It is still really hard for me to believe I’m back from East Asia. Partly because it is still a battle to be here—all here—and to want to be here, find joy in being here and in this life. Partly, also, because I have a hard time remembering all the things that happened and the lessons I learned during those six months overseas. 

A lot of times it feels like it didn’t really happen. It is hard to remember that my life was so different there when I’m immersed in the college student/working/BSM/church/busy American life again. Sometimes, because I’m doing the same things I was doing before I left, it feels like this is what I’ve always been doing—but that I should be doing more. It’s as if I didn’t leave; I didn’t learn lessons; I wasn’t doing anything over there; I didn’t really do work for the Lord or his kingdom; I didn’t really change. 

But I did.

I left. I learned. I worked and labored. I changed—all thanks to and by the Lord’s grace.

But it is hard to remember that sometimes. It is hard to believe that sometimes, too.

My life there looked a lot different. My friends, how we did ministry, my home, my time, my responsibilities—all looked different than it does now. 

Now, rather than full-time ministry, I’m back to full-time college life. Trying to split my time between classes, homework, studying, working, ministry, BSM, church, family and friends—and trying to be OK with it. Trying to remember that we can give the Lord glory in all that we do, in word or deed, in eating or drinking, in college in Texas or serving in East Asia. 

So, why has that been so hard? Why has it been so hard to find the purpose and joy in being here? Why has it been a struggle to fight against feeling like I’m wasting my time and not doing any work for the Lord? Why has it been so hard to love my life here and the people the Lord has given me to love, share with and pour into?

Is it bad that I loved my life and ministry there? That I miss that life? Those friends? The person I was there?

Of course not. But I’m the same person here, too. 

My life may look a lot different—and my friends, ministry, time, and responsibilities may, too. But God is no different. Here or there, God is the same. And who I am in him is, too. 

It is easy to look back and want that life again—to want to be there again. 

And when I stay there— in that place of comparing here and there, the things I love and miss about there to the things I don’t love about here—I’m missing what God wants me to do and see here. I’m allowing my joy to be contingent on my location, title and the things I’m doing. 

It isn’t the things I’m doing or the place where I am that give me joy, purpose or meaning.

It is Christ.

Whether serving overseas full time for six months or being a full-time college student, the value in who I am or what my specific “title” may be is found in Christ, not in what I am, where I’m at, or what I’m doing. My value and identity in Christ doesn’t waver or change. And he calls me to himself above all else—not a place, position or title. 

By seeking Christ and keeping my eyes fixed on him, I can run the race with endurance and joy—here or there.

My life may look different now—the people, the ministry, the place, my title and responsibilities—but Christ remains the same yesterday and today and forever—here or there. And I can be joyful and serve him, minister and proclaim his truth, and desire and seek his glory and praise above all and in all things—here or there—because he is here and there.

Mackenzie, a student at West Texas A&M University, served with Go Now Missions in East Asia. Her last name is withheld for the continued security of those with whom she served.

I would like to share my testimony of my “fall to grace,” as the Lord performed a miracle that brought me back from death.

Richard RayIn 1989, I was stationed at Yokota Air Base in Japan while serving in the U.S. Air Force. In August of that year, my friends and I decided we would climb Mount Fuji. It rises 12,388 feet and is the 35th most prominent mountain in the world.

Our climb started late in the evening so we could arrive at the summit before sunrise. It took us about seven hours to reach the summit, where I stood above the clouds watching the most beautiful sunrise I ever have seen. I stood there, reflecting on God’s amazing beauty.

We soon began our descent. My friends headed out in front of me, while I stayed longer to video record the amazing view. When my time came to descend from the mountaintop, little did I know a miracle was about to take place in my life.

As I started my descent, still very close to the summit, the ground moved beneath me and threw me forward, causing me to be cast over the side of the mountain. I fell several hundred feet, grasping at anything to stop my fall. As I slid, I finally came to a stop by hanging onto a large rock. Then I realized my shoulder and both legs were broken. My head also was injured, and the skin on my face and arm were scraped by lava rock. The only thing I could think of was how mad my wife was going to be. She told me not to climb this mountain, because I would fall.

An hour or so passed before other climbers were able to reach me. They created a makeshift stretcher out of their coats and took me to a mountain station at an elevation of about 10,000 feet. I knew I was going to die. Climbers wrapped my head and did what they could to make me comfortable, but I knew it was only a matter of time before I would pass away, so I began to pray.

