Texas Baptists Committed

Personal attacks leave no room for dialogue

2012-02-22T11:57:00.007-06:00

Gratuitous personal attacks are easy. Thoughtful discussion of issues is hard.

A friend and I often discuss political and religious issues. There are times, when he's criticizing the position of some politician or preacher - and, by extension, their followers - he will begin attacking their intelligence, their character, or their motives. Epithets will begin to fly - "that guy's an idiot," he'll proclaim; or "those people are hard-hearted and don't care about the poor"; or "he doesn't really believe that stuff; he's just trying to get votes."

Sometimes maybe he has a point. But the personal attacks make it difficult to have a serious discussion of the issues. I often say something like the following to my friend (and it usually drives him up the wall): "People are more complex than you make them out to be. You don't know all of the factors involved in [so-and-so's] thought process that led to this position, and you don't know the whole of [his or her] life."

I was reminded of that truth again last week. On February 12, I wrote a Texas Baptists Committed blog post about the decision of LifeWay Christian Resources to let Bibles intended for sale to benefit breast cancer victims instead sit in a warehouse, gathering dust, because of differences over certain policy decisions of a partner organization.

In my post, I referred to "an Associated Baptist Press article about criticism leveled by Thom Rainer, head of LifeWay Christian Resources - the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention - at Susan G. Komen for the Cure's announcement that it was reversing its days-old decision to 'disassociate from Planned Parenthood.'"

Thankfully, I was careful not to turn my post into a personal attack on Thom Rainer. You see, I really believe that stuff I tell my friend about considering people as being complex persons rather than being simply the sum of their latest statements or actions. In fact, after my initial reference to Rainer (as quoted above), I never mentioned his name again, instead focusing on the decision and the reasons for my disagreement with that decision. At one point, I even acknowledged that "I respect LifeWay's concerns about abortion." I can't promise I won't slip occasionally and target the person rather than the issue, but - with God's help - I'm trying my best.

We can be respectful - and maybe even find a point or two of common ground - while disagreeing with a particular position, decision, or action.

Last week, I was reading my friend Jim Denison's Cultural Commentary that I receive daily in my email in-box. Jim's commentaries are always heartfelt, but this one was moreso than most, because in it he shared the results of his son Ryan's recent cancer surgery. Jim shared that Ryan's cancer had "spread slightly into the area around the tumor" that had been removed, and that he would be undergoing radiation treatment. Jim went on to write,

We are asking God to give Ryan strength and perseverance. And we are asking him to teach us all we are meant to learn from these hard days, as our Father redeems what he has allowed in our lives. Here's one example: Yesterday I received a remarkable email. A very dear friend who has known Ryan since his birth sent me a prayer for fathers that he found online.

Jim then shared that prayer, which was an adaptation of a prayer written by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, "throughout which [MacArthur] repeated the phrase, 'give me a son.'" But the author of the adaptation his friend had sent him, Jim wrote, "realized that he needed to become a godly father before he could ask for godly sons. So he rewrote Gen. MacArthur's prayer, substituting 'make me the father' for 'give me a son.'"

The prayer as rewritten is beautiful and powerful in its wisdom, its depth of spirit, and its humility, most of all in its expression of a deep desire to be a father who will truly be the presence of Christ in his children's lives.

The author of that rewritten prayer? Jim writes, "It was written by Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources."

As I wrote last week, I disagree with the decision that Thom Rainer made to withhold those Bibles from Susan G. Komen for the Cure because of Komen's association with Planned Parenthood. But I'm glad I didn't attack him personally, because - as a father who cares for my children, and as a Christian who believes people need Jesus - I'm sure the things we hold in common are much greater than our differences.

Personal attacks divide us. It's true in our national life, as we turn political disagreements into blood feuds. It's been true in our Baptist life, as disagreements over what should be seen as minor theological points - in relation, that is, to the few that are truly fundamental - have caused some to attack others, destroy reputations, and seek power.

As Baptists, we should be united, but we remain terribly divided. We should be seeking common ground, but too often we would rather strafe any ground walked on by those with whom we disagree.

I pray that God will help us to show each other grace. Disagree? Certainly. We're human, and we're going to differ. But we don't have to attack each other. When we attack, we have nowhere left to go. Attack leaves no room for dialogue or for learning or for growth.

In an article entitled "T. B. Maston: On Christian Spirituality," Gary Farley - a student of Dr. T. B. Maston, the late Baptist ethicist, wrote,

Maston was ever the genuine Christian with every person in every situation. His constant instruction was to "deal with the issue, not personalities." While attacking segregation from a Biblical base, he did not condemn the segregationist. And that is how he lived.

We can do better than we're doing.

John Glenn, the Space Race, "Lost Causes," and Impossible Dreams

2012-02-20T23:57:00.020-06:00

Fifty years ago today, an American astronaut orbited the earth for the first time.

On February 20, 1962, Col. John Glenn of Ohio became the third American in space. The previous year, Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom had completed sub-orbital flights, each lasting about 15 minutes. But John Glenn orbited the earth three times. Each orbit took about 90 minutes, so it took almost 5 hours from launch to splashdown.

I was in 5th grade at Spring Valley Elementary School in the Richardson School District. (Less than 5 months later, we moved to Kansas City, and it would be 25 years before I would return to live in the Dallas area.) Later generations cannot imagine what the "space race" meant to us back then. For us at Spring Valley that day, it meant that we basically got a day off from the rigors of school. Conveniently for us, the launch was - if I recall correctly - around mid-morning. The principal set up a TV on the stage in the cafeteria, and the entire school spent those 5 hours sitting in the cafeteria, watching that little black-and-white TV (I don't know how big the screen was, but probably around 17 or 19 inches at the most), and hanging on every word of the commentators. There was no live video feed from the capsule itself, but the commentators followed Glenn's progress with the aid of radio tracking stations, and there was occasional audio communication with Glenn.

And we were fascinated by it! Space travel was new back then, and it stretched the limits of our imagination. Those early space programs, all targeted toward an eventual moon landing, were played out against the background of the Cold War. America and the Soviet Union were locked in a death struggle - America on the side of freedom, the Soviet Union bent on world domination. One of the most threatening shots fired in that conflict came on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite in space. It signaled that the Soviet Union had its sights set on not only the world but the universe as well, and it put "them" ahead of "us" in the race to conquer space.

I remember Sputnik, too. I was 6 at the time. At times and from various locations, Sputnik was visible to the naked eye as it sped across the sky. Prompted by news reports that it was visible from Dallas, my parents, my sister, and I went out into our front yard in the evening and spotted Sputnik. It was fascinating, yet simultaneously terrifying, because it symbolized the Soviet threat to our American way of life. There were other such symbols - like the occasional "bomb" drills at school, in which we all got under our desks. I don't know what our school administrators thought those desks were made of, that they would protect us from an atomic bomb! But that was the drill. In October 1962, those drills would seem more than just empty exercises, when it was discovered that the Soviets had nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from our shores. For 13 days, the world was on the brink of nuclear war.

But the space race - it captured our attention like nothing else, and I was probably even more fascinated by it than most. I loved to watch the launches and the splashdowns. There were no "landings" in those days; the Mercury (one-man) and Gemini (two-man) capsules had no lander as such; so they splashed down in the ocean, usually the Atlantic. A helicopter would usually pick them up - the images of helicopters lowering their ladders, and an astronaut climbing aboard, are still burned in my mind. Then the helicopter would fly the astronaut(s) to a ship that would safely return them to land, where they would be "debriefed" before meeting with the press and returning to their families.

I recently came across a spiral notebook that I completed for a science class assignment - the dates (1965-1966) of the clippings contained therein indicate that I was probably a freshman in high school at the time. Organized in sections by scientific discipline, it contains current newspaper clippings of archaeology, astronomy, biology, etc. I recently told my kids that I want this notebook kept in the family (not tossed out, as I fear will happen to most of my various file folders, etc.) and passed down from generation to generation, because it provides an interesting "snapshot" view of discoveries, studies, and other signs of progress being made during a time of rigorous - and vigorous - scientific activity.

The Astronomy section alone contains articles headlined, for example:

Balloon Flight in 1935 Was First U.S. Space Probe
NASA Reveals Space Plan: Vast Launch Schedule Includes Flights, Many Manned, to All the Planets, the Sun, Comets, and Asteroids (the Sun???)
Mariner 4 Probe Reveals That Mars Is an Icebox
Jupiter May Be 2d Sun - Not Planet
From Here to the Moon: the Apollo-Saturn V Launcher
The Great Week in Space: the First Rendezvous in Space (the linking of Gemini 6 with Gemini 7)
Two Views of Earth from Gemini 7
NASA Picks Sites on Moon to Photograph

In May 1961, only weeks after Alan Shepard became the first American in space, President Kennedy had announced an ambitious goal to a joint session of Congress, the goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade. To many, it must have seemed an impossible dream or a lost cause. The Soviets had leaped ahead with Sputnik and had sent the first man, Yuri Gagarin, into space - and into orbit - in April 1961. Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev had promised to "bury" us, and that appeared to involve beating us in the space race.

But Americans pulled together, and the remarkable scientists, engineers, astronauts, and the rest of the NASA team put together their own strategy, involving three programs - Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo - that built upon one another in succession and culminated in the first moon landing in July 1969.

Lost cause? Impossible dream? Not if you believe in that cause or that dream.

One of my favorite movies is that 1939 classic, directed by Frank Capra, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Jimmy Stewart plays the role of Jefferson Smith, a naive young man who is encouraged to run for the U.S. Senate. He runs, and he wins. Little does he know that he's being played for a fool. The senior senator whom he has admired all his life, who encouraged him to run, turns out to be bought and paid for by moneyed interests, the same interests who want to control Senator Smith as well. When he discovers the truth about his mentor, Smith confronts him: "I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Paine. All you people don't know about lost causes. Mr. Paine does. He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for and he fought for them once."

We'll find that most of our dreams, those that are worth anything anyway, will eventually come up against obstacles, obstacles that will at times seem almost insurmountable. But we may find that those are truly the "only causes worth fighting for," because the way we fight for them will reveal what we're really made of.

We won't necessarily "win" in the short-term.

What was special about John Glenn and those astronauts was not their success but their belief in their cause and their commitment to it. As we all know, the story of NASA is not one of unbroken successes. The first three Apollo astronauts died during training when their capsule's cabin caught fire. Not to mention the two shuttle disasters. Then there was Apollo 13, which never made it to the moon and very nearly didn't make it home. But all of those astronauts - including those who died trying - contributed to America's ultimate successes in space. They knew the risk, but their belief in the cause, and their commitment to it, outweighed any fear of failure.

If we're Christians, and we're letting God lead us, then we can put our faith in Him that - if He's truly leading us to commit to a cause - then He will give us the resources to fight for it, and He will bless our efforts if we let Him do His work through us. Such a cause is never truly lost. After all, we're not called to succeed; we're called to be faithful.

Thank God for the "giants" in our lives

2012-02-13T23:56:00.022-06:00

When my two kids left home for college - the first in 2000, the second in 2004 - I gave each of them the same final word of advice, which was some variation of the following: "Be sensitive to the presence of 'giants' in your life - those people who care enough to invest themselves in you - and welcome their contribution, the difference they can make in your life."

I hope they've taken that advice. From the growth that I've seen in both of them over the years since, I believe they did - intentionally or not.

I gave that advice to them because I'm very much aware that I would not be the person I am today if it were not for the presence of such "giants" - or whatever you want to call them - in my life over the years.

Of course, my family has given to me much more than I could ever give back to them, especially my Dad, to whom I wrote a tribute in this space last year. And I can't imagine my life without my wife, Joanna. The love, encouragement, and companionship she has given me for over 35 years now - what a gift from God! Our wonderful children, Alison and Travis, their spouses Adam and Christy, and our grandchildren. My sister, Patsy, and her husband, Palmer, and their kids and grandkids. God has blessed me beyond measure.

Beyond my family, there have been many, too many to name in the time and space allotted to me here. But, since my advice to my kids was given as they prepared to enter college, I'll just name a few who were instrumental during my college years. After all, my college years were where my journey of faith - on which I'm still traveling today - really began, where the faith that I experience today really took root.

When I was a student at OBU and underwent a severe faith crisis - one which wound up lasting beyond my college years - a friend in the next room, Ron Russey, shared with me that he understood my doubting and questioning, because he had experienced the same thing. Through many late-night "bull sessions" in Brotherhood Dorm, Ron and my roommate, Cary Wood, helped me to begin the process of confronting - and thinking through - my questions and doubts . . . the process of struggling with the great questions of faith and searching for something I could accept as truth.

Ron pointed me to another who became a "giant" in my life, Jerry Barnes. Jerry had been Ron's pastor when Ron was growing up in Hobart, Oklahoma. When I lost my faith, Ron knew where I needed to go. By this time (November 1970, my sophomore year), Jerry was pastoring right across the street from the OBU campus, at University Baptist Church, Shawnee. Ron told me I needed to go see Jerry.

I was very honest with Jerry, telling him that I had completely lost my faith in God or any belief that Jesus was God's son. Jerry asked me to join University Baptist Church. Some pastors . . . probably most pastors . . . even if they had been willing to counsel me, would have surely barred me from joining the church. But Jerry wanted me in church, where I could be challenged to keep digging for the truth, and I'm sure Jerry knew that I would be a lot more likely to be in church regularly if I were a member.

