ChanVinson.com Blog

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/27/2009, Part 1

2009-03-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

-On Wednesday night I joined a party of eleven at P.F. Chang’s China Bistro at 7:30 PM to celebrate PCR’s 37th birthday. Those in attendance were myself, ANDR and PCR, JTH and ALK, JDM, ANDR’s friends Erin and Brandon, and three of PCR’s friends whom he had met in all of his years working at malls.

-Erin brought PCR a gift and balloons. The gift was a sock that he had left at her house. She wrapped it. The balloons read “Happy Birthday Princess”. I liked her.

-JTH, JDM, and I decided to cut a “C” out of felt to be placed on PCR’s church basketball jersey (indicative of captain). This idea only shortly defeated procuring an autographed picture of PH, his wife’s least favorite of his basketball adversaries.

-P.F. Chang’s was selected as the locale for this shindig as it was the first place ANDR and PCR went out to eat together. They had dated for three weeks previously, mostly at JTH’s apartment. The locale gave me inspiration for our basketball team. I may come out of retirement and insert myself into the lineup as power forward. I would call myself P.F. Chan...

-Also in the restaurant was Tennessee volleyball coach Rob Patrick who appeared to be recruiting a potential Lady Vols. Patrick’s presence seemed fitting. We did not say hi or, as was my suggestion, say “Point, Lady Vols!” the only cheer uttered at Lady Vol volleyball games.

-While most of my friends ate the Crispy Honey Chicken, I ate the moo goo gai pan. I had never tried it before. I mostly ate it in tribute to the “Over the River and Through The Woods” episode of the “The Bob Newhart Show”. It aired on November 22nd, 1975. PCR was the only one at our table alive then. Still, I was the only one who got the reference.

-The dish is named for the Cantonese names of the ingredients: moo goo (蘑菇): button mushrooms, gai (鸡): chicken, and pan (片): slices. P.F. Chang's version also features shrimp prominently. It was good but next time I think I will order the Crispy Honey Chicken.

-PCR’s actual birthday was the following day. I was a little disappointed that there were no “birthday singers”. (Read: Waiting reference.) Like most people I know, I am embarrassed by this process but had they sang “Happy Birthday” in Chinese that would have been awesome. Instead they offered PCR his choice of a mini dessert (strawberry cheesecake) and placed a candle in it. It was very subdued. He was pleased.

-We were also given Fortune Cookies. One read, “Listen to the wisdom of the old.” which seemed appropriate given the occasion. Mine read “Your cheerful outlook is one of your assets.” I was disappointed. This is not a fortune. It is a statement. Also, there was some trading of fortunes. Is that allowed?

-Finally on Wednesday, I had my haircut for my job interview the following day. My stylist, Jessica (JLH) predicted that it had been five weeks since my last haircut based upon the two-guard that I always request and the length of my hair. I was impressed.

Associated Baptist Press - 3/26/2009

2009-03-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

Associated Baptist Press
March 26, 2009 · (09-43)

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

In this issue
Arizona high court declares state's voucher program unconstitutional (532 words)
Alabama Baptists headed to court over property dispute (641 words)
Correction

Arizona high court declares state's voucher program unconstitutional
By Robert Marus (532 words)

PHOENIX (ABP) -- The Arizona Supreme Court March 25 delivered the latest in a string of blows to the movement to provide tax funding for tuition at private and religious schools.

A unanimous five-member court said a plain reading of a provision in the Arizona Constitution outlaws two small programs that provided publicly funded vouchers that students could use to attend private and parochial schools. One program was for students with disabilities; another served children in foster care.

"The voucher programs appear to be a well-intentioned effort to assist two distinct student populations with special needs. But we are bound by our constitution," wrote Justice Michael Ryan in the court's Cain v. Horne opinion. "There may well be ways of providing aid to these student populations without violating the constitution. But, absent a constitutional amendment, because the Aid Clause does not permit appropriations of public money to private and sectarian schools, the voucher programs violate Article 9, Section 10 of the Arizona Constitution."

The decision affects about 475 students, who will continue to receive the vouchers until the end of this school year. Unless Arizona voters approve a constitutional amendment to undo the ban on aid to religious institutions, the programs will end.

Attorneys for the state had argued that the Arizona Constitution provision in question -- which bans any public appropriation "in aid of any church, or private or sectarian school, or any public service corporation" -- should be interpreted the way that the federal Supreme Court has interpreted the religion clauses of the First Amendment. In 2002, a divided court OK'd an Ohio school-voucher program, saying indirect aid to religious schools did not violate the Constitution's ban on government support for religion.

But the Arizona court agreed with attorneys for religious-liberty and public-school advocates, saying the state's charter provides more specific guidance than the federal Constitution on indirect government aid to religious institutions.

Parents with children in the program intervened in the case on its behalf. One of them, Andrea Weck, told the Arizona Republic that the scholarships had enabled her to enroll her autistic daughter in a small private school for children with learning disabilities. "The opportunity created by the scholarship program changed Lexie from the inside out," Weck said.

Voucher programs -- once hailed by education reformers as a way to rescue kids in failing public-school systems and encourage competition that would improve such schools -- have proven unpopular both at the ballot box and in state courts. Voters in California and Utah recently rebuffed statewide voucher programs, and the highest courts in Maine and Florida have cited similar provisions of their states' charters to prohibit vouchers for religious schools. In early March, Congress voted to discontinue funding for an experimental voucher program in the District of Columbia.

Public-school advocates as well as supporters of strong church-state separation have long opposed voucher programs that include religious schools, saying they violate the spirit of the First Amendment.

Many other states have constitutional provisions similar to Arizona's. In the 2004 Locke v. Davey decision, the federal Supreme Court said that states could use such provisions to provide a higher bar on government aid to religious institutions than the Constitution requires.

Robert Marus is managing editor and Washington bureau chief for Associated Baptist Press.

Alabama Baptists headed to court over property dispute
By Bob Allen (641 words)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (ABP) -- Alabama Baptists are going to court to resolve a dispute with Montgomery, Ala., homeowners whom Baptist leaders claim are unreasonably hindering development of land the state convention is trying to sell

The Alabama Baptist newspaper reported recently that the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions voted Feb. 23 to seek a declarative judgment against a homeowners' association. The homeowners are in a subdivision that neighbors property the state convention purchased more than 20 years ago as a building site for future relocation of the state's Baptist Building.

Two years ago the convention voted to instead sell the land in the eastern part of Alabama's capital city and use proceeds to purchase cheaper property more centrally located for anticipated future building needs.

According to the Alabama Baptist, state convention Associate Executive Director Bobby DuBois told board members that a year of negotiations with homeowners in the Halcyon Forest subdivision had reached a stalemate, forcing Alabama Baptists to decide whether to walk away from the deal or assert the convention's rights in court.
Rusty Sowell, chairman of the state board's properties committee, said he believed it is in Alabama Baptists' best interest to "sell this property when we have a signed contract."

Deed restrictions on developing the land reportedly require approval by the association's architectural review committee, but specify that such approval cannot be "unreasonably withheld."

Baptist leaders said they offered concessions worth $1.7 million to seek ways to allow a developer to build properties including a four-story hotel, two upscale restaurants and two small retail centers, but the homeowners' association turned them down.

State convention leaders voted overwhelmingly, with only a smattering of opposition, to take the homeowners to court.

A resident of Halcyon Forest charged in a letter to the editor in the Montgomery Advertiser, however, that some information given at the State Board of Missions meeting was false.

Larry Cornwell said board members were misled into believing Baptists had satisfied the homeowners' concerns about hotel windows overlooking their backyards and that the association was unreasonable to oppose a four-story hotel on property zoned for two-story buildings.

According to the Alabama Baptist report, one board member who owns a home in the subdivision said he thought it would be better for Alabama Baptists to walk away from the deal.

Mickey Castleberry, retired pastor of Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Montgomery, said he had mixed feelings because he voted in 2007 to sell the property. But he said he understands why neighbors wouldn't want strangers in hotel rooms peering down at children playing in backyard swimming pools.

Castleberry said the arrangement would also comprise Alabama Baptists' witness against alcohol use by knowingly selling to a builder seeking to build restaurants that serve alcoholic beverages.

According to archived stories in the Alabama Baptist, the state convention in 1986 purchased just less than 14 acres of land near the intersection of Interstate 85 and Taylor Road for a little more than $1 million. The purchase was made with an eye to a future building for the convention's headquarters.

In 2007, Baptist leaders determined the plot was at peak value and costing more than $17,000 a year in property taxes, so they decided to sell it. They authorized the purchase of a smaller parcel north of the city along the Interstate 65 corridor -- more centrally located in terms of the entire state.

Baptist leaders said the state convention had no immediate plans to move its headquarters from the current Alabama Baptist Convention State Board of Missions Building at 2001 E. South Boulevard in the southern part of Montgomery, but they were planning ahead for future building needs.

Plans called for using any profit from the sale of the Taylor Road property to pay for a new site, with remaining funds being invested to help fund construction of any future headquarters building.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Correction

ABP wrongly attributed a March 19 opinion piece, "Global Baptists issue pledge at peace conference," to Ken Sehested, a participant at the gathering. While Sehested helped develop some of the language, he wasn't the primary author. The statement was in fact approved at the close of the meeting by the entire body as an official statement for distribution to Baptist bodies.

Word of the Day - 3/26/2009

2009-03-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

Fremitus

A fremitus is a palpable vibration, as of the walls of the chest.

Paul encouraged the Philippians to work out their salavation with fear and fremitus.

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; (Philippians 2:12, NASB)

Prayer Blog - 3/25/2009, #2

2009-03-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow night, my father's business, Community Tectonics, has a job interview in McMinn County. They are one of two finalists for a school job. Their competition has little to no experience but these things are never certain. Please keep this meeting in your prayers. We could really use the job.

Prayer Blog - 3/25/2009

2009-03-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I will meet with the Pastoral Search Committee of Rutledge Baptist Church(comprised of four people) at 6:30 PM in Rutledge. Please continue to keep this church and my potential involvement with it in your prayers.

Word of the Day - 3/25/2009

2009-03-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

Gonfalon

A gonfalon is a banner suspended from a crossbar, often with several streamers or tails.

The lover in the Song of Solomon asserrt that her lover brought her to his banquet hall and that his gonfalon over her was love.

"He has brought me to his banquet hall,
And his banner over me is love." (Song of Solomon 2:4, NASB)

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/25/2009, Part 3

2009-03-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

-I spent Tuesday night with my aunt LAMV, uncle JHV, and cousins JEV and LAV. When I first arrived at the house only JEV was there. After discussing his college course work, JEV shared his latest film find with me: For Y'ur Height Only. The Filipino movie from 1980 is a spoof of the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only released in the same year. Hence the tagline “Bigger than Goldfinger's Finger - Bigger Than Thunderball's (. . . . . . .)”

-The film stars Weng Weng as Agent 00, who is sent to stop drug trade and its mysterious warlord Mr. Giant. Mr. Giant is a dwarf, while Agent 00 is a midget. At 2'9", Weng Weng is known as the shortest man to ever be a lead in an a martial arts film. Mondo Macabre released the movie on DVD in a two-pack with Challenge of the Tiger and my cousin naturally jumped at the chance to own it. We watched the film until the rest of the family arrived.

-The family returned from Blount Memorial Hospital where family friend Wisam was celebrating the birth of his child. LAV’s son Weston (CWV) was briefly with us. CWV looks eerily like my cousin JEV when he was the same age, just with darker hair. Sorry for the grainy photo. It was dark in the room. It does look like the same photo quality of me at the same age because cameras were in their infancy then.

-Everyone is doing fairly well. JHV is preparing for a trip overseas on March 31st. LAV has about 45 hours left before she graduates but has yet to select a major which could add to her time at UT. She is still likely to graduate faster than I did. That is not an accomplishment.

-Their cat, Inga, is also well, though she is annoying the family by doing a lengthy ritual every morning. We suspect that even Vinson cats are OCD...

-We also discussed mutual spiritual interests. When the topics of generational bonding, soul ties, etc. emerged my aunt and uncle introduced me to Sylvia Gunter and gave me a free booklet. I will definitely check her out (in a I will read her material way not a "hey good lookin'" way).

-It was good to see the family. I hope to be back on April 5th as JEV plans on watching three exploitation films for his birthday. I suspect that I will just be able to handle one of them.

-I had about a half hour before I was to meet friends at Applebees so I stopped by RAW’s to visit him and KJW. I think that is called using time wisely. KJW was negotiating to watch cartoons. The issue was not whether or nor she could watch but where. She lobbied, “I want to watch on the big tv.” In her argument she referred to the television as hers. This was a mistake. RAW quickly corrected her, “Who’s tv is it?” KJW replied, “Keira’s tv.” This went on for minutes.