My prayer was not for forgiveness or salvation, since I knew I was bound for heaven. My prayers were for my wife, who was expecting our third child in October of that year, that she would not be too mad at me and that she would receive the insurance money without any problems. As I prayed, I died. Those in the station covered my face and radioed down that I had passed away.

However, God had another plan. I awoke and removed the sheet from my face, and you can imagine the surprise of those in the room. Immediately, I begin to pray again for my family. After slipping in and out of consciousness several times due to the lack of blood, I realized I was not going to die.

With blood leaking through the bandages wrapped around my head, my shoulder broken along with both legs, I begin to pray again, but a different prayer. I prayed for healing, starting with my toes and then my feet, ankles and legs. I prayed for hours, knowing if I had any hope of being brought down the mountain alive, I would have to be able to walk.

As I prayed for my toes, they began to move. As I prayed for my ankles, I felt them strengthen. And as I prayed for my legs, I could feel the broken bones restored to their proper place. Then I had the strength to sit up. Everyone in that station was amazed and scared, but I was ready to go home and see my wife and children.

They put me inside a bulldozer and drove me down to where people were waiting to take me to a helicopter to transport me back to the Air Force base. When I arrived, the men who were to transport me were in shock. At first, I did not know why, until I got into the vehicle and saw the body bag that was meant for me. I calmly said to them, “I don’t think you’ll need that.”

My “fall to grace” is not about coming back to God or the assurance of my salvation. It is about how only by the grace of God do we live at all. Romans 14:8 says: “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”

Use the time the Lord has granted you and live for him and him alone, for it is only by his grace we live at all.

Richard Ray is executive director of the Bivocational/Small Church Association and director of missions for Tri-Rivers Baptist Area.

We recently held our annual Norvell Slater Senior Adult Hymn Sing at Dallas Baptist University. This has been such a special worship service for many of us the last 28 years. Byron Williamson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Pampa, came up to me at the Hymn Sing to express a word of gratitude for assisting his son, Colby, who is one of our finest students at DBU. I soon realized it was I who should be thanking him. Colby serves as a student worker in my office, and his dad particularly wanted to thank me for giving him a job and taking an interest in him.

Gary CookPastor Williamson told me that in 2007, when it was announced in the Baptist Standard I had leukemia, he and his congregation prayed I would be healed. Colby would have been in the fifth grade then, and his father had no direct affiliation with DBU. Here was a wonderful Texas Baptist pastor who wanted to pray for a Texas Baptist college president who was his brother in Christ. Little did he know that the man he prayed for later would be able to help his son as a college student.

Rev. Williamson prayed for me as many others did because of the bond we all share as Baptist Christians. It is a deep bond of love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We all are a part of the Baptist family, and in times of need, we come together to pray for each other.

My goodness, I am so grateful to Rev. Williamson and thousands of other Baptist pastors and church members who prayed for me during my hour of need. After 32 days in Baylor University Medical Center and five months of chemotherapy, I was relieved to go into remission in the spring of 2008. I always will be grateful to the members of Texas Baptist churches who prayed for me and for my healing, even though most of them did not know me personally.

If you are one of those individuals who prayed for me back in 2007 when I was at the lowest point of my life, I want to say a very special thank you to you for your prayers, care and concern. My health is good now, and hopefully, I will be able to live a lot longer and be able to serve the Lord for a number of more years.

It is so amazing to reflect on how the Lord prepares us for the future. As a student at Baylor University, I was a member of the Baylor Chamber of Commerce. We had a motto in our organization that came from the famed Christian medical missionary Albert Schweitzer, who gave his life in ministry in Africa: “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: The only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

When I came to Dallas Baptist University as president in 1988, the first sermon I ever preached in chapel was on servanthood, and I used this quote by Schweitzer. I had been influenced to serve my fellow man as a Baylor student, and now I had an opportunity to lead others in recognizing their need to serve God by serving their fellow man.

We soon began our emphasis at DBU on servant leadership and developed our mission statement, which reads: “The purpose of Dallas Baptist University is to provide Christ-centered quality higher education in the arts, sciences and professional studies at both the undergraduate and graduate levels to traditional-age and adult students in order to produce servant leaders who have the ability to integrate faith and learning through their respective callings.”