So I joined, and I met with Jerry in his office about once a semester for my remaining years at OBU. I would share with Jerry where I was in my "search" or "struggle," and Jerry would listen patiently and then try to help me take the next steps I needed to take on the journey. And that's not to mention his sermons that challenged me to dig more deeply into Scripture than I had ever dug before.

One of the most gracious things that God does for us is to put "giants" like Jerry Barnes in our path right when we need them . . . and "giants" like Ron Russey in our path to point us to the Jerry Barneses.

I would be remiss if I didn't back up for just a moment and name two "giants" that preceded my college years. Two people who believed in me and invested in me when I had a hard time believing in myself. When I was growing up, music was my great love, and I planned to go into the music ministry before my faith crisis short-circuited that dream. Both my decision to go into the music ministry and my decision to attend OBU were inspired by my respect for my minister of music when I was in Youth Choir at Bethany Baptist Church in Kansas City, MO, in the 1960s.

Joe Dell Rust invested in me, both as my music minister and as my friend. When I was not quite 14, he put me in a boys' quartet he was forming. Even at 14, I was already singing bass. By the time I was 16, Joe had me singing solos in Sunday School classes and even in worship services. The summer before I left for OBU, Joe and I would sit in his backyard on Saturday mornings, where he gave me something of a "preparatory course" in music theory. Music Theory, which so many students found intimidating, wound up being my best subject at OBU. Though I didn't wind up with a career in the music ministry, I spent many years singing in church choirs, and even 9 years directing - and singing in - a mixed choral ensemble. The musical training I received from Joe - and OBU - didn't go to waste.

Joyce Stuermer was the music teacher at Oak Park High School in Kansas City. She learned early on that I could read music and could sing. She encouraged me to try out for A Cappella Choir - the premier vocal group of the school, but I was scared to death to audition in front of that 70- to 80-voice choir. I just didn't have much confidence. During my sophomore and junior years, she began bugging me whenever she saw me in the hallway - "Bill Jones, you'd better come try out, because I'm not giving up on you!" I finally auditioned and became a member of A Cappella Choir at the beginning of my senior year.

In the spring, we began rehearsals for The Music Man. She had given me a one-line solo in the song, Wells Fargo Wagon. But shy Bill was singing it too timidly for her taste. She wanted me to push my way through the crowd and "let 'er rip"; so one night, in the middle of rehearsal, she stopped everything, proclaimed it "Bill Jones Night," and showed me - in front of the entire company (well over 100 students) - exactly how she wanted it done, and demanded that I practice it until I had done it to her satisfaction. In the years to come, at those moments when I struggled to believe in myself, I found myself remembering one person - Joyce Stuermer - who refused to give up on Bill Jones.

But back to post-OBU. There have been many "giants" in my life in the ensuing years . . . too many to name. Just in the past 10 years, as my involvement in denominational life has grown, I've had countless (literally, countless) friends and encouragers - "giants," if you will - who have helped me take the next steps in denominational life, and in my faith journey, just as Jerry Barnes did 40 years ago.

We paid tribute to one of them last August. As I told the crowd gathered for dinner that night, David Currie has been responsible - either directly or indirectly (directly, in most cases) - for every opportunity I've had to serve in Baptist life over the past decade, from the BGCT Executive Board to the Baptist Laity Institute to the TBC Board to the TBMaston Foundation Board to my current position as TBC associate executive director. But then, hundreds of Texas Baptist laypersons could make similar statements about David's contribution to their lives. Truly a "giant" who has invested himself in the lives of many people.

My advice works both ways. Yes, be sensitive to the presence of "giants" in your life, be open to their influence and contribution to your life, and celebrate them with your life. But also be sensitive to the opportunity to invest in the lives of others. Give as you've been given. You can't fully know - and you might never know - the impact you will have in and through their lives. One day, some of them might look back on you as one of the "giants" in their lives.

Love, theology, Komen, and LifeWay

2012-02-12T23:51:00.008-06:00

One sentence gave me pause.

"LifeWay canceled the project last year amid reports that some Komen affiliates gave money to Planned Parenthood."

It appeared in an Associated Baptist Press article about criticism leveled by Thom Rainer, head of LifeWay Christian Resources - the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention - at Susan G. Komen for the Cure's announcement that it was reversing its days-old decision to "disassociate from Planned Parenthood."

The "project" to which the sentence referred involved "plans to sell copies of the Here's Hope Breast Cancer Awareness Bible with a portion of proceeds benefitting Komen."

Lifeway had originally scuttled the project last year "amid reports that some Komen affiliates gave money to Planned Parenthood." The article went on to explain that "Despite assurance that none of [Komen's grants to Planned Parenthood] were used to fund abortions, LifeWay officials said they did not want to be identified with Planned Parenthood even indirectly."

Let me say right here, upfront, that I respect LifeWay's concerns about abortion.

But what did Jesus say should come first? Our theology . . . or people?

When asked for the "greatest commandment," Jesus gave two, and both had to do with love, not theological purity. The first? "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." The second, which Jesus said is part-and-parcel of the first one, is to "love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37; 39, NIV)

I'm concerned when we express a theological rigidity that refuses even "to be identified with" those with whom we disagree or even those whom we identify as violating the precepts of Scripture.

Most of all, I'm concerned about Bibles gathering dust in a warehouse. LifeWay decided to let those Bibles sit in a warehouse rather than put them in the hands of someone who needs God's good news. That decision was momentarily under review after Komen's initial decision to deny grants to Planned Parenthood. But Bob Allen reports, in the ABP article, that Komen's reversal of that decision means that those Bibles "likely won't be going anywhere soon."

I'll grant you that Komen has had a rough month - first announcing, under pressure from one side, that it would cut funding to Planned Parenthood; then reversing field, by now under pressure from the other side, by restoring a portion (but not all) of that funding. It makes it hard to make a case for either of these decisions being made as a matter of conviction rather than expediency.

But all of this shouldn't obscure the remarkable good that has been done for so many by Susan G. Komen for the Cure over the years. By ministering to those in need of hope or in need of prevention or simply in need of care, it is ministering to Jesus:

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. . . . whatever you did for one of the least of these . . . you did for me." (Matthew 25:35-36; 40, NIV)

Can we accept that the Jesus who ate with sinners, who met people where they were and loved them, would want the Good News - which so many desperately need - held hostage to our theology? Whether the printed word, or the word of God's Spirit written on our hearts and clothed in our love, shouldn't it be out there where people need it?

On the nose!

2012-02-06T11:47:00.002-06:00

I'm taking a momentary (only momentary, as you'll see) break from writing about things Baptist, because there was a monumental occurrence last night that has prompted me to come clean about a secret known heretofore only to my very closest friends and family members.

Yes, the truth can finally be told, and I'm relieved to get this "burden" out into the open. I . . . am . . . a . . . prognosticator. My descent into this life of prognostication began when I was only 12. At least I've brought it under control in recent years . . . from over 50 times every fall weekend when I started to only 11 times a year for the past few years. As for the On the nose! title of this blog post, just stick with me a little bit, and I'll get to that.

Anyway, I began predicting (prognosticating) football games as a 12-year-old growing up in Kansas City, MO, in the fall of 1963. I had just gotten my first subscription to Sports Illustrated. Back in those days, SI listed every major (and some not so major) college football game scheduled the coming weekend, and I fell in love with predicting the games. So I picked them all . . . no matter how little (or, in most cases, nothing) I knew about the schools or their football teams. I picked them all, from OU-Nebraska to Bucknell-Lehigh. Every Saturday afternoon, I would be sprawled on the bed in my parents' room (that's where the phone was), calling the local radio football scoreboard call-in show, asking for the scores I hadn't yet heard them call out on the air: "How did USC-Oregon come out? How about Slippery Rock versus Susquehanna Tech?"

I picked all of the pro games, too, which meant both the NFL and the AFL (where the Chiefs, my then-favorite team, were playing their first season after moving to KC from Dallas).

I kept meticulous records of all my predictions and my "winning" percentage from week to week. In 1966, I wound up going .650 (65%) on my predictions - can't remember whether that was college or pro, but I was pretty proud of myself. I wrote a letter to the sports editor of The Kansas City Star, Joe McGuff, telling him of my success. He replied, promising me "a plug in the paper" if I could repeat that .650 percentage the following season. So I sent him my predictions weekly the next year, and I wound up at (drum roll, please) .647! No plug in the paper, sonny boy! Nevertheless, Mr. McGuff and I continued corresponding even into and beyond my college years. He always responded with a friendly and encouraging word.

In 1974, I met Bob Morris, who quickly became my best friend. Bob was Best Man in my wedding 2 years later, and we are still best friends after almost 38 years. It wasn't long after we met that I pulled Bob into my life of prognostication. Bob and I have been predicting football games against each other all these years. We've predicted the NFL playoffs against each other for, I guess, just about every year for these 38 years. I have no idea what our overall record is, because those records are probably in scraps of paper scattered in file drawers and closets . . . maybe his are better organized than mine, but I doubt it. But we've had a lot of fun competing all these years.

A few years ago, we began including my family, and this year I brought another friend into the fray. This year was probably the closest "race" we've ever had. As the last minute of the Super Bowl ticked down, three people still had a chance for this year's "championship": my son Travis, my son-in-law Adam, and Bob. Adam wound up on top for the second year in a row, barely edging out Travis by 4 points on a tiebreaker (they both went 8-3 in the 11 playoff games). If the Patriots had won last night, Bob would have won the "title."

But even though I wound up 7-4, in 3rd place (Bob, who came so close to winning it all, wound up 4th), and had already been eliminated before the Super Bowl, I came up with a singular achievement. After having predicted 46 Super Bowls, I finally predicted the final score "on the nose" (there it is) for the first time: Giants 21, Patriots 17. I've come a long way from that first Super Bowl, where I predicted my Chiefs to beat Lombardi's Packers, 20-16. (Some of you may recall that the Packers whipped the Chiefs, 35-10.)

But last night's 21-17 score certainly wasn't arrived at in a traditional manner. When you see 21-17, you figure it's three touchdowns beating two touchdowns and a field goal. The Patriots got to their 17 in the usual way, but the Giants? Instead of three touchdowns and three extra points, it was a safety, a touchdown & extra point, two field goals, followed by a touchdown and a failed two-point conversion attempt.

But it didn't matter to the Giants how they got to 21 (I will keep my Baptist moorings in mind here and avoid any blackjack analogies), and it didn't matter to me, either - just as long as they got there.

Much the same with our Baptist life. (You knew I'd find a way to bring it back to that, didn't you?) Sometimes we're so enamored of our own experience with God that we start trying to make sure that others have the very same experience in the very same way. But, just as the Giants found their own way to 21 and to victory, people need to find God where THEY are, not where WE are. We can be thankful that God looks for us where we are and meets us there. If that's good enough for God, it should be good enough for us. That's why we're Baptist . . . we believe in the freedom that God gives through Christ, and we resist the urge to pour others into our mold.

That's one thing I'll never be able to predict - how God will relate to another person. But I can ask God to love others through me . . . where THEY are. That's a godly relationship that's "on the nose."

What does it mean to be a Baptist?

2012-02-03T19:51:00.002-06:00

A few minutes ago, I was writing a post for Weighty Matters, the TBMaston Foundation blog, about the Ethics Lecture that took place earlier this week at Truett Seminary on the Baylor campus. As I wrote about the role of the prophet in challenging Christians to reexamine our beliefs and principles, an old song popped into my head. Funny how that happens! I hadn't thought of it in a long time, but there it was. Those of you who grew up in Southern Baptist youth choirs of the late 1960s, as I did, might recognize it. It's from Purpose, one of several Christian musicals written for Southern Baptist youth choirs in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

For me, the most memorable song from that musical (which, regrettably, came out only after I had left for college, so I never got to sing in it) is the beautiful arrangement of "Just As I Am." But the song that came to my mind while writing that post was one that appears immediately following "Just As I Am." It's a song that asks the question, "What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it really mean?"

As I wrote about Tuesday's lecturer asking hard questions and challenging our own closely-held beliefs and principles, that question came to me: What does it mean to be a Christian? Well, one thing it means is looking to Jesus and choosing the narrow way. Robert Frost wrote that taking The Road Not Taken had "made all the difference." What does it mean to be a Christian? Taking up our cross daily, following Christ into ways that are unfamiliar and unpopular and uncomfortable. Taking the road not taken.

Then what does it mean to be a Baptist? Same thing! I've said it many times: the reason I'm a Baptist is that I believe that our historic Baptist principles - such as the priesthood of every believer, the competency of every soul before God, the autonomy of every local church, and the separation of church and state - are biblical principles that are faithful to Christ's life and teachings. Being a Baptist means faithfully upholding Baptist principles that help to make our worship and our service to God authentic and faithful.

And it means taking a stand. It means that we shouldn't sit passively by when those Baptist principles are being violated. When a pastor dictates church decisions to his congregation, we Baptists should speak up. When a convention seeks to control a local congregation or a Baptist college faculty and students, we Baptists should speak up.

We would rather pretend everything is okay and look the other way. But that's not what Jesus did, and it's not what Jesus called us to do.

Being Baptist is about showing up and speaking up.

A. Jase Jones, part 1: Surrendered to God's Call

2011-09-07T23:06:00.006-05:00

(I originally posted this on the TBMaston Foundation blog, Weighty Matters, on June 21, 2011. Last Friday, September 2, would have been Daddy's 98th birthday.)

I've been thinking a lot about my Daddy the past few days. He passed away 4 years ago this week at the age of 93. Father's Day brought to mind our family's last visit with him. We celebrated Father's Day with him a day early that year, on Saturday. He died exactly a week later.

