Posted: 8/20/04

Life threw her a curve, but young athlete now safe at home

By Miranda Bradley

Texas Baptist Children's Home & Family Services

ROUND ROCK–Eighteen-year-old Patricia Gutierrez has been thrown curve balls her entire life. But this summer she threw a pitch of her own–at a Round Rock Express baseball game.

Gutierrez placed herself in Texas Baptist Children's Home after years of heavy responsibility took their toll.

At age 14, she held down a job, helped her father raise two of her six siblings, assisted with homework, cooked meals and managed the household, all before doing her own school work.

“I called TBCH because one of my sisters had lived there for a while, and I knew it was a good place,” she said.

Throughout her life, she sought distractions from her grown-up reality. She turned to drugs and alcohol.

“I was doing things a kid shouldn't be doing,” she said. “And I knew it was wrong.”

At one level, Gutierrez craved stability and rules, and she found them at the children's home.

“But when I got them, I didn't want them,” she said. “So it was a hard transition.”

Even harder was the shift she had to make from being a tiny adult to learning how to be a youngster.

But her love of sports, learned in a household where she was raised as a tomboy, helped.

“I've always loved athletics–football, baseball, softball, you name it,” she said.

She channeled her frustrations into her athletic talent and emerged as a star on the Stony Point Lady Tigers softball team at her high school. Becoming a sports star quickly became Patricia's one goal.

That all changed in 2002.

During that summer, Gutierrez came to faith in Christ at a summer youth camp. She soon realized sports were not all there was to life, and her relationship with Jesus took precedence.

She quit the school team when she felt adult leaders were not setting a good example for young players. Since then, she has played on community teams.

The chances for her to show her skill on the pitcher's mound seemed bleak until Kip Osbourne, Texas Baptist Children's Home campus life supervisor, pulled her aside and asked if she would like to throw out the first pitch at a Round Rock Express game.

“I'd love to do it,” she told Osbourne. “But if someone else on campus needs it more, let them do it.”

Her answer convinced Osbourne he had the right girl.

After throwing an impressive fastball, several of the Express players complimented her on her talent.

Watching from his skybox was Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. During the game, he met with Patricia and signed her ball.

“This was so exciting,” she said. “I'm just thrilled I got the opportunity.”

Sunset Press, a Round Rock-based printing company, sponsored the night.

“We've always been aware of the good work Texas Baptist Children's Home was doing in the lives of kids,” said Charlie Ayres, vice president of marketing at the printing company.

“Instead of offering this chance to a CEO or someone like that, we felt it would be better to give it to a child who would cherish the memory for the rest of their lives.”

And they succeeded. While Patricia still hopes to receive a sports scholarship to college, she is aware her chances are slim because she isn't playing on her high school team.

But even if she never sets foot on another field, she said the memory of one night was one she could live on forever.

“It's been so much fun,” she said. “I don't know what to say but thank you. God is very good.”

Posted: 8/20/04

Pitcher Andy Pettitte: Close to home

Andy Pettitte (Photo Courtesy of Houston Astros)

Andy Pettitte stunned the baseball world last December, when he left the New York Yankees after nine seasons, six American League pennants and four World Series titles to pitch for the Houston Astros–for less money. He reportedly turned down a three-year, $39 million offer from the Yankees to pitch for the Astros for $31.5 million for three years.

He made the decision, he said, to be closer to his family–wife Laura and their three children, Joshua, Jared and Lexy–who live in nearby Deer Park, where Pettitte grew up and was a star high school athlete. Pettitte was 21-8 with the Yankees last season but has struggled with arm problems this year with the Astros. Going into the second week of August, he was 6-4 and had been on the disabled list twice.

Interviewed following a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in which he gave up two home runs and left because of a sore arm, Pettitte said he was sorry for his team that he had not been able to perform as well as he, the team and fans had expected. He is scheduled for elbow surgery this week that will mean the end of his pitching this season.

Q.

What role has religious faith played in your life?

It has played a tremendous role in everything I do in my life. I want to try to honor the Lord in every area of my life. Every decision I make, I go to him and ask him for wisdom about decisions I make for myself and my family.

Ever since I was saved, my life has been totally turned around. I was saved when I was 11 years old.

I was invited to a church where my sister had been going –at Second Baptist Church in Deer Park, where I live. I went and one night heard an evangelist speak, and that was the night that I accepted the Lord.

Q.

You are going through kind of an adverse time in your life. How are you applying your religious faith to that?

There's no doubt that I'm having a hard time right now. I don't know if the Lord is trying to make me stronger through it, stronger in my faith.

I know one thing: He has always let me know that baseball is not a sure thing, that the only sure thing in this life is him.

He is the only person you can really count on. You can't count on baseball. You can't count on people. You can only count on him.

If there is something he is trying to show me through this, just show it to me. But I am human and definitely getting frustrated.

But I'm trying to stay upbeat and know he is in control of my life, and things happen for a reason.

Q.

Does your schedule permit you to be active in a local church?

I am very active in my church, Central Baptist of Deer Park. My father-in-law, Charles Dunn, is the pastor there. My wife and I work in the youth department there in the off season when I am home. I am there on Sunday nights whenever we are here in town. But as far as being extremely active during the baseball season, it just doesn't allow you to.

Q.

What is the biggest difference in playing in Houston as compared to playing in New York?

For me, it's just a lot more opportunity to be with my family and my friends. In New York, there was just not that opportunity.

Q.

Aside from the money and the national recognition, what do you like most about being a professional baseball player?

The competititon. That's it. I love to compete.

I love to go out on the mound and see how good I can be and see if I can beat the other team. The competition is something I really enjoy.

Andy Pettitte winds up for a pitch.

Q.

What do you like least?

Definitely the travel, when I have to leave my family for a week or two weeks at a time. That's definitely the worst part about it.

Q.

Is it hard to hit major league pitching?

Yes, it is, definitely. It's hard to bunt it at times, too.

Q.

When did you first realize you might get to play major league baseball?

I think I knew in my junior year in high school that I prob-ably would get drafted. It was a dream of mine.

Q.

Many players get drafted. Other than just sheer ability, is there a key factor that comes into play in making it to the major leagues?