What a privilege it has been to serve as president of Dallas Baptist University the last 28 years with a dedicated group of faculty, staff, trustees, alumni and donors. The Lord has sent to us some of the most wonderful young people and adults in the world to educate and mentor. I consider this to be a sacred trust given to us by the parents and families who have counted on us to help transform these students’ lives as Christian servant leaders.

We have more than 5,300 students studying at DBU, and only in eternity will we know how our alumni have been able to transform the lives of many others as they go into all of the world to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

All of us at Dallas Baptist University are so pleased to be a part of the Baptist family. Our trustees, faculty and staff are committed in the years ahead to serve our Lord faithfully alongside our Baptist brothers and sisters around the world.

Gary Cook now serves as chancellor of Dallas Baptist University after leading the school as president almost three decades.

A lot of evidence suggests the rise of Donald Trump represents the decline of the Christian right in American politics.  

In a recent article in The Atlantic, political commentator David Frum suggested Trump all but captured the Republican nomination by driving social conservatives from power in the party.

In this line of thinking, Ted Cruz was the candidate of the Christian right. Indeed, he had the support of culture warriors such as James Dobson, Tony Perkins and Glenn Beck. Trump is the candidate of “New York values” who has just happened to attract a few evangelical leaders, such as Jerry Falwell Jr., Robert Jeffress and Pat Robertson, for example.  

But what Frum and others miss in this analysis is the fact many evangelical voters who affiliate with the agenda of the Christian right believe they can support Trump without sacrificing any of their moral convictions about abortion, marriage and religious liberty—the primary Christian right talking points in 2016.

Two sides, same coin

The beliefs of the conservative evangelicals who supported Cruz and the conservative evangelicals who support Trump are two sides of the same coin—two ways of understanding evangelical politics that differ only in minor points of emphasis. The Christian right is far from dead; it is just having a bit of an intramural squabble.

On one side of this squabble are the “God” voters. These evangelicals have drawn a line in the sand on social issues—abortion, the definition of marriage and religious liberty.  They leaned toward Cruz. They are the social conservatives whom media commentators and other pundits normally associate with Christians who vote their values.

On the other side are the “Country” voters. These evangelicals place a high priority on the “greatness” of America. It is easy to interpret this group as being less concerned with spiritual politics than those in the “God” faction, but that would be wrong. Their brand of American exceptionalism is, at its core, a theological one. These voters believe America is great because it is a new Israel, a chosen people, a “city on a hill.”  

Those in this camp believe the United States must remain pure at home—by keeping undocumented immigrants and Muslims out—and should wield the sword of the Lord abroad—often synonymous in their minds with the spread of freedom. They lean toward Trump.

If Trump is God’s instrument for making America great again, then these voters are more than willing to overlook much of his decidedly anti-Christian language and the crudeness that drives his campaign.

Subtle differences

The differences between the “God” evangelicals and the “Country” evangelicals are subtle, but it is precisely these kinds of differences that help voters in presidential primaries distinguish between candidates.  

Cruz and his supporters, of course, also believe in American exceptionalism and see undocumented immigrants and Muslims as threats to the republic. Evangelical supporters of Trump, of course, are concerned about abortion, same-sex marriage and religious liberty. But Cruz made the latter trio his primary point of emphasis, while Trump’s message has revolved around the exceptionalism angle.

This may be the first time in the post-Reagan Republican Party that conservative evangelical voters have been divided in this way. Until this year, the Christian right has, for the most part, always unified behind a particular candidate. But if history is our guide, the differences between the God voters and the Country voters will not last long. American Protestants have been fusing God and Country for a long time.

Historic precedents

There are plenty of historic precedents for this God and Country mentality. In the early 19th century, the American Bible Society, a benevolent organization founded by several prominent Americans, promoted the circulation of the Bible as a means of winning people to Christianity and making the nation more exceptional.

In the 20th century, scholars came up with a name for this practice of fusing God and Country. They called it “civil religion.” This brand of public faith is hard to miss in American culture today. The words “In God We Trust” on currency, the inclusion of the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and the use of the mantra “God Bless America” by United States presidents are some of the most prominent examples of civil religion.

When Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed, James Dobson and others, with the help of Reagan, explicitly began to use God and Country language in the 1980s, they were reviving an old tradition.

