When you watch a movie or a television show from past decades, what seems to be most dated is how everyone in the scene smokes a cigarette. Modern shows depicting the era make this central. Just watch a few scenes of “Mad Men” and you can’t miss the abundance of smoke in the room.

As we look back on this time now, we can’t believe no one saw the dangers of cigarettes. Why did the culture swallow the lies of cigarette companies and allow big money to pave over the risks inherent in smoking? It seems crazy to us now.

I believe future generations will look back on our modern-era addiction to our smartphones in much the same way.

With the distance of time, they will be able to see how smartphones changed our lives in ways I believe will be seen as extremely detrimental. These computers in our pockets are changing our society and us in fundamental ways.

Destructive connectivity

In the September 2017 issue of The Atlantic, Jean M. Twenge has an article titled “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” about the mental and emotional effects on what she calls iGen, the generation of kids born between 1995 and 2012. This is the first generation raised with smartphones always around and with social media as their public square.

She makes a compelling case of the destruction this constant connectivity has wrought, with rates of teen depression and suicide sharply rising since 2011. It is not a pretty picture.

Reading this article made me ask: If anxiety and depression are on the rise, and there is compelling evidence to link this with the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, what are our smartphones doing to us spiritually? What is the danger of constant connectivity to information and social media to our spiritual lives?

We could be here all day if we listed every danger so I will mention two.

The loss of real community

The irony of social media and constant connectivity through our phones is that we have actually lost true community.

Twenge shows how iGen children, who have grown up with smartphones in their hands, lack many social skills older generations learned from face-to-face interactions and building relationships with friends by spending time physically with one another instead of behind a screen.

Technology is extremely helpful for churches disseminating information, but it is also stunting our ability to interact physically with those around us. The church is the community of faith, the body of Christ, and she is most effective in the life of the believer in the physical presence of her members.

A hug, a pat on the back, a conversation with eye contact and vocal inflections emphasizing love are all a part of the ministry of the body of Christ—not to mention the spiritual importance of the physical acts of singing, praying, taking communion and all the other aspects of our corporate worship we only receive in the physical community of faith.

True community is not found behind a screen. There is something important lost when our only communication is by text and our only encouragement is in the form of an emoji.

Our dwindling attention span

The devotional life of the believer requires our attention to be focused for extended periods of time. There is no doubt our smartphones are changing our attention spans. Take note of how often you pick up your phone throughout the day when there is a lull at work or quiet at home.

I have noticed it in my life. I read for a few minutes and then I reach for my phone. I try to be quiet before the Lord and pray, and it is not long until I am making sure no one has texted me or liked my tweet. I am concerned what our smartphones are doing to our prayer lives because I am concerned about what my smartphone is doing to mine.

Our constant connectivity is rapidly changing our ability to focus, and this will have an unbelievably corrosive impact on the devotional life of the church. We must train our hearts and minds to focus on Bible reading and prayer disconnected from our smartphones.

I know there are apps and helps many find useful, and if you can use these without wandering over to social media or checking your latest text, then, by all means, use them for the glory of God. I am weak and therefore I must go into my closet and pray without the lure of my phone.

Screen master

Jesus tells us we cannot serve two masters.

If we step back, look at our lives and take a look at those all around us, it is undeniable the master we have chosen to serve. Sadly, as for me and my house, we serve our phones.

We all live at the whim of the screens in front of us. Maybe, it is time to ask what our addiction is doing to our spiritual lives.

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

The furor over athletes kneeling during the national anthem has reached a fever pitch in the last few days, fueled in part no doubt by the regular lobbing of Molotov cocktails from the presidential Twitter account.

The shared logic of the outraged seems to be that kneeling during the national anthem is an intentional disrespect of the symbols of America and, by extension, the people who fought for the rights and privileges of Americans which her common symbols represent.

In other words, to put it somewhat reductively, those who love America would not, could not, kneel.

At the root of this patriotic outcry is an illogical and problematic notion of love. Love of country, so it says, is demonstrated above all by reverence and submission to the symbols of the country, to flag and anthem.

Not only does it not follow that love must exclude expressions of criticism and pain, but that notion directly goes against the principle of loving critique which the Bible repeatedly emphasizes in both testaments. We could pick numerous examples from Deuteronomy or the Prophets, but the simplest expression is in Proverbs 3:11–12: “My child, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves the one he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.”

The same idea appears in Paul’s letters and in a form clearly dependent on Proverbs in Revelation’s letter of rebuke to Laodicea: “I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent” (Revelation 3:19).

Now, obviously, we are not in the place of God, but the general principle still stands that genuine love is very often expressed through disagreement and rebuke. The broader application of the idea is indirectly acknowledged in the text of Proverbs itself when it uses the analogy of a father and son. Parents know that loving parenting often requires rebuke.

On bended knees

That certainly rings true in my life as a parent. My son is perhaps most pleased when I am at my most permissive, but I know that he is often best served and best shaped by the gentle, loving rebuke of his parents. Why, when this principle is so evident in our own lives and in our relationships to God, do so many fail to grasp that a bended knee is no sign of a crooked heart?

I am particularly troubled by the fact that many of those who have heaped the greatest amount of bile and vitriol upon Colin Kaepernick and those following his example are my brothers and sisters in Christ. Kaepernick and some of his fellow players have been quite clear that their activism on the field is related explicitly to their faith in Jesus Christ. This alone should give the enraged mobs pause.

