Posted: 9/01/06

Seminary pulls plug on trustee’s online sermon

By Robert Marus

Associated Baptist Press

FORT WORTH (ABP)—A trustee at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary endorsed the concept of a private prayer language in an Aug. 29 chapel sermon at the school, setting off a wave of discussion in the Southern Baptist blogosphere and triggering the seminary’s leaders to ban free distribution of the sermon through the school’s website.

Dwight McKissic, a new Southwestern trustee and pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, delivered the sermon in which he recounted how, while a Southwestern student in 1981, he had an experience of speaking in a “private prayer language” and that the experience has repeated itself.

McKissic also offered criticism of a policy, recently established by the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, that would ban the appointment of missionaries who practice the private version of glossolalia, or speaking in tongues.

“I couldn’t figure out how a policy that contradicts the teaching of many of our believing theologians could be enacted like that. That was amazing to me,” McKissic said in an interview after his chapel address. “I was so disappointed by the policy that I gave serious consideration to leading my church out of the Southern Baptist Convention.”

He said he believed the policy—which disqualifies candidates for appointment as international missionaries if they practice private glossolalia—“is an intrusion of privacy, an invasion of privacy, totally unnecessary, and would exclude a great number of Baptists who would make excellent missionaries.”

McKissic called the IMB policy “extra-biblical.”

Word of the sermon spread quickly among the numerous Southern Baptist bloggers who have been critical of Southwestern Seminary President Paige Patterson and others in the denomination’s elite cadre of top leaders. Many have noted that Patterson, on recent occasions, has opposed the practice of speaking in tongues.

Pastor Art Rogers of Tulsa, Okla, writing on his “12 Witnesses” website, said “McKissic set off the political equivalent of a nuclear device” with his statements.

The seminary recently has begun live streaming-video telecasts of its chapel sermons, which enabled several bloggers to hear the comments. An Aug. 24 news release announcing the feature noted, “Audio and video recordings of each chapel service will be archived immediately after each service is over.”

But bloggers began asking why McKissic’s morning sermon was not yet posted by the late afternoon of Aug. 29. Neither Patterson’s assistant nor officials from the school’s communications office responded to phone messages requesting an explanation until the early evening hours.

Jon Zellers, the seminary’s associate vice president for news and information, directed a reporter to a statement posted on the school’s website that said, while the seminary “is honored to have Rev. W. Dwight McKissic as a trustee” and “honored to have him in chapel this morning,” the seminary would not disseminate copies of the chapel sermon free of charge.

“While Southwestern does not instruct its chapel speakers about what they can or cannot say, neither do we feel that there is wisdom in posting materials online which could place us in a position of appearing to be critical of actions of the board of trustees of a sister agency,” the statement said.

“Any trustee or faculty member is free to communicate his concerns to the boards of sister agencies, but it is difficult to imagine a circumstance that would merit public criticism of the actions of a sister board.”

It continued: “Furthermore, though most of Rev. McKissic’s message represented a position with which most people at Southwestern would be comfortable, Rev. McKissic’s interpretation of tongues as ‘ecstatic utterance’ is not a position that we suspect would be advocated by most faculty or trustees. In keeping with Baptist convictions regarding religious liberty, we affirm Rev. McKissic’s right to believe and advocate his position. Equally in keeping with our emphasis of religious liberty we reserve the right not to disseminate openly views which we fear may be harmful to the churches.”

The statement said Pat-terson had made the decision to limit distribution of the sermon, “lest uninformed people believe that Pastor McKissic’s view on the gift of tongues as ‘ecstatic utterance’ is the view of the majority of our people at Southwestern.”

Prior to the statement’s posting, McKissic said he didn’t believe Patterson had a problem with him or his view of tongues. “He has not in any way indicated that he has issues with what I have to say,” he said.

He noted that he had lunch with Patterson and his wife, Dorothy, following the chapel service. “I love Dr. Patterson; Dr. Patterson loves me. We had rich fellowship today,” he said. “If they had a problem with it (the sermon), they didn’t utter it to me at all.”

Posted: 9/01/06

Sweet dreams of urban transformation

By Angela Best

Communications Intern

DALLAS—Metaphors, dreams and emotion provide the keys to transformation, Leonard Sweet told inner-city ministers in a conference sponsored by the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Implementing change effectively requires three steps—reframing concepts into metaphors, sharing big dreams and ambitions, and achieving an emotional engagement with others, Sweet said during the Urban Training Institute of the Southwest.

The basic language of the human brain is metaphor, so the key to reframing issues is through metaphor or image, said Sweet, a professor of evangelism at Drew Theological School in Madison, N.J.

“How do you dream?” he asked. “You don’t dream in words; you dream in images. So don’t give (people) new words or concepts, but give them a new alternative picture or metaphor.”

Jesus taught in metaphors—or parables—and was one of the greatest reframers who ever lived, Sweet said, noting Christ provided a new vision of what life could be.

Jesus wants people to be more than merely like him, he added. Christians are to be Christ to the world. “The greatest failure of the church today is that we have not provided this culture of consumption with an alternative dream,” Sweet said. “We critique it, we condemn it, but we have not presented an alternative to it.

“The alternative dream is a dream of conception—God made us not to be consumers, but to be conceivers, and the ultimate thing we are to conceive is the very being of Christ himself.”

In providing that vision of a new reality, Christians may have to appeal to a person’s desires, Sweet said.

“Somehow and in some way, (emotional engagement) is the key to moving people and transforming institutions and cultures. It’s the power of an emotional engagement, and not leaving it as an intellectual thought, but drive it down into the heart and into the emotions.”

