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‘‘MMoorree tthhaann aa rraammpp’’ CChhuurrcchh lleeaaddeerrss ffooccuuss oonn ffuullll aacccceessss ppaaggee 55

Patrick Henry Hughes emphasizes abilities page 4

JUNE 2009 | Vol. 27, No. 6 John D. Pierce Executive Editor Baptists Today serves churches by providing a reliable source of [email protected] Jackie B. Riley unrestricted news coverage, thoughtful analysis and inspiring Managing Editor features focusing on issues of importance to Baptist Christians. [email protected] An autonomous national Keithen M. Tucker Baptist news journal Development and Marketing Director [email protected] Tony W. Cartledge P E R S P E C T I V E Contributing Editor [email protected] > Southern Baptists and eventual evangelism...... 7 Street 8 Bruce T. Gourley By John Pierce Online Editor Questions [email protected] > Talking points for a difficult issue ...... 24 Vickie Frayne By Bob Setzer Jr. ‘What makes Baptists Art Director different?’ Jannie T. Lister Connie Pursiful > Yearning on the everlasting arms ...... 25 Office Assistant Office Assistant By Tom Ehrich By A. Roy Medley Lauryn C. Dant Circulation Assistant > Billy Graham’s words to remember...... 26 Walker Knight Jack U. Harwell By Jack U. Harwell Publisher Emeritus Editor Emeritus Board of Directors > King David: warts and all ...... 34 Gary F. Eubanks, Marietta, Ga. (chairman) By Tony W. Cartledge Kelly L. Belcher, Spartanburg, S.C. (vice chair) Z. Allen Abbott, Peachtree City, Ga. Jimmy R. Allen, Big Canoe, Ga. I N T H E N E W S Nannette Avery, Signal Mountain, Tenn. Ann T. Beane, Richmond, Va. > Dunn receives ‘merit badge for stubborness’ ...... 11 Thomas E. Boland, Alpharetta, Ga. Huey Bridgman, Columbus, Ga. Robert Cates, Rome, Ga. > Missouri court affirms Windermere’s independence ...... 12 Anthony D. Clevenger, Pensacola, Fla. Kenny Crump, Ruston, La. > Angelou, Carter urge Baptist unity, shared ministry ...... 13 David Currie, San Angelo, Texas James M. Dunn, Winston-Salem, N.C. > Poll: Americans hold ‘nuanced’ views on homosexuality ...... 14 James L. Evans, Auburn, Ala. W.M. Gilbert Jr., Lavonia, Ga. > Study: Religiously unaffiliated open to faith ...... 14 R. Kirby Godsey, Macon, Ga. Sara Spivey, Mandy Curlee and pre- William B. Greenhaw, Macon, Ga. > Southern Seminary closing School of Church Music ...... 15 school director Carol Brown are part Leslie D. Hill, Lexington, Ky. Jimmy Little, Hartselle, Ala. of a growing ministry at Highland > Advocates say new stem cell guidelines are sensible ...... 16 Michael M. Massar, Tyler, Texas Hills Baptist Church in Macon, Ga., to J. Thomas McAfee, Macon, Ga. William T. Neal, Stone Mountain, Ga. > Church leaders react to evangelicals’ embrace of torture ...... 27 include persons with special needs. Ella Wall Prichard, Corpus Christi, Texas Michael G. Queen, Wilmington, N.C. > Henry Crouch: news journal helps preserve freedom ...... 28 Related stories on pages 4 and 5. Mary Etta Sanders, Dalton, Ga. Macon Sheppard, Folly Beach, S.C. > National Day of Prayer gets political makeover ...... 29 Walter B. Shurden, Macon, Ga. Charlotte Cook Smith, Raleigh, N.C. David M. Smith, Houston, Texas > Alliance launches new initiatives, honors leader ...... 31 Leo Thorne, Valley Forge, Pa. Sarah Timmerman, Cairo, Ga. > Balmer says Religious Right ‘mortally wounded’ ...... 33 Clement H. White, St. Petersburg, Fla. Advocates Mary Jayne Allen, Chattanooga, Tenn. F E AT U R E S Randy L. Hyde, Little Rock, Ark. Sherry McGlaughlin, Liberty, Mo. David Woody, Daniel Island, S.C. > Stan Hastey reflects on 20 years with the Alliance ...... 30 Baptists Today (ISSN 1072-7787) By Tony W. Cartledge is published monthly by: Baptists Today > Dave Ramsey calls for spending discipline, ...... 38 P.O. Box 6318 debt-free living Macon, GA 31208-6318 Geneticist Francis Collins on the To subscribe or place > Some long-gone preachers still preaching on air waves...... 39 compatibility of faith and science. an advertisement, By Adelle M. Banks call 478-301-5655 or By Daniel Burke toll-free 1-877-752-5658. Page 32 Subscription rates: 1 year, $20 2 years, $35 I N E V E R Y I S S U E 1 year groups of 25 or more, $15 1 year Canada, $35 1 year foreign, $50 Quotation Remarks 6 Resource Page 22 Periodical postage paid at Macon, Ga. 31208 Editorial 7 Classifieds 23 POSTMASTER: Media Shelf 17 In the Know 23 Send address corrections to: Baptists Today P.O. Box 6318 Back-row Birdie 18 Reblog 37 Macon, GA 31208-6318 Formations Commentary 19 © 2009 Baptists Today. All rights reserved.

June 2009 • Baptists Today | 3 F E A T U R E STORY AND PHOTO BY JOHN PIERCE No time for pity Patrick Henry Hughes puts an emphasis on ability

TONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — A full-time student and Spanish major, “One of my big motivations Patrick Henry takes classes three days a week comes from the artist Ray in the fall — to match up with band S Charles,” said 21-year-old Patrick rehearsals — and two days a week in the Henry Hughes before performing a closing spring. Early mornings are for piano practice. concert for the Development Disabilities His dad once dreamed of having a son Ministries (DDM) conference titled who would be a star on a college football “Opening New Worlds” at Smoke Rise field. In a much different way than he imag- Baptist Church east of Atlanta in mid-April. ined, that dream has come true. Charles, the legendary pianist and singer who died in 2004, had to overcome many Reaching potential obstacles — poverty, grief, racism and blind- Patrick Henry has no time or place for self- ness — to achieve musical success. It is a pity. There is too much to accomplish. message that young Hughes both grasps and “Right now my life’s calling is to finish carries on. school and graduate, and also to continue to “Like everyone, there are days when I pass on my message to millions of people don’t want to go to classes or to marching who might need to hear it,” he said. band rehearsals or do that one particular And what is that message? homework assignment, but I always look at “My main message that I pass along is Ray Charles and realize how he had obstacles interested in the full inclusion of all persons that it doesn’t matter what kind of problems to conquer as well — especially when his in the life of the church — regardless of you might face on a day-to-day basis — it fame was starting to spread,” the University physical and mental challenges — paid might be that one little obstacle in front of of Louisville junior told Baptists Today. “I tribute to his motivator. you that makes you think, ‘I’m not going to realize that what he went through makes my He put sunglasses over his nonfunction- be able to conquer that’ — but if you set daily challenges no big deal whatsoever.” ing glass eyes and swayed a bit in his your mind to achieve a goal, you can do it.” Hughes was born without eyes and the wheelchair. Then in a strong, soulful voice he His new book, I Am Potential, carries ability to walk. So what is this talk about belted out “Georgia on my Mind” and that message as well. And he encourages marching band? “America the Beautiful.” church leaders to not underestimate the That’s what he thought when the band While the late musician Ray Charles contributions of those who face different director at U. of L. suggested he participate. motivates Patrick Henry Hughes, the gifted challenges than most other persons. But with Patrick Henry playing the trumpet young performer is quick to identify his “I would like to say to church leaders to and his faithful dad, Patrick, pushing the father, Patrick, as his hero. Rightly so. stay open even though people might have a chair, that’s exactly what he does. The elder Patrick works third shift for ‘different ability,’ as I like to call it,” said UPS in Louisville in order to be with Patrick Patrick Henry. “They can still be able to pass Daily routines Henry for his daily activities of school and along God’s message to others.” The oldest of three sons, Patrick Henry band practice — where dad has to learn all of Like most young adults, Patrick Henry is began picking out tunes on a piano before his the marching routines. The two often travel considering several good options for his first birthday. At age two, he was taking together as well. future. He might seek a career as a musician requests for songs like “Twinkle, Twinkle, “We are blessed to get a lot of requests or possibly work as an American diplomat in Little Star.” [to speak and perform] and we try to do as a Spanish-speaking country. But one other Family video clips — shown during a many as we can,” said Patrick Henry. possibility stays on his mind. stirring six-minute feature on ESPN — verify Balancing travel with school is not too “I’d really like to become the host of a his early talent. Today Patrick Henry is an difficult, he added. Plus, Patrick Henry is popular game show,” he said with a big accomplished pianist and singer who per- well known on campus, his dad noted, and smile. He even has a title, concept and tune forms a wide range of music from classical to the professors seem eager to assist. for the show called “The Check’s in the country. “We alert the professors when I’m going Mail.” But his first and final songs in this to be gone — and ask about what I’m going to Before long, we all might check our local concert for caregivers and church leaders have to do to catch up,” said Patrick Henry. listings. BT

4 | Baptists Today • June 2009 STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOHN PIERCE I N F O RFMEAATTIUORNE More than a ramp Full access requires removal of physical, attitudinal barriers

TONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — “disability etiquette” when encountering a make all persons welcome.” Building an entrance ramp into a visitor with a physical or mental challenge. But she affirmed: “God blesses this kind worship facility is just the first “Use ‘person-first’ language,” said Mills- of outreach.” S step along the good path to mak- Fernald, as one example. “It is ‘a person with Ginny Thornburg agrees. She is director ing congregational life accessible to all autism,’ not ‘an autistic person.’” of the Interfaith Initiative of the American persons, experts passionately shared during Families that include members with spe- Association of People with Disabilities the “Opening New Worlds” conference cial needs are often uninvolved in churches (AAPD) and the mother of a grown son with sponsored by Developmental Disabilities or feel less than fully included, leaders special needs. Ministries (www.ddmga.org) in April. repeatedly stated. Churches can do much “You have a right to be welcome in the Answering the question of why churches more to make these persons feel welcomed House of God of your choice,” she said, not- should be more inclusive of persons with and valued. ing that a true welcome is not patronizing mental and physical challenges is an easy one Among the practical suggestions for get- but communicates the sense of being valued. for Jackie Mills-Fernald, ting started, Mills-Fernald offered these: Thornburg said her work is under- director of Access, the pinned by two core values: That children disabilities ministry of • Begin in children’s ministry. Ask parents: and adults with disabilities have gifts and tal- McLean Bible Church “What do you want from us?” ents to bring to the church, and that these outside Washington, • Don’t ask parents to lead the classes. persons have a right to a full life of faith. D.C. They need a break and spiritual nurture. “(Persons with disabilities) have been “Everybody is made • Use church members with expertise excluded, isolated and underserved for years,” in God’s image — and (such as special education teachers) to be she said. “(Church involvement) is not just we love people,” she consultants and trainers — not teachers. rolling into the 9:30 service and leaving.” Jackie Mills-Fernald stated simply and They do that work all week long. So she celebrates when churches include emphatically. • Do some “community mapping” to see and value those with special needs — such as The need for such what services (such as respite care) are having someone read the biblical text for strategic ministry is being provided by others in your area. worship in Braille or asking someone in a clear as well, she said, Network to avoid duplication. wheelchair to take up the offering. rolling off surprising sta- • Provide pew cutouts in various parts of the Her son Peter, 49, has found such inclu- tistics like: One in five worship setting to allow for more choices. sion in a United Methodist Church in persons (54.4 million) “It’s not OK to put all the wheelchairs in Hershey, Penn., she said. Although he has in America has a condi- the back of the room.” both physical and mental limitations — and tion that hinders one or • Push for classroom space “that makes “is mostly kind and contented” — he feels Ginny Thornburg more activities. sense” even if it means relocating a like a vital part of the church family. Effectively including persons with dis- “settled” Bible study class. Good access to She recalled asking her son to tell her abilities in congregational life, Mills-Fernald bathrooms, a sink and an exit is very what he thinks of God. After a moment of said, requires overcoming common barriers important. reflection, his brief but comforting answer of architecture, communication methods and • “Start small and dream big … Let need was: “Nice.” — most importantly — attitudes. An acces- drive programming.” Though he works slowly, Peter bags sibility assessment is the best way for bagels for the food bank and collects soft churches to identify those barriers that may Ministry with persons with disabilities drink tabs — in record numbers — for never have been addressed. requires a focus on staffing, facilities and charity fundraising efforts. Practical changes — such as creating resources said Mills-Fernald. And every con- “People with disabilities want to be accessible facilities and using communication gregation needs a “champion for the cause” enjoyed,” said his mother. modes that don’t assume one can see and — who reminds others in church leadership Churches, she said, should be places hear — are easier to accomplish than remov- to not forget this ministry. “where no one is treated like a nuisance” and ing attitudinal barriers. Education is required “We are exclusive; our God is not,” she “where someone like Peter would come to such as training greeters and ushers in said. “We’ve failed as the Body of Christ to know God as ‘nice.’” BT

June 2009 • Baptists Today | 5 P E R S P E C T I V E quo a ion t t r e m a r k s

“Many of us have come to believe “This is the dawning of a new era, “I tend to argue that Ted Geisel (Dr. that ‘church’ is a building, an event, and as we put our hands together Seuss) was a first-class Christian or a moment on Sundays. The and believe God, G“od will visit his thinker and that this th”inking was Church Jesus Christ envisioned was people afresh. God will forgive his intentionally made part of the literary actually a movement of his people, people and heal our land. There will and artistic work he has given us.” engaging the world with his love.” be a revival and a fresh awakening.” —Robert Short, a retired Presbyterian minister, —Pastor Jeff Warren of First Baptist Church of —Kingsley Appiagyei, new president of the Baptist in the introduction to his book, McKinney, Texas, on suspending worship services Union of Great Britain (ChristianToday.com) The Parables of Dr. Seuss (RNS) May 3 and urging congregants to be active in their community as part of a “Don’t go to church … Be “Conversations around the kitchen the church” emphasis (Dallas Morning News) “Forty-four percent of adults do table may be more responsible for not currently belong to their child- the shortage of Roman Catholic hood faith … But of those who priests in the U.S. than influences “By God’s grace, what some have have left their childhood religion, from American culture.” called the ‘Battle for the Bible’ that including those who were ‘unaffil- began in the SBC in 1979 has been —From a Religion News Service story about a iated’ as kids, a large majority of won. But we believe the ‘War for the Georgetown University study showing 45 percent of them have become affiliated with Bible’ began in the Garden of Eden new priests said they were discouraged from entering another religious tradition.” when the serpent first questioned the the priesthood truthfulness of God’s words and will —From a Chicago Sun-Times article about a continue until all things are made new Pew Research Center poll “If those seeking the beloved com- new in Christ. Southern Baptists munity are stressed out on titles, must not retreat one inch from the positions, control, bossing and non-negotiable doctrine that the “Our mission remains steadfast: to ‘feathering their own nests,’ commu- Bible is without error, lest we squan- train Christian leaders who serve with nity will not be achieved.” excellence in every area of their lives.” der the gains of recent years.” —Atlanta pastor and longtime bridge-builder —From the “Great Commission Resurgence” —Founder Pat Robertson, 79, on plans to retire as Emmanuel McCall, delivering the T.B. Maston Declaration issued by Southern Baptist Convention president of Regent University in Virginia Beach but Lectures at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon President Johnny Hunt and to be presented to the remain as chancellor (Virginian-Pilot) School of Theology in Abilene, Texas, in April SBC meeting later this month (Baptist Press) (ABP) “This venture is important because it works to reduce poverty, and the need “In the areas they already control, for capital in these countries is great.” In the news, 25 years ago . . . these groups are imposing draconian —Rick McClatchy, coordinator for the Cooperative restrictions on human rights and reli- “In recent years a growing number of Baptist Fellowship of Texas, on the growing funds voices within our fellowship have begun to gious freedom and engaging in invested by his organization and others in micro- brutal acts against individuals, partic- finance initiatives through the CBF Foundation (ABP) say that missions is not the Southern ularly women and local police, who Baptist distinctive. Their voices would tell refused to accede to their repressive us local evangelism and biblical orthodoxy “It seems to me there’s been an up- policies.” are our vital Baptist distinctives.” tick in church conflict because of the —President Keith Parks of the Southern —A report from the U.S. Commission on economy.” International Religious Freedom on the Taliban’s Baptist Foreign Mission Board in the June —Chris Gambill of the Center for Congregational impact on Pakistan (CNN) 1984 issue of SBC Today Health in Winston-Salem, N.C. (ABP)

6 | Baptists Today • June 2009 P E R S P E C T I V E e d i t o r i a l Southern Baptists and eventual evangelism By John Pierce

t was hard not to laugh when reading a Commission.” with public proclamations that alienate large Baptist Press story about Southern Perhaps “eventually” is the operative segments of society. I Baptist Convention (SBC) president word. For those who don’t see the humor, And finding anything that resembles Johnny Hunt issuing a new declaration — you should have been around these guys a “common biblical and theological ground” with hundreds of signatures from other SBC quarter-century or so ago. — despite adopting an extremely narrow leaders — calling for a “Great Commission All we heard during doctrinal statement that is enforced as a Resurgence” within the denominational the red-hot days of the creed — does not seem possible since the group. Fundamentalist “essentials” of faith just keep on changing. Apparently, it has something to do with Takeover of the SBC Messengers to the SBC meeting in the dipping statistics about dipping new was that “liberalism” Louisville later this month will surely adopt believers. had infiltrated the con- this new document and feel proud that they Of course, they could just put evangelist vention — and if these are doing a good thing for the great cause of and former SBC president Bailey Smith back true Bible believers were evangelism. Maybe it will work this time — on the mega-church trail to re-baptize dea- in charge, then evangel- eventually. cons, Sunday school teachers and choir ism would reign supreme. And maybe someday Southern Baptist members along with near-infants to get the The irony, of course, is two-fold: leaders will finally “find enough common numbers back up. One, Southern Baptists were in the biblical and theological ground” to focus on Instead, Hunt and others think this midst of Bold Mission Thrust, the largest spreading the Good News rather than serv- declaration might do the trick. The best (and admittedly arrogant) worldwide evan- ing as self-ordained theological watchdogs. punch line in the lengthy document was this gelism effort ever tried when the takeover But I suspect Southern Baptists will one: was launched. have better success with the Great “The promise of the Conservative Two, these guys who took over the con- Commission only when they start taking Resurgence was that eventually we would vention have been running it for decades more seriously the Great Commandment — find enough common biblical and theologi- now with continuous infighting that keeps instead of condemning and rejecting every- cal ground that we could focus on the Great narrowing the circle of participation and one who does not think just like them. BT

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BAPTISTS TODAY IS A 501(C)(3) CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION. GIFTS OF SUPPORT ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. June 2009 • Baptists Today | 7 P E R S P E C T I V E BY A. ROY MEDLEY

‘STREET QUESTIONS ABOUT BAPTISTS’ Editor’s note: This is the sixth article in a series titled “Street Questions about Baptists,” in celebration of 400 years of the Baptist movement. ‘What makes Baptists different?’