But instead of asking why their brother feels compelled by his faith to act in this manner, they have invented their own reasons for his behavior. He is unamerican, a provocateur, trying to build a brand on his failed career (never mind that his activism has almost certainly imperiled it), racist against whites, and above all “ungrateful.”

I cannot claim to know what motivates so many Christians to behave in this way, but I have an idea.

Nationalism and racism

I believe we are witnessing the convergence of two insidious sins which have taken root in the church.

First, the sin of nationalism robs the church of its ability to offer a loving rebuke of our government, and, thus impotent, Christianity becomes a feckless state religion.

Today, I happen to be reading over Amos in preparation for teaching, and I am struck by the parallels between the unwelcome portents of doom by prophets and our rejection of prophetic voices of critique against our society. Put another way, what has been said of Kaepernick that could not have been said in response to one of the prophets?

Even Amos, who gave up his herds and traveled to the northern kingdom far from kin and friends, was accused by Amaziah of prophesying in Israel as a way to put food on the table. As Jesus pointed out, prophets are rarely loved in their hometowns either.

Second, the sin of racism has infected the hearts of our people to a degree many do not wish to acknowledge.

Black entertainers are told to keep our entertainment at the forefront. Using their platform to advance their own issues is “ungrateful.” The underlying reasoning seems to be that without us and our viewership they’d still be in poverty, never mind that they’ve been elevated by their own talents and abilities.

The white occupation of black success, particularly in sports, is, I believe, fundamentally rooted in racism. Many of those who heap scorn upon Kaepernick do so in racially charged ways. They hate black success yet still desire to internalize the success of black athletes through their fandom.

The key for them, I think, is forgetting athletes’ blackness, subsiding their black identity beneath the collective identity of the team and its fans. Being reminded of the reality of our society by successful black people breaks the fandom trance and reminds them of their underlying resentment.

‘A stark and ugly reality’

The spell thus broken, we are confronted by a stark and ugly reality. Our country, which we love and in which we deservedly invest some pride, is plagued by injustices and inequalities.

Perhaps we tuned into the game to escape the cares of the day or the stress of work, only to have the faults of our society pushed in our face. We are right to be unsettled by this, but it is madness to hate the doctor for telling you of your cancer.

Instead of lashing out at those disturbing voices for the discomfort they cause, perhaps we need to think deeply about what in their consciences compels them to speak out in this way. I think if we open ourselves to troubling, prophetic voices, we will recognize the injustices unfolding before our eyes.

The blood of our black brothers and sisters cries out from the ground. It testifies against us.

Will we now punish the voices who echo its cry or will we rebuke what we love?

Jeremiah Bailey is a doctoral student at Baylor University specializing in the study of the New Testament and early Christianity. He attends Lake Shore Baptist Church in Waco and is writing a dissertation on First Clement.

RE: Why aren’t women pastoring Baptist churches?

Our brother Craig Nash points to the exodus of women in ministry from Baptist churches to the UCC. He laments that “some of the greatest female preachers who have graduated from ‘moderate’ Baptist seminaries are now preaching, if they have remained in Texas, in UCC and Disciples of Christ congregations.”

It is wise for Search Committees to thoroughly examine a candidate’s doctrinal statement. One lady, one of my HS classmates [1968] graduated from HGST in 2015 and serves a UCC congregation in Ohio as pastor. She is an able preacher with a pastor’s heart for ministry. Yet from her I became aware of the doctrines of the UCC regarding sexuality, marriage, and the authority of Scripture to define faith and practice. She and the UCC reject NT teachings [Romans 1 and elsewhere] describing homosexuality as a perversion. They perform gay marriages. My friend insists, “God is saying new things to this generation. Thus, don’t judge.” This is heresy like Montanus of old.

Brother Nash’s reference to the UCC is no cause to retain such preachers. I wonder if they are Baptist. I question the suitability of any person who will serve a UCC church, whose heresy be a reason to shun them as Jesus taught in Matthew 18. The BGCT dealt with similar congregations in recent years. Surely a Texas Baptist preacher ought to agree to the Baptist Faith and Message of 1963 or compatible. Otherwise, the preacher, male or female, may be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, rejecting the authority of Scripture.

Maurice Harding
Corpus Christi, Texas

RE: Are Confederate monuments today’s ‘high places’ to be torn down?

Raabe suggests having Confederate statues is equivalent to the idol worship of the Old Testament “high places.” Really?

Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were devout Christians. Before the War, Jackson was criticized for conducting Sunday school for slaves. During his campaigns, Lee spent much time in prayer. Revival broke out among the Confederate soldiers, giving birth to the Bible Belt. At the War’s end, instead of encouraging guerrilla warfare, Lee encouraged the healing of the nation’s wounds.

Churchill was right, “History is written by the victors.” They’ve tried to make the War Between the States solely about slavery, but that simply isn’t true. Lincoln didn’t make the War about slavery until incompetent generals and mounting losses soured Northern support for it. To reinvigorate the cause, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing Southern slaves, while leaving Northern ones in chains.

The War was really about whether or not ours was to remain a “federal” system, in which the States were sovereign in their sphere and the General government was sovereign in its very limited sphere. We can all see where Lincoln’s course has taken us.

Confederate statues have been in place for over a century, so why the sudden rush to topple them? For the historically astute, current trends bear a marked resemblance to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. If you’re searching for real villains, take a look at Marx and Stalin. They weren’t men of prayer or Sunday school teachers, but they knew how to topple a nation.

