Technology can be confusing these days. Especially if you’re only 2 1/2 years old. Or the granddad of somebody who’s 2 1/2 years old.

That fact became apparent last week, while I was in the middle of a six-day road trip.

Joanna called me in Atlanta to say Ezra, our grandson, wanted to talk. In fact, she had just finished visiting with Ezra and his mama, Lindsay, our daughter. Ezra apparently asked about me.

He’s used to talking to Jo and me together. We hold my laptop, and Ezra and Lindsay pull out their iPad, and we actually look at each other while we’re talking. Mostly, Ezra bounces all over the couch beside his mama and asks to see our “puppy dog,” Topanga.

It’s Ezra on the line

“Ezra wants to talk to you, too,” Jo reported. As she and I visited, my cell phone beeped in my ear, and I glanced at the screen, which told me Lindsay was calling.

So, I hung up on Jo and phoned Lindsay.

“Ezra wants to talk to you,” Lindsay said as she answered the phone. “We’re on speaker-phone, so he can hear you.”

Here’s a verbatim account of the next part of our call:

Me: “Hi, Ezra. What are you doing?”

Ezra:

Me: “Hey, it’s Marvo. I sure miss you and wish I were there so we could play trains. How are you today?”

Ezra:

Lindsay: “Marvo’s on the phone. You’ve been saying you want to talk to Marvo. Can you say something to him?”

Ezra:

Lindsay: “He’s kind of shy right now.”

Me: “I know. That’s OK, buddy. I’m shy, too. I hope you’re having fun this morning. What are you doing?”

Ezra:

Lindsay: “Can you tell Marvo what you’ve got in your hand?”

Ezra: He says something but he’s far from the phone, and I can’t make it out.

Me: “What are you playing with, Ezra”

Ezra: More of the same, which I can’t make out.

Lindsay: “That’s right, a tape-measure.”

Me: “Wow, a tape measure. You can figure the size of all kinds of stuff. What are you measuring, Ezra?”

Ezra:

Lindsay: “That won’t work, Ezra. … He’s holding the tape measure up to the phone, trying to show it to you.”

Me: “I can’t see it, buddy. But I wish I were there to help you measure things. When I come to see you, get it out, and we’ll measure all your stuff.”

Lindsay: “He’s still holding it up to the phone.”

My grandson will grow up taking for granted all kinds of gadgets and inventions we thought were science fiction when I was his age. From video phones to things I can’t even imagine, Ezra and people his age will handle them all with ease. And they’ll wonder how the world existed without technology like that.

Soon: the swipeable TV

My friend Ryan says his 3-year-old daughter tries to “swipe” their TV when she wants to change the channels. Before long, she’ll be right. Somebody will invent a swipeable TV. And then a TV that changes channels just because you think about changing channels.

Ezra, Jo and I are blessed by fancy technology that allows us to visit face-to-face, even though we live hours apart. But we’re blessed by something much older and far better.

Lindsay: “We’ve got to go now. Ezra, is there something you want to tell Marvo?”

Ezra, in a faint-yet-clear voice: “I love you.”

Me: “And I love you, too. You’re a terrific grandson. I’ll see you soon.”

Video phones are fun and cool. New-fangled technology often improves our lives. But what we really run on is as old as humanity. A grandson’s love is better than any hi-tech phone or powerful computer.

God made us for love.

Raise your hand if you’ve been disturbed and/or disgusted in the past week.

I see those hands.

If you haven’t been disturbed and/or disgusted in the past week, meditate on one word: Washington.

Editor Marv KnoxThere, now, I see a sea of hands.

Members of Congress descended to the nadir of their collective abysmal existence when they refused to pass a federal budget before the government’s fiscal year began Oct. 1. Republicans want to defund the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, and the Democrats want to keep it funded. Since Republicans control the House and Democrats rule the Senate, they stalemated.

What we’ve got here is a crisis of leadership.

It’s troubling on so many levels. First, our political system is so broken, millions of Americans are represented by unrepresentative extremists. Second, under pressure, these so-called leaders behave like children. Third, making this list is depressing. I’m going to move on, but you may add many illustrations yourself.

Behaving like children

For now, let’s go back to point No. 2: Our so-called leaders behave like children. Actually, that statement libels children. Sorry, kids.

Two mornings after the government shutdown, a TV program tested that theme with a group of children. A news anchor talked about the government shutdown with fourth graders from a Brooklyn elementary school.