-My favorite line of the night was a classic non sequitur from KJW: “I think Chan’s gonna paint me a picture.” Really?

-After visiting at RAW’s, I joined GAB, JTH, and JBT at Applebees. We watched Penn State eliminate Florida 71-62 from the NIT. I also learned that JBT bought into the Applebees NCAA tournament pool. After the first weekend, JBT is in the top five of a very large pool with 52 points after picking fifteen of the Sweet 16 correctly. The leader has 55 points. The winner receives 75% of the pool while second place gets the remaining 25%. Our beloved server AFH is actually one of the few ahead of JBT.

-Caroline, another server, came and sat at our table briefly. (That is a common occurrence.) After noticing JBT ordered something new, she referred to me as “Predictable Patty”. I am going to take this as a term of endearment.

-Finally, on Tuesday I submitted my application to work at the Central Baptist Church of Bearden. Only at my church does one submit the application after getting the job.

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/25/2009, Part 2

2009-03-25T06:01:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Monday, March 23rd, 2009, Part 2

-On Monday night church league basketball resumed after two weeks off. Before the game, I had a brilliant idea. Dare I say “inspired”? I contemplated cutting the nets down after the game. I thought this would be hysterical given the fact that it was only the second game of the season and there were two games after ours. Delaying the action by carting out a ladder and having a ceremony amused me greatly. And probably no one else. I did bring massive scissors just in case.

-The scissors would not be needed. My team lost 62-48 to MDR’s squad. My “coaching” was atrocious. There were two points where this was especially obvious. First, I gave the team a spiel before the game about always having two post players in the game. Our spacing on offense has been awful and this was my solution. We have three natural post players on the team so I designated JTH a post so that we could always have two post players in the game. You will note that we now had four post players on the team. When the game started I had three of them on the bench. I am an idiot.

-The other obviously poor coaching moment came with eight seconds left in the first half. The ball went out of bounds giving my team possession underneath our own basket. Leading 26-24, I called timeout. Naturally, our in bounds passed was intercepted and Brandon Dial (BSD) hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give his team a 27-26 lead at half. Just before this happened, I predicted this scenario. This is further proof that I am an idiot.

-It gave our opponents’ momentum in the second half and they pulled away at the end to produce the fourteen-point margin. The game was far closer than the final score indicated. The game marks our biggest margin of defeat in two seasons. We are now 0-2. I attribute this loss to three factors:

1. The schedule I was given before the season began indicated we would be playing MEB’s team and as such I did not work on our substitution pattern. (We should beat them handily.)
2. The officiating was horrible. It was so bad that MPW walked off the court saying he would not play with the father-son referee tandem again. Had any of my other players done this, it would not have been that shocking. The fact that the taciturn MPW did it was a statement. (I really do not know what a factor this was as the officiating was equally terrible for both sides.)
3. MDR’s squad was just really good on this night. BSD hit for 19 points and MBR had a great game, scoring 18. Phillip Humphreys (whom every fan we bring hates) added 10. In our league, three players reaching double figure in scoring is impressive. They deserved to win.

-The loss could not take away my joy. I had big news that I relayed during the halftime devotional. Earlier in the day, Carlus Groves added me as a friend on Facebook. Groves is a former Tennessee basketball player (1989-1992) who famously got into a physical altercation with Shaquille O’Neal when O’Neal played at LSU. March 14th, 1992 is a date that lives in infamy in the hearts of Tennessee basketball fans. The 6'7" Groves more than held his own against the massive Shaq before both were ejected from a game in the SEC Tournament. I gave the devotional on my “friend” Carlus. Groves is seventh in all-time career field goal percentage at UT (54.6%) and payed professionally for so long in Mexico that he is a naturalized citizen there. Friends know these things about each other...

-After the game, JTH proudly showed JDM his locker in the church’s locker room, #27. We are fairly sure JTH is the only one who actually uses the locker room. Before the season ends, a prank is forthcoming. Any ideas?

-JTH, JDM, and I then met JDM’s Kroger friends Jamie and Marie (the girl whose name escaped me in the March 20th “In Eckleburg’s Eyes” post) and ALK at TGI Fridays’s. ALK was very late from handbell practice. This is why she could not take photos at the game. (I have already reprimanded her on her priorities.) Unfortunately, she will only be able to make 8:30 games. She arrived before our food did as it took a very long time. In fact, despite ALK coming late and ordering nearly half an hour after us, she got her food first!

-I spent the rest of the night with KLTW, KJW, and RAW. KLTW was preparing for finals the next day so RAW and I talked and KJW and I played in her castle. KJW is at the apex (nadir?) of the terrible twos. Thankfully, she got most of her brattiness out before I arrived.

-Finally, on Monday I was e-mailed copies of forms that indicated that after all this time I have been officially accepted to UT’s PhD program in Educational Psychology & Counseling Department. It kind of seemed anticlimactic on a day that you became friends with Carlus Groves...

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/25/2009, Part 1

2009-03-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Monday, March 23rd, 2009, Part 1

-On Monday afternoon I went to the Medic Regional Blood Center to donate blood. (The redundancy of that sentence just occurred to me.) My friend JR posted on Facebook that her friend (JOK) had lost a lot of blood in a surgery the previous Friday (March 20th). Since I have blood, I donated in her name. If you wish to do so, you can too. If you donate before April 6th, you can get this stellar March Madness t-shirt as well.

-I had never been to Medic before. I set out knowing only that it was on campus. When I remembered that I had no idea where I was going, I stopped and visited my friends at Hope Resource Center (HRC). The kind people at HRC directed me to Student Health Services. It was there that I learned where to donate blood. If you ever need to go Medic is situated on the corner of 17th and Ailor at 1601 Ailor Avenue.

-My initial interview was conducted by Ben Parrish (BEP), an old friend from church. He is now attending Fellowship Evangelical Free Church. He is still in training but did a great job in taking my initial blood and asking questions. I am not sure, but I may have answered more questions to give blood than to get into my PhD program. The preacher in me would like you to know that you can positively answer no to most questions that would prevent you from giving blood just by waiting until marriage to have sex. (Click on the list on the left to view it.)

-After reconnecting with BEP, I was taken to a large room where a woman named Mary took my blood. They had the most comfortable recliners I have ever sat in. It was a good experience. Not only did I get the t-shirt and the opportunity to sit in a special recliner, but I will also soon know my blood type. At the moment, I have no idea what it is. That might be important...

Associated Baptist Press - 3/24/2009

2009-03-24T23:59:00.000-07:00

Associated Baptist Press
March 24, 2009 · (09-42)

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

In this issue
Families: Redeeming the time (1,380 words)
Family missions involvement raises children's awareness (725 words)
Southern Baptist ethics head lobbies for coal, against cap and trade (926 words)
Southern Baptist activist organizes confab on church and environment (916 words)
Opinion: What marriage is -- and what it isn't (944 words)
Correction

Families: Redeeming the time
By Ken Camp (1,380 words)

DALLAS (ABP) -- In tight economic times, families should recognize making memories doesn't mean breaking the bank, family ministry experts agree.

Dream vacations to Disney World can be meaningful memory-building times for families, but so can shared trips to a store or afternoon drives down country roads.

The times that just happen can be as meaningful as the fancy vacations-and maybe more so," said Diana Garland, dean of the Baylor University School of Social Work.

"Fun does not have to be expensive."

Sometimes, carefully planned trips fail to live up to expectations, but time spent together eating a meal, doing household chores, shopping at the grocery store or learning some new skill-like playing a musical instrument or a new game-offer unbeatable family memories, she noted.

"Quality time is not really scheduled as much as it is something that happens in the middle of the quantity of time spent together. Some of the most precious moments happen in the middle of just living life together," Garland said.

Meaningful family times don't require big budgets or elaborate timetables, but they do demand some intentionality, said Cathy Anderson, children's minister at First Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga.

"I'm a big fan of the designated family night," Anderson said. Scheduling a night each week for a family activity and sticking to that schedule demands discipline when coaches call extra practices, extra-credit school assemblies are offered and opportunities for overtime at work arise.

"Parents have to decide they really want to do it," she said, pointing to one family she knows who designated 6 p.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Sunday as their family Sabbath time.

"That's the time they committed to turn off all the electronics and spend time together without all the background noise," she said.

Parks, museums and historical sites offer opportunities for families to have fun and learn things together at little or no cost, Anderson added.

"Pretend like you're a tourist in your hometown," she suggested.

Significant time together as a family may be accomplished by something as simple as setting one evening each week as "family night in the kitchen," said Diane Lane, preschool and children's ministry specialist with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

"Choose something easy like spaghetti," she suggested. Give each member of the family some assignment-cooking the main dish, preparing a side dish or dessert, setting the table and cleaning up after the meal. And then rotate the assignments so nobody has to do the same thing two weeks in a row.

Time spent making simple crafts together also can be precious, Lane noted. Parents with young children can find easy craft projects with spiritual applications at no cost online from BaptistWay Press, she suggested.

Some of the time-management principles in Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People apply directly to busy families who struggle to find ways to spend time together, said Keith Lowry, BGCT family ministry specialist.

Lowry quotes Covey: "The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule but to schedule your priorities." That means paying attention to crucially important matters-like family-first when making plans.

"If you want to be happy with the life you've built, you've got to be in charge during construction," Lowry said.

"If you don't decide, and decide now, someone or something else will decide for you. Don't look back at the end of your life and wish you had made different decisions. Make those decisions now. ... Leave a path you won't be sorry to see your children and grandchildren follow you down."

Ministry experts agreed family service projects strengthen faith development and family relations.

"Children develop faith and character in relationships with the adults in their lives," Anderson said.

Parents do well when they set a good example for their children, modeling service to others. But they do even better when they involve their children in working alongside them, Garland stressed.

"It's important for children to learn about serving outside themselves. It's especially important for children and adolescents to realize the importance of who they are and what they do now," she emphasized. "Too often, we ask children what they want to do when they grow up, as if we don't value who they are now."

Service activities can be as simple as an older child reading to a preschooler or families visiting nursing home residents, she noted.

Family mission trips-whether to a remote location or close to home-require some advance planning, said Chris Boltin, short-term assignments and partnerships manager with Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions. Families should begin by discovering their passions and interests, he recommended.

"Spend some time as a family discussing things that you already like to do together," Boltin said. A family that enjoys working outdoors might do the yard work for an elderly neighbor, or a family that enjoys playing board games might volunteer for an activities time at a local convalescent center, he suggested.

Family mission trips may involve international travel, but they also may be to an unfamiliar part of town, he noted.

"Something as simple as traveling across town may be a difficult cultural journey," Boltin observed. "You want this to be a fun, productive and meaningful time together. By taking the time to truly know your family, potential problematic issues can be avoided."

Obviously, a full-fledged mission trip to a remote location demands participants do their homework-checking age restrictions, requirements regarding special expertise and estimated costs.

Families should have a clear understanding of expectations and responsibilities in advance, he added.

"Be sure every member of your family understands their individual roles and importance to the trip," Boltin said. "Nothing can replace the feeling that you have been a part of something greater than yourself and have made a difference in the world around you."

Richard Singleton, a counseling program supervisor with STARRY, part of Children At Heart Ministries in Round Rock, suggested several ways families can create meaningful memories:

· Focus on Scripture. "God loves to shower families with blessings built on the foundation of his word," he said. "Take a familiar passage for a test drive under the summer skies. 'The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands' would be a great verse for a picnic in the park. Dole out the bologna sandwiches and lemonade, recline on the checkered blanket, stare into the sky. Recite your verse and play the old tried-and-true game of finding shapes in the clouds. Truly, the heavens will declare glory."

· Don't spend a lot. "Good memories come in all shapes and sizes-and mostly without the need for money," he stressed. "Take pictures, play board games, create a scrapbook, share walks, build a temporary fort out of some of that stuff that you've been threatening to throw out of the garage. My grandpa made me a dilapidated little tree house one summer. I thought it was the best tree house on the planet. I still do!"

· Worship together. "Creating family memories doesn't demand that families miss church," he observed. "Many families check out of church for the summer. But church is an especially important component of a healthy summer."

· Serve side-by-side. "Volunteer for meaningful service projects that allow you and your child to spend valuable summer time together," he advised. "Participate in backyard Bible clubs, vacation Bible school and other endeavors that promote knowledge, fellowship and an opportunity for saving faith to be sparked by the Spirit of God. For many, summer has often been the most formative time for faith to blossom and flourish."

· Take it easy. "Plan for significant times of rest and relaxation," he said, remembering fondly an old porch swing that served as an informal gathering place for his family. "Each summer, our family would gather, clutching sweet tea in mason jars, feet swinging in the air and stories flowing as if from the land of milk and honey. We paused. We rested. We grew closer to God and each other.