Several years ago a Lutheran friend asked me, “What’s the difference between Baptists and Lutherans?”

eferring to Martin Luther’s 95 image of God (imago dei) for relationship individuals, and as they were convicted by points of dispute with the Roman with God. The image of God walking in the testimony of the New Testament to the R Catholic Church, I replied, the garden in the cool of the evening with importance of faith that is personal. “Baptists found more than 95 things Adam and Eve is a paradigm of the rela- If we take the personal nature of faith wrong with the church.” tionship God wishes to have with all. (rooted in our creation in the image of Rather than beginning this discussion As Dallas Willard has noted, what God, in the nature of God as love, and the there, maybe it is best to begin where I God wants most is a personal relationship sovereignty of God over us) as the organiz- started when I recently addressed the with us, so great is God’s love for us. As ing principle of Baptist life and thought, Islamic Society of North America, i.e., with the creation of God who desires to know we can see how Baptists have consistently what we share in common with other parts and be known by us, God alone is sover- sought to safeguard this encounter of crea- of the Christian church. eign over conscience in matters of faith. ture with Creator, of the beloved with the With the church universal we share the As a result, Baptists have placed strong Lover. ecumenical councils of Nicaea and emphasis upon the individual with regard The various Baptist emphases upon Chalcedon and their great affirmations of to our thought and practice. Some would soul freedom/soul competency, religious Jesus as both truly human and truly God, argue that such an emphasis is a result of liberty, the lack of a marked distinction and the nature of God as Trinitarian: the influence of the enlightenment, but between clergy and laity, the importance of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Baptists would strongly hold that it is the individual conscience, and the auton- With the churches of the Reformation scriptural, that God desires not only a rela- omy of the local church are all means of we share the three emphases of Sola Gratia tionship with humanity at large (which we safeguarding that holy encounter between (grace alone), Sola Fides (faith alone) and do not deny) or with the community of the soul and its sovereign Lord. Such is our Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone). believers (which we do not deny, either) conviction that this sacred space is essential With the Anabaptists of the continent but also with individuals. for the exercise of faith. we share the believer’s church tradition. Baptists were inspired to emphasize Thomas Helwys gave pen to this con- And with the Congregationalists of the personal (not private) nature of faith as viction in his letter to King James I: “For England we share a local church polity. they read of God’s promise of a new men’s religion to God is between God and So what makes Baptists different? If covenant “written on the heart” so that “all themselves. The King shall not answer for anything, it is this: at the heart of Baptist know me from the least to the greatest” it. Neither may the king be judge between life and thought is an emphasis upon an (Jer. 31:31-34), as they were moved by the God and man. Let them be heretics, Turks, experiential relationship with God, the profoundly personal affirmations of faith in Jews, or whatsoever, it appertains not to belief that ordinary persons can be in per- the Psalms (e.g., Ps. 139), as they were the earthly power to punish them in the sonal relationship with God and can touched by the ministry of Jesus with least measure.” (A Short Declaration of the directly approach God. Mystery of Iniquity) Our life is formed around “heart reli- King nor legislature, bishop nor priest, gion” rather than creeds, in part, because council nor convention have the right to early Baptists were scandalized by formal interfere with or coerce this most sacred of membership in the church without an A. Roy Medley is relationships. Baptists have not placed experience of personal faith. These Baptists general secretary of humanity at the center of our faith, but were ridiculed and persecuted by their con- American Baptist Churches God, and we have sought to carve out temporaries for their “experimental” in the USA, based in Valley space for this sacred encounter “from the religion, but they did not relent. Forge, Penn. least to the greatest.” At the heart of their insistence is a key The personal nature of faith for scriptural principle: we are created in the Baptists finds its expression in worship,

8 | Baptists Today • June 2009 P E R S P E C T I V E

language and theology in our focus on believer’s baptism, a public witness of our is the testimony of “What a Friend We Jesus. One does not have to sing many of personal faith. Have in Jesus!” our hymns, hear many of our sermons, or As Baptists we have been clear that Loving God (the first and greatest listen to the spontaneous praise in personal such love and gratitude are expressed in commandment) must find expression in testimonies or our faith talk to know that discipleship, a following of Jesus marked by love of neighbor (the second command- we are a Jesus people. a desire to grow up into spiritual maturity ment). So, Baptist life has emphasized Jesus — the face of God whom we in him. loving neighbor in Good News-telling, adore, the hand of God that touches us, the Remarkably aware of our moral frailty justice-seeking, peace-making and mercy- voice of God that calls us, the eye of God and creatureliness, Baptists have not taught doing. that sees and has compassion upon us, the Christian perfectionism. However, there is One will find great evangelists such as heart of God that loves us — this Jesus has an understanding that, falter and fail as we Billy Graham and great prophets such as captured us! His birth, ministry, death and may, dependent as we are upon the Holy Martin Luther King Jr. in our Baptist fam- resurrection reveal and open the path for Spirit to heal, forgive and restore us, we are ily. But mostly, one will find everyday folk, our relationship to God. called to grow in faith that expresses itself who live as covenanted communities of In response there flows from us a pro- through love. This is all that matters disciples, understanding and living life found sense of personal gratitude for (Gal. 5:6). through their commitment to Jesus Christ Christ’s sacrifice on the cross that flows Again, as Dallas Willard has so rightly as attested to in Scripture, the one who has forth in an overwhelming sense of love for remarked, our salvation is not an economic embraced them in love on the cross and “him who died for me.” The quintessential transaction in which we have a one-time gained victory over sin and death through essence of the Baptist Christian’s identity exchange of sins for forgiveness, but an his resurrection that all of creation might and piety is the overwhelming personal ongoing relationship with a living Lord be redeemed for “through him God was experience of God’s love in forgiving our who desires to be our dearest friend and pleased to reconcile to himself all things, sins, which leads to our profession of faith companion. Hence, one of the most whether on earth or in heaven, by making in him and willingness to take up our cross frequently sung hymns in Baptist life, peace through the blood of his cross” and follow him through the public sign of probably second only to “Amazing Grace,” (Col. 1:20). BT

June 2009 • Baptists Today | 9

STORY AND PHOTOS BY TONY W. CARTLEDGE, Contributing Editor I N F O R M A T I O N ‘Merit badge for stubborness’ James Dunn receives Judson-Rice Award

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — James M. Dunn, a man who “personifies the Baptist witness” while antago- nizing enemies of religious liberty, received the ninth annual Judson- Rice award on April 24. The award, sponsored by Baptists Today, was presented at a dinner event held between sessions of a regional New Baptist Covenant celebration meet- ing at Wake Forest University.

unn, currently Professor of Christianity and Public Policy at the Wake Forest DUniversity Divinity School, is best known for his 18-year stint as director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs (now Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty), where he served from 1981 until 1999. James Dunn (center) receives the Judson-Rice Award from Baptists Today board chairman Baptist historian Bill Leonard, dean of Gary Eubanks (right) and editor John Pierce. the Wake Forest Divinity School, said Dunn “personifies the Baptist witness” through the tine Judson set sail as Congregational mis- Commission and named other early directors, power of an uncoerced faith grounded in a sionaries, but became convicted en route that Foy Valentine, Jimmy Allen and Phil free church, recognizing the inevitability of they were really Baptist, “not because they Strickland. dissent. wanted to be, but because they had to be.” “Unlike the present mouthpieces for Dunn understands that religious liberty Anne Judson later wrote Southern Baptists,” he said, “we often is a “fragile fortress” that protects both to some of her Congre- reminded people that we did not speak for believers and unbelievers from the state as gationalist supporters, Baptists, but to them.” well as from de facto establishments that seek apologizing for the “I believe that every human being made power, Leonard said. change and asking for in God’s image has access without filter or As a defender of religious liberty, Dunn forgiveness. formula to the divine,” Dunn said. “We live “has discomfited purveyors of religious and Dunn has never the truth in gospel freedom. We sing ‘I know political privilege from the time he was pro- apologized for being a whom I have believed — not what.’” moted from the primary to the junior Baptist, Leonard said, “It’s unblinkered balderdash” to think Bill Leonard department,” Leonard added, referencing though “some who have that soul freedom is a threat to the church, names for children’s Sunday school depart- experienced his dissent can’t forgive him for Dunn said, asserting that the greater danger ments commonly used in the mid-20th staying a Baptist.” is “falling for the sin of certainty, and forget- century. “The rest of us,” Leonard concluded, ting the certainty of sin.” Leonard praised Dunn as “one of the “are so glad you stayed.” Uncertainty is inevitable, he said, but most amazing mentors I have ever known,” Dunn said he accepted the award for can be faced with hope. noting that many former students “would not both himself and his wife Marilyn “with “Happy-faced optimism and grim-faced have made it without the tangible financial heartfelt humanity and heartfelt humility,” pessimism are both fragile and insufficient help and personal encouragement of James recognizing the tribute “as a merit badge for estimates by human beings,” he said, but and Marilyn Dunn.” being the most stubborn.” “hope, on the other hand, is a theological At the turn of the 18th century, Leonard Dunn recalled the time he spent as virtue, a gift of God’s grace, the opposite of recalled, Adonirum Judson and Ann Hassel- director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life despair. We can in freedom choose hope.” BT

June 2009 • Baptists Today | 11 I N F O R M A T I O N Mo. court affirms Windermere’s independence

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — Missouri’s member of Windermere Baptist Conference Dan Bench, Windermere’s president and Supreme Court has declined to review an Center’s corporation and that no legal contract CEO, welcomed the Supreme Court’s denial. appeals-court ruling that a Baptist conference exists between the two entities. “We urge the MBC to accept these judicial center on the Lake of the Ozarks acted legally The state’s high court denied an applica- rulings and allow Missouri Baptists to put this when it changed articles of incorporation to tion for transfer from the appellate court sad conflict behind us,” he said in a press switch to a self-perpetuating board of trustees May 5. The decision leaves in place a lower release. in 2001. court’s ruling from last year that the conven- Windermere was one of five agencies sued Leaders of the Missouri Baptist Conven- tion surrendered its right to elect the camp’s by the convention in 2002 for moving to self- tion had appealed a Feb. 3 ruling by the trustees when messengers voted to incorporate perpetuating boards of trustees. The claims Missouri Appeals Court for the Western Windermere as a separate non-profit entity in were separated in 2007, and Windermere was District that the state convention is not a 1999. chosen as the first to go to trial. Trial dates have not been scheduled for lawsuits involving four other formerly affiliated entities that also moved to self- perpetuating boards in 2000 and 2001. Those entities are Word & Way newspaper, The Baptist Home, the Missouri Baptist Foundation and Missouri Baptist University. Windermere’s lead attorney, Jim Shoe- make, called the nearly seven years of litigation “needless” and said costs were “immeasurable” for all involved. Shoemake said actions of Windermere’s board of trustees “were always consistent with both Missouri law and the corporation’s best interest.” Convention leaders contend that Windermere was built using mission money from the convention’s Cooperative Program unified budget, and that the property morally and legally belongs to the state’s Southern Baptist churches. Windermere CEO Bench says Windermere continues to be open to all Missouri Baptists, just as it has been for more than 50 years, though Windermere leaders in the past have alleged that the Missouri Baptist Convention has tried to undermine the camp’s ministry by dissuading groups and speakers from attending. BT

After a seven-year legal battle with the Missouri Baptist Convention, Windermere Baptist Conference Center's 2001 move to a self-perpetuating board has been confirmed. Photo by John Pierce.

12 | Baptists Today • June 2009 I N F O R M A T I O N Angelou, Carter urge regional gathering of Baptists to unite, meet the world’s needs

By Lance Wallace He asked the audience if they could CBF Communications affirm two statements: salvation comes from the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — For two days and Baptists should put aside their differences more than 1,000 Baptists continued the spirit to work together to help the poor. Both state- of the 2008 Celebration of a New Baptist ments received enthusiastic applause. Covenant by putting aside differences and “Let us pray that all other Christians can focusing on the shared work of addressing the be bound together in a spirit of peace, free- world’s needs. dom and love,” Carter said in conclusion. The theme of the third of five scheduled Carter has committed to speak at each of regional gatherings was “God’s Year to Act,” the scheduled regional meetings, offering a and worship services and workshops empha- word of encouragement to continue to work sized the importance of Baptist Christians toward the ideals of the New Baptist Covenant. responding to the Luke 4 call for preaching Event organizers pronounced the Winston- good news to the poor, proclaiming freedom Salem event successful on many levels. for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the “It’s been beyond our wildest imagina- blind, releasing the oppressed and proclaim- tion in terms of the multi-racial, inter-church ing the year of the Lord’s favor — all at a and multi-generational involvement,” said Writer and Wake Forest University professor time of economic recession. Maya Angelou encourages diverse Baptists to Bill Leonard, dean of the Wake Forest Writer and Wake Forest professor Maya be “a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” University Divinity School and chief organ- Angelou opened the gathering with a call to CBF photo by Carla Davis. izer of the event. “This effort was a genuine be “rainbows in someone’s dark cloud,” and in attendance to be part of the solution to the people’s movement and so many individuals former President Jimmy Carter closed by problem of racism. and churches contributed to it.” reminding the audience of the New Baptist “We see the blight of racism still assail- Pastor Serenus T. Churn of Mount Zion Covenant’s vision of achieving unity among ing us,” she said. “At some point we have to Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, and one Baptists. stop letting differences divide us … a smile of the co-chairs, expressed excitement at the Other keynote speakers included Wake and ‘good morning’ to someone who looks progress the New Baptist Covenant is making Forest Divinity student Matt Johnson, different than you can lift someone’s spirits at bringing together Baptists of all races. Friendship Missionary Baptist Church pastor … in a second, you can qualify someone to “This is the first local expression of that Clifford A. Jones of Charlotte and Park Road be on this earth.” event in 2008, and this has been a tremen- Baptist Church co-pastor Amy Jacks Dean of In the Friday night service, Jones said dous response,” Churn said. “It has been Charlotte. Baptists can play a powerful role in solving wonderful, and it’s just the beginning of In the opening session, the 81-year-old poverty by working together. “I like this worshipping and working together.” Angelou entered singing a line from a 19th gathering that former President Carter has The next regional gathering is scheduled century slave song — “When it looks like the brought together because it maximizes our for Aug. 6-7 in Norman, Okla., with another sun ain’t gonna shine no more, God put a strengths,” he said. one in Chicago, Ill., in 2010. New Baptist rainbow in the sky.” She wove a poetic narra- On Saturday morning, Jacks Dean said: Covenant program chair Jimmy Allen said tive of people who were rainbows in her life “Mercy isn’t a feeling like ‘bless his heart.’” there are efforts underway in Los Angeles and and how Baptists can be rainbows in the “Mercy isn’t pity. Mercy isn’t a sentiment. Philadelphia to organize regional meetings in stormy lives of others. Mercy is an action,” she said. “It’s something the future. “When Rev. [Serenus] Churn called and that we do… mercy has something to do with “There is something going on,” Allen asked me to speak, I thought ‘What am I how we treat people who are captive.” said. “God is building bridges among us. doing? What am I doing? Then I thought Carter capped the event by reviewing the We’re not trying to control it.” about you, and I thought about rainbows. 2008 Celebration of the New Baptist Covenant The New Baptist Covenant is an infor- For 400 years you have been a rainbow to and the need for unity among Baptists. mal alliance of more than 30 racially, someone. That’s what Baptists have tried to “Since I left the White House, Rosalynn geographically and theologically diverse be — a hope.” and I have visited 125 countries,” he said. “We Baptist organizations from throughout Referring to the 400th anniversary of learned that Baptists are known all over the North America that claim more than 20 mil- Baptists being celebrated this year, Angelou world for our disagreements and being argu- lion members. The organizations have united claimed her Baptist heritage as a positive mentative … It’s directly opposite of the gentle around the shared vision found in Luke influence on her life. She asked the Baptists and loving nature of the one we worship.” 4:18-19. BT

