Posted: 11/10/06

CYBER COLUMN:
Thanksgiving list

By John Duncan

I’m sitting here under the old oak tree, pondering life as I know it on this rainy day. Another Sunday has folded its page on the calendar, and Thanksgiving soon arrives. I love the Lord, Sundays, the church and have so much for which to give thanks.

Actually, I was thinking about that first Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has its roots in the harvest home celebrations that took place in England before the Pilgrims ever arrived on the sand and shores of America. Thirty-eight English settlers docked the shores of the James River at the Berkley plantation in what is today known as Charles City, Va. The settlers declared, a “Day of thanksgiving to God” after their torturous ride across the Atlantic. Later, another group of Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock on Dec. 11, 1620, and then further south at Cape Cod, Mass. I can only imagine that first, harsh winter in New England. The snow, the questions, the death as they lost about half their settlers, the grief, the misery, the agony, the anger, the longing for home, the joy, and even the adventure of the new land.

In the spring of 1621, the Indians, led by Samorset, of the Wampanoag tribe, and Squanto, of the Patuxtet tribe, taught the pilgrims to plant corn or “maize,” to harvest alewives of the herring family, and to fertilize for crops like peas, wheat, barley and pumpkins. The following autumn, Gov. William Bradford and the Pilgrims organized a harvest festival in appreciation for the help of the Indians. About 90 or so Pilgrims and Indians gathered and celebrated a time of thanksgiving amid a feast of vegetables and wild fowl like geese in the spirit of thanksgiving. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated with no afternoon Dallas Cowboys football, no pecan pie, no family squabbles and probably not even a turkey. Another thanksgiving celebration did not take place in New England for 55 years, “the silent years,” as I call them.

Later, the governing council of Charleston, Mass., announced a thanksgiving proclamation on June 20, 1676, declaring a day of thanksgiving on June 29, 1676. The U.S. Continental Congress declared Thanksgiving Day on the 28th of November, a Thursday, in 1782 and celebrated with gratitude for the mercies of Almighty God. George Washington declared the day of thanks on the 26th of November, Thursday, in 1789, invoking “the great Lord and Ruler of the nations,” along with appreciation for “the great degree of tranquility, union and plenty which we have enjoyed.”

Finally, Abraham Lincoln’s infamous words in 1863 highlight the “blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies,” along with gratitude for mines and population growth and with the “Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and restore it,” and with the “gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in our anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.” Lincoln invited all people in America and the world to share in a Day of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November with “praise to our beneficent father.” Who talks like that? Who writes like that? I wish more people wrote like that. And who better to invoke thanksgiving than our 16th president? After all, America had weathered many a storm from that first blustery New England winter, to politics, civil war, and the struggle of survival and the hope of economic growth.

One nice thing about American thanksgiving long forgotten is the staple and stable force of the church—churches that still today dot the New England landscape like pictures from a Norman Rockwell painting as reminder of the blessing of God and the anchor of hope that to this very moment steeples point to (God) as they rise toward the heavens.

I’m sitting here thinking with romantic flair, say, of the renaissance, even idealistically, about that first Thanksgiving—gentle snowflakes tumbling mid air like cotton balls from the sky and pilgrims and Indians smiling at each other while they eat amazing maize and wild geese and talking about the weather because it was the only real thing to talk about and dreaming of new homes and peace on earth, goodwill toward men. I see children laughing and playing in the snow and hear a prayer of thanksgiving to Almighty God. As I dream of days past, reality hits, and I think about the joy along with the sadness of so many who died before that first Thanksgiving, the tension of new people in a new land or an old land depending on which side of the fence you’re on, and the enormous task ahead to gain consensus, build structure and make a nation, people united in the land so fresh. I think of suffering and gratitude to God as the twin pillars that provided a foundation for America as we know it.

I guess we’ve come a long way from the first thanksgiving to now. This Thanksgiving, people will eat turkey, not wild geese, and watch football and stay in out of the snow or the rain or the sunshine and be in need of a little tranquility, and union, and give thanks for the plenty we have enjoyed.

I guess really not much has changed, has it? America is still the place where we weather many a storm, where politics divide, where wars rage, and where people daily struggle for survival and economic growth. The weather channel keeps us informed of the latest change in the temperature, barometric pressure, and dew points. Politics leap over red and blue in the red, white and blue, with negative political ads, scandal and dreams of a better tomorrow. Care packages are sent to soldiers on war duty in Iraq, while suicide bombers drive cars into buildings in Baghdad. Wars rage among nations, communities, in homes and hearts, even silent wars as gruesome as Iraq or Baghdad. All in all, people struggle to makes ends meet or pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Are you happy? And, all in all, America is a land where economic survival for many is the challenge of finding daily bread for $2 a loaf and for trying to dig out of the hole of financial debt. It is a way of life in America for most.

Still, the steeple points to the heavens, to Almighty God and the ruler of nations and the Most High God. We all have much for which to be thankful, corn and pumpkins and cable TV and heating in the winter and iPods and X-Box and cars and Starbucks and Home Depot and Blue Bell ice cream from Brenham and family and churches with steeples and laughter and friendships and comfort in grief and light in the darkness and God’s blessing abundant. Make your own list and truly give thanks.

It is, sometimes, a crazy world. In our town, we have the weekly actual accounts of a police log printed in the local newspaper. It goes like this: A woman stepped outside of her house and heard two shots fired; five horses are out and getting into his neighbor’s house; neighbors took a dead dog to the end of the street and dropped it off; a man called 911 and complained he was kicked out of a bar and wants to get back in; a Comanche Cove man reported his chain saw and weed eater stolen but found it in the pawn shop. Or consider an anonymous poem once written about thanksgiving: “Tell me, Mr. Turkey, Don’t you feel afraid When you hear us talking ‘Bout the plans we’ve made?” America, sometimes, it is a crazy and wild and bizarre place.

Several years ago, a man handed me a book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a pastor, old and used up, tired, but wise. He handed me the book and told me to pay special attention to certain pages. I copied the section, cut it out, and taped it in front of my Bible. What was Bonhoeffer’s message to me through the man? “How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from him little things? … A pastor should never complain about this congregation, certainly not to other people, but also not to God. Let him do what he is committed to do and thank God. The more thankfully we daily receive what is given to us, the more surely and steadily will fellowship increase and grow from day to day.”

Lamentations puts it best, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not” (Lamentations 3:22). “Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; his mercy endures forever!” (Psalm 107:1).

So here I am under this old tree and thankful for it. I’m hoping for snow, waiting for Thanksgiving, remembering our nation, praising God for his mercy, and giving thanks. Please pass the turkey. And know that my list of all that I am thankful for never ends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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.

Posted: 11/10/06

Texas Baptist Forum

Not all brothers

Why do people assume Christians, Jews and Muslims are all heirs of Abraham?

Abraham was not Noah; certainly not Adam or God. He wasn’t in a vacuum, and humanity didn’t begin with him. There were plenty of people alive already when God told him (Genesis 12:1) to get away from them, including his kinfolks. And what about those living in the land God sent him to, not to mention enemies along the way? Who are their descendants today?