· Unplug. "Bless your children or grandchildren with a Sabbath away from all the gadgets, gizmos and games," he recommended. "Go slow. They won't like it at first, but if you find a way to make it meaningful, they'll remember it for a lifetime."

Ken Camp is managing editor of the Baptist Standard.

Family missions involvement raises children's awareness
By Analiz González Schremmer (725 words)

DALLAS (ABP) -- Getting a young family involved in missions might seem impossible, but there are several possibilities available to help children and parents serve the needy locally or overseas.

Violetta Alvarado, volunteer coordinator at Buckner International, offered a number of ideas for families to consider, including creative opportunities to raise children's awareness of others' needs.

"A family could set aside a couple of days and create a certain theme," she said. "For example, they could talk to an international adoption agency and pray for the children from a specific country. Then the family could learn about their culture by eating some of their food or seeing a movie that was made there. They could also write a note and send it to adoption workers to let them know that they are praying for them."

Other local options could include visiting a retirement community, or hosting a drive to collect books, clothing, or coats in the winter.

"Families can pray together over their donations before giving them to their church or a local charity," she added.

Susan Williams, office manager for Buckner missions, said families serving together often can help a child form a broader appreciation for missions and service.

"When I was a child, I remember that my mom had an elderly neighbor that we used to drive to the store because she wasn't able to drive herself," she said. "I also remember Mom taking me over to her house to visit with her. Things like that make such a huge impression, watching your parents serve and experiencing it with them; family mission trips are a great opportunity for that."

Although Buckner normally doesn't offer international mission trip opportunities for children under age 12, Williams said many churches offer opportunities for families to serve together.

"Taking a child on a mission trip, whether locally or internationally, will change their world view," she said.

Buckner offers a summer mother/daughter mission trip for girls and their moms. This summer's trip to Guatemala, July 7-12, still has openings, she added.

Marty Lewis, minister to children at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, noted the importance of involving children in service and said the children in his church are active in local service projects.

"Just yesterday, (children from Park Cities) made sandwiches for some children at a community center," Lewis said. "The children love it. We've been working with Cornerstone Academy, a school of Cornerstone Baptist Church, and they are putting together something for the children to be more comfortable during reading. So Girls in Action (the missions program for girls in grades one through six) made some pillows for them.

"Our boys recently did something called Hoops for Missions, which helped raise money for the Texas Baptist Men by shooting hoops."

Jillian Zeiger is the volunteer coordinator at the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid in Dallas. Many families will spend a day, or sometimes an entire weekend, sorting shoes together for international shipment to orphans because children as young as 4 or 5 can help, she noted.

The children work together with their parents to process shoes by taking tags and trash out, sorting them and separating them by size, she said.

"Local mission trips can be a good idea because of the economy. And volunteers can make a huge difference in just a couple of hours of work. It isn't that going afar isn't good, but this allows kids to know that they can have an impact right here, too. It also makes it easier to bring friends," Zeiger said.

"Another advantage is safety. It is really difficult for anyone who has been on an airplane to go through the process with children. Staying somewhere local means they can avoid the airport system. It also saves children the trouble of having to adjust to time zone changes."

Children also can serve by feeding the homeless in their community, she added.

"I got the chance to do that as a child," Zeiger said. "I was in third grade and lived in Michigan. ... It hit my heart, and so I told my mom and we went as a family. It was a great experience that I will always carry with me and helped mold me into who I am today. That's why I know it's really important for children to have opportunities to do missions like that."

Analiz González Schremmer writes for Buckner International.

Southern Baptist ethics head lobbies for coal, against cap and trade
By Bob Allen (926 words)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) -- Coal-fired power plants have received the blessing of the Southern Baptist Convention's top lobbyist for social and moral concerns, who is urging opposition to a market-based attempt to limit greenhouse-gas emissions.

Friends of Coal, a volunteer organization with ties to the West Virginia Coal Association, is running an article on its website that includes a link for readers to enter their ZIP code and send an e-mail to their senator opposing a "global warming tax" they said would raise energy costs.

The link goes to the website of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, where the agency's president, Richard Land, warns in an article that Democratic Senate leadership plans to move ahead with a "cap-and-trade" bill.

The bill would limit the amounts of greenhouse gases industries can emit and punish them with fines if they exceed those limits. But it would also allow them to pay less-polluting industries for the right to increase their emissions.

"Such a bill would put the brakes on our already slowed economy, forcing industries and businesses to slash jobs and to pass their taxes onto individuals and families in the form of price increases on commodities and energy," Land wrote. "This would make it even more difficult for America to climb out of its current economic troubles."

What's worse, Land contended, is that the whole basis behind the policy -- that it will help avoid catastrophic, human-induced global warming -- "is not even settled among scientists, who are growing increasingly skeptical, especially since we have been experiencing a decade-long cooling trend."

"Christians should take every reasonable step to care for God's creation," Land said. "But rushing into environmental policies based on questionable science that will create greater economic hardships on every American, especially the poor, is the wrong approach."

During the March 14 broadcast of his radio program, "Richard Land Live," Land said he wants "to ring the alarm bells" about "a huge tax" that is coming to all Americans.

"It's called 'cap and trade,' and it's the tax that dares not speak its name," Land said. "Politicians love cap and trade, because they can claim to be taxing polluters, not workers. But of course, that is never true. Taxes are costs that are handed on to consumers. Once the government creates a scarce new commodity -- in this case the right to emit carbon -- and then mandates that businesses buy it, the costs are inevitably going to be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices."

Land said those hit hardest by cap and trade "will be the, quote, 95 percent of working families, unquote, that Mr. Obama keeps talking about, usually omitting that his no-new-taxes pledge comes with a caveat. It comes with a footnote: 'unless you use energy.'"

"Putting a price on carbon is regressive," Land said. "It's not only a tax, it's a regressive tax that hurts those who make the least the most, because poor and middle-income households spend much more of their paychecks, percentage-wise, on things like gas to drive to work or to go get groceries or for home heating and air conditioning."

"Cap and trade is the ideal policy for every Beltway analyst who thinks the tax code is too progressive," Land said. "But the greatest inequities are geographic and would be imposed on the parts of the U.S. that rely most on manufacturing or fossil fuels -- particularly coal, which generates most power in the Midwest, in the Southern and the Plains states. It's no coincidence that the liberals most invested in cap and trade -- [Sen.] Barbara Boxer [D-Calif.], [Rep.] Henry Waxman [D-Calif.] and [Rep.] Ed Markey [D-Mass.] -- come from California or the Northeast."

Land said coal provides more than half of electricity generated in the United States, and 25 states get more than half of their electricity from coal-fired generators. In some states it's even higher. Ohio gets 86 percent of its power from coal, Indiana 94 percent, Missouri 85 percent and West Virginia 98 percent.

"Who's going to get soaked the most with these taxes?" Land asked. "Well, West Virginia, Wyoming, Ohio, Missouri: Grab hold of your pocketbook and hold on tight, because you're going to get more of this tax increase because you get more of your generation from coal. People who run nuclear-energy plants aren't going to have to buy cap and trade. It's going to be coal plants. It gets messier and messier."

Christian anti-global-warming activists disagreed with Land's reasoning. Land is "lash[ing] himself to dirty coal, sacrificing human health and the global environment to corporate greed," according to Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics.

"As a global-warming denier, Richard Land continues to distort the overwhelming agreement within the scientific community about climate change," Parham, author of Loving Neighbors Across Time: A Christian Guide to Protecting the Earth, said. He said Land's "repeated claims about Earth cooling do not negate global warming."

Jonathan Merritt, national spokesman for the Southern Baptist Environment and Climate Initiative, said Christians who care about God's creation and recognize that something must be done about the global energy and environmental crisis "are growing increasingly weary of those claiming to represent us who preach relentlessly about what [they] oppose, yet refuse to offer policy alternatives."

He added, "I find it curious that we are first in line to support the coal industry that is polluting our air and destroying the Appalachian Mountains, yet when it comes to actual pro-environmental legislation, we are nowhere to be found."

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Southern Baptist activist organizes confab on church and environment
By Bob Allen (916 words)

ATLANTA (ABP) -- An upcoming national conference on churches and the environment features several well-known evangelical speakers, including some prominent Southern Baptist leaders who will be speaking for first time on the increasingly high-profile theological issue known as "creation care."

The gathering is scheduled May 13-15 at Cross Pointe Church near Atlanta, where former Southern Baptist Convention President James Merritt is senior pastor. Merritt is scheduled to speak, along with other Southern Baptists including Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Ed Stetzer of LifeWay Research and Mark Liederbach, professor of ethics at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.

Merritt's 26-year-old son, Jonathan Merritt, is organizing the gathering, called the Flourish National Church Leaders Conference on Creation Care.

While still in seminary, the younger Merritt spearheaded A Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change, which was signed by 550 Southern Baptists, including the SBC president at the time.

Other Southern Baptist leaders quickly distanced themselves from the initiative. A Baptist Press headline declared "Seminary student's climate change project is not SBC's," while Richard Land, head of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, released a statement explaining why he did not endorse the statement.

Land said Southern Baptist public-policy advocacy "is most effective when it is supported by the broadest possible consensus among Southern Baptists." He cited a 2007 SBC resolution that urged Southern Baptists "to proceed cautiously in the human-induced global warming debate in light of conflicting scientific research" and to support only policies that "improve the stewardship of the earth's resources without resulting in significant negative consequences" on the economy.

During that time Merritt met Jim Jewell, who has worked more than 30 years with Christian causes and organizations including World Vision, Trinity Forum, and Prison Fellowship; and Rusty Pritchard, a volunteer lay leader for three decades who taught environmental studies for seven years at Emory University in Atlanta.

Last year Jewell, former CEO of the Evangelical Environment Network, and Pritchard started Flourish, a ministry aimed at helping churches and families build environmental stewardship into their Christian commitment and witness. The May conference is the organization's inaugural event, but plans include a quarterly magazine, Web-based communications and other resources.

A 2008 Barna poll found that 90 percent of evangelicals said they would like to see Christians take a more active role in taking care of the environment, but two-thirds believe the media has over-hyped the story and most are skeptical that humans are a primary cause of global warming.

Jewell says part of the problem is that calls for environmental stewardship in the past have come largely from secular voices with values contrary to the Bible. Moreover, they have focused only on political action to combat climate change.

That prompted some evangelical leaders to overreact, he says, by telling followers that even modest care for God's creation is misplaced concern and has nothing to do with preaching the gospel.

The intent of Flourish, he says, is to bridge the chasm between those who prescribe only political solutions and those who would do nothing at all.

Jewell says there are plenty of good reasons for Bible-believing Christians to care about the environment.

For one thing, he says, Christians are called to be the very best citizens, and one way to do that is by rolling up their sleeves to improve their local communities by planting trees, working for pedestrian and bike paths or cleaning area watersheds.

Another is that Christians are called to love others, and research shows that interrupting delicate balances in the environment through pollution most hurts the needy.

Reducing dependence on foreign oil is important not only for national security, he says, but it also helps stop enriching regimes that restrict Christians' religious freedom.

There are also practical benefits. Jewell says churches can save a lot of money through energy-saving changes, which in turn can be used for programs and missions of the church. Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, for example, where former SBC president Jack Graham is pastor, undertook an environmental retrofit in 2006-2007 that saved the congregation more than $1 million in water and utility bills.

Jewell says environmental problems, like all others, are at root the result of sin, and Christians recognize the ultimate solution to conquering sin is faith in Jesus Christ. For that reason, he contends that creation care is important enough to be a major focus of the church, rooted in Scripture and religious tradition instead of simply reacting to modern trends.

Other scheduled speakers at the Flourish conference include Chris Seay, pastor of the Ecclesia Christian community in Houston; Joel Hunter, pastor of the Orlando-area Northland Church and author of books including A New Kind of Conservative; and Andy Crouch, senior editor at Christianity Today International.

"A new kind of evangelical conversation about God's creation is beginning, and Flourish will be one of the milestones," said Crouch, author of Culture Making. "Those who attend will be on the leading edge of a significant new movement that I believe will, and must, shape the church and our culture for generations to come."

Jonathan Merritt told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he hopes the conference will be a starting point for change in how churches think about their God-given responsibility to care for the world.

"I think it's going to be a primary touchpoint for the church to get involved in in the 21st century," he said.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Opinion: What marriage is -- and what it isn't
By Benjamin Cole (944 words)

(ABP) -- In late February, David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch co-authored a provocative op-ed in the New York Times, titled "A Reconciliation on Gay Marriage." In the piece, Blankenhorn, the conservative president of the Institute for American Values, and Rauch, an openly gay scholar at The Brookings Institution and a staunch advocate of same-sex marriage, sought to forge a political compromise to move the contentious debate "onto a healthier, calmer track."