The children put the politicians to shame. They instinctively talked about compromise, sharing, cooperation, fairness and compassion.

Why does prepubescent wisdom trump conventional political wisdom? Prepubescent wisdom is straightforward and logical, while political wisdom is distorted by power, money and a corrupt configuration that rewards extremism.

This corruption particularly influences the House of Representatives and state legislatures, but a form of it also reaches the U.S. Senate.

Gerrymandered districts

Gerrymandered legislative districts provide pervasive and poisonous political influence. Most U.S. representatives and state legislators hold “safe” seats. Their districts have been drawn to encase strongly Republican or solidly Democratic voting majorities. The party in power when districts are drawn crafts them to maintain control. But minority politicians aid and abet. Their reward is a safe seat, even though their acquiescence means their party doesn’t have a chance to gain a majority or balance the political power.

When a politician runs in a safe district, the only worry is winning the primary. If a politician can defeat all primary challengers from her/his own party, the general election is a shoo-in. That means the real race takes place in the primary, where party extremists dominate.

Consequently, if an officeholder does not vote the will of the zealous party leadership, she or he will be “primaried”—face an even more extreme candidate in the next primary. So, at general elections, voters rarely see an opportunity to elect a statesperson who will apply the wisdom of fourth-graders, seeking compromise, sharing, cooperation, fairness and compassion.

Money compounds the problem

Beyond this, money compounds corruption. Despite cosmetic appearances to the contrary, campaign cash flows unfettered into the coffers of incumbent candidates. Controls and safeguards? Laughable. And so money corrodes and corrupts.

You may be wondering: What’s this got to do with faith? Why should this be a topic of conversation in a Christian publication?

Christians have a mandate—read Luke 4, Matthew 25 and Amos, for starters—to care for the common good, to look after the weak and less fortunate, and to seek and pursue justice. Any Christian who votes solely according to personal interest violates the gospel.

Christians must repair our broken political system. If dysfunction in Washington and our state capitols is to be healed, we must get the process started. Here are initial steps:

• Demand balanced, truly representational legislative districts.

They should be fair and geographically contiguous. The more open, tight and closely contested the general elections, the better. Candidates will realize they must represent all the people, not just party elite, to remain in office. This will supply incentive for compromise.

• Open and improve the primary system.

Fair districts will provide the greatest impetus for open primaries. However, do not underestimate powerful forces’ ability to cheat the system. We must remain vigilant to thwart seemingly innocuous bills and regulations that would corrupt primaries.

• Reform campaign finance laws.

Yes, the Supreme Court has weighed in and shoved us toward the current system. But Congress can enact laws that pass constitutional muster while also providing for fairness. No one who has studied American history can believe the Founding Fathers would be proud of where we are today.

• Consider term limits.

Imagine a political system where no one is running for re-election. How much more willingly would lawmakers and government executives seek the common good if they no longer considered the self-interest of re-election?

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve watched all the Spider-Man movies, The Devil Wears Prada and all those other cool movies that take place in New York City.

I remember telling my parents someday I was going to move to the Big Apple and just be cool. Of course, they laughed, and I would laugh at myself, too. I always dreamed of moving to the city and living a successful life. But now, I find myself living in New York City, a place where it’s so easy to see lavish displays of wealth and such hideous depths of poverty.  

Leilani Estrada-ColimaBut I did not come here to live a “successful” life. I came but to live as a servant of Jesus Christ.  

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to do missionary work in New York through Go Now Missions. I spent two months living in Queens and served at a Hispanic church in the neighborhood in Corona.

Now, I’m back, working at the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association as office administrator. God has shown me his grace and mercy and also given me wisdom as I work in this ministry.  

New York City is a special place to be. When people think of New York City, they think of glamour, blinding lights, wealth, fashion and money. And yes, that can be true. But did you know that each year, about 17,500 individuals are brought into the United States and held against their will as victims of sex trafficking, and a lot of those victims are here in New York?

Did you know that there are more than 800 languages spoken in New York City?  Did you know more the vast majority of the people in New York do not have a personal relationship with Christ?

Metropolitan New York Baptist Association is a family of churches of diverse sizes, ethnicities, languages and contexts that cooperate together to make disciples of all people. These churches meet in apartments, public schools, warehouses, renovated office space, rented facilities and various church buildings in a 75-mile radius from Times Square, in a region of 22 million people.  