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

“Dear friends, until Moses comes down with two stone tablets from Brokeback Mountain saying we’ve changed the rules, let’s keep it like it is.” Mike Huckabee Arkansas governor and former Baptist pastor, speaking about same-sex marriage (RNS) “Those of us on the right have been losing ground since the 1970s and ’80s. Can we ultimately win? I think you would need a reconversion of the country to a traditionalist, Christian point of view—and I don’t see that coming.” Pat Buchanan Conservative author of the new book State of Emergency, discussing his belief that conservatives will lose the culture wars (Time magazine/RNS) “Abu Ghraib: I believe that really hurt us. It hurt us internationally. It kind of eased us off the moral high ground; we weren’t a country that was capable of, on the one hand, promoting democracy and then treating people decently.” President Bush Responding to a reporter’s question at a White House news conference about torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq (RNS)

I have to believe those who truly claim Abraham as their ancestral or spiritual patriarch cannot be enemies among themselves, and those of murderous intent surely descended from the “mixed multitudes” that were a threat then, as now. The fact is, none of us knows who we truly are genetically, only who we choose to be and how we choose to behave.

Just as some of the world’s pagan practices over time morphed into and compromised Christianity in some places, could not just-as-pagan practices have blended into and corrupted Islam, for some?

I’m tired of hearing, “We’re all brothers.” We’re not.

Harriet Kelley

Dallas

Move ahead for Christ

Like you, I grieve over the perpetrators and events that led to the misuse of church planting funds. With an organization the size of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, it is inevitable that people who oversee the whole organization cannot be aware of everything that happens in every level of every department. They can be expected to attempt to know everything, but in reality, the effective day-to-day oversight in such a huge organization requires vigilance and monitoring by those closest to the details in the field.

As you move ahead for Christ, and move ahead you must, I encourage you to learn from the past, improve the present and plan for the future. You have a bright future before you!

Do not allow finger-pointing or scapegoating to derail your work for Christ. If you do, the highjacking of the cause of Christ will be a bigger tragedy than the highjacking of those funds. Don’t generalize and thereby lump the innocent in with the guilty. Apparently, a few smooth operators did the cause of Christ great wrong. But, thank God, not all people are like that!

You have leaders of high-integrity in Charles Wade and Ron Gunter, as well as throughout your BGCT employees. Appreciate your leaders, affirm them and unite with them to deal with this issue. Then, move on together to the mission Christ has placed before you!

Ed Jordan

Pocatello, Idaho

Best we have

Charles Wade is not perfect; neither is the BGCT. However, they are the best we have. 

Let us be slow to criticize and quick to pray. May God bless him as he continues to lead Texas Baptists.

Marlin Felts

Estelline

What do you think? The Baptist Standard values letters to the editor, for they reflect Baptists’ affirmation of the priesthood of believers. Send letters to Editor Marv Knox by mail: P.O. Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267; or by e-mail: marvknox@baptiststandard.com. Letters are limited to 250 words.

Posted: 11/10/06

2nd Opinion:
Who will seek Middle East peace?

By Denton Lotz

Every day, the church is confronted with great ethical issues involving war and peace, corruption and justice, issues of both personal and social consequences. The waiting world, in the form of the secular media, wants answers from Christians: “Whose side are you on? Where do you stand?” Unfortunately, the church and world are so polarized that often we do not speak with one voice. This has always been the case with humanity, from Cain and Abel disagreeing until today.

During the days of the Vietnam War, there were great ethical controversies confronting the church. Paul Ramsey, professor of ethics at Princeton Theological Seminary, wrote a book titled Who Speaks for the Church? He questioned whether the liberal voice was truly speaking for the church.

Today, there are those who ask whether the conservative voice is really speaking for the church. The war between Israel and Hezbollah has again forced Christians to give an answer. And many different answers have been given.

There are those Christians who defend Israel and agree with the Israel Embassy director of public affairs in London, Dan Shaham, who states: “This conflict has been forced on us by Hezbollah and its supporters who seek to destroy the Jewish State. … Israel believes that without taking decisive action against this threat in the present, no significant change will occur, and we would reach a worse crisis in the future.”

On the other hand, there are those such as the evangelical Anglican, Michael Green, who wrote a significant editorial in which he expressed dismay at the inability of Western governments to distinguish between a proportionate response and an irresponsible destruction of the infrastructure of a democratic nation, 40 percent of whom are Christian.

Green said, “As Christians, we should not be ‘pro-Jew’ or ‘pro-Arab,’ but even-handed in expressing any judgments we make in this most difficult and complicated situation, where both sides are guilty of atrocities. Should we not ask ourselves not ‘What is my nation’s policy?’ but ‘What is God’s perspective on this?’”

But isn’t that the problem? What is God’s perspective? How does the church make ethical decisions? The dean of the Arab Baptist Seminary in Beirut, Martin Accad, wrote as a Baptist Christian of his anger toward the international community “that is keeping silent and not even budging with an official condemnation of this senseless instinct for extermination.” But his harshest critique is for those who think they know more than others what the Bible is telling us. “I think that some pseudo-biblically motivated Christians with decision power, who believe ‘apocalyptic destruction is a precursor to global salvation’ are presently working toward provoking a Middle Eastern conflict of significance in order finally to settle accounts with Hezbollah and Hamas.”

As Christians, we are called upon by the Prince of Peace, even our Lord Jesus Christ, to be peacemakers. We must condemn unjust attacks wherever they occur and by whomever they are committed. We must defend the rights of the impoverished and powerless. How do we do that? Certainly not by taking sides and identifying the Christian message of peace with only one side! Both Hezbollah and Israel are wrong when atrocities occur. Both share the sin of uncontrolled power.

Each society involved in the conflict must debate these issues. Indeed, within Israel, there is now a fierce debate between the military and security service leaders. Former Israel military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon wrote: “We won’t get to the bottom of the barrel by killing terrorists. We’ll get there through education. (The former internal security head) thinks we’ll kill, kill, kill, kill, kill. That’s it—we’ve won. I don’t accept that. You need strength to defend Israel, and on the other hand, to be a human.” Such critical thinking is necessary for ethical decisions. I have not read of Hamas or Hezbollah going through such critical thinking, but they too must, or this senseless killing will go on and on.

Christians need to be involved in bringing peace and justice to the world. Now is the time for compassion and mercy! Now is the time for an end to war! Jesus said, “You have heard it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’…. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for them who persecute you” (Matthew 5:38f). It is, of course, easier to read this than to do it. But the command of our Lord is indeed a call to prayer, humility and action in the face of death, arrogance and pride. Let us pray and work for peace in the Middle East.

“O Lord Jesus Christ, be thou our peace and give us the courage to be peacemakers.”

Denton Lotz is general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance.

Posted: 11/09/06

BaptistWay Bible Series for November 19

Wisdom for every area of life

• Proverbs 22:17-25; 23:10-11, 19-28; 24:10-12, 15-20

By David Wilkinson

Broadway Baptist Church, Fort Worth

When preceded by the ear-splitting shrill of his omnipresent whistle, the first words out of the mouth of my basketball coach almost invariably were the two-word injunction to “Listen up!” It was a call to attention, punctuated by the clear message that the instructions to follow deserved not only to be heard but obeyed. An unspoken message also was clearly understood by the young men who huddled around the coach: These instructions, if followed, would lead to success.

A similar tone permeates the collection of sayings found in this week’s focal passages from Proverbs 22-24. The admonition, “Incline your ear and hear my words, and apply your mind to my teaching” (22:17), conveys the message, “Listen up!” And the implied message is also clear: These teachings, if implemented, will lead to success through lives lived according to God’s purpose.