That last visit was a precious gift from God. Although Daddy had struggled in his last years - as so many do at that age - with a fuzzy memory and mental faculties that weren't as sharp as they once were, that Saturday he was truly his old self. He was recalling family memories as if they were yesterday, and he was laughing and joking with us - and we had a wonderful time together as a family that day.

As the rest of the family said goodbye and started toward the door to allow workers to take him back to his room, my son Travis and I lingered behind for one more goodbye. I had a pretty strong feeling that I might never see him again in this life. One more time, I told him how much I loved him, and he told me the same - and how proud he was of the man I had become. What a gift! Thank you, Lord.

Dr. A. Jase (Atwood Jason) Jones was a special man. Most people - even Baptists - don't know his name, because he was never prominent in national leadership. Yet he spent 22 years (January 1957 through December 1978) with the SBC Home Mission Board's Department of Interfaith Witness, leading the department's work in about a dozen midwestern and southwestern states.

Daddy surrendered to the ministry in the late 1930s, only after struggling against God's call for quite a time. When he finally surrendered to God's call, he was a rising young assistant manager in the F. W. Woolworth chain. In fact, he was told he was being transferred to a store that everyone knew was the final stepping stone to being promoted from assistant manager to manager.

Unfortunately for Woolworth, their timing was all wrong. Daddy had recently decided to stop fighting God's call to the Gospel ministry. When he told his manager that he couldn't in good conscience accept the transfer because he had decided to go to seminary to study for the ministry, his manager laughed at him and said, "You're going to be a preacher? There's no money in that!"

But now Daddy was the one who was laughing. "Don't you think I know that?" Money, he explained, had nothing to do with his decision; it was all about being faithful to God's call.

Daddy had graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1936. He was a Texan through and through, having been born in Corrigan in 1913 and grown up in various Texas towns.

Daddy married my Mother, Vivian Louise Otting, in January 1938, and they would soon be starting a family (my sister, Patsy, was born in 1941), so a Woolworth manager's salary would have made life more comfortable, but that wasn't what Mother and Daddy were about. They would trust God to provide what they needed.

Read part 2: Seminary Student; Pastor; Home Missionary; and Chaplain

Read part 3: Maston Foundation; and At Home with His Family

A. Jase Jones, part 2: Seminary Student; Pastor; Home Missionary; and Chaplain

2011-09-07T23:05:00.005-05:00

(I originally posted this on the TBMaston Foundation blog, Weighty Matters, on June 21, 2011. Last Friday, September 2, would have been Daddy's 98th birthday.)

Mother & Daddy with our kids, Alison & Travis (1991)

Daddy began study at Southwestern Seminary, but his study was interrupted when, in early 1943, he enlisted in the U. S. Army as a chaplain. For the next 2 years, he served under General George S. Patton's command in the European Theatre of Operations.

In the summer of 1945, after victory in Europe was achieved, his regiment returned home on the Queen Mary. They were expecting only a brief stay at home, for they were scheduled to ship out for the Pacific in the fall. Only Harry Truman's decisive actions, leading to Japan's surrender, changed those plans, meaning Daddy was home to stay.

He soon resumed his seminary work while pastoring small churches. He received his Master's degree from Southwestern in 1948 and decided to pursue a doctorate in theology, with a major in Christian Ethics under T. B. Maston.

In fact, my connection with Dr. Maston goes back to my birth. Daddy was scheduled to take his spring 1951 oral exam on March 16, but Mother was expecting, and the due date was right around the time of his exam. Although he was studying diligently (while also carrying out his pastoral responsibilities and working a part-time job with Foremost Dairy), his mind was preoccupied with taking care of Mother and preparing for the birth of their second child. So he requested an extension from Dr. Maston, and Dr. Maston granted him an extra month, rescheduling the exam for April 16. I was born on March 14.

Daddy received his Th.D. in Christian Ethics from Southwestern Seminary in 1956, just months before his 43rd birthday.

He continued pastoring small Texas churches until January 1957, when he began work with the SBC Home Mission Board. His work was co-sponsored by the Dallas and Tarrant Baptist Associations, and – for a time – by the Baptist General Convention of Texas. He had offices at both the Dallas and Tarrant Baptist Associations.

At that time, the department was known as the Department of Jewish Evangelism. He began studying the Jewish culture, the Jewish faith, and the Jewish people, and he developed a special lifelong love of - and admiration for - the Jewish people. In fact, in 1973 he and Mother spent a 6-month sabbatical in Israel, where he studied at the Institute of Holy Land Studies, and he obtained a working knowledge of the Hebrew language.

In 1962, we moved to Kansas City. He was still with the Home Mission Board, but his work was now co-sponsored by the Kansas City Baptist Association (where he had his office) and the Missouri Baptist Convention. In 1974, he and Mother moved "home" to Texas, and he spent his final 5 years with the Home Mission Board officing from their home in Marble Falls.

Through the years, in addition to his daily work as pastor and then home missionary, Daddy remained in the U. S. Army Reserves as a chaplain attached to hospital units, attending monthly meetings and performing his annual required 2 weeks of active duty (including a stint in 1963 as chaplain in the disciplinary barracks at Fort Leavenworth). Shortly before retiring from the Reserves at age 60 in 1973, he attained the rank of Colonel, an achievement of which he was especially proud.

Read part 1: Surrendered to God's Call

Read part 3: Maston Foundation; and At Home with His Family

A. Jase Jones, part 3: Maston Foundation; and At Home with His Family

2011-09-07T23:03:00.003-05:00

Thanksgiving 1998: We're all wearing caps commemorating the recent reunion of Daddy's WWII regiment, the 398th Engineers. (missing - Michael, Patsy & Palmer's son)

L to R: Daddy; Alison; Travis; Patsy; Stephanie's husband, Jim Markgraf; Joanna; Stephanie; and yours truly

Jim is holding the cap belonging to Palmer McCown, Patsy's husband, who is taking the picture.

(I originally posted this on the TBMaston Foundation blog, Weighty Matters, on June 21, 2011. Last Friday, September 2, would have been Daddy's 98th birthday.)

Over the years, Dr. and Mrs. Maston and Tom Mc, their elder son, were visitors in our home on several occasions. Daddy always considered Dr. Maston his primary mentor and influence in his own ministry, but they were also close friends and stayed in touch regularly by mail and by phone.

A vision eventually began to form in Daddy's heart and mind - a vision of an entity that would keep Dr. Maston's life and teaching alive, long after Dr. Maston and his students were gone, as a legacy for generations yet unborn. When Daddy retired from the Home Mission Board at the beginning of 1979, he was able to focus more directly on this vision. He had already begun talking about the idea to some of his friends - fellow Maston students like Bill Pinson, Jimmy Allen, James Dunn, and Foy Valentine. In 1979, he flew to San Francisco and met with Bill Pinson - then president of Golden Gate Seminary - to discuss funding.

The T. B. Maston Scholarship Fund was born, ultimately becoming the TBMaston Foundation. In 1987, the Foundation held its first biennial Awards Dinner and honored Foy Valentine with the inaugural T. B. Maston Christian Ethics Award. Dr. and Mrs. Maston were in attendance. Dr. Maston died the following spring.

Daddy chaired the Foundation's Board of Trustees from its inception until 1992, after which he continued to support the work of the Foundation throughout his life. At the Foundation's 1993 Awards Dinner, the Board honored A. Jase Jones with the T. B. Maston Christian Ethics Award. I doubt that any recognition or award ever meant more to him than this one, because T. B. Maston had been the major influence in his life and ministry. In the years following, as Mother's failing health and then his own required him to step back from active involvement, Daddy remained pleased to see the vitality and work of the Maston Foundation.

I've tried to share just a little bit about Daddy's ministry - barely a nutshell view. But that doesn't even begin to tell the story of A. Jase Jones.

Father's Day reminds me of the caring Daddy who was patient and understanding when I lost my faith during my college years. He was the major influence in helping me to find my way back to Christ. Father's Day reminds me of the caring Granddaddy who doted over his grandkids - first Stephanie and Michael (Patsy's children) and then Alison and Travis (our kids), and then his great-grandchildren Jon Michael and Christopher (Stephanie's boys).

Father's Day reminds me of the loving husband who insisted on keeping Mother at home where he could personally take care of her day and night after she had become unable to care for herself. For him, the blessed marriage that lasted 59 years and ended only with her death in 1997 seemed much too short.

And last night, as I sat rocking our second grandchild, Anderson James Clements (born yesterday afternoon), in Alison's hospital room, I couldn't help but think how much Mother and Daddy would have loved Anderson and his sister, Avery Lin, if only they had lived to see them.

Above all else, they were loving parents, and Patsy and I - and our families - know how very blessed we've been. Thanks be to God.

Read part 1: Surrendered to God's Call

Read part 2: Seminary Student; Pastor; Home Missionary; and Chaplain

Heroes of Baptist Freedom: Bob Stephenson & Associated Baptist Press

2011-08-10T21:34:00.009-05:00

On September 8, Associated Baptist Press (ABP) will honor Bob Stephenson with its Founders Award at a dinner at NorthHaven Baptist Church, Norman, Oklahoma, where Bob and his wife, Norma, are members. When I received the announcement, I immediately emailed David Wilkinson, ABP executive director, and congratulated ABP on making such an outstanding selection.

Bob Stephenson is a valued friend to me and everyone at TBC. He is a longtime TBC Board member and generous supporter. More than that, though, Bob Stephenson is a friend of Baptists. No one has done more to defend and promote our Baptist heritage than Bob Stephenson. Truth be told, he has been one of the driving forces of Texas Baptists Committed almost from the beginning. But his generous support and tireless activity have extended to any and every front on which Baptist principles have been under attack.

In announcing this award, ABP noted Bob's "17 years of distinguished service to ABP and his steadfast and generous support for a free and responsible press for Baptist Christians worldwide."

This is a commitment and cause that we cannot afford to overlook or diminish. A free press is essential to a free people, Baptists or otherwise. We in Texas risk taking it for granted, because we have grown accustomed to the Baptist Standard's consistent commitment to journalistic integrity and independence, under the leadership of Marv Knox. But taking it for granted is the first step toward losing it. Just ask Baptists in other states!

In the 1980s, when Paige Patterson, Paul Pressler, Adrian Rogers, and their friends were in the midst of their effort to take control of the SBC, Southern Baptists took Baptist Press for granted. It was led by two men, Dan Martin and Al Shackleford, who were dedicated to rooting out and telling the truth. But the truth is uncomfortable to some.

Associated Baptist Press was founded in response to the SBC Executive Committee's firing of Martin and Shackleford at Baptist Press, which took place only a month after the SBC annual meeting in June 1990 (Baptist Brief, March 24), at which Morris Chapman's presidential victory over Daniel Vestal had assured Fundamentalist leaders of a majority on all SBC committees and boards.

In his chapter on ABP's founding, in Walter B. Shurden's 1993 book, The Struggle for the Soul of the SBC: Moderate Responses to the Fundamentalist Movement, Stan Hastey writes, "the freedom tyrants seek first and foremost to obliterate upon assuming power is that of the press, to the end that the flow of information conveyed to the public about the new regime is controlled."

The New York Times quoted Martin as saying, ''We were fired because they want to have their own minister of information, a spin doctor who'll put the spin on stories the way they want."

Hastey goes on to write that Associated Baptist Press was born out of "the longstanding concern of several of the editors of Baptist state newspapers that the days of Baptist Press as a credible news operation were dwindling."

To learn more about ABP's beginnings, as well as the founding of TBC, CBF, and others that began as responses to the Takeover, I recommend Shurden's book. But my point here is that ABP has continued, for over 20 years, to tell the truth and provide an alternative to the Baptist Press house organ and its "spin doctors" to whom Martin referred.

As its Web site points out, ABP is "a non-profit, member-supported news organization. . . . made possible by Friends of ABP -- individuals, churches, and organizations that believe a free and unfettered source of news and information is essential to the health and integrity of the Christian witness and the Baptist movement. Contributions account for more than 86 percent of our annual operating budget."

Reporting the news "free and unfettered" isn't an easy job. Courage and unwavering commitment are required. Persistence and ingenuity are often required to overcome barriers placed in your way to discourage transparency.

For over 20 years, ABP's staff has demonstrated all of these and more. Under David Wilkinson's leadership, ABP continues to daily provide sound and comprehensive reporting of Baptist news as well as relevant national and world news, backed up by adherence to Baptist principles. If you're not subscribing to ABP's enews services, you're missing one of the best ways to stay informed about Baptist life.

Bob Stephenson "signed on" as a key supporter and co-laborer in the early days of Associated Baptist Press and has been steadfast in his support - as he has for TBC and other areas of Baptist life - from that day forward. I hope you'll make every effort to get to Norman, Oklahoma, on September 8 to honor this man who has given so much.

Reservations are required, but there is no charge for the dinner. To make your reservation today, email Beth Campbell at beth@abpnews.com, or call 1-800-340-6626, ext. 5.

The Debt Ceiling Food Fight and the Loss of Community

2011-08-03T11:06:00.010-05:00

Otto von Bismarck called politics "the art of the possible." There was a time when politics brought people together to discuss their competing ideas, priorities, and agendas and find a middle ground that would serve all of their constituencies.

Oh, there was name-calling back then, too. But campaigns were largely confined to election years; with election night behind them, the victors got down to governing. Today we have the perpetual campaign, and governing has been replaced by "posturing."