Our churches range in size from a handful of people to thousands of members. We worship in more than 20 languages. We are committed to offering all people the most culturally appropriate expression of a New Testament church.

Our passion is to present the gospel of Jesus to every person in the New York City Metropolitan Area and to transform communities through Christ’s life-changing power.  

As long as I can remember, one of the most popular Bible verse that I’ve heard sermons about is “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).  

I used to think it meant that if I was a “good girl,” God would make my dreams come true—such as moving to New York, having a successful life, raising a family, driving a nice car, provided I kept going to church every Sunday. But now, I have come to interpret this verse in a total different way. I have learned that as I walk with God daily, the Lord changes my plans into his plans.

By no means am I living out the life I always dreamed of living. Instead, God is changing the desires of my heart and making them his own—and that is the most beautiful place to be. 

Leilani Estrada-Colima, a recent graduate of the University of Texas Pan-Am, served in New York this summer with Go Now Missions and has returned to New York City to serve as a Go Now semester missionary with Metropolitan New York Baptist Association.

Overcome greed & prejudice

Your editorial on values and recent remarks by the new pope renew my faith that Christians can make a difference against greed and prejudice.

Perhaps our leaders can lead the way.

Robert Flynn

San Antonio

WASHINGTON (RNS)—As Congress makes a final attempt this fall to act on comprehensive immigration reform, the debate is focusing on “securing” our borders and offering a path to citizenship to the 11 million residents here without proper documentation. These politicized arguments, however, don’t see the forest for the trees.

We’re not viewing the broader impact immigration has had on American society. In particular, we’re missing how immigration is transforming the religious life of North America.

Wes Granberg-Michaelson retired after serving 17 years as general secretary of the Reformed Church in America. (RNS Photo by Katy Batdorff/The Grand Rapids Press)We commonly view immigration as introducing large numbers of non-Christian religions into U.S. society. True, because of immigration in the last half-century, America has become the most religiously diverse country in the world, with thousands of mosques and temples dotting our religious landscape.

Yet popular assumptions about the impact of immigration on U.S. non-Christian religious practice disregard realities. Immigration is having its most dramatic religious effects on America’s Christian population: An estimated 60 percent of all immigrants arriving here are Christian.

Much has been written about the way growing numbers of “millennials” are walking away from the U.S. church. Yet while millennials are walking out the front door, immigrant Christian communities are appearing right around the corner, and sometimes knocking at the back door. They may hold the key to vitality for American Christianity.

Expanding diversity

Consider this: According to the 1990 Census, 19.7 million people here were born in another country. By 2010, that number jumped to 43 million—74 percent of them Christian, compared to 5 percent Muslim, 4 percent Buddhist and 3 percent Hindu. Immigration’s overwhelming religious impact has been to inject expanding diversity and fresh vitality into the country’s Christian community.

But it’s not just numbers that tell the story of Christian migration; it’s also the intensity of their belief and religious practice. In 1960, America was home to only 35,555 foreign residents from Africa. By 2009, that number had grown to 1.5 million, the vast majority of them Christian. Many exhibit a vibrant spiritual life nurtured by practices, traditions and expressions that have been shaped in a non-Western context.

At least 150 African immigrant congregations can be found in New York City alone. The greater Washington area is home to about 250,000 Ethiopians, many of whom worship in 35 Ethiopian churches.

Asian-Americans

According to the 2010 Census, America now is home to 17.3 million Asian-Americans; in the last decade, the Asian-American population grew by 46 percent, a faster rate than any other racial group. Sociologists estimate 44 percent of all Asian-Americans are Christian, and the intensity of their faith commitment is having a striking impact.

About 13 percent of Catholic seminarians are from Asia, and many evangelical campus groups are led by growing numbers of Asian-American students. Of the 5,000 students at Fuller Theological Seminary, one in five is Asian or Asian-American.

There now are 50 million U.S. Hispanics, and 70 percent of them are Catholic. The result: More than one in three American Catholics are Hispanic, and 71 percent of the growth among American Catholics since 1960 is fueled by Hispanics.

Intensity of practice and belief

Again, not only do numbers matter, but also the intensity of practice and belief. An estimated 54 percent of Latino Catholics identify themselves as charismatic, and thus incorporate the practices of spiritual healing, speaking in tongues and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

About one in four Latinos is Protestant, accounting for at least 9.5 million American Christians. There are three times as many U.S. Latino Protestants as Episcopalians. The great majority, 85 percent, of these are Pentecostal or evangelical. Many can be found in thousands of storefront churches and chapels that dot urban Hispanic neighborhoods.