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Introduction

The section that begins with 22:17 demonstrates the purpose, style and structure of the Book of Proverbs outlined briefly in the first lesson. It reflects the characteristics of a “collection of collections of wisdom materials” gathered over time and compiled and edited into the book we know as Proverbs. It also reflects the original purpose of Proverbs as a kind of “textbook for life” used for moral and intellectual training of young Hebrew men. In this section, these admonitions may have been intended particularly for preparation for leadership in the religious life of the community.

This section is composed almost exclusively of instructions or admonitions, usually directed to “my son” or “sons,” one of the two distinctive forms of Hebrew poetry found throughout the book. This collection of “the words of the wise” (v. 17) is presented in the form of 30 proverbial sayings (v. 20). Most are in the form of synonymous parallelism, in which the same idea is expressed in both lines of the couplet, or formal or synthetic parallelism, in which the second line advances or completes the thought of the first. The focal texts include 11 of these 30 sayings.

Sound advice

The admonition to “incline your ear and hear my words” is a call to pay attention (echoed in 23:12, 19 and 26). Any teacher knows the posture or body language of the student who is truly intent on learning, who “hangs on every word” spoken by the instructor. Proverbs repeatedly emphasizes the wisdom of a holistic approach to learning that involves the mind and the heart.

The slogan, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste,” applies just as much to the rigorous thinking required of Christian faith as to an college scholarship campaign. Furthermore, if these teachings of the Hebrew sages are internalized—if they are kept “within you” and “ready on your lips” (v. 18)—then they will be put to good use in everyday life.

The purpose of such teaching is clear: “So that your trust may be in the Lord” (v. 18). This statement reiterates Proverbs’ theme, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (1:7) and its admonition to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart … (and) in all your ways acknowledge him” (3:5-6). The sayings that follow spell out specific ways to trust in God and follow God’s way.

Call to justice

A life lived wisely, that points to all that “is right and true” (v. 21), is lived in sympathy with God’s compassion for the poor and God’s demand for justice for the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized. God’s special concern for “the least of these” (Matthew 25:45) is a theme found throughout Scripture. God is not a passive bystander but a stalwart advocate who actively “pleads the cause” of those whom society renders voiceless and powerless (represented by “the poor” in vv. 22-23 and the “orphans” in 23:10-11).

It is significant that concern for the poor is placed at the head of this list of 30 sayings. Concern for the poor is not an option for the one who seeks to serve God.

Furthermore, the reference to those who would “rob” the poor or “crush” them at the “gate” of the city where the community’s system of justice was administered (v. 22) is a reminder that the poor and powerless suffer from unjust systems and structures, not merely at the hands of individuals.

Good company

A life lived wisely watches carefully the company one keeps. Wisdom recognizes the attitudes of the friends we choose easily “rub off on us,” and before we know it, we “learn their ways” (v. 25). This warning applies to anyone who lives contrary to God’s purposes, whether “hotheads” who cannot manage their anger appropriately (v. 24), “drunkards” and “gluttons” who overindulge (23:20-21), or “prostitutes” and “adulterers” who set traps for their prey (vv. 27-28).

Good attitudes

A life lived wisely is marked by integrity and humility. As God’s people, we are called not only to avoid the wrong company and to resist their temptations, but also to refuse to rejoice when our enemies fail (24:17) or fret with envy when they succeed (24:20, 23:17-18, 24:1-2). Jesus, of course, takes this advice even further, commanding us to love even our enemies (Matthew 5:44).

No excuses

Any frustrated parent can identify with my grandfather’s rhetorical question after his advice went unheeded: “Did you think I was talking just so I could hear the sound of my own voice?”

The wise teaching of Proverbs ultimately means little if it goes unheard and unheeded. Furthermore, as Proverbs 24:12 reminds us, ignorance is no excuse. God has given us instructions for life. God has shown us the way to live. In the words of the hymn, we are now called to “trust and obey.”

Discussion questions

• In the light of Proverbs’ teaching about justice for the poor, consider the words of Henri Nouwen: “The poor make the church faithful to its vocation. When the church is no longer a church for the poor, it loses its spiritual identity. … Those who are marginal in the world are central in the church, and that is how it is supposed to be. Thus we are called as members of the church to keep going to the margins of our society.” How do you respond to Nouwen’s assertions? In what ways are we called as God’s people to go “to the margins of our society”? Whom will we find there?

Posted: 11/09/06

Bible Studies for Life Series for November 19

Live in reality, not delusion

• Isaiah 40:18-22; 41:5-7; 44:9,18-20; 45:20-22

By Kenneth Lyle

Logsdon School of Theology, Abilene

The lesson title bids us to “Live in Reality, Not Delusion;” a worthy goal in a world where post-modern thought suggests there are many competing realities, and where our own experience suggests at the very least there are people out there who disagree with our conclusions—sometimes violently.

What is real? What is true? What can we count on? These and many other questions hover near the surface of our thinking, and in times of crisis they may burst forth from our lips. We may begin to feel that we live in a world where nothing is sure and everything is relative.

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Again, the words of the prophet Isaiah remind us there really is nothing new under the sun. In all places and in all times, God’s people have faced the challenge of living in a world of competing realities. Isaiah reminds us that God’s people know reality through their experience of the living God.

Scholars recognize the significant change of style, tone, emphasis and theme that begins with Isaiah 40 and come to different conclusions regarding its date, place of origin and author. This section of Isaiah (40-66), represents the time of the exile, the Persian conquest of Babylon and the return from exile.

For this reason, some scholars suggest another prophet or prophets, perhaps disciples of Isaiah (Second Isaiah, Third Isaiah), recorded a further word from God for a subsequent generation. Others suggest that Isaiah looks ahead to a time beyond his lifetime and reflects upon the difficulties his people will face in the Babylonian exile.

Gary Smith suggests in his book The Prophets as Preachers: An Introduction to the Hebrew Prophets that in these chapters, “the setting of Isaiah’s audience is problematic because there are few historical details.” Smith points to the clear references to the Persian king Cyrus the Great in Isaiah 44-45 that would suggest a post-exilic date but cautions the absence of lamentation over the fall of Jerusalem argues against post-exilic date.

Scholarly debates and conclusions aside, the later chapters of Isaiah clearly represent a further word from God to a people who are about to suffer or who have suffered a tremendous challenge to their understanding or reality.

Because of Judah’s lack of obedience to God, destruction results. What seemed true—Judah’s inviolability—becomes false—Judah falls at the hands of Babylon. All the evidence seems to suggest Judah’s God pales in comparison with Babylon’s gods. This new “reality” competes with the old reality and—worse yet—seems to be winning! Isaiah steps into the breech to set things right—the “new reality” does not compete with the true reality; in fact, it is not a reality at all.

Smith suggests, “Isaiah legitimated a new social understanding of reality by transforming the people’s perception of who God was and what his plan was for dealing with their problems.”

At the heart of the focal passages lies Isaiah’s concern that Judah be delivered from false gods. Idolatry stands as the “alternative reality” that tempts God’s people. In the ancient world, the worship of other gods was self-evident.

