RE: Southern Baptist layman Paul Pressler subject of sex abuse suit

I realize the story about the accusation concerning Paul Pressler is news of interest to many. The problem I have with this story being printed is because we are living in a day when all that needs to happen to destroy one’s reputation is an accusation. It doesn’t matter whether the accusation has one ounce of truth or whether the accused has had their day in court.

Just as we have seen in recent weeks, in the political world and in the Hollywood scene, many have been accused of sexual misconduct and the accused are not viewed as innocent until proven guilty but rather guilty as charged in the media and in the minds of many if not most. Maybe our Baptist news organizations need to show restraint in getting out a juicy story for the sake of those who might truly be innocent of any wrongdoing. Please do not reflect the secular media eager to break a hot story.

Scott Neathery
Wake Village, Texas

Three years ago, I was a sophomore at the University of North Texas. It was my rookie semester as a resident assistant in the “artsy dorm” (read: weird), and I had decided to apply for Go Now Missions. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do or who I wanted to serve.

I applied for a position in Jamaica, just because a friend of mine went the previous winter break and highly recommended it. However, I quickly discovered the timing was totally not going to work out. So, I ended up going to Discovery Day with absolutely no idea what position I was wanting or being called to by God.

At the beginning of Discovery Day, Brenda Sanders from Go Now Missions reminded us of the Great Commission. She said we might be sent to East Asia or even right down the street to Mission Arlington. Right then, I felt it in the deepest, tiniest part of my soul, where God was poking and whispering: “Shelby, Honey. Arlington.” Of course, I ignored it as best I could, because Arlington didn’t feel “missiony” enough. Looking back, that’s horrible to think. I was just dazzled by travel, and I turned my nose up at any mission that didn’t require a plane ticket. So, I went throughout the rest of the morning with a sort of anything-but-that mentality.

I ended up sitting on a couch next to Brenda as she explained the different positions while we waited for our individual interviews. When she got to the Moldova mission, I curled up in a little ball and tried to hide the fact I was hardcore crying. My heart just shattered for those kids over there. I went in the interview saying I wanted to go to Moldova. Again, ignoring God was poking me in the heart.

That night, when I was back in my room at the dorm, I got the appointment email, and it said in big block letters: “ARLINGTON.” I cried again. I called my mom, and being the wonderfully blunt and godly woman she is, she just said: “Girl, really? What’s wrong with Arlington? People there need Jesus too!” And all I could say was, “It’s not Moldova!”

Fast-forward a week or two. It’s Wednesday, AKA “Street Preacher Day” on campus. I was chillin’ at the Baptist Student Ministry. I could have walked home the short way and avoided the preacher corner, or I could have gone the long way and walked right through all that. For once, I didn’t totally resist God poking in one direction and decided to go the long way. I found some of my residents at the preacher corner and talked with them for a bit until I got sucked into another conversation with a few strangers and one of the preachers.

The conversation slowly wound down, and the crowd dwindled until it was just this one guy and myself. I noticed he had a pin on his backpack advertising one of UNT’s Atheist clubs, who hosted a lecture I had attended. We started talking about that, and then we somehow got on the topic of his being from Eastern Europe. I asked him what country, and he reluctantly said, “Moldova.” I flipped out! I started jumping up and down and basically word-vomited everything I had learned about that country over the past few weeks. He rightfully looked a little terrified. But that ended up being how I came to be friends with the president of the Atheist club.

Since then, Moldova kept sneakily popping up everywhere I went. It’s like God was leaving little clues around and giggling whenever I found them. I’d go to a museum while on mission in Portland, and there would be a section on Moldovan children. Whenever people would ask me what I want to do after graduation, I’d respond: “I don’t know. Either be a teacher or move to Moldova and adopt a hundred kids.” That was before I even really thought about what I was saying.

This fall, I’m in my second senior year at UNT. I anxiously await the Go Now list to be posted, because I know in the depths of my heart that it’s time. I’m finally going to Moldova. God had provided a good job that was paying me enough to put aside some savings, and Duo lingo had released a track for Romanian. All I needed now was an appointment. In my application, I wrote: “I am going to Moldova.” In my interview at Discovery Day, my interviewers said, “Well, I guess you’re going to Moldova.”

A short few months later, I had finally made it to Moldova! It didn’t quite hit me until the plane landed and I saw the sign saying “Chisinau Airport.” I cuddled up to God and said, “God, we made it! Thank you!”

The entire week was so full of grace. One thing God gave me I wasn’t expecting at all was long talks with our translators. We talked about what God has been doing in Moldova and their lives, as well as in America and our lives. In one conversation, a translator, Dosica, told me the story of how God confirmed her husband as the man she would marry. It was a beautiful story that spanned almost eight years of prayer, fasting and dating. It was truly a testament of God just being so nice! God is so good to us, but he’s also just so nice!

Sometimes God lets us wait until we’re ready. He grows us in a slow cooker instead of a microwave. I am so thankful God had me wait three years until I was ready. I hated it then, but I was in no way mature enough back when I first wanted to go to Moldova. I thought God was being mean to me three years ago, but he was being so much nicer than I could have imagined!

Shelby Byrd, a student at the University of North Texas, served in Moldova (finally) with Go Now Missions.

Can we discuss the end times for a moment?

President Donald J. Trump’s decision to move the United States embassy to Jerusalem, thereby recognizing Jerusalem as the capital, set off another firestorm of debate this past week. Some supported this decision based on political reasons only. Others supported this political decision on theological grounds.

My concern in this article is not for the political reasons surrounding the decision, of which there are many complex factors, but the theological presuppositions of those Christians who have been pushing for this decision.

Many Christians rejoiced over this decision because they believe that the United States recognizing Jerusalem as the capital (which legally happened in the mid-1990s) is a sign of prophecy which will lead to the end times. There are definitely other interpretations.

You may be like me and find yourself troubled that decisions seemingly endorsed by the Bible and other Christians could lead to more violence and bloodshed.