As the Hispanic community is projected to grow to 106 million by 2050, their presence will change the face of American Christianity.

If it were somehow possible to deport the 11 million undocumented immigrants presently in the United States, the result would be to deprive countless Catholic and Protestant congregations of a source of their growing spiritual vitality.

Politicians continue to treat immigration as a problem to be solved rather than a gift to be embraced. Established, mostly white U.S. congregations frequently struggle to retain their members, while immigrant Christians create a picture of growing diversity and vitality. In many denominations, immigrants provide hopeful stories of growth in the face of decline.

Global trends ensure migration, particularly from the Global South to the Global North, will be a growing part of the world’s future. And the difficult experiences of migration tend to intensify the religious convictions of those from any faith. Those who believe religious vitality serves to strengthen communities and serve the common good should lead efforts to protect immigrants and enhance future opportunities for the foreign-born to be welcomed to America—and in her churches.

Wesley Granberg-Michaelson is the former general secretary of the Reformed Church in America. His latest book is From Times Square to Timbuktu: The Post-Christian West Meets the Non-Western Church. His column was distributed by Religion News Service.

I opened a boxed lunch and liked what I saw—turkey sandwich, baked vegetable chips, white-chocolate-chip cookie and an orange.

The orange offered the pleasant surprise. Most boxed lunches come with apples. Usually dry, shriveled, mealy apples. So, an orange down on the bottom, beside the cookie, made me smile.

Editor Marv KnoxWhen I think about smell and taste, oranges are my favorite fruit. A good orange is pungent. And that’s only a set-up for the sweet-tangy-tartness that twists and tickles your tongue.

But when I started eating this orange, I suddenly wished it were a banana.

This has happened before. Usually, when I’m wearing dressy clothes and don’t have a paring knife. And often when I’m in a hurry.

See, bananas come in simple, easy-open containers. Oranges arrive shrink-wrapped in sticky, crumbly, annoying, next-to-impossible-to-remove covers.

Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World, reports Americans eat more bananas than apples and oranges combined. It’s not because they stay fresh longer or taste better. It’s because they come in simple, easy-open containers.

Friendly and accessible

Bananas are user-friendly and accessible. Oranges? Not so much.

So, what’s this got to do with church?

While I was trying to peel the orange—making a mess of it, getting more frustrated by the minute—I thought about my younger daughter, Molly, and her husband, David, who moved to a new city this summer.

Molly and David love the Lord and church. So, even before they moved, they got on the Internet and started checking on churches. After they arrived, Sunday by Sunday, they searched for a church home.

In his new position, David works some Sundays. When he couldn’t attend Bible study and worship, Molly explored.

That led her to a Baptist church that seemed like a fit. And that led to frustration and disappointment. This church was much more like my orange—maddeningly inaccessible—than a friendly banana.

Molly walked into the building and looked around. Nobody greeted her or even seemed to notice. She searched out the church office, tracked someone down and asked about a Bible study class.

Churches that don’t care

Over and over, people at this church acted surprised to meet a visitor. They didn’t know what to do with a newcomer, especially a young adult. Worse, they didn’t seem to care.

Molly gave this church the benefit of the doubt. She visited a second time. Same boring song; second lethargic verse.

You might be thinking, “Well, that’s only one church.” Unfortunately, it’s not. I’ve been guest preacher for scores of congregations. I get depressed about the times I walked in and people didn’t seem to notice or pretend to care.

That’s not a problem for me. Jesus is my Savior, and I have a church home.

But I shudder to think about hurting souls who walk onto many church campuses. They limp away, wondering if God loves them. They know God’s people don’t.

A few simple steps

You don’t have to be a megachurch to make guests feel welcome. You can make huge progress by following a few simple steps:

• Recruit your friendliest members and station a couple of them at each main entrance during Bible study and through the early part of worship services.

• Make sure they know how to find classes for every age, as well as where to go for childcare.

• Encourage them to listen, so they sense needs.

• Place at least two people at each door, so if one is helping guests, another is ready.

• If you don’t have enough friendly people to cover all the doors, post signs providing clear directions to your welcome center, where friendly people await them.