Michael Leamons
Hico, Texas

Both sides of my ancestors owned slaves and, as people would like to believe, they were not evil people. I’m not condoning slavery. It was a fact of life, but I’m not apologizing either for my ancestors, and I take offense that some “Christians” insinuate my ancestors were not Christians because they owned slaves.

I also take offense some of our Baptist leaders insinuate if someone flies a Confederate battle flag there is no way they can be Christians. I can’t change the fact that they owned slaves. I suggest we don’t stop with removing Confederate statues. Why don’t we remove all of Paul’s epistles since he was a murderer, or at least an accessory to murder? We need to remove the book of Psalms since David was guilty of adultery and murder. But let’s don’t stop there. We also need to remove the four gospels because Jesus had an ancestor that was a prostitute.

Just for your information, and your readers’, Army General George Patton’s grandfather fought for the Confederacy. Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest III great-grandfather was Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest. President Theodore Roosevelt’s uncle was Confederate chief foreign agent Captain James Dunswoody Bulloch. President Woodrow Wilson’s father, Dr. Joseph Ruggles Wilson, was a chaplain in the Confederate army. President Harry S. Truman was a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Do you get my point? “He who is guilty of no sin let them cast the first stone.” And, it seems we have a lot of stone throwers today.

I hate to inform the “do-gooders” that tearing down a statue will not get you in heaven.

F.A. Taylor
Kempner, Texas

For the last five years, Anson R. Nash Jr. Has served as the executive director of the Corpus Christi Baptist Association in Corpus Christi, 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?

I have served as small group pastor at Padre Island Baptist Church since 2000. Prior to that, I served Lexington Baptist Church as education director. I was youth and music at North Beach Baptist Church (all in Corpus Christi). I served as music and youth director, at FBC Ingleside, FBC George West and FBC Gregory. My first church staff position was minister of maintenance at FBC Eagle Lake. All of these were part-time positions. In my prior life, I was an elementary school teacher and principal for 34 years in Corpus Christi ISD.

Where did you grow up?

Eagle Lake, Texas

How did you come to faith in Christ?

I grew up in a Christian home. My mother was church secretary and organist at FBC Eagle Lake. We were having a revival when I was seven. My younger sister was six. She announced at dinner that she was going forward to get baptized. I said, “Me too.”

I believe that was a genuine experience; however, as a junior and BSU president at the University of Corpus Christi, I didn’t feel my life was what God intended for a Christian to exemplify, so I went into the prayer chapel late one night, got on my knees, and told the Lord, “If I didn’t know what I was doing at seven, I’m ready to get it right, and I’m not leaving this room until I know that I know.” I left that night with a peace that has blocked any doubts the devil throws my way since that night.

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

I received my Associate of Arts from Wharton County Junior College in religious education and music. I received my Bachelor of Arts from the University of Corpus Christi in elementary education and social studies. My Master of Science degree from Texas A&I College was in elementary administration and government.

Ministry/Profession

Why do you feel called to your particular vocation?

It’s been a journey that started as a junior in Sunday School. Every week, I would sit on a front pew, next to my mother’s organ, praying, “God, please call me into vocational ministry.” I matriculated to junior college with that same prayer, which led to my choice of a degree in religious education and music.

However, on registration day of my junior year at UCC, God clearly spoke to me and said, “I want you in ministry, but not the way you think. I want you to minister through the public schools.” And God provided positions in churches where I could use my religious education and music skills while ministering in the schools.

He richly blessed and protected me for 34 years of service. At 57, I clearly heard God again: “You have been faithful in service. I’m letting you go.” I submitted my resignation. Within six months, my pastor at Lexington called me and offered me the position of education director. I believe that all those years God was preparing me for the office I hold today.

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

CCBA serves Nueces, San Patricio and Aransas counties. We office in Corpus Christi, where most of our 69 churches are located. I resource a diversity of churches: 47 BGCT, 12 SBTC, six dually aligned and four with no alignment. We have 39 predominately Anglo congregations, 20 Hispanic, eight African-American, one Korean and one Chinese congregation.

My goal coming into this office was to build bridges between conventions, denominations, racial/ethnic groups and all socioeconomic levels. I believe I’ve seen a great deal of progress in those areas.

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

I enjoy great relationships with most of my pastors and lay leaders. My wife and I enjoy going to a different church to worship each Sunday. Having spent my life anchored to one church at a time, it is like sitting in the crow’s nest observing multiple worship and preaching styles. I enjoy the opportunity to preach in many churches every year.

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

The association is about kingdom-building. Too many churches are into their own kingdom-building at the neglect of a lost and dying world. This note is the gospel of Anson, but I believe the church should model tithing by giving at least 10% of undesignated receipts to missions and ministries outside its own walls.

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

We were in transition when I came on board. I helped orchestrate the conversion from the traditional model of governance to the NAMB model. We are currently looking at a move away from our strategic plan to something more in line with Will Mancini’s visioning as expressed in “Church Unique” and “God Dreams.”

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

We must learn how to operate with more efficiency. As the boomers and silent generation pass from the scene, we will be struggling to raise funds for the ministries and programs we now provide. We will move from providing services without charge to churches to fee-based services. We will be looking at less expensive housing for our offices and maybe even doing away with the associational office as we know it today. It will be mandatory to prove our value in order to justify our existence. Relevance, relevance, relevance!

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

Funding, developing close relationships with church lay leaders and inculcating a desire to focus our congregations on what’s happening outside the four walls of their buildings.