Modern church goers may imagine that idolatry presents no challenge to our reality. This is a dangerous and foolhardy assumption. Isaiah invites God’s people to reflect on what God is like and to compare realities (40:18-23). Isaiah suggests the rich person will select an idol of gold and the poor person an idol of wood, but both attempts to approximate God pale in comparison to God who “sits enthroned above the circle of the earth. … [And] stretches out the heavens like a canopy and spreads them out like a tent to live in” v. 22). Idols attempt to define, limit and control God—attempts that Isaiah finds empty, futile and self-deceptive.

Isaiah understands the reason people reach out for the “sure reality” of an idol (41:5-7). Fear causes people to place their trust in things seen rather than things unseen. On the human scale, the gods of Babylon seemed to provide a more certain reality.

In times of crisis, God’s people still may be tempted to look at the world around them and place their trust in the “certainties” of material success, political power, social prominence, educational achievement, or even religious claims and personalities. However, when our devotion to anything—a person, an idea, a belief, a thing—becomes elevated above our devotion to the living God, we commit the sin of idolatry.

An episode from Mark 10 illustrates the danger of misplaced devotion. Because of their erroneous conclusion that Jesus has no time for children, Jesus’ disciples defend him from an onslaught of children and parents. Jesus’ all-knowing stare and indignation exposes their misplaced devotion to the “idea” of Jesus rather than to Jesus himself. The disciples were protecting Jesus from something he did not need protection from. They were holding back Jesus for themselves. They were making Jesus over into their image, rather than allowing Jesus to make them over into his image. They were in essence committing the sin of idolatry.

Twenty-first century Christians, no less than Jesus’ twelve disciples, must avoid the trap of creating idols that look just like us. There is perhaps no greater sin in the American church today, than when we take the biblical risen Christ and make him over into a white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant politician, who holds our views about taxes, welfare, warfare and a host of other social issues. Isaiah calls us to reconsider God and the reality that God presents. God’s people should not put their trust in gods that cannot save. Rather, Isaiah reminds us that “there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and savior; there is none but me” (45:21).

Discussion questions

• Are there truly competing realities in the world? Where are they most evident? How do Christians engage in dialogue with these other realities?

• What kind of “idols” do Christians allow in their lives? How do we know when something becomes deserving of the title “idol”?

Posted: 11/09/06

Explore the Bible Series for November 19

Persevere in the midst of adversity

• Hebrews 12:1-8, 12-16, 28-29

By Howard Anderson

Diversified Spiritual Associates, San Antonio

Direct access to God through Jesus Christ is the goal of religion. The “cloud of witnesses” enables Christians to persevere in the midst of difficulty. The race of life will require endurance, discipline, consistency, listening and gratitude.

Call for endurance (Hebrews 12:1-3)

The deceased saints of the Old Testament (Hebrews 11) give witness to the value and blessing of living by faith. The motivation for running “the race” is not in the possibility of receiving praise from observing heavenly saints, but we should be inspired by the godly examples those saints set during their lives.

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“Let us” is a reference to those Hebrews who had made a profession of Christ, but had not gone all the way to full faith. The race starts with salvation. We are invited to accept salvation in Jesus Christ and join the race. Endurance is the steady determination to keep going, regardless of the temptation to slow down or give up.

Our focus must be on the cross before us—Jesus the “author and finisher of our faith.” Keep our eyes on Jesus as the object of faith and salvation (Philippians 3:38). Jesus persevered so that he might receive the joy of accomplishment of the Father’s will and exaltation (Luke 10:21-24).

Jesus is the ultimate example of willingness to suffer in obedience to God. He faced “contradiction” and endured even the old rugged cross. We can expect to face the same opposition for following Christ (2 Timothy 3:12). The Christian’s fatigue, pressures and persecutions are nothing compared to Christ’s.

Call for discipline (Hebrews 12:4-11)

The struggle of Christianity calls for discipline and not a fatal struggle. We do not have to resist to the point of blood as the Maccabaean leaders called their troops to fight to their death. The writer of Hebrews is shaming his people to think of what the Old Testament saints of the past went through to make their faith possible. The challenge is to prevent a drift into indolence or shy away from conflict. The call for discipline is the challenge to show we are worthy of the sacrifice God made for us in Christ.

Christians should cheerfully bear affliction because the Old Testament saints of the past have borne it. Anything we may have to bear is a little thing compared with what Christ had to bear. We must bear hardship because it is sent as a discipline from God, and a Christian life cannot have any value apart from discipline. The Christian should accept discipline as coming from a loving Father, God.

The ultimate punishment is when God does not get angry with us when we sin, and leaves us alone as unreachable. Remember, there is no discipline of God that does not take its source in love and is not aimed at good.

Call for consistency (Hebrews 12:12-17)

When experiencing trials in life, Christians must not allow circumstances to get the best of them. Instead, they must endure and get their second wind so as to be renewed to continue the race.

Pursue “holiness” and draw near to God with full faith, a cleansed conscience and a genuine acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior and sacrifice for sin—bringing the unbeliever into fellowship with God. Non-Christians will not be drawn to accept Jesus Christ if Christians’ lives do not demonstrate the qualities God desires, including “peace and holiness” (1 Peter 1:16).

Christians are to watch their own lives so as to give a testimony of “peace and holiness,” as well as to look out for and help those in their midst who need salvation. In many churches, the intellectuals know the gospel and are enamored with Christ, but still stand on the edge of apostasy. Their lack of consistency will cause them to miss heaven by 18 inches—the distance from the head to the heart.

Call for listening (Hebrews 12:18-27)

Do we hear the heavenly voice? Listening is the most important part of communication. This passage is a contrast between the giving of the law on Mount Sinai and the new covenant that Jesus Christ is the mediator—a contrast of the old and the new.

The primary purpose of hearing the word of God in all ages is found in Deuteronomy: “And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds and thick darkness. And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire” (4:11-12).

Moses took on himself the responsibility of being the channel of communication between God and Israel. God approved the request of the people (Deuteronomy 5:28), because it showed their feeling of unworthiness to enter into direct communication with him. The whole nation was conscious of sinfulness and unworthiness to approach God.

The Christian has a new covenant and a new relation with God. The new Jerusalem is waiting for her or him. This world with all its impermanence, fears, mysteries and separations goes and life for the Christian is made new. The angels are waiting for us in joyful assembly. The joy of heaven is such that it makes even the angels break into rejoicing.

God’s elected people are waiting for Christians whom God has considered among his faithful citizens. God the Judge is waiting for us to stand in scrutiny. Waiting for us are the spirits of all good people who achieved their goal—those whose names are on God’s honor roll. It was Jesus—perfect Priest and perfect Sacrifice—who initiated this new covenant and made this new relationship with God possible.

Once humankind was under the terror of the law—the relationship between God and us was one of unbridgeable distance and shuddering fear. But after Jesus came and lived and died, the God who was far distant was brought near and the way opened to his presence.

Call for gratitude (Hebrews 12:28-29)

Christians must worship God with reverence and serve him with fear. Nothing must be allowed to disturb the relationship that will be our salvation when the world passes away.

We should show gratitude toward God. According to Moses, we must never break our agreement with God for he is a jealous God (Deuteromomy 4:24). We have a choice. Remain steadfastly true to God, and in the day when the universe is shaken into destruction, our relationship with him will stand safe and secure. Be false to him and that very God who would have been our salvation will be a consuming fire of destruction. The eternal truth is if an individual is true to God, they gain everything and, if they are untrue to God, they lose everything. Nothing really matters except loyalty to God.