By the same token, Baptists used to discuss our differences with mutual respect. We had differences in our understanding and interpretation of Scripture, as well as differences in the Scripture passages that we emphasized.

Granted, there were a few doctrines on which we believed agreement was essential. But we also agreed that the Baptist principles of soul freedom, priesthood of the believer, and local church autonomy were all derived from Scripture and that these Baptist distinctives demanded that we respect each other's right to relate to the Lord and Scripture as led by the Holy Spirit.

Our faith built community, bringing us together to worship Christ and study the Bible together, and to "do missions" together - whether those missions involved direct evangelism or humanitarian initiatives. We were united in Christ and united by our Baptist freedom.

But compromise became a dirty word in religious faith as it has in politics. Not only among Baptists but others as well.

Why?

Well, it seems to me that, in both of these arenas, many of us have decided that we have a monopoly on truth and our understanding of truth is inviolable.

In the political arena, one side insists that no new taxes be imposed, and the other side insists that there be no cuts in spending for favored programs. In the end, a deal was cut and there was compromise - but almost exclusively on one side and only because of the fear of the worldwide economic calamity that would follow a default in our nation's debt payments.

Baptists play out a similar scenario these days. One side is certain that its views are "the truth," so it digs its heels in and cries "heresy" when its claim on the truth is challenged. There is no room for compromise.

Then there's "the other side" - we who are called "Moderate Baptists" or, as one commentator put it recently, "Cooperative Baptists." We freely admit that "now we see through a glass, darkly." (the apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13:12)

We state our opinions forcefully but quickly acknowledge that we don't know the mind of God perfectly. So we're willing to listen to the opinions of others. We're a community of faith, and we must depend on others in that community. One of the ways that God shapes our faith and our relationship with Him is through other Christians, but only if we stay open to new understandings.

What have largely been lost today - both in our civic life and our religious life - are humility and community, the sense that none of us has the whole truth so we must work together, listen to each other, and at times compromise for the sake of the community . . . that we're all in this together and should be cooperating for the good of the community, not just individual "constituencies."

Compromise doesn't have to mean abandoning one's principles. It might mean simply recognizing that we aren't perfect and neither are our opinions. It might mean acknowledging that sometimes what we call our "principles" are actually just our own self-interest.

Finally, it might mean - both in our civic community and our Baptist community - adding one more principle at the top of our list: respect for others who share in that community.

Baptists and Freedom: What's it really all about?

2011-07-27T11:03:00.001-05:00

At TBC, we talk a lot about freedom. So much that sometimes the purpose of that freedom gets lost. It is through Christ that we are free. But it is also for Christ that we are free.

We are passionate about freedom because we are passionate about Jesus. At least that's the way it should be. We defend freedom for believers and churches because we believe it is biblical - but also because we believe that only by being free can believers and churches build the strongest possible relationships with God through Christ; and that only free believers and churches can be their most effective as witnesses and servants for Christ.

In recent months, Rob Bell's book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived has engendered a lot of discussion among Christians and others. It has some Christians allowing for the possibility that God's eternal grace is ultimately extended to all, regardless of whether they have accepted or rejected Christ in this life.

I have one close friend who is an agnostic and another who is Jewish by birth and deist in his worldview. I've told both of these friends that I pray that God's grace is greater than I understand, because I don't want either of them - if they keep their current beliefs to the end - spending an eternity without God. However, I've also told them that I can't get around scriptures like John 14:6, which appears to put God's grace on pretty exclusive terms: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (NIV)

But discussions such as those centering on Rob Bell's book tend to dwell on the hereafter at the expense of the here-and-now.

Don't get me wrong. I understand the importance of eternity. After all, it's . . . eternity! What's not to understand?

But when I hear people discussing Rob Bell's ideas at great length - from whatever perspective - I begin to fear that we're missing the point. I hear Christ being discussed in dry, academic terms. I hear Christ being discussed in pragmatic terms. I hear Christ being discussed in abstract terms.

So what's missing? Passion!

And where does passion come from? A future that we know about only from descriptions and promises recorded by people living millenia before us? Or a present relationship that fills our being from day to day?

There is much in the Bible that is open to interpretation and speculation. And that's what TBC is about - defending every believer's God-given right to interpret Scripture rather than having an "official" interpretation handed down by pharisaical bishops.

But there are a few things that we should expect to agree upon. And the most elemental of those things is that Jesus Christ is the ultimate revelation of God. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible points to Christ.

Genesis 1:1 - "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

John 1:1-3a - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made."

Revelation 22:20-21: "He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen."

Prophets prophesied His birth . . .

Isaiah 7:14b - "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel [God with us]."

. . . and his sacrifice.

Isaiah 53:5 - "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by His wounds we are healed."

God with us!

To me, that is the most monumental - and elemental - thought the mind can conceive. God is too big, too grand for our minds to grasp. But Jesus came - flesh-and-blood, living among women and men like you and me . . . eating, drinking, sleeping, dealing with difficult people (the disciples were no picnic), discussing scripture in the temple (Sunday School, anyone?), and even wrestling with temptation. Yet He is God.

And He is with us!

That's the kind of freedom TBC is talking about - freedom to draw close to Jesus . . . to know Him . . . to draw from His strength . . . to share our darkest, deepest secrets, sins, fears, and joys with Him. Freedom to listen to Him in the quiet of our closets (isn't that where He told us to pray?) but also in the busyness of our lives and relationships . . . to find His guidance for every part of our lives. And all without the intervention of a dictator pastor telling us what we should believe . . . or a denominational high priest telling us what the scripture REALLY means.

The kind of freedom that motivates us to daily seek a deeper relationship with God through Christ. A relationship that produces passion for the God we know personally through Christ.

That's why TBC is so passionate about freedom . . . because we're passionate about Jesus.

Foy Valentine and Phil Strickland - Their Prophetic Voices Still Sound the Call

2011-06-29T19:36:00.001-05:00

Two of our great Baptist statesmen shared a conviction that all believers are called to be prophets.

In November 1987, Foy Valentine, longtime executive director of the SBC Christian Life Commission, accepted the first T. B. Maston Christian Ethics Award with a ringing address entitled Crying in the Wilderness: Streaking in Jerusalem: The Prophethood of All Believers.

In November 2005, Phil Strickland, longtime executive director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, prepared an address for the annual Texas Baptists Committed Breakfast in Austin. Phil's illness prevented him from attending; his friend and pastor, George Mason, Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, delivered the speech on Phil's behalf. It was entitled Where Have All the Prophets Gone?

Foy and Phil are both gone now, but their stirring messages are needed just as much today as then.

Following are a few excerpts that I chose for the blog, because I think they help to summarize the critical points embodied in these speeches. To read the full text of Foy Valentine's speech on the Maston Foundation Web site, click here. To read the full text of Phil Strickland's speech on the TBC Web site, click here.

Crying in the Wilderness: Streaking in Jerusalem: The Prophethood of All Believers
by Foy Valentine
"Even the Lord’s anointed are subject to temptations related to . . . pleasure, materialism, economic determinism, and love of comfort. When the winnowing and harrowing of Fundamentalism started among Southern Baptists, Baptists were not lean and mean, ready for the war, but soft and satisfied, flabby and floppy."

"At the 1985 Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas, there were 36,270 seats in all three auditoriums; there were 45,049 messengers registered; and there were 44,248 ballots allegedly cast (with 98.2% of the registered messengers allegedly present and allegedly voting) in the presidential race between Charles Stanley and Winfred Moore; the denominational news services and the editors of state Baptist papers chose not to report those curious statistics. Let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may, tell‑it‑like‑it‑is prophethood did not ring their journalistic bells."

"Our world needs few things more now than prophetic words and prophetic deeds. The churches now need few things more than the prophethood of crying in the wilderness like brave John the Baptist, streaking in Jerusalem like courageous Isaiah. By these words and deeds, the demands of God are understood to be not obscure or ambiguous, but understandable and doable, practical and specific, clear and concrete, relevant and redemptive."

"The prophet is the priest who is taking the longer look, listening to a different drummer, and feeling the fire in his baptism as it burns to become fire in his belly."

"As we speak of the priesthood of all believers, we may also rightly speak of the prophethood of all believers. There is nothing that would do more to revive authentic Christianity in our time than for us to find the ways and devise the means to press successfully for the prophethood of all believers."

"That incarnational witness of God in Christ puts the streaking of Isaiah in Jerusalem into perspective. Isaiah’s witness was but a pale portent, a mere shadow, of the power of prophecy when presented by the Prophet of prophets, Jesus Christ."

"The prophethood of believers can smash idols. . . . Gentleness and facile optimism sometimes need to be balanced by justice and hard reality. The prophethood of believers can foster repentance; and repentance, it is to be remembered, is the keynote of the New Testament message. . . . Voices crying seize interest . . . demand attention."

"Oh, there is one other little matter. With the prophethood of all believers recovered and then taken seriously, failure is assured. . . . rejection, loneliness, scandal, stoning, banishment, scorn, hatred, and crucifixion go with prophethood. . . . The prophet’s pay may be spit in the face.

"But the prophet’s reward is God’s 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant. . . . Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord' (Matthew 25:21).

"As we believe in and practice the priesthood of all believers, so let us believe in and practice the prophethood of all believers."

Where Have All the Prophets Gone?

by Phil Strickland

"One-half the world is living on $2 a day.

"Twenty-five percent of our Texas children [are] living in poverty.

"Religious liberty is . . . oozing away through our fingers like a fist full of sand until we open it all too late to discover there is not much of it left in our grasp.

"Then there’s the dramatic and continuing shift of the world’s wealth away from the poor and the middle class to the largest corporations and the wealthiest people.

"Environmental regulations are disappearing every day.

"What about another tax cut of $70 billion that will be funded by $50 billion of cuts to children?"

"Pretty much all of us are called to have an element of the prophet in us. . . . The title of prophet might even apply to laymen. . . . ready and willing to confront the principalities and powers, whether they be school boards, city councils, the legislature, Congress, or even our own Baptist institutions."

"Should [denominations] take risk and speak prophetically or declare that [their] only real role . . . is meeting the needs of the churches . . . ? To me, the answer is easy. Meeting the will of churches, vital as it is, comes in behind one other: listening for and meeting the will of God."

In his speech, Phil also quoted a paragraph written by Joe Haag and published in a CLC flyer. I honestly don't think I've ever heard the challenge and demand of Christian prophethood summarized as "aptly" (to use Phil's description of it) as Joe Haag sets it forth in the following:

"To follow Christ means that we allow his life to gain leverage against our lives. Against our lust for power, he endures the cross. Against our pride and arrogance, he washes the disciples’ feet. Against our upward mobility, he preaches good news to the poor. Against our self-absorption, he has compassion on the multitudes. Against our tight circles of family and friends, he reaches out to strangers. Against our safe noninvolvement, he confronts the powers. Against our violence and hatred, he demands that we love our enemies. Against our self-righteousness, he welcomes sinners. Against our bigotry, he tells us about a Good Samaritan. Against our frenzy, he invites us to trust God. Against all the lies which enslave us, he tells the truth which sets us free. How can we be transformed into the image of Christ? . . . as we surrender our lives to God’s purposes, God changes us."

OPINION: Growing up Baptist in a pluralistic world

2011-06-14T15:49:00.000-05:00

NOTE: This article was originally published on June 10, 2011, on the Associated Baptist Press Web site.

Written by J. Zachary Bailes, an M.Div. candidate at Wake Forest University Divinity School and editor of the blog Crazy Liberals . . . and Conservatives

In his Letter to the Hebrew Congregation at Newport, George Washington wrote in 1790: “May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.”

Growing up Baptist, if someone had told me that Washington had written a letter assuring safety of a “Hebrew congregation,” I’m not sure I would have believed it. This is because I was either explicitly or implicitly taught that Christians and Jews are not to mingle. Yet in Rhode Island, it was Baptists who created the space for Jews to worship as they pleased.

Today, fundamentalist viewpoints have conflated Israeli identity with Zionist belief. As the record will show, Israel does not demonstrate the most tolerant attitude when it comes to other religions. And, yet, it was Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission this past week that advocated for America to “bless the Jews” so that God will “bless America.”

Land’s words are neither constructive for the Middle East peace process, nor do they reflect the highly held value of religious liberty. Land’s thought conflates theology with public policy in a disastrous manner. Indeed, his words stir the boiling pot of militant activity. His theological belief creates political action that demeans the religious identity of Palestinian Christians and Muslims.

It is at this point Land stands against his Baptist heritage . . . . . .

Click here to read the entire article.

OPINION: Don't try to ‘fix’ women in ministry

2011-06-14T15:41:00.000-05:00

NOTE: This article was originally published on May 11, 2011, on the Associated Baptist Press Web site.

written by Laura Rector, a Ph.D. candidate in Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California

I’m in the bookstore at an egalitarian seminary. Unfortunately, not everyone there is an egalitarian. An older gentleman waylays me, finds out what I do, and starts telling me I’m sinning for feeling called and for being one kind of Baptist and not another kind, and that I’m wasting my education by not using it to disciple only other women. All I really want to do is get my cup of coffee and get back to my schedule, but I try to be polite so he feels heard.

Later, I’m at a conference. I’ve just presented my first professional academic paper (totally unrelated to women’s leadership). I’ve been traveling non-stop for two weeks, because a grandparent died just before the conference. I’m relieved the paper is over and, frankly, just ready to rest, yet a casual hello to a fellow conference participant somehow turns into listening to a long monologue in which the man takes the opportunity to make sure I know, among other things, that "There’s absolutely no way a woman can be a church leader if you look at Scripture."