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

When people express an appreciation for what the association is doing for the churches.

About Baptists

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

Focusing on delivery of the gospel more than nickels, noses and programs.

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

Our recent history of infighting has set us years behind in our real cause, that of following the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.

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

Disunity

About Anson

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

The Billy Graham Evangelism team. As a child, I attended stadium events put on by the BGEA. It was a thrill to watch and listen as they presented the gospel in word, song and deed.

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

Two books that I purchased with high school graduation money: “In His Steps” by Charles Sheldon and “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. They influenced me in the same way, though the level of writing was much different. The emphasis of both books is that Christ has very high expectations of people who claim to be his followers.

What is your favorite Bible verse or passage? Why?

Isaiah 43:2–3: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” I was in a prayer meeting this morning and a bulletin board caught my eye: “Don’t worry about drowning in life. Your lifeguard walks on water.” I guess that puts the passage in perspective.

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

Daniel. He was a man of great strength and character. He had no fear in standing up for what was right, but he shared the truth in love.

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

When I married 54 years ago, my wife was a senior in high school and I was a senior in college. We eloped to Nueva Laredo to tie the knot. I don’t recommend it, but God has blessed our marriage beyond measure.

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

I would not have changed churches so often. I was too focused on upward mobility.

Write and answer a question you wish we had asked.

How does your wife fit into your ministry?

Linda has been my best friend for 55 years, but she did not surrender to the ministry. She was always behind me, supporting me at home, but it was only after I became the Executive Director of the Corpus Christi Baptist Association that she moved beside me in my ministry. My churches have come to see us a team. She had a wrestling match with God five years ago. She didn’t break a hip, but she did totally surrender to the gospel ministry beside me.

Me encanta la gente diversa, la comida, y los idiomas  a través del Estado de la Estrella Solitaria, especialmente el “sur de la frontera” con sus sonidos y sabores únicos. La cultura latina es parte de mi herencia y estoy orgulloso de servir a la Conferencia Nacional Hispana de Liderazgo Cristiano como Directora Ejecutiva de la Coalición de Fe y Educación. Me encanta trabajar con padres, pastores y líderes de todo el país que se preocupan profundamente por los estudiantes y la educación de alta calidad.

En muchas comunidades hispanas de Texas, pastores y miembros de la iglesia proveen conexiones educativas vitales para las familias. Desde los inmigrantes y los padres de habla hispana hasta los estudiantes universitarios de primera generación, estos “héroes de aprendizaje” ayudan a las familias locales a superar las brechas lingüísticas y culturales relacionadas con la educación. Invierten en estudiantes porque creen que cada niño es creado a la imagen de Dios y merece la oportunidad de alcanzar su potencial.

Una forma en que estos líderes de la iglesia ayudan a las familias a trazar un curso para el éxito escolar es alentándolos a construir una sólida asociación entre padres y maestros. Esto puede ser intimidante para los adultos que nunca completaron su propia educación, los que fueron educados en otros países, o los que no son fluidos en Inglés. Pero podemos animar a todos los padres a sacar el máximo provecho de esta temporada de “regreso a la escuela” con algunos consejos simples. Los padres pueden ser “héroes de aprendizaje” para sus hijos al comenzar el año escolar con estos cinco consejos:

1. Comience fuerte.

Averigüe cómo preparar a su hijo para su nuevo grado. Asegúrese de revisar los resultados de las pruebas estatales anuales del año pasado. Considere la posibilidad de usar el enfoque TAG (Reacción del maestro + Evaluaciones + Grados) para determinar cómo está progresando su estudiante y qué áreas pueden necesitar apoyo adicional. Si aún no ha recibido los resultados del examen STAAR de su hijo, visite www.TexasAssessment.com para ver los resultados de evaluación de su hijo del último año escolar, así como muchos otros recursos de los padres. Gran parte de esta información también está disponible en español.

2. Tenga Socios.

En su primera reunión de maestros, traiga los resultados de su estado de la prueba del estado y pregunte qué significan para este año. Averigüe lo que se espera de su hijo y lo que puede hacer en casa para ayudar. Usted puede prepararse para la primera reunión del maestro con consejos en BeALearningHero.org.

3. ¡Que sea divertido!

¡Usted es el experto en su niño y puede ayudar a hacer el aprendizaje fresco! Lean juntos sobre temas que interesan a su hijo. Encuentre las matemáticas en la vida cotidiana – conviértalo en un juego. ¡Los pequeños momentos de aprendizaje se suman!

4. Celebre el trabajo duro.

Concéntrese en el esfuerzo y lo que su hijo está aprendiendo. Celebre el trabajo duro y el progreso, en lugar de la perfección, y esto ayudará a su hijo a sentirse menos nervioso acerca de nuevas tareas o temas.

5. Fomentar las habilidades para la vida a lo largo del camino.

Fortalezas como ser capaz de comunicarse, resolver problemas y demostrar paciencia ayudarán a su hijo en la escuela y en la vida. Hable abiertamente con su hijo acerca de cómo él o ella se siente y reacciona ante situaciones en la escuela, en el patio de recreo y en casa. Padres y maestros y líderes de la iglesia pueden asociarse para ayudar a los estudiantes a alcanzar altos estándares, esperando y sacando lo mejor de cada niño.