I think it is determination, really. A lot of players have a lot of ability, but you have to have the mental aspect of it, the makeup of it, the heart to go out there and battle through the challenge of it.

There are a lot more aspects to it than just being able to throw a ball hard or hit one far.

Q.

What would you have done if you hadn't made it in baseball?

Probably just worked in a church.

I'm not sure, but I would probably have been a youth minister or something to get involved trying to lead young people to the Lord.

Q.

Do you have anything like that in mind for after your career is over?

Probably not.

I definitely will be involved in the church, though probably not full time.

I will try to spend a lot of time with my kids, pouring a lot of time into my family.

Q.

Who are the heroes in your life?

Probably my dad, Tommy Pettitte. He brought me up to be the man I am today. Sports is a big part of my life, and he worked with me every minute of the day he could after he got off work, and I love him to death. My father-in-law, too, is a hero of mine. He's the pastor at the church. He is a great and godly man. I look up to both of them.

Q.

What do you do for fun?

I love to hunt, and I love to play golf. (He has a nine handicap.)

Interview by Toby Druin

Posted: 8/20/04

As part of the Reach Brazos Valley missions emphasis, volunteers from Mexico joined churches and ministries in Bryan. Above, left,, children make crafts during the Kids Quest Bible study, while girls study the Bible in a park at right.

From northern Mexico to northern Bryan,
volunteers unite to reach the Brazos Valley

BRYAN–Volunteers from a Baptist church in Piedras Negras, Mexico, spent six days meeting needs and sharing their faith in the Valley–not the Rio Grande Valley, but the Brazos Valley.

Primera Iglesia Bautista in Piedras Negras worked alongside four Bryan churches and a Bryan-based community ministry as part of the Reach Brazos Valley missions emphasis.

Leaders of the Bryan churches and Save Our Streets Ministries wanted to combine efforts to share the gospel with their closest neighbors–people living in areas immediately surrounding their north Bryan churches.

A local man is getting his teeth cleaned by one of the health team volunteers.

“Our mission field begins in Bryan-College Station,” said Tim Owens, pastor of First Baptist Church in Bryan. “We will continue to strengthen our Texas, North American and international missions partnerships. However, we are learning that there is something wrong with our mission vision if we go across the world to share Christ and yet ignore the unreached people in our own community.”

Other Bryan congregations joining First Baptist in Reach Brazos Valley were Primera Iglesia Bautista, Shiloh Baptist Church and Emmanuel Baptist Church.

And as the idea for the missions outreach took shape, leaders at First Baptist contacted Pastor Israel Rodriguez and invited him to bring a group from Primera Iglesia Bautista in Piedras Negras to Bryan. Volunteers from First Baptist have made two mission trips to Piedras Negras since last December, establishing a partnership with the Mexican Baptist congregation.

“It is very common for an American church to go to Mexico, but that an American church would invite our church to do mission work in America is very different,” said Faustino Gutierrez, a member of the Piedras Negras church.

“This is simply opening the door so more churches will follow our example.”

The mission trip also offered Rodriguez, vice president of the National Baptist Convention of Mexico with responsibility for seminary education, to meet with leaders of the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute.

First Baptist in Bryan is one of the institute's teaching churches. Rodriguez explored the possibility of Primera in Piedras Negras serving as host to one of the institute's teaching centers.

During the six-day Reach Brazos Valley missions project, 10 ministry teams served in four Bryan parks, leading morning and evening outdoor Bible clubs for children and adult Bible studies, youth sports clinics, English-as-a-Second-Language classes and life-skills courses.

Kris Erskine, Pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church, Bryan speaks at the REACH Music rally; the combined church choir/band is setting up in the background.

Health teams provided free services, including eye tests, back examinations and alignments, dental cleanings and basic health screenings.

Construction teams repaired more than 25 homes.

A special-events team coordinated rallies featuring drama, puppet shows, testimonies and music performed by a choir comprised of singers from the participating churches.

An evangelism team started work a month before the six-day emphasis, distributing Bibles and flyers promoting the Reach Brazos Valley special events, and a prayer team spent the week before the emphasis praying for specific needs in the community. A follow-up team helped set up Bible studies for people who accepted Christ as Savior during the week.

Organizers of the six-day event plan to continue ministries in the community, and they plan to invite other churches to participate in a Reach Brazos Valley week in the future.

“This is the beginning of something greater,” said Julian Silva, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Bryan.

Based on reporting by Anne Wiman and Gene Kornegay.

Children from north Bryan make crafts during an outdoor Bible club held in a park during the Reach Brazos Valley missions emphasis.A Reach Brazos Valley volunteer cleans the teeth of a north Bryan resident at an outdoor health clinic.

Posted: 8/20/04

Baptist Briefs

SBC president begins bus tour. Southern Baptist Convention President Bobby Welch will launch a nationwide bus tour Aug. 29 from First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Fla., where he is pastor. He will travel about 20,000 miles, visiting churches in all 50 states to encourage Southern Baptists to evangelize and reach a goal of 1 million baptisms. The tour includes three Texas stops Sept. 10–7 a.m. at First Baptist Church in Dallas, 10 a.m. at the SBC Annuity Board offices in Dallas and 12 noon at First Baptist Church in Denton. The format for each stop will be for Welch to make some opening remarks before joining church members in door-to-door visits within the community.

CBF adds staff. Rick Bennett, pastoral educator at First Baptist Church in Orangeburg, S.C., has joined the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship staff as associate coordinator of faith formation, working primarily in resource development. He also will manage the Fellowship's partnership with "Companions in Christ" and Upper Room Ministries to enhance and strengthen the Spiritual Formation Network.

Historian seeks information. Charles Deweese, executive director-treasurer of the Baptist History and Heritage Society, is compiling a list of churches that have had female deacon chairs for his book, "Women Deacons: 400 Years of Baptist Service." If a Texas Baptist church has–or at one time had–a woman serve as deacon chair, Deweese wants to include it. He needs the church's name and address, the year in which the church's deacon body first elected a woman as chair and information about how many women have served in that capacity. Contact Deweese at cdeweese@tnbaptist.org or write to the Baptist History and Heritage Society, P.O. Box 728, Brentwood, Tenn. 37024-0728.