So, let’s not forget that evangelical voters in today’s GOP, many of them baby boomers who look back on the 1980s with a warm feeling of nostalgia, often see no difference between fighting to defend their views on social issues and fighting to defend the greatness of their God-ordained nation.  

Trump’s presumptive nomination tells us in this election cycle the American exceptionalism of working evangelicals has triumphed over the old guard who have staked their political fortunes on the defense of certain social issues.

But we also know that God and Country evangelicals always are prepared to unite when it is time to face a common enemy. In November, that enemy will be named Hillary.

John Fea chairs the department of history at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pa. He is the author, most recently, of The Bible Cause: A History of the American Bible Society and blogs daily at www.thewayofimprovement.com. Religion News Service distributed this column.

Charles Schulz was widely popular for a long list of achievements. He earned Emmy, Peabody and Congressional Gold Medal awards and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his Peanuts comic strip. But he also revolutionized the funny papers by using his strip to raise subtle religious questions.

Read it in The Atlantic.

Talk about your Law of Unintended Consequences: Our culture is growing increasingly combative. So, Christians’ actions are fraught with evangelistic implications, demanding progressively peaceful responses.

Marv KnoxYou might not expect this to be the case. If atheists, agnostics and garden-variety unbelievers are demonstrating escalating levels of hostility, then maybe Christians get a pass for not sharing the gospel with them. “They’re being mean to me, and I can’t reach them, anyway,” one Christian might say. “They criticize me, so I’m being persecuted, and I don’t have to put up with it anymore,” another might add.

We see this in our fellow sisters and brothers, don’t we? The number of “nones”—who claim no religious identification—are growing steadily. And people who are antagonistic to Christianity, or faith in general, seem pushier than before. So, some Christians have developed an us vs. them attitude. Rather than lost souls in need of salvation, unbelievers are adversaries to be avoided and/or defeated in legislation.

But the more others oppose Christianity, the harder it is to separate evangelism from practically everything Christians say and do.

This isn’t exactly new. If you are of a certain age—which is to say 19 to 92—you probably remember a preacher at youth camp insisting, “Your life is the only Bible some people ever will read.” You also probably experienced the exact opposite, when Christian hypocrisy chased a wandering soul out the church door, never to return.

Escalating phenomenon

Still, this phenomenon seems to be escalating these days.

One reason is we are closer and more connected to each other than ever before. Practically everybody carries a worldwide connection device in their pocket or purse. Thanks to the Internet, and particularly all the forms of social media, we live in an intimate, interactive world. Everybody can comment on everything, and those comments don’t go away as easily as they did when most communication was spoken—out loud—and done.

Also, our culture has devolved; it’s coarser and more contentious. We’ve seen full-blown evidence of this in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaigns. But we experience it in our daily lives, as we read and watch the news, listen to discussions on radio and TV, stand by the watercooler and, sadly, sometimes hear conversations at church.

Here’s the deal: In this context, the actions of Christians—particularly how we treat unbelievers and adherents of different faiths—matters more than ever. We sometimes lose this thought in the heat of strife, but the fate of souls often rides on how Christians behave toward the bodies walking around carrying those souls.

Reasons for concern

This has been on my mind lately, for myriad reasons. A couple will illustrate the point:

First, some readers have been angry about recent editorials contemplating the intersection of homosexuals’ civil rights and others’ religious liberty. (In case you missed them, you can read “The flaws in ‘religious liberty’ laws” and “A conversation about religious liberty laws and freedom.”) Some have said I am “unwilling to take a stand against what is immoral” because I care what others think. Precisely. Too many Christians have told them they’re rotten and lousy. I hope they hear Jesus loves them. Because, although what they think about you or me or Christians in general doesn’t really matter, what they think about Jesus has eternal consequences. And unfortunately or fortunately, as the case may be, the only perspective they have on Jesus is how Christians treat them. So, what they think does matter. Forever.

Second, a fellow believer recently said the Christian’s responsibility is to proclaim the Bible: If some hear and believe, that’s wonderful. If others hear and do not believe, then that’s their problem. This is wrong on so many levels, I hardly know where to begin. But let’s start with this: In a scientific, multi-cultural, multi-religion world, the best way to validate the gospel is to embody Jesus’ love for others and to make transforming initiatives—gracious, redemptive, overtly kind, gentle and friendly actions—that can open their hearts and minds to the gospel. Shouting damnation only drives them further from the truth embodied in Jesus.