Las buenas pruebas nos ayudan a medir si los estudiantes están en camino para el siguiente nivel de grado y, eventualmente, para el rigor de la universidad o carrera. Y el acceso a los resultados de las pruebas y otros datos de progreso, tanto en inglés como en español, permite a los padres convertirse en socios completos en la educación de sus hijos. Podemos honrar nuestra diversidad cultural al unir a los padres detrás de un objetivo común – excelentes oportunidades de educación para todos nuestros estudiantes de Texas.

Por Dra. Andrea Ramírez, Directora Ejecutiva, Coalición de Fe y Educación – NHCLC

I was in my early twenties before I ever witnessed a female have an active role in a worship service.

A college friend and I spent the weekend with another friend in another town, and we attended church together on Sunday morning. The order of service was basically identical to the one I had grown up in, even if the liturgy seemed a bit more formal than my East Texas background had exposed me to.

But this particular church, unlike most I had known, had a variation on the offering and offertory prayer in which the prayer was prayed by the song leader as the ushers came quietly to the front of the sanctuary, rather than one of the ushers saying the prayer after walking up as a group.

The effect was that if you were a good Christian with head bowed and eyes closed during the prayer, you couldn’t see who the ushers were on that morning until the “Amen” was uttered.

Luke, the friend we were visiting, sat in between Scott and me, enhancing the comedic value of this story. After the “Amen” came, the scene went down like this:

We all looked up.

About two seconds passed between looking up and assessing that a couple of the ushers that day were female. (It should be noted that there was no indication either in the bulletin or announced in the service that it was a special WMU or GA Day.)

Luke continued to look forward, as he had likely done every Sunday before.

Scott and I, having grown up in similar East Texas churches, dropped our jaws, slowly leaned forward and pivoted our heads toward each other, leaving Luke (who knew us well enough to know what was going on) laughing hysterically throughout the rest of the service.

All that because of a female usher.

Decades without change

Not long after, the same church would make news for being the first Southern Baptist Church in Texas to call a woman as the lead pastor, setting off one of the many skirmishes that culminated in schisms that you, if you are reading this publication, likely are well aware of.

I would eventually, over the course several years, evolve from being shocked at seeing a female usher in a worship service to being uncomfortable if all the leaders on a Sunday morning were men.

I graduated from being a fierce supporter of “women in ministry” to being someone who was careful to say “women in lead pastor roles” when having the conversation about gender and ministry because even many of our estranged Southern Baptist brothers and sisters agree that the sisters can take part in some kinds of ministry. The seminary I attended and graduated from has always been a strong advocate for female preachers, graduating some of the very best.

Yet almost twenty years after that eye-opening experience of mine, and almost that long since one group of Baptists broke away from another group of Baptists over the rights of churches to appoint women as lead pastors, (not to mention the refusal of seminary professors and denominational leaders to sign a document relegating women to subservient roles,) none of us are significantly more likely to walk into a Baptist church in Texas led by a female now than we were back then.

We are doing ourselves a grave disservice if we aren’t asking ourselves why this is the case, and what was the point of our split if the leadership of our churches looks essentially the same as those we split from?

And if we aren’t living into the reasons for our existence, do we owe those we split from an apology for not acting on what we said we believed twenty years ago?

I understand and empathize with the tendency of moderates to want to move slowly, even if I want to slip a copy of MLK’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” into the pages of their Bible where Acts 2:17 is located. (“Your sons and daughters will prophesy.”)

But c’mon. Twenty years?

Past Time

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of attending the opening worship service of the “Nevertheless, She Preached” conference just a couple of miles down the road from where my jaw dropped at seeing my first female usher.

The service, led by an (almost) all female worship team, along with women preachers, prayers and Scripture readers, was one of the most evangelical, good-news-filled worship experiences I have experienced in years. The experience revealed to me that it isn’t just our women who are being hurt by our churches’ refusal to call them to preach, it is the big “C” Church that is losing.

If they were both, male and female, created in the image of God, then it only makes sense that we are being deprived of knowing God more fully if we aren’t sitting under the teaching and leadership of women who have answered the call of God on their lives to preach and to lead.

As someone who is holding on to his Baptist identity despite all the reasons not to, I pray it is not too late.

In the years between declaring that we theoretically believe women can preach and lead congregations and now, I have watched many of our greatest potential leaders knock on doors of churches, making themselves available to preach and lead, only to be told that it isn’t “quite time.”

In addition to this, on a denominational level, we have cast votes and passed resolutions that make it less likely that our most gifted female preachers will want to remain in the fold. The result is that some of the greatest female preachers who have graduated from “moderate” Baptist seminaries are now preaching, if they have remained in Texas, in UCC and Disciples of Christ congregations.

It’s not time for our most prominent Texas Baptist churches to invite women into their pulpits on Sunday mornings.

It’s past time.

It’s not time for our denominational and seminary leaders to lean heavily on search committees to invite (and give preference to) female candidates for ministry positions.

It’s past time.

It’s past time for our young men to hear the word of God, the good news of Jesus Christ, preached with power and tenderness from the mouths of the daughters of God. In pulpits. On Sunday morning.

It’s past time, but it’s not too late.

Be courageous, churches. The Spirit that is within you is greater than the spirit that is in the world.

Craig Nash grew up in Chandler, Texas, and is a graduate of East Texas Baptist University and Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary. He has lived in Waco since 2000, where he works for Baylor and attends University Baptist Church. If he were any more Baptist, he would need a committee on committees to help him decide who will help him make major life decisions.