The Blankenhorn-Rauch compromise proposes a federal recognition of same-sex unions granted at the state level so long as the state licensing the marriage or civil union provides statutory exemptions for religious organizations that do not wish to solemnize or otherwise facilitate those unions. In short, churches would not be required to provide their facilities and ministers would not have to render their services to homosexual partners who desire marriage.

Not long after Blankenhorn and Rauch published their Times piece, I attended a panel discussion on it, held at Brookings' headquarters here in Washington. In the discussion, the two discussed their proposal more thoroughly. Responding to them were an attorney from the gay-rights group Human Rights Campaign, a law professor, and a representative of the Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

During the conversation, it became immediately obvious that the proposal -- at least inasmuch as it was outlined in the op-ed -- did not provide answers to all of the many conflicts between religious liberty and gay rights that will result (indeed, that are already resulting) from the legalization of same-sex unions. For instance, what about the conscientious objection of the county clerk who, on religious grounds, feels she cannot issue marriage licenses to homosexual couples? Or what about the licensed caterers and florists who will deny their services for such ceremonies because same-sex marriage violates their religious principles?

The entire discussion, however, missed the fundamental problem with same-sex marriage: Namely, the nature of marriage itself.

The reason that many conservatives do not approve of same-sex marriage is not because we wish to deny basic liberties to gays and lesbians. It is because we do not believe such relationships constitute a marriage by definition. It is a question of ontology rather than ideology.

Offering exemptions to ministers and churches that object does little to resolve the conflict either. No minister has ever been forced to perform ceremonies for heterosexual couples of whose union the church would disapprove. No church has ever been forced to host a reception for such a union. In my own ministry, I've refused more requests to perform a marriage than I've accepted. My churches have denied our facilities to couples whose relationships did not meet our approval.

Those traditional-marriage advocates who wish to strike a compromise on the issue of same-sex marriage similar to the one proposed by Blankenhorn and Rauch are like the man who feeds the crocodile hoping that it will eat him last.

Such compromises are more aptly labeled capitulations.

I shall never forget the day I read Chief Justice Earl Warren's opinion for the Supreme Court's majority in the landmark 1967 interracial-marriage case, Loving v. Virginia. At the time, I was in the Moody Library of Baylor University preparing for a doctoral seminar presentation on the decriminalization of sodomy and the justices' 2003 reversal of Bowers v. Hardwick, a mid-1980s case out of Georgia in which the Court upheld the constitutionality of state laws prohibiting homosexual acts.

It was probably the best paper I wrote while at Baylor, and probably the most difficult to research. Quite frankly, there are more pleasant things about which to read than criminal reports, statutes and court decisions concerning homosexual sodomy.

When I ran across the Loving decision, I was immediately struck by the way the Court defined marriage as a fundamental right and how the majority opinion -- if pressed -- could be used as precedent by contemporary proponents of same-sex marriage. Chief Justice Warren wrote:

"The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.... To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law."

The debate about same-sex marriage in this first decade of the 21st century is probably more volatile than the debate about interracial marriage was in the 1960s. Of course, I am in a priori disagreement with any assertion that the fundamental liberty of a man and a woman to marry regardless of their races is similar to the claim that two persons of the same gender deserve licensed state recognition. Apples and oranges, you might say.

In the first instance, the essential ingredient of male and female is present. In the latter, it is not.

Marriage has always been -- in every culture and society of human history -- a relationship between members of the opposite sex. Even in those cultures and societies where aberrations like polygamy have been accepted, the union of man and woman is essential to the relationship.

The conflict about state recognition of same-sex marriage is not going to be resolved soon. There are those -- like Blankenhorn and Rauch -- who wish to keep it from rising to the temperature of the abortion debate. If the Court, however, decides the issue similar to the way it ruled in Roe v. Wade, then we are almost certain to enter another long and costly phase of the very culture war that Blankenhorn and Rauch wish to avert.

-- Benjamin Cole is a former Southern Baptist pastor who now works on public-policy issues in the nation's capital.

Correction

An unclear audio recording led to mischaracterization of a quotation by Lauran Bethell in the March 23 ABP story, "Mercer conference focuses on ending modern slavery." Please replace the fourth and fifth paragraphs with the following:

Bethell, recipient of the Baptist World Alliance Human Rights Award, spent the past 20 years fighting sex trafficking, first in Thailand, then in Eastern Europe. She told the audience she had stayed sane despite working some of the "darkest situations on Earth" by following the example of her leader, Jesus, who went to the dark places of his time because it was the right thing to do. Using the example of the "woman of ill repute" -- to whom Jesus ministered in Samaria and who later became one of his greatest evangelists -- Bethell said Jesus was the ideal example of showing up.

"Jesus' example of showing up -- showing up in places where even the disciples raised their eyebrows -- let me know that I can, that we can, do this," Bethell said. "What would Jesus' solution be in our time, in our century, of modern-day slavery? I know one thing: He's sure pleased with what you have all done today, just shown up. He's sure pleased with what we have seen today, people sacrificing time and energy to learn from each other and participate together in seeking solutions."

Word of the Day - 3/24/2009

2009-03-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

Concupiscence

Concupiscence is sexual desire; lust.

Jesus said that any man who looked at a woman with concupiscence committed adultery in his heart.

but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:28, NASB)

A related word is Cupid, the ancient Roman god of love.

Associated Baptist Press - 3/23/2009

2009-03-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

Associated Baptist Press
March 23, 2009 · (09-41)

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

In this issue
Baptism center opens in Jordan (997 words)
Mercer conference focuses on ending modern slavery (1089 words)
Movie review: Knowing explores age-old theological conundrum (460 words)

Baptism center opens in Jordan
By Bob Allen (997 words)

AMMAN, Jordan (ABP) -- Baptist leaders and other dignitaries -- including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair -- took part in a ceremony March 20 dedicating a new evangelical Christian baptism center at the Jordanian spot traditionally regarded as the site of Jesus' baptism.

The afternoon celebration at the Baptism Center at Bethany beyond Jordan included more than 120 baptisms by immersion in the Jordan River. They were conducted by pastors from the Jordan Baptist Convention.

Eron Henry, associate director of communications for the Baptist World Alliance, said in a travel blog it is the first time Baptists in Jordan have received such prominent coverage in Jordan's major media outlets.

One of several new churches being built along the Jordan River at about the location Christian pilgrims have long believed Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the center is intended to cater to Christian traditions that practice believer's baptism by immersion.

BWA General Secretary Neville Callam, in the day's major address, called the center "a place where people from all parts of the world may assemble for a journey and an experience." He expressed hope that "the waters of the Jordan extinguish the crippling fires of hopelessness that burn in the hearts of those who have no knowledge of God."

Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life and pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., sent a congratulatory letter saying he could not attend the dedication ceremony, but plans to make a pilgrimage there when he next visits the Middle East in 2010.

BWA president David Coffey read greetings from former United States presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, both Baptists, and presented a gift on behalf of the BWA to Jordan's Prince Ghazi.

A plaque to be placed on the building upon its completion was unveiled at the ceremony. The plaque reads, "The Commission of the Site of the Baptism of Jesus Christ welcomes here visiting pilgrims from the member churches of the Baptist World Alliance."

Also participating in the event were Imad Maayah, a Baptist and former member of the Jordanian Parliament; Toma Magda and Tony Peck, president and general secretary of the European Baptist Federation; and Nabeeh Abbassi, former president of the Jordan Baptist Convention and chief organizer of the dedication and opening.
An estimated 1,700 persons attended the dedication and opening ceremony.

Blair, now a special envoy to the Middle East on behalf of the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia, said it "took courage and leadership" for Jordan to allow the baptism site in a part of the world often torn by sectarian strife. The founder of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation said it also modeled the spirit of compassion and justice that run through the teachings of Jesus, the Old Testament prophets and Islam's founding prophet, Muhammad.

Jordan is about 92 percent Muslim, but relations between Muslims and a Christian minority, estimated at 6 percent, are generally good. While Islam is the state religion and proselytization of Muslims and conversions from Islam are prohibited, the Jordanian Constitution promises religious freedom as long as rites do not violate public order or morality, and recognizes several Christian denominations.

Founded in 1957, the Jordan Baptist Convention consists of 20 churches with combined membership of about 2,000. It operates two schools.

The offer of a designated plot of land for a baptism center came from Jordan's King Abdullah II during a meeting he held with Coffey in September 2007. In 2008, Coffey visited the site and met with Prince Ghazi, who chairs an independent trustee board that runs the site as a national park. The board facilitated the construction.

"In our Baptist faith and order, the baptism of Jesus is of central importance to our understanding of the baptism of Christians," Coffey wrote in a 2008 letter affirming the authenticity of the baptism site. "We believe baptism rests on the command of the risen Lord and is integrated with his command to preach the good news to the world; and this command is given authority by his own example at the beginning of his messianic ministry."

Bethany beyond Jordan -- not to be confused with the village near Jerusalem the Bible says was home to Lazarus, Mary and Martha -- was on a pilgrimage route between Jerusalem and Bethlehem to the west and Mount Nebo to the east. It is regarded as one of Christianity's three holiest sites, along with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jeruslam and Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.

It was a military border zone until the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan and today is regarded one of the most important recent discoveries in biblical archaeology. Excavations didn't begin until 1996, and so far more than 20 churches, caves and baptismal pools dating from Roman and Byzantine times have been uncovered.

Churches of various Christian denominations -- including Anglican, Catholic, Coptic and Russian Orthodox -- have been constructed or are in the process of being built nearby.

Pope John Paul II was the first Roman Catholic pontiff to visit the site, making his pilgrimage there in March 2000. Pope Benedict XVI is expected to visit the holy site in May.

Bethany beyond Jordan is also sacred to Jews and Muslims. In addition to Jesus' baptism, it's said to be the spot where Joshua first led the Israelites into the Promised Land and where the prophet Elijah was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire.

While in Jordan, the BWA delegation met with Islamic journalists and scholars to discuss the BWA response to A Common Word Between Us and You, a letter written by 138 Muslim scholars and leaders to Christians in October 2007.

On Sunday, March 22, Callam crossed over into Turkey to preach at the Izmir Baptist Church. Today Turkey's third-largest city, Izmir in ancient times was called Smyrna, a place mentioned in the second chapter of Revelation among seven towns and cities in the area then known as Asia Minor.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Mercer conference focuses on ending modern slavery
By Mark Vanderhoek (1,089 words)

MACON, Ga. (ABP) -- In the face of the world's fastest-growing crime -- the enslavement of an estimated million people every year -- Lauran Bethell had some profoundly simple advice for the attendees at Mercer University's recent conference on human trafficking: "Just show up."

Bethell, an American Baptist Churches USA global-ministry consultant, said that advocates must begin with the victims, ministering to their greatest immediate need and working on that until they can work on the next, and then the next. Victims have a spark within them, she said, and the resiliency of the human spirit will help to heal them if they can be reached and given hope for the future.

"The healing process is long, it is arduous and there are often many, many, many curves along the path, but we must continue to simply show up in the lives of people, to accept them, to care for them, to listen to them no matter what," Bethell said. "For no matter how long it takes, no matter how things don't go the way that we wish. No matter what: just show up."

Bethell, recipient of the Baptist World Alliance Human Rights Award, spent the past 20 years fighting sex trafficking -- first in Thailand, then in Eastern Europe. She told the audience she had stayed sane despite working in some of the "darkest situations on Earth" by following the example of her leader, Jesus, who went to the dark places of his time because it was the right thing to do. Using the Bible's example of the "woman of ill repute," to whom Jesus ministered in Samaria and who later became one of his greatest advocates, Bethell said Jesus was the ideal example of showing up -- as was his Samaritan apostle.

"She's an example of showing up. Showing up in places where even the disciples raised their eyebrows," Bethell said. "What would Jesus' solution be in our time, in our century, of modern-day slavery? I know one thing: He's sure pleased with what you have all done today, just shown up. He's sure pleased with what we have seen today, people sacrificing time and energy to learn from each other and participate together in seeking solutions."

A diverse group of more than 800 people were following her advice in attending the conference, held March 19-20 on Mercer's Macon, Ga., campus. They came to learn about the problem of modern-day slavery and how they could help defeat it. The student-led conference, titled "STOP Sex Trafficking: A Call to End 21st Century Slavery," included presentations by anti-trafficking advocates from around the state, the country and the world.

According to the State Department, more than a million women and children are trafficked into sex slavery each year -- often forced by economic circumstances into prostitution's horrors. Nearly 20,000 are trafficked annually into the United States, and many of these victims are trafficked into the Southeast. Mercer students in STOP, the Sex Trafficking Opposition Project, organized the conference to counter the growing worldwide crisis.

