Posted: 2/08/07

Former governor, Baptist
minister, runs for White House

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (ABP)—The latest long-shot presidential candidate is a Southern Baptist Baby Boomer from Hope, Ark., who served as governor of his home state. But this isn’t Bill Clinton, and he isn’t a Democrat. Instead, he’s a Republican, an ex-pastor and former president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.

Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas and a Baptist minister, is running for President.

Mike Huckabee, in a Jan. 28 appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, announced that he has formed a committee to explore the possibility of running for president on the GOP ticket. Forming an exploratory committee is the first formal step in any presidential bid and allows the candidate to hire campaign staff and raise funds.

“I think America needs positive, optimistic leadership to kind of turn this country around, to see a revival of our national soul, and to reclaim a sense of … the greatness of this country that we love,” Huckabee said on the program. “And also to help bring people together to find a practical solution to a lot of the issues that people really worry about when they sit around the dinner table and talk at night.”

He recently completed 10 1/2 years as governor of Arkansas, during which he enjoyed high popularity ratings while working with a Democratic legislature to achieve several policy successes.

His mix of experience, communication skills, affability and policy pragmatism is causing some prominent political pundits to take note of his candidacy.

“Huckabee is the Republican to watch, especially if former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts doesn’t gain traction,” wrote E.J. Dionne in a recent Washington Post column. “Huckabee makes the case that he was as an effective governor who happens to be a serious evangelical, not the other way around.”

The son of a fireman, Huckabee was born and raised in Hope—also Clinton’s birthplace and boyhood home. He graduated from Ouachita Baptist University, the Arkansas Baptist State Convention’s flagship school, and the Southern Baptist Convention’s Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. After a few early years working in Christian broadcasting, he served as pastor of two sizeable Arkansas Baptist churches.

In 1989, while he was pastor of Beech Street First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Ark., Huckabee was elected president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. At the time—the height of theological conflict in the Southern Baptist Convention—Arkansas Baptist leaders considered Huckabee a moderate. He defeated Ronnie Floyd, who was pastor of the state’s largest church and an insider with the denomination’s fundamentalist leadership.

Huckabee entered secular politics as a conservative Republican in 1992 in an unsuccessful bid to defeat longtime Democratic Sen. Dale Bumpers. The next year, he won a special election to become the state’s lieutenant governor. That office catapulted him to the governorship in 1996, after an ethics scandal forced the resignation of Gov. Jim Guy Tucker (D). Huckabee was elected to two more terms.

He has embraced the policy positions of most conservative evangelicals on many social issues, like abortion rights and gay rights. But on Meet the Press, he downplayed his connections to some of the Religious Right’s more inflammatory rhetoric.

Host Tim Russert asked Huckabee about a past comment in which the governor said, “I hope we answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ.”

Russert asked: “Would you, as president, consider America a Christian nation and try to lead it … into a situation as being a more Christian nation?”

Huckabee said he would not in his official capacity. “I think it’s dangerous to say that we are a nation that ought to be pushed into a Christian faith by its leaders,” he said. “However, I make no apology for my faith. My faith explains me. … We are a nation of faith. It doesn’t necessarily have to be mine. But we are a nation that believes that faith is an important part of describing who we are, and our generosity, and our sense of optimism and hope. That does describe me.”

Pressed by Russert on how he would treat those of minority faiths given the “take this nation back for Christ” comment, Huckabee said, “Well, I think I—I’d probably phrase it a little differently today. But I don’t want to make people think that I’m going to replace the Capitol dome with a steeple or change the legislative sessions for prayer meetings.”

But, he continued, “What it does mean is that people of faith do need to exercise their sense of responsibility toward education, toward health, toward the environment. All of those issues, for me, are driven by my sense that this is a wonderful world that God’s made. We’re responsible for taking care of it. We’re responsible for being responsible managers and stewards of it. I think that’s what faith ought to do in our lives if we’re in public service.”

In response to a question about his opposition to abortion rights, Huckabee said that, while he opposed most legalized abortions, he also sought a broader understanding of what a pro-life ethic means.

“I think those of us in the pro-life movement, we have to do also some growing and expanding. We have to remind people that life, that we believe it begins at conception. It doesn’t end at birth. And if we’re really pro-life we have to be concerned about more than just the gestation period,” he said.

Huckabee cited anti-abortion legislation he had signed as governor, but he noted “we also did things that improved the environmental quality and the conservation issues that would affect a child’s air and water. We also made sure that he had a better education, that access to affordable health care would be better. So I think that real pro-life people need to be concerned about affordable housing. We need to be concerned about safe neighborhoods (and) access to a college education. That, for me, is what ‘pro-life’ has to mean.”

However, if he becomes the Republican nominee, Huckabee will likely deal with ethics questions that dogged him during his governorship. Arkansas Times columnist Ernest Dumas, who has been one of Huckabee’s most consistent critics, criticized him in a Jan. 30 column for exaggerations and misrepresentations in the Russert interview.

“It is itself not overly prized in politics, but there is one quality that a fresh and unknown candidate evades at considerable peril: truthfulness. The former governor has always had a problem with it when he seeks to embellish his record or clean up his mistakes,” Dumas wrote.

“The weakness was in full panoply in Huckabee’s short interview,” he continued. “Russert, who is not ordinarily a nervy interviewer, nailed Huckabee only once on a bit of flimflam —his role in the parole of rapist and murderer Wayne Dumond—and Huckabee may be lucky enough to avoid much contention over his exaggerations and diminutions of his Arkansas record. But his dissembling will catch up with him before the campaign moves far along.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/08/07

Bellevue report: Assistant pastor
guilty of sex abuse against son

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

CORDOVA, Tenn. (ABP)—Paul Williams, minister of prayer and special projects at Bellevue Baptist Church, sexually abused his son 17 years ago, according to a report from the church’s investigative committee. The committee announced its findings to the congregation Jan. 28.

“Paul Williams engaged in egregious, perverse, sexual activity with his adolescent son over a period of 12 to 18 months,” the report said. “Paul became convicted of his actions, and he stopped. He asked for forgiveness from his son and never touched him inappropriately again. At that time Paul told no one else.”

Williams first came under public suspicion Dec. 17, after Bellevue leaders told the church he had committed a “moral failure” that required his leave of absence and an investigation into the allegations. Williams has since been fired.