Posted: 9/01/06

Texas Tidbits

BGCT sponsors battle of bands. A battle of the bands will highlight Weekend Fest activities leading up to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in November. The event is scheduled Nov. 11 in the Dallas Convention Center. The next day, the convention will sponsor a festival at the convention center for families. The BGCT annual meeting begins Nov. 13 at the same location. Bands endorsed by a BGCT-affiliated church or institution are eligible to compete for recording time and opportunities to perform at the BGCT-sponsored Youth Evangelism Conference and Texas Baptist Youth and Singles Congreso in 2007. Band members must be between the ages of 13 and 24. For more information, call (888) 244-9400 or send an e-mail to bob@bgct.org. For information about the BGCT annual meeting and related events, visit www.bgct.org/annualmeeting.

Baptist fellowships send medical volunteers to Lebanon. A new Baptist medical disaster relief effort has sent a physician and a nurse to serve north of Beirut two weeks, treating refugees of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. They are the first two people to serve through the Baptist Medical Disaster Relief Ministry—a joint effort between the Baptist Nursing Fellowship, the Baptist Medical and Dental Fellowship and Texas Baptist Men. For information about how to serve through this ministry, call (214) 828-5359 or e-mail Shirley.Shofner@bgct.org.

Baylor Specialty Health Centers president named. Baylor Health Care System has named Scott Peek, vice president of Baylor Medical Center at Garland, as president of Baylor Specialty Health Centers. Peek’s responsibilities will include overseeing Baylor Specialty Hospital in Dallas, an inpatient hospital that cares for chronically ill patients who need additional medical care before returning home, as well as the hospital’s satellite locations in Garland and Irving. In addition, Peek will oversee Our Children’s House at Baylor, a licensed pediatric hospital that specializes in the treatment of children with developmental or birth disorders, traumatic injury or severe illness. Prior to joining Baylor Garland in 2003, Peek worked as financial analyst at Richardson Regional Medical Center and with the Coopers & Lybrand accounting firm. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University and earned master’s degrees in business administration and health care administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

BGCT helps Mexican Baptists rebuild in Juarez. The Baptist General Convention of Texas has given $15,000 to Mexican Baptists to rebuild homes in the Juarez area damaged by flooding. Baptist leaders in Juarez have identified homes for 67 families that churches will help rebuild in the area across the Rio Grande from El Paso. The money for homes is the third wave of financial assistance for Mexican Baptists from Texas Baptists in the wake of flooding. The BGCT provided $2,000 to Juarez Baptists to feed flood victims in shelters and $3,500 for Mexican Baptists to provide medical care for shelter residents.

Ministry launches new website. Children at Heart Ministries—formerly Texas Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services—recently launched a new website. The organizations that make up Children at Heart Ministries—Gracewood in Houston, Miracle Farm in Brenham, STARRY in Round Rock and Texas Baptist Children’s Home in Round Rock—can be accessed through www.childrenatheartministries.org. A related organization, Children at Heart Foundation, will provide development and communications functions for the ministry. Its website address is www.cahfoundation.org.

Posted: 9/01/06

TOGETHER:
Make an eternal difference in a life

I recently attended a church where a new pastor was being received, and the deacon who prayed for the new pastor warmed my heart and caused me to rejoice that this new pastor would have people praying for him like that.

Prayer makes a difference, and Texas Baptists are now entering the time of year when we pray specifically for the missions needs of our state. The Week of Prayer for Texas Missions will be Sept. 10-17.

Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas already has spent the summer laying the groundwork for the missions needs in our state and beyond. Texas WMU launched a new ministry called “Awakening.” In several locations across Texas, WMU involved women and girls in times of awakening. More than 3,000 gathered to network, study, learn and pray. They have taken a huge step forward in their ability to help churches through awakening the prayers and mission passion of women.

Carolyn Porterfield, executive director of Texas WMU, has a heart for prayer that makes me anticipate so much the annual week of prayer. Our WMU leads the way in most of our churches in encouraging all of us to pray for the spiritual and physical needs of Texas and the world.

Prayer turns our hearts toward God. And when we pray, we feel the needs of the world pressing down on our souls.

Those needs are great in Texas, and in September and October, churches will be collecting funds for the annual Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions. The Mary Hill Davis Offering gives every one of us a chance to do something really big for the sake of the gospel and for the needs of lost Texans.

This time of prayer and giving offers you an opportunity to give above and beyond your regular tithes to your church and combine your gifts with the gifts of 2.3 million other Texas Baptists. Why?

• So clean water can quench the thirst of a child along the Rio Grande.

• So people in apartments and mobile home parks can have Bible study and church in their own communities.

• So new churches can be started that will reach hundreds of people for Christ who likely would not have been reached otherwise.

• So college scholarships can be awarded to worthy young people who often are the first in their family to go to college.

• So churches can be helped to start ministries of compassion and evangelism in their own communities.

• So BaptistWay Press Bible study curriculum can be produced in seven languages.

I invite you—in fact, I urge you—to be involved in this great offering to help us get our arms around Texas.

What should you give? Pray and ask the Lord to give you a generous heart. Some of us can give a $1,000. Some can give $500 or $250 or $100. But whether it be $1,000 or $5, when we give the best we can, it stretches our hearts and calls us to a new level of difference making.

I encourage you to make this mission offering a time of stepping up to the challenge of Texas and doing more than you ever have before. I believe God has blessed us so that we can be a blessing.

Here’s your chance to make a difference—an eternal difference—in someone’s life.

We are loved.