LifeWay names interim administrator. LifeWay Christian Resources has named John Kramp–former associate pastor of First Baptist Church in Garland–interim vice president of its church resources division. Kramp is a graduate of Baylor University, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He is a 12-year veteran with LifeWay and has served as director of church ministry solutions since 2001. He will oversee operations of the LifeWay division that produces Sunday school curriculum, discipleship literature, church training events, music, audio and video recordings and two lines of Vacation Bible School curriculum. LifeWay is seeking a permanent replacement for Vice President Gene Mims, who announced in June he was leaving the publishing house to return to the pastorate.

New Mexico exec announces retirement. Claude Cone has announced plans to retire March 1, 2005, after 20 years as executive director of the Baptist Convention of New Mexico. Cone, 68, is a graduate of Wayland Baptist University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He served churches in Texas 28 years–including 13 years as pastor of First Baptist Church in Pampa–before returning to his native New Mexico. His tenure as executive director will be the second-longest in the history of the 93-year-old New Mexico Baptist convention.

Short film award entries accepted. LifeWay Christian Resources is accepting entries until Dec. 1 for its inaugural short film awards competition. Entrants will submit digital films up to three minutes long in one of four categories: plan of salvation, faith, hope and love. There is no entry fee, and producers may submit multiple entries. The winner and finalists in each category–in addition to a "best in show"–will be announced in mid-January. A panel of judges will evaluate entries on production values, clarity of spiritual message, creativity and overall short-film quality. Visitors to lifeway.com will vote on finalists in an "American Idol"-style format. For more details, visit http://www.lifeway.com/emedialink.

FamilyNet reruns Women of Faith concert. FamilyNet television will present encore broadcasts of "Women of Faith Presents A Concert of Praise," recorded at the Alamo-dome in San Antonio. The program includes musical performances by Point of Grace, Kathy Troccoli, Babbie Mason, Tammy Trent, Sandi Patty, Nichole Nordeman, Natalie Grant, Patty Cabrera and CeCe Winans. Women of Faith's "Concert of Praise" airs on FamilyNet Aug. 22, Aug. 27, Aug. 28 and Aug. 29 at various times.

Conference focuses on calling. Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions and the Samuel Project–a partnership of the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond and Passport–are sponsoring Antiphony, a conference for university students and young adults, Dec. 29 to Jan. 2 at the Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham, Ala. "God's Call, the World's Cry, My Answer" is the event theme, and scheduled events include dialogue on both vocational calling and global missions. Colleen Burroughs, executive vice president of Passport, a national nonprofit with a student missions focus, and Julie Pennington-Russell, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Waco, will be the featured guest speakers. Recording artist Ken Medema will lead in worship. The cost starts at $150 and includes conference fees, a New Year's Eve party and lodging. Online registration is available. For more information, visit www.antiphonyonline.org.

Inmates graduate from seminary. Six inmates in an Alabama prison recently graduated from a Baptist seminary program designed to train them for ministry. The six men, all inmates at the Bibb County Correctional Facility in Brent, Ala., received certificates of ministry from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary after completing eight classes in the seminary's Extension Center System. The credit hours could be applied toward an associate's or bachelor's degree after the men are released, providing they already have high school diplomas or the equivalency. The prison classes, which enroll up to 25 students, include surveys of both the Old and New Testaments and intensive studies in a number of individual books. New Orleans Seminary has a similar program in Angola Prison in Louisiana.

CBF Foundation sponsors history tour. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Foundation is offering a Baptist history tour of Europe, July 18 –Aug. 1, guided by Bill Leonard, dean of Wake Forest Divinity School, and Randall Lolley, former president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. The tour includes a stop at the Baptist World Alliance centenary congress in Birmingham, England, where participants will experience the opening ceremony, hear pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren, and be a student in former President Jimmy Carter's international Sunday school class. The 15-day trip costs about $3,900, including lodging, most meals and airfare from Atlanta or Washington, D.C. It does not include additional airfare to departure cities or BWA congress registration. Forty slots are available. For more information or reservations, call (888) 322-3018.

New place, new face for volunteer missions. Timothy Wood is the new manager for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship volunteer missions, which is now based out of the CBF Global Missions office in Dallas. Wood comes to the Fellowship from Frontiers, a nondenominational church-planting agency that focuses on North Africa and parts of Asia. To help match missions opportunities with volunteers, the Fellowship has produced a volunteer missions handbook, a special interactive volunteer section under the Global Missions section of the Fellowship's website at www.thefellowship.info and a volunteer missions e-newsletter. To receive a copy of the handbook or subscribe to the newsletter, contact Wood at (972) 242-5977 or twood@thefellowship.info.

Posted: 8/20/04

Buckner partners with ministries in Northwest

By Russ Dilday

Buckner News Service

SEATTLE, Wash.–Susan Kim crouches on a corner of busy Broadway Street in Seattle, talking about Christ to two street people known in the area by their aliases, Spacebag and Freedom.

They are young men, but their faces are weathered and their bodies marked by tattoos and piercings. They wear mostly black clothing, and their language is rough.

Kim is one of several missionaries and members of Sanctuary, a Seattle church, who are witnessing to street people. Since it's warm, they dispense lemonade and cookies in Capitol Hill, a haven for the homeless and addicted.

“I've known one of them for about four months now,” Kim said. “We believe that the gospel here is a process of daily meeting the people and praying for them and hopefully allowing what we call the coin to drop. It takes root in people's lives and expands to all parts of their lives. This is just another step in his journey. That's what we try to do; we just walk with people in their journey here.”

Sanctuary is one of several ministries where missions groups work in partnership with Buckner Children and Family Services.

While Buckner has covered Texas and continues growing its international work, only now has it begun focusing on the “in-between”–the rest of the United States. With its first U.S. partnership outside Texas, Buckner Children and Family Services is poised to deliver community ministry support to churches in the Pacific Northwest.

“It's about providing support for churches who have asked for help,” said Felipe Garza, vice president for Buckner Children and Family Services. “We believe we can help local congregations in the Northwest do meaningful, organized community ministries in support of their missions. We have a 125-year tradition of organizing and implementing community ministry.”

