Posted: 10/01/04

BWA president says Korean Christians
praying for United States election

By Marv Knox

Editor

DALLAS–Christians in Korea are praying for the United States presidential election, Baptist World Alliance President Billy Kim told a banquet audience at Dallas Baptist University.

Kim, pastor of Central Baptist Church in Suwon, South Korea, visited Texas Sept. 28-29 to receive an honorary doctorate from Dallas Baptist University.

Kim told the banquet crowd about the reaction of a second-grade Korean child who traveled with his group to America.

“Just after we got off the plane in the Atlanta airport, this little boy asked his mother, 'Why has God blessed this country so abundantly?' She told him, 'Because they have so many Christians.'

“I believe God has blessed this country abundantly,” Kim added. “And institutions like Dallas Baptist University are the key to God's blessing on this nation.”

Because the United States has been so blessed, it impacts other nations, he said.

“The Korean church is praying for the American election,” he reported. “There are no other super powers left. What happens in your election will affect every person on earth. We pray God will continue to sustain this great nation.”

Kim expressed sorrow for the Southern Baptist Convention's vote last summer to withdraw from the Baptist World Alliance, comprised of 211 Baptist groups from around the globe.

The SBC's departure stemmed from the BWA's decision to admit into membership the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a group that split from the SBC after fundamentalists gained control of the convention.

Kim lamented tactics used by SBC leaders to justify their pullout from the worldwide alliance.

“They said the BWA is anti-American, that we believe in same-sex marriage, that we don't believe Christ is the sole path for salvation,” he said, denying all three charges.

The SBC's vote in June made news in Seoul, and Kim was besieged by reporters who wanted to know what he thought, he reported.

“I explained to the press corps, BWA is not anti-American,” he said, noting his American-born wife would quit serving his meals if he were anti-American.

“We're also not for same-sex marriage,” he added, noting he knows of one man in his huge Korean church who was gay, “but his family, members of my church, don't believe that way.”

“We as the Korean Baptist Convention don't believe in same-sex marriage, because the Bible condemns it,” he said.

“And if I don't believe Christ is the sole source of salvation, then I have no business being president of the BWA.”

The SBC's vote to leave the BWA has caused “so much hurt” around the world, he said, noting he pleaded with SBC leaders to delay their departure at least until after the summer of 2005, when the BWA will celebrate its 100th anniversary.

“God knows best, and we trust God that things will work out for Southern Baptists as well as BWA,” he said.

Besides, “the world is too big” to linger on hurt and allow it to sidetrack the BWA from helping Baptists around the globe, he added. For example, world Baptists need to support members of the lone Baptist church in Turkey, as well as the 4,000 Baptists in Poland who are out-numbered by their 40 million countrymen, and persecuted Baptists in other parts of the world.

“There is a great task to be done,” Kim insisted. “I believe Baptists united will make the difference in the world.

“I still pray for the SBC. I pray God will use the SBC, the BWA, the CBF, the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the American Baptist Churches … to fulfill the Great Commission.”

DBU President Gary Cook praised Kim, whom he called “Mr. World Baptist,” for his leadership, not only of his strong church in Korea but of Baptists globally.

Kim has close ties to the Dallas university, Cook said, noting numerous young people from his church are part of DBU's large international student body.

Thirteen Korean businessmen traveled with Kim to the DBU campus to be present for the ceremony where he received the honorary doctorate. At the banquet, they presented Cook with a check for what he described as a “very large scholarship.”

It will be placed in the fund that supports a scholarship named in Kim's honor, he added.

Posted: 10/01/04

TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM
Alabama gratitude

On behalf of all Alabama Baptists, I want to thank your Disaster Relief team for helping us during this time of cleanup and community support following Hurricane Ivan. “Ivan the Terrible” is the worst weather-related event in my lifetime as an Alabamian.

Food service, chain-saw work and other cleanup, as well as witnessing and counseling, have all been a vital part of the ministry of your people.

I tried to thank every one of them, but I didn't get to see them all. Would you do it for me, please?

God bless, and thanks from a friend.

Rick Lance

Executive Director

Alabama Baptist Convention

Montgomery, Ala.

Christian radio

Several weeks ago, a letter writer lamented he was not able to find a Christian radio station that broadcast the hymns and great gospel songs we have known and loved for so many years.