The month-long investigation, lead by David Coombs, administrative pastor, included interviews with witnesses, the seizure of Williams’ computers, and three face-to-face interviews with Williams.

Williams, who had served at Bellevue for 34 years, told investigators he was sexually abused as a child.

Steve Gaines, senior pastor at the Memphis-area megachurch, told the congregation Williams had confessed the misconduct to him six months earlier. Gaines later said he should have immediately disclosed the information to church leadership. Gaines did not participate in the investigation.

At least 10 people affiliated with the church knew about the abuse before Dec. 7, when William’s now-married son and two friends told Gaines, the report said. The group included family members, a retired Bellevue staff member, and Jamie Fish, who works in the church’s Biblical Guidance office. Adrian Rogers, the now-deceased legendary pastor of Bellevue, reportedly was unaware of Williams’ abuse.

Christa Brown, founder of Voice to Stop Baptist Predators, said she isn’t surprised that so many people knew about the abuse. The “miracle” is that it was publicized at all, she said. Brown also works for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a volunteer self-help organization of survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

“In many ways, the dynamics of clergy abuse are akin to the dynamics of incest, except the church family is much bigger,” she said. “In most cases, other ministerial colleagues and deacons and often even church family members are simply not capable of receiving that kind of information about a beloved minister and objectively considering it, investigating, and doing the right thing.”

That’s why churches should use outside intervention with cases like this, Brown added. She emphasized that denominational offices should give congregations resources for handling clergy abuse. And she called for a denominational office— not run by the local churches—to which victims can report crimes.

“If a church with the sort of resources that Bellevue has … still did such an awful job of handling this, why would anyone imagine that churches with much lesser resources would be capable of handling it any better than Bellevue?” she said. “They aren’t. It’s usually even worse.”

Had Williams considered the welfare of the church family, he would have resigned, committee members said. While molesting a child is bad enough, to continue working in ministerial duties involving sensitive issues is without excuse, committee members wrote in the report.

“Starting with Paul, there appears to have been no serious consideration given by anyone to the health and safety of the Bellevue family,” the report said. “On Paul’s part, there appears to never have been any time in 17 years that any consideration was given to the effect that having a child molester on the ministerial staff of Bellevue Baptist Church would have on the church. His only consideration appears to have been to keep his job and, in the team’s opinion, to stay out of jail.”

According to the report, Williams did not seek help for himself or his son until recently, when his son initiated counseling. Williams told investigators he “checked every year or so to make sure all was right” between the two of them.

Calling the church “ill-prepared,” the report blamed a “lack of knowledge” for the delay in removing Williams from his post. No policies on problems of “a sensitive nature” existed, and a precedent of keeping those issues under wraps in order to protect the church and families from embarrassment led leaders to avoid disclosure, the report said.

“Policies, procedures and protocols were and are inadequate,” committee members said. “There has been a feeling that policy and procedures of this type (regarding sexual abuse) were more suitable for the world than for the church. This feeling is not only found in Bellevue Baptist Church, but also is prevalent across churches in general. The events relating to the Paul Williams issue have vividly brought to light the need for change.”

The investigation committee stated Williams “did not pose a danger or risk to children at the church” from 2006, when Bellevue Baptist Church ministers learned of his past sexual misconduct, until the time of his dismissal. However, some church members told interviewers they felt they had been violated by Williams when he asked inappropriate questions in the course of his ministerial duties.

The committee recommended that Bellevue provide or pay for counseling for those who felt they were harmed by Williams or felt hurt by the church’s inaction. Bellevue is in contact with the Tennessee Department of Child Services through its attorneys and is cooperating fully with that agency.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/05/07

LifeWay removes ‘questionable’ online titles

By Lonnie Wilkey

Tennessee Baptist & Reflector

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP)—LifeWay Christian Resources has removed a number of pro-gay titles from its online store, LifeWaystores.com, after staffers became aware of the books’ availability.

EthicsDaily.com reported Jan. 29 that LifeWay had several authors listed on the site who promoted a “pro-homosexual” agenda. EthicsDaily is a news service of the Nashville-based Baptist Center for Ethics.

LifeWay was informed about the books and took prompt action to remove them, said Mark Scott, vice president of the Christian stores division of LifeWay.

“We checked out (the report) immediately and found that, in fact, several titles did appear on our third-party distributor’s list. We were unaware of these and removed the titles immediately,” Scott said in a prepared statement.

LifeWay is “enhancing its efforts to ensure that questionable books are filtered out of a massive list of titles available online through its third-party distributor,” he added.

The distributor makes available 130,000 titles to LifeWay and sometimes adds as many as 1,000 new titles each week, Scott said.

“LifeWaystores.com includes only about 100,000 of those titles, having eliminated nearly 25 percent of the books for a variety of reasons, most often because of inappropriate content,” he noted in the statement.

“In addition, LifeWay filters the titles electronically based on information from publishers and the reputation of authors and publishers for producing biblically-based material. Every week, dozens of inappropriate titles are removed successfully. And the electronic filtering and human-review processes are being improved to meet the high volume of new books hitting the Christian retail market.”

No mechanized filtering system is perfect, he noted, and a few inappropriate titles occasionally make it through the filtering system and onto the online list.

“When we become aware of these titles—often through an e-mail from a customer—we investigate them, and if we confirm them to be inappropriate, we remove them immediately,” Scott said in the statement.

LifeWay invites customers to contact the organization if they encounter books with messages that cause them concern, he added.

“Our customers place a high degree of trust in us to provide biblically sound resources,” he said. “We value that trust and strive to maintain it.”

LifeWaystores.com will also soon provide “Reading with Discernment” tags on certain titles that are requested for scholarly study but may not be appropriate for a broader Christian audience.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/07/07

Global warming calls for a Baptist response

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

AUSTIN—In the wake of an international report indicating humans very likely have caused global warming, Christian Life Commission Director Suzii Paynter called for Texas Baptists to lobby elected officials to rethink 18 proposed coal-fired power plants that would dump tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually.

Scientists who subscribe to the concept of global warming believe industrial gases released into the atmosphere create hotter days, heat waves, droughts and stronger and more frequent hurricanes.

Christians have a responsibility to care for the environment, Paynter insisted. This includes examining the impact they are having on the earth through pollutants and waste.

The need is especially acute in Texas, where power plants produce more pollution than in any other state in the nation, she said. Pollutants are causing an increased rate of asthma and other respiratory illnesses in children.