Dispensing with Dispensationalism

Please understand — there are many different ways in which good Christians understand the end times. If you were to put the three leading twentieth-century Christian leaders in a room (Billy Graham, Herschel Hobbs and George W. Truett), they would all see the end times differently. They would all agree Jesus will return — but they held a different perspective on exactly how that will happen.

Good Christians can interpret the end of times in different ways. Disagreeing with one another concerning the end times does not make one outside of Christian orthodoxy. Jesus said we will not know the day or hour of the end (Matthew 24:36), so I am immediately suspect of the biblical knowledge and motives of those who claim to be certain on matters Jesus says no one (not even the angels) are aware of.

The belief that somehow Jerusalem must be recognized as a part of the end times prophetic fulfillment is actually a rather new development. In the 1800s, J. M. Darby and C. I. Scofield were proponents of a new way of understanding the Bible known as dispensationalism. It’s called dispensationalism because it assumes that God acts in different ways and has different rules during different eras (dispensations).

According to Dispensationalists, we live in the sixth dispensation, and the rapture/anti-Christ talk is from the seventh dispensation. They believe that the Temple will be rebuilt and animal sacrifices will be resumed.

Dispensationalism places a human-made system onto the biblical text, which is always dangerous. Some dispensationalists act smarter than the original authors, as the Bible is treated like a secret timeline.

Keep in mind, many Christians for over 1,800 years did not believe dispensationalism or the necessity of a literal nation-state of Israel for Christ to return. Dispensationalism and its political implications are a very new development, driven more by current politics than by biblical theology and certainly has not been upheld by theologians throughout the history of the church.

‘Contrary to the teachings of Jesus’

My concern with dispensationalism is that it requires supporting policies and practices that are contrary to the teachings of Jesus — which include more fighting, more injustice and pitting sides against one another.

In fact, dispensational theology can feed on divisiveness. If we want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. Instead of being a fulfillment of biblical prophecy, where Jesus brings peace to the earth (Revelation 21:4), dispensationalism can become a self-fulfilling prophecy to massive conflict based on suspect theological assumptions.

Keep in mind John 3:16: God loves the whole world, and wants to bless America and France, Israel and Palestine (Don’t forget that there are Palestinian Christians, too!) Also, remember that Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36).

We can trust Jesus. He is coming back, and his kingdom, thankfully, is not a kingdom of this world.

Until then, may we share the Good News of God’s love that has been revealed in Christ Jesus and work toward peace for all.

John Whitten is lead pastor for the gathering at Pioneer Drive Baptist Church in Abilene.

Since January 2016, Robert Wheat has served as the director of missions for the Bi-Fork Baptist Association in Vernon, Texas. From deep in the heart of one Texan, he shares his background and thoughts on church and ministry. To suggest a Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated leader to be featured in this column, or to apply to be featured yourself, click here.

Background

Where else have you worked, and what were your positions?

• Serving in vocational ministry for 33 years, encompassing all positions within the church.
• Senior pastor of Poetry Baptist Church, 15 years (northeast of Dallas)
• Associate pastor / education at Acton Baptist Church, three years (Granbury, Texas)
• Minister of education and youth at Oates Drive Baptist Church, five years (Mesquite, Texas)
• Minister of youth and music and youth at various churches previously: Valwood Park Baptist Church; Brock Baptist Church; FBC Lavon; Ridgecrest Baptist Church; Williams Creek Baptist Church.

Where did you grow up?

Dallas and Garland, Texas

How did you come to faith in Christ?

I like to tell folks, “I’ve been going to church nine months before I was born.”

My father and mother were actively serving local churches throughout my growing years, and, truly, the church became a second home for me. However, even though I spent years in children’s choir, VBS and even camps, it was not until I was 13 years of age that I confessed Christ Jesus as Lord of my life.

I knew a lot of Sunday School answers and even portrayed the “good-kid” syndrome to my friends. The blessing of being raised in a church background was foundational to the reality of faith I would one day profess.

On October 7, 1979, I visited with my youth minister about truly knowing Christ as Lord, and his gracious visit with me led toward an eternal difference in the lives of many. At the age of 13, I became a believer and follower of Christ, but, at the age of 16, I became a servant of the Lord.

I knew he had bigger plans than I did, so I buckled up and let him take me on this fantastic journey of faith.

Where were you educated, and what degrees did you receive?

I graduated from the University of Texas in Dallas with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration, knowing full well that I would be attending seminary for a more specific calling.

In January of 1990, I began the journey toward a Master of Arts in religious education with a youth concentration, only to drop the youth concentration one semester prior to graduation. The fuller scope of ministry was being laid out before me prior to graduation giving me a broader field of ministry.

I graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in December of 1996. I was certainly hungry for more beyond this point, but I needed some debriefing from all the challenges in classwork.

In 2002, after accepting the call to serve as pastor of Poetry Baptist Church, I began my doctoral work through Master’s International School of Divinity in Evansville, Indiana. I loved their foundational scope of discipline: Christ-centered, Bible-based.

From 2002 till 2008, I studied, researched and performed seminars and classwork to accomplish a Doctorate of Bible Studies in pastoral ministry. I knew I had much education on education, but I wanted to pursue pastoral ministry and the disciplines proper for successful ministry. In August of 2008, I completed my coursework, paper and orals for graduation.

Ministry/Profession

Why do you feel called to your particular vocation?

I learned a long time ago that I am called to God, and the joy of serving him in these various positions has been the channel by which I can be faithful to him. I absolutely love encouraging folk and praying for staff, churches and especially minister’s families.

The various positions I have served gave me prime knowledge to serve in this position at Bi-Fork. I have the opportunity to branch across all ministries and make connections with all types, kinds and sizes of churches.

No matter the size, the hearts make these connections a blessing … for me as well as my recipients … all for the glory of God.

Please tell us about your association—where it’s located, the key focus of its work and ministry, etc.