Love and the gospel

Surely, some will counter that Jesus told fallen, broken people, “Go, and sin no more.” But that always was the last thing he said, not the first. After he loved them and healed them physically and spiritually, he told them to turn, turn, turn. And don’t you know that’s what they already wanted to do—the perfect response to love?

Others may say Jesus told the disciples to “shake the dust off your feet” and move on. But dust-shaking was to happen after they met people’s needs—“heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out the demons” (Matthew 10:8). It was to happen only after they sought a “person of peace” (Luke 10:6), not engaged in a contentious argument.

Years ago, I worked as a reporter for the old Baptist Home Mission Board. One of my jobs was identifying story ideas, and one of the best places I looked for them was in the monthly reports produced by missionaries across America. I quickly discovered the language missions and Christian social ministries departments produced the most baptisms in any given month or year. The reason was simple: Those missionaries met people at the point of their need. As they healed bodies, trained for jobs, mended marriages, taught English and generally showed people the depths of Jesus’ love, they earned the right to tell them about the gospel.

So, yes, Christians ought to care what unbelievers think. And we should shape their thinking by loving them, not condemning them to hell.

As I approach retirement from my 45-year career in government and education, I do so with a thankful heart for the privilege to serve 30 years in Texas Baptist higher education.

Lanny HallI could not have imagined the rich blessings that would be in store for my wife, Carol, and me when I left the Teacher Retirement System of Texas in 1986 to accept the position of executive vice president of Howard Payne University. Immediately before that time, I had spent a decade in public service. Since that time, I have been blessed to be president of three Texas Baptist institutions—Wayland Baptist University, Hardin-Simmons University and Howard Payne University.

At each of these outstanding institutions, I have had enriching experiences with students, faculty, staff, alumni and trustees. Some come immediately to mind:

• An outstanding chapel address by Mabel Wayland Adams, 102-year-old daughter of Dr. James Henry Wayland, founder of the university that bears his name.

• A meaningful Bible study in a men’s residence hall at Wayland in 1989.

• Listening to tremendous sermons during Wayland’s Pastors’ and Laymen’s Conferences, delivered by the likes of Frank Pollard, Joel Gregory, James Semple and Jess Moody.

• A most memorable chapel time at HSU during which Christian harpist Greg Buchanan played “Amazing Grace” and the students began singing that great hymn.

• Campus revival meetings at HSU with the late Jon Randles preaching.

• The special 1996 HSU memorial service honoring the lives of three precious students—Jason Hale, Erin Greer and Kelli Marshall—killed in an auto accident near Hempstead.

• Wonderful times of worship in HPU’s Mims Auditorium with Richard Jackson, Sara Baker, Cynthia Clawson and Mike Toby.

• Annual HPU campus Christmas lighting ceremonies, followed by cookies and hot chocolate at the president’s home.

• Those heartfelt prayer times with HPU students who requested that we dedicate appointed times they called “Prayer with the President.”

All of these experiences represent significant defining spiritual moments in my career. I would have missed them if it had not been for the support of Texas Baptists, which made these experiences possible. They are not out of the norm for Texas Baptist universities. Caring faculty and staff are intentional about structuring time so these defining spiritual moments may take place. And we, as Texas Baptists, must ensure this important work is supported, nurtured and continued. The world cries out for what Texas Baptist universities deliver.

As I reflect on my own pilgrimage, Texas Baptists made it possible for me to enjoy the Royal Ambassador program during my boyhood, Baptist church camp experiences, wholesome campus life when I was a student at Hardin-Simmons University and the Baptist Student Union on the campus of North Texas State University, now the University of North Texas. I was blessed to receive a scholarship awarded by the Christian Education Committee of Birdville Baptist Church to help me attend HSU. Carol and I were blessed to adopt both our children through Bucker Baptist Benevolences. All of these activities were supported by Texas Baptists and enabled me to be positioned for service at three great universities, for which I thank God.

Having served as a president or chancellor for 27 years, I—and Carol—have been blessed richly. I am proud to have been part of expanding resources at all three institutions. We have helped in the planning and building of facilities. At HSU, it has been a privilege to work with the board of trustees and faculty to launch new programs, including physical therapy and physician assistant studies programs; an undergraduate minor in leadership, which now has a life of 23 years; a doctorate in education in leadership and a doctor of ministry program. The master of divinity program has graduated students across the last 20 years. In addition, at all three institutions, Carol and I have been blessed to work with students with the goal of having a positive impact on their individual lives.