Members of First Baptist Church support a large community ministry program that includes food and clothing distribution components at the church's current location. In the construction phase of new worship and education spaces less than a mile away, the church needs volunteer builders to help build a new community ministries center. (Photo by Scott Collins)

The Buckner ministry plan is to support churches' community ministries through volunteer, prayer and resource support, said Melinda Reed, worship and community ministries director for Puget Sound Baptist Association. Reed, a native of Midland, is the front door for the association, which works with Buckner to meet community ministry needs in the Northwest.

“Our area is unique in that we live on a mission field,” she said. “The Greater Seattle area is 4 million strong and growing daily. Although it houses more millionaires per capita than any other area, there is another side to that wealth: Homelessness (especially with teens), drug problems and social distress, but mostly a need for Jesus.”

The challenge for Seattle is that fewer than 4 percent of its residents are evangelical Christians, she said. “On a given Sunday, more than 90 percent are staying at home, hiking, biking, boating or just dealing with life.

There are by far more coffee houses than there are churches in this metropolitan area. Starbucks alone surpasses the number of Southern Baptist churches by almost 100.

To reach Seattle and the surrounding area, the plan will include recruiting churches through Buckner to meet diverse needs identified by churches in the Northwest. Reed said Buckner's success in penetrating Texas and foreign countries “relies on the local church; they are an extension of the local church.”

Among the strategies are:

Using volunteers to fill missions needs in construction, ministry to the homeless and hurting, helping start community centers, counseling and caring for recovering addicts and those in transition, and evangelism to targeted groups.

Prayer. “Nothing can be achieved without this,” Reed said. “Prayer support is the vital link to reach this area. Begin praying now for your part in this ministry.”

To be a volunteer prayer partner for the area, sign up to pray for 300 households in the greater Seattle area by logging on to www.embracingseattle.org and clicking on the "prayer" link.

Financial support. Ministries in the Northwest share many physical needs. They include supplies, operating funds, building material, salary funding and ministry materials.

“I am expectant about the incredible work God has in store through this partnership,” Reed said. “It is a privilege to work with this credible ministry with history and experience that will benefit us greatly. We need only to raise the awareness that Seattle is here, that we have needs and that people and partners can make a difference.”

Community ministry is the starting point for most missions work in the Pacific Northwest. Many churches begin with a community service component before they find a rental or purchase property.

Anchor Church of Seattle is an example of a congregation that has put ministry at the forefront of its mission to reach its community for Christ. Pastor David Foster said his congregation of 140 is seeking to sell its current facility, a traditional sanctuary and education space, to provide funds for a community ministries center.

“We have a vision. We had a month of fasting and prayer and seeing where God would want our congregation,” Foster explained. “We are reaching people in different areas, so we are selling our property and reinvesting in ministries,” he said. “We have been ministry-shy and property-rich. Well, that's not what God called us to do.

“Social ministry is not a means to an end. It is one tool in the bag. Our mission is to make mature, fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. In order to do so, we love them at all levels.”

Buckner volunteers could find themselves working with a variety of ministries representing a diverse set of needs, Reed noted.

Sanctuary is a young congregation. It doesn't own its worship facility, preferring instead to rent space from an Ethiopian congregation. It plans to move its services to a local pizzeria soon. The only physical address the church has is its coffee shop and cafe, Perkatory, which not only serves coffee and baked items, but also serves as church office and headquarters for its members.

But as different as the church facilities might be, it's Sanctuary's ministry target that separates it from many other churches, said Co-pastor Ed Park.

“Our target group is probably the most diverse and most dense community in the Northwest,” he said. “Within a one-mile radius, there are about 100,000 people. You have the wealthiest people here, and you have the poorest people here, all living in the same place.”

A team of church members and short-term missionaries witnesses daily to the homeless in the Capitol Hill area, dispensing the gospel and hot coffee from shopping carts to anyone who wants to talk. Typically, the street youth reach out for support.

“The street kids have been described as 'throwaways' by most people,” Park said. “A lot of them actually came from the suburbs. There's a lot of neglect that happens at home. You also have the people who grew up in abusive situations, some foster homes, runaways who become homeless. … Our thing is to try to show them, 'Look at what Christ has done,' and let that be a source for change.”

Located strategically in the Pacific Rim, the ports of Seattle, Everett and Tacoma make Washington a major maritime influence throughout the world. Commercial and cruise ships from all over the world dock in the Puget Sound and bring opportunity for touching the world without leaving U.S. soil.

“Through the (interdenominational) seafarer ministry, the world is literally brought to the waterfront,” Reed said. “This ministry reaches out to seamen on incoming ships to meet their physical, spiritual and emotional needs during a vulnerable time.”

Paul Peterson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Tacoma, was a chaplain with the Port Ministry from 1978 to 1990 and still is actively involved in reaching seamen as a volunteer.

Peterson said the ministry relies on churches to bring the gospel aboard the ships, which often are docked for a few days to take on cargo.

“The initial visit is usually just one person, a volunteer going down and making contact and telling them what's available for the seafarers like free transportation, things like that. Then we will contact a group from a church to come and bring two, three, four, five, six people.”

The port ministry also relies on the area's blend of ethnic churches to provide a witness shipboard.

“If there's a Ukrainian or Russian ship in, then we call the Ukrainian church, and someone who speaks their language will come down and witness to the seafarers. Today, we have a Filipino church that has come down to visit with the Filipino seafarers,” he said.

There also are possibilities for service in Elma, Wash., a small town set in the mountains southeast of Seattle. It is the home of Lighthouse Ministries, a para-church group founded and operated by Kenny and Judy Rice. Lighthouse provides a haven for recovering addicts, the homeless and people in abusive situations.

“Lighthouse saved my life,” one participant in the program said between sips of coffee in Lighthouse's storefront coffee shop. “I was basically brought here half dead. I call this Bible Boot Camp. It's hard. It's strict. But it works. I had been in other treatment centers, and nothing else worked.”

Lighthouse operates on a two-part theme–13 Bible studies a week to help participants find God's will for their lives and personal deprivation.

