Posted: 12/03/04

DBU students, faculty fill shoeboxes with love

By George Henson

Staff Writer

DALLAS–Love may not fit in a box, but students at Dallas Baptist University hope children who receive shoeboxes filled with goodies will know someone cared enough to send a token of their love.

DBU is a shoebox collection center for Operation Christmas Child, and students take the shoeboxes filled with presents for children in 95 countries and pack them in larger boxes for shipping.

The children who will receive the boxes live in places ravaged by disease, war, terrorism, natural disaster and famine. Without the love of volunteers, these children would have no chance of experiencing a gift at Christmas time.

Operation Christmas Child, a project of Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse ministry, is important to many students, staff and faculty at DBU, said Mark Hale, associate vice president for student affairs. The project has grown considerably over the years the university has participated.

“This has gone from a 'load 'em in the back of the van' project to this year, when we rented a 25-foot trailer, and I don't know if it will be big enough,” he said.

The university's goal for this year was 3,000 shoeboxes. The final tally was 3,087, with about half donated by students, staff and faculty. The others came from individuals and churches in the area.

After the students loaded the shoeboxes into packing boxes, they took them to Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano for the next leg of their journey.

Brance Barker, a graduate student at DBU, said he has been participating in the Operation Christmas Child project for 10 years, since his days as a student at Grace Preparatory Academy in Arlington. His delight in helping meshes well with DBU's focus on ministry.

“It's neat that you're able to provide for children all over the world. DBU has such a heart for international students. This is a big emphasis on our campus. I love being able to support that,” Barker said.

DBU begins its on-campus emphasis in an October chapel service each year, Hale explained, adding the university community gets behind the project as the holidays approach.

“This is a great way for our students to get a taste for missions. This really is global missions done locally. It's one easy way for our students to get the missions ball rolling–especially our new students who may never have been on a mission trip or had any type of involvement in missions,” he said.

Packing the shoeboxes in shipping crates left DBU junior Dan Gibson thinking about the children who would receive the boxes, wherever they might be.

“You load boxes and wonder where this box is going–what part of the world will this wind up in,” he said.

“Then you think of the children. It's very rewarding.”

Posted: 12/03/04

DOWN HOME:
God, creativity, chaos & beauty

Don't worry about the Loch Ness Monster and/or Bigfoot. They don't exist.

If they did, we would've found them.

Joanna and I spent the better part of a Saturday helping our youngest daughter, Molly, clean her room. We didn't encounter any world-famous monsters, but that's about the only thing we didn't find.

Well, no monsters and no old sandwiches emblazened with faces of the Holy Family. You heard, of course, about the 10-year-old grilled-cheese sandwich with the “Virgin Mary” on one side. It sold for $28,000 on e-Bay. It came out of somebody else's bedroom that must have been–hard as this is to believe–worse off than Molly's room.

(Come to think of it, weird portraits of Mary and Jesus aren't that rare. When our family lived in Louisiana years ago, my friend Sonny drove down to check out a picture of Jesus that suddenly appeared on a screen door. “Didn't look a thing like Jesus,” Sonny reported. “More like Willie Nelson, I'd say.”)

But back to Molly's room. It's known to scientists as a “black hole,” where gravity is so strong nothing escapes.

Fortunately, the willpower of exasperated parents is stronger than the gravity of a thousand black holes. So, we began “liberating” long-lost stuff from Molly's room.

She discovered a letter our friend Susan sent with Molly's “care package” when she went on her first choir tour in seventh grade.

She found a jumprope in her underwear drawer.

We pulled out clothes she hasn't been able to wear since she was so skinny she had to run back and forth in the shower just to get wet.

You may have heard about a possible steel shortage. Fear not. We extracted all the extra hangers out of her closet. We're recycling them, and the Steel Belt is back in business.

Ironically, about the only thing we didn't pull out of Molly's room was food. That's probably because (a) we have a dog and (b) I have retrieved countless Dr Pepper cans and chocolate milk glasses through the years.

Too bad about the food. If we had found an old cheeseburger with sesame seeds miraculously formed into the likeness of Katie Couric on the bun, we could've sold it on e-Bay and financed our Christmas shopping this year.

As I stood in Molly's closet, untangling hangers and organizing clothes (“dresses, skirts, sweaters, shirts, slacks, shoes”), I thought about Genesis 1, God's creativity and my own limitations.

God made heaven and earth out of “formless and void” chaos. And here I'm doing good to restore order to a teenager's chaotic room.

Thankfully, God created beauty out of chaos. When I think about my lovely daughter and the random clutter of her well-lived-in room, I realize beauty and chaos aren't that far apart.

Posted: 12/03/04

Free curriculum offers parents, youth
ministers tool to prevent drug abuse

By George Henson

Staff Writer

Parents and youth ministers have a new tool to use in their efforts to fight drug use among teens. And it's free.

“This is a gift” from the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission to address substance abuse by kids, said Carrie Beaird, developer of the Pathways to Prevention curriculum.