Charles Wade is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.

Posted: 9/01/06

CYBER COLUMN:
Talking to God

By Berry Simpson

I remember being surprised once at a men’s spiritual retreat when a speaker had to defend and explain his direct communication from God. Growing up Baptist, I was more than comfortable with praying directly to God and expecting God to talk to me; I thought it was the standard expectation. It never occurred to me that maybe some Christians from different traditions found that a strange and frightening concept.

I’ve learned in the past few years that some people, nonbelievers and believers alike, are offended when someone like me talks about hearing directly from God. They think we’re being arrogant and presumptuous. Who are you to expect God to talk to you? Do you think you are that much better than the rest of us? Isn’t God busy enough already without having to deal with your personal trivia? Didn’t God say all we needed to know in the Bible?

Well, I ask the same question of myself: Who am I to expect God to speak to me directly? But God does; it is unmistakable. And like Bob Sorge wrote (in Secrets of the Secret Place), “Hearing God’s voice has become the singular quest of my heart, the sole pursuit that alone satisfies the great longings of my heart.” I want more of it.

One of the reasons I read so many books is to understand people who are different from me. I like reading memoirs by Christians who found Jesus in their adult years, because their experience is so different from mine. I recently read a book by novelist Nevada Barr, a woman who stumbled into believing God after a life of substance abuse and bad relationships and fruitless attempts to find peace in every other source. In her book Seeking Enlightenment, Hat by Hat, she writes about certain people in her church who claimed to have heard directly from God in answer to their prayers: “When people talk to God, it makes everybody nervous. There is the creepy feeling that those who talk to God actually think he is listening; that they believe they’ve got an edge you lack.”

And we’ve all read similar reactions to comments President Bush has made about praying for guidance. It makes some people mad that Bush thinks he can hear from God.

Maybe some of the hostile reaction is our own fault. Maybe we come across as people who have a corner on the truth. Maybe we sound like people who have an exclusive insight into the ways of God.

Here is another story from a different viewpoint: I remember a few years ago at a particularly contentious church business conference over a proposed expansion of our buildings, a church member got up to address the crowd, saying he had prayed over the issue and learned it was God’s will for our church to turn down this proposal.

Well, my first thought was: Who are you to hear God’s will for all the rest of us? How presumptive to think you are the one God spoke to, at the exclusion of everyone else. Had he said he knew it was God’s will for him to cast his own personal vote against the issue, I would have thought, “Good for you.” But I balked at the idea that God told this member it was God’s will for all of us to vote against the proposal.

So his comment made me angry, yet I’m not one of those like Nevada Barr who gets nervous any time anyone says they heard from God. In fact, I expect believers to say things like that. So why did it bother me this time? Was it simply because I disagreed with him? Was it because I was in favor of the proposed building project? Would I have felt better about his insight into God’s will if I’d been on his side of the issue? I don’t know.

But if it made me uncomfortable to hear another believer, in church, say they heard from God, I can only imagine how nervous it makes people who don’t expect such intimate conversations with God.

I think one of our biggest challenges as Christians living in the 21st century is to learn how to talk about the things that are important to us, like prayer and hearing from God, without scaring our neighbors. Not that we have to backpedal what we believe; we just have to learn how to communicate better. We earn the right to proclaim God’s will by the way we live our lives. If our life is consistent with what we say we believe, maybe we won’t be so scary, even to those who disagree.

Berry Simpson, a Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church in Midland, is a petroleum engineer, writer, runner and member of the city council in Midland. You can contact him through e-mail at berry@stonefoot.org.

Posted: 8/25/06

Explore the Bible Series for September 3

Hold fast to the message of Christ

• Hebrews 1:1—2:4

By Howard Anderson

Diversified Spiritual Associates, San Antonio

When the various New Testament books were formally brought together into one collection shortly after A.D. 100, the titles were added for convenience. This epistle bears the traditional Greek title, “To the Hebrews,” which was verified by at least the second century A.D. Within the epistle itself, there is no identification of the recipients as either Hebrews or gentiles. Since the epistle is filled with references to Hebrew history and religion and does not address any particular gentile or pagan practices, the traditional title has been maintained.

The author of Hebrews is unknown. It is significant that the writer includes himself among those people who had received confirmation of Christ’s message from others. Whoever the author was, he preferred citing Old Testament references from the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint, rather than from the Hebrew text. Ultimately, the author was the Holy Spirit.

God’s Son and salvation (Hebrews 1:1-3)

This is God the Father; the head of Christ and the Holy Spirit. God spoke “at sundry times,” which means he spoke in many ways over the course of possibly 1,800 years—from about 2200 B.C. to around 400 B.C. The Old Testament was written in 39 books reflecting different historical times, locations, cultures and situations.

God spoke “in divers manners” is translated in various ways that included visions, symbols and parables, written in both poetry and prose. Though the literary form and style varied, it was always God’s revelation of what he wanted his people to know. The progressive revelation of the Old Testament described God’s program for redemption and his will for his people.

From these many parts and ways, we get a perfect harmony, as in musical sounds made up of different parts. God has only one plan for humankind. All the prophets gave perfect and harmonious testimony that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and Savior of the world. The Book of Hebrews begins with Jesus. Total confidence in him must be the basis of our new life and of our identity as Christians.

The Jews understood the “last days” to mean the time when the Messiah (Christ) would come. Since he came, it has been the “last days.” In the past, God gave revelation through his prophets, but in these times, beginning with the Messiah’s advent, God spoke the message of redemption through the Son.