Participating is not easy. The ministry subsists on donated food. Often, the ministry and its 25 to 50 participants have enough only for the next two days. Each participant is expected to be involved in “work blessings,” odd jobs and errands that net the ministry operating cash. The living conditions are spartan. Each participant is given a bunk bed in the ministry's commercial-style brick storefront on Elma's main street.

Lighthouse always struggles but, during the five years it has existed, “has always relied on the Lord, and God has always been faithful,” Judy Rice noted.

The partnership between Puget Sound Association and Buckner “is uncharted territory, but God has an incredible plan,” Reed concluded. “I believe we are on the brink of a spiritual awakening in the Northwest and community ministry will bring a tangible touch of God to those who have never thought about Christ in a personal way.”

With its first U.S. partnership outside Texas, Buckner Children and Family Services is poised to deliver community ministry support to churches in the Seattle/Tacoma region.

How to plan a mission trip to the Northwest

Contact Melinda Reed, worship and community ministries director for Puget Sound Baptist Association, by phone at (253) 632-2336 or by e-mail at worshiplady@comcast.net. Reed will assess each church's desires for service and help match it with the appropriate ministry opportunities in the Northwest. Participating churches will not be charged a fee by Buckner. All travel and ministry expenses will be paid by churches or groups, based on their planning.

The Seattle/Tacoma area at a glance

Land area: 4,000 square miles

Population: 4 million

Number of languages: 150

Largest number of millionaires per capita in the country.

More than 90 percent of the population is unchurched.

70 percent claim no religious affiliation.

Fewer than 5 percent are evangelical Christians.

One-half of 1 percent are Southern Baptists.

More statistical info at: www.seattlechurchplanting.com/aboutseattle.htm

Posted: 8/20/04

Coalition criticizes Bush campaign for recruiting in churches

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–A broad group of mainline and evangelical Protestant leaders has issued a statement criticizing President Bush's re-election campaign for attempting to recruit voters through churches.

Fifteen seminary professors and retired pastors–seven of them Baptists–released the statement to reporters. It referred to recent revelations that the Bush-Cheney campaign has asked for help from volunteers who are members of conservative churches in crucial “swing states.”

The campaign asked the volunteers to, among other things, recruit groups of potential Bush supporters within their congregations and turn over their church directories to campaign officials.

It also asked conservative churches to hold voter-registration drives and encouraged pastors to speak about Christian citizenship and voting.

Under the federal tax code, churches and other tax-exempt nonprofit groups are not allowed to endorse political parties or candidates.

However, legal experts say, churches are allowed to speak out on moral and social issues and conduct voter registration drives and voter education in a nonpartisan fashion.

“When certain church leaders acceded to the request of the Bush-Cheney campaign to hand over the names and addresses of their congregants, they crossed a line,” the statement reads.

“Christians, individually, should prayerfully seek God's direction when voting, but when any church leaders contend that they speak for God and have the right to tell congregants how to vote, such leaders have assumed prerogatives to which they have no right.”

It continues: “Whenever the church follows such a path, it engages in a scandalous secularizing of the sacred. Whenever political parties use the church, they invoke absolutes in the passing parade of politics. Whenever the church has engaged in partisan politics, it has compromised its moral authority.”

The statement concludes by calling on church leaders “to stand vigilant against entanglement in partisan politics,” urging both presidential candidates “to respect the integrity of all houses of worship,” and calls upon Bush to repudiate his campaign's actions, which, they contend, “violated a fundamental principle of our democracy.”

Two Baptist leaders–sociologist and speaker Tony Campolo of Eastern University near Philadelphia and James Dunn of Wake Forest Divinity School in North Carolina–drafted the document.

Dunn said they felt compelled to respond to a story in the New York Times that described a Bush campaign volunteer in a suburban St. Louis Assembly of God church who was following the campaign's protocol.

“It was bad enough for the campaigns to insensitively ask for the church directories, but it's even worse when the churches reveal the lack of sensitivity that allowed them to respond to that appeal,” Dunn said.

He said the leaders' goal in releasing the statement was “simply to reaffirm the traditional understanding of the spirit of church-state separation–not in some picky legal sense, but in the more vital understanding that it is none of the business of political parties to use the churches for their own partisan goals.”

The controversy first erupted in July, when the Washington Post reported that Bush-Cheney campaign officials in Pennsylvania were attempting to organize through “conservative churches” and had asked volunteers to provide church directories to campaign officials.

In June, the campaign hosted a reception for pastors attending the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Indianapolis.

A wide variety of religious leaders–including Richard Land, head of the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission–condemned the tactics as overreach.

A Bush-Cheney campaign spokesperson said her camp was not encouraging churches to run afoul of the law.

“We've been very clear that the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign believes that people of faith have a right to fully participate in the political process,” Sharon Castillo said.

“The outreach we are doing is individual, peer-to-peer. We are not suggesting in any way that people of faith should gather in their places of worship to do political work.”

Asked about the religious leaders' allegations that the tactics violated the integrity of churches, Castillo said the campaign “is not using any church,” but simply is “engaging fellow citizens in the political process.”

In addition to Dunn and Campolo, the statement's signatories included Jimmy Allen, retired president of the SBC Radio and Television Commission and a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention; Hardy Clemons, retired pastor of First Baptist Church of Greenville, S.C.; Walter Shurden, a Baptist historian and professor at Mercer University in Macon, Ga.; and James Forbes, pastor of the Riverside Church in New York.

Signers also included professors from schools as diverse as Princeton University and Asbury Theological Seminary, a conservative Methodist school in Kentucky.

Even though the group contains some Democrats, Dunn said they were not trying to make a partisan statement in favor of the campaign of Bush's rival, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

“We're obviously speaking to an issue that transcends any campaign,” he said.

“And the people that are speaking to it (by signing the statement) are those who have … taught religion and social responsibility in the leading seminaries and universities in the country. So they understand what the American tradition is about partisan manipulation of organized religion.”

Posted: 8/20/04

GUEST EDITORIAL:
'Presence of Christ' calls for integrity, homework & courage

By Phil Strickland

I remember a number of years ago going to a Broadway play titled “Don't Bother Me; I Can't Cope.” Face it, that's the way most of us feel. “What's the world coming to?” is a phrase that is supposed to be used by folks over 60. No more. A quick read of the morning paper usually will convince you a lot of people in our society are wading around in moral mud, then walking into the house without cleaning off their boots and spreading the mud around the house. Moral mud always gets its mess on other people.