Among the presenters were trafficking survivors Kika Cerpa and Joana Santos. In a pattern typical of trafficking, both were lured to the United States under false pretenses and told they owed large debts for their transportation after they arrived.

Santos, who was pregnant and had paid for most of her own trip, managed to hold off her tormentors and free herself. In the process, she brought down the ring that had enslaved other girls from her native Brazil.

Cerpa, who accrued a debt from her trip to New York from Venezuela, was not as lucky. She endured terrifying years as a sex slave in brothels around New York City -- including three convictions for prostitution -- only escaping after she got a judge to listen to her harrowing story.

"I was punished by the system and by society," Cerpa said, highlighting a major issue in trafficking, particularly in the United States: that the legal system is only beginning to recognize that women like Cerpa are being pimped to pay false debts, rather than working by choice as prostitutes.

The system needs to change its focus in regard to trafficking, said Dorchen Leidholdt, co-executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women and Sanctuary for Families, the group that helped Cerpa.

"Most states have laws against prostitution that are often used against prostituted people. That is the problem with people who are trying to access the criminal-justice system," Leidholdt said. "Most states have laws against patronizing a prostitute. Those laws are, generally, rarely enforced. All of the energy of our criminal-justice system -- all of the resources -- go to arrest prostituted people."

Addressing those disparities, particularly in the United States, is the goal of the Polaris Project. Bradley Myles, deputy director of Polaris, presented some ways to target the problem. The approach to sex trafficking is threefold, he said -- focusing on prevention by targeting the men who frequent brothels, adding protection for the victims and increasing punishment for traffickers. Myles explained that the legal definition of sex trafficking includes both transporting victims for sex and simply coercing someone into sex with others. He also highlighted some of the myths about trafficking.

"Don't get boxed into thinking it's just foreign people [who are trafficked in the United States] or that trafficking requires transportation," Myles said. "The term trafficking simply denotes trade -- buying or selling."

One of the areas that has the highest incidence of trafficking in the United States is Atlanta, and the problem there often involves American teenagers who are runaways. Girls at homeless shelters are approached by a pimp within the first 72 hours, according to city officials. Alesia Adams, who is the sexual trafficking prevention coordinator for the southern U.S. region of the Salvation Army, said it is important to realize the problem isn't just international. "This isn't a Third-World problem anymore; it's in your backyard," Adams said.
"Dropping your child off at the mall alone has become the same as dropping them off at Beirut."

The issue is also one of basic human rights, said Donna Hughes, a professor of women's studies at the University of Rhode Island, and a longtime anti-trafficking advocate. In approaching new ways to fight human trafficking, Hughes said focusing on perpetrators would be the best way to go forward, which would take the burden off the victims and stop the judgment inherent with any case of prostitution.

"We need to add a perpetrator-focused approach," Hughes said. "We need to reform our laws so that we are targeting the perpetrators' activities."

Mark Vanderhoek is director of media relations at Mercer University.

Movie review: Knowing explores age-old theological conundrum
By Bob Allen (460 words)

(ABP) -- Do our lives have a purpose, or are we products of random chance? If everything is predestined, is there anything we can do to improve our fate? If not, are we without hope?

These questions are discussed daily in seminary classrooms -- but add special effects, a lot of suspense, a love interest and reconciliation with an estranged parent and sibling, and you have the story line of Knowing, a new, big-budget Hollwood thriller starring Nicolas Cage.

The sci-fi film topped box-office receipts in its opening weekend March 20-22, taking in nearly $25 million in a period generally slow for movies due to audience competition from the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments.

Cage's character, John Koestler, is the son of a fundamentalist preacher who believes in the gift of prophecy as described in Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians. John, who is an MIT professor and a single parent since the tragic death of his young wife, is not so sure there is a divine plan.

When a time capsule at his son's elementary school is opened after 50 years, he finds strong evidence of foreknowledge of major catastrophic events, including the end of the world.

Baptists have been arguing about predestination versus free will for nearly 400 years. One of the first controversies dividing Baptists was between Particular Baptists, who believed God has pre-ordained who is saved and lost, and General Baptists, who believed every soul is free to determine whether to accept or reject Jesus Christ.

That debate pitted the theology of John Calvin, the Swiss reformer whose doctrines of divine providence pointed toward predestination, and Jacob Arminius, the Dutch reformed theologian who emphasized that humans have free will.

Those theories divided many Protestants into Calvinist and Arminian denominations, but in some, like Baptists, both Calvinist and Arminian strains have existed side by side. Southern Baptists traditionally have embraced some points of Calvin's doctrines -- like eternal security of the believer -- while rejecting others to affirm that "whosoever will" can come to faith in Jesus.

Still, that hasn't stopped occasional skirmishes between Calvinist Southern Baptist groups (such as Founders Ministries) committed to historic Baptist interpretations of the so-called "Doctrines of Grace" and anti-Calvinist Southern Baptist groups and leaders. For instance, last year Southern Baptist Convention president Johnny Hunt's church hosted a "John 3:16" conference that took a critical look at Calvinism.

These are ambitious questions, and Knowing takes them on in ways that may not be fully theologically (or emotionally) satisfying. But the movie -- rated PG-13 for disaster sequences and some strong language -- is overall faith-affirming, and for Bible fans there's an understated but pretty cool allusion to and depiction of the Old Testament book of Ezekiel's "wheel in a wheel" prophecy.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

See the movie's website.

Prayer Blog - 3/23/2009, #3

2009-03-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

Today at 1:42 PM, I received an e-mail from Gayle Roberts (BPR) with an attachment indicating that I had been recommended for acceptance to the PhD Program in the Educational Psychology & Counseling Department at UT. Finally! Thanks for all who have prayed for me during this time. Now, please pray that I can actually do the work.

Prayer Blog - 3/23/2009, #2

2009-03-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

My friend BP asked for prayer for a ten-year old name Madison (MP). MP has experienced chronic headaches due to spinal fluid pressure since September and her condition is worsening. Within the past week she had a bad reaction to her medication and was placed in the East Tennessee Children's Hospital today for observation. She is scheduled to go to Vanderbilt Medical Center on March 31st for treatment, but truly needs to be admitted sooner. Please pray that God would grant the doctors wisdom to properly diagnose and treat MP’s condition as well as give strength, comfort, and encouragement to MP and her family as they endure this trial.

Prayer Blog - 3/23/2009

2009-03-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today, my friend JR informed me that her friend JOK lost a lot of blood during surgery Friday at the UT Medical Center. Please pray for her and if possible, follow my lead and donate blood in her name at the Medic Regional Blood Center. If you donate blood before April 6th, you can get a complimentary t-shirt with this design (see right).

Word of the Day - 3/23/2009

2009-03-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

Atheling

An atheling is a man of royal blood; a prince.

Hamor, an atheling of Shechem, raped Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah.

When Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force. (Genesis 34:2, NASB)

Dinah's brothers Simeon and Levi avenged her.

Note: This woodcut of Genesis 34 was created by Johann Christoph Weigel (1654-1726) in 1695.

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/23/2009, Part 3

2009-03-23T06:02:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

-On Sunday morning, I attended the Soul Purpose community group at Fellowship Evangelical Free Church. There, RSB taught the latest installment of a series on the Beatitudes entitled “Jesus’ Guide to True Happiness”. This week we discussed Matthew 5:7:

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7, NASB)

-RSB divided us into small groups where we discussed passages on “mercy”: Psalm 40:11-13, Psalm 51:1-2, Matthew 9:10-13, Titus 3:3-7, and Hebrews 4:14-52. The definition of mercy that RSB presented was “an act of compassion toward someone suffering from the effects of sins.” As always, the lesson was great.

-On Sunday night, JTH, ALK, JBT, and I ate at Texas Roadhouse. The company was good though the service was terrible. It was also must have been birthday night which meant that a saddle was dragged out and loud birthday celebrations were held throughout the night. Before leaving, I stood on a chair and yelled just out of spite. Note to self: Work on maturity issues.

-It was nice to see JBT. He informed us that his breakup from SCB the previous day was a “break” more than a breakup. (Insert your own Friends joke.) He was taking everything in stride as he does everything. He was focusing on the bright side, namely the monetary gain of the new arrangement. Speaking of JTB's money, he just ordered 15,000 DVDs for the store: 5,000 copies each of Pinocchio, Slumdog Millionaire, and Twilight. If you are interested in any of these titles, pick them up at MoFoS.

-JTH and ALK also had interesting stories to share. JTH had bene propositioned by a man the night before while driving. ALK shared an interesting blurb in the police reports of The Farragut Press.

-As noted our service was terrible. This meant that our friend GAB was not our server. He was working in the kitchen and when his shifted ended he sat with us.

-After dinner, JTH, ALK, and I went to my house where we watched a movie. It took longer for JTH and ALK to select a movie than for us to watch it. If Barry Schwartz writes a sequel to the Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, I will submit this story. We eventually settled on the 2004 romantic comedy Love on the Side. Despite the cover art, my beloved Marla Sokoloff stars. The film is not bad though we were all a little disturbed by the superfluous homosexual content. I would like it known that ALK was texting throughout the film. Party foul!

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/23/2009, Part 2

2009-03-23T06:01:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Saturday, March 21st, 2009

-On Saturday morning I took AMTT to IHOP for her birthday. Her birthday is February 21st so I was exactly one month late which is about par for the course. We ordered the exact same thing: a stack of pancakes and a side of bacon. Unfortunately, this meant AMTT got her bacon as burned as I like mine. Sorry, Ames.

-When I walked in, our waitress Pam asked, “Is my fella not with you today?” She was referring to my father, whom I usually eat with. I found it odd to have my dad referred to as “my fella”...

-AMTT has been busy attempting to find her unborn baby childcare. The baby is due in September. Who knew that one had to start this early? Her first choice is Trinity United Methodist Church, where my cousins attend. Priority for admission goes to children who have siblings in the program, then to church members, and finally to others. Is being a friend of a friend of members worth anything? We are going to find out.

-On Saturday night, I visited JTH and TJK at MoFoS. Much to my surprise former employee CTH was also there. Even more surprising was that even TJK was happy to see him. I am pretty sure this is more indicative of how much TJK despises CTH’s replacement.

-The big news at the store was that earlier in the day, JBT and SCB had broken up. Not to be rude, but Ray Charles could have seen that coming. Predictability does not reduce the pain involved. Please keep them both in your prayers.

-The visit was to be short until our friend JTS walked in, seen here about to rip tape off of JTH's arm. Among the topics we discussed were his endorsement of the 1986 film Rad and his basketball team at Roane State. Roane State was eliminated in the first round of their tournament. The big news, as it has been all season was Ken Mink, the 73-year old player JTS has coached at Roane State this season. Wright Thompson, a reporter from ESPN, had spent a week with Mink investigating his story which has made many news outlets. Unlike other reporters, Thompson actually did his research, including taking JTS out on ESPN’s tab. The result was an 8000+ word article that is less than flattering. It is a great read and can be accessed here.

-Mink flunked Spanish and caused his team to forfeit a game. The 73-year old actually scored in the game. Mink’s story ended as it began - by being kicked out of school. This gives a potential movie about his life, which has been discussed, an ending. The real question: Who would play JTS in the film. Without hesitation, JTS answered: Dolph Lundgren.

-Finally, on Saturday, I picked up family prescription information from Walgreens for tax purposes. My 59-year old father’s information covered a page. Mine was small booklet...

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/23/2009, Part 1

2009-03-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Friday, March 20th, 2009

-On Friday night my parents and I met my extended family at 6:30 at Agave Azul Mexican Grill in the Western Plaza shopping center. Since I was with my parents, we arrived exceedingly early. We used the extra time to shop at The Fresh Market. I am not sure my mother had not planned our earliness just to frequent the grocery store.

-I was surprised when I saw that one of the bag boys was BT, the unbearable p.a. announcer from the Rocky Top Basketball League. We talked basketball and he was very personable. I still hate him as a p.a. announcer.

-The family was meeting to celebrate three family birthdays and because it was the last night my cousin ACN was in town. Her birthday was one of the ones we were celebrating (March 5th). The restaurant was really bright. This is evidenced by the fact that my cousin wore her massive sunglasses inside the restaurant.

-Two of my four cousins were in attendance. Being an optimist, I like to think of it as the table being half full. Obviously, ACN was present as was HANW. I knew that my cousin HANJ had made it back to Abilene successfully on Monday but I learned that she used the barf bag on the airplane. We were all impressed by this because none of us knew someone who had actually used one. It takes very little to impress us...