June 2009 • Baptists Today | 13 I N F O R M A T I O N Poll: Americans hold ‘nuanced’ views on homosexuality By Kevin Eckstrom to 39 percent, supports federal spousal of homosexuality as a choice or inborn trait Religion News Service benefits. are a stark predictor of their views: two-thirds In addition, nearly two-thirds (64 per- of those who think people are born gay sup- A large survey on American attitudes toward cent) of Americans support the repeal of the port same-sex marriage, for example, homosexuality reveals a “nuanced and at times ban on gays in the military, while half of compared to just 15 percent of those who inconsistent” view on gay rights, with Americans don’t see the battle for gay rights as think homosexuality is a choice. Americans saying states should not be forced an extension of the battle for civil rights for The poll was clear in showing that gay to recognize same-sex unions, but also saying African Americans. causes are attracting increased support from gay couples should have access to federal “In general, Americans tend to be more Jews and Catholics and some Protestants, but spousal benefits like Social Security. supportive when it comes to narrow equity evangelicals remain the most opposed to ques- The poll of more than 2,000 registered questions, like serving in the military or col- tions of gay marriage, adoption or benefits. voters by Quinnipiac University found lecting federal benefits,” said Peter Brown, Three-fourths of evangelicals oppose laws Americans torn over the 1996 Defense of assistant director of the Quinnipiac University to allow gay marriage; two-thirds oppose civil Marriage Act, which defines marriage between Polling Institute. unions; and 62 percent oppose federal spousal one man and one woman at the federal level “But they are less accepting of more benefits. More than half of evangelicals see and allows states not to recognize gay unions philosophical issues, such as equating gay gay marriage as a “threat to traditional mar- performed in other states. rights with civil rights for blacks and the riage,” while two-thirds of Catholics, and Americans slightly support, 50 to 44 per- belief that people are born gay rather than it nearly 90 percent of Jews, disagree. The cent, the provision that allows states to not being a choice.” Quinnipiac poll had a margin of error of plus recognize gay unions, but a slim majority, 54 Indeed, the poll found that people’s views or minus 2.2 percentage points. BT Study: Ranks of religiously unaffiliated remain open to faith

By Robert Marus joined Protestant churches, those who joined Associated Baptist Press evangelical organizations — whose very name implies evangelism — were just as likely to WASHINGTON — While the fastest- cite a friend’s invitation to church as a factor growing religious segment of the United in their conversion as those who joined main- States population is those who are not affili- line Protestant churches. ated with a particular religion, that group is The ranks of the currently unaffiliated, not necessarily comprised of secularists and the survey found, are not heavy on strong sec- largely remains open to faith, a new study ularists. In fact, about a third of those who shows. were religiously affiliated as children but have But majorities of those who have left become unaffiliated said they thought they their childhood faith cite judgmentalism and many faith groups. A majority — 54 percent simply had not yet found the right religion hypocrisy among religious people and leaders — of those who were raised religiously unaf- and would be open to becoming religious as a major reason why they left the fold. filiated now say they belong to a religious again. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public group. When asked about why they had left Life released the study — a follow-up to a A full 39 percent of respondents who said their childhood faith, large majorities of for- survey released in December — on April 27. they were unaffiliated as children became mer Catholics and Protestants cited hypocrisy The “Faith in Flux: Changes in Religious Protestants. While 22 percent of the formerly and judgmentalism among religious congre- Affiliation in the U.S.” study involved in- unaffiliated had joined majority-white evangel- gations and leaders, Pharisaical attitudes depth interviews with more than 2,800 ical Protestant churches, 13 percent had joined among the religious, greed in religious leaders people who had responded to the earlier historically white mainline Protestant denomi- and institutions and a belief that no single “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey,” which nations and 4 percent had joined historically religion holds a corner on the truth. However, found that more than 16 percent of all African-American Protestant churches. only 32 percent of the unaffiliated who were Americans were not affiliated with any Only 6 percent of those raised without a raised in Catholic and Protestant churches particular religious group. religious affiliation had converted to agreed with the statement that “modern sci- Of the currently unaffiliated in the origi- Catholicism, and 9 percent had converted to ence proves religion is superstition.” The nal survey, 79 percent said they had been other faith groups (including Eastern study was devised from callback interviews of raised in a religious tradition. However, those Orthodox Christianity, Judaism, Islam and 2,867 people who had participated in the raised religiously unaffiliated apparently have smaller religious groups). Pew Forum’s earlier religious-landscape sur- a significantly harder retention problem than Of the unaffiliated who eventually vey, taken in 2007 and released in 2008. BT

14 | Baptists Today • June 2009 I N F O R M A T I O N Southern Seminary School of Church Music closing after providing 65 years of training

By Bob Allen “The bottom line is there has been a world, in their commitment to church music. They grew into programs unsurpassed in size LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — Southern Baptist substantial drop in the number of music and scope. For instance, only three schools Theological Seminary is closing its 65-year-old students at the graduate level.” accredited by the Association of Theological School of Church Music and Worship, com- — PRESIDENT AL MOHLER Schools offer doctorates in musical arts, and all bining it with the School of Leadership and are SBC seminaries. Church Ministry into a new School of Church Convention’s growing seminary system began By the 1980s and 1990s, enrollments in Ministries. moving beyond training preachers to addi- schools of church music reached record highs. The seminary’s board of trustees approved tional tasks, like improving the quality of At the same time worship styles began to the move, based on recommendation of a task worship and discipleship training in Southern change, shifting away from hymnals, choirs, force, at a meeting April 21 on the school’s Baptist churches. organs and Brahms toward more casual litur- Louisville, Ky., campus. While taken for granted for more than a gies and popularly influenced musical styles. Starting this fall, faculty members from generation, combining classical music training Recently the Sunday School Board’s successor, both the School of Church Music and Worship with theology studies in a seminary setting is LifeWay Christian Resources, unveiled a web- and the School of Leadership and Church primarily a Southern based SongMap application allowing anyone Ministry will serve within the School of Baptist innovation, to select songs and download sheet music and Church Ministries. Randy Stinson, currently said Paul Richardson, audio files in any key for as little as $1.49. dean of the leadership school, becomes dean of professor of music at Mohler said the music school made a sig- the new school. Gregory Brewton, associate Samford University in nificant contribution to the denomination, professor of church music, will serve as area Birmingham, Ala. and its closing does not indicate a failure by coordinator over music and worship. Richardson said Southern the faculty. “The world has changed around Seminary President Al Mohler said the Baptists began purposeful us,” he said. intent is to preserve the tradition of the music training of church musi- Mohler said discussions about closing the Milburn Price school, which has produced thousands of min- cians in the early part of school have been going on about two years, isters of music for Southern Baptist churches the 20th century. Southwestern Baptist but current economic pressures sped up the over the decades, while adapting to current Theological Seminary established a School of process. trends. Gospel Music in 1915. In December Mohler announced a pro- “The bottom line is there has been a sub- In the 1940s, the SBC’s Sunday School jected $3.2 million shortfall in a $30 million stantial drop in the number of music students Board established a church-music department budget. In January seminary officials elimi- at the graduate level in Southern Baptist led by B.B. McKinney, a famous writer of nated 35 administrative positions — 20 Convention seminaries,” Mohler said in an hymns and gospel songs who taught at full-time and 15 part-time — but no faculty interview. Southwestern Seminary from 1919 to 1931. jobs were lost. Mohler said the music school, started in Under his leadership the board released the Southern Seminary’s School of Church 1944 by then-seminary President Ellis Fuller, Broadman Hymnal, creating a common wor- Music opened in property bought and donated currently is at 30 percent of its optimal enroll- ship tradition in Southern Baptist churches so by trustee V.V. Cooke that now serves as the ment. While a valuable program for its time, pervasive it earned comparison to the Anglican seminary president’s home. The seminary built Mohler said it is “not economically viable Book of Common Prayer. Cooke Hall, attached to Alumni Chapel, in his today” to sustain a stand-alone music school. The National Association of Schools of honor in 1970, and enlarged it in 1985. Mohler said about 80 percent of ministers Music began accrediting undergraduate Deans of the School of Church Music of music in Southern Baptist churches also degrees in church music in 1952. Before long have included Forrest Herren, who held the have another staff assignment, like education many Southern Baptist congregations came to post from 1952 to 1981; Milburn Price, 1983- or youth, so by combining its music and expect that a full-time minister of music 1993; and Lloyd Mims, 1993-2000. The church-leadership programs the seminary will would complete seminary training or compa- current dean, Thomas Bolton, is retiring as “look more like the churches” it serves. rable training at a university. part of the downsizing. He said the music faculty, which currently Influenced by the models of Westminster While on campus trustees also took part numbers 11, will be downsized to the equiva- Choir College and Union Theological in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new $5.5 lent of four full-time positions. The staff Seminary, SBC music schools focused on million Sesquicentennial Pavilion, a white- reductions, he added, will take place by sophisticated choral music, graded choirs and columned welcome center that Mohler said attrition. more formal worship. While not alone in the will function as the “new front door” for the Southern Seminary opened the music effort, Southern Baptist seminaries were often seminary as it celebrates its 150th anniversary school at a time when the Southern Baptist considered unparalleled, in the theology-school this year. BT

June 2009 • Baptists Today | 15 I N F O R M A T I O N Advocates say new stem cell research guidelines are sensible middle ground

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Some anti- “While Dr. Page would wish for a ban abortion religious leaders are welcoming new on all embryonic stem cell research that draft guidelines from the National Institutes results from the destruction of any human of Health on embryonic stem cell research as embryos (which he refers to as unborn a balanced approach to the controversial babies), he is somewhat heartened by the fact procedure. that the White House has issued forth regula- The guidelines, issued April 17, permit tions which prohibit any stem cell research federally funded research on stem cells beginning to end.” which would come from embryos created for derived from embryos that are no longer Samuel Rodriguez, president of the research,” the statement reads. needed for fertility treatments. National Hispanic Christian Leadership Family Research Council President Tony Most embryos that are not planned to be Conference, said “the new regulations Perkins continued his criticism of the funding used in fertility treatments are discarded or embody caution and care that respect pro-life of any research of embryonic stem cells. kept in a type of frozen limbo. The draft values.” “The research that President Obama guidelines presumably would not allow fed- The Catholic Church opposes embry- supports is not sound science and will destroy eral funds to be used to create embryos solely onic stem cell research, but Stephen Schneck, human life,” Perkins said. “... (T)he guide- for research purposes. director of The Catholic University’s Life lines implement a plan that will force “They have hit the right balance by Cycle Institute, called the draft rules “a major taxpayers to foot the bill for research that limiting funding to particular slated-to-be- step toward the common ground most involves human embryo destruction.” destroyed IVF cells, yet expanding significantly Americans are now demanding.” The draft guidelines followed a March 9 the number of diseases that can be addressed Former Southern Baptist Convention executive order by President Obama to by increasing the number and range of stem President Frank Page said the decision is not rescind the Bush administration’s 2001 limits cell lines from which we can learn,” said Joel the one conservative Christians wanted most on federally funded stem cell research. The Hunter, pastor of an Orlando-area mega- — a total ban on stem cell research — but is NIH expects to issue final guidelines by July church. “These guidelines respect life from better than it could have been. after a period of public comment. BT Study: Evangelicals trail other faiths on global warming

(RNS) — While a majority of white evangeli- warming on human activity, according to the unaffiliated Americans, all of whom are signifi- cals believe there is solid evidence that the earth survey, but only 34 percent of white evangeli- cantly more likely to accept evidence of global is warming, only one in three says human activ- cal Protestants do the same. Seventeen percent warming, according to Pew. ity is the cause, according to a recent survey. of that group say natural patterns are the Black Protestants (39 percent); white, A survey conducted by the Pew Forum on cause, and 31 percent are not convinced that non-Hispanic Catholics (44 percent); white Religion & Public Life shows significant dis- the earth is warming at all. mainline Protestants (48 percent); and reli- agreement among U.S. religious groups on That stance is at odds with black giously unaffiliated Americans (58 percent) are climate change and its causes. Protestants, white non-Hispanic Catholics, all also more likely to attribute climate change Nearly half of all Americans blame global white mainline Protestants, and religiously to humans, the survey found. BT Promise Keepers invites women for the first time to 2009 gathering (RNS) — Promise Keepers, the evangelical honor our wives, daughters and sisters; be staff in recent years. The lone 2009 event ministry known for its focus on making a tangible blessing to the poor and will be held in Boulder, Colo. men better fathers and husbands, is invit- oppressed; and embrace our messianic McCartney, a former University of ing women for the first time to its main Jewish brothers as our spiritual fathers in Colorado football coach, returned to the 2009 conference, the ministry announced. the faith.” helm of the ministry in 2008 after resign- “This year we are calling men to Promise Keepers, which at its height ing in 2003 to care for his ill wife. bring the women in their lives,” founder held more than a dozen large conferences After he left Promise Keepers, he started and chairman Bill McCartney announced a year and gathered hundreds of thou- “The Road to Jerusalem” ministry that April 20. “To celebrate our 20th year of sands of men on the National Mall in a focuses on Jews who believe Jesus is the ministry, we are called to do three things: 1997 event, has diminished in size and Messiah. BT

16 | Baptists Today • June 2009 P E R S P E C T I V E t h e m e d i a s h e l f Review by Jackie Riley

Leaders Who Last a pastor. Frustrated with try- others and maintaining balance while under- Sustaining Yourself and Your Ministry ing to make people what she standing reactions is a key. And, she clearly Margaret J. Marcuson thought they should be, she draws the line of where helping should begin faced burnout and considered and end. Introduction changing careers. Rather, she Although directed primarily toward pro- In this excellent volume on pastoral leadership, changed her leadership philos- fessional church leaders, Marcuson’s systems the words of William Shakespeare ring true: ophy and style. discussion and application are excellent tools “… to thine own self be true.” … Be true to In a concise and practical style, Leaders for understanding other places of ministry or the ministry style that fits your personality and Who Last approaches leadership based on even secular employment. Her explanation of gifts — not the role expectations of others, family systems theory. Marcuson ably com- emotional triangles in the workplace translates leadership consultant and coach Marcuson bines principles of family therapy with to various settings. The chapter on the role of tells us. Focus on “I” in following your pur- biblical and ancient wisdom and personal money is quite revealing, especially as it pose and goals, but then step aside and realize experiences, while introducing us to the exam- relates to institutional conflict. Topical discus- you can’t control the results. Simply learn how ples set by modern-day and historical leaders. sions are nicely summarized with hard-hitting to focus on what you can control — yourself She emphasizes the importance of leaders “Questions to Ponder” at the end of each and your response to others. knowing the history/story both of their family chapter. Reading this book is a freeing, though of origin and of the institution served, and Leaders Who Last is a must read for lead- unsettling, experience. It requires a change of offers common-sense explanations of how ers who take themselves too seriously and/or mindset to understand that lasting leadership such things as birth order and family methods have the knack for making others dependent whether in the church or another institution of dealing with conflict, commitments, ill- on them. It is an excellent training tool for is based on a long-term attitude, understand- nesses and grief affect leadership style. young ministers and a good refresher course ing systems and the self, and not depending Further, Marcuson reminds leaders to for experienced — and perhaps frustrated — on the approval of others. Marcuson knows focus on process and relationships and less on ministers. BT how to ask hard questions that can make a outcome, taking responsibility for themselves difference in one’s ability to lead others. and helping others to do the same while $20.00 / pb / 160 pp / Seabury Books She is well qualified to write this volume, avoiding the superhero or overfunctioning ISBN 13: 978-1-59627-095-4 / which grew out of her personal experiences as mode. Accepting limitations both of self and www.seaburybooks.com I want to sustain Baptists tomorrow. I am / We are pleased to make a gift commitment to Baptists Today of $ ______per year for three years.