Well, I have good news for anyone who loves the beautiful grand hymns of the faith. The Bible Broadcasting Network has satellite and translator stations all across the United States.

You can find the local station nearest you by logging on to www.bbnradio.org. There are at least six stations across Texas on the low FM band.

This station has meant a lot to this life, and I trust it will be to many folks in Texas.

Bill Ussery

Springdale, Ark.

Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptists

As a native Midwesterner, I would like to correct some misinformation in the article “Texas Baptists connected by family ties to churches in Minnesota-Wisconsin Convention” (Sept. 20).

It states, “Texas Baptists were integral in launching Baptist ministry in Minnesota and Wisconsin 50 years ago, as Texas pastors and laypeople moved north to start the initial Baptist churches in the region.”

In fact, Baptists have been alive and well in the region for well over 150 years and did not come from the South.

The article also states that “less than 5 percent of people (in Minnesota and Wisconsin) are evangelical Christians.” The Evangelical Covenant Church of America is the seventh-largest denomination in Minnesota and has churches throughout Wisconsin. The Evangelical Free Church of America is also very pervasive in both states. There is a large and active Greater Minnesota Association of Evangelicals that sponsors evangelical activities throughout the state. I am confident many more than 5 percent are evangelical.

Finally, the article closes by implying that people in Minnesota and Wisconsin are religious but do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. While these two states are not part of the traditional “Bible Belt,” many of the people there are born-again Christians and experienced personal relationship with Jesus without ever meeting a Southern Baptist.

I applaud the work of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention but urge them to acknowledge the presence of other evangelicals and Baptists doing kingdom work in my home state and its neighbor state.

Roger E. Olson

Waco

Double standard

In years past, those nominated for presidential and vice presidential posts of the Southern Baptist Convention were regularly labeled by many in our state convention as unfit for such offices because of feeble support for the Cooperative Program.

I always believed they had a point, based on Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The application: If your treasure is not in the convention, your heart's not in it; and if your heart's not in it, what qualifies you to lead it and significantly influence its direction?

What is puzzling is that–in recent years–that same standard has been abandoned by some of those same critics of the SBC. The Baptist Standard (Sept. 20) reported that the man to be nominated for the first vice presidency of the BGCT serves as pastor of a church that–last year–gave only $1,800 to the BGCT Cooperative Program unified budget in a church that averages over 300 in worship.

So, meager Cooperative Program support is now acceptable for office holders who have a substantial influence over the future direction of our convention? Why the double standard?

Gary Dyer

Midland

Ticket to heaven?

I am ashamed of the letter written by F.A. Taylor (Sept. 20). He says, “Finally, with tongue in cheek, I cannot understand how a Christian can be a Democrat.”

He found many faults of the Democrats. I could list many faults of the Republicans. I will not.

Read and study the Gospel of Matthew, especially Matthew 7:1, 23:13, 28:19-20. I'm glad the loving God is my judge, not Taylor.

When Taylor gets to heaven, will his ID card say, “I'm a Republican”? Will that help him get into heaven?

E.L. White

Wilbarger County

Jesus & partisanship

I am not amused by the letter by F.A. Taylor.

Let me tell you how you can identify a right-wing conservative “Christian” Republican:

First, he has given serious thought that Christ would declare himself a Republican or a member of any other party for that matter.

He probably thinks: Feeding 5,000 homeless made Jesus too compassionate for dealing with tough issues like terrorism. Providing health care (healing) to the sick, blind, elderly and crippled was helping to create a welfare state. A bunch of disgruntled ex-followers who accused Christ of not really being injured or dying on the cross and that his service medals (scars) were somehow invalid, and that he was a traitor for opposing the Pharisees. Jesus was a tax-and-spend liberal for declaring we render unto Caesar. Because he cried “Lord, Lord” in the public schools, he somehow made the world less sinful. Because Jesus changed his mind when first delaying, then deciding to go to Lazarus, Jesus was a flip-flopper.

Second, Satan delights in the right-wing conservatives segregating who's a “real” Christian and who's not.

Finally, with no tongue in cheek, I cannot understand how a Christian can assume Christ to be anything but non-partisan.

Mark W. Clark

Flower Mound

Bad name

The odd comments of F.A. Taylor are an example of the close-minded, unloving, colloquial remarks that have made the name “Baptist” a pejorative within American culture.