Bi-Fork Baptist Association is located within 8,300 square miles of nine counties just past Wichita Falls, Texas, and prior to Amarillo in the Panhandle. We utilized an office in Vernon, Texas, for several years, but the demands of ministry and the dollars of ministry have given us the blessing of being mobile. I have the joy of driving (a lot) and meeting pastors and staff where they are. The distance between the two farthest churches is about 180 miles, or about three hours.

The functionality of getting these churches to gather together regularly is difficult. The blessing of meeting regionally is far more beneficial. We serve around 40 churches which are more rurally contextualized and therefore in need of fellowship, resource and relationships which will strengthen their mission as a Great Commission church making Great Commandment disciples. Serving others is our main focus.

What do you like best about leading your association? Why?

I absolutely love visiting with pastors and praying for them. I have a list of all my churches, their staff and their families for which I pray for on a daily basis. When I pray for a pastor and his family, I feel deeply connected to their work and service to the community they serve.

My personal mission with these fellowships is: engage, encourage, equip, empower … as Christ gave the example: serve. The many times I get to travel and simply share the journey with them refreshes my own soul as much as theirs. One pastor even said, “It’s so good to know I have another friend.”

What aspect(s) of associational ministry and/or its mission do you wish more people understood?

Family. Not necessarily our own biological family, but our spiritual family as well. We have so many brothers and sisters who work and serve just around the corner for which we must give an account as to “seeing a brother in need” and helping or not helping.

When we see our own Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria ministry reach, we collectively are able to meet our “utmost” reach as well.

Bi-Fork is primarily about regional missions and ministry. State work is effectively managed by the state convention. National work is primarily channeled through NAMB, and certainly international work processes with IMB. Together, we can accomplish more.

No single church exists unto itself; no single pastor is capable on their own. However, when we do see a broader, bigger picture, we meet the woman at the well, the man in a tree, the hurt and wounded by the roadside and the field white unto harvest … all looking for Jesus. Will they see Jesus in me?

The two largest ministries we supply and provide for are Vernon College Baptist Student Ministry and Camp Chaparral. These two ministries are reaching another generation for Christ while connecting our churches with a much-needed ministry arm. No matter how big or small the church, we are all a part of seeing Christ transform lives through these two ministries.

How has your association and its mission changed since you began your career?

Bi-Fork began in 1978 as an area which serviced two main associations, both of which had several decades of history already.

In 2015, the one area became one association, versus two. Although the association has been instituted to serve one area, their mindset still seems to be diverse and segregated by miles of fence and farmland. I have seen in my short term (1 ½ years) the necessity to work regionally larger. We may be one association, but we are in need of closer connections with those we can reach locally.

Our association almost tends to work best when we see ourselves regionally and associationally. There are moments when we can share the journey with resources within a more confined space geographically. There are moments when we see the need to share a larger geographical footprint. However, we are discharging a local office in order to be more proactive with our churches where they exist. Our 8,300 square miles minister better when we divide and conquer.

Our association also works best with our new online fingerprint, which enhances our executive board meetings. We are currently hosting our executive board meetings online. We have several who can meet at our local BSM building in Vernon, but we also have those one hour away and 1 ½ hours away connecting at a local church online to be a part of discussions and information processed. It has truly added to the number of participants able to make decisions for our association. It also gives us a greater image of compassion for one another.

I envision our association utilizing resources in a much more responsible manner by truly sharing with one another the blessing of cooperation. We recently developed a Life Trailer, which is a cargo trailer filled with a bounce house, popcorn machine, snow-cone machine and sound system, with chairs and tables, to be utilized by all our churches in reaching families. Whether they choose to use it for VBS, retreats, backyard Bible club, mission trip, community presence or simply a fellowship for their church, we want families to be connected to the churches in their communities so they can become connected to Christ. This resource has only recently been added to our association, and it is getting the wheels rotating from one end to the other with use.

Our association has combined to disperse in order to bring together and send out for the purpose of Christ. Our mission has been evolving from programming to relationships. We are deeply more concerned about building relationships rather than resources. We are truly more concerned about seeing Christ increase while seeing ourselves decrease. Our mission: serve local churches in accomplishing the Great Commission while developing Great Commandment disciples — nothing new, just refreshed vision.

How do you expect your association and/or its mission to change in the next 10 to 20 years?

In reality, over the past 30 years of participating in association life through a local church staff, I see it decreasing. From IMB, NAMB, state and even local associational work, the numbers and dollars continue to decrease. We are facing a challenge today of many churches moving to bivocational ministry without ever truly planning for that change. It is happening quickly and broadly across our regions.

Directors of Mission who see the changes coming on the horizon will be able to adjust the vision of their association to meet the local ministry without too many hiccups. Branching beyond the usual and common definitions of what has been to see what can be will be a challenge for everyone — churches included.

However, I still see the need for regional churches to cooperate in their local communities to push back the darkness which is encroaching. We cannot stay within our typical walls of history to shine brightly in the darkness. For Bi-Fork Association churches, we see the future with great anticipation of more regionally focused energy while not detracting from international focus.

Numerous agencies are in place today to offer all sorts of experiences, and numerous personalities are authored to share their own experiences, but local connections must remain strong in order to “see a brother in need” (1 John 3:17). If we are to “go and do likewise,” according to Christ’s command, then we must be more compassionate to those who are not like us and those who differ from us to see eternal transformation (Luke 10:37).

In 10 years, I believe we will be more mobile and less management. We will be more relational and less bureau (officed). We will be personal and less personnel. We will likely be less to be more. That statement in and of itself is pregnant with meaning. Decreasing office, office resource, office personnel and even office investment must be our trail for a higher trail of treasure. We cannot collect things, but rather hearts, which will not rust or be destroyed eternally in Christ.

In 20 years, I believe there will be a different picture of the association. If numbers continue to change, relationships continue to change, beliefs and ideals continue to change, regardless of the same director, we will need to adjust to the demands of our time to promote an eternal message: God desires all to come to repentance; therefore, we must “Go!” How we go, where we go and with whom do we go will change in time, but we must go. Relationships will still be the key.