Discussion questions

• What is it about life that requires such endurance? What are some of life’s common trials?

• How can peace in the midst of difficulty be attained? What impact might that peace have on others?

• How do we make time to listen to God? Is listening an essential part of prayer?

Baptist Links

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Posted: 11/03/06

RIGHT or WRONG?
Take my child out of public school

I’m hearing a great deal of sentiment toward Christians taking their children out of public school and supporting different forms of private education. How should I respond to such a movement?

Because free public education has been a reality in the United States for more than 160 years, we sometimes forget it has not always been so. In the earliest days of this country, no state-sponsored public schools existed. The only schools were religious schools. Most of these soon gave way to private schools, which continued to dominate until the 1840s, when reformers began to demand that states offer free, nonsectarian, public education. The first state to implement a compulsory attendance law for children of elementary-school age was Massachusetts in 1852.

From that time forward, every state in the nation accepted its responsibility to provide free public education to its children. By the end of the 19th century, it was available for all American children. Many have called America’s public school system a foundation stone of our democracy. Establishing public schools is one of the first things we attempt to do in supporting new democracies. Our public schools are the envy of most nations, despite the fact some nations seem to have improved upon our system, according to recent student achievement rankings.

Christians were very active in establishing public schools in this country. In every city where I have lived, some of the most ardent supporters of the public schools were found in the Christian community.

However, there always have been Christians who did not support the public schools—many because they opposed racial integration. In more recent years, an anti-public-school ideological movement has developed within fundamentalist and evangelical Christianity. These public-school critics contend the public schools are anti-Christian and are corrupting our children. Some prominent Christians have encouraged Christian parents to take their children out of the public schools. Some Southern Baptists in this movement have submitted resolutions advocating such action at recent Southern Baptist Convention annual meetings.

How should Christian parents respond to those who encourage them to take their children out of the public schools? My wife and I attended public schools and sent our children to public schools. This does not mean we believe it is wrong for a parent to educate his/her child in a private school. Each parent must make that determination.

There are, however, some important issues that Christians should consider before making that choice. Would Jesus want us to isolate our children from children who come from different racial, social and religious backgrounds? Although that may not be the parents’ intent, it is one effect of educating one’s children in a private school. Related to this question is a concern about what happens to the public schools if Christian parents withdraw their children. Are we relegating these schools to mediocrity or worse? Also, if we remove our children from the public schools, are we limiting their ability to be witnesses for Christ in a place where they can make an important difference?

One of the best ways we can make a difference in our communities and in the lives of children is by supporting the local public schools. They are some of the best places in the world to put our faith into action.

Philip Wise, 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.

Posted: 11/24/03

Baseball manager believes he's in Japan for a reason

By Toby Druin

Editor Emeritus

GEORGETOWN–If Trey Hillman were a less honorable man, he might be managing the Texas Rangers in the American League instead of the Hokkaido Ham Fighters in Japan's Pacific League. But it would have hurt his Christian witness, which he is able to share in unprecedented ways in his new home.

When the Rangers decided to replace Manager Jerry Narron after the 2002 season, owner Tom Hicks and General Manager John Hart met with Hillman about the job. Hillman, an Arlington native and former University of Texas-Arlington standout at shortstop, was coming off a year as director of player development for the Rangers after 12 years as a manager in the New York Yankees organization, the last three at Class AAA Columbus.

Trey Hillman visits with Pastor Jim Haskell at First Baptist Church of Georgetown after a recent service where Hillman gave his testimony.

But although he had not yet signed a contract, Hillman had a verbal agreement with the Nippon Ham Fighters to manage in 2003. He had been given permission by the Rangers to sign with the Japanese team, although he was still to manage the Rangers' instructional league in September 2002.

“It was a gut-wrenching experience but a nice experience to have,” Hillman said Nov. 16 while in Georgetown to give his testimony at First Baptist Church, where he and his family are members. Pastor Jim Haskell interviewed Hillman about his experiences as part of a sermon series on “The Purpose Driven Life.”

“I could honor the agreement with the Japanese or stay here and work with my hometown team, which had always been my dream,” Hillman said. “But it came down to believing in my heart that God wouldn't have allowed the Rangers to permit me to talk with the Japanese had it not been a part of his timing. I believe God has a reason for his timing.”

As it turned out, the Japanese team refused permission for the Rangers to talk to Hillman, even though at the time he was an employee of the Texas team, and the job went to Buck Showalter.

That he honored his agreement with the Japanese team was given extensive coverage in Japan, Hillman said.

Hillman has a two-year contract with the Fighters, who next year move from Tokyo to the northern island of Hokkaido and will play in a domed stadium in Sapporo, site of the 1972 Olympics. The team has approached him about extending his contract, he said, but if he agrees to it, he will have more control over his options. One other American major league team already has approached him about a managerial position, he said.

In the meantime, he said, he will devote his skills to improving the Fighters, who in their 29-year history traditionally have finished last or next to last in Japan's six-team Pacific League. The league plays American League rules with a designated hitter, while the Central League, also made up of six teams, plays National League rules. One other American, Bobby Valentine, also will be managing in Japan next year.

Japanese baseball is the same game as is played in America, Hillman said, but it has some variations. The balk rule is much more stringent, and there is more sacrifice bunting, even in the Pacific League. They play a 140-game schedule, rather than the 162-game schedule played by U.S. teams, but the season is spread out through much the same time period, allowing more days off.

The clubhouses are not as spacious, especially for visiting teams, he said, so visiting teams put on their uniforms in their hotel rooms before going to the ballpark.

“The biggest difference is in the fans,” he said. “They are organized in cheering sections and arrive long before a game and stay for an hour or more after the game is over. The Japanese are extremely fanatical about baseball–'yaku' in Japanese. There is a lot of fighting spirit with the intention of giving oneself up for the good of the team.”

Each team is allowed to have four foreign players, he said. He also took an American hitting coach, Gary Denbo, with him.

Hillman said he is given many opportunities to share his Christian faith.

“I believe God has given me this opportunity,” he told Haskell, “and I am beginning to see that baseball may even be a side thing with being there with my family and sharing my faith as the main thing.”

The dominant religion in Japan is Shintoism, ancestor worship, or a combination of Shintoism and Buddhism, he said. Even that is more a cultural attachment than a serious commitment, he explained.

Shortly before the season opened last spring, Hillman said, he was told that it was a team tradition to visit a Shinto shrine before beginning play. One man suggested that since it hadn't done the Fighers any good for 29 years, it might be a good time to drop the tradition. But the team went to the shrine anyway.

They were accompanied by reporters and photographers, and it became a good opportunity for Hillman to explain his own religious beliefs, he said.

Unlike in the United States where the subject is hurriedly changed when someone starts talking about religion, “the Japanese media are not intimidated by it at all,” he said. “I did more interviews in 10 months in Japan than in my previous 18 years in baseball in the United States. In Japan, it is a non-issue; it doesn't bother them for me to talk about my faith.”

Before one half-hour television interview, he was asked to write his favorite saying on a card and then was asked about it during the interview.

“I wrote down 1 Corinthians 13:13,” he said, “and told them in the interview that it was my favorite because it was from God's word, and I always try to stay focused on it, that I try to listen to God's direction and signs to lead me where he wants me to go. They were very interested.”

His interpreter asked him one day why he didn't use bad language. “I pointed to my Bible and had him read James 3 and said, 'That's why I don't. You have to control your tongue.'”