And Texas air could become more polluted in the near future, she added. Gov. Rick Perry is attempting to fast-track 18 proposed coal-fired power plants in the state, which annually would dump an additional 78 million tons of carbon dioxide—the primary cause of global warming—into the atmosphere. That is more than double the carbon dioxide TXU currently emits.

More than 1.5 million children live within 30 miles of a power plant, where the greatest health impact is felt. Power plant emissions also have been linked to increased heart attacks, chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and death.

While more power is needed, Paynter insists Texas also must protect its environment and its citizens. The proposed plants can use cleaner-burning processes that would not have such a dramatic impact on residents around them.

The Christian Life Commission is urging churches to contact elected officials and ask them to slow down the process so the issue can be thoroughly studied and the best solution can be found.

“Christ calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves and to serve the least of these,” Paynter said. “We must protect our children, the elderly and God’s creation by encouraging our leaders to choose cleaner power sources and a more economically sound path.”

Power plants and global warming are garnering media attention, but Texas Baptists should be concerned about other aspects of their environmental stewardship as well, she added.

Churches can be environmentally conscious and serve as a role model for the community as well by taking steps to avoid creating excess waste and becoming energy efficient. This can be as simple as changing the type of light bulbs a congregation uses to recycling church bulletins.

By taking steps like these, Paynter believes Texas Baptists would be continuing a long line of Christians caring for the environment.

“God has given us the earth as a part of his gift of creation,” she said. “When we are in his world, when we are near the things he has created, we are then connecting ourselves with a deep heritage of honoring God’s creation.”

For more information about environmental issues, visit www.bgct.org/clc or call (888) 244-9400.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/02/07

Texas Baptist Forum

New Baptist Covenant

I read with extreme interest regarding the convocation for the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant, designed to unite North American Baptists next year (Jan. 22).

If the best “laymen” that could be found to accomplish this task are Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, then the convocation is doomed before it ever meets.

• Jump to online-only letters below

Letters are welcomed. Send them to marvknox@baptiststandard.com; 250 words maximum.

“I believe in the culture war. And you know what? If I have to take a side in the culture war, I’ll take their side. Because if you give me the choice of Paris Hilton or Jesus, I'll take Jesus.” Alexandra Pelosi Filmmaker, discussing her new film, Friends of God, about evangelical Christians (New York Times/RNS) “I think about God a lot more than ever, though I used to ask him, ‘Help me make a good jump.’” Evel Knievel Retired stuntman (USA Today/RNS) “I don’t see how we can justify the death of one more American soldier in the cause of a ‘democracy’ such as the one on display at the execution of Saddam Hussein. Let’s bring the troops home.” David Gushee Professor of moral philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. (ABP) “Forgo anger, tobacco, intoxication and gluttony in favor of exercise, humility, charity, prayer and patience.” Nicholas Kao Se-tsean At 110 years old, one of the world's oldest priests, on his secrets for long life (Ecumenical News International/RNS)

If Clinton is a Baptist, then I am a former president. Carter may be a Baptist, but his extreme leftist politics make him an odd choice to lead this distinguished group of 80 leaders. It is noted that his Baptist church recently ordained his wife, Rosalynn, as a deacon, in direct violation of New Testament teachings on this subject.

Seems to me that if Baptists really want this thing to work, then they need to select better leaders, not “lightning rods,” for goodness’ sake.

Neal Murphy

San Augustine

Much excitement and anticipation make it hard for me to contain my emotions regarding the convocation for the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant to take place in early 2008.

The time is far spent for “traditional Baptists” of sound theology and upright intentions to stand together as a single unit. The real voices of Baptists throughout our hemisphere have continued to demonstrate care and compassion for the spiritual and social ills that plague our country and our world.

One must admit, the message of our Lord’s love and compassion has been “hijacked” by those whose agenda has bent the ears of our critics, who have pointed the finger of ridicule, and who have claimed the “fundamentalist banner” of exclusion and ecclesiastical control.

The gathering of Baptists of all ethnic hues with a single focus makes the cause of the convocation meritorious and courageous. As I read about this meeting, I thought: “Finally, we are taking a step in the direction of reclaiming our autonomy. That’s the Baptist way!”

Michael Evans

Mansfield

It’s interesting the response from Baptist leaders to this effort to unite Baptists led by Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

Remember this—everything Clinton does and says has a political agenda. He is all about politics and enhancing his own legacy. Carter may seem to be this great statesman who travels the world on behalf of humanity, but like Clinton, he has a political agenda as well.

The damage these two men did to our country with their liberal, anti-family judicial appointments should cause all Christians to strongly analyze anything they do or say.

Is it a coincidence that this initiative to unite Baptists will be occurring in a year when Hillary Clinton will be running for president and they realize the necessity of winning the conservative and evangelical vote? I think not.

Don’t be taken in by these guys. What they say may seem noble, but their ulterior motivation is to advance the cause of the Democratic Party.

Steve Kent

Dallas

The goal of the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant in Atlanta is “to demonstrate Baptist harmony, based around the themes Jesus preached on in his inaugural sermon, recorded in the fourth chapter of Luke’s Gospel. Quoting the prophet Isaiah, Jesus said: ‘The Spirit of the Lord … has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.’”

To those of us profoundly grieved by the direction of the Southern Baptist Convention since 1979 and its ensuing divisiveness, it comes as no surprise that SBC leaders are declining, regrettably, to participate in the celebration. Their widely publicized goal, as opposed to the celebration goal, is to “go for the jugular.” May they weep and repent when they read Luke 9:54-56.

Peace, please.

Jim Brokenbek

Amarillo

Executive Board

I’ve waited since November for someone to clarify what actually happened at the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting concerning the controversial out-of-order ruling of a motion made from the floor.

Prior to the annual meeting, the BGCT Executive Board voted to (1) initiate action to recover funds lost in the church starting scandal and (2) proceed with legal action against the wrong doers if to do so was cost-effective. This decision was to be made by the president of the convention, chairman of the Executive Board, executive director and BGCT lawyers.

The motion from the floor during the convention was basically to do the same and would have been duplicating. The issue already had been addressed by the Executive Board. I wish this had been explained at the time.

The passion of the moment and the need for the embarrassing personal attack to stop had a great influence on the ruling. The BGCT annual meeting in session always has top priority to conduct convention business. The Executive Board is composed of servants, elected by the convention, to represent Texas Baptists when the convention is not in session.