Humanity seems to be increasingly seduced by a kind of moral nihilism, with more and more people believing less and less about good and bad.

As Foy Valentine put it: “Our world seems determined to try to live life without discipline, enjoy plenty without work, experience pleasure without pay, wallow in adultery without love, commit crime without punishment, revel in sin without judgment, break out all the windows in order to breathe, and play tennis with the net down. Our world does not believe you have to reap what you sow.”

We've discovered our world of wonders also is full of wolves.

We don't have to go far to prove the case. If we read the morning paper through the eyes of Jesus, we see plenty of moral wandering. A recent issue contained these stories–a man who shoved his wife off an overpass, then joined her; favoritism in the police department; resume fraud; at least two cover-ups, one government and one corporate.

You can go one step further and check out what is happening in the state.

Texas is 50th in high school completion, and the new plan may or may not lead us to do better than that.

The governor's all-out push for casinos in Texas proposes to fund our children's education by making it the vested interest of the state to spend millions of dollars on advertising to turn as many children as possible into pathological gamblers so we can get their dollars. Go figure.

Twenty-two percent of Texas children live in poverty, compared to 17 percent of children nationally. Texas ranks 50th in children with health insurance.

You don't even want to know the data on the breakdown of the family, how many young people think sex before marriage is OK and how many deadbeat dads are out there.

And nearly half of the world's population live on $2 a day.

All of these are symptoms. They are the weeds that are growing because of our failure to till the soil of ethical behavior. The solutions will not be found in global organization or government programs, but in living out great ideas–like human worth, fidelity and justice for all, which means the solutions of those issues are not remote. The solutions lie as much in Bugtussle, Texas; Tarzan, Texas; Earth, Texas; or Hamilton, Texas, as in Austin, Texas, because character and moral strength are created in all of these places.

So, how do we cope? And more to the point, how do we become the presence of Christ in this world? How can you be salt that flavors and light that shows the way? Here are suggestions:

Live among each other with integrity and character. Yes, it will be good for your community. It also will be good for you. Guilt and peace are not, and have never been, good companions.

Start with the Bible, and especially those parts of it that make you uncomfortable. It's amazing how selective we can be about reading Scripture. I know folks who go with glee to “wives, submit to your husband” without even noticing the words a few verses away, “submit yourselves to one another.” Some folks want to overlook passages about sexual morality, while others of us get very uncomfortable with James 5:3: “Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last times.”

Or take Matthew 25. You remember the passage, where Jesus separates the sheep and the goats, saying, “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 took me in. I was a prisoner, and you visited me.” In an excellent speech I heard recently, one of the listeners left quite upset, saying, “All we got today was a bunch of political junk.” In other words, that passage really made him nervous.

Recently we had a discussion on civility with a couple of legislators, a Democrat and a Republican. Perhaps the best comment was from former Speaker Pete Laney, “If you want civility in politics, elect civil people.” If you want a moral world, be a moral person.

Do your homework. It's amazing how people speak with great authority about matters they know nothing about. Know anyone like that? A very young preacher was telling me with great intensity about how the Bible was clear about our being in the seventh dispensation. He had it straight out of Scofield's Bible. He had not finished high school but was a good mechanic when God called him to pastor his home church. I wish them well.

Part of doing your homework is learning who to trust. What an important decision that is! Be careful about your mentors.

Take courage. I confess that I have a deep prejudice on this one. I have watched too many pastors and people dodge too many issues.

The struggle for the soul of Baptists was lost on the national level–not by a lack of ideas, but by a lack of courage.

Courage is doing what you believe is right. It always must be balanced by wisdom. But you must have courage. All goes if courage goes.

George Bernard Shaw stated, “It is courage, courage, courage, that raises the blood of life to crimson splendor.”

You will encounter those times when the cost of doing right is more than the cost, at least the immediate cost, of doing wrong. What you do with that, what we all do with that, will determine the nobility of our spirit. It will be the foundation of your leadership. Without it, you cannot lead. I wish you courage. It ultimately will bring you great joy.

Phil Strickland is coordinator of Christian ethics and public life for the Baptist General Convention of Texas

Posted: 8/20/04

Texas Baptist volunteers join
multi-state disaster relief effort in Florida

Six Texas Baptist Men disaster relief mobile units were among the dozens of Baptist emergency response vehicles from multiple states that responded after Hurricane Charley swept through Central Florida.

The East Texas Baptist disaster relief unit was sent to Lake Wales, Fla., to prepare meals for storm victims, and the Texas Baptist Men Incident Command Center was dispatched to First Baptist Church in Kissimmee, Fla., to coordinate communication efforts between Baptist disaster relief workers already on site.

The 18-wheel Texas Baptist Diasaster Relief Mobile Unit with its field kitchen also was sent to Florida, along with a trailer loaded with food, a generator unit and a shower unit from Hill Country Baptist Association.

“It's probably one of the greatest blessings of my life to go to someone you've never met and literally offer them a cup of water in the name of Jesus,” said Mike Brittain of Diana, coordinator of the East Texas unit. “I just stand in awe and amazement that God would use me to show his love in that way.”

Within a few days after the storm made landfall, the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board activated more than 70 disaster relief units from around the country, and the number could grow up to 175 units, said Mickey Caison, manager of the NAMB disaster operations center.

“We're talking about months for recovery and long-term rebuilding for years,” Caison said.

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship designated $10,000 for the relief effort and established coordinated volunteer relief services in both Charlotte County/Fort Myers and Lee County/Venice and Arcadia along Florida's west central coast.

Charley–a category 4 storm with sustained winds above 145 miles per hour and storm surges from 13 to 15 feet–left at least 22 people dead and hundreds missing as it crossed the state from southwest to northeast, entering from the Gulf of Mexico at Punta Gorda and exiting into the Atlantic Ocean around Daytona Beach. It was the strongest hurricane to hit the United States since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Days after the storm, nearly 1 million Florida residents remained without electricity, and officials told them not to expect it to be restored for more than a week.