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June 2009 • Baptists Today | 17 P E R S P E C T I V E b a c k - r o w b i r d i e The line off the back of the boat By Keith D. Herron

he fault line of the church runs right circles or headed in a straight line. Whether bravely on the bow and the rope off the stern through the issue of corporate we were actually going anywhere didn’t seem of the boat and wondered whether she had a T America’s concept of leadership. Most to matter much. clue what that meant. churches today are looking for the kind of But while all eyes of those on board were “Reverend, dreams are powerful business leader who’s willing to set the direction for focused forward, there was a strange phenom- and it’s not what I was expecting or hoping the church and in doing so they want some- enon off the back of the boat about which no for, but interesting still. The rope’s obviously body sweet enough to talk them into what one paid much attention. What no one in the the thing no one wants to think about which they should already want but don’t, and boat was noticing was a rope tied off the makes it so intriguing. My son-in-law’s a tough enough to kick them in the keister stern with the line headed strong down into therapist and he’s got a saying that might when they don’t want it on their own. They the depths of the water. The rope was taut help us: ‘Most buried things are dead things want somebody who’s part St. Francis of because of what was beneath the surface of … dead and buried for a reason.’” Assisi and part Mister T. Understandably the water, but no one knew for sure what it “Yikes! What on earth could be so dead that’s a tough combination, but we’re talking was because one simply couldn’t see beneath that the church throws a line over the stern about a mystery beyond comprehension that’s the surface to the darkened depths of the and drags it along all the while ignoring it?” nothing less than the church’s idolatry for water. “Preacher … you can’t be that naïve … something that’s likely missing in them. In my office, I was deep in thought but then again maybe you are. The things The other night I had a dream. In my about my dream and how we are usually fix- that are dead and buried in most churches are dream I had a vision of the church as a boat, ated on the captain’s actions on the bow and its secrets. Maybe it’s even the old habits and seated in the boat were members of the not the stern when my phone lit up and the everyone can see but can’t seem to do any- various churches I’ve ministered to through voice of our secretary boomed, “Birdie on thing about. Maybe it’s all the idolatries the years. Some were from the church where line three!” Sometimes it seems she needs to we refuse to acknowledge and will die to I am currently the pastor, but there were also jolt me awake or I’ll miss a call. I pick up the protect.” a few from the church where I grew up and phone. “So, tell me … was it a dream or was it there was even a woman from the very first “Good morning Starshine!” I boom out a nightmare?” church where I was a youth minister on to Birdie. I know she’s not a morning person, weekends while in college. I recognized them so it’s my privilege to share the joy and exu- —Keith D. Herron is pastor of Holmeswood well enough, but I couldn’t understand why berance of this glorious morning. In fact, the Baptist Church in Kansas City, Mo. they were there together, and more pointedly, earlier it is, the more I want to give her a jolt. why they all seemed to know one another. It “Butt a stump, Reverend, you was the oddest collection of passengers you know God doesn’t approve of loud could ever put in one boat. And guess who persons this early in the morning.” was standing up on the bow of the boat? It Birdie may have been in a was me! foul mood, but I wasn’t. “Birdie, Unlike most dreams, when I woke up I I’ve been thinking about the understood exactly what the dream was all nature of the church and how the about. In my dream, I was the captain of the pastor’s job is to look like ship who stepped up to the bow of the a leader whether church boat putting one foot dramatically up the church is on the bow while holding one hand up to the moving forward brow to shade my eyes while scanning the or not.” horizon … but scanning for what? Storm “Good Lord! It clouds likely, but it was not my ability to must be Monday envision the future that was important as and you’ve much as the appearance of a clear vision of finally the horizon. I was watching the tides and the flipped out.” waves and the winds. It was odd, as it seemed I told Birdie I was creating the vision of purposeful move- about my dream of ment whether the boat was going around in the pastor standing 18 | Baptists Today • June 2009 2009 Formations Commentary Bible Study resources for the adult Formations lessons available from Smyth & Helwys Publishing (www.helwys.com)

LESSONS FOR: beloved friend Lazarus (John 11:33-36), Jesus and oil. Moneychangers also did a brisk business Sunday, July 5-26, was moved to tears over the fate of his beloved in the court, since worshippers had to exchange 2009 city of Jerusalem. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,” he their Roman currency for Tyrian shekels in Written by Tambi Brown lamented, “you who kill the prophets and stone accordance with the law (Exod. 30:13). Swiney of Nashville, those sent to you, how often I have longed to When Solomon dedicated the temple, he Tenn., a leadership gather your children together, as a hen gathers prayed to the Lord: “May your eyes be open development specialist for Tennessee her chicks under her wings, but you were not toward this temple night and day, this place of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship willing” (Luke 13:34). Oh, the irony! The city which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so whose very name speaks of peace had rejected that you will hear the prayer your servant prays the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). toward this place” (1 Kgs. 8:29). The temple Using imagery from the Old Testament was intended to be the place where the people July 5, 2009 (see Isa. 29:3, Ezek. 4:1-2), Jesus prophesied of God communed with their Lord, yet this about Jerusalem’s downfall — a prophecy ful- consecrated site had become commercialized. Jerusalem: filled in A.D. 70 when the Romans took the As Jesus ruefully observed, the house of prayer A city in need of peace city. In his writings, the ancient historian had become a den of robbers. The temple was Josephus was able to provide a vivid eyewitness not what it should have been. The city was not Luke 19:41-48 account of the fall of Jerusalem, since he had what it should have been. The people were not Have you ever set out to revisit a place that was accompanied Titus, the Roman general, to the what they should have been. near and dear to your heart, only to be disap- siege of the city: “If you had only known on this day what pointed by what you observed when you would bring you peace” … The city desperately No pity was shown on account of age or out of returned? The holy city of Jerusalem was such a needed peace. On this day in Jerusalem, the respect for anyone’s dignity — children and eld- place for Jesus. people hung on to the words of Jesus. In just a erly, lay people and priests alike were slain. The When Jesus was only a few weeks old, he few days Jesus would hang on a cross. Peace per- battle surged ahead and surrounded everybody, made his first visit to the temple in Jerusalem sonified arrived in Jerusalem and was crucified. including both those who begged for mercy and when his parents presented their firstborn son to Discuss: How has the church been commer- those who resisted. The flames spread out to a the Lord in accordance with Jewish law. Simeon cialized today? Is your church known as a house great distance and its noise mixed with the and Anna recognized salvation wrapped in a of prayer? How is your city in need of peace? groans of the perishing; and such was the blanket that day, and the prophetess testified to height of the ridge and the magnitude of the anyone who would listen that the “redemption burning that one would have imagined the July 12, 2009 of Jerusalem” had at last arrived (Luke 2:38). whole city was aflame. As a child, Jesus and his family routinely Nineveh: visited the holy city to observe the three annual If Jesus grieved over the city, then how much great feasts — Passover, Pentecost and more did he mourn over the state of the temple A city in need of grace — the holiest site in the city, the supposed Tabernacles — as mandated by Jewish law. On Jonah 3:1-4:11 one such visit, a precocious 12-year-old Jesus center of Israel’s worship? The temple had confounded the teachers of the law with wis- undergone a massive renovation under Herod’s People who dwell in areas prone to tornadoes dom well beyond his years (Luke 2:41-47). leadership, and while the temple itself still pos- have grown accustomed to the technological Two decades later Jesus was known as a sessed the same modest dimensions of the one advances that enable meteorologists to provide “teacher” himself, and this time as he entered originally constructed by Solomon, the foot- pinpoint warnings when storms are looming. Jerusalem to observe Passover, he did so in a print of the temple complex had been greatly Doppler radar can detect conditions in the procession worthy of a king. But Jesus was expanded. Three surrounding valleys had been atmosphere that indicate the potential forma- under no illusions that this would be an ordi- filled in so that Herod’s construction crews tion of a tornado, and meteorologists have the nary visit to observe a Jewish feast. He had could create a series of concentric courts. ability to warn people in specific neighborhoods resolutely set out for Jerusalem, knowing full The outermost of these courts was the that danger is imminent. Some cities have well the fate that awaited him (Luke 9:51). The court of the Gentiles, which in Jesus’ day had installed tornado sirens as an additional way time of God’s coming had arrived, yet Jerusalem become a marketplace where vendors sold the to alert residents to take cover. These early would fail to recognize the Messiah in its midst. supplies necessary for observant Jews to make warnings have saved countless lives. Just as he had wept over the death of his their required sacrifices — animals, doves, wine God called a prophet from Gath Hepher to

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship provides these Bible study resources to church leaders through this supplement to Baptists Today. For more information on how CBF is “serving Christians and churches as they discover their God-given mission,” visit www.thefellowship.info or call 1-800-352-8741 F O R M A T I O N S C O M M E N T A R Y be his early warning system for Nineveh (2 Kgs. After a tornado strikes, television stations Discuss: Can you identify with Jonah’s bad 14:25). Situated on the east bank of the Tigris often go to great lengths to highlight how effec- attitude? When has your anger been a sign that River near the modern Iraqi city of Mosul, tive their warnings were in preventing something was wrong within your heart? Nineveh was the last capital city of the power- casualties. Similarly, we might expect that ful Assyrian empire. One of only three cities Jonah would have rejoiced after the Ninevites July 19, 2009 that are referred to as “great” in the Bible — took heed of his warning and turned from their along with Jerusalem (Jer. 22:8) and Gibeon evil ways, sparing the city from destruction. Nazareth: A city in (Josh. 10:2) — this sprawling metropolis was Instead, we find the sulking prophet perched on undoubtedly impressive, with its ziggurats and the outskirts of Nineveh, wallowing in anger need of correction massive wall. and waiting for God to smite the city. Jonah Luke 4:16-30 Built by the mighty hunter Nimrod, one resented God’s compassionate response to the of Noah’s great-grandsons (Gen. 10:8), Nineveh Ninevites’ repentance. A man who had been the Conversations at a 20th high school reunion are had a bad reputation. The Assyrians were well beneficiary of God’s grace was certainly not predictable: “Look at him! She’s doing what known in the ancient world for their brutality grace-full himself. now? Who would have thought? I remember and cruelty. The prophet Nahum inventoried Jonah blamed God for provoking his when he used to … ” Nineveh’s sins: plotting evil against the Lord anger, but the real problem was internal. Luke’s description of Jesus’ return to his (Nah.1:11), violence and plunder (Nah. 3:1), Clearly, there was something wrong deep inside hometown is reminiscent of just such an experi- and prostitution and witchcraft (Nah. 3:4). the prophet’s heart. In contrast to the tone of ence. The Nazarenes knew this man as Joseph’s Humbled by his gut-wrenching experience his repentant prayer in chapter 2, the prophet boy, the carpenter’s son. Undoubtedly many in the belly of a great fish, Jonah belatedly and now seems to have reverted to his pre-belly-of- folks still remembered the scandal surrounding reluctantly embraced his God-given assignment the-fish state, since his prayer in chapter 4 reeks Jesus’ birth — how that sweet girl Mary had ended up pregnant before her betrothal to to sound the alarm about the impending judg- of self-centeredness. As Eugene Peterson Joseph. Although Jesus’ birthplace was the ment of Nineveh. In 40 days, the city would be observed in Under the Unpredictable Plant Judean hamlet of Bethlehem, his family had overthrown. Talk about a pinpoint forecast! (p. 157), anger can be a useful diagnostic tool. The Lord was fed up with Nineveh’s sinfulness headed north to this Galilean village after and was prepared to judge the people harshly, When anger erupts in us, it is a signal that Joseph had an unsettling dream that caused yet because of his great mercy he allowed a something is wrong. Something isn’t working him to fear for his child’s safety. Nazareth was prophet to warn the people so that they could right. There is evil or incompetence or stu- where Jesus “grew in wisdom and stature, and take appropriate action. pidity lurking about. Anger is our sixth sense in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52) under When meteorologists issue tornado warn- for sniffing out wrong in the neighborhood the watchful eyes of his neighbors. ings, they give explicit instructions to people … What anger fails to do, though, is tell us The Nazarenes thought they knew this who find themselves in the path of the storm: whether the wrong is outside or inside us. We man. And yet, on that day when Jesus returned seek shelter immediately and go to an interior usually begin by assuming that the wrong is to the synagogue where he had spent countless space in the lowest level of the building. Int- outside us — our spouse or our child or our Sabbaths during his formative years, they were erestingly, when Jonah issued his all-points God has done something wrong, and we are at first astounded and then angered. bulletin to the city of Nineveh, he did not tell angry. That is what Jonah did, and he quar- As per tradition, a passage from the the people what they were supposed to do in reled with God. But when we track the anger Pentateuch was read first, then an excerpt from the face of judgment, nor did he describe the carefully, we often find it leads to a wrong the Prophets. The reader would stand, out of nature of their sins that had precipitated God’s within us — wrong information, inadequate reverence for God’s holy word, and read from wrath. Only a time frame and a punishment understanding, underdeveloped heart. the Hebrew Bible before sitting down to deliver were proclaimed. a sermon on the passage in Aramaic. Visiting “If at any time I announce that a nation or The Hebrew people were taught to love their dignitaries were often afforded the opportunity kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and neighbors as themselves, but they tended to to serve as guest speakers in the synagogue. destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents narrowly define their neighbors as those within Since those assembled were well aware of Jesus’ of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the nation of Israel. Jonah perceived the spreading fame, they were anxious to hear what the disaster I had planned,” the Lord declared Ninevites as enemies who did not deserve his this prophet had to say, and they were undoubt- through the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 18:7-8). love or God’s mercy. He did not understand the edly hopeful that his guest appearance would Repentance was the only protective measure the breadth of the Lord’s compassion and grace. also include some divine works of wonder. people of Nineveh could take in the face of the The prophet possessed a head knowledge of Jesus was well aware of the expectations of storm of God’s wrath. God’s Word, but not a heart knowledge. his former neighbors. The Nazarenes had heard Sometimes people don’t take storm warn- “Should I not be concerned about that what their hometown prophet had done in the ings seriously, and when they fail to take the great city?” In one of his letters to the church at Galilean seaside town of Capernaum, how he necessary precautions to protect their lives, Corinth, Paul urged the believers that as God’s had taught authoritatively in the synagogue and tragedy ensues. In this case, the Ninevites fellow workers they should be careful not to healed those afflicted by demons and diseases responded appropriately to Jonah’s warning. receive God’s grace in vain (2 Cor. 6:1). To (Mark 1:21-34). Now it was Nazareth’s turn to They comprehended the urgency of the situa- experience the grace of God and then fail to be in the spotlight. tion and recognized what they needed to do to extend that same grace to others is a sure sign “Come on, hometown boy, show us your preserve the city: repent. of an underdeveloped heart. stuff!” But Jesus refused to take the bait. In the 20 | Baptists Today • June 2009 F O R M A T I O N S C O M M E N T A R Y passage prior to this Nazareth narrative, Luke just (Gen. 18:19), and through this experience described the temptation of Jesus. In the devil’s Abraham would come to a deeper understand- July 26, 2009 third attempt to tempt the Christ, he urged ing of God’s righteousness and justice. Jesus to exercise his powers purely for show Sodom: A city in Upon learning of Sodom’s impending (Luke 4:9-12). Jesus rejected that temptation in doom, Abraham’s thoughts immediately turned the wilderness, and he rejected it again in need of intercession to his nephew. What would happen to Lot? What about his family and herdsmen? If the Nazareth. Genesis 18:16-33 What Jesus said and did — or failed to do Lord chose to wipe out the entire city — with — that day in the synagogue at Nazareth The Chamber of Commerce of Sodom would the righteous perishing alongside the wicked — enraged his former neighbors. “Who does this have had a difficult time promoting the city as would that be right and just? How would such a guy think he is? Does he have some sort of a family-friendly destination. “Now the men of sweeping act of judgment affect God’s reputa- messianic complex?” Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly tion among the people in the surrounding cities? Jesus’ words make it clear that he did, in against the Lord” (Gen. 13:13). Lot undoubt- Just as Moses would one day plead for fact, believe he was the Messiah. He claimed to edly was aware of Sodom’s wretched reputation, mercy on behalf of the Israelites after the be the fulfillment of a messianic prophecy — yet he still chose to pitch his tents near this city golden calf incident (Exod. 32:11-14) and the Anointed One of Israel, their long-awaited on the plain when his uncle Abram gave him Amos would beg the Lord to relent from judg- king. That should have sounded like good news the opportunity to select a place to settle (Gen. ing Israel by locusts and fire (Amos 7:1-6), to the Nazarenes, even if it seemed unlikely that 13:12). The well-watered region was pleasing Abraham interceded on behalf of his righteous a carpenter’s son could ascend to David’s to Lot’s eyes but repulsive in God’s sight, and nephew (2 Pet. 2:7). He did not want to see the throne. But it was the phrase from Isaiah Jesus we learn early in the story that God would innocent suffer, nor did he want the Lord’s rep- omitted that really got the crowd’s attention. eventually destroy the city (Gen. 13:10). utation to be harmed. But a failure to judge The Nazarenes thought they would know Not long after Lot relocated his family and such egregious wickedness would also harm what the Messiah would do when he ushered in flocks near Sodom, he was caught up in a war God’s righteous reputation. Could middle between rival kings and taken hostage (Gen. ground be found? the kingdom of God. The Messiah was sup- 14:11-12). His uncle rushed to his rescue with In a scene reminiscent of a courtroom posed to proclaim not only the year of the 318 trained men, returning Lot and the other drama, Abraham approached the bench of the Lord’s favor, but also the day of God’s hostages, along with their possessions, safely judge of all the earth. Sodom’s corporate guilt vengeance (Isa. 61:2). Why did Jesus neglect to home (Gen. 14:16). Yet living in the midst of was undeniable, and judgment was about to be mention the latter phrase? such sin, they were not safe at all. According to levied. Hence, the negotiations commenced. The Israelites had greatly anticipated the the account in Genesis 19, the rampant wicked- Abraham realized he was on shaky ground, yet day when their new king would take the reigns ness in the city included sexual immorality and he forged ahead in his line of questioning as an of power and judge their enemies. So why was the failure to practice hospitality. The judge of advocate for the righteous. Would clemency be this so-called prophet, through his commen- all the earth would not ignore Sodom’s sins offered for the sake of 50 righteous people? If 45 taries about Elijah and Elisha, highlighting indefinitely. righteous citizens could be found, would the God’s soft spot for the Gentiles? What initially The Lord appeared to Abraham near the city be spared? How about 40? 30? 20? 10? seemed perplexing — that one of their own great trees of Mamre and reassured his servant Much like the persistent widow in Jesus’ would suggest he was the Messiah — now that the divine plan to make Abraham into a parable (Luke 18:1-8), Abraham pressed his seemed preposterous. This man couldn’t be great nation and bless all peoples on earth case. Unlike the woman in the parable, though, God’s chosen one; he was a false prophet, (Gen. 12:2-3) was about to unfold (Gen. Abraham was dealing with a righteous judge. deserving not a coronation but an execution. 18:10). Despite evidence to the contrary, Sarah He had confidence in God’s character and What happened next might well be termed would not remain barren much longer. Paint would not have argued the case so forcefully in a miracle, though undoubtedly not the type of the tent blue — it’s a boy! the first place unless he felt a compassionate miracle the Nazarenes had anticipated. Jesus But on the heels of this extraordinarily response was possible. Abraham’s compassionate walked through the midst of the mob good news came a chilling announcement from intercession for the sinful city of Sodom stands unharmed to proceed with his ministry else- the Lord. The wickedness of Sodom and its sis- in stark contrast to Jonah’s clearly expressed where in Galilee. In due time he would suffer at ter city Gomorrah was so great, so grievous, animosity toward Nineveh (Jonah 4:1). the hands of an angry crowd, but not today. that the Lord had to act. The cries of those Even with the threshold for judgment The Gospels do not recount another visit who had suffered injustice were deafening, and greatly lowered, Sodom would not escape judg- by Jesus to Nazareth. The Messiah delivered a the Lord was compelled to respond. By express- ment. However, the Lord did graciously respond message of correction and then departed. ing his intention to go down and see the state to Abraham’s intercession on behalf of the right- Ironically, in this acceptable year of the Lord, of affairs in Sodom for himself, the Lord eous, sending two angels to warn Lot and his the Messiah was not accepted in his own home- implied that his divine investigation would family to flee before the impending destruction. town. He was despised and rejected, and the culminate in judgment. When the Lord finally did judge the city, “he Nazarenes esteemed him not (Isa. 53:3). The Lord’s decision to alert Abraham in remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out Discuss: If you had been worshipping at the advance of judgment is indicative of the inti- of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities synagogue that day in Nazareth, how would you macy of their relationship. Abraham was a where Lot had lived” (Gen. 19:29). have responded to Jesus’ words? Can you recall a friend of God (2 Chron. 20:7), one chosen to Discuss: Would you have interceded on time when someone’s teaching prompted you to be an instrument of God’s blessing. God Sodom’s behalf? When have you bargained with rethink your theology? expected his servant to do what was right and God? BT June 2009 • Baptists Today | 21 R E S O U R C E S