Name the three most significant challenges and/or influences facing your association.

Selling our associational office presently to rejoin the work of the association where it resides … regionally.

Improving the relationships of pastoral connectivity within the region without becoming a coffee club. We are in need of seeing real relationships develop and continue to develop for these servants to “bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

Being responsible with all the social and media connections which churches use for promotion. We realize that internet is here to stay; therefore, using the internet must be a means of use, not a means of abuse. We desire to make greater connections across the region and miles of service for which we serve.

Investment in lasting resource, relationships and region are the main focal points for us.

What one aspect of your job gives you the greatest joy or fulfillment?

Meeting pastors where they serve. Hearing their stories, joys, pains and celebrating alongside them in this journey of calling. When I get to fill their pulpits on any given Sunday, I know they are on retreat while I give them and their folks a blessing. I do have the greatest pastors in the state of Texas.

About Baptists

What are the key issues—opportunities and/or challenges—facing Baptist churches?

Identity: the lack of church context influencing our culture these days and the rise of a non-moral compass means the church is losing its relevance. Add to that “Baptist” and the many new church plants divulging themselves of the name “Baptist” and we have a community of churches or fellowships which have organic definitions. I find it humorous when you ask a “nondenominational” church-named staff what they really believe and they say, “Well, we’re really Baptist at heart.”

Baptists need to identify themselves with more relational compassion than historical agency if they are to gain the attentive ear of a new generation. We must show ourselves doers of the Word rather than merely hearers only. We must shine in the darkness rather than spotlight the darkness. We must empathize with the hurting rather than add to the hurt. We can be Christlike without being critique-like. We really should be more like John the Baptist — “He must increase; I must decrease” — if we are to make him known.

I also believe that staff in our Baptist churches need to be healthy. If a pastor is not healthy, their church will become unhealthy. A pastor is healthy only so far as his own walk and family are healthy. If the family of the pastor is healthy, the church can be healthier. If the church is healthy, the community can be healthier. If the community is healthy, then the region can be even more so and so on.

I still believe that Baptists do cooperation better than any other. I’m still a believer in the agents of change than the agency of change. I believe those who have gone before are truly cheering us onward but without self-gratifying measures and more noble-minded standards. “A noble man will make noble plans, and by noble plans, he stands” (Isaiah 32:8). But, most importantly, Micah 6:8 gives us a game plan for which we must meet all challenges: “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.”

We must find channels to cooperate in our mission and invest in the greater kingdom of God through missions. We cannot lose the missionaries in foreign soil as well as lose the mission in our own foreign soil. If we do, we’ve lost the soul of what it means to be Baptist.

What are the key issues facing Baptists as a people or denomination?

I believe as the Baptist churches go, so goes the denomination. We are not an island. We are a community of brothers and sisters; therefore, the individual churches will have a great deal of influence on the denomination. See above.

What would you change about the Baptist denomination—state, nation or local?

There is probably a slew of ideas about “change” which can be implemented. To be honest, giving the defense of hope we must present must be done with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).

I think the rhetoric has become so antagonistic across our nation for Baptist life that trying to change our identity or influence now would be like catching up to the speedboat long departed in our floaty. How we regain a positive influence in a world going downhill is a contemplative exercise in itself — perhaps too numerous to mention, without much influence to give.

About Robert

Who were/are your mentors, and how did/do they influence you?

Jerry Griffin was a close mentor: a DOM who took me in, shared the journey of being a pastor and gave prayerful wisdom to a young pastor.

Pastor Bill Parr was a dear friend and mentor: as a retired pastor working with Little Hope Baptist Church, he was a good friend in ministry. He had served several Baptist churches and, as well, as a DOM in one association himself. He had mileage on his ministry which was necessary for me to listen.

Clinton Bratcher was a pastoral mentor: serving with him for only three years as an associate, but I watched his ministry compassionately meet the needs of so many. He was not an educated seminarian but was a wise pastor and friend.

Dr. Mark Bumpus and Dr. David Smith are two men I have great confidence in as I serve alongside them in my current position as DOM. It is necessary to have wise friends and men of integrity to glean from.

Other than the Bible, name some of your favorite books or authors, and explain why.

• “How Now Shall We Live,” Charles Colson: great resource of worldviews and definitions.
• “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist,” Geisler and Turek: good apologetics.
• “The Circle Maker,” Mark Batterson: God doesn’t answer vague prayers.
• “Praying God’s Word,” Beth Moore: solid biblical praying
• “Intimate Moments with the Savior,” Ken Gire: powerful biblical devotion
• “Instructive Moments with the Savior,” Ken Gire: parabolic discovery
• “Incredible Moments with the Savior,” Ken Gire: miracle moments
• “My Utmost for His Highest,” Oswald Chambers: Who wouldn’t grow through this?
• “The Joshua Code,” O. S. Hawkins: we need to know God’s Word
• “The Jesus Code,” O. S. Hawkins: we should be able to answer incredible questions biblically
• “Fresh Wind Fresh Fire,” Jim Cymbala: incredible stories and quotes for igniting faith within our hearts
• “Fresh Power,” Jim Cymbala: another great movement of God’s Spirit
• “Fresh Faith,” Jim Cymbala: powerful stories of faith
• “Mere Christianity,” C. S. Lewis: historic apologetics
• “Radical,” David Platt: unsettling times call for revival of faith

What is your favorite Bible verse or passage? Why?

Isaiah 40:8: “The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever.” (Period.)

Micah 6:8: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness [mercy], and to walk humbly with your God?” (Doer of the Word.)

Psalm 139: (Creature being humbled before our Creator.)

Galatians 6:2: “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” (Practice; doer of the Word.)

Romans 8 and Romans 12: (Absolute powerful promises and passages of practice.)

Who is your favorite Bible character, other than Jesus? Why?

Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, who feared God more than man and helped rescue the people of Israel under judgment during Moses’ time. Numbers 25 has the story. He was bold and courageous to do what no other was willing to do at the moment.