Beaird highlighted the material at a seminar during the BGCT annual session in San Antonio and again at a workshop for youth ministers sponsored by Dallas Baptist Association at Lakeside Baptist Church in Dallas.

“It takes away 'I don't know what to say' and 'I don't know how to say it,'” she said, citing common excuses given by parents and youth workers for not addressing the drug abuse problem.

The curriculum, which can be found at www.christianlifecommission.org, offers a number of approaches to drug prevention in teens. Some material is aimed at junior high students, some for high school students, some for junior high and high school students, some at parents and youth leaders, and some geared to be used by youth and adults together.

The curriculum is not available in Spanish yet, but Beaird hopes to find someone who will translate it.

Topics include facts about drugs, alternatives to drug use, ways to say no, how to be a friend, laws concerning alcohol and drug use and biblical perspectives on substance abuse.

“These are stand-alone lessons,” Beaird said. “They don't build on each other.” That allows youth ministers to pick and choose what they feel is most important for their group without feeling compelled to make drug abuse the focus of their ministry for weeks at a time.

“Most chur-ches look at the issue and say: 'Too big. Too hard.' And, 'Don't know where to start.' So they do nothing,” she said.

Youth ministers at least should focus on the issue around homecoming, prom night and graduation–three key times when teens tend to experiment with drugs and alcohol, Beaird said.

“I hear kids say over and over that homecoming, prom and graduation are the three hardest days to stay sober,” she said. “At least go to the website and get three lessons.”

Drug and alcohol abuse needs to become a more openly discussed topic in churches, she asserted.

“Studies show that if a pastor will preach a sermon once a year on the realities of drug and alcohol abuse that it makes it real for the congregation and OK to talk about,” she said.

A recent survey showed 87 percent of the teenagers responding said they had at least tried alcohol in the past year, she noted.

“We don't want any kid to drink, but if 87 percent of them are, it probably includes some of our Baptist kids,” she said.

Parents also need to be more involved and aware, she said. Begin by checking grades, she suggested.

“If they go from being an A-B student to being a C-D student, something is going on, and there's a pretty good chance that something is drugs or alcohol.”

Surveys show that 10.8 percent of children ages 12 to 17 are current drug users, she noted.

Prescription pill parties present a growing danger, she said. Party-going teens rob their medicine cabinets of prescription medications, bring them to party and put them in a bag.

“Everybody just grabs something out of the bag and takes it. They don't have a clue as to what they are taking, in what dosage or what combination. This is really dangerous,” she said.

Alcohol and drug education may not keep teens from using the substances, but even delaying their starting is important, Beaird said.

A teen with a genetic predisposition toward alcoholism who takes his or her first drink at 13 has a 57 percent chance of becoming an alcoholic. A teen with a genetic predisposition toward alcoholism who waits until 18 has only a 22 percent chance of becoming an alcoholic. Waiting until the legal age of 21 drops that figure to 16 percent.

“I don't want any kid to drink ever, but can't we help them to at least obey the law?” she asked.

One of the best ways for parents to help teens is to make it harder to obtain by not having it in the household. She said that while most don't want to admit it, some Baptists drink and keep alcohol in their homes.

“When we send mixed signals, we hurt our kids,” she said. “They think: 'Why do I have to obey your rules? You drink.' If you are telling your kids not to drink but you drink yourself, that is a far bigger influence on your children drinking than peer pressure.”

The Pathways to Prevention curriculum offers parents the tools they need to be proactive, she said. “Parents need to be aware and need to get involved in drug prevention, education and detection.”

That includes snooping in rooms. She also suggests a urinalysis the day after homecoming. She said a hair follicle test will reveal drug use for six to nine months.

“Parents don't want to believe that their kids drink or that their kids use drugs–and we hope they don't–but it's better to know than to wait for it to get progressively worse and something bad happens,” she said.

Conversations about drugs and alcohol can help kids reinforce their beliefs, she added.

“One thing I want to get this curriculum to do is to get people talking–kids talking to parents, parents talking to youth ministers and most of all kids talking about what it is like to be them walking down the hall at school, so that kid that has said 'no' 89 times but is beginning to waver can talk about that.

“This is a decision that a kid doesn't get to make just one time but has to make every day.”

Posted: 12/03/04

EDITORIAL:
Celebrating Advent makes the wait worthy of Christmas

So now we wait.

Waiting, particularly waiting patiently, is not an American virtue. You know you're wound just a little too tightly when you get annoyed because the microwave doesn't heat your pre-cooked dinner fast enough. You're on the impatient side when you order movie tickets online so you won't have to wait in line to buy them at the cineplex. Americans by the millions are signing up for broadband Internet access so we won't have to wait for our computers to download pictures and songs and all the other “instant” data available at the click of a mouse.

But we wait for Christmas. The Christmas season–called Advent by Baptists and others not worried about being considered “too Catholic”–follows an arc determined by the calendar. It covers the span of four Sundays, usually from the Sunday immediately following Thanksgiving to the Sunday before Christmas. It moves at the timeless pace trod by Christians for nearly two millennia.

Ironically, Christmas can't come soon enough for some Christians, while it arrives much too abruptly for others.