The two books of Kings get less attention than they deserve in contemporary Christian thought. They tell the story of the long rise and fall of the nation of Israel, from the death of the faithful King David to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.

The writer of Kings isn’t interested in history for history’s sake, though; the writer is preserving the mistakes made by the nation in hopes that future generations will avoid them.

If you’ve read through the books, you probably noticed that each king whose reign is recorded gets a “value judgment” by the author as either good, good with reservations or wicked. Of all of the kings described, only two receive a “good” mark. Six receive “good with reservations,” and the rest are judged as wicked.

One criterion prevails as the most important, separating the “good” from the “good with reservations:” whether or not they “tore down the high places.”

High places then

What were the “high places” that were so important to the writer of Kings?

The high places were the sites of false worship: they were places where idols were worshiped or where God was worshipped in a twisted way. They were sites where idolatry took place, and the righteousness of the kings of Israel and Judah were all judged according to whether they removed these stations for false worship or not.

Kings is not interested in the leaders’ political or military success — only in their faithfulness in tearing down the high places. Only two kings did this (Hezekiah and Josiah), and by the end of the book, God has punished the people for their unrighteousness with exile and loss of the Promised Land.

High places now

Idol-making is no ancient problem. Twenty-five hundred years later, we still build high places for false and irreverent worship.

One of the most prominent examples in American history is the “Religion of the Lost Cause,” a spinoff of Christianity not as open as it once was but still in full force today. Following the defeat of the Confederacy in the Civil War, a new sort of hybrid religion venerating the old Confederacy and incorporating Christian practices emerged in the south.

It revered the old heroes of the Confederate army as forces for good fighting against the evil forces of the Union and saw the defeat of the South as analogous to the suffering and death of Christ. This suffering, southern practitioners of this civil religion believed, would one day be righted. Just as Jesus was resurrected from the dead, “the South will rise again.”

Of course, this hybrid worship of south and Christ was less than friendly to freed blacks, unwelcomed reminders of national defeat. The famous “Jim Crow” laws were enacted to make life miserable for blacks living in the South.

Following the passage of the “Jim Crow” laws, practitioners of Lost-Cause religion erected statues of Confederate leaders to intimidate and remind blacks that they were not welcomed in that area. The Confederate monuments that dot so many southern towns today were not constructed in the aftermath of the Civil War but during segregation and the Civil Rights movement, with the explicit purpose of intimidating blacks. They were erected as “explicit symbols of white supremacy.”

Think about it. Statues are not for recording history but for admiration and admonition. We have many ways of recording and remembering history: books, museums, battlefields and so on. We aren’t in danger of forgetting that a war happened. In postwar Germany, concentration camps remain as a reminder of the evil humanity is capable of committing. Statues of Hitler have been taken down.

There’s a difference between preserving history and venerating it.

Remember Kings

The town where I went to college has a Confederate monument on its courthouse square that is currently being debated. I recently saw pictures of a group of white men holding machine guns and signs in front of the monument protesting calls for its removal. If those men walked two blocks over, they would find a county history museum with a fantastic collection regarding both the Civil War and the Jim Crow era in which this statue was built. Removing the statue isn’t erasing history; no one is calling for the museum to remove its exhibits.

God doesn’t like idol-worship. Neither does he like oppression or the intimidation of others. I can only imagine how my black brothers and sisters in Christ must have felt seeing men armed with machine guns standing in front of a statue erected to celebrate a culture in which their ancestors were beaten and lynched. These statues are literal idols.

If we take history seriously, perhaps we should remember the books of Kings. God doesn’t like high places, and no one who allows them to stand is righteous.

Jake Raabe is a student at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas. He is also a co-founder of Patristica Press, a Waco-based publishing house.

For 11 years, Ernie McCoulskey has served as the director of missions for the Kauf-Van Baptist Association in Terrell, 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?

I pastored Baptist churches in Texas for 25 years. The last 17 years were at First Baptist Church Terrell.

Where did you grow up?

We moved a lot growing up, but I graduated from high school at Cedar Hill, Texas.

How did you come to faith in Christ?

I was influenced greatly by my parents and the Kinney Avenue Baptist Church in Austin, where my family lived when I was young.

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

I have a B.A. in religion and philosophy from Dallas Baptist University (College at the time) and an M.Div. from Southwestern.

Ministry/Profession

Why do you feel called to your particular vocation?

I do feel called to this task. It was a challenging realization because I had not considered it previously. I had some local pastors challenge me to pray about the possibility and the Lord led from there.

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

Kauf-Van Baptist Association primarily serves the churches of Kaufman and Van Zandt counties. We do have a couple of churches in Rockwall county and Henderson county as well. The western edge is made up of rapidly growing suburban communities and the eastern side is more stable and rural.

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

I love investing time into the lives of senior pastors. It is a hard time to pastor, and most guys need a safe support network. We strive to provide that.

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

We have become much more responsive to individual church needs. We still do a few big events, but it is much more about building relationships that encourage churches and their leaders than it used to be.

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

Working directly with pastors.

About Baptists

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

With all the changes in our society today, we can’t allow ourselves to be lured into thinking of the church as an entity that needs to be maintained. It is a militant force that must be unleashed!

About Ernie

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

As a young pastor, there were some guys in the Dallas Baptist Association that were seen as “successful” pastors that would love on us young guys. Men like Gene Colton, Henry Kinkeade and Don Childress were such an encouragement when I was just trying to find my way in the pastorate.