God’s wrath was satisfied in a sort under this action. It speaks volumes about God’s wrath being settled because of the piercing of Christ on our behalf.

Name something about you that would surprise people who know you well.

I love to play the piano, guitar, bass and drums and certainly love great worship when people abandon their routine for the real. I am a connoisseur of all types of worship music, as well as great root beer.

If you could get one “do over” in your career, what would it be, and why?

Serving various churches as a youth minister, I certainly would love the chance to share a more intense love of Christ with teens who got lost in the entertainment of our ministry over the years. We played a lot and took up time in some instances, but to truly share the love of Christ naturally and faithfully at all times would be a great treasure to reignite.

I have the memory of one young man who was a bit more effeminate in nature than other boys, and we laughed at the zany moments of immaturity which today have led him to be fully embracing of homosexuality. His home life was difficult at times, but the youth ministry was a safe place for him, as well as a proving ground for the musty male egos to laugh off his personality. My wife and I both have revisited with him as an adult, and we wish we could have helped steer him otherwise.

Write and answer a question you wish we had asked.

What is one thing you want to be remembered for in marriage, family and ministry?

I want to be known as the one who loved my wife more than ministry, who gave all I could to cherish the relationship with my wife more than any object or item of temporary existence.

I wish to be known as the father who gave love, time and investment to his two children, cherished the moments with extended family, as well as gave all I could so others could succeed.

I want others to know that my calling was to serve God, and the blessing was to serve others in the various capacities of that calling in those seasons of life. I want others to know that my life and energy were invested in the Kingdom of God for his glory and that I desired others to join me on this journey of faith.

I am going to use this place as my confessional booth for a moment.

I care deeply, too deeply, what other people think of me. I want people to think I am smart. I want people to think I have it all together. I want people to like me or, rather, to love me.

This natural tendency of my heart is continually calling and accusing and pushing me.

My need for approval in ministry

This need for approval is a part, though I don’t know if I am cognizant how big a part, of the reason I am in the ministry. It shouldn’t be a reason why I do what I do, but it is.

In pastoral ministry, we use the vocabulary of calling and vocation, and rightly so. To be faithful in the long-term of ministry, one must have a calling from God and sense a vocation to the work, but my guess is I am not alone in seeing many aspects of my ministry as ways to fill the need of approval from others.

Don’t get me wrong. I feel a call from God on my life, and pastoring this great church God has given me is definitely my vocation. He has called me and equipped me to love and lead his people.

I am in ministry first and foremost because of the call of God on my life, but there is also a big part of my heart that loves what I do because of the close relationship with others and the love I find in these relationships.

These relationships fill a need in my life that is mostly good and right. We are meant to know the love and encouragement of the church, but sometimes this need for approval shows itself in spiritually unhealthy ways.

It takes a special kind of person to get up week in and week out and claim to speak truthfully and authoritatively from God’s word. Pastoral ministry is filled with personal relationships, and, in those relationships, there are many opportunities to be patted on the back.

I don’t know all the reasons why my heart needs this approval or why these pats on the back seem to bring so much joy — there is much I could examine in my own heart — but they do.

Naturally, you can see how this can be a problem for one called to minister to the people of God where we are to help lead the church to repentance and transformation. Seeking the approval of man comes into direct conflict with rightly preaching the word of God.

So, I must continually check my motives and my heart and seek to be faithful to my calling and pleasing to God above seeking to be pleasing to man. This is my constant struggle.

But, the truth is that there is danger for all of us in seeking the approval of man to satisfy our souls because man cannot ultimately satisfy or approve of us. We need the approval and love of our Father in heaven, and, in the gospel, we find it.

God’s pleasure in us

The proclamation of the gospel that in Christ I am approved, I am loved and I am accepted, is the truth countering my unhealthy need for the love of others.

In my baptism, as in the baptism of Jesus, God looks down on me in Christ and proclaims, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased.” The approval of man I long for finds its ultimate fulfillment in the satisfaction of my heart in Christ. I am his and he is mine.

In Jesus, I am welcomed. In Christ, the Father is well-pleased with me. It is not based on anything I have done, unlike so much of the approval of man, but based solely on what Christ has done for me. The love of God is sure. I can rest in the pleasure the Father has with me in Christ.

It is out of this sure love I can minister most effectively. It is out of this sure pleasure and acceptance that I am made truly whole.

Maybe you are like me. Maybe you struggle with needing to know and hear the approval of others. For whatever reason this may be true, you can know this longing finds its fulfillment in Jesus.

The approval of man proves fickle. The approval of God, which is ours by our faith in Christ, proves faithful. Trust Jesus and hear the declaration of God over your life: “This is my son, this is my daughter, in whom I am well pleased.”

Quit seeking the approval of man because in Jesus you are loved and accepted by God. I remind myself of this truth every day.

This is my confession.

Zac Harrel is pastor of First Baptist Church in Gustine, Texas.

When I was in eighth grade, I asked my parents for something special for Christmas. At that time, I was a proud member of the Alamo Jr. High Band (Go Scouts!) and had a rapidly growing obsession with all things percussion, so when my parents asked me what I would like for Christmas that year, there was really only one answer: a drum set.

So, I submitted my official request and the wait began. I waited … and waited … and waited.

The Christmas season is so brutal when you’re a kid.

The days had to be twice as long in December, and they are full of tirelessly counting down the days until that day. Then, finally, the morning comes when you get to see if what you asked for, what you hoped for, is there waiting for you.

That year, our family was spending the Christmas holiday out of town with family in Central Texas, and when we gathered around and began exchanging and opening presents, my father stood up and held out a piece of paper for me.

Confused, but also incredibly excited, I eagerly took the piece of paper and my eyes devoured what I found printed on it.

‘A picture of a promise’

On the paper, there was a picture of a cherry-red, five-piece drum set and a handwritten note at the bottom that read, “Waiting for you at home, love you, Mom and Dad.” I was beside myself with excitement. I couldn’t believe it. I was getting a drum set!