Taylor seems to position his fellow believers who hold a different political view as pro-Satanic “fault finders” who position themselves alongside darkness rather than Light.

Can it be any surprise that the non-Christians who watch us see no reason to examine the deeper convictions of our faith?

Fortunately for Jesus, he was not a registered voter, nor did he think too highly of any millionaire who didn't give all his money to the poor.

I suspect both presidential candidates would have been crossed off Jesus' list–no matter what they claim as a personal spiritual belief. No telling how severely we Baptists would have criticized the Nazarene or how we would have berated him in our letters to the editor.

David Maltsberger

Boerne

Feeling unwelcome

I have been a Southern Baptist for 46 years. I am also a Democrat. I no longer feel welcome in my denomination.

I am tired of being indirectly told I am not a good Christian because I do not agree any abortion should be illegal or that same-sex marriage is one of our greatest threats.

I believe the destruction of our environment, the crisis in health care, the shortage of good jobs, the lack of government support for public education and the invasion of Iraq are serious moral issues.

The political remarks I hear in church and read make me believe many Southern Baptists do not want my fellowship, so I need to find another, more loving (and thinking) denomination.

I wonder how many more Baptists believe this.

William L. Reddick

Mesquite

Out of Focus

I would like to express my disappointment in your coverage of the Focus Conference. In the article, the writer makes it sound as if Dennis Wiles' breakout session was all there was to this conference. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Over 3,000 college students were led in worship by the Smith Band. Vodie Baucham challenged students on three occasions to be students of the word and be prepared to defend their faith. Over 1,000 college students did mission projects throughout the Metroplex. Mission Arlington, First Baptist Church in Arlington and the University of Texas at Arlington were just some of the beneficiaries of these students. Several breakout sessions and focus groups were conducted during the conference, as well.

Focus was also a celebration of what God did through over 450 Texas Baptist college students who surrendered their summer, Christmas break, and/or semester to serve the Lord all over the world. We saw videos and slide shows that helped us visualize the passion these students expressed regarding their experiences.

God is doing some awesome things in this generation of college students, many perhaps unprecedented. It's time all Texas Baptist appreciate what God is doing with this generation and consider what the rest of us need to do to have a matching passion for the glory of his name.

Jeff Parsons

Amarillo

Excellent resource

On behalf of all those in Broadway Baptist Church's Bible study ministry who are utilizing the BaptistWay resources provided through the Baptist General Convention of Texas, please know of our support and appreciation for the supplementary commentary now being provided each week by the Standard.

I trust other churches are also making use of this excellent resource.

David Wilkinson

Fort Worth

Another option

I enjoyed the article on theological education in Texas. Texas Baptists do indeed have many good options for theological education.

As a recipient of a quality Baptist education (M.Div. and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary), I appreciate these many options.

In one paragraph, the article mentioned three non-Baptist options for seminary education in Texas (certainly not intended to be exhaustive)–Dallas Theological Seminary on the conservative end and Brite Divinity School and Perkins School of Theology on the more liberal.

I would like to point out one option that the article did not include. Houston Graduate School of Theology is a multi-denominational seminary located in Houston. The school offers four degrees–M.A., M.A. in counseling, M.Div. and D.Min., all accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. Its students are as diverse as the city in which the school is located–ethnically and denominationally.

The school's faculty includes Friends, Southern Baptist, United Methodist, Episcopalian, Nazarene and Presbyterian. The school is committed to a broad evangelical education to produce spiritual leadership for the kingdom of God in the 21st century. The school has been in existence for over 20 years, even though its existence remains relatively unknown in many circles. The fall 2004 schedule included 25 courses offered during the day, in the evening and on Saturday.

Chuck Pitts

Houston

What do you think? Submit letters for Texas Baptist Forum via e-mail to marvknox@baptiststandard.com or regular mail at Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267. Letters must be no longer than 250 words. They may be edited to accommodate space.

Posted: 10/01/04

New PBS documentary examines Lewis,
Freud and their views about God

By Ted Parks

Associated Baptist Press

BOSTON (ABP)–The British Christian and the Austrian atheist both were shaken by war and personal tragedy that left them clinging to the bitter end to their acceptance–or rejection–of the divine.