This explanation may be simplified, but it certainly is between the bar ditches.

Dan Griffith

Haskell

As a layperson who attended the BGCT annual meeting in Dallas, I am interested in fair reporting of the event. Much has been said about how to handle the investigation into the use of Valley church starting funds. It is a sensitive issue, and problems on our border are some of the gravest concerns our nation faces now. We must continue our Christian ministries in the Rio Grande Valley.

The cautious but stern recommendations made by the Executive Board offered a humane, thoughtful and judicious plan for pursuing this ongoing investigation. It was clear that a huge majority of our convention messengers did trust their wise and cautious approach. Appreciation and prayers are offered for our Executive Board members and Executive Director Charles Wade, who serve in humility, trustworthiness and wisdom. Thanks to each of them for their service in a difficult matter that involves far more than money.

Having been involved in volunteer mission trips to the Valley during the last four years, I have learned that plans made in advance for work to be done there will likely change by the time we get there. Gifts given for one thing may be more desperately needed for something else. Needs arise daily. Among the poor living in the Valley, there is some fear and distrust of authority figures. An investigation will be most difficult.

The battle is the Lord’s. May we “be still and know” him as we seek guidance at this time.

Harriet Carrell

Waterwood

To drink or not to drink?

I believe there is more pertinent information to be considered for the cause of “preaching total abstinence” and practicing it (Jan. 8).

Underage drinking was only briefly touched on. Here is a fact that rocked my world less than a year ago. Over 1,000 metropolitan, suburban and small communities across the county were surveyed on the major cause of death among our youth. The response was 100 percent: “More of our young people are killed by alcohol and alcohol-related occurrences than all other illegal and legal drugs combined.”

So, wake up, Baptists. This is a problem, and it’s not going away. If “preaching total abstinence” can save just one child’s life, then please, by all means, let us all not just preach total abstinence, but let us practice what we preach.

“Preaching total abstinence” from alcohol in the context of example rather than legalism is the way to go. But our example must always be Jesus when applicable, rather than any patriarch profile of the Old or New Testament.

The context in Jesus is that of a worthy sacrifice, when we understand that sacrifice means giving up something of value for something of greater value, as Jesus demonstrated on the cross.

Larry Judd

Dickinson

Jesus and his apostles drank real wine, as did others then and since, to avoid illness from bad water. Paul (1 Timothy 5:23) prescribed wine in place of water to prevent illness.

Wine was the safe sacramental drink for 1,869 years. Then, Thomas Welch learned to preserve grape juice by pasteurization to prevent it from going bad. Welch, an anti-alcohol Methodist, promoted his safe grape juice to replace communion wine for both religious and business reasons. Welch instigated the safe alcohol-free Lord’s Supper.

Harold Flynn

Houston

Embryonic stem cells

One of the ironies of the argument about stem cell sources turns on the fact parents with a brain-dead child who has no possibility of life are honored for allowing organs to be donated so that others can have a chance to live. 

However, many more parents find themselves with frozen embryos who have no chance at life, and they can only have them washed down a drain.

I suppose that it is a “slippery slope” issue, but the two cases seem similar.

Bennett Willis

Lake Jackson

Abstaining

I, too, had an “up tight” Baptist upbringing, and all through high school maintained an anti- or condemnation, even judgmental, attitude of all the ills considered sinful—drinking, smoking, dipping, bad language.

Once in the collegiate world, I found I was not prepared to handle social pressure of these vices and fell prey to the temptation to test their path. The next three years changed the course of my life and the people in my life.

While I believe abstaining from these vices and living for the Lord is the only way to pursue life, we as Christians cannot forget that to God sin is sin at any level. James 4:17 says, “To one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” That’s a pretty basic definition of sin.

While we are in the world, we must realize our place in God’s plan is to live the abundant life, but be careful not to fall into a judgmental attitude, remembering the people around us struggling with the more noticeable or overt sin, and those who do not know Jesus are the target of our ministry.

John S. H. Ryker

Bixby, Okla.

Regarding Edward Clark’s letter (Jan. 22), what kind of true Christian “detests” anyone, for any reason? According to my dictionary, “detest” means to loathe or hate. This word probably shouldn’t even be in a Christian’s vocabulary.

Didn’t Jesus tell us, over and over again, that the second-greatest commandment is “to love our neighbor as ourselves”?

In my opinion, this exemplifies one of the biggest problems in the Baptist church (and many other churches) today: We do not walk our talk. We are hypocrites and Pharisees, professing to love all sinners (as Jesus did) but we do not possess the desire to actually do it, nor do we actually practice it.

What a sad state of affairs!

Debra Matlock

Quinlan

The Carter-Clinton Covenant

I am abashed at your position to stand with the likes of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

Have you read any of their books? Do you know where they stand on issues? They are both committed to creating big government and eroding the rights the people. They think that getting religious groups, such as Texas Baptists and the Southern Baptist Convention, to back them will contribute to their own power. They are loud voices who want to be heard for their much speaking. 

Empty words for itching ears.  Beware!!!!

Les Bailey

Killeen

Does the Baptist General Convention of Texas really need to be involved with the North American Baptist Fellowship and all the groups that are tossed into that group? Will this involvement really make the BGCT a better servant of Jesus?

After reading the statements of different pastors (Jan. 22) that the North American Baptist Fellowship does not want to be politically involved, why were President Carter and President Clinton chosen to be spokesmen for the Celebration of the New Baptist Covenant? The group is already politically involved.

Joan Petri

San Antonio

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/02/07

Participants in a recent DiscipleNow weekend at Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church held the congregation’s first prayerwalk through the neighborhood near the church. The group prayed for schools, medical facilities and other churches. More prayerwalks and outreaches are planned to help “change the spiritual climate” of the neighborhood, said David Balyeat, interim minister for missions.

Prayerwalkers appeal to
God to take back community

By Laura Lacey Johnson

Special to the Baptist Standard

A new government program is bringing positive change to a crime-laced neighborhood not far from Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church in Dallas. But church members determined to take back their community have appealed to a higher authority—by prayerwalking.

“The idea is to heighten the level of consciousness about the condition of the neighborhood and get the congregation more involved in praying for the spiritual climate to make the changes from the government program more viable,” said David Balyeat, interim minister for missions at Shiloh Terrace.