Hillman said he held chapel services for his team on several Sundays and is working on a witnessing card to give to players next year at spring training.

He and his family already have made the move to Sapporo, he noted, and his wife, Marie, found a Baptist congregation of about 25 for them and their children, T.J. and Brianna, to attend.

“We got to go twice before returning home,” he said. “A couple of the people speak English, and we listen to a translation of the Korean pastor's sermon through an earpiece.”

Storylist for week of 10/30/06

• Wellness: Stretch it out!

• Wellness: On the go

• Wellness: Nutrition facts

• Wellness: Dental healtht

• Study finds 'surprising' level of paranormal belief

• New Jersey court leaves gay marriage terminology to legislature



• Valley probe forthcoming

• Fit or fat? Covered-dish dinners take toll on Baptists' health


• Valley probe forthcoming

• Fit or fat? Covered-dish dinners take toll on Baptists' health

• Baylor among most physically fit schools

• BGCT reorganized but not downsized

• Churches' Hurricane Katrina response offers lessons

• Motion: ‘Pastor, ask her to marry you'

• Empty bowls help fill ministry's empty shelves

• On the Move

• Around the State

• Texas Tidbits


• Baptist Briefs


• Network reaffirms call for ‘culture of life'


• Books reviewed in this issue: To Own a Dragon: Reflections on Growing Up Without a Father by Donald Miller & John MacMurray, Welcome to Fred by Brad Whittington, Driven by Eternity by John Bevere and The Beloved Community: How Faith Shapes Social Justice, From the Civil Rights Movement to Today by Charles Marsh.


• Cartoon

• Classified Ads

• Texas Ba• On the Move


• EDITORIAL: Who will you trust on Election Day?

• DOWN HOME: Never too late to do something new

• TOGETHER: ‘We do our business out in the open'

• 2nd Opinion: Political party? Irrelevant question

• RIGHT or WRONG? Christian maturity

• Texas Baptist Forum

• Cybercolumn by Berry Simpson: Hope



• BaptistWay Bible Series for October 29: Offer thanks to God for his abundant gifts

• Bible Studies for Life Series for October 29: Endure difficult times with God's strength

• Explore the Bible Series for October 29: Christ's sacrifice is sufficient for all sin

• BaptistWay Bible Series for November 5: God is the only source of true wisdom

• Bible Studies for Life Series for November 5: Live in relationship, not rebellion

• Explore the Bible Series for November 5: Exercise confidence in your relationship with God



Previously Posted
• Former White House insider urges Christian political ‘fast'

• Supreme Court refuses to hear Scout appeal

• CBF names Truett as identity partner

• Coalition urges end to Darfur genocide

• Seminary delays endowment transfer

• Dell volunteers staff festival for children & families in need

• Second-generation UMHB student from Zimbabwe makes mark

• Mexico trips spark desire to meet needs immediately

• Brazil mission trip seen as ‘anything but average'

• From far North to Deep South, DBU volunteers serve

• Volunteers give makeover ministry facility a facelift

• Josue Valerio to lead BGCT missions section

• Youth Revival Movement honored at Truett



See complete list of articles from our 10/16/ 2006 issue here.

Updated: 11/03/06

Evidence found of misuse of Valley funds

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS—A five-month investigation uncovered evidence Baptist General Convention of Texas church starting funds were misused between 1999 and 2005 in the Rio Grande Valley.

At a called meeting of the BGCT Executive Board Oct. 31, investigators reported they discovered up to 98 percent of the 258 church starts reported by three pastors in the Valley—Otto Arango, Aaron de la Torre and Armando Vera—no longer exist. And some never existed, except on paper. The BGCT gave more than $1.3 million in start-up funding and monthly financial support to those 258 churches.

Diane Dillard, a Brownsville attorney, presenting results of independent investigation report of allegations regarding misappropriation of BGCT church starting funds in the Rio Grande Valley.

The full report is available here as a pdf document. See related articles: • Evidence found of misuse of Valley funds • Investigation team outlines preventative steps • Brief excerpts from the report • Otto Arango's earnings claims disputed by directors of missions • BGCT faces challenges leaders say • EDITORIAL: Executive Board must rise to the occasion • Charles Wade has posted a response to the report here. Previously Posted: Progress of the Valley funds probe • Valley investigation could cost $150,000 • Called board meeting focuses on Valley • Executive Board endorses ongoing probe in Rio Grande Valley • Attorney hired to guide church-starting fund investigation • BGCT launches probe of church-planting funds in the Valley

Executive Director Charles Wade and his senior administrative staff, in consultation with convention attorneys, will decide whether the BGCT will pursue any legal action against individuals involved in the misuse of funds, Executive Board Chairman Bob Fowler of Houston said.

That option “should not be ruled out,” said BGCT President Michael Bell.

“I don’t think that is vindictive at all,” said Bell, pastor of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church in Fort Worth. “We should do due diligence on behalf of all our constituent churches and the members of those congregations. We need to be able to report to them we have done all we could do.”

Efforts were made to contact the pastors named in the report. Vera and de la Torre did not answer phone calls following the board meeting.

The Baptist Standard received an e-mail from Arango stating the investigators’ report contained 13 to 15 mistakes or contradictions. He did not specify their nature. A request for elaboration, as well as response to allegations, was not answered as of press time.

The investigation uncovered poor oversight, uneven management, failure to abide by internal guidelines and misplaced trust by some BGCT Executive Board church starting staff leaders—specifically naming Abe Zabaneh and David Guel.

However, investigators found no apparent collusion and no evidence of profiteering on the part of BGCT personnel.

Zabaneh resigned as director of the church starting center and Guel announced his immediate retirement as a regional church starting consultant Oct. 25—the day after investigators presented an executive summary of their preliminary findings to Executive Board and convention officers and senior administrative staff. Zabaneh declined comment.

In response to charges that he failed to abide by guidelines, Guel responded: “Because there was no additional staff available, we had to find a way to manage the large volume of review meetings. At my request, my supervisor assessed the situation and allowed flexibility, which in this case allowed an exception to the guidelines. To my knowledge, exceptions to guidelines were not commonplace. This was done because we felt it was the best way to facilitate serving our churches.”

Guel also questioned the investigators’ findings that up to 98 percent of the churches started by the Valley pastors on whom the investigation centered failed to survive.

“We could actually do our own inquiry and will most likely discover that a great number of persons were saved, baptized and congregationalized somewhere. I am convinced that we also can find more churches in existence than what is being claimed,” he said. “I have already heard that some (of the people) interviewed refused to provide information because of fear or trying to protect the privacy of individuals.”

The investigating attorneys said BGCT leaders failed to investigate thoroughly charges of impropriety, even though some staff knew about irregularities in the church-starting program in the Valley.

Even an FBI investigation in 2000-2001 regarding allegations of fraud failed to prompt a serious internal investigation, the report noted. Investigators said they determined the FBI terminated the probe because the BGCT—as the injured party—did not pursue the complaint.

In a photo from Standard article on church starting in 1999, about the time investigators think the funds scandal began, Aaron de la Torre, is shown with E.B. Brooks (left) and David Guel going over plans for a church building.

E.B. Brooks, who retired last year as director of the BGCT missions, evangelism and ministry area, disputed that assertion.