The ideas of C. S. Lewis, a leading 20th century Christian apologist, and Sigmund Freud, psychiatrist and architect of modern secular thought, are juxtaposed in a new PBS documentary that allows the two intellectual giants to address anew life's most perplexing questions.

Titled “The Question of God: Sigmund Freud & C. S. Lewis,” the two-part, four-hour PBS show is based on a book of the same title by Harvard professor and practicing psychiatrist Armand Nicholi. The series also is available on videocassette and DVD from PBS Home Video.

Though Freud, who worked in Vienna, and Lewis, who taught literature at Oxford and Cambridge, were born a generation apart, the documentary brings the two together by putting their words on the lips of actors dramatizing key moments of their lives. And contemporary panelists–believing and unbelieving–bring the thought of Freud and Lewis to bear on modern questions in the film through nine roundtable discussions moderated by Harvard's Nicholi.

The unusual linking of the Viennese psychiatrist with the Oxford don grew out of a Harvard course where Nicholi at first taught only the philosophy of Freud.

Nicholi said that, while students responded favorably to the class, they said it struck them as “unbalanced.” As counterweight to the denials of Freud, Nicholi introduced the affirmations of Lewis. With the change, “the class discussion ignited,” Nicholi says in a PBS study guide accompanying the series.

In a recent interview, the Harvard professor linked his interest in Lewis with his own professional struggle with suffering.

At Bellevue, Nicholi happened on a copy of Lewis' “The Problem of Pain” in a hospital library. He then read Lewis's book and found it helpful as he confronted tragedy as a physician.

While the documentary contrasts how Lewis and Freud understood the world, it also shows certain parallels in their personal lives. Both experienced the devastation of World War I. Both men lost beloved family members, Freud a daughter, Lewis his wife.

But despite the parallels, Freud and Lewis explained human existence and the role of the divine in vastly different ways.

Freud saw a heavenly Father as the mere human projection of an earthly one. For the Viennese psychiatrist, the Father and the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, were “the idealized parents of childhood,” commented Harold Blum, executive director of the Sigmund Freud Archives and one of several experts interviewed in the film.

Lewis, on the other hand, argued for a divine origin to human concepts of good and bad. He reasoned that people's shared sense of right and wrong reflects a universal "moral law" given by a divinely moral lawgiver. Rather than the product of human development, that law had to come from some transcendent outside source, Lewis believed.

While Freud and Lewis lived and wrote in the past, Nicholi believes they still speak to a postmodern world that dethrones reason and discounts knowledge of absolute truth.

He also believes that revisiting Freud can help people of faith better understand how their secular neighbors think.

Posted: 10/01/04

LifeWay trustees adopt 2005 budget;
vote to revitalize Glorieta, Ridgecrest

By Chris Turner

LifeWay Christian Resources

RIDGECREST, N.C. (BP)–LifeWay Christian Resources trustees adopted a $446 million operating budget for 2005 and approved a significant investment in the company's conference centers to fast-track their revitalization efforts.

LifeWay expects revenues this year of $427.5 million, $13.2 million more than last year but $21 million short of budget, Chief Operating Officer Ted Warren told trustees during their semiannual meeting at LifeWay's Ridgecrest Conference Center near Asheville, N.C. The fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

“The fact that we plan to achieve record revenues is good news,” said Warren. “Yet every one of our divisions' revenues will come in below budget. That means we've had less than a successful year.”

Still, he cited major accomplishments in 2004, including the introduction of the Holman Christian Standard Bible, which in a few months has become one of the best-selling Bibles in the United States, and LifeWay's commitment of $1.6 million to help 13 Baptist state conventions and one association double baptisms in 2005.

For the new fiscal year, Warren said, all LifeWay divisions have plans for revenue growth. But along with that are increased expenses as the LifeWay Christian Stores division plans to add new stores, and the church resources and Broadman & Holman divisions will add staff. These factors will require LifeWay to execute its business plan with precision.

“The 2005 budget is based on what we believe to be an achievable revenue target of $446 million, which assumes a continued recovery in the economy,” Warren said. “The revenue budget reflects an $18.2 million or 4.3 percent increase over 2004 projected revenue.”

In 2004, funds provided from operations–money for reinvestment in ministry expansion after all expenses are paid–are expected to be $13.4 million, or 3.1 percent of revenue, consistent with LifeWay's goal of financial performance. The same amount is budgeted for 2005.