The “brightness” is a term used only here in the New Testament and expresses the concept of sending forth light or shining. The Son is not just reflecting God’s glory. He is God and radiates his own essential glory.

The Son is the ideal imprint, the exact representation of the nature and spirit of God in time and space. The universe and everything in it is continually sustained by the Son’s powerfully effective word. His word “purged our sins” by the substitutionary sacrifice of himself on the cross. The right hand is the place of power, authority and honor. It also is the position of subordination, implying the Son is under the authority of the Father. The seat Christ has taken is the throne of God, where he rules as sovereign Lord. This depicts a triumphant Savior, not a defeated martyr.

God’s Son and angels (Hebrews 1:4-14)

Christ is better than the angels. Christ obtained a more excellent name. He was the only begotten Son of God. Angels worshipped him. He was the creator of angels. Christ was a member of the godhead. Christ was an eternal being—an eternal king, and not a creature. He was God’s only Anointed One, the creator of material worlds, renewer of all creations, the only exalted one and director of angels.

Angels share in some sense the divine as contrasted to human nature; yet they are subservient beings with an appointed ministry. No divine initiative belongs to angels, and they can serve only in their places

God’s people and salvation (Hebrews 2:1-4)

The writer of Hebrews fears his readers are in danger of drifting away from the message concerning Jesus Christ and urges them to hold fast for two reasons: (1) because of the judgment that awaits those who neglect it and (2) because the message has been “declared … by the Lord” himself and affirmed by “signs and … miracles” worked by God.

The message of the old covenant “declared by angels was valid.” Everyone who transgressed it came under the judgment of God. This is the premise the writer and his readers share. But if this message is valid and brings judgment to those who disobey it, how much more serious it is to ignore the message brought by the Son. Jesus himself gave this message. He is the greatest of the prophets and speaks the word of God with authority, not simply as one who hands on a tradition. “Those who heard him,” i.e., the apostles, transmitted his message through their preaching, bringing it to people like those addressed here.

Their testimony was not by words alone, but was accompanied by miracles and by “gifts of the Holy Spirit.” The early church did not regard miracles as objects of faith or as ends in themselves but as corroboration of the testimony given by Christ and his apostles. The object of faith is Christ himself; the miracles are signs that command attention but point to the person whose message and mission they accompany and celebrate.

Discussion questions

• What parts of Christ’s message are hardest for you to hold fast to? Are there some you believe to be true but have a hard time putting into practice?

• What would help you to be more intentional in carrying out all Christ’s instruction?

Posted: 8/25/06

CYBER COLUMN:
What kind of witness am I, anyway?

By Jeanie Miley

“My friend hurt my feelings,” someone told me recently. “She said I was too much of a Jesus freak, and she really couldn’t talk to me about her problems.”

I waited, curious about where this conversation was going. I had noticed this person was pretty out-there with her religious language, but it wasn’t my business to try to edit or inhibit her.

“She said that every time she tries to talk to me about something that is bothering her, I pull out the ‘Jesus card,’ and it turns her off.”

We who call ourselves followers of Jesus hold this treasure of the Good News of the saving, healing, transforming, liberating and empowering life of the living Christ in the imperfect clay vessels of our minds and hearts. We have the capacity to turn people on or off to this Jesus by what we say, what we do and how well we love each other. Truly, that burden/blessing is a huge responsibility.

When we suffer an attack of inflation for bringing people into the kingdom of God, we are also called to ask ourselves the hard, cold questions about if we might also have made it hard for other people to want to have a vital, personal, dynamic love relationship with the living Christ by our words or our actions.

Those of us who grew up under the burden of that old adage about how our lives might be the only sermon some folks ever hear may need to face the truth that we do, in fact, witness by our deeds even more than with our words. We shout our faith by what we don’t say and what we don’t do, as well as what we actually do say and do. Our lives in the boardrooms and the sanctuaries, the convenience stores and the mission sites are sermons, whether we like that or not, and how we represent Jesus is vitally important.

Being a witness to the presence and power of Christ is a challenge, calling us to balance speaking and acting with integrity while we maintain sensitivity to the needs of the person to whom we are communicating the love of Christ.

Just because I have a need to unload my opinions and my testimony about Christ doesn’t mean I have the right to do it in a way that offends another person. Just because I am eager to share the Good News with someone else doesn’t mean I can do that without considering how that message is going to be received and accepted.

If I am going to represent Jesus, I need to have a current relationship with the Real Jesus based on the biblical revelation and not on some cultural caricature that sells T-shirts and bumper stickers.

If I am going to call myself a follower of Christ, I need to have a clue what that means, and I need to have his sensitivity to the needs of the other person I’m so eager to witness to and the appropriateness of the moment. I need to know whether I’m witnessing to the presence of Christ for the benefit of the other person or because I need to count my contacts for the week.

If I am going to invite people to open their minds and hearts to Christ, I’d better make sure my own heart is full of that love instead of my need to look good, gain power or win points.

Jesus of Nazareth—the Living Christ—warrants a witness that is authentic, appropriate and respectful of others.

Jeanie Miley is an author and columnist and a retreat and workshop leader. She is married to Martus Miley, pastor of River Oaks Baptist Church in Houston, and they have three adult daughters. Got feedback? Write her at Writer2530@aol.com.

Posted: 8/24/06

BaptistWay Bible Series for September 3

Meditate on the words of Scripture for wisdom

• Psalm 1

By David Wilkinson

Broadway Baptist Church, Fort Worth

Imagine for a moment that the numbering system was eliminated from the Bible’s 150 psalms, and you were an editor given the assignment of choosing the psalm to place at the beginning of this collection of hymns, poetry and prayers. Which of the 150 psalms would you select, and what criteria would guide your decision?