Prayerwalking participants offer practical advice: Read books about prayer so you have a framework from which to pray. — David Lowrie, pastor of First Baptist Church of Canyon Ask God to give you a vision of what he wants for the area. — David Balyeat, interim minister of missions at Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church in Dallas Be “confessed up and prayed up” to help combat spiritual warfare. —Texas Baptist missionaries to North Africa If planning a group prayerwalk, seek God’s choice of the team members and look for people with “a heart for prayer.” —Steve Hawthorne and Graham Kendrick, authors

Shiloh Terrace held its first prayerwalk during a recent DiscipleNow weekend and targeted specific areas to “till the land” and identify places where the church can minister, he explained.

The church has planned additional prayerwalks, and participants hope to see the high crime rate—more than 1,500 offenses during 2006—decrease, Balyeat explained.

“At the end of the year, the police will provide statistics to see the effect of the spiritual” involvement, he said. “We will see change. God desires change.”

In their 1993 book, Prayerwalking, authors Steve Hawthorne and Graham Kendrick define the practice as “praying on-site with insight.”

“On-site praying is simply praying in the very places where you expect your prayers to be answered,” they wrote.

Hawthorne and Kendrick insist insight comes in three forms—responsive, researched and revealed. That is, prayerwalkers formulate prayers by using what they see during the experience, what they learn about the area from research beforehand and what they discern from the Holy Spirit.

“Lives are forever changed,” said a Texas Baptist missionary couple who recruit Christians to prayerwalk with them through a busy market in a mountainous region of North Africa.

“Even though we told them how to pray at home, they never understood until going and seeing for themselves,” the missionaries said.

David Lowrie, pastor of First Baptist Church of Canyon, recently participated in two prayerwalks in Asia to help develop what he called “new streams” of ministry opportunities where four of the church’s missionaries are serving.

“We drive so much these days,” he said. “There is something about walking. You don’t see as much when you drive. You become much more aware when walking than you could be even if you were driving slowly.

“Jesus walked everywhere he went. That may be part of the key to so many of the stories we read about in the Bible. Jesus was walking by people, not driving by.”

See Related Articles: • PRAY WITHOUT CEASING: Intercession aside, do Baptists have a prayer? • Prayerwalkers appeal to God to take back community • UMHB students put feet to their prayers in the streets of Tokyo

Distractions can abound for prayerwalkers.

“You have to discipline yourself so you are not just taking a walk,” Lowrie observed.

Hawthorne and Kendrick maintain one way to do this is by writing down Scripture passages ahead of time and referring to them on the prayerwalk, praying them in your own words.

In addition, it is important to remain focused, especially when immersed in and praying for a culture other than your own.

Members of the North African prayer teams have said they experienced “sensory overload” due to the unique activities found in the locations of the prayerwalks.

“The market is noisy with the hawkers,” the missionaries to North Africa noted.

“It is dirty compared to our grocery stores, with sheep and cows being slaughtered in open-air areas, teeth being pulled under a tent … and of course, the smells.”

Prayerwalkers may not immediately see the impact of their efforts, participants noted.

“One hundred years from now, when we are in heaven, it will be interesting to see if anyone we prayed for made it” to heaven, Lowrie said. “Prayer-walking may actually be a prelude to long-term intercession for a specific group of people.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 2/05/07

CYBER COLUMN:
Pain and suffering

By John Duncan

I’m sitting here under the old oak tree, thinking of life in its ups and downs, in its hopes and dreams, and in its disappointment and suffering. C.S. Lewis once hailed life as a series of events with the “life of souls in a world” try to eliminate suffering from life: “Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself.” As much as I hate to admit it, souls alive suffer and survive.

John Duncan

Suffering, I do not like it. Just the other day, my youngest daughter and I were working out. You know—exercise, Rocky Balboa motivation and shed pounds and dress for success. After all, prom is just around the corner for her, and I could stand to lose a few pounds. It is also the time of year to trim a few pounds and prepare for the swimsuit season soon to follow. I asked her to hand me a free weight, one that I would  lift with my legs and arms, and low and behold she accidentally dropped it on my left knee! The pain and suffering were enormous. I can tell you I was not thinking of Jesus my High Priest of suffering nor Saint Peter’s admonition, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12). I thought of the pain in my knee, and it was as if a lightning bolt had zapped me. Good news, though: A bruise ensued and the pain subsided.

Scholars and people in general spend a vast amount of time trying to figure out evil, suffering and pain. Why does an evil Osama bin Laden prey in a reign of terror? Why do people suffer through cancer and survive chemotherapy while their skin turns gray and they lose their hair? How does a pain in the knee communicate with the brain so quickly, and how much pain can people endure daily—pressures at work, the kids out of control, back pain that makes you start the day with Advil, the pain of watching a loved one die, or internal pain that boils beneath the surface of the skin, deep in the soul, like a volcano ready to explode?

Philip Yancey once explored suffering and evil in his book Disappointment with God. I guess I am too simplistic and figure suffering comes from the fall—you know, Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden and the apple that was not really an apple and snake in the garden, which in itself was enough to make you want to scream and all that stuff. And I figure, like C. S. Lewis, life produces the possibility of suffering if you live long enough. And I figure we bring suffering, much of the time, on ourselves. I think you know what I mean. Smile anyway! Praise God. Watch out for free falling weights! By the way, my knee is feeling better today.

I drove by the old church down the hill yesterday. We have two buildings here at Lakeside Baptist Church—an old one and a new one. The new building is high on a hill here in Granbury. A few folk wanted to call it a mountain, but I have seen mountains, snow-capped, ones filled with waterfalls that create a calm roar, and ones with trees that sing glory when the wind blows. The new church is not on a mountain, but rather on a hill. You can see the church from all over our county. The church has beautiful stained glass, which if you drove by it at night, would capture your attention. It has a steeple that once impaled upside down through the roof during a storm. I thought Harry Potter had arrived or the Wicked Witch minus her broom. The church is nice and, on most Sundays, fills up with people. I get confused some times: Am I in real estate, buying land and building buildings? Or am I in personnel management because it is my job to direct our staff and, generally, because life is about expectations, to keep most people in the church happy while managing people. Or am I a pastor, delivering Bread to hungry souls and pouring living Water on their dehydrated hearts and helping them maintain the steady diet of spiritual health in relation to Christ? Oh, I am a pastor, but it does get confusing sometimes, all these expectations. One thing I know, every Sunday a bunch of people show up, and I feel their pain. Most have lived long enough to have suffered, more than a hurt knee!