The people who can't wait for Christmas Day occupy the poles of the holiday spectrum. Children and grownups who go all out for Christmas live at one end. Most kids, of course, hear “Christmas” and think “presents.” They can hardly wait for Santa to arrive and for the family to gather around the tree so they can gorge on gifts. The other end, however, is the habitation of people for whom this is a season of sadness. Christmas reminds them of loved ones who are gone, of disappointment and loss. They can't wait to get Christmas over with.

To the contrary, many–if not most–of us feel Christmas bearing down at a pace that would make reindeer dizzy. We hear carols of romanticized Christmases, with snow on the ground, flames in the fireplace and long evenings before a glorious tree. And we grimace at the irony, wondering how we're ever going to find time to get the shopping and wrapping done, the cards mailed, the pageant pulled off and all the end-of-year work completed. We feel like we're riding a jingle-bell juggernaut, and we wonder if we'll fly right past Christmas.

Celebrating Advent–the season of expectation and preparation for the arrival of our Savior–provides an antidote for whatever spiritual ailments afflict Christians at this season. For those who can't wait for Christmas Day to arrive or to be over, Advent offers a steady pace and a way of marking time. For those who feel the mad-rush pressure of the season, it affords a daily opportunity to slow down, be still and savor the season. Advent gives all of us a chance to take a break from commercialism and hype, to ponder the meaning of Incarnation, God-Made-Flesh, living among us, beginning as a vulnerable baby, Jesus. It enables us to peer past all the clutter of our lives, to think beyond our to-do lists and feel beyond our expectations and sadness. It helps us live expectantly, not awaiting shopping trips and pageants and Sunday school parties and family get-togethers, but longing for the arrival of the Messiah, the Savior of the world, our Redeemer.

Most Baptists, especially Texas Baptists, aren't very familiar with Advent. A friend says his mother always described Advent as “how liberals back east celebrate Christmas.” In fact, Advent is one of the most worshipful, reverent, sacred occasions. It comes as close as possible to elevating Christmas to the spiritual height of Easter. Every other commemoration should do as well at helping Christians focus on what God did at Christmas–sending Jesus to earth so that people could discover eternal hope, know divine peace, feel supernatural joy and experience God's love.

Joanna and I first encountered Advent the first Christmas I was in seminary. Grateful sisters and brothers in our church wrote meditations for each day of the season, and their words filled our hearts with gladness. Many years later, our evening Advent celebration–lighting candles on the Advent wreath, reading Scripture and daily devotionals, and singing carols–is our most cherished Christmas tradition. Our daughters never have experienced a Christmas without an Advent wreath. Our evening worship has provided memories that will last all our lifetimes and helped us focus on the Christ who makes this season holy.

If you can't wait for Christmas to arrive or to be over with, and if you feel the busy-ness of “the holidays” is more than you can bear, celebrate Advent every day of the season. You can find Advent wreaths and devotional booklets online or in Christian bookstores. You can start now, in the middle of the season. You will be blessed.

Advent gives all of us a chance to take a break from commercial-ism and hype, to ponder the meaning of Incarnation, God-Made-Flesh, living among us.
–Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

Posted: 12/03/04

ETBU reaffirms Chinese partnership President Fang Jianzhuang (left) of the Gaungdong Teachers College of Foreign Language and Arts in China and President Bob Riley of East Texas Baptist University in Marshall sign an agreement to continue a program allowing the exchange of professors and students from both schools for a semester or longer. The two schools have had a relationship since 1991.

Posted: 12/03/04

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Dec. 12

Remember the mercy God has shown to you

Luke 15:18-32

By Pakon Chan

Chinese Baptist Church, Arlington

In the beginning of chapter 15, Jesus is accused of eating and having fellowship with sinners by the Pharisees and scribes. The Pharisees' and scribes' high moral and religious standards would not allow them even to talk with sinners. If Jesus was a rabbi, a moral and religious teacher, why would he want to eat and fellowship with sinners, they asked? The Pharisees and scribes would protect their status. They did not understand Jesus and his work.

With their expectation of Jesus as a rabbi, they were disappointed by his behavior. Their disappointment came from their wrong expectations of Jesus and their lack of knowledge about his mission. Jesus did not rebuke them; instead, he was patient and shared three parables to explain why he had fellowship with sinners.

The first two parables

These two parables tell the same message–God loves to see a sinner repent. Both end their stories with a remark that God and his angels rejoice at a sinner's repentance (vv. 7, 10). The Pharisees judged people by their moral and religious achievements, so if people could not meet the requirements they set, the Pharisees condemned them. The Pharisees also judged people by their history. They had no hope for sinners and did not care if they repented.

God sees us differently. He looks at our hearts and attitude. We may not be perfect, but if we love God, he wants to have fellowship with us. He will not wait until we are perfect to have fellowship with us. God sent Jesus to save us and bring us to him. Because he has hope for us, when he sees people repent, he rejoices. Jesus and the Pharisees had different expectations for sinners, so they responded differently to their needs.

