational boundaries are building up among the faithful. They’re using the social networking programs, such as FaceBook, Twitter and other ways people keep in contact through their computers and cell phones.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, ask a teenager or twentysomething.

4. “The laws for nonprofit organizations and churches will be reformed,” Levy predicted.

Levy has been tracking the work done by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, which is investigating the financial practices of several TV evangelists.

He predicts new laws that will require more financial transparency among churches and faith-based groups, as well as other nonprofit organizations.

5. The evangelical community is changing rapidly.

“Natural alliances are forming,” Levy observed. He noted recent trends in which evangelicals have broadened their agendas to address poverty and global health, as well as their traditional emphases on abortion and homosexuality.

These alliances are decentralizing churches and ministries, enabling evangelicals to band together across traditional borders, such as denomination, to work on new projects.

How fitting would it have been if Dr. King were on hand to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama as president of the United States?

Often, I wonder how America and the world would be different if an assassin's bullet had not transported Dr. King into martyrdom almost 41 years ago.

What if … ?

He was a prophet of peace. Would we be a more peaceable nation? Would at least some of the wars we have fought been resolved at diplomatic tables instead of on battlefields?

He was a preacher of potential. Would he have helped us tranform our national values, so that more of our children grow up to live lives of productivity and promise?

He cared for the downtrodden, the folks Jesus called "the least of these." Would he have directed us to eliminate inbred, incipient injustice and, perhaps even worse, smug blindness to the needs of others?

He was a great talker, a negotiator able to bring people together. Would we have developed a culture of collaboration instead of a pit of partisanship? Would he have taught our political and business and religious leaders to work together for the common good?

On a week set aside to celebrate Dr. King's birthday and inaugurate Barack Obama, it's easy to get lost in the reverie of his dream.  This week, it's inviting to ask  "What if … ?" he had lived until now.

Melancholy nightmare

Of course, the realist (or is it the cynic?) in me realizes the grinding forces would have ground on Martin Luther King. We live in a no-secret world, and they would have exploited his personal weaknesses to still his voice. Selfishness and greed are strong in any age, and they would have called us to duck his lofty prose and aim for lower goals. Human nature despises "the other," and so racism and classism would have remained strong, perhaps sufficient to blunt the power of his persuasion.

I slap myself awake from this melancholy nightmare to reconsider his dream and think about a day he would have adored. Because of Martin, Barack ascended to the highest office in the land, the leadership of the free world.

"This is something"

Whether you believe in Barack Obama or not. Whether you agree with his positions. Whether you think he is best to lead our woebegone land. Those are beside the point this week. An African-American becomes president of the United States.

We face terrible crises. We suffer our failures and shortcomings. But surely this is something. This is a moment of pride to think we have elected a person of color to lead us. For one Election Day, for one season at least, we looked past the color of his skin to choose him. Now, the content of his character will determine if we made the right decision.

The Dream lives on

So, I think of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech and wonder if he would say that dream has been fulfilled.

Do "little black boys and black girls … join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers"? Have we yet arrived at "an oasis of freedom and justice"? Do the offspring of slaves and slave owners "sit down together at the table of brotherhood"? 

Has that day dawned, "when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'"?

We are closer to that dream. It has been fulfilled in part, but not in whole. We have made progress. We have work yet to do.

Immediately, it landed in the e-mailboxes of our first subscribers. And almost just as quickly, it began amazing them with the wonderful tricks it already can do. (Don't you know everybody loves a clever baby!)

Baptist Standard E3 arrives through e-mail, with a link to a picture of the front page. When you click on that picture, the whole paper opens up electronically. You can “flip” through the pages, just like a regular paper. But because of digital technology, the Standard staff adds many features that just don’t work in a printed newspaper. I'm talking about things like videos, slide shows, links to other websites, and even my ol’ West Texas voice reading my column, Down Home.
 
Be the first to see E3

I could go on and on, but I’d be thrilled if you would just see for yourself.  Here's a direct link to the first edition of Baptist Standard E3.

And here's something really cool

If you want more background information and also would like to see how it could work for your church's newsletter, click on this link to visit the landing page on our website. Then, click on the picture of the newsletter, and you're there.

What a deal

One of the great things about Baptist Standard E3 is it’s cheap. Since postage, printing and paper aren’t part of the cost equation, the Standard can deliver E3 for an introductory offer of only $8 per year. Compared to the print edition, that’s about half the church rate and one-third the individual rate. That’s amazing. For the price of lunch, you can receive a year’s worth of fascinating news and information.

You can subscribe online by clicking here .

The reason for it all

While the techonology is new and glitzy, and the price is great, I'm most excited about Baptist Standard E3 because it enables us to do a better job of fulfilling the mission we've been focusing on for 120 years. We want to inspire, inform and engage Baptists. If the Standard is successful, then we'll all be stronger Christians. We'll also worship and minister in better churches. And we'll reach our state and world for Christ.

E3 is Baptists' best, most effective communication tool to come along in generations, maybe centuries. We hope you love it, and we pray it makes you a stronger Christian and a better Baptist.