In a move to hasten revitalization efforts at LifeWay's conference centers, the trustees approved a business plan that includes an investment of $27 million over the next four years.

At Ridgecrest, the business plan calls for construction of a new 120-room hotel, new convention and indoor recreation centers, renovation of Pritchell Hall and demolition of seven aging and expensive-to-maintain buildings.

At Glorieta, plans call for a new 140-room hotel, a new indoor recreation center, a renovated chapel and demolition of 24 outdated buildings, reducing the center's adult capacity but nearly tripling its youth capacity to better fit seasonal demand.

LifeWay expects revenues this year of $427.5 million, $13.2 million more than last year but $21 million short of budget.

Posted: 10/01/04

Louisiana evangelical vote played key role
in passing prohibition on same-sex marriages

By Bruce Nolan

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–Analysis of Louisiana's statewide vote to ban same-sex marriage shows that areas with a large number of evangelical Christians played a key role.

In 10 of the state's 64 parishes, voters spoke with a unified voice extraordinary in electoral politics. In those parishes, at least 90 percent of voters supported the constitutional amendment. Among the 10 were six of the most heavily evangelical parishes in the state.

Major religious groups supporting traditional marriage made passing the amendment a priority. Backers said it would protect the traditional understanding of marriage from court decisions such as those that have opened the door to same-sex unions in other states.

LaSalle Parish in central Louisiana favored the amendment by an overwhelming 94 percent. LaSalle has the state's heaviest concentration of evangelical Christians; 81 percent of the population belong to one of several evangelical congregations, according to a 2000 survey by the Glenmary Research Center.

At the other end of the spectrum was New Orleans, where the amendment found the least support. It won there with 55 percent of the vote. The amendment attracted no less than 71 percent of the vote anywhere else.

Running up to the election, evangelical groups such as the Louisiana Family Forum launched a statewide drive on behalf of the amendment, educating pastors and encouraging them to launch voter registration drives in their churches.

Louisiana's Catholic bishops also issued a public statement urging the state's 1.5 million Catholics to vote for the amendment.

The amendment seemed to do slightly better among evangelicals than among Catholics. The level of support in the 10 most heavily evangelical parishes was 88 percent; it was 80 percent in the state's 10 most heavily Catholic parishes.

Statewide, 78 percent of voters supported the measure, meaning opponents fell well short of the 30 percent vote they had hoped for.

The amendment prohibits state judges and officials from recognizing same-sex marriage and civil unions sanctioned in other states. On Nov. 2, residents in as many as a dozen states will be voting on similar measures banning same-sex marriage.

Posted: 10/01/04

On the Move

Leighton Allen to Henderson Street Church in Cleburne as interim minister to students.

Casy Blanton to Parkside Church in Denison as interim youth minister.

James and Becca Cain to Northside Church in Highlands as youth directors.

Johnny Funderburg to First Church in Pampa as pastor from First Church in Whitesboro.

Jason Hannam to Redeemer Community Church in Katy as assistant pastor.

Mack Helms has resigned as pastor of First Church in Sheridan.

Tim Medley has resigned as minister of youth at Hagerman Church in Sherman.

David Murrell to Fairplay Church in Carthage as pastor.

George Thomas has resigned as pastor of Cass Church in Atlanta.

Darrell Tomasek to Lexington Church in Corpus Christi as pastor from First Church in Ganado.

Posted: 10/01/04

Paris church knows broadcasting high
school football is ministry in Texas

By George Henson

Staff Writer

PARIS–Cable television viewers in Paris know the call-letters “FBC-TV” stand for First Baptist Church. But each fall, they represent the Football Channel.

The church has had a local cable channel since 1985, and it started broadcasting local high school football games about 10 years ago.

"We do it as a public service to the community," said Travis Jackson, director of media and public relations for the church. But Jackson readily admits it also raises the church's level of visibility in the community.

“It serves to get a lot of people to the channel that might not ever know it was there otherwise,” he pointed out.

The church also has aired a health talk show and a local business talk show as a part of its programming.

An all-volunteer crew tapes the football games. Paris has two high schools, Paris High School and North Lamar High School, and the church films the home game with the greatest appeal, making sure to keep the number of games for each team even.