• Recruit someone in each adult class to take newcomers under wing. Help them find everything they need—from where to pick up their children, to how to get to worship, to information about the church and how to contact a minister.

• When guests aren’t around, teach members to identify and welcome people they don’t know.

The churches I love to attend—and want to join—make sure I know they were happy to see me and helped me feel at home.

Church members can get lackadaisical about this, because going to church feels routine. But every Sunday, eternity weighs in the balance for people who drive to church looking for God. A friendly greeter can make a divine difference for a searching soul.

When I prayed before starting my devotional, I gave thanks to God for surrounding me with such amazing people here in Peru.

Ruiz and a friend.I have made close friends, and the pastor’s family has taken me in as their daughter. Everything is in place, and God has placed me exactly where I am suppose to be.

The most beautiful thing that I just cannot wrap my head around is how Christians can come together without even knowing each other and just pour out their love to complete strangers. After Sunday school class, one of the youth came up to me and invited me to have lunch with her sister and a friend. I agreed to go with them, and time flew. We all talked and shared stories about what God was doing in our lives.

Ruiz playing Jeopardy with the class.After that, the girl who invited me to lunch asked if I wanted to take a walk up the mountain to her land and help them bring some back some food for their animals. I agreed. As we walked, she told me that what I said during Sunday school was speaking directly to her heart. She poured out her problems, her dreams and her life to me.

“It is not easy for me to open up with anyone. The truth is that I do not really have Christian friends that I can trust, but I feel like I can talk to you and tell you everything. I sense I can trust you,” she told me.

“This is all from God,” I said to her. “What I spoke during class was what God put in my heart. It was he who spoke to you.”

She smiled. I offered to do a Bible study with her to help and encourage her spiritual walk. She was more than delighted to accept. She has opened her home to me. It is no coincidence. It did not happen by chance. The God I serve is one with a purpose and a plan for all.

I am not the same person I was when I came to Christ. I am not the same person I was four years ago. To tell you the truth, I’m not the same person I was three weeks ago. God is working in my life daily, he is renewing my mind constantly, and he is replacing all the filth and broken parts of my life with unending love for people that I do not even know.

Only our living God can bring healing and transformation to a broken world and change a life to bring glory to himself.

Janet Ruiz, a student at the University of Texas-Pan American, is serving with Go Now Missions in Peru.

Recent weeks have been a whirlwind of activities and events. God has moved in radical ways, and as I look back at the last few weeks, I am amazed at the power of his love.

Headed into this semester I was not sure what to expect, as I am serving at a campus in an area unfamiliar to me. Eager with anticipation, I headed into this semester, just to have my expectations blown out of the water.

Lauren Cartwright and friends.The first week of school, more than 40 girls replied to me after I messaged them, encouraging them as they came to campus. This showed me just how hungry the students here are for Jesus and his love.

One of my favorite stories is from the first week of school. I had the opportunity to meet a student who told me she was just lonely, because she hadn’t met anyone yet. The next morning, we went and got coffee, and I asked her who Jesus is to her. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I am still trying to figure that out.”

I immediately took the opportunity to share the story of how God radically changed my life and to explain how Jesus gave his life for her. Something that has been so evident to me is that college students are a group of individuals who have “fallen through the cracks.” We live in a culture that is submerged in religion.

Many of our students have an idea of who God is, but they do not understand what it means to have a deep relationship with him. It has been so encouraging that I get to work with the college students every day and remind them the importance of that relationship.

Over the last few weeks I have seen students give God their relationships, give him their talents and give him their lives. I have learned in the midst of all of this to remember God is in control and God has a plan. My job is to trust in him and to daily surrender to the calling Jesus has placed on my life.

Lauren Cartwright, a recent graduate of Tarleton State University, is serving as a campus missionary intern at Tyler Junior College through Go Now Missions.

Pope isn’t more liberal

Many in the media think the Catholic pope is becoming more liberal, but he isn’t. He doesn’t think women should have the same rights as men.

I wonder if he thinks Protestants should have the same rights as Catholics. The last pope didn’t think Protestants could go to heaven. What about the new pope? Does he think non-Catholics can go to heaven? 

Chuck Mann

Greensboro, N.C.

Thankful Blackaby is safe

I’m so thankful to hear Henry Blackaby has been found. I cannot imagine what his family has been through. 

I only know him through reading Experiencing God . It is a must to have on my bookshelf.