I was a high school teacher for several years in Hong Kong. We all wanted to teach the best students. Teaching the best students made us feel good. It was a happy and enjoyable teaching experience. But no one wanted to teach the bad students. Teachers felt they were falling into hell if they were assigned to teach the bad class. They would lose face among their colleagues. The Pharisees may have felt the same way about sinners. When they saw Jesus actively seek out the sinners, they felt disappointed.

The parable of the lost son

After the two short parables, Jesus gave a long parable to further explain why he loved to have fellowship with sinners. In Jewish tradition, as well as oriental tradition, no son will be given an inheritance before the death of the father. It is very rebellious for a son to request his share of inheritance early. Jesus may have wanted to make the point that the father must have loved his son very much to grant his wish and disregard his rebellion.

After wasting all his money, this son wanted to go home just to survive. He knew he did not deserve to be his father's son anymore. He only wanted to be a servant in his father's house. In his reflection and realization, this son truly repented of what he had done. He wanted to ask for forgiveness from his father and serve him forever.

This father was quite extraordinary he had never given up hope for his rebellious son. He saw him from a far distance and recognized him. It would not have happened if this father did not expect his son to return. A celebration was called, the son was forgiven and he resumed his place in his father's house.

The older brother didn't like that. He was very disappointed with his father. To the older brother, his young brother did not deserve mercy or forgiveness from his father, not to mention a big feast.

The anguish of the older son came from his disappointment with his father and the feeling of injustice. He expected his younger brother be punished with no forgiveness from his father. This brother deserved to lose everything and suffer for his rebellion and wrongdoing. The older brother did not understand the love and hope of his father had for his brother.

The parable does not tell us how the older brother responded to his father's comforting words. If the older son was like the Pharisees, there might not be any change in his attitude.

How to deal with disappointment

Jesus' behavior and action caused disappointment in the Pharisees and the scribes. These parables were used to encourage them to see from Jesus' perspective. If they had the right expectations, they would not have been disappointed with Jesus.

From these parables, we should at least learn a few things to help us deal with disappointment.

Re-examine our expectations. Wrong expectations will usually bring disappointment.

Keep hope alive even if we cannot see any change in the one that disappoints us.

Exercise grace and forgiveness toward people who disappoint us.

Discussion questions

Do you often feel disappointed?

Why was the father in the parable of the Lost Son not disappointed in his younger son?

Do you think the disappointment the older son felt was warranted? Why?

Posted: 12/03/04

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Dec. 19

Christmas reminds us of the possibilities

Luke 1:26-38, 46-56

By Pakon Chan

Chinese Baptist Church, Arlington

Christmas is just around the corner. Everybody, Christian and nonChristian alike, is getting more and more excited as it gets closer. Christmas is a time for celebration, but not all of us know what to celebrate.

We know how to celebrate Christmas, but don't know why we celebrate. As a matter of fact, we can celebrate Christmas incorrectly if we don't know what to celebrate.

We may be very happy with all the parties, gifts and even church activities, but we may still miss the message of Christmas.

Every Christian knows Jesus is the reason for celebrating Christmas. It is the most joyous day in the year, for the Savior was born to us (Luke 2:10-11). Indeed, it is a very joyful event and deserves celebration.

But unless we truly understand how Mary, the unmarried mother of the child Jesus, had struggled when she heard the message the angel delivered to her, we don't really know how Christmas came to us. The message of Christmas keeps requiring a response from us as we are celebrating it.

An unthinkable greeting

In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, an angel was sent to Mary with a message–a greeting from God to Mary. This greeting or message was totally outrageous to such a young lady like Mary. Even though she was pledged to be married to a man, the actual marriage had not taken place and she was still a virgin.

She was perhaps only 12 or 14 years old at the time. How could she not be afraid? The Bible only tells us that she seemed to be afraid or troubled at the word or the presence of the angel (vv. 29-30).

She fully understood the consequences of being a pregnant unmarried woman. First, she did not understand how this would happen to her since she was a virgin (v. 34). If it really happened to her, she would be condemned and might even be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 22:20-21).

One commentator suggests that the response of Mary (v. 34) showed she did not express doubt, but was overwhelmed by the incomprehensible grandeur of the announcement. We can imagine that Mary truly believed what the angel told her about her “mission” of being an unmarried mother. That was extremely frightening to her, if it was really going to happen. But after listening to the explanation of the angel, she accepted it and submitted to God's plan for her.

Nothing is impossible

Christmas became possible because of a submissive young girl who was willing to put her life in God's hands to fulfill his promise to all humanity.

Once Mary submitted herself to God, nothing was impossible (1:37). Christmas is the biggest miracle in the all of human history, for the Creator God became man and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14). Since then, the impossible has become possible, and God has been reconciled to his people through Jesus.

We may think that it is impossible to bring Jesus to some of our family members, friends or colleagues. We may have the same feeling Mary did before she listened to the answer from the angel.

The angel reminded her she could not do anything about that. It was the work of the Holy Spirit (v. 35). Even a barren woman like Elizabeth could have a child, so there was nothing impossible with God (vv. 36-37).