Oh, I drove by the old church. We still own it and do nice things in that old building—student ministry where we help young people consider their choices as well as their futures, Bible study, ministry to families with a preschool where one day they called me to come quickly because a man and woman, a divorced couple, were arguing in the church parking lot and it was bad, real bad. See, all these expectations. I raced down there in a breathless rush and told them to call the police. Am I the police? We also help women, many who have suffered enough at the hands of abuse, poverty and turmoil, to get their lives together and we train them for life skills and help them find jobs. Christian Women’s Job Corps, we call it. We do some nice things in that building, God-honoring ministry in that building that helps change lives. I feel good about that.

Still, for all we do now, the most common thing mentioned about that building to me in the community is the time the roof caved in. It was over 20 years ago, before I became pastor 20 years ago, when the Texas Baptist Men were building the church building. Architects and engineers did their work, and men poured the concrete foundation and prayed over it for Christ to be the foundation and raised the walls, and the trusses were placed on to hold the roof.  Plywood was added, and men were climbing that roof and sitting on it and using nail guns and the whole nine yards, when, poof, like a weight blasting a knee, the whole thing came tumbling down! The local newspaper, The Hooterville News, like the one in the old show Green Acres, showed up and took pictures. People who saw the roof cave in said it happened in slow motion. One guy rode the roof to the ground and injured his ankle, but, thankfully, only one person was hurt. Seems someone changed the plans without consulting the architect or an engineer, and the trusses were not strong enough to hold the roof. I think of C. S. Lewis’ quote about suffering, and for some people the roof has caved in on their lives. Pain ensues. Suffering becomes their friend, or enemy, however you look at it.

The community talks about the roof caving in like Britons talk about “The War,” WW II, as if it happened yesterday. The church members who were here on that day talk about another event—the day a boy, Tommy boy I will call him (not his real name), fell in a hole, a deep hole over 10 feet. He stood near the edge when the soft ground gave way and slid and fell and went kerplunk when he hit rock bottom, literally. Workers rescued him with a rope and laughed about the boy in the hole later, but Tommy boy has had a hard time since that moment, troubles, jail time and other junk. It seems he has had a hard time trying to climb his way out of a hole of suffering since that day. That’s the way life goes. One day the roof caves in, and another day you’re trying to dig your way out of a hole.

So here I am, sitting under the old oak tree, just pondering life, waiting for it to snow again, and musing over the madness of life’s falling weights, caving roofs, people digging themselves out of a hole and the suffering that attaches itself to life like a leach.

And then it hits me: I am so thankful for Jesus. He knows suffering, the cross. He knows people, their suffering. He knows of their pained knees, the roof caving in, and the holes from which they cry from the darkness while trying to climb toward the light.  And Jesus loves them, longs for them to heal from the bruises, yearns for them to raise the roof again, and desires for them to climb out of the hole to stand tall and live in the laughter and joy and peace and light again. He loves you. You do not suffer alone. And God has a plan. Yes, he does. Watch out, though, for flying weights! Check the roof once in while! Do not stand to close to deep holes, either! And trust in the Lord with all your heart!

John Duncan is pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, and the writer of numerous articles in various journals and magazines. You can respond to his column by e-mailing him at jduncan@lakesidebc.org.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 2/02/07

RIGHT or WRONG?
Human/civil rights

“Human rights” and “civil rights” are terms constantly voiced by minority groups. Are these terms synonymous? What responsibilities should accompany these rights?

This question is especially appropriate in 2007. As the United States tries to extricate its soldiers from Iraq, our country still hopes Iraq will become a nation that respects human and civil rights. With the undignified executions of Saddam Hussein and other convicted Iraqi leaders, the world has questioned whether any progress is being made there.

At the same time, this country is embroiled in an immigration debate in which these two terms have been used frequently. Some have labeled construction of a wall on our Mexican border and deportation of illegal-immigrant parents of a child born in the United States as inhumane acts.

How are we to understand and respond to these charges?

First, it is important to make a distinction between human rights and civil rights. Civil rights are reserved for citizens of a nation and guaranteed by law. For example, in our country, the U.S. Constitution guarantees certain rights for U.S. citizens. Other nations have laws that guarantee rights to their citizens. No nation completely fulfills its guarantees.

Human rights are rights every human being should have. These rights should be respected regardless of whether that person is a citizen of the nation where he/she lives. Of course, there are differences of opinion about what rights are human rights. In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration included such rights as the right to freedom, security, equality before the law, nationality and property ownership. The United Nations passed this declaration because “… recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”

Often nations will decide certain human rights should become civil rights for its citizens. An example was the decision of the United States to abolish slavery and allow former slaves to become full citizens. Sometimes, nations will expand their definition of human rights to include rights previously only granted to citizens. An example would be granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. In the case of illegal immigrants in this country, there is a push by some to provide civil rights to them even though they are not citizens. Such action usually is justified on the assumption these civil rights really are human rights.

Philosophers and politicians who have advocated for civil and human rights always have done so with the proviso that every right entails a responsibility. This is recognized in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, which declares in Article 29, “Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of personality is possible.” This means each person must meet “the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.”

As Christians, we recognize we have an obligation to respect and care for other people. We also have an obligation to meet our own responsibilities in society. This means respecting and advocating for civil and human rights for others. This two-faceted teaching is perhaps best summarized in the Golden Rule: Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.

Philip Wise, senior pastor

Second Baptist Church, Lubbock

Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Updated: 2/02/07

Estelle Owens peruses copies of the Hale County Historical Association journals in the Mabee Learning Resources Center on the Wayland Baptist University campus while gathering history on the university for the centennial book.

Wayland's centennial history a labor of love for professor

By Teresa Young

Wayland Baptist University

PLAINVIEW—Estelle Owens figures she looks a bit more tired than usual these days. After all, long hours, long nights and long stretches of highway can wear on a person. But she’s quick to admit every article she has read and every interview she has conducted for Wayland Baptist University’s centennial history has been a labor of love.

When approached a few years back to research and compile Wayland’s complete history for its centennial celebration, Owens jumped at the chance. She won’t deny the work has been tedious at times and the majority of her free time has been swallowed up with the process, but she’s also had the experience of a lifetime.