Yes, it meant more waiting, but in my hands was a picture of a promise, and it was beautiful.

I remember spending most of the rest of our time there and the trip back home studying that picture. I would think about where I was going to put it in the house and consider all the different ways I could arrange the set.

I couldn’t stop thinking about how excited I was to tell my friends about it and have them over to my house to see it. Most importantly though, I spent that time thinking about how much I was going to love playing on it.

I honestly didn’t think I could be more excited about it, but, much to my delight, I discovered that upon arriving at home and sitting down at my new drum set, my enjoyment of this gift would increase tenfold. I remember playing for hours on end … until my parents threatened me to stop.

I’m just kidding, but they did make me move it to the attic to practice.

Yes, the picture had been wonderful, and the promise of the gift had been great, but it wasn’t until I sat down and started playing those drums that I experienced the deep joy of the gift.

A promise in a Person

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Just try to imagine the unbridled excitement that the captivity-laden nation of Israel must have felt at these words from Isaiah. Imagine their joy as they held on to the beautiful word picture that God graciously gave them through his prophet: how they must have studied it, hoped in it and looked eagerly to the day when the picture would become a person.

And then it did.

One awfully mundane night, in an awfully mundane place, when the world was crying out in desperate need of saving, the fanfare of heaven came to finally bring forth the fulfillment of a long-awaited promise, and with one voice all of creation cried out an announcement of a royal birth.

The King of Kings, the Son of Man, the Word made flesh, had come.

And as he lay in a feeding trough, the song of the angels rose with a clarion chorus of “Behold the Savior!”

My prayer this Advent season is that we would join in that same angels’ song from long ago and lift our voices in unison to declare “Behold the Savior” to a dark and desperate world.

The light of Jesus continues to shine in the darkness, leading the longing to his presence, and the wonderful truth is this: the darkness will never overcome it.

Jason Dunton is the contemporary worship arts pastor at First Baptist Church in Bryan, Texas, where he lives and loves with his wife, Joanna, daughter, Penelope, and English bulldog, Grubby.

Christmas is the story of God’s perfect love coming to earth in Christ Jesus. Christmas is not something the church is simply called to proclaim in the season of Advent. We should proclaim and live the Christmas story all year long. Proclaiming the Christmas story is about so much more than culture wars — about getting upset (for instance) if a store clerk says “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”

Christmas is about God showing up on the human scene.

What happens when God shows up? People find healing. Outcasts are welcome at the table. In fact, they are given a place of honor at the table. When God shows up, sinners ostracized by the religious community find forgiveness and radical grace. Religious hypocrisy is called out on the carpet. The profound mystery of perfect love takes on human form. Religious zealots are told to cast the first stone — if they’re without sin. When God shows up, things are different, because “Light has entered the darkness.”

What would it look like for God to truly show up this Christmas? One of the biblical names given to Jesus is Immanuel, meaning “God with us.” Immanuel sounds great, until you realize that “God with us” can be a bit uncomfortable, and even a little frightening. “God with us” can lead us to the kinds of radical love that Christ showed. “God with us” is divine holiness invading our personal space, and shining a light on the darkness within our own hearts.

Read the rest of the article on Baptist News Global.

Roy Moore’s failed run for Alabama’s Senate seat tested white evangelicals’ allegiance to the Republican Party. Would they vote for a candidate who shares their conservative views on social issues even though he was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women?

Preliminary exit polls suggest they did just that, with 81 percent of white evangelicals who voted selecting Moore in Tuesday’s special election, which was narrowly won by Doug Jones, the Democratic candidate.

Part of Moore’s campaign strategy was to appeal to Christian nationalism–the belief that God has a uniquely Christian purpose for the United States. It has long made him a polarizing figure nationwide but has also kept him popular in his own state.

Andrew Whitehead, a sociologist at Clemson University who studies Christian nationalism, said evangelicals are the religious group most likely to identify with Christian nationalism. Alabama has one of the highest percentages of white evangelicals, and, he said, more than half of Southerners identify with a Christian nationalist narrative.

“The view is that God can use anybody as long as they’re promoting Christian nationalist or ideals or values,” Whitehead said. “It’s all about a quest for power and what serves the purpose in the political moment.”

Read the rest of the article it The Washington Post.

Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Garrison Keillor, Jeremy Piven, Louis C.K., Kevin Spacey, Jeffrey Tambor, John Conyers, Roy Moore, Al Franken, Harvey Weinstein and more.

Names seem to be added to the list daily.

As the #metoo movement has produced numerous allegations over the past several weeks, there are two questions that I have frequently heard in conversations about the matter.

Why now?

First, why now? Why did these women wait until now to make reports against these men? If it really happened, then why didn’t they report it immediately? Are these women just trying to get a place in the spotlight since this issue is hot right now?

The simplest answer to this question is that these women are coming forward right now because they finally think people will believe them.

Victims of sexual assault and harassment are often put through a long, painful investigation and judicial process in which they have to endure countless retellings of some of the most difficult moments of their lives. Then, at the end of the process, victims are often not believed, or they are even blamed for the violent and violating actions someone has taken against them — not to mention the tremendous shame and wrongly placed self-blame that accompanies sexual abuse.

Undoubtedly, there are millions more who still have not come forward for these very reasons.

Furthermore, in the cases of the high-profile men mentioned above, another factor plays into the hesitation, delay or nonexistent reporting of sexual misconduct. If the perpetrator is an integral part of an institution or industry that exerts power or influence of any kind, people know that, more often than not, power will act to protect itself. Institutions go to great lengths to protect their influence — whether financial or otherwise.

Before the past several weeks, could you have ever imagined a top-rated TV show or anticipated movie being canceled? Such instances only happened very rarely.

When reports like these have been made in the past, the most likely scenario was that the cases were “settled” with large amounts of money paid to the victims to minimize any scandal. Case in point: Bill O’Reilly, until recently.

Women are coming forward because, as Norah O’Donnell and Savannah Guthrie poignantly put it, this is a moment of reckoning.