How should we celebrate Christmas?

Christmas is the season of giving. It is the time for us to give Jesus to others. It also is the time for us to show our submission to God's plan for the year to come. Take this holiday as an opportunity to seek God's will to know what he wants you to do for him and the church in the next year.

He may ask you to give to support some specific ministries, lead certain people to Christ, or go on a mission trip. We may think we do not have the ability to do God's work and fulfill his plan. Listen to the Holy Spirit, for he will confirm there is nothing impossible with God.

The song of a submissive heart

After Mary submitted to God, she was filled with joy. She sang the most beautiful and majestic song to the Lord. She was sure the Mighty One would do great things for her (v. 49). People would be blessed through her (v. 48). Salvation would come to those humble and hungry for God's mercy (vv. 52-53). God would fulfill his promise to us.

Discussion questions

What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

How will you include Christ in your Christmas celebration this year?

Do you believe that with your submission to him, God can accomplish impossible tasks through you in the coming year?

With all the busy-ness that comes with the Christmas season, how will you make sure that you carve out a time for introspection and meditation on God's will for your life?

Posted: 12/03/04

LifeWay Family Bible Series for Dec. 12

Enthusiasm for Christ should be contagious

John 1:35-50

By Leroy Fenton

Baptist Standard, Dallas

Jesus called his army of disciples, and the fountainhead of the Christian movement began its historic march around the world. The day after John the Baptist identified Jesus, he pointed him out again, saying, “Look, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:35-36).

Immediately, two men, Andrew (v. 40) and probably John, the writer of this Gospel, became the first two to follow Jesus. These two probably had responded to the preaching and prophecy of John the Baptist, had repented, were baptized and eagerly awaited the arrival of the messianic age.

Church folk have a problem with the word “follow,” preferring its simplest external sense, “to follow after,” “to go along” or “to accompany,” which equates to little more than church attendance. The church conveniently has become attending consumers more than working servants. When one walks down the aisle to unite with a church (if he or she walks down an aisle), the pastor says, “Fill out this card, and sit here.” Walking is over, and sitting begins.

Even Webster's dictionary defines “follow” with more intensity and complexity, such as “to seek to attain,” “to accept as authority,” “to copy or imitate,” “to engage in as a calling” and “to understand.”

The New Testament use of the word is more than figuratively “going after” Jesus. It is a word of serious learning, deliberate action and strict obedience as a disciple in the fullest sense of total commitment intellectually, morally and spiritually, regardless of the personal cost. “To follow” means the development of an exclusive and dynamic relationship with Jesus, who is both teacher and Lord. These earliest followers had to mature to a deeper understanding and faith.

Learning

Seeing the two disciples, Jesus asked, “What do you want?” (v. 38). Finding Jesus friendly, open, hospitable and receptive, they went and “spent the day with him” (v. 39) to learn more about his mission. There is no memo about that conversation, but it was informative and persuasive. Andrew was convinced and became the first to call Jesus “the Messiah (that is the Christ)” (v. 41). Christ, or Messiah, means “the anointed one.”

In ancient times, oil was poured on the king's head, symbolizing the transfer of authority from the people to the chosen leader. Jesus is now perceived as more than a prophet. He is the one anointed, chosen by God to act on God's mission and in God's power. However, the Jewish Messiah is a righteous, national, military leader expected to break the bonds of foreign domination, to conquer Israel's enemies and to bring peace (“son of Joseph,” v. 45; “King of Israel,” v. 49). The learning process, begun in earnest, must continue. They will come to understand the full meaning of the title, “Son of God.” Learning about Jesus and the Christian lifestyle is a lifetime pursuit.

Witnessing

Andrew is one of the less-prominent disciples and is famous for being the first to bring someone to Jesus. The “first thing” Andrew did was to rush out, find his brother, Simon, and say to him, “We have found the Messiah …” (v. 41).

Andrew means “manly.” His name implies he was a rugged, hard-working fisherman. He did not know everything about Jesus, had not studied soul winning and was not a graduate of the seminary, but he wanted his brother to know Jesus as he knew him. Perhaps he had some of the characteristics of Peter. His bold personality bounds to the forefront on this occasion. Andrew was left out of the inner circle of Jesus, but note the unashamed enthusiasm of his testimony rather than his notoriety.

Enthusiasm is derived from “en theos,” meaning “possessed by a god.” Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Every great and commanding movement in the annals of the world is the triumph of enthusiasm.” The enthusiastic desire to tell others should mark the life of every believer. When Andrew brought his brother and fishing partner to Jesus, Jesus promptly changed his name from Simon to Cephas or Peter (both mean “rock”). Peter was to become the most outstanding and prominent witness of the 12.

Multiplying

The three quickly became five. Jesus touched their lives, and one lighted torch lit another. To Philip, Christ said, “follow me,” the fourth (vv. 37, 38, 40, 43) use of that word in these verses. Philip followed, but not before he told Nathanael that Jesus was the one about whom Moses and the prophets had written, “Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (vv. 41-45).