“I am so thrilled to get to be the one who gets to put the words on paper,” said Owens, a history professor and chair of the social sciences division at Wayland. “I know there are others who could do it well and love it, but not more than me.”

As a 1971 Wayland graduate, Owens has a special place in her heart for the university where she has worked since 1974. And while teaching students is a particular passion—students for decades have bragged on her exciting and enlivened lectures about historical events—rolling up her sleeves and digging through history also is a great love.

Officially, Owens began her work on the history book in the fall of 2005, culling the archives to locate what the university already had in place and what needed to be added. Granted an extended sabbatical for spring and summer 2006, Owens spent eight months in discovery mode, looking through old newspapers and periodicals, traveling for oral history interviews and making countless copies.

But Owens insists the work actually began decades ago in her early days on the faculty. In 1976, Gwin Morris, then chair of the social sciences division, had some extra travel money and sent Owens to California for a series of interviews with former President Bill Marshall.

“I spent a week there, and we did 12 to 14 interviews—one in his convertible,” Owens recalled. “We talked about his life, his travels, his time at Wayland and his two years in the jungles of Brazil.”

That first set of presidential history interviews morphed into a series, and Owens also interviewed former presidents Roy McClung, A. Hope Owen, David Jester and the wife of Glenn Barnett, who served as interim from 1987 to 1989. Not finding much about the first four presidents, Owens made them her first target, noting, “I’m really fascinated with the early years.”

She still lacks oral histories for Wallace Davis, Lanny Hall and current President Paul Armes.

Although not all of Wayland’s history involves the presidential suite, Owens noted that filling in the blanks of the presidents provides a backbone to the overall historical picture. Many of the key decisions in Wayland’s history came through its leadership, and diving into the lives of the presidents helps set the stage for why those decisions were made.

Through her voyage of discovery, Owens has come to appreciate the men who served in Wayland’s highest office a little more.

“With all these people, there has been a willingness to give way beyond the point where it hurts, and not just money either. Some of them had fragile health, but they just sucked it up and kept going,” she said. “Another impressive thing is how many ties there were between people, and some presidents shared ties to churches they had pastored.

“It’s such a tiny world when you get right down to it. There is such symmetry to our past.”

The majority of Owens’ fact-finding mission has involved poring over old issues of the Baptist Standard, the Trail Blazer university publication and the Plainview Daily Herald, among others. Much of that, she notes with bleary eyes, was done via microfilm. After 10-hour stretches of searching, Owens admits she left the Mabee Learning Resources Center a bit weary.

Luckily for future researchers, Owens made photocopies of everything she found so the tedious microfilm searches would not have to be repeated. She estimates she’s added at least 20,000 pages to the archives from her searches. Other items were gleaned from archive files of old catalogs, letters, speeches, diaries and journals, and other papers stored away in boxes in the basement of the Mabee Center.

Among her summer travels, Owens visited Waco, poring through archives at Baylor University, where many former presidents earned their education. She also visited the archives of both Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. And she spent much time with the Southern Baptist Convention archives in Nashville and those of the Baptist General Convention of Texas in Dallas, along with other state Baptist papers and records.

“It takes being a bloodhound and a genealogist,” Owens said of the search. “It’s amazing when you have experience with genealogy what you can find through family research.”

Even though she still has stacks of papers to read and files to peruse, Owens said the journey has been enjoyable, as she’s learned so much about the university and its people. She’s even more convinced of God’s hand on the university as she reads of other schools that closed their doors over the decades.

“I’m awe inspired when I see what these folks were willing to do to get their education, and our students now are willing to do it as well,” she said. “It is so obvious when you get into it that this is providential. God wants us here, and he wants us out where we are.

“It’s incredible that a little school on the plains of Texas could have the kind of awesome impact on so many people. The Wayland imprint is there on lots of people.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Storylist for week of 1/22/07

TAKE ME TO: Top Story |  Texas |  Opinion |  Baptists |  Faith & Culture |  Book Reviews |  Classifieds  |  Departments  |  Bible Study



• Christian faith unites opposing Super Bowl coaches

• IMB trustee investigation rejects allegations of board impropriety

• TBM chainsaw teams offer relief in northeastern Oklahoma

• Host families urgently needed to care for Indonesian burn victims

• Group soliciting signatures for letter to Executive Board

• WMU suffers from mission board funding cuts

• Baptists in Beirut endangered as violence escalates

• Accrediting agencies asked to probe seminary's dismissal of female prof

• Politics not behind plan to unite Baptists, Underwood insists

• Evangelicals join scientists in fight against global warming

• Holiday visit with Kenyan orphans changed students' perspective on world

• Diverse coalition forces amendment to lobbying-reform bill

• SBC officials accuse Carter of ‘voodoo ecumenism'

• Authorities investigating fires at North Carolina churches

• Belmont subpoenas church records in Tennessee Baptist lawsuit



• MAKING PEACE: Creating a congregational culture of peacemaking takes time

• Do conservative evangelicals regret justifying Iraq war?

• Global peace a growing priority for Christian groups

• Time to call a mediator when focus turns from problems to personalities


• Semester missionaries merge vocational, ministerial callings

• TBM chainsaw teams serve in Oklahoma

• BGCT intercultural mission trip slated for Vancouver

• On the Move

• Around the State

• Texas Tidbits


• Pastor sees end of one congregation as ‘New Beginning'

• Baptist Briefs


• Childless young adults want ministry, not sympathy

• People in house churches report greater satisfaction than conventional churchgoers

• Jubilee USA urges multilateral debt relief

• Born-again bikers running full-throttle for Jesus

• New IRS rules require receipts for church donations

• Church giving lacks external focus, study reveals

• Faith Digest


• Book Reviews


• Cartoon

• Around the State

• On the Move

• Classified Ads


• EDITORIAL: A time and place for healing wounds

• DOWN HOME: What's interesting to all those men?

• TOGETHER: If Baptists were ‘too much like Jesus'

• 2nd Opinion: Longevity: Key to student ministry

• RIGHT or WRONG? Geneva conventions

• Texas Baptist Forum

• Cybercolumn by Berry D. Simpson: Search for understanding



• BaptistWay Bible Series for January 21: In good times and bad, Jesus is there

• Bible Studies for Life Series for January 21: What is human life worth?