As a woman in ministry, I walk away from such all-too-common experiences wondering, "Is there any such thing as good manners left in this world?" More importantly, where is the Jesus who said to love our neighbor?

Frankly, it takes a special kind of narcissism to engage a total stranger and question her love for her Savior -- to imply or openly assume . . .

Click here to read the entire article.

Pentecost Yields an "aha" Moment

2011-06-12T23:58:00.004-05:00

This morning, we observed Pentecost Sunday in our church. The lectionary Scripture passage was from Acts 2. As it was read aloud from the pulpit, I was struck by one verse in particular. After the author (Luke, according to tradition) tells us that the apostles were "filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues" (NIV), he says in verse 6, "a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language."

From that point on, my mind fixed on that verse. The apostles had been filled with the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit had enabled each person in the crowd to hear them speaking in his/her own language.

Today the challenge to the church . . . the challenge to Christian institutions . . . the challenge to Texas Baptists Committed . . . is daunting. Perhaps the biggest challenge is persuading people that our mission is relevant to their lives.

I'm convinced that one of the most significant obstacles we face in meeting this challenge is our insistence on speaking to others in our language rather than theirs. It may be across racial lines or cultural boundaries. There is often a wall of misunderstanding across gender as well. And one of our biggest challenges is first becoming relevant - and then communicating our relevance - to younger generations.

We will fail in our mission if we keep insisting on using "insider" jargon and focusing on long-past events for which others have no context. We need to stop preaching long enough to listen to them and learn their "language" - the context of their lives, their experiences, their concerns. We will not truly be relevant until we let the Holy Spirit fill us with understanding and speak through us in language to which the hearer can relate. It's the only way we can expect to be heard.

But even then, let's not forget that it was the Holy Spirit who enabled the hearers to understand what they were hearing. A few months ago, I did a Baptist Briefs video series on the Youth Revival Movement that started at Baylor in the 1940s. What most impressed me about the students involved in that movement was their complete dependence on God - spending hours in prayer every night as they prepared for revival.

The story of Pentecost is ultimately not about the apostles. It's about God's Holy Spirit. As we try to engage and involve people in our mission in 2011, the lesson of Pentecost is to learn their language, ask God to speak through us in their language, and pray that God will move them to hear, understand, and respond.

God has met us where we are. We need to do the same for others. Faithfulness to God's call demands it.

Of Slippery Crowns and Wobbly Thrones

2011-06-08T22:02:00.005-05:00

Last week, a prominent Baptist leader called Barack Obama "the worst president of the United States that Israel has ever had." But that was only one of what I consider to be a series of careless, thoughtless proclamations.

Here are a few of them:

"The reason I am a social conservative is because I believe the Bible."

"President Obama and his policies are pro-Palestinian."

"America and Israel are founded on the same basis, the word of God."
"If we want God to bless America, then we have to bless the Jews."

"God blesses us when we obey him, and he doesn't bless us when we disobey him."

Some of you are probably asking, "So what's wrong with that?" And that's fine - if we all agreed on everything, then there wouldn't be any reason for a blog . . . a dialogue . . . a conversation. In fact, if we all agreed on everything, then we wouldn't be Baptists!

On the other hand, before you take me to task, please consider carefully the basis of my concerns with these pronouncements.

"The reason I am a social conservative is because I believe the Bible."

The speaker allows no room for disagreement. If we disagree with his brand of "social conservatism," then we simply don't believe the Bible.

The members of our Sunday School class constantly challenge each other. We disagree widely over the meaning of practically every passage of Scripture. But we never question that everyone in that class "believes the Bible"; we just have different understandings of it, and we learn from each other.

"President Obama and his policies are pro-Palestinian."

The speaker allows no room for compromise. The accusation that the president is "pro-Palestinian" is likely based on Mr. Obama's reported call for a return to pre-1967 borders. Yet what he really called for was "mutually agreed swaps" - in other words, compromise, a position that every U.S. president for the past 20 years has taken. So why does the speaker single out Mr. Obama?

Compromise is at the heart of Mr. Obama's position - the point that, as long as rigidity rules on either or both sides, peaceful coexistence will be impossible to achieve. Between nations, if there is no compromise, there is only one ultimate solution: war. To tell you the truth, I'm weary of old men stubbornly resisting compromise, then callously sending young men and women to die on their behalf.

"America and Israel are founded on the same basis, the word of God."

No, these United States were joined together on the basis of the Constitution, a secular document binding us together under common understandings, one of which is religious liberty for all people, even those who reject belief in any supreme being. Years ago, Brent Walker of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty listed the arguments made by the "Christian America" crowd and explained - clearly and definitively - why each of those arguments is without any basis in fact. To read Brent's essay, click here.

"If we want God to bless America, then we have to bless the Jews."

"God blesses us when we obey him, and he doesn't bless us when we disobey him."

The speaker is promoting a works-based relationship with God, in which blessings from God are merited; we receive them only because of our obedience. My experience - and my understanding of the Bible - tell me that God blesses us because He loves us, not because we deserve it. Furthermore, we should seek to bless all people - without regard to ethnicity or nationality - because God has blessed us, not to earn God's blessing.

That's not to say that our obedience doesn't bring us closer to God. Of course it does, and the blessings are surely greater and deeper when we are close to Him.

But he who says "He doesn't bless us when we disobey Him" has put himself on the throne (and apparently deposed God from it). I guess that's what you get when you combine unerring biblical interpretation with obedience that has earned showers of blessings.

But he'd better watch out - his crown is slipping, and his throne is wobbling!

Sometimes Just Being a Dad Is Enough

2011-06-06T14:39:00.019-05:00

My Father's Day gift came a couple of weeks early this year - our son, Travis, got married last night, and I got a beautiful, sweet daughter-in-law, Christy. And the gifts just keep on coming, because our daughter, Alison, will be delivering our second grandchild right around Father's Day.

I daresay none of you fathers will top those gifts!

But today I'm dealing with a lot of different - and, to some degree, conflicting - emotions and feelings. Fatigue, to start with. My wife, Joanna, and I have put a lot into this occasion, and we're tired - getting home at 1:15 this morning, after a long day, not to mention several months of intense planning, organizing, and anticipating.

And then there's relief - to finally have all of the work and preparation behind us, and to know that everything went off without a hitch. It was beautiful and wonderful, meeting all of our expectations (and theirs, too, we hope).

Sadness for those who were missing, and whom all of us are missing - especially Christy's dad, Steve, who passed away a few months ago. But I also thought about my parents, as well as Joanna's dad, who would have been so proud of their grandson last night. I'm glad that my dad got to meet Christy a few times and know her. And I'm also thankful that Travis and Steve got to know each other so well and had such a great relationship.

But joy even moreso - joy at seeing our son happy and having a wonderful daughter-in-law who long ago became a part of our family in our hearts if not in the eyes of the law. During the past 7 years, they have supported and encouraged each other through various challenges and times of sorrow, but they have also shared their joy throughout those years. As many remarked last night, their love for each other is evident in everything they do.

Joy at watching my brother-in-law, Palmer, perform the ceremony just as thoughtfully and beautifully as he did for Alison's wedding a few years ago. Fifty years ago last Thursday evening, we were together at another wedding - his marriage to my sister, Patsy (unfortunately, I'm old enough to remember it very well). They are very special to me, and it was wonderful to share this night with them.

Joy, as well, at visiting with my favorite cousin, Lawana, at the wedding - she was one of the hardy souls who stayed through the entire reception!

Joy at celebrating with my niece, Stephanie, and her family. Stephanie's remarks at my dad's memorial service 4 years ago - about the faithfulness of my parents, her grandparents - continue to inspire, challenge, and encourage me every day.

Joy at being with many members of Joanna's family - including her mom - who traveled from Hong Kong and Toronto to celebrate with us. Their eagerness to travel so many miles to share this occasion means more to Joanna and me than they could ever imagine.

Joy at sharing this evening with many treasured friends, including my best friend for almost 40 years, Bob. He was Best Man in our wedding in 1976. David Currie was there last night as well - David has been a great friend to me and has never failed to ask, "How's Travis doing?" It was so good to get to visit with him last night.

And just sheer tears and lumps in the throat. Where do they come from? Joy, I guess, but also from the realization that this little boy - whom you've nurtured from birth through childhood through adolescence, from birthday parties at Sportsplex to countless baseball, basketball, and soccer games, through all these many years of school (he finished his college degree work just last week - whew!), and on and on and on - this little boy is now going to make his home with someone else and is up there pledging for the rest of his life to love and cherish till death . . . for better or worse . . . for richer or poorer . . . through sickness and health . . . this woman standing next to him and pledging to him as well. Lumps in the throat.

And, finally, pride, in a son who understands the importance of family and the importance of loving with a love that is faithful, sacrificial, and at times even "mushy." A son who has met a lot of challenges in recent years and has learned, grown, and persevered.

Well, each of us plays a lot of roles in life. For me, a key role right now is right here at Texas Baptists Committed. It's a role I've taken on because it's important to me that Texas Baptists stay Baptist - in the truest sense of that word. Anyone who has worked with me in this enterprise can tell you that I have a passion for Baptist principles . . . for communicating those principles . . . for preserving our Baptist heritage . . . and for encouraging today's Baptists to stay true to that heritage. And I'll give every bit of time and effort needed to further TBC's mission.

But I have to confess to you that I have a passion that's even greater - a passion for my family. Joanna and I will celebrate 35 years of marriage in September, and she has truly made my life complete. We've raised two wonderful kids - when Alison pledged her love to Adam in that ceremony 6 years ago, I had the same lumps in my throat as I had last night. Their daughter, Avery, who is 3-1/2, was the flower girl last night, and the highlight of the evening was when Avery reached the front, and Travis bent down to call her to him. That hug between Travis and his little niece brought a lump to every throat and a tear to every eye.

And my family well knows that, as passionate as I am about the work I'm doing, when they need me I'll drop everything to make sure they're taken care of. And I know that they would do the same.

So each of us has a lot of important roles to play in life, but believe me - God will find someone to do His work. Serving God is a privilege that He gives us because He loves us and our service for Him will draw us closer to Him, not because we're indispensable to that service. Where we are truly indispensable, though, is to our family. We can be replaced at work, but we can't be replaced in our family.

So I really enjoy all of my different roles in life, but when all is said and done, sometimes just being a dad is enough . . . and a husband . . . and a granddaddy . . . and a father-in-law . . . and a brother and brother-in-law and cousin and uncle . . . and so on. Nice work if you can get it!

What is the problem with "organized religion"?

2011-05-30T11:27:00.010-05:00

It's an old refrain, but I seem to be hearing it more these days - from more and different corners of society. From friends, acquaintances, and strangers alike, I hear "I believe in God, and I love Jesus, but I just don't believe in 'organized religion.'"

Now I realize I'm preaching mostly to the choir here. Most of you who read this blog are participants, on some level, in "organized religion." Most of you are churchgoers, many of you actively serve in your church - whether as staff or laity, and some of you even give financially to support your church's ministries.

But most of you are going to hear, at some point, "I just don't believe in 'organized religion'" - whether it be from a co-worker, a close friend, or, in many cases, a son or daughter. So we ought to give it some thought and be prepared to respond thoughtfully.

This is the response I've come up with so far:

So what exactly is it in "organized religion" that you don't believe in?

Is it Texas Baptist Men, whose volunteers are in Joplin right now, making sure that survivors of that devastation get proper medical care, as well as food and clean water? Who have similarly traveled to Alabama to help tornado victims, Mississippi to help flood victims, and even Japan to minister to the needs of earthquake and tsunami victims?

Is it Woman's Missionary Union, whose HEART (Humanitarian Emergency Aid for Rebuilding Tomorrow) Fund helped to provide jobs in Southeast Asia following the tsunami, helped rebuild a nursing home in Chile following an earthquake, and helped send children in Haiti back to school following an earthquake?

Is it Catholic Charities Immigration Services, which provides low-cost immigration counseling and support to families and individuals who are eligible for immigration benefits and cannot afford private assistance?
Is it Buckner International, formerly Buckner Baptist Benevolences, which has worked tirelessly for over 130 years to meet the ever-evolving needs of orphans, vulnerable children, families, and the elderly?
Is it the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission and its World Hunger Offering and its tireless insistence on justice for the disenfranchised?

Is it the local church, where Christians come together to worship, celebrating their common faith while being challenged to live out that faith?

Is it the Sunday School, where fellow Christians study the Bible and help each other in their struggle to understand it better and to search out its relevance to their lives?

Well, I could go on, but by now you get the idea. There's no end to the good things being done cooperatively around the world by Baptists, not to mention the rest of "organized religion." (By the way, I thought Catholic Charities Immigration Services was worth mentioning, because I have a cousin who heads up one of their offices, and I have a deep admiration for him and the work he does there. Sometimes we need to be reminded that Baptists don't have a monopoly on ministering to the "least of these.")

Throughout this post, I've enclosed "organized religion" in quotation marks, because it is used by many as almost a pejorative term, one that has gained a negative reputation through the worst moments of some of its practitioners. Perhaps it's a sexual scandal of some preacher or some holier-than-thou politician - thus exposing their hypocrisy; or some outrageous, hate-filled proclamation by a notable televangelist; or simply a bad personal experience in a church where the person felt ostracized and alone.

Well, we all have our bad moments, don't we? I would hate to be evaluated solely on the evidence of my worst moments. But that seems to be the church's lot. "Organized religion" has had many bad moments, because it's populated by human beings, and human beings are sinners. Our attitudes are not always right, our motives not always pure, our actions not always perfect.