Texas Baptists wishing to contribute to relief efforts should send checks designated “disaster relief” to Texas Baptist Men, 333 N. Washington, Dallas 75246-1798.

Compiled from reports by Texas Baptist Communications, Baptist Press and Associated Baptist Press.

Posted: 8/20/04

DOWN HOME:
Still newlyweds, 5 decades later

Fifty years ago last Friday–Aug. 20, 1954–a young couple walked down the aisle of the Baptist church in Higgins and promised to love, honor and cherish each other “'til death do us part.” Early this month, family and friends gathered from across Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico to help them celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.

Most people know them as Margaret and Marvin Knox. I've always called them Mother and Daddy.

They fell in love at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, not long after Mother arrived as a freshman. Daddy set out to capture her heart, but I've got a feeling she won his the first time he saw that smile we all know so well.

Later, after their wedding, their love produced a family. I arrived first, and soon came Martha and, years later, Martin. We were the most-blessed kids in the world.

Our family never had material riches. Daddy's always been a Baptist pastor, and Mother was a school teacher. But we have been wealthy in love and joy. That can't be explained in one column, but here are three reasons why:

Mother and Daddy always have been crazy about each other. Still are, in fact.

When I was just a little boy, Mother and I talked about who we would choose if were marooned on a deserted island with only one person. We both picked Daddy.

After 50 years of marriage, they still act like lovebirds. When I was a teenager, their goings-on embarrassed me. Now, I think it's terrific. They not only told Martha, Martin and me that love and excitement can thrive in a marriage, they showed us how.

They demonstrated absolute integrity.

Some preacher's kids rebel because what they see at home doesn't live up to what they hear in the pulpit. Not us.

Daddy and Mother always lived out at home exactly what Daddy preached at church and Mother taught at school.

They loved God and cherished family.

Mother and Daddy put God first in their lives. That shaped everything–the way they cared for each other, raised us, treated people, spent money, made decisions. Everything. We learned from their example.

And that example always included unconditional love. Now, 50 years' worth of love.

Correction: Last time, I inadvertently said Brayden, Justin and Mitchell TP'd our front yard. Actually, it was Brayden, Michael and Mitchell. I know the difference. Justin is Michael's big brother. Justin seems like a nice kid; never bothered me a bit. Michael is the one who comes over with his friends and TP's our yard. Michael takes pictures so he can show his friends at Sunday school. Michael and his buddies created a work of art in our yard. Next time, I hope they TP a museum.

Posted: 8/20/04

EDITORIAL:
Ride glory train to South Carolina?

Old Glory might lose a star if a group of ultra-conservative Christians succeed in seceding from the United States.

ChristianExodus.org intends to lead thousands of like-minded people to immigrate to South Carolina. Once in place, they will take over the state legislature, secede from the republic and form a “constitutionally limited government founded upon Christian principles.” They'll create a new nation called–and this promises to be confusing–South Carolina.

Members of the Exodus movement, which their president, Cory Burnell, claims is 600 strong, share concerns with many conservative Christians nationwide. Here's how their website describes the perceived problem: “Christians have actively tried to return the United States to their moral foundations for more than 30 years. We now have a 'Christian' president, a 'Christian' attorney general, and a Republican Congress and Supreme Court. Yet … attempts at reform have proven futile. Future elections will not stop the … atrocities, but rather will exacerbate them and lead us down an even more deadly path.”

Their solution, the website proclaims, is “to try a strategy not yet employed by Bible-believing Christians. Rather than spend resources in continued efforts to redirect the entire nation, we will redeem states one at a time. Millions of Christian conservatives are geographically spread out and diluted at the national level. Therefore, we must concentrate our numbers in a geographical region with a sovereign government we can control through the electoral process.”

In phase one of its plan to take over South Carolina, ChristianExodus.org intends to move 12,000 members to the state and locate them in 12 key legislative districts. Working with the “present Christian electorate,” the newcomers will elect a dozen “Christian sovereigntists” to the legislature. The organization will repeat this step in phases “until the General Assembly is squarely in the hands of Christian constitutionalists.” If all goes according to plan, they will be able to call for a constitutional convention, secede from the United States and declare independence by 2016.

The motive behind ChristianExodus.org is to flee dominion of the U.S. government, which is believed to be evil. The website refers to U.S. citizenship as “being politically bonded to evil people.” It describes the organization as “an association of Christians who no longer wish to live under the unjust usurpation of powers by the federal government, and therefore resolves to formally disassociate itself from this tyrannical authority.”

The Exodus movement raises political questions about the very nature of our nation. South Carolina's original secession launched the Civil War. Suppose the political takeover of South Carolina succeeded: What would the United States do if a state tried to pull out?

For Christians, the more significant question is theological: What is a Christian's responsibility in the world–not only as a citizen of a particular nation, but as a resident of space occupied by people of other faiths and no faith?

Jesus told Christians to be “salt and light”–impacting and transforming the world around us. ChristianExodus.org dismisses this charge with a surprisingly pragmatic response: “Most American 'Christians' have not been 'salt and light' and demonstrate no desire to become so.” According to such reasoning, if some Christians fail, then all Christians are free from Jesus' command.

The group also sidesteps Christians' missionary mandate. “How does being politically bonded to evil people cause us to be more effective missionaries?” the website asks. But if Christians flee to a Christian province, how are they going to evangelize others? Jesus sent his disciples to “all nations,” not just “South Carolina.”

Thinking about ChristianExodus.com may make Texas Baptists feel too comfortable. “What wackos,” we're tempted to proclaim. “Thank God we're not that extreme.” Are we?

OK, so we haven't moved to South Carolina. But how often do we pull into our own little religious subculture–our church, our Sunday school class, our Christian friends with whom we feel safe–and secede from the world? Our Great Commission is to be change agents in the world, not cloistered critics outside it.
–Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

Posted: 8/20/04

EDITORIAL:
RM 2493 hoax still lives on

What do family-values patriarch James Dobson and the late atheist matriarch Madalyn Murray O'Hair have in common?