This may give us a clue as to the content of the conversation Jesus had with Andrew and John. Nathanael was a willing skeptic who questioned Philip's assertion with “Can anything good come from” Nazareth (v. 46). Nathanael immediately switched from a doubter to a believer when Jesus revealed knowledge about his character and whereabouts through his supernatural ability and awareness (v. 48). Nathanael now gives his declaration, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel” (v. 49). His knowledge of us should prompt our own positive response in faith to his leadership. Later, there were seven more disciples (Mark 3:13-19). Greater things were to come (v. 50).

Discussion question

Do you have an enthusiasm about sharing Christ?

Posted: 12/03/04

LifeWay Family Bible Series for Dec. 19

Don't neglect praising God this holiday season

Luke 1:26-38, 2:1-20

By Leroy Fenton

Baptist Standard, Dallas

“Praise and worship” is not just a contemporary experience or music style played out in a church. The praise service of this passage took place with a shepherd congregation on a hillside with an angel for a preacher and a choir loft of heavenly host. The service then moved to a grotto barn stall. Like every service should, it concluded with the congregation going out to spread the good news to anyone who would listen.

The word “praise” is used 407 times in the NIV and with rare exceptions always refers to the praise of God as in this verse, “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God …” (Luke 2:20). This same New Testament word for “praise” is used seven other times (Luke 2:13, 19:37; Acts 2:47, 3:8-9; Revelation 19:5) to express joyful praise of God with the special sense of “telling” or “proclaiming.” The English word “praise” is from a French word meaning “to prize,” which comes from a Latin word meaning “price.” Therefore, praise prizes an object of value, merit or worth. “To praise” is to tell, commend, affirm, acclaim and approve the worthiness of God.

“Glorifying” is slightly different from “praising” in that there is a sense of acknowledging the honor and worth of God through “thinking” or “believing.” Praise recognizes and acknowledges the reality and majesty of God's divine, invisible nature. God's deserved glory reflects his divine nature, power and character. Praise (by voice) and glory (by thinking and believing) are given to God through worship.

The birth announcement was like thousands of starbursts in a world of darkness. On that cold, remarkable and mysterious night, the lowly shepherds, the first to see and hear, came to Bethlehem's manger stall to determine the truth of the angel's (messenger's) declaration (Luke 1:15). Seeing the glory of the Christ child in a manger, the shepherds “spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child” and went back to their sheep with praise on their lips and glorifying God in their hearts (2:17-20).

Praise him for his salvation

The incarnation event, God becoming flesh, has its soul and spirit in this ultimate statement of spiritual truth by the angel messenger, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” This Jesus, who was “Christ” and “Lord,” was above all “Savior.”

Joseph, faithfully attending to Mary's birth pains in a smelly stall, watched the Savior's small body slip unpretentiously from the womb and celebrated the future of this child of promise. God had provided his Son with a robe of humanity and a gown of cloth. Mary did not birth a baby boy to become a man on the throne of Israel but rather a baby boy, already God, who was to be the Savior of the world.

The incarnation is more than a divine birth; it is a divine work that takes place in the hearts of people who believe. Jesus, the fulfillment of prophesy, was not bound by the harsh, secular world of his own human nature and culture but rather became the Word of God's grace, the sacrifice of sin and the salvation of sinners. Only through his human birth could salvation for man be achieved. Tempted, but without sin, he came to die an atoning death to deliver humanity from the ravages of sin and provide eternal life. This good news was “for all the people” (v. 10). Have you allowed Christ to be your Savior and Lord?

Praise him for his peace

The angelic stanza, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace …,” was an outpouring of adoration, adulation and acclamation. One can conclude that peace will not come until all men praise him and declare God's glory. A host, an army, a multitude of many “heavenly host” filled the sky with voices harmoniously shouting the glory of this pauper prince of peace (vv. 13-14).

This inner peace comes when his salvation is embraced through faith that reconciles, bringing man and God back together, healing the separation created by human sinfulness. Peace is for those “on whom his favor rests,” who receive the unmerited grace or forgiveness of God (v. 14).

No president, world leader, holy war or world movement can bring peace. Real peace is the product only of Jesus, the Reconciler, who delivers us from sin and gives us all the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:16-21). Individuals and congregations that praise Christ as Savior and Lord are purveyors of this inner peace and, consequently, world peace.

Praise him for his coming

The shepherds urgently and quickly went to investigate what they had heard (v. 16). Fascinated with excitement, running down foot trails, clamoring over rocks and leaping ledges, the shepherds bound ahead to Bethlehem, “the town of David” (v. 11). The heavenly declaration convinced them the Lord had spoken, and they could not wait to “see this thing that has happened” (v. 15).

What a powerful experience to discover the truthfulness of God's word. They saw with their own eyes Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, exactly as had been told them. What they saw was not all there was to comprehend, but it was enough to stir their voices of praise and personal testimony. We must all join in with praise for his coming in the flesh to be our Savior.

Discussion questions

How will you assure that you take time to praise God during this holiday season?

What will it take to bring an inner peace to your life?