“The report of the investigation is replete with prejudicial terminology and reaches some conclusions by innuendo,” Brooks said. “It implies that no significant effort was made by the BGCT to address the concerns expressed in the Rio Grande Valley, the opposite of which is true. Significant staff time, energy and financial commitment were made to deal with the situation.”

Brooks said he provided to investigators a list of 13 specific actions taken between 2001 and 2003 in response to concerns expressed in the Valley.

After he retired from the BGCT, Brooks became executive director of the Piper Institute for Church Planting. Arango is the institute’s founder and president. Both Guel and Zabaneh serve on the institute’s board of directors, according to its website, www.piperinstitute.com.

Investigators also pointed out their investigation was impeded by unreliable information from BGCT staff and delays in producing documents.

“It became clear during the investigation that some of the information provided by the BGCT was unreliable. Some of the documents, such as new-church monthly reports, were found to be fabricated,” the investigators wrote.

They added discrepancies between data provided by the accounting office and the church starting center—and errors in BGCT records about active and inactive churches—made discovery of reliable information difficult.

Investigators also noted Zabaneh provided incomplete data to investigators initially, and—in spite of repeated requests—did not provide the church starting center’s policies and guidelines until Oct. 7.

“By that time, the last interview for the investigation had already been conducted, making it impossible to question witnesses on the church starting procedures,” the investigators wrote.

Officers of the BGCT and its Executive Board enlisted Brownsville attorney Diane Dillard to independently investigate alleged mishandling of church-starting funds in the Valley, and the board endorsed the investigation at its May meeting.

Dillard enlisted the help of Michael Rodriguez, a Brownsville trial attorney and former federal prosector; Carlos Barrera, a certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner; and Gregorio Castillo, a Spanish-speaking investigator.

Key findings they presented to the BGCT Executive Board included:

–Some church starts in the Valley were fictitious “phantom churches” that existed only on paper.

During an interview with investigators, de la Torre acknowledged he submitted false—even fictitious—new-church covenants for acceptance by the BGCT and he falsified the signature of the pastors for new churches his congregation claimed to start.

As a part of the investigation, Castillo interviewed Emilio Azael de la Garza, who was identified on the new-church covenant for De Redentor Church on July 1, 2000, as the congregation’s pastor. He also was named as pastor on monthly reports filed with the BGCT for 10 months.

“While Mr. de la Garza said he recognized his signature (on the document), he also said that he had never been the pastor of this church and knew nothing about it,” investigators wrote in their report.

–While some house churches in the Valley developed into autonomous congregations, a large number of the home-based groups did not qualify as “churches” under the BGCT church starting center’s guidelines.

“The definition turns on the intent to become autonomous,” Rodriguez explained in his report to the board. The BGCT’s primary consideration for funding a new church is whether the congregation has the goal of ultimately becoming a church—not remaining a cell group, Bible study or satellite of an existing congregation, he said.

“All evidence gathered to date demonstrates that many of the new churches or house churches started in the Valley between 1999 and 2005 by Dr. Arango and his protégés did not fulfill all of the requirements set out for a church, including the critical requirement of intentionality or having the ultimate goal of becoming an autonomous church,” the investigators wrote in their report to the board.

Guel insisted he received assurances the house churches were more than cell groups or Bible studies.

“I consistently was assured by Aaron de la Torre that he was developing new house churches and not cells,” Guel said. “Brother Aaron was told by me repeatedly—and in front of others—that the convention did not fund cells.”

–Some pastors misused church start-up funds. Investigators did not find “substantiated proof” that funds were used for personal gain.

Investigators found BGCT start-up funds were comingled in the general account of a sponsoring church; some BGCT church start-up checks were deposited in a personal account; leftover BGCT start-up funds usually were not returned after a new church disbanded; and BGCT start-up funds for specific churches sometimes were used for other church starts, missions work of a sponsoring church or for the sponsoring church itself.

Specifically, investigators reported de la Torre acknowledged he and Arango split start-up funds from the BGCT 50/50. The BGCT issued checks to de la Torre’s church, Iglesia Bautista de Communidad in Hidalgo, designated for specific mission congregations it sponsored.

De la Torre told investigators he and Arango deposited these checks into a bank account of the Institute for Church Planting, which Arango directed. Arango then immediately gave de la Torre half of the money in cash.

Arango initially denied the 50/50 split, but after repeated questioning by investigators, he finally acknowledged the practice. He reported the funds he kept were used to reprint copies of training materials he developed. Those training volumes were used in Latin American church starting efforts, he said. Over several years, the BGCT additionally paid at least $170,000 to republish the training books.

Dillard noted de la Torre and his wife expressed remorse about their involvement, saying they “want to repent” and “want to pay restitution.”

Investigators examined questions raised by pastors in the Valley about Arango’s extravagant lifestyle, seeking to determine if he profited illicitly from church starting efforts.

Arango lives in an exclusive neighborhood and drives a Jaguar. Until recently, his wife drove a Range Rover; she now drives a Suburban. Arango told investigators the vehicles are leased, he “got a good deal” for the lot on which his home was built, and a member of his church had been contractor for his home.

“His ultimate response was that other Valley pastors were and are jealous of his success—financial, professional and personal,” the investigators wrote in their report. In his interview, Arango told the investigators “that he had made a lot of money promoting his vision of planting churches,” the report stated.

In fact, Arango disclosed the BGCT had paid him at least $500,000 in honorarium and reimbursement expenses for consulting between 1997 and 2003, investigators reported.

In addition to his $64,000 salary as pastor of Iglesia Bautista Getsemani in McAllen, Arango said he also received $4,400 per month from the BGCT and an additional $9,100 in consulting fees from four Baptist associations with whom he contracted his services—Del Rio-Uvalde (identified in the report as Eagle Pass Association), Tri-River Area, Dallas and Cooke (identified as Gainesville).

He did not provide an estimate of payments received from contracts with Union, Johnson, Gulf Coast and Coastal Bend associations. However, he told investigators he received $14,000 per month from associations—an amount that may have included the $9,100.

But investigators noted in their report they lacked the time to verify Arango’s claims, and some associational leaders disputed Arango’s assertions. (See related story.)

Brooks offers a different perspective on the funds received.

“The $600,000 to $700,000 funded to consulting work, travel and reproduction of textbooks in Dr. Arango’s work is not funding to new churches, and it shouldn’t be considered a Rio Grande Valley ministry,” he said.

“Dr. Arango worked all over Texas and Mexico. The BGCT Mexico Initiative began during these years. This leaves approximately $600,000 to $700,000 for salaries of at least two ministers of missions and funding to new churches. This is about $86,000 to $100,000 per year for the experimental project. This, from a church starting budget of between $4.5 million to $5 million per year, is not an excessive amount to spend on such a project.”

–New church development guidelines were not followed in some instances, and the guidelines were relaxed for certain pastors.

Investigators said Guel acknowledged he did not always follow church starting guidelines because there were so many applications, he could not get his work done. Guel said Brooks authorized “a relaxation of the guidelines” for a few pastors in the Valley, the investigators reported.

Zabaneh also said Brooks made an exception to guidelines to allow Guel to conduct church growth review meetings without all four members of the strategic planning team—the sponsoring church pastor, the new church pastor, an associational director of missions and a BGCT consultant—being present, the investigators said.