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

I have appreciated the writings of Jeff Iorg on leadership issues and Paul Tripp on the challenges of serving in ministry and dealing with discouragement.

What is your favorite Bible verse or passage? Why?

“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind” (2 Timothy 2:7). As I was wrestling with the call to associational work, God used this verse to calm me as I looked at how many things would change if I did make the move.

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

It may seem strange, but I love the account of Ananias of Damascus in Acts 9. We have no hint that he held any office or position, but he heard God call him to go to Saul of Tarsus, and, while it scared him, he went anyway. Faithful obedience is a quality I want to emulate.

I love the diverse people, food and languages across the Lone Star State, especially our “south of the border” sounds and flavors. Latino culture is part of my heritage, and I am proud to serve the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference as Executive Director of the Faith & Education Coalition. I love working with parents, pastors and leaders across the nation who care deeply about students and high-quality education.

In many Hispanic communities across Texas, pastors and church members provide vital education connections for families. From immigrants and Spanish-speaking parents to first-generation college students, these “learning heroes” help local families bridge the language and cultural divides related to education. They invest in students because they believe every child is created in God’s image and deserves the chance to meet his or her potential.

One way these church leaders help families chart a course for school success is by encouraging them to build a strong parent-teacher partnership. This can be intimidating for adults who never completed their own education, those who were educated in other countries, or those who are not fluent in English. But we can encourage all parents to make the most of this “back to school” season with a few simple tips.

Parents can be “learning heroes” for their children by starting the school year with these five tips:

1. Start strong.

Find out how prepared your child is for his or her new grade. Be sure to review the annual state test results from last year.  Consider using the TAG approach (Teacher feedback + Assessments + Grades) to determine how your student is progressing and what areas may need additional support. If you haven’t received your child’s STAAR test results yet, visit www.TexasAssessment.com to view your child’s assessment results from last school year – as well as many other parent resources. Much of this information is also available in Spanish.

2. Partner up.

At your first teacher meeting, bring your child’s state test results and ask what they mean for this year. Find out what’s expected of your child and what you can do at home to help. You can prepare for the first teacher meeting with tips at BeALearningHero.org

3. Make it fun!

You are the expert on your child and can help make learning cool! Read together on topics that interest your child. Find math in everyday life – turn it into a game. Small learning moments add up!

4. Celebrate hard work.

Focus on the effort and what your child is learning. Celebrating hard work and progress, rather than perfection, will help your child feel less nervous about new tasks or subjects.

5. Encourage life skills along the way.

Strengths such as being able to communicate, problem-solve and demonstrate patience will help your child in school and life. Talk openly with your child about how he or she is feeling and reacting to situations at school, on the playground and at home.

Parents and teachers and church leaders can partner to help students reach high standards, expecting and bringing out the best in each child. Good tests help us gauge if students are on track for the next grade level and, eventually, for the rigor of college or career. And accessing test results and other progress data, in both English and Spanish, empowers parents to become full partners in their child’s education. We can honor our cultural diversity as we unite parents behind a common goal – excellent education opportunities for all our Texas students.

Dr. Andrea Ramirez serves as the Executive Director of the Faith and Education Coalition for the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Coalition (NHCLC), America’s Largest Hispanic Christian Evangelical Organization.

“It is not an enemy who taunts me – I could bear that. It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me – I could have hidden from them. Instead, it is you – my equal, my companion and close friend. What good fellowship we once enjoyed as we walked together to the house of God.” —Psalm 55:12–14

We have long known that domestic violence exists, affecting one in three women in Texas. There are no racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, educational or age-related boundaries when it comes to abuse—nor is it defined by religious affiliation.

Domestic violence is a worldwide epidemic, and in order to end it, we need to understand that it affects all of us, including those within the church and within your congregation.

Faith communities are often the first responders for those experiencing domestic violence, as many people turn to their faith for answers before seeking support or counseling outside of their place of worship. Unfortunately, leaders and members of the church are often ill-equipped to know how to respond to abuse or don’t think it happens within their own congregations.

The truth is that women in faith communities are at a higher risk of being abused, less likely to leave the abusive relationship and least likely to reach out to experts for help.

Although the faith community may have the best intentions in responding to domestic violence situations, too often, victims hear blaming or are given advice that unintentionally perpetuates the abuse and excuses the abuser. Abusers may manipulate scriptures like Ephesians 5 or Proverbs 31 to keep women in abusive homes for fear of displeasing their God.

Given the escalation patterns and potentially lethal nature of domestic violence, it becomes an even greater responsibility for all intersections of the faith community to respond effectively by turning to the experts, establishing a church-wide commitment against domestic violence and actively taking an individual stance by getting involved.

Rely on the experts

The church is not immune to secular problems like alcoholism or domestic violence. Considering that domestic abuse is the leading cause of injury to families, all faith communities—including both leaders and members—need to be prepared to face this issue. We cannot ignore it when it happens, nor can we pretend it doesn’t happen in our church.

To end this epidemic, the church isn’t expected to be an expert on the issue, but rather to stand beside victims, believe them, tell them there is help and hold abusers accountable.

There are resources available like Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support, an organization that exists to give women and children in abusive situations a path to lead independent and safe lives. They are the experts so you don’t have to be, providing staff trainings and materials on how to respond to domestic violence from the pulpit to the pew.

Establish a church-wide commitment against domestic violence

We are called to hold abusers accountable: if you suspect something, say something.