There is a beautiful truth I keep repeating to others and myself that Pastor Blackaby wrote about. It is that God is already at work around us, and it is up to us to be still and listen and join him in what he is already doing.  

I’m thankful to our Lord for watching over him and comforting the family with God’s presence and through the prayers and support of others.

Barbara Cumby

Red Deer, Alberta, Canada

My football career ended in January 1974.

No, that’s not when my NFL team lost in the playoffs. Nor was it after I played for my university in a bowl game.

It was the first week of the spring semester of my junior year in high school. Our family recently moved from Perryton, a small farming/ranching/oil town in the northern reaches of the Texas Panhandle, to Wichita Falls, an oil/business/military city in Northwest Texas. Back then, Wichita Falls was easily 15 times larger than Perryton.

17 years old and 129 pounds

I was 17 years old and weighed 129 pounds. If I suddenly turned into what I dreamed about, it probably would have been—in this order—food, a girl or a football. And really, a girl and football would’ve been a toss-up.

Back then, a 129-pound boy could dream about football in a town like Perryton. My junior year, I played on the junior varsity, which was my preference, because I got to start on defense and special teams, and even substitute on offense. As I looked toward my senior season, I expected to start on special teams and at least make second string on the varsity defense.

But then we moved. The Wichita Falls High School Coyotes were enjoying the twilight of their second round of dominance as a state gridiron powerhouse.

The first week of the spring semester, looking to find myself in a huge new school, I sat across the desk from Donnell Crosslin, the head football coach who recently led the Coyotes to a state championship and state runner-up. (His peers later elected him to the Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor. And in retirement, he served on the Texas Baptist Executive Board.)

“Well, sure, you can go out for the football team,” he said after I told him my plans. “Of course, I don’t think we’ve got a rising sophomore as small as you.”

Before I closed his office door behind me, I realized an important fact: A 129-pound kid with mediocre speed could get crushed playing football at a school like that.

Picked up a reporter’s notebook

And so I hung up my cleats and picked up a reporter’s notebook and camera. The next fall, instead of going out for football, I became editor of the school newspaper and took photos for the yearbook. Standing on the sidelines of football games all season long, I saw those Coyotes—my would-be teammates—deliver ferocious hits. And although I missed the excitement of suiting up and running on grass, I was happy not to be practice fodder for boys much larger and faster than I.

This year, I’ve thought back to my meeting with Coach Crosslin as I’ve read about Damon Janes and De’Antre Turman, high school football players who died from injuries they sustained on the field.

When my daughters performed for the Farmerettes drill team during halftimes at Lewisville High School football games, I taught them a truism: Football will break your heart. We lamented losses, especially when failure in the playoffs meant the end of another season.

Injuries threaten the high school football magic

We learned hearts mend, and life goes on after another tally in the loss column. But broken bodies don’t always mend, and the broken hearts of parents and siblings of boys who die from football injuries never heal.

Plays and schemes have changed, but the main difference in football between my high school seasons and today is the size and speed of the players. Equipment has improved, but in too many cases—and we’ve only mentioned deaths, not concussions and spinal injuries—it’s not sufficient to protect the players.

I still love football. Texas high school football is a cultural phenomenon that elevates the quality of life in our state. But if we do not protect the players, it may not survive—at least at the high school level—for another generation.

Hello, Texas Baptists! On Sept. 5, your Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board staff received 50 pastors from around the state for “Welcome Pastor Day!” here at your Baptist Building. It was a great time for all of us, and I appreciate the leadership of Joe Loughlin and our Connections Team in planning and managing this special day. Our next one is set for Jan. 28. Please encourage your pastor to come be a part of a wonderful time. For information, write to joe.loughlin@texasbaptists.org.

David HardageI want to thank Brad Herridge for allowing me to tell about our Texas Baptist ministry at Bosqueville Baptist Church in Waco. He has served there faithfully 10 years and is a good friend. Kathleen and I were blessed by the warm hospitality of this great church.

I recently had the joy of talking about our Texas Baptist work and the Mary Hill Davis Offering for State Missions at College Heights Baptist Church in Plainview. They are without a pastor, but Paul Sadler from Wayland Baptist University is providing wonderful interim pastor service, and Gary Yates, their minister of education, is providing good leadership. Gary is a fellow Lamesa High School graduate, so you know he is doing a good job!