Brought to you this month 2009 by Jill Jenkins The Resource Page ... creative and practical ideas Planning for good children’s Bible learning experiences

en-year old Benjamin nearly sprints down the hall of the children’s depart- Children learn when they … Plan lessons for children to … T ment at church. His parents teach in • are interested in the subject or the process • know the facts the youth area, so he arrives bright and early • have a need • understand the meaning each Sunday. His teacher is there in his room • see personal value • apply bible principles in their lives/change • have the necessary skills to learn something the way they act to greet him, no matter how early he comes. new Mr. John expects this early arriver and • can relate new learning to previous Resources involves him in conversation and the prepara- experiences Beckwith, Ivy. Postmodern Children’s Ministry: tion process. Benjamin loves hanging out at • are involved in and enjoy the learning Ministry to Children in the 21st Century church with Mr. John until his friends get process Church. Zondervan, 2004. there for class. Without uttering a single bibli- • are influenced by a person they love and Garland, Diana. Family Ministry: A Comprehensive cal principal, Mr. John has already taught respect Guide. InterVarsity Press, 1999. Benjamin several important things, for exam- • feel encouraged to learn Prosser, McCullar, Qualls. Building Blocks for ple: I am worthwhile; Mr. John respects me; Sunday School Growth. Smyth & Helwys, Mr. John loves me; God loves me; and, church 2002. is a fun place to be. Tobias, Cynthia U. The Way They Learn. Teachers/leaders can take several simple Tyndale Press 1994. steps to convey God’s love and lessons to the children in their classrooms. Let’s practice these together so that we can make our teach- ing time the most wonderful Bible teaching experience of a child’s week. 3. Design a class based on the needs of 5. Pray without ceasing. Prayer is the glue 1. Make the room ready. Learning begins children. Most of us require a child-based that binds together all the elements of good when the first pupil arrives in the classroom. curriculum to teach effectively. A curriculum Bible learning. Pray for guidance in studying She’s learning that someone cares enough about with a scope and sequence helps us know and planning the activities. Pray for each her to have the lights on, temperature adjusted, what has been taught and where we are going pupil. Pray for the Bible teaching time. Pray materials and supplies out, a teacher there to over the years with our teaching content. A for lives to be changed through the testi- receive her. She’s learning as much from the devoted teacher prepares lessons based on the monies of the teachers and the Bible lesson of relationship with the teacher as she is from the needs and learning styles of the children in the day. Prayer will improve you and your Bible stories. Great teachers model the kind of the group and in coordination with the team relationship with God, and it will have a pow- love and concern that represents God. of leaders in the classroom. Include numerous erful impact on your teaching effectiveness. opportunities for drama, art, puzzles, maps, 2. Study the Bible, the lesson and the chil- research, hands-on construction, discussion, ****** dren. Leaders teach from their overflow of games, music and creative writing. knowledge. If they are well studied on the Try these simple things each week as you Bible background material and the story itself, 4. Respect the pupils God has sent your way. work with children. Be prepared. Plan well they can incorporate both, using their own Most adults seem to love children: respect is with others in a way that children can learn. words with excellent storytelling technique. even more important. Show respect to chil- Keep the needs of the children in mind as you Being familiar with the material allows teach- dren by listening to what they are really plan. Respect the children and their differ- ers to use their Bibles to tell the story and look saying, allowing them to make choices, and ences. Pray continuously for this all-important at the pupils as they teach, instead of reading involving them in planning activities that hour each week. Lives will be changed, includ- it in their teaching books. reflect their interests and needs. ing yours. BT

THE RESOURCE PAGE is provided by the Congregational Life office of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in partnership with Baptists Today and for those dedicated lay leaders working in the educational ministries of local churches. This month’s page was written by Jill Jenkins, minister to children at Johns Creek Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Ga. Resource Page Archives are available at http://www.thefellowship.info/Resources/Church-Resources/Baptists-Today-resource-page.

22 | Baptists Today • June 2009 C L A S S I F I E D S

Pastor: First Baptist Church of Jamestown, N.C., Contemporary Worship Leader: First Baptist in t he know located in the Piedmont Triad area between Church of Shreveport, La., is seeking an individ- Greensboro and High Point, is seeking a full-time ual of strong faith to creatively direct and inspire minister. We are a moderate church that follows our contemporary worship service, Crossings Keeping up with people, the 1963 Baptist Faith & Message. We have an (www.crossingsfbc.org). The qualified candidate active membership of 100, average Sunday for this full-time position should express passion places, and events school attendance of 50-60, and average Sunday for leading others in worship, a desire to collabo- worship attendance of 65-75. We are seeking an rate with all creative disciplines and technology energetic pastor, who is a divinity school gradu- to develop a cutting edge contemporary worship Dean Allen and Lisa Wimberly-Allen have ate, with strong leadership and interpersonal experience, and a heart to build up the next gen- been called as pastors of Fernwood Baptist skills, who can help us grow spiritually and in eration of worship leaders. The ideal candidate Church in Spartanburg, S.C. effective June 15. numbers. Interested candidates should mail their should have several years of experience leading Both hold doctorates from Boston University résumé by June 30 to: Pastor Search Committee, contemporary worship and developing volunteer- and have held a variety of positions, including 6503 Ivy Stone Dr., Jamestown, NC, 27282, or based praise ensembles. Additionally, candidates [email protected]. should demonstrate excellent instrumental and serving on the faculty of Central Baptist vocal musicianship, strong management skills, Theological Seminary. and creative discernment. Send résumé to: University Baptist Church, a small, progressive Joyce English at [email protected]. church in the university town of Carbondale, Ill., Chris Chapman is pastor of First Baptist is seeking a pastor who would be comfortable Church of Raleigh, N.C., going from with a diverse CBF/SBC environment. The posi- Azalea Baptist Church in Norfolk, Va., a moderate Knollwood Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. tion may be full or part time; we are looking for church affiliated with the BGAV and the CBF, creative possibilities. Interested parties may seeks a full-time director of Christian min- Horace W. Fleming Jr., a longtime Mercer send résumés to: [email protected]. istries to develop, implement and oversee University administrator and former president educational programs. For a detailed job descrip- tion, send résumé along with work history and of the University of Southern Mississippi, died For Sale: Back issues of Baptists Today official school transcripts to: J. Francis, Search May 1 at age 65. $2.50 each Committee, Azalea Baptist Church, 3314 E. Little Creek Rd., Norfolk, VA 23518. Michael Helms is pastor of First Baptist Credit card orders: (478) 301-5655 Church of Jefferson, Ga., coming from Trinity Mail orders: Baptists Today, Baptist Church in Moultrie, Ga., where he P.O. Box 6318 served for 13 years. Macon, GA 31208-6318

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June 2009 • Baptists Today | 23 P E R S P E C T I V E g u e s t c o m m e n t a r y Talking points for a difficult issue By Bob Setzer Jr.

ecently, both Miss California and talking about someone’s son or daughter, sister can be answered only by a careful reading of mega-church pastor Rick Warren got or brother, or perhaps your own friend or the New Testament in general and the Gospels R slammed for speaking to the issue of neighbor. in particular. gay rights. While each pleased some and infu- Third, for serious Christians, the Bible What did Jesus teach about God’s inten- riated others, both got beaten up pretty badly must be part of our moral discernment tion for sexuality (Mark 10:6-9; Matt. in this very public and often nasty debate. process. 19:10-12)? If we believe Jesus is the fullest rev- Perhaps I feel more sympathy than most Two common extremes must be avoided: elation of God’s truth, then how does his for these public figures because I have never (1) the Bible is irrelevant to this debate teaching on sexuality shape our thinking? said or written anything on the subject of because it was “wrong” And when Jesus encountered those who homosexuality without unintentionally about slavery, women’s clearly fell outside the norm of God’s intention hurting or angering people I love. rights or whatever, or (2) — such as the woman at the well (John 4:16- Still, the question of how our church and the Bible condemns 18) or the woman caught in adultery (John culture should respond to the issue of gay homosexuals, end of 8:10-11) — how might Jesus’ response to rights is not going away. Is it possible for discussion. them shape our response to others in our own Christians to enter into a constructive conver- Instead of ignoring place and time? sation on such a contentious matter? the Bible on the one I certainly don’t expect the “talking Toward that end, let me suggest some hand, or cherry-picking points” I’ve proposed to bring complete agree- “talking points.” passages to condemn ment about the difficult moral and theological First, gay people are not first and fore- homosexuals on the other, the Bible should be questions of our day. Our differing experi- most an “issue.” They are people. And as read holistically on this and every issue. It ences, assumptions, and interpretations of people, they are beloved of God (John 3:16; 1 should be read in the Spirit of Christ (John both the Bible and life make that impossible. John 4:8). Even those who regard certain peo- 14:25-26; 16:12-15) and in dialogue with But surely the church can and should be a ple as their “enemy” are called by Christ to other believers (2 Pet. 1:20; Matt. 18:20). community of serious moral inquiry where love them (Matt. 5:44-45). In all such readings, a key question for kind, thoughtful conversation replaces the Second, gay people are part of just about me is “What reading of the Bible is closest to angry tirades so common in our culture. BT everybody’s family or extended family and just Christ’s own heart as revealed in the Sermon about everybody’s church. Before making stri- on the Mount?” (Matt. 5-7). —Bob Setzer Jr. is the pastor of the First dent statements about this issue from either Fourth, the question “What Did Jesus Baptist Church of Christ in Macon, Ga., to side of the divide, please remember you are Do?” — not just “What Would Jesus Do?” — whom he first offered these comments. “Yes, I want to subscribe to Baptists Today!”

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24 | Baptists Today • June 2009 P E R S P E C T I V E g u e s t c o m m e n t a r y Yearning on the everlasting arms By Tom Ehrich RELIGION NEWS SERVICE

y father and I were eating lunch at Humanity is at its best when we Like soldiers huddling in trenches, we Marquette Manor, the retirement give each other courage by expressing our yearn for goodness and love, when M center in Indianapolis where he yearnings. We sing, we write, we draw, we has lived since my mother’s death five years we step outside our defenses and pray. Songs don’t end wars, anymore than ago. A friend walked up and put his hand on singing at lunch can roll back the years to my father’s shoulder. dare to imagine better. happier days. But our yearnings are what The two began singing, my father on make us human. melody, his friend on harmony. They do this expressed a yearning that went beyond lonely Any animal can fight or steal. Humanity every time they see each other at lunch. soldiers on the front. is at its best when we yearn for goodness and The day before, they sang “Down by the I grew up singing these songs. In those love, when we step outside our defenses and Old Mill Stream,” composed in 1908 to recall early years, I knew nothing of leaving home, dare to imagine better. The darkness tries to a lover’s first encounter with a 16-year-old “vil- the magic of young love, missing my home- drive us back inside by making us afraid of lage queen” whose “hair has turned to silver.” land or seeing my father our own longings and by cheapening them. Today, as I again joined the melody, they alone at age 93 after 60 Our humanity draws us back to the stream sang a ballad much loved by U.S. soldiers years of marriage. where love can blossom. crossing the ocean to World War I: Yet what I did Our yearnings are what connect us to know, even as a child God, as well. God isn’t to be known by a “There’s a long, long trail a-winding singing along while Dad majestic throne, thunderous rage or finely Into the land of my dreams, played guitar, was the tuned loathing. God is known in the risk of Where the nightingales are singing force of yearning — creating that which can betray its maker and And a white moon beams; that tender and urgent surely will die. There’s a long, long night of waiting longing for what is good Jesus told the disciples of his leaving, and Until my dreams all come true; and loving. Long before we lose what we have invited them to love him anyway, because in Till the day when I’ll be going down loved, we feel the power of yearning for that loving and losing, they would know the full- That long, long trail with you.” love, and we sense the risk of holding on to ness of God’s love. anything dear. In the songs of childhood, my father When we finished, residents applauded. It’s not a morbid dread, but an awareness taught me to yearn for goodness and love. On our walk to lunch, my father and I that life is fleeting and it takes great courage Now he is teaching me the courage to keep on had sung the ballad that dominated USO to love another person. It takes courage to yearning. BT performances during the last two years of care about a partner, a child, a parent, because World War II: “I’ll be Home for Christmas.” as hymnist Isaac Watts said, “time like an —Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant Its final words — “if only in my dreams” — ever-rolling stream bears all its sons away.” and Episcopal priest based in New York.

June 2009 • Baptists Today | 25 P E R S P E C T I V E Billy Graham’s words to remember By Jack U. Harwell Nostalgia was a prime factor in the fun- damentalist surge that spawned the takeover How many of us have gone to of the Southern Baptist Convention. Some longed for the “glory days” of the SBC — funerals, heard ministers pay 1950 to 1970. That 20-year span of unparal- glowing tribute to a departing leled growth, however, came about primarily because of the post-World War II baby boom. saint, then gone home and said, Almost every denomination in this nation “I wish that person could have reported record numbers. Then, those baby-boomers became heard those warm words while teenagers, then college students in a huge they were still alive.“ influx in the 1960s. That flood of students helped to fuel the campus revolts, feminism, ell, one of our greatest Christian sexual revolution, flower-child phenomenon heroes is nearing the end of his and protests against the war in Vietnam. W earthly pilgrimage. Allow me to Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, pen some words of tribute while he is alive to Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy read them. Jack Harwell and Billy Graham in 1973 contributed to what President Jimmy Carter In 1973, Billy Graham came to Atlanta called “the national malaise” of conflict and to lead an evangelistic crusade at Atlanta- dangerous things to ever happen to America.” chaos we now call the turbulent ’70s. Fulton County Stadium. As editor of the Stunned, I asked Dr. Graham why In a desperate effort to resurrect the per- Georgia Baptist state newspaper, The a national wave of nostalgia could be so ceived peace and tranquility of the “good old Christian Index, I was asked to be publicity dangerous. days,” ultra-conservative revolutions cropped chairman. He replied: “One, if we spend so much up all over America and other parts of the For several months leading up to the time longing for another time, another place, world. crusade services, we had prayer meetings, another circumstance, we fail to see all the Baptists were caught up in all this para- strategy sessions, training events and other opportunities and all the resources at our dis- noid sickness called nostalgia — resulting in functions with him. Dr. Graham was always posal — right now — at this time, this place, our modern Baptist version of the Salem gracious, humble, patient, polite, courteous, this circumstance, to witness to lost people witch trials of the Puritan era. focused and positive in every situation — about God and our Savior.” I think Dr. Graham had a prophetic a true Christian gentleman. “Secondly,” Dr. Graham said, “if we get insight in 1973 that came from the Holy Even on the golf course he was self- caught up in longing for days gone by, we Spirit and from his unique understanding of effacing, modest and kind — and honest. begin to question God, to doubt his wisdom world religions and political affairs. After the crusade Dr. Graham asked to in placing us at this time, at this place, in this Just before he left my office that day, Dr. come by my office and discuss the event, circumstance. We argue with him about let- Graham asked: “Jack, do you know when the which had been phenomenally successful. He ting us live today, here and now, with all of good old days were? For every individual the wanted to know, “What did we do wrong? the current challenges and privileges we have, good old days happened when they were at What did we do right? What can we learn rather than the so-called good old days. Such the peak of their personal power and produc- from the Atlanta crusade that might help us nostalgic thinking eventually becomes spiri- tion. It’s an individual mindset, not a elsewhere?” tual arrogance, with us thinking we know collective time period.” That three-hour conversation was one of more about where we should witness and Chew on that thought awhile. Doesn’t it the most meaningful experiences in my work than God knows. Ultimately we can resonate with the most sacred Baptist tenet of Christian life. One statement jolted me forget who is Lord and who is servant.” all, the priesthood of every single believer to sharply: “Jack, you watch America for the Hundreds of times since 1973 I have answer only to their Savior and Lord? next 20 years, and you’re going to see a relived that conversation. His prediction was The only day we ever have to serve God national wave of nostalgia, everybody longing right on target. Our nation has been caught is today — the good old TODAY. BT for the good old days.” up in nostalgia — in politics, education, Then he paused and said, “That national movies, music, television, diplomacy and — Jack U. Harwell is editor emeritus of wave of nostalgia will be one of the most especially organized religion. Baptists Today

“Doesn’t it resonate with the most sacred Baptist tenet of all, the priesthood of every single believer to answer only to their Savior and Lord?”