We don’t know the process that led to this psalm being selected as the first psalm, but these six verses serve well as a prologue to the final collection we know as the Psalms.

Psalm 1 is one of nine wisdom psalms (1, 37, 49, 73, 112, 119, 127, 128 and 133). This psalm, as with the whole of Scripture, is concerned first and foremost with God and with God’s redeeming relationship with humanity. But within that context, the Bible deals straightforwardly with the human experience, with real life. So it is fitting that wisdom—how to find genuine happiness and meaning and purpose in life—is the theme of this opening psalm. The reader is invited to learn and live by the deep truths of Scripture.

Rather than a hymn or a prayer, Psalm 1 begins with a beatitude: happy (or blessed) are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked … but their delight is in the law of the Lord. The psalm begins with a statement about the human experience and the fundamental choice life presents us: Following God’s way as taught in the Scriptures or the way of the “wicked”—those who do not choose God’s way. For the psalmist, a blessed life, a life filled with true happiness, derives only from the former.

In this extended beatitude, the writer offers a series of contrasts: In verse 1, what the blessed or the righteous do not do; verse 2, what they do; verse 3, an image of the righteous; verse 4, a contrasting image of the wicked; and verses 5-6, a concluding contrast on the outcome of the way of the righteous versus the way of the wicked.

Verse 2 states a central theme of the Psalms in particular and the Bible in general—the essential place of God’s word in the life of the person who chooses God’s way. The one who immerses his or her self in the Scriptures, meditating on them “day and night,” is obeying the command of Joshua, also expressed in the form of a beatitude: “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful” (Joshua 1:8).

“Law”—or torah—refers in a generic sense to any authoritative religious teaching (from parents or priests, for example) or especially the instruction and guidance of God. In its more specialized sense in the context of the written books we know as the Old Testament, Torah refers to the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Bible, which the Jews understood as central and authoritative for life individually and corporately as the people of God.

To “delight” in God’s law and to “meditate” on it (v. 2) is an exuberant expression of the central place of Scripture and the essential spiritual disciplines of study and meditation. The psalmist’s language suggests a devotion to the Scriptures akin to the passionate interest one would have in a chosen field of study. The righteous person studies Scripture with the kind of intensity and interest a doctor pores over literature related to his or her practice.

The translation “meditate” incorporates not only the meaning of “study” in a cognitive sense but also the spiritual sense of prayerful reflection. We cannot be true to the spirit of this psalm—or to the Psalter—if we limit our interaction with the words to an intellectual exercise. There is much to be learned from the Psalms, but there also is much to be experienced.

This opening psalm is a reminder of meditation on Scripture as a rich and rewarding discipline of faith. Thus, this nine-session study of the Psalms is an opportunity to “practice the practice” of meditation before moving to verse-by-verse study.

The psalmist uses symbols to paint a picture of the contrast between the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. A symbol points beyond itself to a deeper reality. The image in verse 3 of trees planted by a life-giving stream is a powerful, universal symbol that points to deeper truths of our relationship with God.

As you meditate on this psalm, allow the image of trees planted by a stream to open your mind and heart to ways the Holy Spirit can lead you from the visible to the Invisible.

Discussion questions

• Take a few moments to practice the wise counsel of the psalmist and the ancient practice of people of faith by meditating on this psalm. Consider the image of a tree planted by a stream. What characteristics of trees and water might have made these symbols especially meaningful for the ancient Hebrews? How do these symbols speak to you? How can you be “planted” in ways that lead toward stability, nourishment and growth? What are streams that nourish your relationship with God?

• How does the kind of “happiness” the psalmist refers to differ from the definitions of happiness commonly portrayed in American culture?

• How does an understanding of the “wicked” as anyone who does not follow God’s way, rather than primarily a moral category, impact your understanding of this psalm?

Posted: 8/24/06

Bible Studies for Life Series for September 3

Good leadership comes down to following Jesus

• Joshua 1:1-15

By Kenneth Lyle Jr.

Logsdon School of Theology, Abilene

This past summer, my family enjoyed a marvelous New Mexico vacation. For 10 days, two vanloads of siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents caravanned around the “Land of Enchantment” and had by all accounts a wonderful time.

There were times, however, when I as the driver of the lead vehicle felt less than secure in my role as “leader of the pack.” It was not so much that I did not know the directions to the next destination, but rather there was an uncertainty about whether or not I was the one to make the important decisions: “Where do we eat lunch?” “Who has to go to the restroom?” “What should we listen to on the radio?”

Sensing my unease with the situation, my compassionate wife finally just said, “Forget it, Ken, someone has to make the really tough decisions, and you’re the one!” My most recent “Who me? A leader?” moment was staring me in the face.

The truth of the matter is that not everyone wants to be a leader all the time. Most adults, however, provide leadership in some area of life and work on a regular basis. Christians, especially, should want to understand biblical principles of leadership.

Over the next four Sundays, the Bible Studies for Life curriculum takes up the theme, “Joshua on Leadership.” The use of Joshua as a guide to understanding principles of leadership is appropriate but not entirely novel. The unit begins this week with the introduction of Joshua as the new leader of the Israelites. Subsequent studies focus on Joshua’s spiritual victories (Sept. 10), Joshua’s spiritual failures (Sept. 17) and finally, Joshua’s preparation for new leaders (Sept. 24).