-I had never eaten at the restaurant before. There was a debate as to whether or not my father had. Mom insisted he had while Dad had no recollection of it. Either way, it was a new experience to Dad and me. The food was good though a quesadilla and burrito taste pretty much the same to me regardless of which Mexican restaurant I am at. I am obviously not a connoisseur of Mexican food. The place was really loud. As noted, we were celebrating three birthdays and they had the loudest (and messiest) birthday celebration I have ever heard. As you can tell from my uncle REN’s, the beers are served in the largest mugs I have ever seen. So if you are into beer, this might be the Mexican restaurant for you.

-I then returned home to watch the conclusion of the second night of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. My bracket was almost flawless until I picked only one of the night’s four games correctly. I also missed a game earlier in the day when I picked Tennessee. The Vols lost 77-75 to Oklahoma State. I would like to thank my Fellowship
friend JMW for sending me a link from his blog, Fan’s Guide for Watching the Vols in the NCAA Tournament. It made the loss far easier to stomach. By the way, I highly recommend his blog.

Prayer Blog - 3/22/2009, #3

2009-03-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, my childhood friend JKS will welcome his daughter Mallory into the world. He and his wife live in Jackson, Mississippi. Please pray for the doctors, the parents, and Mallory.

Prayer Blog - 3/22/2009, #2

2009-03-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, JBT and SCB broke up. You may remember that the two were slated to get married last summer in Virginia. JBT is describing the breakup as more of a break. Please pray for strength and wisdom as they decide whether or not to continue their relationship.

Prayer Blog - 3/22/2009

2009-03-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Anna Faye, a toddler at my church who will turn three in October, has just begun an eight-week program at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. The child refuses to eat. She had surgery performed on her when she was an infant and has yet to start eating. What was a biological problem is now psychological. John Hopkins is the nation’s preeminent center for this type of eating order. Please pray for her and her family during this difficult time.

Bible Trivia - 3/22/2009

2009-03-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

Question: In what city did the Ephesians live?

Answer: Ephesus. (Ephesians 1:1)

Comments: Traditionally, Paul wrote the Epistle tot he Ephesians while imprisoned in Rome around 62 CE. He had previously founded the church in Ephesus, famed for housing the temple of Artemis. According to the book of Acts, Paul's first visit to Ephesus lasted only three months. (Acts 18:19-21)

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 1:1, NASB)

Today, the ruins of Ephesus are a tourist attraction in Turkey.

Word of the Day - 3/20/2009

2009-03-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

Sapiential

Sapiential means containing, exhibiting, or affording wisdom; characterized by wisdom.

Proverbs asserts that having sapiential associates will produce wisdom.

He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will suffer harm. (Proverbs 13:20, NASB)

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/20/2009, Part 3

2009-03-20T06:02:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Thursday, March 19th, 2009

-Thursday was the first day of the NCAA Basketball Tournament a.k.a. “March Madness”. This is one of my favorite days of the year. I was determined not to finish last in my pool this year as I do every year. I have lost in the past to people who have never actually watched a full basketball game. So I did my research.

-The research paid early dividends. At the end of the day, I had accurately picked 15 of 16 games. The only incorrect pick came in having faith in Mississippi State. Fear not. I am not overconfident. I realize that I tend to find ways to collapse in this event.

-The game I was most invested in on this day was not in the NCAA Tournament. I listened attentively to Bearden High School’s first round game at the Class 3-A State Basketball Tournament on the TSSAA web site. Bearden entered the game ranked first in the state and were heavy favorites to win the tournament. Unfortunately, they suffered an uncharacteristic fourth quarter collapse against unranked Clarksville Northeast (27-6), which was making its first ever appearance in the event. Blake Jenkins’ free throws with 5:33 remaining gave the Bulldogs an eleven-point lead (48-37). The Eagles then went on a 15-0 run and outscored Bearden 25-5 the rest of the game. Bearden lost 62-53.

-Bearden shot terribly. They shot only 36.2% from the floor, including a first quarter in which they scored only five points. Bearden was whistled for more fouls (28) than it had made field goals (17). Bearden was also an abysmal 15-of-31 from the foul line. It was a disappointing finale to the best season in school history (35-3). (Note: This photo is of Northeast’s Dermetrye Brown who led the Eagles with 22 points and nine rebounds).

-At 10:45, I met JTH and JDM at Applebees. We were also joined by three of JDM’s friends from Kroger: Jamie, Nathan , and another girl whose name escapes me. We sat in Caroline’s section which is a rarity. Her section had a view of the television.

-JDM had just returned from a four-day trip to Gatlinburg. He brought back a souvenir - a henna tattoo of a purple dolphin on his right forearm. It was the consequence of losing a go carting race to Jamie. She hustled him. It does, however, explain a recent Facebook Status Update: “my dolphin's name is Splash and he’s my boy!” (Note: This is a piece of art and not JDM’s actual henna tattoo.)

-There was also a Santa Claus convention in Gatlinburg while he was there. Why? I have no idea. This does explain why we saw a Santa Claus at the Apple Barn the day before. (See this “In Eckleburg’s Eyes” post for details. In the midst of all of the Santa Clauses, JDM saw a sign representing the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santa Clauses. New career goal.

-JTH had just come from a shift at MoFoS. The store continues to make random personnel changes under the direction of JBT and the store manager. JBT fired JAD, the manager at Halls. We both feel this is a terrible move but no worse than the usual illogical decisions made at MoFoS. We just felt bad for JAD.

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/20/2009, Part 2

2009-03-20T06:01:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Wednesday, March 18th, 2009, Part 2

-JTH, ALK, and I spent Wednesday in Pigeon Forge. It is Spring Break in Knoxville and this was JTH’s only day off of work. We were to embark at 4 PM but JTH was late as usual. He had gone into work. I do not think JTH grasps the concept of a day off.

-As usual, we set out with absolutely no plans. Having worked at a daycare for so many years, there is little in Pigeon Forge that JTH has not done. He was our guide. In driving through Pigeon Forge I noticed one major oversight: How has no one started a wrestling themed business? It seems like a no-brainer.

-We amused ourselves on the way there by reading the new MoFoS Employee Handbook. No, JBT did not take the time to write his own document. He printed one offline. It was very humorous as much of the booklet did not correlate to the store. It was typical MoFoS.

-We decided to play miniature golf before dinner so we stopped at The Track: Family Recreation Center (located at 2575 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN). It was the first miniature golf course we saw. We later had a little buyer’s remorse as we did not remember that Pigeon Forge has more mini golf per capita than any city in the known world. We probably would have gone to the Ripley’s Old McDonald's Farm Mini-Golf course had we known it existed. Who wouldn’t want to hit a golf ball into the mouth of a three-eyed pig?

-We played the “Gator Creek” course. ALK hustled us. She told us she was not very good. Liar! She led through thirteen holes before JTH became very determined to defeat her. There was a little drama at the last hole but JTH wound up winning by three strokes, 55-52. It is worth mentioning that had we counted more than five strokes on hole three, ALK would have won. Handily.

-My final score, you ask? 62. In my defense, I had an additional obstacle. In addition to the wind, which threw all of our games off a little, my shorts kept falling down. It is a combination of weight loss and basketball shorts. (I’m okay with it.) It is far more difficult to putt while trying to keep your pants up. Also in my defense, I did not need more than five strokes for any hole and played very conservatively to keep this streak alive. Still, I admit that the kids behind us played better.

-We then drove to the Apple Barn Cider Mill & General Store. Not surprisingly, there was a wait. We sat in a gazebo and discussed plans for later in the evening. We perused brochures at the restaurant. There is actually a place called Parrot Mountain. I was shocked to learn that there was no option to shoot the birds. It seems like that would sell better in Pigeon Forge.

-We were seated on the restaurant's porch in swings. This is the first time we have eaten while seated in swings. JTH and ALK found that synchronized eating is far more difficult than you would think. We also learned an amazing fact about ALK on this night: she does not like apple butter! How is that possible? ALK’s dislike of apple butter meant there was more for JTH and I. I thought I liked apple butter until JTH ate it out of the ramican by itself!

-ALK also passed on the vegetable soup. Her explanation was that “I don’t like a lot of vegetables.” Both she and JTH ordered vegetable platters...

-Side story: While in the bathroom, JTH met a man who was bragging that he and his son were second generation Santa Clauses. I challenged him to smack the man and make a vague reference to Christmas 1987. He declined though we both thought it would be funny.

-We then planned on seeing a show. We considered Magic Beyond Belief. The fact that JTH had already been several times coupled with the $30 price tag deterred us. I then made a sacrifice for JTH. I agreed to consider going to The Comedy Barn.

-Based solely on their billboards, I am fundamentally opposed to The Comedy Barn. I took this photo while JTH investigated their pricing. You will note that they were offering a "relaxing foot massage" for a quarter. That should tell you the type of high class establishment we were dealing with. the show costs $25. The hotels in the area were advertising rooms for less than that. I was relieved when we opted to shop instead.

-At JTH's request, we went to an airbrush stand. JTH wanted a tacky souvenir. This would have done it. Had the people been able to draw us on the shirts, we would have bought one. Since they could not, again, it was not worth the money. We did consider investing in personalized headbands for $10 apiece for our church league basketball team. Again, $80 was not worth it. That was the theme of the night.

-Our next stop was the Z Buda Outlet Mall. ALK had mentioned that she had always wanted to go in Big Dogs. It is a clothing company and one of the most redneck places I have ever entered. I suspect that if you like Larry the Cable Guy, you will like this store.

-We embarrassed ALK by doing pull ups from the back of the stairs. When you embarrass someone at Big Dogs, it is time to leave. I was disappointed that the women’s brand was known as Lady Big Dog’s. I had a shorter name in mind...

-We then stopped by Shirt World (located at 2850 Parkway Store 12B). (Note: Do not read the store’s sign to fast.) It was owned by an Indian man (not Native American). We found that he was selling die-cast cars. We could not help but notice the similarities between he, JBT and MoFoS.

-Having had enough of Pigeon Forge, we returned to my house where we watched Definitely, Maybe on DVD. ALK wanted to see the movie. JTH and I had watched the film with JDM last June 25th. We liked the movie better the second time. For my initial review, see the June 26th, 2008 edition of “In Eckleburg’s Eyes”.

-Finally, it is worth noting that Attorney Stephen A. Burroughs has billboards in Pigeon Forge. This guy is everywhere.

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/20/2009, Part 1

2009-03-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Wednesday, March 18th, 2009, Part 1

-I spent Wednesday afternoon with KJW and RAW. As we were leaving their house to go lunch, KJW reprimanded her father, “Don’t say that word.” The word in question was “butt”. Naturally, RAW responded by repeatedly said the word.

-There was an also an excellent exchange between RAW and KJW when he referred to her as an “evil monkey” (a pet name). She responded, “I’m not an evil monkey.” He then asked, “What are you?” Her reply? “A scofflaw.” (RAW’s favorite word.) He was very proud.

-We took advantage of the beautiful day and took the scenic route to Lenoir City where we ate at Gerald’s Smokehouse. It was RAW’s first time there. He enjoyed the prime rib sandwich. He also enjoyed sneaking KJW’s fries. She did not mind. She interpreted it as her daddy “sharing”. It did not seem like a good day to correct her vocabulary. (Note: RAW styled KJW's hair. He wanted to put it in a ponytail but has yet to perfect this style.)

-RAW is well. Best Buy is slated for another corporate overhaul on April 6th and he is interested in seeing how this affects him, if at all. Our friend DBN is applying for the position of sales manager. Neither Knoxville store presently has a sales manager. That does not seem good. Please pray that DBN gets the position.

-After lunch we visited KLTW at the Fort Loudon Medical Center. I had never been there. The hospital is very nice. It should be. It is only four years old. Our visit was very brief as KLTW had work to do. KJW asked us where we were going. We told her we were going to take her home so that she could take a nap as aside from a brief rest in the car, she had not slept all day. Her response? “I’m not crying.”

Associated Baptist Press - 3/19/2009

2009-03-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

Associated Baptist Press
March 19, 2009 · (09-40)

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

In this issue
Groups oppose federal rule limiting books in prison chapels (406 words)
Baptists help hurting in aftermath of Alabama shooting spree (690 words)
Spankings of member's child earn Baptist pastor battery conviction (338 words)
Opinion: Global Baptists issue pledges at peace conference (675 words)

Groups oppose federal rule limiting books in prison chapels
By Bob Allen (406 words)

WASHINGTON (ABP) -- The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty is among several religious and civil-liberties groups objecting to proposed rules giving federal prisons more leeway to ban religious books that officials believe could incite violence or criminal behavior.

Two years ago, Congress passed a law that allows the Bureau of Prisons to restrict prison-library materials that "seek to incite, promote or otherwise suggest the commission of violence or criminal activity."

That was in response to an outcry over revelations that prison chaplains were purging from chapel libraries any materials not on a list of approved titles. Titles pulled from shelves included Code of Jewish Law by the medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides and Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life.