“Dr. Zabaneh stated that when he first became the leader of the church starting center, he believed in the new vision for starting churches in the Valley and that Dr. Brooks strongly believed in the work as well,” the investigators wrote.

“For this reason, he allowed some sponsor pastors of new church starts to circumvent the local association and guidelines.”

Brooks responded by saying the church starting effort in the Rio Grande Valley was “an experimental project” undertaken in direct response to the burgeoning Hispanic population in Texas. The project’s rapid growth overwhelmed financial and staff resources, he said.

“It was the responsibility and prerogative of my office to make exceptions to guidelines,” he said. “That assignment was made by the State Missions Commission.”

–Investigators found “no evidence that anyone at the BGCT received money for personal gain” in connection with the church start-up program in the Valley. They also found no evidence any BGCT staff knew about the 50/50 split agreement between Arango and de la Torre, nor did any BGCT staff know about “phantom churches.”

Investigators pointed to evidence some BGCT Executive Board staff knew about examples of irregularities in the church starting program in the Valley, but they found no evidence the convention staff conducted a thorough investigation into allegations.

“The BGCT should have recognized at least some of the red flags,” the investigators concluded. “However, no evidence of a thorough investigation of these matters was provided to the investigators. The lack of written investigation reports, summaries or memoranda in the BGCT files suggests that the allegations were not seen as credible.

“When asked, the BGCT witnesses had no logical explanation why there was not a thorough BGCT investigation into the allegations.”

Updated: 11/03/06

Investigation team outlines preventative steps

By Marv Knox

Editor

The Baptist General Convention of Texas must take seven steps to prevent misappropriation of its church starting funds, the research team that investigated allegations of financial abuse in the Rio Grande Valley told members of the BGCT Executive Board during a called meeting Oct. 31.

Charles Wade, executive director of the Executive Board, pledged to implement some of those suggestions. Executive Board members also voted to create a liaison between the convention and churches in the Valley, who felt the sting of abuse.

“One of the most serious concerns raised by this investigation was that the BGCT did not respond appropriately,” noted Diane Dillard, a Brownsville attorney and leader of the investigative team.

Dillard and her colleagues proposed seven recommendations for preventing financial abuse in the church starting program:

• Guidelines for church starting should be reviewed and revised.

The investigators called for “clear and unequivocal” church starting policies. For example, current guidelines do not stipulate what should be done with unspent church starting funds when a church does not survive.

They also stressed that accountability measures should not be “suspended or relaxed for special pastors.” Their report indicated BGCT church starting leaders exempted at least three pastors in the Valley—Otto Arango, Aaron de la Torre and Armando Vera—from policies applied to other church starters.

The investigators called for additional measures, such as clearly detailing how a sponsoring church is expected to handle BGCT funds, depositing church starting funds directly into segregated bank accounts for each new church, reviewing each church’s progress before releasing funds, and determining what to do with “leftover” funding.

In a report issued after the investigators’ presentation, Wade told the Executive Board a task force had studied the convention’s church starting process this year.

“This group … has prepared new principles and guidelines for our church starting efforts in conjunction with our accounting department so that financial safeguards will be integrated into the very fabric of our approach,” Wade said.

The guidelines, which are to be implemented by Jan. 1, include “red flags” that will “scream out to us that something may be questionable and needs to be promptly researched and reviewed,” he said.

“We are determined that what has happened to us shall never happen again.”

• The BGCT needs more accurate and accessible information about “mortality rates”—the percentage of new churches that fail and the percentage that remain active.

Investigators noted the BGCT reported 357 churches were started in the Valley from 1999 to 2005, and 157 (44 percent) still are active. Of the Valley churches started by the four sponsoring groups headed by Arango, de la Torre and Vera, the BGCT reported 258 with 100 (39 percent) active.

However, the investigation presented a starkly different picture. Of the 357 total starts, only 62 (17 percent) remain active. And of the churches started by the three pastors, only five (2 percent) still are active.

Dillard noted better tracking mechanisms would be needed “even without the fraud.” The high mortality rate of church starts in the Valley should have called into question the feasibility of Arango’s church starting system, she explained, acknowledging, “Decision makers can’t make good decisions” without clear information.

• Recordkeeping needs to be integrated and coordinated between Executive Board program areas.

Within the Baptist Building, a single church start has been tracked by three identification numbers assigned separately by the church starting center, the accounting department and the information systems department. This process made tracking and accountability time-consuming and tedious—and sometimes impossible, Dillard said.

“The inability of the BGCT to correlate data kept under three different numbering systems impeded the progress and dramatically increased the cost for the investigation. It also prevents the presentation of meaningful data to decision makers,” the investigators’ report said. “The BGCT should have a system whereby all data regarding the funding of a new church, including all transactions, can be easily accessed in one location or reporting mechanism.”

Wade told the Executive Board the staff is implementing accounting and information technology processes “that will make it possible to evaluate by region and type our church-planting efforts.”

• Better internal controls over church starting payments are needed, so documentation can be verified.

The investigators cited discrepancies between documentation and procedures maintained by the church starting center and the accounting department.

An internal auditor might be useful to streamline and monitor the internal controls, the investigators recommended.

Wade noted the Executive Board already had heard a recommendation from its audit committee that an internal auditor be added to the staff, and that step is “now in process.”

• The BGCT accounting department should control and design the reporting system.

While other departments could give input to the reporting system’s design, the final decision should rest with the accounting department, the investigators suggested.

• Response to allegations must be immediate.

Every charge of impropriety “must be considered serious and deserving of immediate action,” the investigators advised. They suggested the internal auditor could investigate such allegations.

• Trust, but verify.

“Relying on trust is a central tenet of the BGCT’s faith-based ministry,” the investigators observed. “Relying on trust, although an admirable trait, does not serve accountability measures well.

“The church starting center is not a business, and some may argue that it should not be viewed or policed like a business. However, the BGCT is the steward of the money given for missions work; therefore, those funds and their use should be monitored, documented and controlled.”

Wade promised to strike a balance between trust and verification.

“We will continue to build within our staff a culture of mutual trust and shared vision,” he said. “We will not abandon the gift of trust because of these lapses. But we will implement ways to inspect what we expect. We will continue to trust one another, but we will verify every report and action.”

The Executive Board also will “continue to build a staff that takes joy in serving God through the work of our BGCT ministries,” Wade said.

“We have some of the most wonderful people I have ever worked with on this staff,” he added. “They are gifted and committed. They work hard. They have been through a very difficult time the last 24 months as we have reorganized our governance and restructured the staff organization. We are beginning to see the early fruits of this reorganization, and we are eager for next year.”

Admitting the church starting scandal has been “painful, discouraging and embarrassing,” Wade vowed to press on. “The staff will move forward together to achieve the mission our convention has set before us. We will encourage, facilitate and connect churches in their work to fulfill God’s mission of reconciling the world to himself.”

In an interview, Wade said this episode would not force him to step down.

“I believe I’m the best person to lead us through this,” he said. “I know the nature of what we’re dealing with, and I intend to fix it.”

Near the end of their meeting, the Executive Board voted to take steps to “build bridges” between the board and Baptists in the Valley.

They approved a motion to “affirm the work and ministries of the many pastors and churches of the Rio Grande Valley that continue to do the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

They also called for establishing “a liaison between the BGCT and the churches of the Rio Grande Valley to further the effective work of church planting in the Valley.”

Managing Editor Ken Camp contributed to this report.