26 | Baptists Today • June 2009 I N F O R M A T I O N Evangelicals seem unfazed by torture. Why?

By Greg Warner interview. “It’s a moveable line. It’s in pencil, white evangelicals thinking first as partisans Religion News Service not in ink. I believe there are absolutes. and second as people of faith,” said There are some things we must never do.” researcher Robert Jones, whose firm, Public Does conservative Christianity encourage Yet some say the Pew numbers, like all Religion Research, conducted the October torture? survey data, can be problematic. Researchers study for Mercer University and the That debate has been reignited by new did not define “torture,” and that’s the Washington-based group Faith in Public numbers from the Pew Research Center that problem, say defenders of the Bush adminis- Life. show white evangelicals are more supportive tration policy of “enhanced interrogation “When they engage their faith in think- of “torture to gain important information techniques.” ing about the issue, support for torture from suspected terrorists” than any other Two conservative Christian scholars said drops.” religious or political group in the survey. waterboarding could be justified in some Hunter, for his part, blames “a whole lot Less than half of the general public (49 instances, and Christians can come to differ- of evangelicals (who) are listening to a whole percent) say government-sponsored torture ent conclusions about whether the practice lot of talk radio” and seeing the debate solely can “often” or “sometimes” be justified, constitutes “torture.” through the lens of national security and compared to almost two-thirds of white “Evangelicals, like everyone else, do not homeland security. evangelicals (62 percent). support any immoral use of force for any “Many of them see patriotism in terms That view is almost identical to the view reason by anyone,” said Daniel Heimbach, of protecting our country rather than of Republicans (64 percent), giving fuel to professor of ethics at Southeastern Baptist remembering the admonition in Scripture the charge that evangelicals’ views on torture Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. that you don’t overcome evil with evil but are rooted more in politics than their faith. “And evangelicals, like everyone else, also rather overcome evil with good,” said believe that coercive methods of interroga- “Conservatives are living within their Hunter, who holds an advisory seat on tion can be used within strict moral own moral universe,” said Joel Hunter, an President Obama’s faith-based office. evangelical megachurch pastor from subur- boundaries. There is, in fact, no moral Support for torture can’t be blamed on a ban Orlando, Fla. disagreement on this.” lack of religious education; in fact, the Pew “In the last few decades, we have kind Keith Pavlischek of the Washington- numbers showed that support for torture of created our own moral terms — more based Ethics and Public Policy Center agrees actually increased among those who attended neoconservative than walking in sacrificial with Gushee and others that Christians are church more frequently. love.” not properly informed about the torture “It would be easy for casual news watch- The torture debate within evangelical issue. But he insists if they were, they would ers to conclude that if you want to end circles is as complex and multi-layered as understand that while torture itself is inher- torture in this country, the best thing to do evangelicals themselves. First, do the Pew ently evil, not all methods that inflict pain would be to empty out the churches,” numbers matter, and how much? And sec- constitute torture. Gushee wrote in a column for the Associated ond, if evangelicals are finding their way to Labeling certain techniques as torture Baptist Press. an endorsement of torture, how are they without doing the hard work of applying Some evangelicals aren’t just worried getting there? consistent moral principles distorts the The Pew numbers have prompted a debate, said Pavlischek, a former Marine about the survey numbers, but also whether great deal of soul-searching among Hunter colonel in Iraq and now director of EPPC’s those numbers will tarnish evangelicals’ pub- and other evangelical leaders. David Gushee, Program to Protect America’s Freedom. lic image. Gushee, for one, worries about the an ethicist at Mercer University who has Simple slogans don’t help, either, he perception “that evangelicals have a strangely worked with the National Religious said, because the debate itself is not simple. selective moral vision.” Campaign Against Torture, is one of them. “If your first question is ‘What would Heimback, however, disagreed, saying “These answers reveal deep problems in Jesus do?’ you get a mess,” said Pavlischek. the problem is not so much with evangelicals the moral formation of evangelical Christians, “The reason evangelicals are confused (on as with an unfriendly media that is anxious especially in the South, our capitulation to torture) is because evangelical leaders are to portray Christian conservatives in a bad utilitarianism and nationalism rather than confused.” light. submission to the lordship of Christ, and our While many evangelical leaders say they “Those reporting on evangelicals are weakness in developing and committing to a were shocked and embarrassed by the latest also responsible to avoid unjustified stereo- human-rights ethic,” he said. Pew findings, they were equally troubled types and should rather assume the best, not Richard Land, who heads the Southern when survey data last October indicated the worst, of evangelical Americans who take Baptists’ Ethics and Religious Liberty evangelical views on torture are more often the teaching and example of Jesus Christ Commission and was a close ally of the Bush influenced by “common sense” and “life seriously,” he said. “ ... Evangelicals are not White House, is another torture critic. experiences” rather than Christian teachings suddenly less adept at media relations, rather “If the end justifies the means, then or beliefs. the culture is becoming decidedly less where do you draw the line?” Land said in an “The data in our survey points to many friendly toward evangelical Christians.” BT

June 2009 • Baptists Today | 27 I N F O R M A T I O N Baptist leader: News journal preserves the important principle of freedom Henry Crouch doesn’t mince words when it comes to discussing the importance of the historical Baptist principle of freedom.

hroughout four decades of ministry — particularly his 23 years as pas- tor of Providence Baptist Church T in Charlotte, N.C. — he endeav- ored to preserve the Baptist values and principles he learned at home and in his church, which he shared with his congrega- tions from the pulpit and supported with his leadership and funds. Thinking back on the 1970s and 1980s, Crouch remembers the struggle churches went through when the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention began to shift to the far right, introducing changes to the denomination’s tenets with which moderate Baptists could not identify. He says that struggle is why he has sub- scribed to and supported Baptists Today since its first issue in 1983. “Baptist principles are important,” said Crouch. “Those principles include freedom, “They may have received partial funding “We cannot afford to lose Baptists and those principles value open minds. from the convention, but they were not con- Today,” he said. “… We should have Baptists Today continues to shine the light on trolled,” he said. “That is not true anymore. endowed it a long time ago. It is our voice; it those principles and values, and we need that. Freedom of speech and the Baptist principle reminds us of our Baptist principles and Baptists have a very short memory, so we of freedom are hard to come by, yet are easy values.“ need to be reminded continually.” to lose.” Crouch worries about the next genera- Crouch recalled when denominational Because Baptists Today is an autonomous tion of Baptists being well informed about publications had greater independence. news journal, Crouch says Baptists can trust the cost of protecting important Baptist what is written. principles. “No one tells him what to write,” said “I don’t know if the young Baptists Crouch of current editor John Pierce. “He today are even concerned about what hap- makes those decisions. I may not agree with pened,” he said. “You often aren’t until it everything that is written in Baptists Today, touches you … when your daughter has been but I appreciate the effort to show me called to the ministry, but is told she can’t another viewpoint. That is what freedom preach … when academic freedom is threat- provides you.” ened at your school. Then, you start to Crouch, who was present when founding question. We need Baptists Today to keep editor Walker Knight first discussed establish- shining a light on what is happening.” BT ing the independent national publication 26 years ago, said the freedom to provide a “clear and open picture of what is happen- If you would like information on making ing” is why he regularly supports Baptists a planned gift to Baptists Today, con- Today and is committed to helping build its tact Keithen M. Tucker, Development endowment. and Marketing Director for Baptists Today, at [email protected] or (478) 330-6228 or (478) 361-5363.

28 | Baptists Today • June 2009 I N F O R M A T I O N National Day of Prayer gets a political makeover

By Adelle M. Banks of the National Day of Prayer Task Force they moved their Capitol Hill event, Religion News Service and wife of Focus on the Family founder traditionally held in the afternoon, to a James Dobson, at the Cannon House morning time slot. WASHINGTON — Evangelical Office Building. “In many ways, it validates an assump- “I feel a void that the executive branch tion that a lot of evangelicals have felt over leaders gathered for the annual is not represented here.” the last few months, which is they are not observance of the National Day In his (prayer-day) proclamation, going to have as easy an entrée to the halls Obama said that American leaders like of power in Washington as they have over of Prayer on May 7 prayed for President Lincoln have long called the the last eight years,” said Michael Lindsay, assistant professor of sociology of Rice President Obama but criticized country to prayer. “Throughout our nation’s history, University. his decisions to not mark the Americans have come together in moments While the change in prayer plans may reflect the ebb and flow that occurs when day with a White House event of great challenge and uncertainty to hum- ble themselves in prayer,” he said. the White House changes political parties, it or send a representative to their “Let us also use this day to come also may show that “culture warrior” evan- gelicals may be losing prominence while annual gathering on Capitol Hill. together in a moment of peace and good will.” other religious groups may be gaining it. Observers say the change of plans At a news conference two days earlier, “It might have been the most politi- from previous years demonstrates that con- White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs cally smart move for him not to ... host the servative Christians have less influence in said that while the president has chosen to event,” said Lindsay of Obama. “Because the halls of Washington with a new publicly observe the day solely with the this is not the constituency that voted for Democratic administration. The Obama proclamation, “privately he’ll pray as he him in November and there are other reli- administration issued a proclamation does every day.” gious groups who have some strong instead of holding a public event. For the last eight years, President Bush opposition to the way that the National “I am sad to say this morning that this had welcomed the Dobsons and other sup- Day of Prayer Task Force has tended to is the first time since the year 2000 that porters to the East Room for a ceremony focus on the Christian-Jewish community.” there has not been a prayer service in the marking the day. When the task force did Michael Cromartie, director of the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s Evangeli- White House,” said Shirley Dobson, leader not hear from the White House this year, cals in Civic Life program, said he thinks evangelicals still have significant influence outside the Washington buildings equated with power. “It’s not declining influence as much as it is lack of access to the halls of power,” he said. “Their numbers haven’t gone down. It’s just their access has gone down.” Far from leaving the scene, he pre- dicted that evangelicals will regroup and continue to speak out on issues ranging from same-sex marriage to the next Supreme Court justice nominee. As the three-hour prayer event con- cluded on the Hill, conservative Christian leaders — including the Dobsons — joined about a dozen members of Congress at a news conference to affirm a House resolu- tion on “America’s religious heritage.” James Dobson said there that he dis- agrees with Obama’s decision not to hold a White House prayer event. “We will not be disrespectful of him because of the office and we do pray for him, but I do regret his lack of emphasis Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), at the microphone, and Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) are joined by other members of Congress for a press conference following a May 7 worship service they on the foundation of prayer on which this hosted on Capitol Hill marking the National Day of Prayer. Photo by John Pierce. country was based,” he said. BT

June 2009 • Baptists Today | 29 F E A T U R E STORY AND PHOTO BY TONY W. CARTLEDGE, Contributing Editor Hastey reflects on 20 years with Alliance

heological education, partnership mis- central role. The Alliance also helped to pio- emphasis on inclusiveness, which he describes sions, and honest inclusiveness bubble neer Baptist studies programs in non-Baptist as “unquestionably one of our core organiza- T quickly to the surface as Stan Hastey schools including Duke University Divinity tional values.” The Alliance of Baptists recalls highlights of his 20 years of leading School, the Candler School of Theology at supported women in ministry from its incep- the Alliance of Baptists. Emory University, Wesley Theological tion even though it was a controversial The Alliance was founded in 1987, the Seminary at American University in subject, even among some moderates. first splinter group born from the sharp polit- Washington D.C., and Brite Divinity School More controversial has been the ical and theological controversy that divided at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. Alliance’s inclusive stance with regard to sex- the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). The Alliance provided seed money for all ual orientation. In 1995, the Alliance adopted Originally known as the Southern of those programs, Hastey said, and has also the report of a task force on human sexuality Baptist Alliance, supporters sought to pre- “been the financial lifeline for the Baptist that encouraged congregations to welcome serve and advance a progressive stream Theological Seminary in Zimbabwe.” and affirm all persons without regard to among Southern Baptists that conservative sexual orientation. As an organization, the SBC leaders were working hard to block. Alliance has lived out that mandate, electing Professor Alan Neely, who left leaders and hiring staff who are gay and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary lesbian as well as heterosexual. for a position at Princeton Theological The Alliance’s early decision to declare Seminary, served as acting director of the itself as “welcoming and affirming” unques- Alliance until Hastey was hired to the post of tionably “became one of our points of executive director, becoming the organization’s identity that both distinguished us and lim- first full-time staff member on Jan. 1, 1989. ited us in our growth potential,” Hastey said. Hastey came to the Alliance from the It is “not only an entrenched value but a core Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs value of who we are.” (now Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Hastey regrets that the Alliance has not Liberty), where he served for 15 years after been more successful in including more peo- earning a Ph.D. at Southern Baptist ple of color, though not for lack of effort. Theological Seminary in 1973. At the Baptist “We have not been well-positioned to attract Joint Committee, Hastey worked mainly in predominantly African-American congrega- communications as Director of Information tions,” he said. Services. Hastey is equally proud of the Alliance’s Hastey is pleased with the Alliance’s Hastey tapped fellow BJC employee model of doing missions. “We’ve done it on a prospects, and “thrilled” about Paula Clayton Jeanette Holt to work in an administrative really modest level,” he said, “but have tried Dempsey’s employment. “She will take on role at the Alliance. They established an to live into a partnership model domestically her new role as team leader well; she has all office at First Baptist Church in Washington, and in other countries.” the gifts and all the tools. I couldn’t be more D.C., and were the only paid staff for the A partnership with the Fraternity of pleased with her being named as the new next 18 years. Baptist Churches of Cuba has been of special team leader.” When Holt retired two years ago, the interest to Hastey, who grew up in Mexico as Dempsey is “just right for this time,” Alliance switched to a peer-oriented leadership the child of missionaries. The Alliance has said Hastey, noting her ability to serve as a model, hiring Chris Copeland as Minister for sponsored about two dozen congregational bridge between older members and younger Leadership Formation and changing Hastey’s partnerships between American and Cuban ones, many of whom knew her as a campus title to Minister for Missions and Ecumenism. churches, despite strict limitations on travel minister. A lack of finances grounded plans for a third imposed by the U.S. government. Hastey is In retirement, Hastey and his wife Bettie full-time staff member. gratified that the Alliance has been able to plan to remain in Alexandria, Va. He hopes Hastey sees the Alliance’s contributions pursue the partnership above-board, with to do some preaching, and has two major to theological education as a major accom- proper licensing, while also working hard for writing projects. The first project will be a plishment. As leaders of the SBC’s new guard changes in U.S. policy toward Cuba. history of the Baptist Joint Committee, to put more and more staunch conservatives on The Alliance has other partnerships with mark its 75th anniversary in 2011. the trustee boards of its seminaries, concern Baptists in Zimbabwe and in Brazil. For the Hastey has a head start on that project: about a narrowed approach to theological Brazilian Baptists, the Alliance translated his doctoral dissertation explored the com- education became “a driving force that Walter Shurden’s The Baptist Identity: Four mittee’s early history. He also plans to brought the Alliance into being,” Hastey said. Fragile Freedoms into Portuguese, and there is complete a history of the Alliance that was That concern resulted in the creation of now an emerging group of progressive begun by the late Alan Neely. A 2012 release Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond Baptists in that country, Hastey said. will help to celebrate the Alliance’s 25th (BTSR) in 1991, with the Alliance playing a Hastey is likewise proud of the Alliance’s anniversary. BT

30 | Baptists Today • June 2009 STORY AND PHOTO BY TONY W. CARTLEDGE, Contributing Editor I N F O R M A T I O N Alliance launches new initiatives, honors leader

