Associated Baptist Press - 11/26/2008

Associated Baptist Press
November 26, 2008 · (08-116)

David Wilkinson, Executive Director
Robert Marus, Acting Managing Editor/Washington Bureau Chief
Bob Allen, Senior Writer

In this issue
Economy putting pressure on Thanksgiving food ministries (528 words)
Documentary on Christians and porn to have TV premiere (679 words)

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Economy putting pressure on Thanksgiving food ministries
By Bob Allen

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (ABP) -- Economic hard times are putting pressure on charities scrambling to meet rising need this Thanksgiving.

"I wouldn't call it a pinch. I would call it Jaws of Life," Dan Shorter, who co-directs a "Feed the Hungry" program at The Village Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, Fla., described the impact of lagging donations, rising costs and increased demand.

"We've been doing this for 21 years and we've never had harder times," Shorter said in a telephone interview. "We've never seen such widespread need."

Shorter said the ministry fed an average of 850 families a month from January through October but expects to feed more than 3,000 for Thanksgiving. He said he has had to pay five times as much for food compared to last year.

"We're basically broke," he said. "We may have to cancel Christmas this year."

Mission Arlington, a ministry of First Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, says demand for food assistance has jumped 9 percent in the last couple of months. Last year Mission Arlington provided food for about 17,000 people on Thanksgiving Day. This year, because of economic troubles affecting everyone, the ministry is expecting the need for help to increase.

"We'll be feeding probably 20,000 people," Mission Arlington Executive Director Tillie Burgin said. It takes about 4,500 turkeys to feed that many people, and as of Wednesday Burgin said it looked like there would be enough food for Thanksgiving Day.

"We are doing great," she said of food donations. "We're just blessed."

Burgin said she didn't want people to stop giving, however. "We've got Christmas and lot's more to do," she said. "We won't have any left over, that's for sure."

Steve Poole, minister of music and worship at Oak Grove Baptist Church in Bel Air, Md., said his congregation has been feeling the effects of economic struggles, including an increase in its food ministries.

Poole said mission groups typically prepare Thanksgiving baskets of food for families in need. Last year the congregation set a goal to provide 75 baskets to families to commemorate the church's 75th anniversary.

"It was actually a little difficult to find that many families within our church that needed the help," Poole said. "This year we had to start turning families away after we reached one hundred requests."

Poole said the church's benevolence committee has more requests each week than they can handle. "People are feeling the pain of the economic downturn, but God continues to bless our church with the provisions to fulfill His calling for our church," he said.

Shorter said it "will take an act of God" for his Florida congregation to meet its goal of helping 4,000 families and giving toys to 3,000 needy kids at Christmas. Economic forces of the first 11 months of the year "haven't pinched us," he said. "They have crushed us."

In an effort to stretch resources, he said the ministry -- unlike previous years -- is not handing out turkeys this Thanksgiving, but rather giving families chicken and pork patties.

"No one's happy about it," Shorter said, but he can feed three families chicken or pork for the cost of one turkey.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

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Documentary on Christians and porn to have TV premiere
By Bob Allen

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) -- A television documentary that shines a light on the problem of pornography addiction among Christians premieres Sunday, Nov. 30, and airs again Dec. 7 on the ION Television Network, formerly PAX TV.

"Somebody's Daughter: A Journey to Freedom from Pornography" features three men and one married couple active in Christian ministry who describe struggling with and overcoming addiction to pornography.

The program was produced by Music for the Soul, a ministry that promotes healing through music, as a DVD-CD multimedia compilation to promote healing for people struggling with pornography addiction. In addition to the 62-minute television documentary, the DVD-CD package includes 18 music and spoken word tracks and four music videos.

The project takes its title from a song written by Christian recording artist John Mandeville and Steve Siler, founder and director of Music for the Soul, after Mandeville revealed to Siler his struggles with pornography. After attending a meeting for sex addicts, the two men wrote the song to illustrate that women should be viewed not as objects but as somebody's daughter, a starting point for Mandeville's healing.

Siler says he hopes the project will "turn on a bright light" to the destructive power of pornography on individuals and marriages and open awareness and dialogue in churches.

According to recent surveys, nearly 60 percent of Christian men and 37 percent of pastors admit to struggling with pornography. And the problem is not limited to men -- 35 percent of women also admit to the addiction.

The producers say "Somebody's Daughter" is an attempt "to shine the light on how the $13.3 billion pornography industry is plaguing those who profess Christianity, and to promote healing and deliverance from the growing epidemic."

People in the documentary say they used to rationalize their pornography habit by arguing that it didn't hurt anyone, but over time it became something that came between them and God. Separation from God was followed by separation from their spouse, children and other loved ones.

"Pornography erodes the ability to maintain healthy intimacy," Siler says.

Siler says pastors are vulnerable, because men are most susceptible when they are physically and emotionally drained, and spiritual leaders work under high levels of emotional and physical strain.

Compounding the problem, Siler says, is the "shoot our own" response often seen in churches.

"Instead, we need to be giving our leaders the support and help they need to overcome this problem so that they can return to offer guidance to the men in the pews."

"I'm not saying we shouldn't hold them accountable," Siler says. "I'm just saying we shouldn't automatically treat this sin as somehow worse than all others and drive good men out of the church because they have struggled with this issue."

Siler says he knows several ministerial leaders "who have been restored from this problem who are serving the church with tremendous energy, courage and vision."

Siler says churches should partner with Christian counselors to offer members a safe place to get help with pornography addiction and sponsor accountability groups or one-on-one partners to help them on the road to recovery.

"Members should know that forgiveness and healing are possible, and that as long as they acknowledge their sin and commit to the work of recovery, they will have a place in the community," Siler says.

Siler says the church has been slow to respond to viewership of pornography by Christian leaders and laypeople because sex is an uncomfortable topic for the church.

"God made our bodies but there is still a lot of theology out there that says the body is bad," he says. "As a result, it makes a lot of us uncomfortable to talk about it."

"What's strange about this to me is that we profess to believe that God sees what we do in secret already. We might as well talk about what God already knows is happening."

"Somebody's Daughter" also is slated to air on INSP, the Daystar Television Network, Faith TV and "It's Time for Herman & Sharron" show this winter. Check local listings for air times.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.