Posted: 12/03/04

100-year-old preacher finally slated
to receive seminary master's degree

FORT WORTH–Eugene Florence, 100, will receive a master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth during the seminary's commencement ceremony at Travis Avenue Baptist Church Dec. 10.

Florence–who was featured in the Baptist Standard earlier this year–was 39 years old when he enrolled at the seminary in 1943 when only night classes were offered to black students. He took classes two nights a week for eight years before receiving a diploma in theology.

Southwestern Seminary began offering courses to black students at “Negro extension centers” in Beaumont, Austin, Waco and Mexia in 1940. But not until 1950 did seminary trustees pass a policy that allowed black students to be admitted to graduate level theological education.

By 1958, all six Southern Baptist seminaries admitted students regardless of race.

Seminary President Paige Patterson said the degree was the seminary's way of honoring a remarkable man as well as recognizing the institution's error in the past.

“He earned this degree according to the best information we could get,” Patterson said.

“But it was not given because at that time Southwestern Seminary didn't allow black students to come and get a master's degree. Our posture toward black students was wrong in those days.”

Southwestern Seminary also will award degrees to 295 students from 28 states and 10 foreign countries during the commencement ceremony.

Posted: 12/03/04

Temple church opens Great Commission Gallery as ministry

By Bill Bangham

SBC International Mission Board

TEMPLE (BP)–Warm walls, wood floor and generous lighting set the stage for simply framed photographs spaced precisely about the room. People, plates of finger food in hand, circle the exhibit while a string ensemble and keyboard play beneath the murmur of quiet conversation.

It could be a Saturday night gallery opening in the art district of many American cities. But this isn't New York or San Francisco or even Dallas.

It's Temple. And the gallery isn't in an art district, but in downtown Temple's First Baptist Church.

Still, it is an opening in the truest sense, with all the scramble of a new enterprise featuring the work of an internationally known artist.

"The Griffin Estate Edition of Black Like Me"–the first hardcover version of the 20th century classic published since 1977–appeared earlier this year, 45 years after the author's six-week experimental journey through the Deep South disguised as a black man. This cover photo, by Don Rutledge, was one of several images published for the first time in relationship to the project he undertook at age 29.(Wings Press Photo)

Called the Great Commission Gallery, this is a new ministry for First Baptist, and it's the first exhibit related to the church's Fellowship of Christian Artists. The current exhibit focuses on the photography of Don Rutledge, whose work documented Southern Baptist mission efforts across the globe for more than 25 years. Rutledge shot photos in more than 140 countries during the course of his long career.

The idea for the gallery began last year while First Baptist member Linda Schuchmann was reading Rick Warren's book, “The Purpose-Driven Life.” Schuchmann is a painter but had become deeply involved in other ministries around the church, and it had been years since she applied paint to canvas.

“That book helped me to realize the gift of art God had given me had to be used,” Schuchmann said. So she began painting again.

It was at the beginning of this year, just after the Christmas season, and she began working with an idea for expressing joy. She chose her colors–“beautiful colors,” she said–and in abstract expression, began spreading them on canvas, swirling and mixing them. When she finished, there in the midst of an expression of joy she suddenly saw the flames of Pentecost. It tied feelings for the birth of Christ with the beginning of the spread of his gospel throughout the world.

“I had not intended to paint flames of fire,” she said. “They were just there. I thought: I've got to share this with someone.”

A discussion with Doug Young, First Baptist's minister of education and administration, led to setting up a small display of the painting along with several other pieces of Schuchmann's art in his office. When she returned to collect them, Schuchmann got unequivocal affirmation from member after member of the staff. “Go for it,” they said. “Find a way to share this work.”

What began as a desire to share her work quickly evolved. Schuchmann began seeking a way to help other Christian artists share theirs. In March, the first meeting of Fellowship of Christian Artists was held at the church. There are now 25 to 30 artists involved. They meet monthly and include graphic designers, photographers, a ceramist and painters who work in oils, pastels and watercolors. They chose as their mission statement: “Drawing all people to Christ.”

They usually meet in homes. At each meeting, an artist gives his or her testimony and makes a presentation of their work. Students from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Temple College attend. “We have little children attend too,” Schuchmann added. “We're encouraging them in their development as artists.”

Early on, the fellowship began talking about holding an exhibit, and they quickly settled on Don Rutledge's photography.

“We had to have Don,” said local photograher Nan Dickson. “The work is beautiful; it's missions-related. It was a no-brainer.”

“In a sense, we had to have an exhibit before we had a gallery,” Schuchmann said. “The gallery wasn't a gallery, it was just a room.”

"Street Meal"— One of the photographs by Don Rutledge in the gallery at First Baptist Church in Temple.

That room–the future gallery space–was created when renovations opened a new passage connecting the sanctuary with one of the educational buildings. The room appeared to be of little functional value. It was dark. The carpet was stained and dingy. The walls needed painting. With an open entrance at each end, it was essentially a large, open hallway.

When it was offered to the fellowship for exhibit space, “We were content to use it as is,” Dickson said. But the church offered to paint it and replace the carpet. “We were thrilled,” she said.