This moment of reckoning is one in which not only are people becoming more aware of the prevalence of sexual misconduct in our society, but it is one in which the tides of power are hopefully changing.

The workplace, the home, the church and our world must become safe for women, and all people, if equality is ever going to be achieved in our society.

How can men feel safe?

The second question or concern I’ve heard is this: How can any man feel safe in his position when these stories are being believed at face value?

They speculate that anyone who is holding something against a man could just make an allegation of sexual misconduct and get the man fired. Because of this, many men are worried and are analyzing every interaction they’ve had over the course of their careers.

I can certainly have sympathy for this concern. Unfortunately, people can and do take advantage of situations like these to make false allegations. Proper investigation still needs to happen so that people are not unfairly penalized for something they did not do.

However, we must emphasize that victims of sexual abuse are always unfairly penalized emotionally, physically, professionally and in so many more ways for things that they did not do either.

A moment of reflection

So, I do think that all men, and people in positions of power, should take an inventory of their interactions. Moreover, such self-reflection should not just take place now but should become a regular practice so that great care is always taken not to objectify or take advantage of others.

Then, for those who take stock and become concerned that they may have said or done something that was inappropriate, I would encourage them to be the one to speak up first. Ask the person in question if they felt victimized by your behavior. And if the answer is affirmative (or even if it is not), then seek forgiveness, pursue reconciliation and become educated on how to transform your interactions.

Don’t let this be a moment when we just say that Matt Lauer and Harvey Weinstein should have known better.

Let this be a moment when we all examine the ways in which we interact with and think about the people around us.

Our fellow humans do not exist for our own self-amusement. Our fellow divine-image bearers exist so that, together with God, we might partner with each other in God’s work of redemption, grace and love in this world.

In this moment of reckoning, let us become a people who stand for respect, equality and partnership and who stand against objectification, oppression and entitlement.

Meredith Stone is director of ministry guidance and instructor of Christian ministry and Scripture at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology. She is a member of the Baptist Standard Publishing board of directors.

Since 2012, David Hardage has served as the executive director of Texas Baptists (The Baptist General Convention of Texas). From deep in the heart of one Texan, he shares his background and thoughts on leading Texas Baptists. To suggest a Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated leader to be featured in this column, or to apply to be featured yourself, click here.

Background

Where else have you worked, and what were your positions?

I have been the pastor of four churches. The last was FBC Sulphur Springs for 14 years.

I was director of missions of the Waco Regional Baptist Association and then director of development for Truett Seminary.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Texas, mostly West Texas. I call Lamesa my hometown.

How did you come to faith in Christ?

I came to faith in Christ at the age of nine in Duncan, Oklahoma, on the first Tuesday night of the year 1966.

Where were you educated, and what degrees did you receive?

I received a Bachelor of Arts from Baylor University, a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from Midwestern Seminary in Kansas City.

Ministry/Profession

Why do you feel called to your particular vocation?

I feel called to this role because of the Lord’s leading, the door opening and people I know and trust believing in me. I never had any expectations or aspirations to serve in this role but am honored to do so.

Please tell us about your BGCT institution—the breadth and nature of its work, including its mission, measures of scope, etc.

The BGCT is made of 5400 churches, of all kinds, all across Texas (and beyond) who share resources to do partnership ministry and missions. Our work is extensive and exciting.

What do you like best about leading your institution? Why?

I like the people I am able to serve with on our staff. They are good people who love the Lord, his church and the lost, and are devoted to Texas Baptists!

What aspect(s) of your institution and/or its mission do you wish more people understood?

I do wish more people had a grasp of the scope of our ministry. We are touching lives in numerous ways all over Texas.

How has your institution and its mission changed since you began your career?

We have changed the location of our primary offices and decentralized our operation some with offices in Waco, Austin, San Antonio and, soon, Houston. We have reorganized around five primary ministry teams and have developed some exciting mission partnerships with Brazilian Baptists and Mexican Baptists.

How do you expect your institution and/or its mission to change in the next 10 to 20 years?

I would expect us to continue to become more decentralized as the Texas population continues to grow. Also, we’ll become more diverse as a staff to reflect the people of Texas. And, we’ll continue to fine-tune our organization to meet the changing world in which we live. Change will be our only constant.

Name the three most significant challenges and/or influences facing your institution.

Keeping up with the pace of change in Texas, the church and society is a challenge.

Resourcing our work and ministry is also a challenge, as is maintaining a sense of relevancy to the new/next generations.

What one aspect of your job gives you the greatest joy or fulfillment?

I still love preaching in a different Texas Baptist church every Sunday. Every week is fascinating.

About Baptists

What are the key issues facing Baptists?

Maintaining a sense of relevancy to a changing world. Holding on to biblical authority with grace and peace.

However, the biggest challenge has not changed in decades, and that is sharing the Good News of Jesus with those who do not know him. This will always be our priority!

What would you change about the Baptist denomination—state, nation or local?

If I could change anything, it would be establishing a renewed sense and spirit of cooperation. We have missed a generation or two in talking about the practice and power of cooperation.

About David

Who were/are your mentors, and how did/do they influence you?

I grew up in a pastor’s home, so my father was the foundation for my ministry perspective. As I became involved in Texas Baptists’ work, I always appreciated the leadership of Charles Lee Williamson, Bill Roe (the first DOM I ever knew) and then, of course, Bill Pinson, Ken Coffee and James Semple.

Other than the Bible, name some of your favorite books or authors, and explain why.

I enjoy reading the works of Dr. Jim Denison. I really appreciate his cultural relevancy from a biblical worldview.

What is your favorite Bible verse or passage? Why?

Psalm 1:1–3. These are words to live by!

Who is your favorite Bible character, other than Jesus? Why?

I always like reading the story of David. He was set apart for a purpose, imperfect in many ways, but wholly committed to the Lord and used in powerful ways.

Name something about you that would surprise people who know you well.

I can throw a baseball, equally well, with both arms.