While in Plainview, I enjoyed a good visit with Tim Marrow, pastor of First Baptist Church  there. Being from West Texas, I always enjoy my opportunities to be back and visit with pastors and churches.

Thanks to Kelly Russell, pastor of First Baptist Church in Vernon, for allowing me to preach to a wonderful and familiar church. My grandfather was a deacon there for many years, and my uncle, Mike Hardage, still is a faithful member. It was a real blessing for me to share again a Sunday morning with these great people.

Jim Brown has faithfully served Monterey Baptist Church in Lubbock 21 years. He was kind to invite me to speak to the volunteer thank-you banquet. The congregation’s staff cooked dinner for more than 100 church volunteers as a way of saying thanks for a job well done. This church is blessed to have servant leaders in their pastor and staff.

Coming up Oct. 4-5 is your Texas Baptist Ministry to Refugees Summit . As Texas continues to grow and diversify, the importance of this conference cannot be overstated. I hope you will join us.

More next time. God bless you all, and thanks for the opportunity to serve.

David Hardage is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.

Americans could raise the level of public discourse, improve the quality of life for millions of people and solve most of our political problems if we could agree on the meaning of one word: “Values.”

The ideals we hold reflect our values. The way we act and how we treat others reflect what we value.

Marv KnoxIf we could talk—and listen—reasonably and patiently to people from all segments of society, perhaps we could discover a common set of values. These values, in turn, could shape how we establish public policy, operate institutions and businesses and, in short, behave toward each other.

We continually hear complaints that America’s “values” have declined precipitously across the past five or six decades. Really? How can anyone but white men even take that claim seriously?

To be sure, no television station from 40 or more years ago would have carried a program featuring a young female singer of middling talent “twerking” her behind in the crotch of a male singer almost old enough to be her father. And immodest dress is now ubiquitous, as is rampant sexuality.

But for all the media attention it generates, profligate promiscuity is not the leading indicator of America’s moral values.

Values may have improved

In fact, you can build a case that our values—or at least numerous important values—have improved across the years. Decades ago, Jim Crow laws segregated and repressed people of color, particularly in the flagrantly religious South. Voting rights were not distributed equally (although, now we’re regressing on that front). Girls did not possess equal privileges in academics and athletics. Women, who still haven’t caught up but are making progress, faced repression in the workplace.

Legislation and public policy forced Americans to treat each other differently. Slowly, sometimes imperceptibly, attitudes followed along. Millions of young people today will not condone—and, frankly, find incomprehensible—the racism and sexism their grandparents took for granted. That’s a vastly improved value.

Now, public attitudes about the dignity and worth of all people are changing. We don’t agree about the morality of homosexual activity. But more Americans acknowledge all people, regardless of their orientation, should be respected and their rights protected.

Economic values hit where we live

Economic values seem to be the most intractable, because they hit each of us where we live—in the pocketbook. Any value that doubles as daily reality calcifies into bedrock.

So, many Americans worry about deficit spending and insist on balancing the federal budget and reducing the national deficit. We’ll leave the debate over whether that will work or if it is in fact necessary to the economists. The question of values comes into play when they suggest exactly how to balance the budget and reduce the deficit.

Those proposals disproportionately fall on the backs of the weakest and most vulnerable. For example, recent legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives proposes cutting SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, by $40 billion over 10 years. This program is designed to expand and contract with the economy so that the most vulnerable—the elderly, children and the working poor—can receive basic nutrition. It’s not extravagant, either; the cost is only about $1.50 per meal. Drastic cuts mean consigning fellow Americans to malnutrition, at the very least, which ultimately further harms the economy.

This is but one example of competing values. A strong economy and a healthy federal budget are important, positive values. But so is the health and well-being of all Americans. Similar illustrations could be drawn from policies and budgets that shape health care, education, the military, housing, the environment and more.

Balancing values

And contrary to partisan politicians (Others are hard to find these days.), while values may compete, they need not be mutually exclusive. If we weigh the values, we must look for solutions that balance them appropriately.

Christians can take at least two steps to help our nation define the values that shape our society.

First, we can insist on balance. It’s past time to reward politicians who have the courage to build consensus and compromise, so all Americans are respected and protected and so the range of legitimate values are respected.

Second, we must insist on placing a premium value on human beings. All people are created in God’s image. It is blasphemy and a sacrilege for political and economic power to run roughshod over the divine stamp in any soul.