As I close out my full-time work in Christian higher education, I would be remiss if I did not mention the deep gratitude I have for three individuals—Dwaine Greene, Don Newbury and the love of my life, Carol Hall.

Over the long haul and other than my parents, Pastor Dwaine Greene has been the most influential person in my life since my family and I joined Birdville Baptist Church a half-century ago. He encouraged me to serve in government and taught me much about ethics as T.B. Maston had taught him during his Southwestern Seminary years. He mentored me in leadership and encouraged me to serve others.

Don Newbury, my dear friend, opened the door of service to Texas Baptist higher education when he offered the position of executive vice president of Howard Payne in his new administration in 1986. Working alongside him for three years taught me a great deal about administration in a faith-based university.

And, Carol, my darling wife whom I first discovered at an RA-GA camp at Camp Copass in 1962, has been my counselor, encourager and best friend since that summer camp. In addition, she has been a superb “First Lady” in Plainview, Brownwood and Abilene.

I thank God for Texas Baptists and for the wonderful three decades of service he has given me. In retirement, I will continue to serve as chancellor at HSU on a limited basis. More blessings are in store, for which I am thankful.

Lanny Hall retires this spring as president of Hardin-Simmons University, after three decades in Christian higher education.

I recently mentioned to an acquaintance I was leaving the next day for Ethiopia. I continued by saying I had been in Nigeria just a few weeks earlier.

Randel EverettShe asked, “Why are you going?” I told her our organization seeks to awaken the church in America to those facing religious persecution around the world.

She replied, “It’s biblical!”

I asked what she meant by that statement.

She said, “The Bible says there will always be persecution.”

I was speechless. I walked away without responding. Is that the answer we give to the parents of a Chibok girl who was kidnapped by Boko Haram? When we heard more than a dozen survivors of an attack on Agatu, a village in Nigeria where Fulani herdsmen targeted and killed about 500 Christians and drove the others away from their homes, should we have simply said this is just to be expected? How should Bob Fu, president of China Aid, respond to his friend Pastor Li Jiangong, whose wife was just buried alive on April 14 as she was peacefully defending her church from those who wanted to destroy it?

It is inexcusable for one to use religious faith as a justification for ignoring the cries of the oppressed. It was William Wilberforce’s faith that awakened him to the inhumanity of slavery. Transformational leaders such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela were driven by the base awareness that all people are created in the image of God.

This past year, we have interviewed hundreds who are suffering from religious persecution in Iraq, Syria, China, Nigeria and Ethiopia. We have heard stories of beatings, imprisonment, starvation, killings and people driven from their homes. We have met with orphans and widows. Some of the persecution comes from totalitarian governments, some from militant religious groups, and some from angry mobs or even family violence. We listened to stories of incredible faith and sacrifice.

The Bible commands us to “Remember those in prison, as though in prison with them” (Hebrews 13:3). It is wrong for the church in America to neglect the cries of men, women and children around the world who are suffering from religious persecution.

Using religion to defend our apathy is an insult to the grace of God, who listens to our pleas when we beg for mercy.

The 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative joins other wonderful organizations, such as China Aid and Watch and Pray, to document stories of religious persecution. Please join with us in praying for those who are suffering and act as advocates for those who are oppressed.

Randel Everett is president of the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, which seeks to empower a movement to advance religious freedom as a universal right.

There is a crisis for Texas’ most vulnerable children, and it’s time to do something about it. The Texas foster care system endures a huge strain because there are too many abused and neglected children and not enough places where these children can recover and heal from the trauma they have gone through at the hands of a loved one.

When we talk about abuse and trauma, we have to consider what the child has gone through and for how long. Once the abuse has been reported and investigated, it is up to the state to decide what they will do with the child or children.

Read related Baptist Standard articles about foster care:

Christian foster parents needed acutely, advocates insistChristian foster parents needed acutely, advocates insist

East Texas family onboard the ‘foster care love train’East Texas family onboard the ‘foster care love train’

First Person: God made a wayFirst Person: God made a way

For more information, visit:

http://www.buckner.org/foster-care-adoption

http://www.childrenatheartministries.org/STARRY-Foster-Care

http://discoverbcfs.net/FosterCare

In the Rio Grande Valley last year, there were 1,191 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect in Hidalgo County alone. There were 199 children placed in foster care in Hidalgo County, and 120 others were placed out of the county due to the shortage of foster homes. In Cameron County, 109 children were placed in the county, and 46 were place out of county. In Starr County, a mere three children were placed in the county, and 30 were placed out of the county. And in Willacy County, there were six children placed outside of county.