“The closer the exhibit came, the more church members became involved,” she continued. When the old carpet was removed, the wood flooring was discovered. The church agreed to refinish it, install a new ceiling and add track lighting. Signage was donated. The result is a first-class gallery space.

On the same weekend First Baptist kicked off its Lottie Moon Christmas Offering effort for international missions, the gallery also opened.

The exhibit drew people from the community, students from the local university and college, photographers and friends of Rutledge, and missionaries he photographed both overseas and in the United States during his 15 years with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board and his 10 years with the Home Mission Board.

He and his wife, Lucy, were scheduled to attend, but could not at the last minute for health reasons.

But Rutledge's son, Mark, and daughter-in-law, Peggy, IMB missionaries to Haiti, and granddaughters Shannon and Abigail were there.

Pastor Martin Knox dedicated the 16-foot by 25-foot space and entry corridor to “give the glory to God” for the talents of Christian artists that would be shared with the greater community through the visual arts ministry.

The crowd wandered among the 20-plus prints, including images from Rutledge's missions coverage across the globe–South America, Asia, Africa, Europe, inner-city America, rural Alabama and Alaska–as well as several prints produced for John Howard Griffin's 1950s groundbreaking and controversial book on civil rights, “Black Like Me.”

A native of Murfreesboro, Tenn., Rutledge received a bachelor of arts degree from Tennessee Temple College and bachelor of divinity degree from Tennessee Temple Seminary, and graduated from the New York Institute of Photography.

Through assignments with Black Star, a leading New York City photo agency, Rutledge's work has appeared in hundreds of general-interest periodicals, specialized magazines and international publications.

Schuchmann said Rutledge is working on his memoirs of adventures in his missions service, with accounts of hazardous travel to remote destinations and his encounters with engaging people from around the globe.

“His pastoral sensitivity and keen eye,” she said, created images that capture Amazon tribesmen, heads of state, Native Americans, immigrants, missionaries “and people of many faiths from all walks of life, in places of luxury and in lands being destroyed by famine and wars.”

With additional reporting by Terri Jo Ryan of the Waco Tribune-Herald

Posted: 12/03/04

Billy Graham still preaching, filling stadiums at 86

By Marshall Allen

Religion News Service

PASADENA, Calif. (RNS)–At 86, Billy Graham moves a little more slowly. But his four-day California crusade revealed the evangelist still can fill stadiums with his classic presentation of the gospel.

More than 312,000 people heard the evangelist preach during the Greater Los Angeles Billy Graham Crusade at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. Crusade officials said 12,539 people committed their lives to Christ.

Some experts in evangelism question the relevance and effectiveness of massive revival meetings. But Graham said people respond in greater numbers today to his invitations than they did when he started his ministry.

In 1949, about 350,000 people attended the eight-week crusade in Los Angeles that garnered the evangelist national attention.

Experts describe Graham's contribution to modern Christianity in superlatives. He's practically a Christian statesman and has been called “America's pastor.”

Worshippers clap and raise their hands at the Greater Los Angeles Billy Graham Crusade. More than 312,000 people heard the evangelist preach during the four-day event at the Rose Bowl, and officials said 12,539 people committed their lives to Christ. (Lee Celano Photos)

Graham has preached the gospel to 210 million people in person, more than anyone else in history, and has trained thousands of international evangelists to spread the gospel. He has been called the greatest evangelist since the Apostle Paul.

But in an interview in Pasadena, Graham said he does not even consider himself a leader in the evangelical movement. He refused to take credit for effective strategies, attributing his success to the work of the Holy Spirit.

“I think I'm just a sinner saved by the grace of God,” Graham said.

Graham no longer is the youthful evangelist who crisscrossed the globe preaching the message of Jesus Christ. He used a walker and the assistance of his son, Franklin, to make his way across the stage at the Rose Bowl.

Franklin Graham now runs the day-to-day operations of the Charlotte, N.C.-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Billy Graham suffers from Parkinson's disease and tires easily, so he was sequestered during much of his stay in Pasadena. In his heyday, Graham said he preached to more people on the street than in his revival meetings.

Graham's health has become a constant topic of conversation, and people ask which crusade will be his last. The evangelist spent most of the past year in bed after breaking his hip and pelvis in two separate falls.

Now he preaches from a pulpit that allows him to sit down when he gets tired. He is scheduled to preach at one more crusade, in June in New York City, and said he might preach at another after that if his health permits.

Health struggles and the realities of aging have not made Graham dwell on dying, however. He said he reflected on his mortality in 1934, at age 16, when he recommitted his life to Christ at a revival meeting.

“I'm happy to go,” he said of dying. “I'm ready to go. I'm looking forward to it.”

Graham's wife, Ruth Bell Graham, 84, no longer accompanies her husband to crusades. Graham said he always is eager to return to her.

“We have a romance in our 80s by looking into each other's eyes,” said Graham.

“She's been an invalid for many years, and I love her more now, by far, than when I first married her.”

Marshall Allen writes for the Pasadena Star-News of Pasadena, Calif.