“We're fortunate enough to have a real nice mobile production unit that is all logoed up with the church's logo, and our crew has their T-shirts” so there is no escaping the fact that First Baptist Church is broadcasting the local high school gridders on television, Jackson said.

“It lets the people here know that we're not just a bunch of stuffed-shirts at that church downtown,” he said.

The church doesn't even accept sponsorships for the football games “except for maybe a free meal for the crew at a local restaurant,” Jackson said.

Jackson started out as a volunteer member of the crew eight years ago.

Then in January 2001, he felt God leading him to make media ministry his full-time vocation. And in May of that year, the position opened up at his church.

“God gave me an opportunity to serve here, and I'm very grateful for that,” he said.

Jackson has attended several conferences dealing with church-run television ministries. Almost always, First Baptist Church in Paris is the smallest congregation represented, he observed.

“This kind of ministry is a lot of work, but it's a lot of fun, too,” he said.

“There's just so much potential with this type of ministry for churches.”

Posted: 10/01/04

House vote would strip courts' ability to rule on pledge

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)–The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would strip the Supreme Court and all other federal courts of the ability to decide cases involving the Pledge of Allegiance.

The House voted 247-173 to pass the “Pledge Protection Act.” Although the vote broke down largely along party lines, 35 Democrats joined most Republicans in supporting it. Six Republicans opposed it.

The bill would ban federal courts from hearing or deciding cases “pertaining to the interpretation of, or the validity under the Constitution of, the Pledge of Allegiance … or its recitation.”

Sponsors said the bill was a pre-emptive measure to prevent future challenges to the pledge's constitutionality under the First Amendment. In 2002, the California-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the teacher-led recitation of the pledge–including the words “under God”–in public schools violates the amendment's ban on government establishment of religion.

The case was Elk Grove Unified School District vs. Newdow. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 9th Circuit's decision earlier this year. However, they did so on technical grounds, leaving the question of the pledge's constitutionality open.

Nonetheless, the Newdow decision made the proposed bill a solution in search of a problem, argued House opponents of the bill.

“You have won the lawsuit. Newdow has been reversed.” Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) said to his colleagues during floor debate. “Get a grip!”

But bill supporters said the court's silence on the case's constitutional issues left the pledge vulnerable.

“The Supreme Court's decision not to reach the merits of the case is apparently an effort to forestall a decision averse to the pledge,” said Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), a bill supporter and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. However, he said, if the bill becomes law, “a few federal judges sitting thousands of miles away will not be able to re-write your state's pledge policy,” he said.

The move came just a few weeks after the House approved a similar “court-stripping” bill that would remove from federal judicial review cases involving the Defense of Marriage Act. In addition, a broader court-stripping bill that would remove from the federal courts authority to decide a much wider array of cases involving governmental endorsement of religion remains in the House's legislative pipeline.

Democrats said the onslaught of court-stripping proposals vindicated their earlier warnings about the danger of the “Marriage Protection Act.”

“If this debate was really about whether 'under God' was going to be in the Pledge of Allegiance, I'd be right there” with the bill's supporters, Watt said. “But this debate is about much, much more than that. It's about whether there's going to be a constitutional framework under which we operate.”

Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), who had been one of the bill's original sponsors before Sensenbrenner's committee added the Supreme Court to the list of courts it would strip of jurisdiction in pledge cases, said such a move would make it unprecedented in American history.

“There is no direct constitutional precedent where the Supreme Court is cut off entirely from review of an issue,” Biggert said.

Watt offered an amendment to the bill that would have restored jurisdiction over pledge cases to the Supreme Court, but not other federal courts. It lost on a largely party-line vote.

Bill supporters said Congress has the authority, under Article III of the Constitution, to except many areas of law from federal judicial review. The prospect of a future court again declaring the pledge to be unconstitutional is a sufficiently grave threat to exempt this area of the law, said Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.).

“At what point would you, as a member of Congress, get up and say, 'Enough is enough'” of judicial overreach, he asked his colleagues.

Several bill opponents pointed out a 1943 Supreme Court decision striking down a West Virginia law that forced all schoolchildren to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

The decision was highly unpopular at the time. However, it protected the rights of Jehovah's Witnesses and other groups whose theology prevents them from reciting oaths or swearing allegiance to any entity other than God.

Though opponents worried the bill would cut off religious minorities from legal recourse in such cases, supporters said state magistrates could protect minority rights in pledge cases. "Nothing in (the bill) would allow state courts to depart from Supreme Court precedents" in pledge cases, Sensenbrenner said.