If you could get one “do over” in your career, what would it be, and why?

I would not play football in high school. I was too small and slow!

Advent is upon us, and, with it, innumerable opportunities for us to sidestep the world in favor of a more palatable one. For it is not just the Christmas sales and the gallons of eggnog that threaten to lull Christians to sleep; it is our forgetting that Christmas is a time when all times are called to account.

So much of our celebrating of Christmas exists not to trouble us, to flow easily into our calendar’s other events and cycles: Christmas as the most important quarter of the economic year, winter as the apex of the seasons, winter break as the reset between Fall and Spring semesters.

And our Christmas celebrations are not immune from this: the shopping, which is different in degree but not kind from the rest of the year; the food we eat is not different but more abundant.

And if this is all this is — a time to celebrate in the way we normally do, only more so — is it time to abolish the name Christmas? If Christmas has become a time like any other time, only more so, then maybe we should just quit.

Blowing up Christmas

As a theologian and ethicist, one of my favorite Christmas films is the 1980s classic “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” It begins, as a lot of Christmas films do, with some sort of crisis, which mushrooms into a major crisis, resolving all things by the end of Christmas.

And in that sense, it’s part of the problem, for “Christmas Vacation” begins and ends with a pretty minor problem: wanting to throw the best family Christmas celebration ever.

What it does differently, however, is that by halfway through the film, the veneer has been ripped off. Without giving away the plot too much, things continue to hurtle downhill as the patriarch Clark Griswold attempts to hold things together.

And finally, toward the end of the film, in one of the most memorable Christmas scenes of all time, Clark snaps, letting forth a tirade which functions not just as a comic high point, but as a judgment upon the whole film. For the film is built on the premise that most people live out their Christmas season: this is like the rest of the year, only more so — more food, more family, more stuff, more waste, more animosity and more frustration.

It is only in the last tirade that this understanding is blown up: families reconcile, crimes are forgiven, business models are reconfigured.

The difference Christmas makes

To read the Christmas stories of Scripture is to read the aftermath of a bomb going off: pagan princes who seek a Jewish king, lowly shepherds visited by God’s holy messengers, a king who kills 3000 children, a young family fleeing into exile in Egypt.

But such is the aftermath of God entering the story: Egyptian gods are brought down, waters are parted, fire erupts from heaven. To celebrate Christmas as simply like the rest of the time, only more so, is to miss Christmas entirely.

Christmas, if it is anything, is a celebration of the impossible possibility that God is among us, and that, in that, everything — everything — is different.

Things cannot, in light of Christmas, be the same: for God has come among us and thrown around the living room furniture, that everything might be different.

That is the gospel; that, and nothing less, is Christmas.

Myles Werntz is assistant professor of Christian ethics and practical theology and the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon Seminary in Abilene. Email him at Myles.Werntz@hsutx.edu.

The sheep and the goats are being separated each day over the past few months. Every day, new revelations come out about some powerful man abusing or harassing young women and young men. I cringe every time a news alert pops up on my phone.

Months ago, we thought Harvey Weinstein might be the most egregious example of a sexual predator. But, after allegations against many other well-known men in entertainment, the media, and politics, a much more complete vision is becoming undeniable.

What has lived for years as insider, local knowledge is now front-page news. And now these people who have abused and kept others from advancement in the workplace are losing their own careers.

Michael Gerson recently wrote in The Washington Post, “What seemed for generations the prerogative of powerful men has been fully revealed as a pernicious form of dehumanization. … An ethical light switch was flipped. Moral outrage — the appropriate response — now seems obvious.”

‘An ethical flash point’

We are in the midst of an ethical flash point. And what is being revealed about us is not pretty. This flash point is a time to take stock of who we are. What do we truly value?

And, for those of us in churches, we must ask: What needs to be reevaluated in us and our theology?

Words matter. Theology matters. What we do in church shapes our thoughts and creates categories of meaning and value.

This past summer, a colleague of mine at Woodland Baptist Church, Ellen Di Giosia, was called to be the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Jefferson City, Tennessee. Because First Baptist called her, they have now been kicked out of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

We need another look at Scripture, and more than a passing glance that dismisses new or unfamiliar readings. Look at the way God’s Spirit acts through the ministry of women in the Bible.

In his essay “Women in Ministry: Biblical, Theological and Practical Reflections,” Dr. Todd Still makes note of a myriad of women in the New Testament who served the church in a variety of ways, many of which would be similar to modern-day pastors: Lydia, Priscilla, Junia, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Euodia, Syntyche, and more.

Anna the prophet is one of the first to recognize the significance of Jesus’ birth. When she meets the Christ child at the Temple, she began to praise God and to speak about Jesus to everyone who was “looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). It must have been a wonderful sermon!

For the most part, we have chosen not to see within Scripture the seeds of liberation for women within the life of the church. We have been convinced that yesterday’s patriarchy is God-ordained. And we are paying the price.

‘A direct path’

The sheep and the goats are being separated. It is no longer convenient to ignore the gifts of women in the church for preaching and teaching.

There’s a direct path from the theology of the Tennessee Baptists to the empowering of Harvey Weinstein. There’s a direct path from the Southern Baptists firing all women who teach men in its seminaries (e.g., firing people like Molly Marshall) and sweeping the vulgar acts of people like Roy Moore under the rug.

This is a theology that can’t come to terms with the sacred equality of women and men. Valuing maleness over the Spirit’s actions through women denies the radical nature of the incarnation.

This is a theology that refuses to see the Spirit as capable of acting through female flesh. Putting a cap on the Spirit’s capabilities is the definition of blasphemy.

The question is: Will we learn and be changed from this encounter? It is not too late.

After all, we have thought it was all lost before.

On that dreadful day long ago, a disciple went to Jesus’ tomb early on a Sunday morning. There Mary met the gardener. And, realizing who he was, she went back to the apostles and preached the first Christian sermon, saying, “I have seen the Lord.”

Garrett Vickrey is pastor of Woodland Baptist Church in San Antonio.