Study of the book of Joshua provides opportunity for interesting discussion and no small amount of “rabbit chasing” if we are not careful. Scholarly debate surrounding the historicity of the conquest accounts and the difficulty of matching archeological finds with the historical narrative is important and helpful, but for our purposes not entirely necessary. Teachers may wish to consult the suggested commentaries for a balanced treatment of these issues.

Two primary factors should influence our reading of Joshua. First, it is important to understand the importance of Joshua to subsequent generations of Israelites. The conquest and distribution of the land experienced and recounted by Joshua’s generation provided continual hope and expectation to later generations of God’s people. Jews in Babylonian exile could reflect on the story of Joshua and look forward to the time when God would again act decisively to fulfill the promise of land for God’s people. First century Jews living in Palestine under Roman rule could likewise recall the stories of conquest and anticipate the day when God would act to set thing straight.

Second, the broader pattern of thinking established in Deuteronomy and continued in the historical narratives of the Old Testament—namely, that obedience to God and God’s law brings blessing while disobedience brings curse—finds full expression in the book of Joshua. Moses’ call for the Israelites “to choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20) finds full exploration in the story of Joshua.

The focal passage for this lesson illustrates both of these concepts. Joshua 1 presents themes that drive the remainder of the book. God commands the Israelites to conquer and distribute the land. Most importantly, for our study of leadership, God installs Joshua as a replacement for Moses.

Here in stark relief we see the twin emphases of conquest and possession of the land connected to the vivid reminder that even God’s greatest servant Moses is not exempt from consequences of disobedience.

This understanding informs our reading of the very first verses of the book: “After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: ‘Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (vv. 1-5).

The reference to the death of Moses before entry into the land recalls the disobedience of Moses without bringing up the embarrassing details (Deuteronomy 32:48-52; 34:1-8). The truth, however, is quite clear for those who know the story.

The real emphasis, however, is on Joshua’s call to step up and take the reigns of leadership. Joshua has been a major character in the story to this point, and we should take note of his role as Moses “aide.” Joshua has been around the leader, but now it is his time to be leader.

Joshua’s daunting task comes with powerful words of encouragement: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you” (v. 5). God’s repeated call for Joshua to “be strong and courageous,” (vv. 6, 7 and 9), and the people’s choral acclamation of the same (v. 18) echoes the words of Moses to Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:6 and suggests to the careful reader the reality of the dangers facing Joshua as leader.

Joshua’s careful preparations for entry into the land (vv. 10-11) and his securing the services of the eastern tribes as allies in the fight (vv. 12-18) confirm the task ahead will not be an easy one for this new leader of God’s people.

The first chapter of Joshua creates a marvelous tension between Gods promise and our responsibility. Leaders understand that God’s promises come to those who are willing to do what God wants done, to go where God leads, and to be what God requires.

It was true for Moses—“Go to Egypt!” True for Joshua—“Take possession of the land!” True for David—“Fight that giant!” True for Peter—“Follow me and I will make you a fisher of people!” True for Paul—“Come over to Macedonia!” True for all Christians—“Deny yourself, take up a cross, and follow me!”

It is interesting that in the end, leadership comes down to following Jesus and helping others to follow Jesus. The way is not always pleasant or easy, but the rewards are eternal.

Suggested further reading:

• Butler, Trent C. 1983. Joshua. Word Biblical Commentary, ed. John D. W. Watts, vol. 7. Waco: Word Books.

• Nelson, Richard D. 1997. Joshua: A Commentary. The Old Testament Library. Louisville: John Knox Press.

• Woudstra, Marten H. 1981. The Book of Joshua. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing.

Posted: 8/18/06

Texas Baptist Forum

Untrue statement

I enjoy reading the Standard and keeping up with the news about God’s work in Texas and around the world.

Jump to online-only letters.

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

“Nobody is going to tell God what to do and what not to do, but we are in a serious drought in West Texas, and since he is the man who controls the rain clouds, we’re asking him for his mercy and his help.” David Miller Mayor of Lubbock, speaking about efforts to encourage residents to pray for rain (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal/RNS) “I’m not against the death penalty; I’m against the wrong guy being executed. And I ask the question, ‘When was the last time a rich man was executed in Texas?’ Since the answer is never, I don’t see how we’ve improved the system in the 2,000 years since Jesus Christ was executed.” Kinky Friedman Independent candidate for Texas governor (Dallas Morning News) “Those are decisions only the Lord will make. It would be foolish for me to speculate on who will be there and who won’t. … I don’t want to speculate about all that. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his Son for the whole world, and I think he loves everybody, regardless of what label they have.” Billy Graham The evangelist, asked if he thinks heaven is “closed to good Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus or secular people” (Newsweek/RNS)

For the most part, I enjoy and appreciate your editorials. However, in the one on the “End Times” (Aug. 7), I was disappointed in a theological doctrine you stated as being a true fact. Your statement: “From a New Testament perspective, the church—not the Jewish people—is the New Israel.”

I believe, given a careful reading of Romans 10 and 11, one would be hard-pressed to conclude Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, believed the church was the New Israel.

This is a very important doctrine, for it will basically determine how our nation relates to the nation of Israel.

Because of all the people, including many of our laymen, who read the Standard, they will take your word, believing this to be a true statement.

Wayne L. Allen

Carrollton

Multiple interpretations

You probably won’t be deluged with congratulatory letters regarding your editorial about the “End Times,” but I would like to offer congratulations.

Our day reeks with theological mania that allows only one position as to end times. There are other positions! And those who differ are not heretics or liberals or Bible skeptics. Each position is based upon Scripture, but interpreted differently. You did an excellent job of spelling this out.