Proposed changes to the prison bureau's regulations on religious beliefs and practices, however, would allow exclusion from chapel libraries materials that simply "could" incite, promote or suggest violence or crime.

Groups led by the American Civil Liberties Union said in public comments that broadening the standard from banning materials expressly intended to incite violence to banning anything that officials think might be disruptive "needlessly deprives prisoners of access to vital religious works."

They said such language could theoretically ban works including the Bible, because of Old Testament verses that call for sinners to be stoned, and Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail, because it advocates disobeying unjust laws as a matter of civil disobedience.

The groups said the new regulations would violate the Second Chance Act, in which Congress clearly intended to limit prison-library censorship to a strict standard. The amended regulations also do not require prisons to notify prisoners when censorship occurs, which the complaint says violates due-process rights of both prisoners and publishers.

The regulations also are unclear about who is authorized to censor materials, raising the specter of those decisions being made by low-level administrators. The groups said new language should specify that any decisions about banning a book be made by senior officials in the Bureau of Prisons central office.

David Shapiro, staff attorney with the ACLU National Prison Project, said prison officials "need to follow the law, not engage in the business of banning religious material."

"Distributing and reading religious material is as protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as worshiping in churches or preaching from the pulpits," Shapiro said in a press release. "It is not the role of the government to dictate what is religiously acceptable."

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Baptists help the hurting in aftermath of Alabama shooting spree
By Grace Thornton (690 words)

SAMSON, Ala. (ABP) -- Baptists are reaching out in Samson, Ala., a normally sleepy town marred by violence March 10 when 28-year-old Michael McLendon allegedly went on a 10-victim killing spree before turning a gun on himself.

"For this small town to have that type of trauma, it's devastating and overwhelming for people," said Alisha Lewis, a counselor with Pathways Professional Counseling of the Alabama Baptist Children's Homes & Family Ministries.

Lewis said a tragedy like the shooting "hits even closer to home when you have a tight-knit community like this."

Lewis and her family live an hour away, but said Samson is like a second home to them. Her two kindergarten- and preschool-age daughters attend Samson Baptist Academy, where their father, Wade Lewis, is principal and minister of music at First Baptist Church.

In the hours and days after the shooting, Lewis made herself available to the community, offering counseling time to the local high school where one of the victims was a student and walking from local business to local business handing out her card.

She's talked with children, teens and adults who are carrying a lot of grief, fear and questions. "Here everybody knows everybody," she said. "They are really dealing hard with the killings. There are mixed emotions, anger and tears."

While there's not much physical evidence left of the shootings in the town of 2,000, where six of the 10 victims resided, Lewis said emotional scars will last for a long time.

"In terms of counseling, there will be a great need to follow up," she said. "Other people who are coming in to offer things now, it's so appreciated. But when they drive away, there will still be a lot of people who need help who are hurting."

When that happens, Lewis hopes they will pick up her Pathways card, see the Alabama Baptist Children's Homes logo and think, "I need to call this lady and get help."

That's the whole goal of the ministry, said Steve Sellers, church-relations manager for the chidren's homes. "Alabama Baptist Children's Homes responds to people in crises, whether that be a child or through Pathways," he said.

Sellers, along with ABCH Southeastern Regional Director Kim McGainey, also responded after the shootings, assisting First Baptist Church in Samson with a prayer service held March 11 for the broken community.

Wade Lewis led the crowd of about 300 in a "very worshipful, very moving song that brought peace to a lot of people," Sellers said. When an invitation was given at the end of the service, people flooded the altar.

Area pastors -- including First Baptist Pastor Sam Totten -- and counselors were there to minister to and talk with the people, too, and "just did an awesome job," Sellers said. He noted, "First Baptist Church, all the churches in the area and the [Geneva Baptist Association] director of missions responded in a tremendous way."

Other churches in the area, such as Ino Baptist Church in Kinston, Ala., held services and sought ways to minister to grieving families.

Brent Gay, pastor of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Samson, planned a prayer walk March 14 for people from his church and the Baptist College of Florida in nearby Graceville, Fla., to knock on doors and pray with the community. "We want to offer them a shoulder to cry on," said Gay, a senior at the college.

Lewis said it's a group effort that will continue. In the coming days, "We hope to keep helping hurting people to take care of themselves."

Police say McLendon, armed with an assault rifle, burned his mother's house down around her, shot his grandparents, aunt and uncle dead and then killed five more people, apparently at random, during a 24-mile shooting spree through the small towns of Kinston, Samson and Geneva, Ala. He then apparently killed himself at a factory where he used to work.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley declared March 20, as a "Day of Prayer and Remembrance" for victims, families and South Alabama communities hurt by the deadly rampage.

The area is in the far southeast part of the state, near the Alabama-Florida border.

Grace Thornton is assistant editor of The Alabama Baptist, where this story originally appeared. Associated Baptist Press Senior Writer Bob Allen contributed to this story.

Spankings of member's child earn Baptist pastor battery conviction
By Bob Allen (338 words)

ELGIN, Ill. (ABP) -- A Chicago-area Baptist preacher avoided jail time after being found guilty of battery for spanking a girl he thought was lying about sexual abuse.

Daryl P. Bujak, 33, was sentenced to a year of supervision, 80 hours of community service and $350 in fines after his conviction of two counts of misdemeanor battery at a two-day bench trial that ended March 18. A judge cleared him of another charge of failing to report sexual abuse.

Police arrested Bujak in May 2006 for allegedly spanking a 12-year-old girl brought to him for counseling by parents who doubted her story that she was being sexually abused. Bujak, who also believed she was lying, is said to have beaten the girl with a piece of wooden molding hard enough to leave bruises and welts on her legs and buttocks.

According to media reports, Bujak, former pastor of First Missionary Baptist Church in Elgin, Ill., told Kane County Judge Allen Anderson he was "over his head" in trying to deal with allegations of sexual abuse.

During the trial the girl, now 16, testified that spankings were a regular part of weekly meetings with her pastor beginning in March 2005 after she gave her mother a note containing vague allegations of sexual abuse.

Police believed the girl's story, charging her stepfather, 33-year-old Matthew Resh, with five counts of predatory criminal sexual abuse on May 12, 2006. Resh, now 36, is awaiting trial on charges stemming from incidents alleged to have occurred between September 2003 and November 2005.

The judge rejected Bujak's claim that corporal punishment is not a crime if carried out with permission of the parents. But the magistrate also said it wasn't clear that the girl gave Bujak enough detail to put him in violation of a state law that requires clergy to report allegations of sexual abuse.

Bujak left First Missionary Baptist Church, described on its website as independent and "fundamental," in August 2008, but the reason reportedly had nothing to do with the battery case.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Opinion: Global Baptists issue pledges at peace conference
By Ken Sehested (675 words)

(ABP) -- Gathering together from 59 different nations, representing many diverse communities throughout the world, more than 350 people came to Rome Feb. 9-14 to participate in the 2009 Global Baptist Peace Conference. We came together in the name of the God of peace, who in Christ is the foundation of justice and fulfillment of our peace, and whose Spirit invites us to be peacemakers in the world.

Our purpose was to teach and preach, learn and live -- the commitment to peace-building and justice-making that is at the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Together we shared in worship of the God who is our peace. There was joyous celebration, disturbing lament, and deep affirmation of our shared faith. Scripture was preached, and seeds were planted as a sign of our hope for peace.

Together we listened to stories of pain and violence, of tears and despair, of life and renewal, of harmony and hope. Amidst the recognition of the violence and brokenness that scars our world, testimony to the deeper power of God's redeeming and reconciling love was heard with joy.

Together we learned the practice of peacemaking. Rooted in theology and nurtured by the experience of participants from many different places and situations, food was shared for the continuing journey of conflict transformation..

In our meeting together we confessed and sought repentance for the part our own church communities have played in sustaining a culture of violence, and as God's forgiven people we celebrated our renewal for the task of peacemaking in the name of Christ.

Inspired by our work together and our witness to one another we made the following declarations, and call upon all our Baptist sisters and brothers to join us in the urgent gospel task of being justice-seekers and peacemakers in our world by making the same affirmations and commitments:

-- We affirm, as people of faith, our commitment to the role of the United Nations in resolving national and international disputes, and we oppose all acts of violence and aggression that ignore U.N. resolutions.

-- We affirm, as people of faith, our commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and, believing that all are made in the image of God, urge that fundamental rights be respected and upheld by all peoples everywhere.

-- We recognize the reality of conflict between peoples of different faiths, and we commit to deepen mutual understanding and dialogue in a spirit of peace and goodwill.

-- We recognize the reality of ethnic and racial violence, and we commit to bring healing and reconciliation across the barriers of division.

-- We recognize the reality of poverty and oppression, and we commit to challenging the unjust social and economic structures that perpetuate inequality and destroy life.

-- We promise to seek God's kingdom, recognizing that this means caring for all those who are children and becoming as children ourselves.

-- We promise to seek God's kingdom, recognizing that this means rejecting the power structures of this world that hold the hidden seeds of conflict throughout the world.

-- We promise to seek God's kingdom, recognizing that this means opposing the particular forms of violence and discrimination that are inflicted upon women.

-- We will follow the way of peace through listening to the voices of the marginalized, including those who are refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants, and offering a welcome to those who are strangers in our midst.

-- We will follow the way of peace through our concern for the whole of creation, including the impact of climate change on our environment, and we will reject privatization that denies people access to basic needs, such as clean water.

In the midst of a world affected by violence, terror and division, let us stand together as those who have heard and answered the call of God, who wills justice and promises peace. Let us seek the joy of those who know the freedom that is found in Christ. Let us seek the hope that is the gift of the Spirit who unites us.

-- Ken Sehested is co-pastor at Circle of Mercy Congregation in Asheville, N.C.

Word of the Day - 3/19/2009

2009-03-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Canoodle

To canoodle is to caress, fondle, or pet amorously.

Abimelech discovered that Isaac and Rebekah were not brother and sister as they had claimed when he caught them canoodling.

It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. (Genesis 26:8, NASB)

Note: This sketch of Isaac and Rebekah comes from the after workshop of Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520). It is owned by the Louvre.

Associated Baptist Press - 3/18/2009

2009-03-18T23:59:00.000-07:00

Associated Baptist Press
March 18, 2009 · (09-39)

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

In this issue
Judge: Controversial home-school ruling hinged on mother's church (582 words)
Evangelical groups protest new religion law in Kyrgyz Republic (615 words)
Church arson investigation brings new charges against former pastor (320 words)
Opinion: Why I am a heretic (1,231 words)

Judge: Controversial home-school ruling hinged on mother's church
By Bob Allen (582 words)

RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) -- A North Carolina judge, whose recent ruling that a home-schooling mother must send her three children to public school stirred national controversy, said in a written order March 17 that his decision was based largely on concern that the woman's church is a dangerous cult.

Controversy erupted after Wake County Judge Ned Mangum ruled in a divorce case March 6 that Venessa Mills of Raleigh, N.C., must stop home schooling her children and send them to public school.

A March 11 story on the conservative website WorldNetDaily.com quoted Mangum as saying the mother had done a good job at home schooling, but it is time for the children to have a "more well-rounded education" in public school.

The order outraged home-school advocates, who said it violated her parental rights.

A friend of the mother, and a home-schooling mother of four, started a website called Homeschool Injustice to urge supporters to pressure public officials to have Mangum removed from the case.

The story appeared in the Raleigh News & Observer, gained the attention of Focus on the Family's CitizenLink action center and earned a link in the March 13 Drudge Report.

The editor of the North Carolina Baptist newspaper weighed in March 12 with a blog saying the ruling "raises the warning hackles of home-schooling families the nation over."

"I am not one who sees the tentacles of government under every bed, but home schooling has been proven a solid, effective and character-building method of education for the past generation," wrote Biblical Recorder Editor Norman Jameson. Jameson said parents are the best judges of how to educate their children and described Mangum's order as "scary stuff."

In his written court order, however, the judge said the two parents disagree about the children's education, leaving it up to the court to decide what is in the best interest of the minors.

Mangum said Thomas and Venessa Mills were happily married for many years, but the relationship began to change in 2005 when she left the church they attended together to join the Sound Doctrine Church, a Washington state group that witnesses described in sworn affidavits as a "cult."

One witness, a former member of the Sound Doctrine Church, told the court the group is run by fear and manipulation and is not a healthy place for children to grow up.

An online tract for the Sound Doctrine Church says what most churches have is not love, but rather "a thin veneer of polished flattery and token socializing."

"In order for Jesus to give life to our Bible studies, we must allow him to drive nails into our hands and feet," wrote former Sound Doctrine pastor Timothy Williams. "We must permit our very hearts and lives to be taken. If you are not willing to allow this to happen concerning your understanding of the Bible -- indeed, in everything you think you understand -- then you will not enjoy the love at Sound Doctrine Church."