First, children endure the trauma of abuse. Next, imagine being removed from the only family you know, love and care about. Their world consists of family, friends and school. It’s the only life they know and understand.

Here in the Valley, many children are removed from their homes with their siblings. Unlike other foster cases in Texas, sibling groups from the Valley tend to be much larger. The children endure even more trauma when they are removed, split up from their siblings and placed into separate foster homes.

The shortage of foster homes in our area means placing these children outside the Valley just to ensure siblings stay together. Living out of the area also places a financial burden on parents who are trying to rehabilitate with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and still maintain visits with their children.

Our mission and ministry here at Buckner Children and Family Services is centered around transforming the lives of vulnerable children and building strong families. We are people who are compelled by our faith. We have a network of expertise and professional excellence. When you choose to be a Buckner family, you are becoming part of a family much larger than yourself, a family that has a heritage of caring for children and families more than 135 years.

Scripture commands us in James 1:27, “… look after orphans and widows in their distress.” Children in our community desperately need strong, loving families willing to live out the James 1:27 call to open their homes for hope and healing.

Let’s keep children in their home counties to lessen the trauma involved with removal. Let’s be people who live out their faith in action every day by caring for children in distress.

If you are interested in joining Buckner to shine hope into the lives of hurting children in the Rio Grande Valley, contact us at (855-) 264-8783.

James Romero is a foster care case manager with Buckner Children and Family Services.

Do you wish you could travel back in time and talk to a younger version of yourself?

Life teaches hard lessons. Too bad we can’t time-travel and tell our younger selves what we’ve learned. What would you say if you could talk to a 22-year-old version of you?

Marv KnoxThe obvious answers don’t count: Make time for your family. Eat right. Get plenty of exercise. Study your Bible. Laugh. Make time for your family. (Your young self needs to hear some advice more than once.) Oh, and buy every share of Apple stock you can afford.

I also would resist the temptation to tell myself to choose another career. Who knew the newspaper industry would crater, Christianity would enter a post-denominational era, and Baptists would split? Sure, it would’ve been wiser to become a pediatrician or a litigator. But God blessed me as a Baptist journalist, and I have a hard time imagining doing anything else.

Still, if I could visit myself in the spring of 1979, less than two months before I graduated from college and got married, here are seven lessons I’d teach:

1. Do the hard stuff first.

I still haven’t run a full marathon. I trained for one three years ago, got hurt and haven’t made it. Maybe I’ll run one this fall, after my 60th birthday. But I wish I’d tried when I was 25 and stronger.

A similar principle applies to much of life: Get the difficulties out of the way. If you face a hard decision, make it and move on. If you must do an awful job, get it over with. Life is smoother when you knock obstacles out of the way. Others will pop up, of course. But if you never spend time fretting over them, you’ve got more time to enjoy the in-between.

2. Savor, savor, savor.

John Mellencamp sings: “Life is short, even in its longest days.” That’s particularly true for parenting and marriage. Even the most tedious aspects of child-rearing and the most challenging trials of marriage pass in a blink. Surprisingly, some of the most painful experiences also deliver moments of grace. And they’re gone.

Youth wastes time longing for the future. How sad to realize the “good old days” were good only in hindsight. Each moment may be miraculous, but only if you inhabit it fully. Savor.

3. Reconsider first impressions.

Some people you thought were jerks turn out to be dear. Food you thought was yucky turns out to be delicious. Some ugly covers bind beautiful books.

If you limit your life to the people, experiences and ideas that appeal to you from the start, you’ll miss joy, friendship, mystery and wonder.

4. Keep your hands open.

You’ll never regret being generous, but you’ll look back in shame upon the times you were selfish. You won’t regret great friends, but you’ll feel badly about the people you pushed away. You’ll never regret saying yes to God, but you’ll never get over saying no.

Generosity—of things, of spirit, of relationship, of curiosity—multiplies life’s blessings and opportunities. Greed and stinginess always cripple.