I, for one, would like to declare my undying faith in the return of our Lord in “clouds of glory”—someday, but probably not today.

Jesus said, “Only the Father knows the time.” I’m willing to let it go with that.

E.J. Kearney

Texarkana

Noxious sewage

Regarding the editorial on the “End Times”: Please do not nurture this kind of noxious sewage under the Baptist name—or Christian name.

This guy (Editor Marv Knox) thinks he knows more than God and is better able to put God’s message into the right words and interpret it for God.

Get rid of him, please.

Joyce Slaydon

Kempner

Other immaturity

How can Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page honestly say his doctoral dissertation on women in ministry is a result of his immaturity as a theologian when he had it correct the first time (Aug. 7)?

Women can serve the Lord in ways in which men are limited. Watch our women chaplains at work at Baptist hospitals, as well as churches that utilize women deacons and pastors, and see how effective and spiritual they are.

Page’s immaturity is limiting the power of God to chose who he wants to serve and equipping them. 

David Mills 

Dallas

Hymn-singing church

Thank you for publishing an article concerning hymns making a comeback in the churches.

I am a member of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, where we sing hymns and all the verses of the hymns.

Our hymnbook is called The Worshiping Church. Our worship times are 10:50 a.m. on Sundays and 5 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Our address is 305 W. Broadway Street; phone (817) 336-5761; website www.broadwaybc.org

Shirley Eubanks

Fort Worth

Amazed at what 'Baptists' believe

I am still being amazed at what some “Baptists” believe.

Letter-writer John V. Rutledge calls himself a Baptist and yet says that we must quit believing everything in the Bible because it is filled with “myths” (July 10).

If he believes the Old Testament is filled with “myths” and cannot be believed, does he also believe that the New Testament is also filled with “myths”?  In other words, is it a “myth” that Jesus was crucified?  That Jesus rose again after three days?  That Jesus is living still and forever will?  And, oh yeah, what about Mary becoming pregnant by the Holy Spirit?  Are these all “myths” too?

It’s still very simple:  If science contridicts God’s word,  then science is wrong.

Mick Tahaney

Port Arthur

Posted: 8/22/06

CYBER COLUMN:
Thinking of Christ

By John Duncan

I’m sitting here under the old oak tree, thinking of the world at large. In more recent days, the concepts of Gatorade-like substances and digital cameras and iPods have taken on new meaning.

Christ is meaning.

I am sitting here thinking of the hot Texas summer, when 100-degree temperatures fry eggs on the sidewalks, and the air is thick, and drought hurts the farmers’ cattle and ruins crops, and rain falls not on the earth, and the thrill and maybe the chill of winter seem a desperate wish.

Christ is more than a wish.

I’m sitting here, thinking of Christians and the question thrown at me hundreds of times, “Does the stuff that is going on in the Middle East mean the world will soon end?” And I think of Jill Carroll, the journalist who escaped her captors in the Middle East and miraculously lived to tell about jihad and holy warriors and the whole gamut of trouble in the Middle East, trouble that she witnessed up close and face to face in the fury of fear. I long—like anyone, say, a politician in Washington, or the husband whose wife is a soldier in Iraq, or a mother whose son lay in a hospital bed in surgery after a wound—I long for peace.

The peace is Christ.

I’m sitting here, thinking about school starting again and, as I said to my baby daughter who is now a senior in high school this year, “It’s your last first day of high school!” And how firsts—first words, first steps, first time to drive, first car, first house, first checkbook, and first digital camera which I recently purchased—how firsts diminish as time ticks by.

Christ is first of all firsts.

And I’m sitting here, thinking about the weariness world—serial killers in Phoenix and airport screening and murder trials and drug rehab for Hollywood stars and warnings on that swirl anywhere from airports to trains to medicine bottles to warnings posted on signs while you drive down the interstate.

Christ gives rest in the weariness and warnings.

And I’m thinking about Christians and the church—the opportunity to make a difference. It seems the church spends time on mission and leadership and buildings and squabbles and activities and meeting and eating, which Baptist are good at, and fellowship and, honestly, petty stuff along the way, like cooling the building just right for 1,200 people whose body temperatures are all different, that we miss so much of the opportunity to make a difference by living in the blaze of the glory of Christ.

Christ is the difference.

And I think of how important it is in our small corners to make a difference in the world—as the fragrance of Christ, as the salt preserving and adding spice to the world, as the light, illuminating and penetrating the heart of darkness and pitch black evil in the dark crevices in the four corners of the earth.

Christ is the light.

I think, too, of church members and pastors and church staff people who want their churches to make a difference and how they themselves desire to make a difference.

I venture to say there is some West Texas pastor sitting in his office in the heat of summer and fear of terror for his small children who have to grow up, and he looks out of the office window at a dormant oil well in an open filed as he anticipates the next Sunday and longs in the life of church and pastor to at least feel like he is making a difference and maybe he is thinking something like this:

Lord, I want to make a difference today,

In ancient hopes, a blazing steeple,

The light of Christ to every people.

Lord, I want to make a difference some way

The weary path I often tread, can steal the joy,

The plan, the mission, help me Lord regain the vision.

Lord, I want to make a difference, oh say,

To feel your touch afresh, anew

I yearn for freshness like morning dew.

Lord, I want to make a difference any way

To waft the sweet, sweet love of Christ

To some dear soul, not once but twice.

Lord, I want to make a difference, please pray

That I will sing the song of peace

Amid a world of sad decrease.

Lord, I want to make a difference, oh may

You shine your light

To make me a beam, a fragrant flower, the Savior’s delight.