For that matter, as I wrote in my post last week, we Baptists have done a poor job of responding to the needs and interests of 21st-century young people. We need to make the church experience relevant to their needs, or else we are not being faithful to the spirit of Christ, who always meets people where they are.

But many of the loving, caring acts in the world would have never happened had Christians not gathered together in community and pooled their resources to do more together than we could have done alone.

That's what organized religion - in its Christian form, anyway - is really all about. Cooperation in community - being the presence of Christ "to the uttermost parts of the earth," as well as in our own backyard, just as He commanded us to be.

Baptists' Future Depends on Young People

2011-05-24T23:27:00.009-05:00

Last week, I attended the annual meeting of the Baptist History & Heritage Society, held on the campus of Dallas Baptist University.

This year's theme was Baptists and Education. Among the many topics addressed by speakers in both general and breakout sessions were the legacy of Baptists in securing religious liberty in the U.S.; a comparison of women's and men's theological education among Southern Baptists in the Seventy-Five Million Campaign of the early 1920s; and the origin and development of Houston Baptist University.

On Saturday morning, a two-part panel discussion addressed the question, "What is a Baptist university?" Part One focused on the mission of Baptist universities; Part Two focused on how they put that mission into practice. Panel members and attendees agreed in expressing concern over the difficulty of communicating the importance of Baptist history and principles to today's generation of college students.

This is a concern facing not only educators but all who care about the survival of the Baptist movement. I don't have the answers, but I'm looking for them wherever I can find them, as all of us should be. Keep dwelling on the old solutions, and we'll lose the young people. They are the Baptist future - if there is to be one. They are the only ones who will be around to tell the Baptist story to generations yet unborn.

During the conference last week, one Baptist leader told me, "I wake up every morning thinking about how to reach young people." It struck me that this should be the attitude of every concerned Baptist. We - and that includes me - have let our focus on perpetuating Baptist institutions blind us to our alienation of Baptist youth. We are losing them! They don't care about building bigger institutions. They don't care about doing church just for the sake of belonging or even of worshipping. What they do care about is giving their lives to something that actually makes a difference in people's lives - and their lives.

If we truly believe that being Baptist is important to authentically sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then we should be concerned not only about our loss of those young people but about their loss.

God meets us where we are, not where our parents were; by the same token, we need to meet these young people where they are, not where we are.

We need to start listening to our young people - and responding to them on their terms, not ours. The old rationales won't suffice! We must hear what's important to them and discover - and communicate - how Baptist history and principles are relevant to their concerns.

That should be our mission as Texas Baptists. I can guarantee you that these young people are on God's heart - they're God's mission. If we are to be faithful to God's call, we must make them our mission as well.

Blessing God's Call - and Being Blessed by It

2011-05-17T11:01:00.000-05:00

On Sunday afternoon, I attended the ordination of a young woman to the Gospel ministry.

For 2 years, I have watched as she has ministered to the people of our church and they have ministered to her. I have heard her preach . . . teach Sunday School . . . present the Lord's Supper . . . speak homilies at special services. I have heard stories of other ministries she has carried out as a pastor-in-training – caring for the needs of the sick . . . the grief-stricken . . . the searching. In occasional personal encounters, I have found her to be full of Christ's grace . . . wise beyond her years . . . inquisitive . . . humble . . . confident . . . and always listening carefully to hear and understand the other person's concerns and perspective.

None of us who attended her ordination were spectators . . . we were participants in blessing her ministry and expressing the blessing we have received from her.

I couldn't help but ponder the contrast with the church my wife and I left 7 years ago. Shortly before we left, the pastor announced that God had spoken to him and changed his mind about the issue of women teaching men. He issued an edict that women would no longer be allowed to teach men in Sunday School in that church, and he "fired" three women . . . long-time faithful servants . . . who had taught "co-ed" Sunday School classes for years. If any member dared to disagree with the pastor's new position – well, God would "prune" you from the church; yes, he actually said that from the pulpit.

This same pastor treated the Children's Minister – a woman – as if she were inferior to the men on the ministerial staff. Her opinions were somehow of lesser value, her calling obviously suspect because she was a woman. Ordaining a woman in that church was, of course, not even an issue – it was unthinkable!

Which brings me to my point. Texas Baptists Committed values historic Baptist principles. One of those is local church autonomy. I would never want to restrict a church's right to decide where it stands on the issue of women in ministry, whether teaching men, being ordained . . . all of the ramifications of that issue. By the same token, I don't want a pastor co-opting the church's right by issuing "edicts," either.

While I would never presume to dictate a church's position on this issue, I will always reserve my right as a Baptist Christian to emphatically defend and advance what I firmly believe to be the biblical position – that we should never tell God whom He can and cannot call to ministry, whether it be as pastors, deacons, missionaries, Sunday School teachers . . .

This isn't a "feminist" stance, though some would like to label it as such. It involves freedom in Christ – for which TBC will always take a strong stand – but it's not even a "freedom" stance. In essence, it is a "knowing our place" stance – and it is not our place as God's servants to tell God whom He can and cannot call to ministry.

Our church has an interesting way of modeling this truth. At every service, all worship leaders – preacher (usually the pastor but not always), music leader, prayer leaders, Scripture leaders, and so forth – are seated on the chancel for the entire service. One intention of this practice, as I understand it, is to demonstrate that all of us are ministers and are all equal before God.

Unfortunately, some Christians tend to interpret Scripture in a way that elevates them to prominence (remember James and John?), whereas we should be letting the Holy Spirit interpret Scripture for us in a way that keeps us low before God.

Dictating whom God can and cannot call to ministry is a way of placing some of us above the others. But we don't belong there. Only God does. Take a close look at Christ's life and the people He called – Christ's call was expansive, not exclusive. He wasn't interested in your station in life . . . your gender . . . your ethnicity . . . or even your past. All He cared about was your heart.

The high point of Sunday's service was the laying on of hands. As is typical of our church, this wasn't limited to deacons or members of the ministerial staff. All of us were invited to participate. I didn't time it, but I'd estimate that it took anywhere from a half-hour to 45 minutes because of the waves of people who wanted to express their personal blessing on God's call to this young woman who has already ministered to all of us in such a special way.

The ordaining council had determined that God's call to the Gospel ministry in this young woman's life is unmistakable, and every one of us was just as convinced that God's call to her is real. So we simply recognized and blessed the call that she heard from God years ago.

I've said all of this to say that, when we limit and deny God's call, it is we who miss the blessing.

Baptist group says National Day of Prayer is misguided, unnecessary, unwise

2011-05-05T18:06:00.003-05:00

NOTE: This article was originally published on May 4, 2011, by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty on its Web site.

Congress’ official designation and the president’s proclamation of a National Day of Prayer is misguided and unnecessary, says a Washington, D.C.-based church-state organization. A recent court decision said the law calling for the day of prayer cannot be challenged in court, but an official religious declaration by the government is still “unwise,” according to the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.

“The government shouldn’t be in the business of telling the American people what, where or when to pray or even if they should pray,” said J. Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee.

In the proclamation designating May 5 as this year’s National Day of Prayer, President Barack Obama stated, “I invite all citizens of our Nation, as their own faith or conscience directs them, to join me in giving thanks for the many blessings we enjoy, and I ask all people of faith to join me in asking God for guidance, mercy, and protection for our Nation.” The proclamation also said, “let us ask God for the sustenance and guidance for all of us to meet the great challenges we face as a Nation.”

“There is nothing wrong with the American people getting together to pray on a designated day, even public officials,” Walker said. “In fact every day should be a day of national prayer.”

“The problem with the National Day of Prayer is that it is an . . .”

Click here to read the entire article.

Baptist Brief, Wednesday, May 4 - New Baptist Covenant: The Celebration (part 2)

2011-05-05T01:00:00.000-05:00

Baptist Brief, Tuesday, May 3 - New Baptist Covenant: The Celebration (part 1)

2011-05-04T01:00:00.002-05:00

Baptist Brief, Monday, May 2 - New Baptist Covenant: The Vision

2011-05-04T00:59:00.000-05:00

Royal wedding holds lessons about church-state separation, experts say

2011-04-28T00:09:00.020-05:00

NOTE: This article was originally published on April 27, 2011, on the Associated Baptist Press Web site (www.abpnews.com/).

by Bob Allen
Senior Writer, Associated Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (ABP) – Two American church-state experts say Friday’s British royal wedding holds lessons about why the marriage of church and state is a bad one.

Anticipating nuptials for Prince William and Kate Middleton at London's Westminster Abbey, the Washington Post’s On Faith blog posed a question April 26 about why, even in secular societies like the United Kingdom, people still turn to places of worship for rituals like coronations, weddings and funerals.

Brent Walker

Panelist Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, said for him a more interesting question is how a country like England with deep Christian roots can become so secular in the first place.

Walker surmised that one reason is privilege afforded to an established religion – in this case the Church of England – “sows the seeds of its own attenuation.”

“State support for religion tends to rob religion of its vitality and, for some, turns it into a mere ceremonial exercise,” said Walker, an ordained Baptist minister. “This is one reason why I object so strongly to efforts in the United States to use tax dollars to support . . .”

Click here to read the entire article.

BJC: latest Supreme Court decision has 'pinched view' of congressional intent

2011-04-20T23:05:00.009-05:00

NOTE: This article was originally published on April 20, 2011, on the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty Web site (www.bjconline.org/).

WASHINGTON – In a 6-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prisoners cannot seek damages against the state under a federal law when their right to the free exercise of religion is violated. The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty says today’s decision in the case of Sossamon v. Texas leaves prisoners with an incomplete remedy for vindicating their religious rights.

The case involved the claim of a prisoner, Harvey Leroy Sossamon, who was denied participation in worship services and access to a room with symbols and furnishings that have a special significance to his Christian religion.

Sossamon challenged the prison’s restrictions under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) of 2000. That federal law was designed to protect the religious freedom of prisoners and other persons in government custody . . .

Click here to read the entire article.

Baptist Briefs videos on hiatus until April 18

2011-04-08T17:05:00.002-05:00

I've spent part of this week in San Antonio for meetings with several Baptist leaders, and next week I'll be in Abilene for the annual T. B. Maston Lectures in Christian Ethics.

Baptist Briefs will resume on Monday, April 18. The next 10 days will be a good time for you to "catch up" on any of the following series you might have missed: (or you can watch all 68 Baptist Briefs videos to-date on our TBC YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/TexasBaptists2011?feature=mhsn)

Baptist Beginnings: England & Amsterdam in the 17th Century

Baptists Fight for Religious Liberty in the New United States

Bold Mission Thrust

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

First Baptists in America: 17th Century

Founding of the Southern Baptist Convention

Fundamentalist Takeover of the SBC

Missionary Movement

Seventy-Five Million Campaign, The

Soul Competency/Soul Freedom

Texas Baptists Committed

Texas Baptists Who Made a Difference

Triennial Convention

Youth Revival Movement, The

Baptist Brief, Wednesday, April 6 - Cooperative Baptist Fellowship: Organizing for Cooperation (part 2)

2011-04-05T09:21:00.003-05:00

I'll be on the road for meetings in San Antonio tomorrow, so I've posted tomorrow's Baptist Brief a day early.

Baptist Brief, Tuesday, April 5 - Cooperative Baptist Fellowship: Organizing for Cooperation (part 1)

2011-04-05T00:34:00.000-05:00

Baptist Brief, Monday, April 4 - Cooperative Baptist Fellowship: Daniel Vestal's Call to Cooperation

2011-04-04T15:46:00.002-05:00

Baptist Brief, Friday, April 1 - Texas Baptists Committed: Preserving Freedom for Texas Baptists (part 2)

2011-04-01T13:36:00.002-05:00

Baptist Brief, Thursday, March 31 - Texas Baptists Committed: Preserving Freedom for Texas Baptists (part 1)

2011-03-31T14:06:00.000-05:00

Baptist Brief, Wednesday, March 30 - Texas Baptists Committed: Declaring Its Mission

2011-03-30T10:49:00.002-05:00

Baptist Brief, Tuesday, March 29 - Texas Baptists Committed: First Steps

2011-03-29T00:40:00.000-05:00

Conviction and Freedom, by David Gushee

2011-03-28T18:17:00.005-05:00

(from the Web site of Associated Baptist Press, March 28, 2011)

by David Gushee
Distinguished Professor of Christian Ethics, Mercer University

What is the proper relationship between conviction and freedom? By "conviction," I simply mean clear theological and ethical beliefs and the willingness to communicate such beliefs just as clearly, one goal of such communication being to persuade others to share those beliefs. By "freedom," I mean a commitment to valuing and respecting personal liberty, especially liberty of religious conscience.

My experience of conservative Baptists in the South has been that conviction is very highly valued. Those considered leaders are often elevated to their status because of their perceived clarity of conviction and their willingness to communicate such convictions resolutely and passionately. To be called "convictional" in that sector of the Baptist world is a high compliment.

The potential downside of being "convictional" is obvious, of course. Clarity of conviction can easily shade over into intolerance of other convictions, loss of nuance, and an apparent unwillingness to ever consider modifying one's convictions on the basis of new evidence. Often, though not always, such "convictional" leaders tend to focus little on the freedom of other Christians to believe differently and, at least on debatable matters, still be found pleasing in the sight of God.

My experience of the moderate Baptist world has, in general, been that the freedom/conviction polarity is reversed. Freedom is highly valued. Everyone bends over backward to respect personal liberty and freedom of conscience. This is elevated as among the highest of Christian values.