The Bible says again and again, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” Suppose the news of the gospel was only talked about at church once a year; imagine the missed opportunity. Similarly, domestic violence shouldn’t only be discussed one Sunday a year during October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

In order to truly make an impact, the church needs to be blanketed with this message, from informational cards in the women’s restroom to sermons on Sunday and in Sunday school classes. If you don’t know where to start, Genesis Women’s Shelter can help determine the best ways to reach your congregation.

For a woman to hear and believe that she is worth it, she must receive the same message everywhere she goes — Genesis, the police, the courts and from her faith community.

Take an individual stance by getting involved

Understanding the intersection between faith and domestic violence is the first step in responding effectively. At Genesis, we recognize the incredible opportunity and responsibility we have to partner with faith communities to support our mission. With this in mind, we have launched the Genesis Faith Community Coalition.

The Faith Community Coalition’s mission is to unite and mobilize faith communities to respond effectively to domestic violence by spreading awareness and providing resources. Our hope is to see congregations and leaders join Genesis in recognizing abuse within the faith community and standing up on behalf of survivors.

If we ever hope to end the epidemic of domestic violence, we can’t ignore it when it happens, and we can’t pretend it doesn’t happen in our church. Both abusers and victims are in our choirs, in our pews and in our congregations.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call Genesis’ 24-hour hotline at 214.946.HELP(4357) or visit GenesisShelter.org for more information. If you’d like to discuss ways your congregation can take a stand against domestic violence, please reach out to me at 214-389-7709 or email jlangbein@genesisshelter.org.

Jan Langbein is president and CEO of Genesis Women’s Shelter.

Editor’s note: At a rally Friday in Huntsville, Ala., President Trump called on NFL owners to release players who took a knee during the national anthem like former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who intended to draw attention to police violence against African Americans. Here, Michael Frost reflects on the differences between Kaepernick and Tim Tebow.

They’re both Christian football players, and they’re both known for kneeling on the field, although for very different reasons.

One grew up the son of Baptist missionaries to the Philippines. The other was baptized Methodist, confirmed Lutheran, and attended a Baptist church during college.

Both have made a public display of their faith. Both are prayerful and devout.

This is the tale of two Christian sports personalities, one of whom is the darling of the American church while the other is reviled. And their differences reveal much about the brand of Christianity preferred by many in the church today.

Read the rest of the article at The Washington Post.

Sometimes, in the pain and suffering of this life, we wonder where God is in the midst of our trials. We can’t feel his presence and we don’t hear his voice. Many times, in the midst of these valleys, our prayers seem futile, our spiritual well seems dry. Where does our help come from?

This is the question the Psalmist asks in Psalm 121. The answer given is simple: “My help comes from the Lord.” But, where can we find this help, where can we find the Lord when it seems he is absent and we feel alone?

Paul answers this question for us in 2 Corinthians 1. God comforts us through his church. When we don’t seem to feel his presence in our life, we should turn to his church. Here in 2 Corinthians 1, Paul reveals at least three ways God comforts us through the ministry of the body of Christ.

The experience of others

In verses 3–7, we see one of the ways God comforts us in our suffering is through the presence of our brothers and sisters in Christ. God comforts his people in their affliction through the comforting presence of those who have already walked through affliction.

We need the church. We need to be in close relationship with others who are walking by faith in Jesus.

I don’t know all of the reasons why we experience pain and suffering, but I do know God wants us to use our experience to comfort others who are walking their own path through the valley of the shadow of death. When we walk through affliction, we should turn to others who have walked similar paths.

In the middle of your trial, when you wonder where God is, look to his church. He is in their hugs and pats on the back. He is in their volunteering to drive you to the doctor and sit with you in waiting rooms. He is there in their silent presence.

He is in their own experiences of pain and suffering, of loss and grief. God uses his people to be his hands and feet, to represent his love and grace.

The hope of the gospel

Another way we experience comfort in our affliction is by continuing to preach to ourselves and remind one another of the hope of the gospel. God will deliver us, Paul promises, and we can bank on this sure hope because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

In verse 20, Paul says all of the promises of God find their yes in Jesus. Jesus is God’s ultimate yes to our deepest questions about his goodness, presence and power.

Is God there in the midst of our suffering? Jesus is God’s yes.

Is God good? Jesus is God’s yes.

Is God working even in the midst of this pain? Jesus is God’s yes.

Will God deliver me from this affliction? Jesus is God’s yes.

When we doubt God and his goodness, we must look to Jesus. The hope of the resurrection of Jesus and our own resurrection in him gives us a foundation of hope to stand on in the storms of affliction.

The power of prayer

In verse 11, Paul asks the Corinthian church to pray for him and his ministry. God works when his people pray. God brings comfort to those walking through affliction when his people pray.

We often tell other people we are praying for them in order to sound spiritual or because we don’t know what else to say, but prayer is not a throwaway activity. It is the most important thing we can do because it fuels our comforting presence and calls us back to the foundation of hope in Jesus.

God comforts us through the prayers of others. This requires us to be honest and to trust others with our affliction while trusting God to work through those prayers.

When we walk through affliction and suffering and we wonder where God is, we must turn to his church. Through the presence of others who have already walked through an affliction similar to ours, the hope we have in Jesus of all things being redeemed and restored and the powerful prayers of those all around us. God comforts us.

Instead of looking to the sky for a sure sign of God’s presence, we should turn to those all around us already who are prepared to be his hands and his feet.

God comforts us through his people.

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