Somebody's used their names to perpetuate one of the nation's longest-running urban legends. For years, I thought well-meaning Christians kept this lunacy alive. But now I'm re-thinking that theory. This hoax has remained too robust for too long to be attributed to naivete or dumb luck. I'm beginning to think it's perpetuated by evil enemies of faith who prey on Christians who fear culture so badly they'll believe any scary tale.

For decades–even years after her death–a bogus memo claimed O'Hair was behind Federal Communications Commission Petition 2493, also often called RM 2493. The petition was supposed to be an attempt to get the FCC to remove the gospel from American radio and television.

Unlike O'Hair, the RM 2493 rumor refuses to die. Just last week, it circulated in an e-mail across Texas–and who knows where in cyberspace–once again.

“Help Dr. Dobson,” the e-mail pleaded. “An organization has been granted a Federal Hearing … by the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C. Their petition, Number 2493, would ultimately pave the way to stop the reading of the gospel of our Lord and Savior on the airwaves of America. They got 287,000 signatures to back their stand! If this attempt is successful, all Sunday worship services being broadcast on the radio or by television will be stopped.”

The e-mail asks readers to attach their names to the e-mail and forward it to “everyone you think should read this.” The long list of names will “show that there are many Christians alive, well and concerned about our country.”

If you're concerned about our country, help stamp out this tired old rumor. Here's the truth:

RM 2493 was indeed filed with the FCC–30 years ago. In 1974, Jeremy Lansman and Lorenzo Milam asked the FCC to freeze licenses for new educational television and FM radio stations that were to air only religious or quasi-religious programs. Their request never would have eliminated relgious broadcasting from stations that already had received broadcast licenses.

FCC commisioners unanimously denied RM 2493–29 years ago. The FCC issued a statement Aug. 1, 1975, noting the First Amendment requires the commission “to observe a stance of neutrality toward religion, acting neither to promote nor inhibit religion.” So, religious stations and programming can flourish.

Unfortunately, this rumor isn't likely to fade away. So, save this editorial. And the next time you hear the number 2493, help spread the truth.

Posted: 8/20/04

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Aug. 29

Despite disobedience, God offers new beginnings

2 Kings 23:36-25:30

By David Morgan

Trinity Baptist Church, Harker Heights

God's people can never presume upon God's blessings and deliverance. Nurturing a relationship with God requires commitment and obedience.

God's prophets frequently had urged Judah to return to God to escape judgment. But the nation insisted upon doing things its way. Now the end was near. With Josiah's death came the end of Judah's hope and freedom. Four kings reigned after him, but not one could reverse the godlessness that resulted in exile.

Destiny arrives

Jehoahaz, Josiah's son, reigned only three months before Pharaoh Neco replaced him with Eliakim. Neco displayed his mastery over Judah by changing Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim and forcing him to pay heavy tribute.

Jehoiakim's foreign policy had three phases: paying tribute to Egypt; serving Babylon's king, Nebuchadnezzar; and revolting against Babylon. Jehoiakim seemed swayed by appearances of political power and may have stopped his tribute-paying service to Nebuchadnezzar when Egypt temporarily regained military advantage. A deportation of leading citizens, including Daniel and his friends, occurred during the third year of his reign (Daniel 1:1).

Rebellion against Babylon brought swift reprisal. Babylon's vassal nations–Moab, Ammon and Aramea–attacked Judah. God was using Judah's enemies to destroy the land in response to the divine pronouncement of destruction. Prophets repeatedly warned the nation God would punish the people for breaking the covenant.

God's judgment, not the military supremacy of enemies, caused Judah's destruction. Verses 3-4 specifically connect the attacks with God's word that the Lord would destroy the nation because of Manasseh's wickedness (2 Kings 21:11-13; 23:26). “At the command” literally reads “according to the mouth of Yahweh.”

God no longer would forgive Judah and overlook its sins. Some people struggle with the notion that God may not forgive. God did not relent because the nation did not repent. God's judgment was inevitable. During this period, Jeremiah declared the need for Judah to prepare for defeat and exile.

The particular word for “forgive” also was used in Solomon's prayers when he dedicated the temple (1 Kings 8:30). He asked God to forgive the people when they turned to the temple and prayed for forgiveness. But this prayer assumed something the people refused to do–obey God. Judah could still boast of the temple's presence but not of God's protection. The people had presumed upon the presence of God as symbolized by the temple to protect them from their enemies. They were mistaken. Moses had warned them that disobedience would bring about the destruction of their land (Deuteronomy 29:24-28).

The motions of prayer and worship are not sufficient for God's favor. The Lord may be gracious, but disobedience brings judgment.

Fellowship departs

Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem while Jehoiakim was king and captured it from Jehoiachin, three months after Jehoiakim's death. The temple and the city itself were spared destruction this time. The Babylonians deported the king and apparently treated him well. About 10,000 other people, including leaders and artisans, also were taken.

The narrator offered God's appraisal of the political situation in verse 20. The attackers were agents who carried out God's judgment against the people for their unfaithfulness and disobedience.

Zedekiah, who replaced Jehoiachin as king, failed to learn the lessons of history. He, too, rebelled against Babylon. Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar's aide, besieged Jerusalem. The city fell about 18 months later. The Babylonians burned the temple, broke down Jerusalem's walls and deported more of its residents.

God had abandoned the nation to its enemies, because his anger burned against them for their disobedience. God was actually fighting against Judah. The Lord would renew fellowship with them and restore them to Jerusalem after 70 years of exile.

Hope remains

Destruction and exile are not God's final word. The narrator ended his account of Judah's history with a glimmer of hope. After 37 years of exile, Nebuchadnezzar's successor, Evil-merodach, freed Jehoiachin from prison. Precisely what this release meant is not obvious. On the one hand, eating at Evil-morodach's table allowed the Babylonians to observe him and exercise some control over him. On the other hand, the conditions of the release suggest Jehoiachin may have regained some leadership and involvement in the affairs of the exiles. It appears that in some way he resumed, even in exile, his role as Judah's king.

The Lord was not yet finished with the covenant people. God kept watch over them to preserve them. God would lead many of their descendants to return to Jerusalem, where they would rebuild both city and temple.

God is always in control. Grace is God's final word. While we can never presume upon God's graciousness, the Lord offers forgiveness and new beginnings.

Question for discussion

What do you need to confess?