It is harder to find resolute and passionate expression of clear convictions on this side of the Baptist fence, other than perhaps the expression of a commitment to individual liberty of conscience.

Example 1: Talking with a member of a moderate Baptist church struggling to meet its budget, I asked what the pastor taught about the responsibilities of members . . .

To read the entire article, click here.

Baptist Brief, Monday, March 28 - Texas Baptists Committed: Recognizing Reality - Then and Now

2011-03-28T14:13:00.000-05:00

Baptist Brief, Friday, March 25 - The Fundamentalist Takeover of the SBC: The Aftermath (part 2)

2011-03-25T00:16:00.000-05:00

Baptist Brief, Thursday, March 24 - The Fundamentalist Takeover of the SBC: The Aftermath (part 1)

2011-03-24T00:35:00.000-05:00

Baptist Brief, Wednesday, March 23 - The Fundamentalist Takeover of the SBC: 1985 - An Opportunity Denied (part 2)

2011-03-23T00:03:00.002-05:00

Baptist Brief, Tuesday, March 22 - The Fundamentalist Takeover of the SBC: 1985 - An Opportunity Denied (part 1)

2011-03-22T00:45:00.002-05:00

Baptist Brief, Monday, March 21 - The Fundamentalist Takeover of the SBC: 1979 - Pulling Strings from a Skybox

2011-03-21T00:56:00.000-05:00

Baptist Brief, Friday, March 18 - The Fundamentalist Takeover of the SBC: Inerrancy - Issue or Wedge?

2011-03-18T13:45:00.002-05:00

Baptist Brief, Thursday, March 17 - The Fundamentalist Takeover of the SBC: Hatching the Plot (part 2)

2011-03-17T13:51:00.000-05:00

Baptist Brief, Wednesday, March 16 - The Fundamentalist Takeover of the SBC: Hatching the Plot (part 1)

2011-03-16T09:57:00.000-05:00

Baptist Brief, Tuesday, March 15 - The Fundamentalist Takeover of the SBC: Why should we care about it today?

2011-03-15T00:25:00.002-05:00

Baptist Brief, Monday, March 14 - Bold Mission Thrust, Part 3: Reflecting - and Regretting

2011-03-14T01:25:00.001-05:00

BJC’s Walker, other faith leaders respond to hearing on 'radicalization' in U.S. Muslim community

2011-03-11T16:07:00.005-06:00

(from the Web site of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)

WASHINGTON — Just after Congress convened the first in a series of hearings examining "radicalization" in the American Muslim community, Baptist Joint Committee Executive Director J. Brent Walker and a group of faith leaders responded with a statement calling fellow citizens and political leaders to the “bedrock American principles” of pluralism and religious freedom, mutuality and respect.

In the joint statement, released at a Capitol Hill press conference following the hearing, religious leaders urged “elected representatives to act — not against a single, unfairly maligned group, but against all forms of violence and extremism that endanger our security.”

“As faith leaders, we are committed to building a future in which extremism is an artifact of the past, and where religious identity is not the cause of hostility but of acceptance,” the statement said. “This country’s spiritual, religious and ethnic diversity serves to enrich our public discourse. When our public discourse is enriched, extremism is seldom given quarter.”

To read the entire article, click here.

Baptist Brief, Friday, March 11 - Bold Mission Thrust, Part 2: Planning & Strategizing

2011-03-11T12:21:00.002-06:00

Baptist Brief, Thursday, March 10 - Bold Mission Thrust, Part 1: Launching a Dream

2011-03-10T10:08:00.000-06:00

Baptist Brief, Wednesday, March 9 - The Youth Revival Movement: Moving Beyond Baylor

2011-03-09T07:30:00.001-06:00

Baptist Brief, Tuesday, March 8 - The Youth Revival Movement: Revival Comes to Waco

2011-03-08T12:13:00.001-06:00

Baptist Brief, Monday, March 7 - The Youth Revival Movement: Putting Together a Revival (part 2)

2011-03-07T12:41:00.001-06:00

Baptist Brief, Friday, March 4 - The Youth Revival Movement: Putting Together a Revival (part 1)

2011-03-04T11:05:00.000-06:00

Baptist Brief, Thursday, March 3 - The Youth Revival Movement: The Dream

2011-03-03T17:33:00.000-06:00

Baptist Brief, Wednesday, March 2 - The Youth Revival Movement: Its Meaning for Us Today

2011-03-02T15:46:00.000-06:00

Baptist Brief, Tuesday, March 1: The Seventy-Five Million Campaign

2011-03-01T14:23:00.000-06:00

Baptist Brief, Monday, February 28 - Founding of the SBC: Augusta, Birthplace of a Convention

2011-02-27T23:24:00.001-06:00

Testimony by Chad Chaddick on Payday Lending - February 22, 2011

2011-02-25T10:55:00.010-06:00

Testimony by Suzii Paynter on Payday Lending - February 22, 2011

2011-02-25T10:51:00.005-06:00

(On February 22, Suzii Paynter - Director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission - testified before the Texas Senate Committee on Business and Commerce in support of Senate Bill 253, which would close the payday lending loophole.)

Questions Posed to the Senate Committee Considering SB 253 on Payday Lending

2011-02-25T10:45:00.001-06:00

Reflecting on the testimony and questions of yesterday, I wish to share two thoughts.

1. Regarding the protections extended to our military personnel, I find it interesting that not one person objected to these protections being extended to our soldiers. That the Department of Defense has found that such credit practices are “a threat to our national security” was accepted by all. Whether this acceptance was out of a sense of real patriotism or whether it was simply out of the desire to be seen as patriotic, such acceptance begs the question – if one mark of patriotism is that we protect our military from usurious practices by capping the interest and fees that can be charged them at 36%, is it not a matter of state pride that we would extend equal protections to all the citizens of our own state? To do otherwise is to establish a double standard by which we grant one class of people greater protection than another class of people.

2. Likewise, it is interesting to me that all present yesterday would accept the need to protect our military personnel from usurious lending, but none of us made the connection that protection is necessary only if there is a threat of real harm. If our military personnel need to be protected, it stands to reason that they need to be protected from something harmful. Yet what I heard yesterday both from industry lobbyists and from committee members was that payday lending practices are good, beneficial, and necessary. Indeed, the committee went out of its way to make the point that they wanted to ensure the continued prosperity of these businesses and their practices.

My question is, do you really want to ensure the continued prosperity of practices that we, in our patriotic pride, have all agreed are harmful? I do not deny that there is a need for some extension of credit to the working poor, but I would suggest that there are alternative ways to do so – ways that actually help the citizens of the state rather than harm them. In a government designed to be “for” the people, I would hope you agree.

I would urge your careful consideration of these matters as you hammer out final details of the bill.

Reasons for Christians to Oppose Payday Lending and Support Texas SB 253

2011-02-25T10:33:00.001-06:00

But I have discovered something else as I reflected on these types of loans. I have discovered that, the more I tell this story, the more 740% interest becomes just another number. It eventually loses all shock value and any moral connotation; to be honest, any argument that rests solely on its shock value is a very shallow argument. Several resources have helped me dig a deeper foundation for my own position on the issue. One is the Christian Scripture. Both Old Testament and New are clear that justice for the poor is an extremely meaningful issue to God. “Evil” is the name given in Scripture to “oppressing the poor” and “crushing the needy” (Amos 4:1). A line of credit carrying usurious interest targeting the financially fragile certainly qualifies as oppressing the poor and crushing the needy.

But a second resource in understanding this position is to follow the logical outcomes of viewing such practices as helpful and good. By such reasoning, we find ourselves in a surreal world of absurd values.

Consider this: if taking such a loan is helpful or good, then we must immediately admit that these CSOs are operating under an unfair market advantage, since our banks, credit unions, and other loan providers are unable to offer such good and helpful products. Were we to admit that such products are good for our citizens and for ourselves, then we must remove the constitutional limit of 10% interest and open the regulatory doors for our banks to offer such helpful products. After all, which of us, by this reasoning, would not want easier access to such a good thing? Just imagine the good that could be done if every bank and credit union could offer us 700% car and home loans! Indeed, the State of Texas is currently in a financially difficult situation. No doubt the state would benefit from taking loans from its citizens in the form of bonds guaranteed at 700%. As a civic duty, I would like to be the first to buy some.

But if this seems ridiculous, and it is, and if such bonds would obviously be bad for the state of Texas, and they are, then we must be ready to admit they are bad for individual citizens, too. Our citizens should be afforded some protection from such harmful practices.

Of course, one objection to regulating such practices is that the market within which they operate will condense and some people may lose jobs to keep the corporations profitable. Job loss is certainly not a good thing. But if the good of creating and maintaining jobs outweighs our consideration for the fairness of the practices those jobs support, then I fear that we find ourselves again in the position of the absurd. If we cannot regulate these practices because the creation and preservation of jobs is more important than protecting the most vulnerable of our citizens, then we must question some of our other existing regulations.

Consider, for instance, our strenuous regulation against the manufacture, transport, and sale of illicit drugs. Such regulation is clearly oppressive, and, no doubt, “hurts” those involved in such activities. If our consideration for job creation and preservation is our foremost concern, then we must face the fact that we are robbing drug dealers of their fairly-earned, market-driven livelihoods. Imagine how many jobs we could create with less strenuous regulation!

Consider also how the regulation of prostitution is hurting the bottom-lines of pimps throughout our state. The exploitation of women and the sex trade of underage girls aside, the state’s regulation of prostitution is hurting jobs. If job creation, growth, and preservation outweigh the moral nature of the practices those jobs support, then ultimately, we are robbed of any moral foothold to oppose such practices. There is no end to the types of practices we might unleash upon the citizens of our state if we followed such reasoning. It is absurd.

But clearly we are against these and other hurtful practices, and our citizens have been afforded some protection from them. If the shock of a 740% APR loan is not enough to bring payday and auto-title loans under existing regulation, then perhaps an appeal to moral conviction, consistent reasoning, justice may help. It is for these reasons that I support SB 253 to close the loophole that allows such usurious practices to continue in Texas.

An Experience with Payday Loans at Northeast Baptist Church, San Antonio

2011-02-25T10:02:00.022-06:00

(On February 22, Chad Chaddick - pastor of Northeast Baptist Church, San Antonio; and a member of the TBC Board of Directors - testified before the Texas Senate Committee on Business and Commerce in support of Senate Bill 253, which would close the payday lending loophole. The experience related here was part of the prepared remarks he presented to the committee.)

About a year ago, a couple joined our church. With six kids, a dependent mother-in-law, and one income, they were understandably financially fragile. The church gave them some financial assistance not long after they joined.

Six months later, they requested more financial assistance from the church. At present, the policies of our church provide that we do not require much from the individual church member-with-a-need other than to answer a few questions regarding the need and how it came to exist. If requests are made a second time, however, we require that those with the need meet with another member of our church who can assist them in developing a household budget and who can provide a measure of accountability with regard to living within that budget. The needy family in question willingly met with our Vice Chairman of Deacons and his wife.

In the course of developing the household budget, our deacon discovered that the family would be able to live within their means except for one item of debt that was dragging them down . . . . a $700 payday loan they had taken out roughly four months earlier to help with a rent payment on their home. The terms of the loan: $200 every two weeks was automatically deducted from the husband's paycheck. This $200 did not reduce the original amount of the loan. It merely allowed for the $700 principal to roll-over until the next pay-period. In the course of the four months the family had maintained this loan, they had rolled the principal over 9 times – at a cost of $1,800. (Had they continued to pay on the loan for a year, they would have paid $5,200, for an APR of over 740%!) Now, as they approached the church again for help, they needed help to pay their rent or face eviction.

The financial assistance that the church is able to provide for any family is limited. To help this particular family meet their financial obligations for the month and get them out from under the loan that would have kept them perpetually struggling (and us or others perpetually trying to help), we needed nearly $1,500. The loan accounted for half of that amount when the principal and associated fees were factored together. This certainly exceeded the usual amount the church was prepared to pay, but through the generosity of several church members, and even one non-church member, the money was raised.

It was then that we hit an unexpected speed bump – it took us three days to 1) determine exactly where the loan should be paid, and 2) discover a means acceptable to the company for paying off the loan (our offers of a check and an initial credit card were rejected). The system was certainly not set up to make it easy to pay off the loan. By the time we had located the company, talked with a representative who could authorize this pay-off, and agreed how the loan was to be paid, we had accrued nearly $100 worth of additional fees.

I am pleased to say that the family – being out from under the payday loan, and receiving some basic education on how to handle money and some accountability on their budget – has successfully lived within its means for the past three months.

Baptist Brief, Friday, February 25 - Founding of the SBC: Irreconcilable Differences

2011-02-24T23:59:00.000-06:00

Baptist Brief, Thursday, February 24 - Founding of the SBC: The Futility of Neutrality

2011-02-24T11:48:00.000-06:00

Baptist Brief, Wednesday, February 23 - Founding of the SBC: The Taint of Slavery

2011-02-23T12:27:00.000-06:00

Baptist Brief, Tuesday, February 22 - Founding of the SBC: Crying "Foul" over Home Missions

2011-02-22T09:20:00.000-06:00

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Baylor Regents Bear Watching

2011-02-21T19:54:00.002-06:00

The Baptist Standard reported that "Baylor's board of regents voted Feb. 11 to amend the university's bylaws, allowing members who are active in Christian - but not Baptist - churches to comprise up to 25 percent of the board."