5. Be brave.

Remember when you were 6, taking swimming lessons, and first in line by the side of the pool to jump into the lifeguard’s arms? Remember you chickened out, and John Mark went first, and jumping in next just wasn’t as thrilling as it might have been? That was a life lesson.

Every time fear takes control, your horizon narrows. When fear grabs the reigns, the ride never is as fulfilling, exciting and purposeful as it might have been.

The Apostle Paul offered young Timothy sound advice when he said, “God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power, love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). Life is better—and more God-centered—when we refuse to be afraid.

6. Soften your heart as you grow older.

If you’re not careful, life’s hard experiences can change your character—make you bitter, angry and downright mean. I’ve seen this happen to people, and the worst thing to happen to them wasn’t the calamity, but what they made of it.

On the other hand, life’s knocks and bruises can teach vital lessons. Like humility, because we’re not as great as we wish or as awful as we fear. Also empathy, because that other person just might be us someday. And perspective, because we can’t control life or predict its outcome.

7. Appreciate the beauty of moonbeams.

Even when you live through dark, hard times—and you will live through dark, hard times—God’s grace is as near as your next breath. In fact, it’s impossible to appreciate grace and mercy and hope until you travel hard roads and peer into darkness.

In fact, you will learn to find a measure of comfort in even the direst circumstances, because that’s when God’s presence is most real. Like a mushroom, your spiritual life often grows best in the dark.

In those seasons, remember Jesus said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). The Apostle Paul promised, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28) and also: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

Around the world, people are grappling with a fundamental question: How do we make sure terrorist strikes such as those in Paris and Brussels never happen again?

Politicians have been busy proposing all kinds of policy solutions—more security at airports, more drone strikes on terrorist cells. And some so-called solutions are likely to create more problems than they solve, including Ted Cruz’s proposal to silo communities that would make young Muslim-Americans more alienated and vulnerable to extremist propaganda and ISIS recruiting.

Americans know the world is at war against radicalism. But few recognize this fight is different from wars of the past, because it’s not only about winning on a battlefield, but also about winning the hearts and minds of individuals.

In this theater, America has a unique weapon. The hyphen.

Multidimensional identity

In America, Muslims can be Muslim-American. When people hyphenate, they express a multidimensional identity. Reconciling the different facets of personal identity is what allows people to integrate, to acculturate, to cease being “The Other.” While emphasizing their own unique cultural traits, the hyphen also emphasizes what they share with their fellow countrymen.

For all of us, hyphens emphasize our essential identity as Americans yet acknowledge our hereditary and cultural extraction as Chinese, Mexican, Pakistani, Jewish, African and Muslim. Only in America can a person be many things all at once. Here we have the room to create identities large enough to accommodate any internal conflicts. In America, identities have room to breathe.

In Europe, Muslims are forced to choose. They can be French or Muslim, Belgian or Muslim. It is tough to be both at the same time.

The American Muslim population is far more integrated into the larger community than in Europe, where the Muslim communities—many of them still poor, struggling refugees from the Middle East—feel marginalized. Their enclaves and ghettos are becoming a breeding ground for extremism.

Defeating radicalism

What our European allies need in their plans for defeating radicalism is a hyphen.

Cultural isolation drives radicalization. When people are locked out of the culture, they become targets for extremist groups in the same way marginalized members of society become targets for gangs, cults or any group that offers them a chance to belong. The terrorists want this to be a clash of civilizations; they want Muslims to feel they cannot coexist with Europeans and Americans.

When people are free to embrace multiple selves without fear, they can live richer, deeper, more meaningful lives—lives that become more difficult to pull in a radical, dangerous or violent direction.

Choosing an ideology that advocates for violent destruction of one’s adopted home can happen only if people have rejected—or have been rejected by—the country in which they live.

We must find better ways to integrate marginalized people—of all stripes, persuasions and backgrounds. And we need to expend just as much time, energy and resources in the struggle for hearts, minds and identities as we do on the battlefield.

In this fight, the hyphen is a small but potent weapon.

Mustafa Tameez is a former consultant to the Department of Homeland Security under the Bush administration. Now, he conducts cultural intelligence training for law enforcement agencies. He is Muslim-American and lives in Houston. Religion News Service distributed his column.

Cutbacks in media’s coverage of religion are problematic, because understanding religion is key to understanding a broad range of issues in today’s world—from the origins of terrorism, to the presidential race, to community harmony.

Read it in the Deseret News.