I’m sitting here, reading the morning news. Does any soul read the newspaper? The headlines read—baseball brawls, homeruns balls; murder solved, war unresolved; bird flu x-ray, school starts today; airport security, travel insecurity; tears in death, rejoice baby’s breath and wars and rumors of wars. Amid all the news comes the story of fishermen, not Peter, James and John, the sons of thunder in the Bible, but fishermen from Mexico adrift for nine months in the Pacific Ocean. Family members believed the men gone, swallowed up by the monster ocean. “They went fishing, and they never came back. We thought they were dead,” said a cousin of the men who prayed and wondered. “We gave them up for lost,” said another.

The men survived on water and lemons and the sea itself, but when found were hungry. The tuna fishermen were rescued in their 30-foot fishing boat. When rescued, one of the fishermen declared, “We were born again. This has been a miracle from God because we never lost hope.”

And that’s the good news. Hope lives! Miracles still happen. Christ is meaning. He is more than a wish. Christ is peace. Christ is first. Christ gives rest. Christ is the difference. Christ is light. Christ is the hope. And his people make a difference when they recapture the glory, live ablaze in the wonder, sing in the joy of the hope, and seek to help those adrift in the world find the soulful words, “We were born again” and believe them in their hearts and never lose hope. Christ is that hope—to live, to make a difference and to let Christ make a difference in you. And so my prayer for you is this: May Christ shine his light, to make you a beam, a fragrant flower, the Savior’s delight.

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: 8/22/06

Bush's reference to "Islamic
fascism" prompts debate

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—President Bush’s use of the term “Islamic fascism” to describe the conspirators in a foiled London airline bombing plot echoes many conservatives who have employed versions of the term in recent years to discuss Islamic-based terrorism.

But Bush’s use of the phrase—in a sound byte repeated on scores of international news broadcasts—raises it to a new prominence, prompting experts in Islam and international relations to question its accuracy, descriptiveness and usefulness.

Some say Bush’s use of the term accurately describes neither Islam nor fascism.

Bush used the term in remarks to reporters shortly after British officials exposed an alleged plot by British citizens of Pakistani descent. The conspirators were accused of planning the simultaneous bombing of several airliners en route from London to the United States.

“The recent arrests that our fellow citizens are now learning about are a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation,” Bush said.

It was not the first time Bush has used the term “Islamic fascists”—or related terms such as “Islamic fascism” or “Islamofascism”—but is likely his most prominent use of the terminology to date.

Conservative commentators have used the terms regularly in the context of discussing the “war on terrorism” that Bush and other world leaders have declared since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.

Several Republican members of Congress have used the term regularly to refer to everything from the Sept. 11 attackers to the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein. Conservative media personalities, such as radio host Michael Savage, also regularly employ the term.

But both Islamic groups and some experts in religion and international affairs have criticized the term, saying it is neither accurate nor helpful.

Immediately after Bush’s Aug. 10 remarks, the leader of a prominent U.S. Islamic civil-rights group sent Bush a letter complaining about his use of the term. Parvez Ahmed, chairman of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, condemned the president’s “use of ill-defined hot-button terms,” which Ahmed said “feeds the perception that the war on terror is actually a war on Islam.”

None of the groups seeking to take over governments and impose Shari’a, or Islamic law, on entire populations, describe themselves as “fascist.” The term fascism originally referred to the nationalist, authoritarian political movements that rose to prominence in Germany and Italy during the 1930s, ultimately prompting World War II. Fascist governments sought to subsume all institutions—educational, religious, social—in a devotion to the government of a nation and its supposed national ideals.

Thus, in Nazi Germany, government leaders ultimately began to control the Protestant churches, blunting their ability to challenge the state.

The threat from militant Islamic movements and states, such as Iran, is different, according to critics of the “Islamofascist” terminology.

“There is no sense in which jihadists embrace fascist ideology as it was developed by (1930s Italian dictator Benito) Mussolini or anyone else who was associated with the term,” said Daniel Benjamin, a national security expert for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in a BBC article on Bush’s use of the phrase.

“This is an epithet, a way of arousing strong emotion and tarnishing one’s opponent, but it doesn’t tell us anything about the content of their beliefs. The people who are trying to kill us, Sunni jihadist terrorists, are a very, very different breed.”

Since World War II ended, the term “fascism” increasingly has been used to describe any government, movement or action deemed too authoritarian or heavy-handed.

But that doesn’t mean that would-be totalitarian Islamist movements are the same as classical fascism, according to one political science professor at Wellesley College.

“Fascism is nationalistic and Islamicism is hostile to nationalism,” said Roxanne Euben. “Fundamentalism is a transnational movement that is appealing to believers of all nations and races across national boundaries. There is no idea of racial purity as in Nazism.”

“Islamicists have very little idea of the state. It is a religious movement, while fascism in Europe was a secular movement,” she wrote in a 2003 New York Times article. “So if it’s not what we really think of as nationalism, and if it’s not really like what we think of as fascist, why use these terms?”

But Bush, in a 2005 speech to the National Endowment for Democracy, said terms aren’t as important as combating the philosophy behind radical Islam and attendant terrorism.

“Islamic terrorist attacks serve a clear and focused ideology, a set of beliefs and goals that are evil, but not insane,” he said. “Some call this evil Islamic radicalism; others, militant jihadism; still others, Islamo-fascism. Whatever it’s called, this ideology is very different from the religion of Islam. This form of radicalism exploits Islam to serve a violent, political vision—the establishment, by terrorism and subversion and insurgency, of a totalitarian empire that denies all political and religious freedom.”