Dary Stone, chair of the board of regents, explained the decision as "an accommodation to obvious demographic changes in church labels and affiliation," noting that the majority of the overall student body is non-Baptist and that this year's freshman class is less than one-third Baptist.

At Texas Baptists Committed - where our mission has always put preserving the Baptist identity at the forefront - we naturally view this move with great concern. A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post entitled "Why Be Baptist?" In that post, I tried to convey the uniqueness of being Baptist and that being Baptist still matters. Baptist is not just a "label" or "affiliation" - it's the most authentic way of being Christian . . . of being faithful to the freedom and responsibility that God gave humankind from the beginning.

Baptists are in danger of extinction today - mainly because we long ago stopped teaching our people, young and old, what is special about being Baptist. It's easier to "accommodate" than educate. It's of special concern when the world's largest Baptist university - right here in our own backyard - decides that Baptist ties aren't essential for those who determine its future vision and plans.

The article quoted Steve Vernon, acting executive director of the BGCT Executive Board: "I wrote by email to the Baylor board of regents to express our opposition to the move. The vote did not go as I believe Texas Baptists would desire."

The Standard points out that "the bylaws require 75 percent of the board to be Baptists, and the Baptist General Convention of Texas will continue to elect 25 percent of the overall board." Small comfort, but comfort nonetheless.

Admittedly, there were a few positive developments reported in the article:

"The regents . . . voted to create the Baptist Studies Center for Research."
They also voted to "increase the amount of financial aid available to children of Baptist ministers and missionaries."

Especially notable were votes to "put in place a couple of . . . 'safeguards' to protect key aspects of Baylor's Baptist identity":

Making "any future change in the percentage of non-Baptists on the board" subject to the approval of 75 percent of the Baptist regents
Restricting - to Baptist regents only - the right to vote on issues related to Baylor's George W. Truett Theological Seminary

So Baptist regents still have the upper hand in future decisions. Only time will tell whether Baylor has started down a "slippery slope" that threatens its Baptist identity. TBC will continue to watch with interest and speak out as appropriate.

Baptist Brief, Monday, February 21 - Founding of the SBC: Society vs. Convention

2011-02-21T08:22:00.000-06:00

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Baptist Quotes on Separation of Church and State: 1773

2011-02-20T22:45:00.002-06:00

"Religious matters are to be separated from the jurisdiction of the state, not because they are beneath the interests of the state but, quite to the contrary, because they are too high and holy and thus are beyond the competence of the state."

"God has appointed two kinds of government in the world, which are distinct in their nature, and ought never to be confounded together; one of which is called civil, the other ecclesiastical government."

Isaac Backus, colonial Baptist from New England, "An Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty." The entire piece is now available online.

In America, we now live in a time when many members of the majority faith (Christianity) believe that the government should show favoritism toward the majority faith.

Just this weekend I engaged in a spirited conversation with a Christian who insisted that Christian-only prayers and religious displays should be allowed in government-sponsored venues and buildings, such as public schools and courthouses. Those of other faith persuasions, she declared, should just "put up with it" and "look the other way" or not pay attention to government-mandated displays of Christian faith, instead of protesting in the court system.

Our Baptist forebears believed that government-mandated or favored faith was false faith. Only voluntary faith, made possible by freedom of conscience, could be true faith.

The same is true today. Thanks to our faithful Baptist ancestors who did not "put up with" government-mandated "Christian" religion, America today is a land of religious freedom and separation of church and state where we celebrate freedom of conscience and are able to freely exercise our faith in private and public.

Baptist Brief, Friday, February 18: Founding of the SBC: The Split - In Hindsight, a Very Big Deal

2011-02-18T06:59:00.000-06:00

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Baptist Brief, Thursday, February 17: The First Baptist Convention in America

2011-02-17T11:31:00.000-06:00

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Baptist Brief, Wednesday, February 16: The First Baptist Missionaries

2011-02-16T11:14:00.000-06:00

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Baptist Brief, Tuesday, February 15: T. B. Maston, Living What He Taught (part 2)

2011-02-14T23:44:00.000-06:00

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Baptist Brief, Monday, February 14: T. B. Maston, Living What He Taught (part 1)

2011-02-14T13:04:00.000-06:00

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Baptist Brief, Friday, February 11: T. B. Maston, Walking as Jesus Walked

2011-02-11T10:32:00.000-06:00

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Baptist Brief, Thursday, February 10: Z. N. Morrell, Calling Baptists to Service

2011-02-10T09:46:00.000-06:00

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Baptist Brief, Wednesday, February 9: Freeman Smalley, Pioneer Preacher

2011-02-09T12:59:00.000-06:00

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Baptist Brief, Tuesday, February 8: Anne Luther Bagby, Trailblazer

2011-02-08T15:14:00.001-06:00

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Baptist Brief, Monday, February 7: Absolute Liberty, Not Mere Toleration

2011-02-07T14:44:00.000-06:00

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Baptist Quotes on Separation of Church and State: 1644

2011-02-05T22:15:00.004-06:00

"An enforced uniformity of religion throughout a nation or civil state, confounds the civil and religious, denies the principles of Christianity and civility, and that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh." (Roger Williams, 1644, in The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience)

In this his most well-known volume, Williams, the first Baptist in America, argued against religious conformity and uniformity at a time when dissenters on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean were suffering harsh persecutions from theocratic regimes.

Williams argued for liberty of conscience and freedom of religion for all persons, including Muslims, Jews, and pagans. And he insisted upon the separation of church and state. In another work, Williams coined the phrase "wall of separation" to describe the proper relationship between church and state.

To say the least, Williams' views were heretical. Many of the original copies of The Bloudy Tenent were burned by his opponents.

Americans today know Roger Williams as the founder of the Rhode Island colony and modern democracy. Within Rhode Island, Williams and his allies (Baptist and otherwise; Williams himself remained Baptist for only a short while) enacted freedom of conscience, full religious liberty for all, and separation of church and state. Many decades later, the freedoms enacted in the Rhode Island charter became a model for the formation of the United States of America as a nation dedicated to freedom of conscience, religious liberty, and separation of church and state.

Baptists today can be thankful to Roger Williams for the freedom impulse he helped instill as a central part of our faith heritage.

Baptist Brief, Friday, February 4: The Root of a Personal Faith in Christ

2011-02-04T00:25:00.000-06:00

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Baptist Brief, Thursday, February 3: By Whose Authority?

2011-02-03T00:34:00.000-06:00

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Baptist Brief, Wednesday, February 2: Free AND Faithful (part 2)

2011-02-01T22:30:00.000-06:00

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Baptist Brief, Tuesday, February 1: Free AND Faithful (part 1)

2011-02-01T10:43:00.001-06:00

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Baptist Brief, Monday, January 31: Ain't Nobody but Jesus . . .

2011-01-31T13:55:00.000-06:00

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Baptist Quotes on Separation of Church and State: 1612

2011-01-29T08:00:00.004-06:00

To Bill Jones and Texas Baptists Committed I am grateful. My gratitude is for the courage that they - over the years - have exhibited in telling the story of our Baptist faith. And I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the conversation within this blog.

The only way in which we can truly know and understand ourselves is through our past. It is our past that shapes us today and propels us into the future.
Thus, history is invaluable. Or more appropriately, the way in which we handle history is crucial in how we live our lives and perceive our world.

Unfortunately, many are the Baptists today whose lives and worldview are constructed upon phony history fabricated by religious hucksters like Texan David Barton.

Indeed, many Baptists - whether intentional or not - live in denial of their own historical faith story. Astonishingly, the very principle that many Baptists today reject is the one core conviction that Baptists of the 17th and 18th centuries were most identified with: separation of church and state.

Baptists' commitment to the great principle of separation of church and state is threaded throughout our history as a people of faith. It birthed us, nurtured us, and (even though many today mock the principle) sustains us at our best.

As a tribute to the one core conviction that most defined our faith forebears apart from other Christians, in the coming weeks I'll highlight some of the voices from our past who can point us to our future as a people of faith, such as:

"If the Kings people be obedient and true subjects, obeying all humane lawes made by the King, our Lord the King can require no more: for men’s religion to God is betwixt God and themselves; the King shall not answer for it, neither may the King be judge between God and man." — Thomas Helwys (co-founder of the first Baptist church in the world, in 1609 at Amsterdam), A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity, 1612.

Helwys' words were heresy. Shortly thereafter he was imprisoned by King James I (the same king after whom the King James Bible is named), where he died as a martyr for daring to argue for separation of church and state.

How do Helwys' words apply in the 21st century, a time in which many evangelical Christians in America are bent on constructing special political and judicial privileges for themselves, while denying religious liberty to many minority religious groups and individuals?

Baptist Brief, Friday, January 28: By Force or by Faith?

2011-01-28T11:00:00.000-06:00

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Why Is TBC Still Here?

2011-01-27T01:08:00.000-06:00

We've heard the question.

Why is TBC still here?

One answer is that, despite what some people would tell you, the "battle" is not over. Yes, the BGCT survived takeover attempts by Fundamentalists in the 1990s, largely because of the work of Texas Baptists Committed - including those of you who faithfully and courageously supported this organization.

But the Fundamentalists didn't change their stripes - only their strategy. Having failed in their attempt to take over the BGCT, the Texas Fundamentalists now strive to take over the churches.

Some who ask why TBC is still needed are people who disdain politics, and the presence of a "political" organization like TBC makes them uncomfortable. They're "tired of the politics," they say. But that's exactly why they need to support TBC. Let TBC mess with the "politics" before the politics messes with your church. Because once that happens, it will be up to you to clean up the political mess in your church. It will be too late for TBC to help you at that point.

That is why TBC is still here. We are here to help churches - and church members - stay free from control . . . free from dictator pastors . . . free from in-church controversies . . . and free to interpret Scripture and to serve as God leads them. Providing pastor search committees with accurate information about prospective candidates is only one of the key ways in which we can help you.

But we also need to be here to help the younger generations learn why being Baptist means something. Generations are growing up without seeing anything special about the Baptist name. Once they're grown, they go elsewhere, and we Baptists lose the leadership and service they could have provided in our churches. And that means that more and more Baptist churches lose their Baptist identity. When that happens, Fundamentalists move in and entrench their culture of control. And freedom once lost is rarely recaptured.

That, too, is why TBC is still here. Our new series of Baptist Briefs videos is only the first step in our plan to tell the Baptist story to new generations.

TBC is not going away. We at TBC - our staff and our Board - believe that this organization has a mission that is critical to the future of Texas Baptists, and we intend to stay focused on that mission. As always, we invite your support and involvement. We can't do this without you.

Baptist Brief, Thursday, January 27: Distinctive from what?

2011-01-27T01:00:00.000-06:00

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Why Be Baptist?

2011-01-26T15:21:00.002-06:00

Why be Baptist?

For that matter, why do denominations matter at all in a "post-denominational" world? People express a variety of concerns about denominations these days, and many are legitimate. But denominations still stand for something. There are critical differences between them. Denominational associations and conventions enable churches and individuals to accomplish things together that they would be unable to do as effectively by themselves.

But why be Baptist? Because we believe that being Baptist is the most faithful and effective way of carrying out the Gospel. We believe that being Baptist is most faithful to the Bible; being Baptist means following the Bible and not a creed formed by some council. Baptists believe in freedom that is God-given – four "fragile freedoms," as Buddy Shurden calls them in The Baptist Identity: Bible freedom; soul freedom; church freedom; and religious freedom. And most important, Baptists put Jesus first, interpreting Scripture through Jesus' life and teachings.

On January 3, I began a series of videos, entitled Baptist Briefs, running Monday through Friday on the TBC Web site and blog. In these videos – which run about 2 minutes each – I try to tell the Baptist story, giving a little history, discussing Baptist principles, and telling a little about the people who have helped move that story along through the years.

Even a quick look at Baptist history through these videos tells you that we shouldn't take lightly the freedoms we enjoy in Baptist churches today. Over the past 400 years, many Baptists have risked prison, torture, and death to preserve Baptist principles . . . the right to worship without government interference . . . the right to interpret the Bible under the leadership of the Holy Spirit rather than the heavy hand of a priest or bishop . . . and the right to govern our own churches without the interference of a hierarchy.

It's time to take a stand, Baptists. Learn about your Baptist heritage . . . teach it in your churches . . . teach it to your children. Teach them why being Baptist is more than simply wearing a label . . . it's about the way we relate to God. Freely and responsibly . . . that's how God invites us, and that's how He expects us to live.

Baptist Brief, Wednesday, January 26: Baptists' Battle Cry

2011-01-26T11:14:00.000-06:00

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Baptist Brief, Tuesday, January 25: Religious Liberty, Baptists, and . . . Jesus

2011-01-25T08:05:00.002-06:00

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Today's Baptist Brief: Baptist Bargaining

2011-01-24T06:22:00.000-06:00

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Today's Baptist Brief: The Dissent of the Governed

2011-01-21T06:30:00.000-06:00

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Today's Baptist Brief - Baptist in Spirit: Madison and Jefferson

2011-01-20T07:50:00.000-06:00

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Today's Baptist Brief: Preaching and Agitating

2011-01-19T07:35:00.000-06:00

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Today's Baptist Brief: Faith and Taxes

2011-01-18T12:33:00.000-06:00

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Today's Baptist Brief: Lobbying for Liberty

2011-01-17T13:52:00.000-06:00

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Today's Baptist Brief: A Case for Unfettered Religious Liberty

2011-01-14T11:08:00.000-06:00

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