HARLOTTE — The Alliance of revenue. At a banquet honoring Hastey’s federal benefits and protections to same-sex Baptists celebrated Stan Hastey’s 20 retirement, she announced the creation of as well as heterosexual couples. C years of direction, welcomed new “The Hastey Society,” an annual list of The Alliance has long been on record as leaders, adopted six initiatives, and affirmed donors who contribute $1,000 or more to the “welcoming and affirming” of gays, lesbians, statements on social issues during its annual Alliance. bisexual and transgendered persons. Some convocation held April 17-19 at Park Road Participants gave unanimous approval to members, however, were less enthused with Baptist Church in Charlotte. statements calling for the U.S. Congress to the proposed call for clergy to stop signing Paula Clayton Dempsey of Mars Hill, raise the minimum wage to $10 per hour and marriage licenses, wanting more time to N.C., director of the Advent Spirituality to approve the Employee Free Choice Act, consider the matter. Center, was hired to fill Hastey’s position. As which would make it easier for workers to In his final “State of the Alliance” Minister for Partnership Relations and the organize. Members also affirmed a statement report, Hastey expressed four hopes for the only full-time employee, Dempsey will act as that calls for legislation to reduce climate future, beginning with a desire “that we will team leader for five part-time staff members. change, to support vulnerable communities remain true to founders as a freedom move- Alliance members agreed, with ment among Baptists.” In an uncertain some misgivings, to give up the organi- time, he said, Alliance members “have zation’s current office space at First fixed our eyes on the Pole Star, the Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. A North Star of Christian freedom.” single toll-free number will connect to As the Alliance has resisted creeds all staff, and a new mailing address will and the “shibboleth of so-called ‘doctri- be established in Atlanta, near finance nal purity,’” he said, members must director Carole Collins. continue upholding liberty of conscience Following a two-year period of dis- for individuals and churches, standing cernment, Alliance members agreed to on the principle of a free church in a focus their work on six initiatives. A free state and opposing efforts by either “growth and nurture” initiative sets out one to use the other for its own pur- an intentional strategy for numerical poses. growth through “midwifing new Hastey also called for the Alliance Alliance congregations” along with to remain active in interfaith dialogue enlisting existing congregations and and relationships, seeking “to be a part individual members. Ann Quattlebaum presents a decorative globe to Stan Hastey of the whole church” and to “work with Other initiatives included the devel- during his retirement dinner April 18 after 20 years of service. believers everywhere in giving full opment of new mission partnerships, expression to the gospel. facilitating the sharing of ministry resources, affected by climate change, and to “assist and Continued efforts at becoming more providing service opportunities for students, welcome climate migrants” forced to move inclusive are also essential, Hastey said. “It is fostering deeper relationships among Alliance because of changing environmental conditions. better to be small and inclusive than large clergypersons, and creating additional oppor- The Alliance, which has a missions part- and exclusive,” he said, expressing hope that tunities for Alliance members to gather. nership with the Fraternidad de Iglesias the Alliance “will become evermore an inclu- To address the initiatives, members Bautistas de Cuba (Fraternity of Baptist sive people” with regard to gender, sexual approved a “Midwifing New Congregations” Churches of Cuba), also gave unanimous orientation and race. conference to be held in April 2010, a plan to approval to a statement calling for an end to Hastey closed with the hope that “we connect students with mission partners for all travel restrictions between the U.S. and will be captivated by Christ in a larger mis- summer missions opportunities, and the Cuba. sion in the world.” No one comes away from development of an online exchange where A fifth statement generated little real involvement in mission partnerships churches or individuals can post ministry opposition but considerable discussion, and unmoved, he said, “we must give attention to resources or services they are willing to share. was eventually referred for further study and larger mission.” In a lengthy business meeting, president consideration at the 2010 meeting in Author Diane Butler Bass, in a final-day Brooks Wicker of Apex, N.C., led members Monterey, Calif. The proposed statement address, urged Alliance supporters to remem- in a frank “dinner table discussion” about would have “invited” clergy affiliated with ber the roots of their progressive history. Alliance finances. The group’s governing the Alliance to “refrain from acting as an Rather than defining themselves by what they board had already reduced the 2009 budget agent of the state by signing marriage are not or thinking of themselves as “red,” by 20 percent, from $501,625 to $398,415. licenses, at least as long as the same licensing “blue” or even “purple,” Bass said members Susan Parrish, recently hired as part-time is not available to same-sex couples.” It also should think “green” and embrace the “gener- development director, said a renewed focus called for Congress to repeal the Federal ative” story of love and growth from which on development should generate additional Defense of Marriage Act and grant the same they came. BT

June 2009 • Baptists Today | 31 F E A T U R E BY DANIEL BURKE, Religion News Service

QUESTION AND ANSWER Francis Collins on the compatibility of faith and science

ASHINGTON — A year after A: That’s our primary audience because I stepping down as director of the think that’s where the greatest stir is going on. W Human Genome Project, Dr. But I would hope that skeptics and seekers Francis Collins is embarking on a new venture, and believers of other faiths would also find one that may be even harder than deciphering this an interesting place to go. DNA. Collin’s new BioLogos Foundation, which Q: Is the site interactive in the sense launched in April, aims to be a bridge in the that people can pose questions that debate over science and religion and provide will be answered? some answers to life’s most difficult questions. A: We very much want to have interaction. So Through an interactive Web site if you pose a question that we don’t have up

(www.BioLogos.org), gatherings with pastors Geneticist Francis Collins believes that evan- there, or you want to challenge an answer, you and scientists, and possibly developing science gelicals and scientists often talk past each are welcome to do that. curricula for Christian schools, Collins aims to other. We are not quite clear what the volume tell others about the deep compatibility he sees essays of three or four pages that an interested will look like, but we are prepared to take it on. between Christianity and science. person might find helpful. They present options for serious believers Q: What about other BioLogos Q: What led you to this new project? who also trust science to give reliable data, all projects? A: After my book (The Language of God), I got of which are consistent with both Scripture A: There will be an event in New York that thousands of e-mails from people, many of and science. will be the first of its kind: a conversation them troubled, many of them excited, many of It’s not like we pound the table and say between theologians, scientists and (mainly them puzzled by what they heard. They there is only one answer and here it is. evangelical) pastors. A continuing effort to wanted to engage in a further discussion that reach out to pastors is going to be crucial would drill more deeply. Q: What’s the goal for this Web site because they’re in the hot seat. I tried to keep up with those letters and and foundation? Many are trying to teach about Genesis quickly found out there was no way I could. I A: My hope would be that we are the hub of and may have scientists in their congregation felt bad because the point was to start a con- activity. There are other groups that have been who say, “Now wait a minute, you don’t really versation and I wasn’t holding up my end. pursuing these kinds of questions and trying understand what the evidence is here.” There needed to be a place to provide some to seek harmony instead of conflict, but they We need to empower pastors to not be kind of responses to the questions that came are relatively few and not all that visible. afraid of those conversations. up over and over again, and that sounds like a If there’s something we can do to try to There will be opportunities for summer Web site. help build those links, we’d love to do that. courses for students and faculty at Christian colleges, and developing curricula for Christian Q: Where does the name BioLogos Q: Can you give an example of the schools to try to present an alternative to the come from? kinds of questions the Web site will be young-earth creation (theory), which is often A: It’s a word that I made up, which means addressing? the only thing that science classes in Christian basically “life, by God speaking it into being.” A: What role did God have in evolution? Are high schools teach. Bios is the Greek word for life, and Logos there divine action possibilities in evolution? It sets those students up for a potential is from John 1:1: “in the beginning was the Or is it one of those things where God started crisis when they get to the university and real- Word (Logos).” the process and then stepped back and hoped ize that the data for young-earth creationism is it would all turn out right? just not there. BT Q: What kind of answers will the Web That doesn’t sound exactly correct for a site give? believer. So how does God actually get A: Many of those questions do not have involved in the process of evolution? —Dr. Francis Collins is a physician-geneticist straightforward answers and we’re not trying who headed the Human Genome Project. His to come at them as if they’ve never been asked Q: Is your target audience fellow new work, the BioLogos Foundation, is funded before. We’ve distilled some possibilities into evangelicals? by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

32 | Baptists Today • June 2009 I N F O R M A T I O N Balmer says Religious Right ‘mortally wounded’

By John Pierce Balmer said the late Paul Weyrich, a key waned — and, with the most recent presiden- political organizer of evangelicals, confirmed tial election, has been “mortally wounded,” MACON, Ga. — In 20 to 30 years, histori- to him that the Religious Right was launched he added. ans will look back on the Religious Right as as an effort to support Bob Jones University Younger evangelicals are interested in “a tragic aberration,” said Randall Balmer, after the IRS rescinded the school’s tax- broader — and sometimes different — issues professor of American religious history at exempt status in 1976 due to policies of than the limited few focused on by aging or Columbia University’s Barnard College and racial discrimination. deceased Religious Right figures such as radio author of several books including Thy However, Balmer said he does not host James Dobson and the late television Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right believe racism was the motivation for the rise preacher Jerry Falwell, he said. Distorts the Faith and Threatens America and, of the Religious Right but a subculture’s “The Religious Right lost their most recently, God in the White House: How defense of its worldview — particularly prophetic voice,” said Balmer. “We always Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. prevalent in the South “where Baptists func- have to be careful of the seduction of power.” Kennedy to George W. Bush. tion as a kind of state religion.” Christian influence on politics is better Now an Episcopal priest serving a rural Opposition to legalized abortion and carried out from the edges rather than the congregation in Connecticut — in addition support for government-sponsored prayer in center of power, he suggested. to his teaching, writing and speaking — school were highlighted later, said Balmer. “It is time for evangelicals to reclaim Balmer gave the Walter B. and Kay W. While President Ronald Reagan, who their faith from the Religious Right,” said Shurden Lectures on Religious Liberty and defeated Carter in 1980, wooed the newly- Balmer, noting that special favor for a major- the Separation of Church and State, spon- energized Religious Right, there is no ity faith is not needed. sored by the Washington-based Baptist Joint reference to the issue of abortion in his 700- “Religion has flourished in this country Committee for Religious Liberty, at Mercer plus-page autobiography, said Balmer. precisely because the state has stayed out of University in April. “From 1980 to 2008, the Religious the church’s business,” said Balmer, who Balmer’s father was a strict pastor — Right has had extraordinary influence on the described his own move into the Episcopal affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of American landscape,” said Balmer. But the Church tradition as the result of “aesthetic America — who did not affirm his son’s aca- political influence of the Religious Right has deprivation.” BT demic achievements. His winding spiritual journey was detailed in a memoir, Growing Pains: Learning to Love My Father’s Faith. In his three-lecture series at Mercer, Balmer claimed that the Religious Right “dis- torted the beautiful, redemptive words of Jesus and turned them into something punitive.” His historical overview of evangelical engagement in American politics began with the observation that conservative Christians pulled away from such involvement after the Scopes Trial in 1925. “Many [Evangelical Christians] were not even registered [to vote] until [Jimmy] Carter came out of nowhere as a ‘born-again’ Christian,” said Balmer. Carter, he said, provided a “reinsertion of piety into presidential politics” and “sent every New York journalist to his Rolodex to find out what that (born again) is.” Yet “many of the same voters who pro- pelled him into office in ’76 turned radically against him [in 1980],” said Balmer. Opposition to abortion is often cited as the reason for the Religious Right coming into being and for opposing Democratic can- didates — including the Baptist layman Carter, he said. But Balmer called this “the abortion myth.”

June 2009 • Baptists Today | 33 P E R S P E C T I V E BY TONY W. CARTLEDGE, Contributing Editor

Part two in a two-part series on David and leadership King David: warts and all Negative lessons from the downward David (2 Samuel 11-20)

avid’s road, as related in 1-2 Samuel, English translations often miss. is consistently upward until 2 Samuel The story closes with two phrases that D 11. From that point, the path is uni- draw an intentional contrast between the way formly downhill. David and Yahweh interpret his actions. David did many things right — and if we David told his commander Joab that he read only 1 Chronicles, that’s all we’d know should not let Uriah’s murder “seem evil in about. But David also made some serious mis- your eyes” (11:25), but “the thing that David takes, and we can learn from those as well. did was evil in the eyes of Yahweh” (11:27b). The same David who once was famed as a 1. David grew complacent and neglected his man after God’s own heart had become so duties. blinded by personal concerns that he could When David’s pivotal encounter with no longer recognize evil when he saw it. Bathsheba occurred (2 Samuel 11), the text is On the surface it might seem inconceiv- very clear in reminding us of what David able that a Christian leader would have an should have been doing: “In the spring of the affair with a church member, but it happens year, the time when kings go out to battle, — and it happens when leaders lose focus on David sent Joab with his officers and all their God-given mission and turn their focus Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites to their own desires and perceived needs. and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem” (2 Sam. 11:1). 3. David played favorites, refusing to One gets the impression that David had discipline his children. grown complacent, no longer sensing the In response to David’s multiplied sin, Nathan berating David, by James Tissot need to earn his keep or win respect. An old God announced through the prophet Nathan proverb of uncertain derivation says, “An idle Early in his career David testified that he that the sword would never depart from his mind is the devil’s playground” (or “work- carefully kept himself pure, not just when house. The remainder of 2 Samuel 12-20 shop”). David’s lounging on his upstairs patio engaged in a conflict considered to be Holy tells the sad story of David’s descent from the could be Exhibit A. War, but even on routine patrol (1 Sam. mountaintop of success to the deep valley of Previously, David had won enough bat- 21:5). On multiple occasions David could defeat and misery. tles to ensure homeland security, established have made his life easier by killing King Saul, That story begins with David’s children. his government, and appointed officials to but he declined. He knew what was morally The child born to Bathsheba died, and run it. All of that showed good leadership — right, and was committed to it. David’s penitent prayers could not prevent its but one who stops providing attentive over- But, in 2 Samuel 11 that seems unim- death. Other tragedies grew directly from sight stops being a leader. portant to David, who willingly ogles and David’s failures as a parent and a leader. David lost his focus on following God then takes the wife of one of his most faithful Neither good leaders nor good parents and becoming the best king he could be, and soldiers. play favorites or set different standards for when that happened, he lost other things also. We can’t know what was in David’s mind different people. David appeared to let his It doesn’t take much imagination to see any more than we can perceive how Bath- children operate with no standards at all. what happens if a pastor or other leader sheba felt about it, but the commitment to Amnon, David’s oldest son, lured his decides that he or she has “arrived,” and doing right was no longer at the top of his half-sister Tamar to his bedroom and vio- decides to coast while other people do all the priority list. Committing adultery with a lently raped her before ordering his steward work. Other problems are bound to follow. faithful soldier’s wife led to an unplanned to throw her out, leaving his sister as dam- pregnancy, a frustrated attempt to cover it aged goods with a ruined life ahead (2 Sam. 2. David lost his moral compass. up, and a plan to betray her husband so he 13:1-22). David grieved when he heard it, Other problems certainly followed for would be killed in battle. but did nothing to Amnon, the text said, David. For some reason, perhaps because his David had lost not only his morality, but “because he loved his son.” He let his oldest regal power went to his head, David seems to also his loyalty and his integrity. The Hebrew son get away with rape. have lost his moral compass. text underscores this in a forceful way that With no comfort to be found in her

34 | Baptists Today • June 2009 P E R S P E C T I V E father, Tamar went to her full brother, members know whether or not the minister Absalom, who took her into his home. cares about them. Two years later, Absalom murdered Amnon and fled the country (13:23-38). 6. David lost his respect. David grieved, again, not only over Amnon’s After losing his confidence, his courage, death, but also for Absalom’s absence. and his interest in his people, David also lost David did not pursue Absalom. He let a great deal of his respect. Even though his most popular son get away with murder. David’s army defeated Absalom’s troops, that Within a few years David allowed didn’t automatically make David king again. Absalom to return to Jerusalem, but in short After the coup, David had to be re- order Absalom undermined his father’s repu- appointed as king, but he took no action tation, gathered an army of malcontents, and toward making that happen. The elders of marched on Jerusalem, effectively usurping Judah and Israel fought over who would get the throne when David fled the city (2 Sam. credit for “bringing David back,” but David 14-19). became little more than a puppet pulled David’s army eventually defeated Absa- between the two factions rather than a leader lom’s forces, but with little help from David, who united others in a common cause. who appealed to his men to spare his son. David became, in fact, a source of con- tention rather than a healer of contention. 4. David lost his confidence and courage. Later, as David grew old and the question Somewhere along the way, David lost the arose as to who would follow him, he offered confidence and courage that had made him no leadership but was manipulated by those such a magnetic and effective leader in his around him (1 Kings 1-2). younger days. Although he continued to make When a church leader loses the respect of a few good decisions, such as arranging a sys- the congregation, some people may remain tem for gathering intelligence and planting a loyal, while others do not. The pastor becomes double-agent in Absalom’s court (ch. 16), the source of contention rather than a unifying David chose to abandon Jerusalem rather than leader. Regaining some measure of leadership standing up to his conniving son Absalom. may involve persuading supporters to leave the Once they had fled and set up a defen- church and start a new one, or to vote out the sive post in Mahanaim, David devised a good people who disagree, and that’s not the kind of battle plan by dividing his veteran army into leadership that builds strong churches. three groups that would force Absalom’s larger but untrained forces into the forest of 7. David lost his joy. Ephraim, which supposedly killed more Finally, we can’t help but note that the victims than the sword (18:8). same David who joyously sang and danced David’s soldiers fought valiantly, but before the Lord in 2 Samuel 6 lost his joy when David learned that Absalom had been soon after 2 Samuel 11. He grew old and died killed, he became lost in himself, lost in his as a bitter, mean-spirited man who was more grief. Many supporters who stayed with him concerned with settling old scores than with did so on the basis of loyalty and memories of dying an honorable death. David past, but there was a limit to how long People want leaders they can believe in, that could continue. people who seem to have it together, people who have some inner joy of their own. If they 5. David lost interest in those who followed him. don’t see that the leader has a personal inner The end result is that David seems to life and an inner joy, they’re not going to have lost all desire to lead. When he heard follow. about Absalom’s death (18:19-33), David David’s life offers lessons on both good lamented so loudly that he demoralized his and bad leadership. We can be grateful that own troops, making them ashamed of their David’s admirable qualities are more often own victory (19:1-4). remembered than the bad. How will today’s When David lost his desire to lead, Joab leaders be remembered? BT had to take up the slack and prop him up in a leadership position, but David was no longer a leader. He was like a pastor who may be Editor’s note: This is the second article in a personally frustrated or demoralized, and two-part series on King David and leadership becomes so caught up in his own concerns that is adapted from lectures presented to the that he has lost interest in his people. Church Smoky Mountain Institute of Christian Studies.