• Explore the Bible Series for January 21: Every person is intimately known by God

• BaptistWay Bible Series for January 28: God prunes with a wise, loving hand

• Bible Studies for Life Series for January 28: Faith can conquer chaos

• Explore the Bible Series for January 28: It is important to keep commitments


Previously Posted
• Missouri Baptist leaders approve team to investigate executive

• Kokomo church rises from ashes, celebrates centennial

• Seminary president urges neighboring pastor to resign

• Planned 2008 convocation grows from desire for ‘new Baptist voice'

• Ad hoc group monitors progress on church-starting changes

• Faith leaders tell Congress: Deliver on promises made to values voters

• BGCT president's wife donates building to Lubbock ministry

• Students learn to own their faith during college years

• Young adults will leave church if they're overlooked, study says

• Texas Baptist leaders applaud call for inclusive convocation

• Baptist leaders insist covenant offers chance to heal racial wounds

• Reyes sees move to Buckner as natural progression

• Hall: 'Still a lot for me to do' at Buckner

• Bloggers seek to launch movement


See complete list of articles from our 1/08/2007 issue here.

Updated: 2/02/07

Diverse coalition forces
amendment to lobbying-reform bill

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—After an uproar from an odd coalition of conservative religious, libertarian and business groups, the Senate voted late to scuttle part of its sweeping lobbying-reform bill.

The Senate amended the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007 on a near-party-line vote of 55-43.

The overall bill, as amended, passed 96-2. The House has passed similar ethics-reform legislation, but without the controversial grassroots-lobbying provision.

The amendment to the Senate bill removed a provision of the original bill that groups as diverse as the National Right to Life Committee, Family Research Council, National Association of Manufacturers and American Civil Liberties Union had protested.

They claimed the bill without amendment would have a chilling effect on First Amendment freedoms.

“Now the liberal leadership in the U.S. Senate seeks to silence groups like the Family Research Council from informing you on the issues,” wrote Tony Perkins, the group’s president, in an e-mail to supporters urging them to contact their senators in favor of amending the bill.

“Included…is a provision that seeks to establish, for the first time, federal regulation of grassroots activity that is intended to encourage members of the public to communicate with members of Congress about pending legislative matters—so-called ‘grassroots lobbying.’ This is a move to stop us from informing you about the issues you find important.”

An ACLU press release decrying the bill before it was amended said: “The intention of supporters of the bill is to limit the impact of what they call ‘big-dollar advertising.’ However, it would chill the constitutionally protected activity of many advocacy organizations.”

The excised provision would have required groups that engage in grassroots lobbying on issues currently before Congress to disclose their expenditures any time they communicate with their constituents about those issues.

The conservative, libertarian and business groups said that could require burdensome disclosure requirements from churches and other nonprofit groups.

But proponents of the bill noted nonprofit groups increasingly are being used for large-scale lobbying efforts—sometimes illicitly. For instance, the scandal surrounding former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff included revelations that he channeled millions of dollars in fees from Indian-casino clients through nonprofit groups run by former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed. The groups existed, ostensibly, to fight the expansion of gambling. But Indian tribes with rival gambling interests funded them through Abramoff and Reed to stop potential competition.

Christians shouldn’t fear increased transparency about their public-policy efforts, said Suzii Paynter, director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission.

“It’s all just, in a sense, a continuation of a trend for disclosure in government,” she said.

Paynter conceded such disclosure may be “inconvenient” for churches and other nonprofit groups organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code.

“But sometimes the things that are most ethical are inconvenient. It doesn’t change the rules for lobbying about 501(c)(3)s—they just have to disclose it in a different way, which I think is a good thing.”

But, she continued, lawmakers should be vigilant that such measures do not unconstitutionally target religious groups.

“There’s always a trade-off in situations like that. I think the question we have to ask is: Is there an undue burden on a nonprofit and a religious organization?”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Updated: 2/02/07

Some evangelicals join scientists
in battle against global warming

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—A new alliance between prominent evangelical leaders and their secular scientific counterparts to fight global warming is drawing bipartisan support in Washington—but also has some evangelical detractors.

A coalition of 28 scientists, theologians, ethicists and pastors announced a new collaborative effort on human-caused climate change. The announcement marks an escalation in the budding evangelical environmental movement and signals a willingness for some scientists and conservative Christians to put aside their differences over how and when creation came about in order to prevent its premature end.

The group outlined its concerns in a document called “An Urgent Call to Action” and addressed to President Bush, political leaders and evangelical and scientific communities.

“We agree that our home, the earth, which comes to us as that inexpressibly beautiful and mysterious gift that sustains our very lives, is seriously imperiled by human behavior,” the statement read.

“The harm is seen throughout the natural world, including a cascading set of problems such as climate change, habitat destruction, pollution, and species extinction, as well as the spread of infectious diseases, and other accelerating threats to the health of people and the well-being of societies. Each particular problem could be enumerated, but here it is enough to say that we are gradually destroying the sustaining community of life on which all living things on Earth depend.”

The letter’s signers include Eric Chivian, Nobel laureate and director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School; David Gushee, a Christian ethics professor at Union University; Rich Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs at the National Association of Evangelicals; NASA climatologist James Hansen; and Joel Hunter, the pastor of a church near Orlando. Hunter recently declined to become the president of the Christian Coalition after disputes with the group’s board over broadening its focus to include environmentalism, among other things.

A rival group of evangelicals who dispute human-caused climate change pooh-poohed the announcement. A statement from the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance called the latest announcement “just another attempt to create the impression of growing consensus among evangelicals about global warming. There is no such growing consensus.”

Tony Perkins, president of the Washington-based conservative group Family Research Council, said in an e-mail to his supporters: “The media seeks to spin the story as a coalition of evangelicals, when in fact it’s fueled by only a few outspoken voices on global warming, some of whom have used their organizations as a platform for airing personal views. …Unfortunately, the liberal media are using some groups’ mixed message to focus away from the protection of life and marriage to global warming, a subject on which scientists—let alone evangelicals—have yet to form a consensus approach.”

But the document’s signers said climate change is real, harmful and can be avoided.

“If current deterioration of the environment by human activity continues unabated, best estimates are that half of Earth’s surviving species of plants and animals will be extinguished or critically endangered by the end of the century,” said Edward Wilson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, in a statement on the collaboration released by the National Association of Evangelicals. “The price for future generations will be paid in economic opportunity, environmental security and spiritual fulfillment. The saving of the living environment is therefore an issue appropriately addressed jointly by science and religion.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.