But Watt and other bill opponents objected that leaving the issue to states could set up a patchwork of different state interpretations of the Constitution's protections.

“Fifty different states–50 different rules under your rule?” he asked bill supporters. “What happened to the word 'indivisible'–'One nation, indivisible, under God?'”

The bill is H.R. 2028. Although it has passed the House and a similar bill has been proposed in the Senate, sources say it is unlikely to pass that chamber this year.

Posted: 10/01/04

San Angelo church digs deep to help missionaries in Bolivia

By George Henson

Staff Writer

SAN ANGELO–Southland Baptist Church is digging deep to continue the growth of its commitment to missions.

Sixteen church members recently traveled to San Julian, Bolivia, to help drill wells, lead Vacation Bible School and support the efforts of missionaries Terry and Kathy Waller.

The Wallers resigned as Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionaries rather than sign the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message statement.

For awhile, the Wallers were supported by a relief fund set up by the Baptist General Convention of Texas, but now they receive their support from Southland Baptist Church, Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio, Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., two churches in Cloudcroft, N.M., and a cadre of individuals.

“I think this might become a model for missionary support in the future,” said Pastor Bill Shiell, who recently moved from Southland to a church in Kentucky.

“But we have not cut off our cooperative missions giving at all. This is an additional missions effort, not in place of what we do cooperatively.”

The team from Southland was the first to travel to Bolivia to help the Wallers since they returned to the mission field. In nine months, Terry Waller has led in drilling 200 wells within a 30-mile radius. In all the time he has spent in Bolivia, more than 1,400 family wells have been drilled manually. The wells produce more than 1,000 liters of water per hour.

The Southland team drilled a well for a school in San Julian. The cost of drilling the well was only about $45.

Waller, an agricultural missionary, has designed the drilling process so the Bolivians can make the bits and parts themselves and then train others to do the same thing. The cost of building a drilling rig is about $250, but it can be used more than once.

Volunteers from Southland Baptist Church in San Angelo lead a mission Vacation Bible School in Bolivia.

Families come together to form water clubs to drill their own wells. Depending on the depth required, the cost for the well and pump combined can range between $50 and $100. The cost of drilling a well with a motorized rig is about $1,500.

The process is labor-intensive and somewhat slow, however. It took more than three days for the Texas team to drill the 50 meters required for the well.

The Vacation Bible School was filled to overflowing. The team had planned for about 150 children, but that number was exceeded the first day and grew to more than 300 children on the final day.

The team also led Sunday worship for a congregation while they were there.

“The 16 people who made the trip to Bolivia have an excitement about missions now, and we think at least one of them may hear a call to missions as a vocation,” Shiell said.

For more information about the drilling project, visit www.geocities.com/h2oclubs.

Posted: 10/01/04

Texas Tidbits

Baylor social work school granted independent status. Baylor University regents voted to grant the Baylor School of Social Work status as an independent school within the university, rather than continuing as a department within the College of Arts and Sciences. Since its establishment in 1999, the school has grown from five full-time professors and lecturers to 15 full-time faculty. Graduate student enrollment in the program has increased from 17 to 65, and undergraduate enrollment has grown 24 percent to 105 students.

Former seminary CFO joins DBU. Hubert Martin, former chief financial officer at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has joined the Dallas Baptist University staff as consultant for business affairs. Martin served 30 years at Southwestern Seminary, including 20 years as CFO.

Hendrick renames trauma center. Hendrick Health System of Abilene has named its trauma center in honor of Mike Waters, who retired in August as the health care system's president and chief executive officer, and his wife, Kathy. The Waters Trauma Center will serve as "a visual reminder of the dedication, leadership and service they have rendered to this facility during the last 24 years," said Hendrick trustee board Chairman Scott Hibbs.

Small-church preaching conference slated. "Strengthening the Message" will be the theme of the fall Small-Church Preaching Conference at Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary, Oct. 8-9 in Waco. Hulitt Gloer, professor of preaching and Christian Scriptures at Truett Seminary, is keynote speaker and a seminar leader. Other seminar leaders are Randall O'Brien, chairman of the Baylor University religion department, and Bert Dominy, professor of Christian theology at Truett Seminary. Jimmy and Janet Dorrell of Mission Waco will lead a community ministry seminar for spouses. Registration cost is $10. For more information, contact Nancy Floyd at (254) 710-3755.