June 2009 • Baptists Today | 35

REBLOG — Selections from recent blogs at BaptistsToday.org P E R S P E C T I V E

Getting archaeology stories straight

By Tony W. Cartledge posted April 24, 2009 www.tonycartledge.com

Duke University Symposium on A Archaeology and the Media that I attended April 23-24 grew out of a growing problem — fueled largely by an unpa- trolled Internet and media outlets that need sensationalist stories to attract atten- tion — in which matters of archaeological interest are distorted and misinterpreted to a gullible public. Perhaps you have heard of the James (brother of Jesus) Ossuary, which most legitimate archaeologists regard as a for- gery, or the Talpiot tomb near Jerusalem that reportedly contained ossuaries belong- ing to Jesus’ family. It’s a bogus claim, A popular book last year claimed to reasoned rebuttals of bogus claims — despite a fancy TV documentary that would have found markers noting the original partly because genuine evaluation isn’t lead many to think otherwise. Garden of Eden at a fascinating but not nearly as sensational. They are trying to Sadly, some of the most famous paridisical site called Gobekli Tepe. A news find a better way. “archaeologists” known to the public are article, written by the author using a pseu- Occasionally, I speak to some of these not archaeologists at all, but there is big donym, was planted to spur interest just claims that are of interest to our readers, money to be made by claiming to have before the release of the book. and try to offer something other than the found Noah’s Ark or the Ark of the Klaus Schmidt, the real archaeologist story presented in the popular media, but Covenant. who is quoted in the story, wrote a rebut- I’m rarely an expert on the subject at The late Ron Wyatt, a nurse anes- tal to refute the way his words and hand. thetist whose website continues to findings were twisted by the article’s This symposium helped me make con- promote him (because there’s money still author. nections and contacts necessary to do a to be made), even claimed to have found The list of fantastical finds boggles the better job at that, so our readers will be remnants of Jesus’ blood, so identified mind, and archaeologists and scholars less likely to be taken in by sensationalist because the number of chromosomes agree that they have been unsuccessful in claims. I hope our readers will find the reportedly confirmed divine conception. getting the media to give attention to their effort worthwhile. BT

church that simply forgot to have Order is important Communion for nearly two years when without a pastor. But shortly thereafter, By John Pierce someone told me, “All hell broke loose posted April 18, 2009 when someone moved the American flag.” www.bteditor.blogspot.com Ministers and other church leaders who are both patriotic Americans and com- riving just west of The Big Chicken, mitted Christians — but understand the D Marietta, Georgia’s famous landmark, priorities and differences between the two I passed the expansive Roswell Street — are often challenged by church mem- Baptist Church. A large American flag was bers who cannot. blowing in the brisk wind — with a much, message. And as many church leaders have dis- much smaller Christian flag on the same It raises the very important question: covered, it matters not how rational and chain below it. Are we Christian Americans or American clear we make our case. Those who dis- “What is the message being presented Christians? agree tend to do so out of deep emotion here?” I wondered while trying not to Civil religion — the mixing of religious that allows no room for reconsideration. judge. faith and nationalism to the point of being Most ironic, of course, is that a But the size and prominence of the indistinguishable — is hard to address Christian minister can get in deep trouble American flag — with the hardly notice- rationally without facing charges of being for suggesting to Christians that our high- able Christian flag below — may well unpatriotic. est commitment is to Christ. communicate a (perhaps unintended) I learned of another good Baptist But order really is important. BT

June 2009 • Baptists Today | 37 F E A T U R E BY BOBBY ROSS JR., Religion News Service Financial guru Dave Ramsey, calls for spending discipline, debt-free living

EDMOND, Okla. — In a gloom- cards like alcoholics do beer — include listen- ers of his daily radio show carried by more and-doom economy, Christian than 400 stations and his nightly cable show financial guru Dave Ramsey fash- on Fox Business. ions himself as a prophet of hope. Ramsey is not without his critics. Some financial experts take issue with what they Part stand-up comedian, part economics consider to be his overly simplistic notion of professor, Ramsey built a multimillion-dollar becoming financially secure. Others question business by dispensing simple financial how he can charge people already in debt for advice: Live on a budget. Don’t spend more most of his live events and online resources. than you make. Start an emergency fund. Get But Chris and Tami Burke of Edmond, out of debt and stay out of debt. Okla., said Ramsey’s common-sense approach One of his favorite Scriptures is Proverbs helped them eliminate more than $23,000 in 22:7: “The rich rule over the poor, and the debt. The advice they received from Ramsey borrower is servant to the lender.” was worth every cent, they said. Now, with the nation in what Ramsey Now, the couple that attends Life characterizes as “complete freak-out mode” Dave Ramsey Church drives used cars and gives more over the recession, the faith-based approach money to the church. he touts seems to be resonating even more, fear himself. But then he prayed. “In the past, many people were just he said. “I talked to my dad and the fear left blowing and going, just spending a lot of “I would not say that business is boom- me,” he said, referring to God. “Fear is not a money,” said Chris Burke, a hospital admin- ing during the recession, but this economic fruit of the Spirit.” istrator who arrived more than an hour early downturn has made people realize that now is Ramsey’s message: “Hope doesn’t come to hear Ramsey speak. “Now, more than ever, the time to turn their financial life around,” from Washington. Hope comes from you and you have companies downsizing and people the 48-year-old money-management expert me. Hope comes from God.” losing their jobs. ... So, now’s a better time said in an interview. Three time zones and roughly 3,900 than ever to really look at your finances and As evidence of the significant interest in miles from Oklahoma City, Ted Manolas and really buckle down.” the one-time bankrupt real estate salesman fellow church members watched Ramsey on Organizers insisted that Ramsey’s 90- who turned around his financial life based on big screens in Chugiak, Alaska, northeast of minute event was no political rally, nor an biblical principles, consider the scene at an Anchorage. investment seminar. Oklahoma City-area megachurch in April. “You could say that I’ve joined the Dave Nonetheless, the self-proclaimed capital- About 1,500 people showed up at Life Ramsey cult,” joked Manolas, director of ist — an outspoken critic of the federal Church that evening to hear Ramsey give a finance and administration at The Crossing bailout of big business — spent considerable history of capitalism and explain why he Church at Birchwood, before the simulcast time railing against Washington politicians believes the economy will survive the current began. and offering his advice on everything from woes. But the crowd that saw the syndicated As a result of Ramsey’s teachings, the real-estate market to the disadvantages of talk-show host in person was far from alone. Manolas said, he paid off all his debts — investing in gold. Despite the serious subject His free, nationwide “Town Hall for including his home. matter, he sprinkled his comments with Hope” meeting was simulcast live to more The Alaska church has taught Ramsey’s homespun humor. than 6,000 churches, businesses and military “Financial Peace University,” a 13-week video “When things were going really good, bases — 10 times more venues than Ramsey series, to more than 150 families, Manolas any idiot could make money,” he said. “Even initially thought might participate, he said. said. a turkey can fly in a tornado, y’all.” “The one thing America needs right now Nationally, 750,000 families have com- Concerning President Obama’s call for a is hope,” Ramsey said. “All we’re hearing in pleted the course, according to Lampo Group new credit-card law protecting consumers, the news is how bad things are, and no one is Inc., Ramsey’s Brentwood, Tenn.-based com- Ramsey said he used “plastic surgery” to deal talking about hope for the future. The truth pany, which has more than 200 employees. with the debt he racked up with Visa and is, fear is running rampant in America today, Lampo is the Greek word for “light,” refer- MasterCard. and people are making bad decisions based ring to the passage in the Gospel of Matthew “I legislated the credit-card companies on that fear.” calling for Christians not to hide their faith. that were in my life with a pair of scissors,” Ramsey said he almost bought into the Ramsey’s fans — who swear off credit he said. BT

38 | Baptists Today • June 2009 BY ADELLE M. BANKS, Religion News Service F E A T U R E

Some preachers, long gone, keep preaching from beyond the grave

On the Sunday after Easter, the Bible. broadcast ministries that have continued When Wright worked at Kennedy’s even as their pulpits have been filled by famed Southern Baptist preacher Center for Christian Statesmanship in successors. Adrian Rogers appeared on Washington 14 years ago, he would listen Tullian Tchividjian, grandson of evan- to McGee on the radio as he drove to the gelist Billy Graham, has been in Kennedy’s Trinity Broadcasting Network, commuter-train station. pulpit at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church asking his congregation in subur- “I listened to the guy for 31/2 years in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., since Easter, but before I knew he was Kennedy is the one seen on the television ban Memphis to turn to a dead,” Wright recalled. program, “The Coral Ridge Hour.” passage of the Gospel of John. “I was captivated by his “Nothing has changed,” said John kind of homey preach- Aman, spokesman for Kennedy’s Coral Christian with a witness in ing style and had no Ridge Ministries. “We’ll continue to air Dr. his heart is never at the idea that he had gone Kennedy’s sermons and provide occasional “ mercy of a man with an on to be with the specials.” A argument in his mouth,” Lord.” Although the ministry made signifi- he said in the trademark deep voice that Leo Karlyn, presi- cant cuts in the number of stations that has been heard on TV and radio for 22 dent of McGee’s Thru D. James Kennedy carried Kennedy’s sermons after he died, it years. “Learn that, my friend.” the Bible Radio now reaches the same percentage of U.S. Within hours, D. James Kennedy was Network in Pasadena, households it reached before his death — on Ion Television, comparing Americans Calif., said the ministry, 90 percent. Kennedy’s “Truths that who have drifted away from God to secular which began in 1967, Transform” radio program airs on 544 humanism to the New Testament’s prodi- has expanded to the radio outlets today, compared to 700 in gal son. Internet and added a 2006. Both evangelical preachers, along with Facebook page a few Bill Skelton, president and CEO of radio broadcaster J. Vernon McGee, all have months ago. He expects Love Worth Finding, said the Tennessee something in common. They all died years McGee would be ministry founded by Rogers runs on about — and in McGee’s case, decades — ago. surprised that the Adrian Rogers 13,000 U.S. television outlets and 1,800 Yet their messages continue via TV, ministry continues. radio stations worldwide. His Internet ser- radio and the Internet, even as some listen- “He said, ‘I want you to play these mons were downloaded 1.7 million times ers probably don’t even know they’re long tapes until the money runs out,’ and the last year. gone. money has never run out,” Karlyn said of “His own words were, ‘While the “McGee, of course, is king of the hill,” McGee, who died at the age of 84 in 1988. messenger’s gone home, the message must said Frank Wright, president and CEO of “We have great donors and people who are continue,’” said Skelton, who also is chair- the Virginia-based National Religious interested in what does the Bible really man of the NRB board. Broadcasters (NRB). “He is today the most say.” “It may sound a little bit macabre to widely listened-to Christian broadcaster One donor recently gave $800,000 say this: I think as long as people turn on anywhere in the world.” and others have bequeathed jewelry, an old their radio and turn on their television sets The three broadcasters, Wright said, Oldsmobile and even a $20,000 stamp and hear somebody teaching and preaching remain on the airwaves because of their collection to the ministry. truths that are relevant to this life, the fact knack for telling “timeless stories” and Both Kennedy, who died in 2007, and that he is alive or not is really not the their focus on the unchanging texts of Rogers, who died in 2005, set up separate important thing.” BT

“I listened to [J. Vernon McGee] for 31/2 years before I knew he was dead.”

—FRANK WRIGHT, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF NATIONAL RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS

June 2009 • Baptists Today | 39 What do these churches have in common? Through group subscriptions to Baptists Today, they keep up with the latest issues facing Baptists.

Ardmore Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C. First Baptist Church, Lumberton, N.C. Mount Zion Baptist Church, Macon, Ga. Boiling Springs Baptist Church, Boiling Springs, N.C. First Baptist Church, Macon, Ga. National Heights Baptist Church, Fayetteville, Ga. Boulevard Baptist Church, Anderson, S.C. First Baptist Church, Madison, Ga. New Heights Baptist Church, Macon, Ga. Broadmoor Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, La. First Baptist Church, Madison, N.C. Northminster Baptist Church, Jackson, Miss. Broadway Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky. First Baptist Church, Marion, N.C. North Stuart Baptist Church, Stuart, Fla. Brunswick Islands Baptist Church, Supply, N.C. First Baptist Church, Mocksville, N.C. Northwest Baptist Church, Ardmore, Okla. Chadbourn Baptist Church, Chadbourn, N.C. First Baptist Church, Morganton, N.C. Oakmont Baptist Church, Greenville, N.C. College Avenue Baptist Church, Lenoir, N.C. First Baptist Church, Morrow, Ga. Peachtree Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga. College Park Baptist Church, Orlando, Fla. First Baptist Church, Mount Airy, N.C. Piney River Baptist Church, Lowesville, Va. Covenant Baptist Church, Gastonia, N.C. First Baptist Church, Mount Olive, N.C. Cullowhee Baptist Church, Cullowhee, N.C. First Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, Tenn. Pintlala Baptist Church, Hope Hull, Ala. Druid Hills Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga. First Baptist Church, New Bern, N.C. Providence Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C. Dunwoody Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga. First Baptist Church, Orangeburg, S.C. Providence Baptist Church, Cookeville, Tenn. Edenton Baptist Church, Edenton, N.C. First Baptist Church, Pensacola, Fla. Providence Baptist Church, Hendersonville, N.C. Emerywood Baptist Church, High Point, N.C. First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga. Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C. Faith Baptist Church, Georgetown, Ky. First Baptist Church, Rutherfordton, N.C. Reynoldson Baptist Church, Gates, N.C. Fernwood Baptist Church, Spartanburg, S.C. First Baptist Church, Savannah, Ga. Rolling Hills Baptist Church, Fayetteville, Ark. First Baptist Church, Ahoskie, N.C. First Baptist Church, Sanford, N.C. Rolesville Baptist Church, Rolesville, N.C. First Baptist Church, Aiken, S.C. First Baptist Church, Spruce Pine, N.C. Second Baptist Church, Liberty, Mo. First Baptist Church, Anderson, S.C. First Baptist Church, Tifton, Ga. Second Baptist Church, Memphis, Tenn. First Baptist Church, Asheville, N.C. First Baptist Church, Wilson, N.C. Second Baptist Church, Richmond, Va. First Baptist Church, Cape Girardeau, Mo. First Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C. Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga. First Baptist Church, Carolina Beach, N.C. Forest Hills Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C. Shades Crest Baptist Church, Birmingham, Ala. First Baptist Church, Carrollton, Ga. Franklin Baptist Church, Franklin, Va. Smoke Rise Baptist Church, Stone Mountain, Ga. First Baptist Church, Clemson, S.C. Grace Fellowship Baptist Church, Meridian, Miss. First Baptist Church, Columbus, Ga. Grandin Court Baptist Church, Roanoke, Va. Snyder Memorial Baptist Church, Fayetteville, N.C. First Baptist Church, Commerce, Ga. Greystone Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C. South Main Baptist Church, Houston, Texas First Baptist Church, Conway, S.C. Haddock Baptist Church, Haddock, Ga. St. Andrews Baptist Church, Columbia, S.C. First Baptist Church, Dalton, Ga. Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Fla. St. Matthews Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky. First Baptist Church, Decatur, Ga. Highland Hills Baptist Church, Macon, Ga. Tabernacle Baptist Church, Carrollton, Ga. First Baptist Church, Forest City, N.C. Highland Park Baptist Church, Austin, Texas Tabernacle Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C. First Baptist Church, Fort Myers, Fla. Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo. The Lakeland Fellowship, Lakeland, Fla. First Baptist Church, Frankfort, Ky. HomeStar Fellowship, Raleigh, N.C. The Memorial Baptist Church, Greenville, N.C. First Baptist Church, Gainesville, Fla. Hope Valley Baptist Church, Durham, N.C. The Oaks Baptist Church, Lyons, Ga. First Baptist Church, Gainesville, Ga. Johns Creek Baptist Church, Alpharetta, Ga. Trinity Baptist Church, Cordova, Tenn. First Baptist Church, Gastonia, N.C. Kathwood Baptist Church, Columbia, S.C. University Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, La. First Baptist Church, Greenville, S.C. Knollwood Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C. Vineville Baptist Church, Macon, Ga. First Baptist Church, Greenwood, S.C. Lakeside Baptist Church, Rocky Mount, N.C. Watts Street Baptist Church, Durham, N.C. First Baptist Church, Hawkinsville, Ga. Lakeview Baptist Church, Camden, S.C. Wieuca Road Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga. First Baptist Church, High Point, N.C. Lamberth Memorial Baptist Church, Roxboro, N.C. First Baptist Church, Huntsville, Ala. Lexington Avenue Baptist Church, Danville, Ky. Wingate Baptist Church, Wingate, N.C. First Baptist Church, Kannapolis, N.C. Loray Baptist Church, Gastonia, N.C. Winter Park Baptist Church, Wilmington, N.C. First Baptist Church, Lavonia, Ga. Lystra Baptist Church, Chapel Hill, N.C. Woodmont Baptist Church, Nashville, Tenn. First Baptist Church, Lexington, N.C. Madison Baptist Church, Madison, Ga. Yates Baptist Church, Durham, N.C. First Baptist Church, Lincolnton, N.C. Mars Hill Baptist Church, Mars Hill, N.C. Youngsville Baptist Church, Youngsville, N.C. First Baptist Church, London, Ky. Mount Carmel Baptist Church, Chapel Hill, N.C. Zebulon Baptist Church, Zebulon, N.C. Your church can be better informed, too FOR AS LITTLE AS $450 A YEAR (minimum 25 subscriptions at $18 each). Just send a list of names and addresses, along with a check, to: Baptists Today, P.O. Box 6318, Macon, GA 31208-6318. (For more information, call toll-free 1-877-752-5658.)