HSU honors alumni. Hardin-Simmons University will honor eight alumni during homecoming weekend, Oct. 29-31. Distinguished alumni awards will be presented to Jan Evans Patterson of San Antonio, professor of medicine and pathology and director of the epidemiology laboratory at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and chief of medicine at the Audie Murphy Veterans Hospital; Bill Teague of Houston, international leader in blood banking and transfusion medicine; and Bill Thorn of San Angelo, a motivational speaker and president emeritus of Dallas Baptist University. Four alumni will be inducted into the university's Athletics Hall of Fame: football players Paul Betty of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., and Larry Dippel of Amarillo; Sammie Courington of Brownwood, tennis; and Donna Roberts Bullock of Abilene, women's basketball. Dottie Shaw Parker of Abilene will receive the Keeter Alumni Service Award.

UMHB annual Bible conference slated. Bruce Corley, president of the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute in Arlington, will speak on the New Testament book of Hebrews at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor annual Bible conference, Oct. 14. Conference cost–which includes lunch and refreshments–is $20, if registered before Oct. 12, and $25 on site. For more information or to register, contact the UMHB College of Christian Studies at (254) 295-5075 or email lfuessel@umhb.edu.edu.

Westmoreland Scholarship benefits Logsdon students. Ministerial students at Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology will be the beneficiaries of the Ernest and Virginia Westmoreland Endowed Scholarship. The scholarship was established in 1994 by the Westmorelands of Clovis, N.M., through a trust from which they received income until their deaths–she in 1999 and he in April. The trust remainder then became the scholarship corpus. Recipients must maintain a minimum 2.5 GPA and will be selected by the dean of the Logsdon School of Theology in consultation with the Logsdon scholarship committee.

Posted: 10/01/04

TOGETHER:
Offerings make an eternal difference

Good news, Texas Baptists. Your gifts to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions are 25 percent ahead of last year and 185 percent ahead for September.

That's good news for the people along the Rio Grande who benefit from our River Ministry efforts. And it is encouraging to Texas Baptists who are starting new churches. We hope to help start 300 new churches next year, and your offerings and Cooperative Program gifts will help make that possible.

If you are not familiar with all the good that happens because of your gifts through the Mary Hill Davis Offering, please check with your church office or Woman's Missionary Union leaders in your church for more information, visit www.maryhilldavis.org–or just keep reading the Baptist Standard, where you will find stories about how your gifts and prayers make a dramatic and eternal difference in the lives of people across Texas. If you haven't given yet, please do.

Years ago, a great flood hit a community where I was a pastor. Nine people died. The entire community was overwhelmed. On the Sunday following the flooding, I told our church: “Just because we cannot do everything that is needed is no excuse to do nothing. Let us give what we can and also go to these families who have lost their homes and be there with them to help clean up the damage and put their lives back together again.” They did. People were blessed. And our church was changed.

We have all been praying for the people whose lives and property have been devastated by the series of huge hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Our Texas Baptist Men have been there from the beginning. They have gone and come back and gone again … and again!

Many already have sent special gifts to the disaster relief fund. The need has continued to increase because of the recurring nature of this season's hurricane pattern. You can give directly or through your church to the BGCT's disaster relief fund. We will get the money to those who are helping and those who need the help.

Every year about this time, many of our churches also encourage their members to give to the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger. Materials were mailed to your church recently so you can see the variety of ways that Texas Baptists support hunger ministries in Texas and around the nation and world.

Our basic approach is to work with those who are helping feed people and who are also helping people to feed themselves.

Why do Christians care about these matters and these people? You only have to look at Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He cared, and he taught us to care. And he taught us that when we meet human needs, we are showing love to him.

Our Lord makes it such a blessed thing to give, that Christians have testified over and over again, "No matter how much I give, he repays with more." I heard a friend say, "Even when I try to make a sacrificial gift, he winds up blessing me so much that the sacrifice is swallowed up in gratitude."

When Christians give regularly, generously and faithfully, their spiritual lives are enriched and deepened. I love to remind our Texas Baptist people that your gifts are making a huge difference … in many people's lives–and not least in your own.

We are loved.

Posted: 10/01/04