Robyn Williams, the blogger who worked to mobilize support for Venessa Mills, said the wording of the final order is "substantially different" from the judge's earlier verbal ruling and attempted to "destroy the character and credibility" of the mother.

"The whole order is blatantly intended to shift the focus away from the issues of justice regarding home schooling, financial support, and adultery -- and instead use 'shock and awe' tactics to pull attention into a mudslinging free-for-all against Venessa Mills' church and religious beliefs," Williams wrote.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Evangelical groups protest new religion law in Kyrgyz Republic
By Bob Allen (615 words)

(ABP) -- Evangelical leaders in the Kyrgyz Republic are protesting a new religion law they say significantly restricts religious freedom in the officially secular country.

A new law, titled "On the Freedom of Worship and Religious Organizations," took effect Jan. 16. The measure's stated intent is to address concerns about terrorism and other illegal activity by groups posing as religious organizations.

The former Soviet republic's constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government has largely avoided meddling in religious affairs since the Central Asian country -- formerly called Kyrgyzstan -- gained independence in 1991. In recent years, however, officials have begun to restrict radical Islamic groups considered to be threats to national security.

Evangelical leaders, however, say the law ostensibly aimed at curbing religious extremism goes too far in restricting legitimate religious freedom.

The Evangelical-Christian Churches of the Kyrgyz Republic released an open letter March 15 voicing concern about the new law. The coalition, which includes the Kyrgyz Union of Churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, said its members had repeatedly offered suggestions and proposals to government officials that were completely ignored in the new law.

The evangelical groups said the law infringes on religious liberty and contradicts the Kyrgyz Constitution. The leaders highlighted several concerns with the legislation. They include:

-- Its definition of rights and duties of local government to include ensuring "spiritual safety," a concept that evangelical leaders said is "too indistinct" and could open the door to excesses by local officials.

-- Its definition of a "sect" as a religious movement that separates from a confession for "reasons of dogma" in a way that "contradicts the interests of society." Evangelical leaders said the term "sect" has no place in a secular state and puts the government in the position of differentiating between legitimate and unacceptable doctrines.

-- Its ban on the involvement of children in religious organizations. Evangelical leaders said that is the same tactic used during Soviet times to forbid children of believing parents from attending church services, robbing children of religious freedom and denying parents the right to bring up their children according to their beliefs.

-- Its ban on "persistent activities directed at the conversion of believers from other faiths (proselytism)." Evangelical leaders said that flatly contradicts the Kyrgyz Constitution, which says the government will establish no state religion and that individual liberties include the right to change one's religion or belief.

-- Its increase from 10 to 200 the number of members that a religious body must have before it can be officially registered. Evangelical leaders said that, in the past, it was difficult even to ask 10 people to publicly state their creed, because it made them subject to difficulties. Increasing that figure, they said, will make it impossible for many Kyrgyz religious organizations to register and operate legally.

In its current form, evangelical leaders said the law will "cause tension and conflict in local situations," put the republic behind other nations in church-state relations and make it harder for religious organizations to gain or retain registration.

Bordering China in Central Asia, the Kyrgyz Republic is roughly the size of South Dakota. About 80 percent of its 5.3 million citizens are Muslim. Estimates of the Russian Orthodox population range from 11 percent to as low as 8 percent. A small Protestant population includes 48 registered Baptist churches, according to the United States State Department.

Islam is practiced widely in both urban and rural areas around the country, while Orthodoxy is predominantly practiced in Kyrgyz cities with larger ethnic Russian populations. Tensions exist in some rural areas between conservative Muslims and foreign Christian missionaries, as well as members of traditionally Muslim ethnic groups who convert to another religion.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Church arson investigation brings new charges against former pastor
By Bob Allen (320 words)

BELTON, S.C. (ABP) -- A Southern Baptist pastor accused of setting fire to his own church March 8 now faces additional charges of breach of trust and filing a false police statement.

On March 13, sheriff's deputies in South Carolina charged Christopher Patrick Daniels, 40, with making a false report about vandalism at Blue Ridge Baptist Church in Belton, S.C., where he was pastor, the Anderson, S.C., Independent-Mail reported March 16.

The newspaper quoted deputies as saying that Daniels filed four incident reports with the Anderson County Sheriff's Office claiming gang-related vandalism at the church between Dec. 13 and Jan. 23.

Television station WYFF-4 in nearby Greenville, S.C. reported that investigators say the church was vandalized once by someone else in December before Daniels called in four more reports of vandalism, each time filing an insurance claim.

On March 12 the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division announced an additional charge against Daniels of breach of trust with fraudulent intent, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The arrest warrant said Daniels received more than $5,000 belonging to the church for his personal use between Jan. 6 and March 9 of this year.

The new charges are on top of a charge of second-degree arson, a crime that carries a sentence of up to 25 years.

Police arrested Daniels after he reported that he unlocked the church March 8 and found it filled with smoke. It was determined early that the fire was intentionally set after investigators found evidence they said pointed to Daniels.

As of March 16, Daniels was being held at the Anderson County Detention Center in lieu of bonds totaling $40,000, according to the Independent-Mail.

Blue Ridge Baptist Church, formerly known as Triangle Baptist Church, was reportedly Daniels' first congregation, and he had been there less than a year. The church, formed in 1900, is affiliated with the Southern Baptist and South Carolina Baptist conventions.

Bob Allen it is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Opinion: Why I am a heretic
By Miguel De La Torre (1,231 words)

(ABP) -- Yes, I am a heretic -- but then, I'm getting ahead of myself.

As some of you might remember, I recently wrote what turned out to be the most controversial column in the history of Associated Baptist Press. It was based on one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament -- the Gospel story of Jesus calling a woman from another culture a "dog."

Yes, I know that Jesus and the Canaanite woman both probably had the same skin pigmentation. I used the modern label "woman of color" to describe the woman because the Jews of that time thought of themselves as superior to the Canaanites, much the same way some in the dominant culture look down at people of color in today's society.

Not only did it inspire what turned out to be -- by far -- the longest comment thread ever on ABP's site, but it also inspired quite a bit of conversation in the Baptist blogosphere. While, as an educator, there are few things I desire to do more than generate conversation, much of it, in this case, was bombastic.

I was accused, in the story's comment section alone, of "reprehensible" theology, of spouting "theologically dishonest trash," of dragging Jesus Christ into the gutter" and of being "a thorough-going pagan who has no relationship with Jesus." And that was just in the first six of 45 comments!

It was as if I was being called a "dog" (sorry - I couldn't resist the irony).

As I read everything people said about me, I did agree with one accusation I saw repeated several times: that I am a heretic. I am a heretic because I read Scripture for what it says, not what I want it to say. (Never thought being literal would get me into trouble with conservatives and fundamentalists -- go figure..) Scripture states, plainly, that Jesus called this woman a "dog."

Now, to be sure, mine was a "non-traditional" interpretation of this passage. Traditionally -- or, at least, in the 30 or 40 years since white American evangelicals have come to the consensus that racial and ethnic prejudice is sinful -- evangelicals have dispatched with the passage by saying Jesus was simply being sarcastic in calling the Canaanite woman a "dog."

I acknowledge that this is certainly a legitimate way to approach the text. But I don't think the way I approached the text is any less legitimate, nor does my approach take the text less seriously than the "traditional" interpretation. No matter how much we try to explain the passage away, a plain reading of it remains problematic.

And, if you actually read the column carefully, you'll notice I never said Jesus was a racist or a sinner. I simply raised the question. But at the very least, he was tempted, as he was in the desert and as he was in Gethsemane.

Many also thought I was being heretical by implying that Jesus learned something from the Canaanite woman's persistence in demanding aid from him. But do the Gospels themselves not tell us that the fully human Jesus, as he grew into his divinity, "increased in wisdom and stature and favor with God" (Luke 2:52)?

We Christian heretics struggle with Scripture and, if need be, reject passages that are in contradiction to the Gospel message. These are passages like the ones about smashing babies' heads against rocks (Ps. 137:9); today we call that "crimes against humanity." Or the ones with instructions on how to set up a harem (Lev. 18:18); my wife won't let me be that biblical. Or even the ones ordering God's people to put disrespectful teenagers to death (Lev. 20:9), although, as the father of two teenagers, I am often tempted to take this passage literally. Note: I'm using humor here.

So what do we do with biblical passages that seem to run counter to the Gospel message of salvation and liberation? We do what Jesus did.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reinterprets the Hebrew Scriptures to bring them in line with the Gospel message, clearly telling his followers to reject those passages that bring subjugation or death to others. Specifically, Jesus said in Matthew: "You heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, do not resist evil, but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other (Matt. 5:38-39)." According to Jesus, the biblical mandate of Exodus 21:24, which literally calls for "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," had to be rejected by his followers. In short, Jesus is calling his disciples to renounce a segment of Scripture (a-HA! - this might help me deal with the book of Joshua).

We Christian heretics are those who are thrown to the lions because we refuse to place God and Caesar on the same level. The early martyrs of the faith were persecuted for being "atheists" who refused to believe in Caesar's religion. They recognize that they couldn't serve both God and mammon, for they would end up loving one and hating the other.

Likewise, today's Christian heretics prophesy against a Christianity that fails to challenge our privileged position, but rather justifies the American empire. (So how close is the American flag to the altar in your church?).

We Christian heretics believe the Word of God is inerrant; however, we believe the interpretations given by humans to God's Word are not. Whether they are conservative or liberal, American or liberationist, all interpretations fall short of the glory of God. And if you come across anyone who has Scripture or God all figured out, I suggest that you hold your wallet and soul tightly -- for you are at risk of losing one, if not both.

Just as the religious leaders of Jesus' time crucified him on the charge of blasphemy (Matt. 26:65), so would today's Pharisees crucify him again if given an opportunity. Why? Because they would not recognize him among the dogs he hangs out with, nor would he them (Matt. 7:21-23).

So, yes, I am unapologetically a Christian heretic.

Although I am no Christ, I follow his footsteps with all my heart and mind, using his own form of heresy as my model. Maybe this is how we discover our salvation, through a heresy that refuses to fuse and confuse the interpretations of the American empire with the Word of God.

Now you have to forgive me -- for I am, after all, an ordained Southern Baptist preacher who received his Southern Baptist Theological Seminary diploma from the hands of Bro. Al Mohler himself -- But altar calls are automatic with me. I know most of us have given our hearts to Jesus; now I ask if we are willing to walk down the aisle and give our minds to Jesus. This means that we are willing to read, to question, to wrestle, to struggle, and even to confess we don't have all the answers (and maybe not even some of the answers).

The good news is that Jesus is not afraid of our honest inquiry. He is also patient when we get it wrong (and we all do). The real question here today is if you are willing to be the sister or brother in Christ of a heretic dog like me?

-- Miguel De La Torre is associate professor of social ethics at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver.

Prayer Blog - 3/18/2009

2009-03-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today, I had another conversation with Doug Smith, the chairman of the Pastoral Search Committee at Rutledge Baptist Church. I will meet with Smith and the entire search committee (comprised of four people) next Thursday night (March 26th) at 6:30 PM in Rutledge. Continue to keep this church and my potential involvement with it in your prayers.

WAM Quote of the Day - 3/18/2009

2009-03-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight at 6:54 PM, I received the following text from WAM. Keep in mind, it was the first text I had received from him all day:

“A rainbow has 2 ends, wall street on one D.C. on the other. Too bad they both hate, loathe, and distrust the other IN PUBLIC and LOVE each other in PRIVATE.”: -&”

I will let this one speak for itself. I got nothing.

Note: This cartoon of WAM was created by CartoonMe.com.

Word of the Day - 3/18/2009

2009-03-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

Asthenia

Asthenia is the lack or loss of strength; weakness.

After Delilah had Samson's hair cut, Samson suffered complete asthenia.

She made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair. Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him. (Judges 16:19, NASB)

Note: This oil on wood of Samson being betrayed by Delilah was painted by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669).

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/18/2009

2009-03-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Monday-Tuesday, March 16th-17th, 2009

-On Monday afternoon, I got to chauffeur my cousin HANJ to the Tennessee Valley Eye Center and McGhee Tyson Airport. I was pleased as I had not gotten to see her much on her brief visit from Abilene. (This is photo was taken on front of my cousin’s home. My home looks very similar this week with countless workers in the neighborhood.)

-We had some time to kill before her flight, so I stopped at the Applebees by the airport. I learned that for the foreseeable future she will be living in Abilene or Rapid City as these are the only two places in the country that house B-1 Bombers, which her husband flies.

-On Monday night, JTH and I ate at the Cracker Barrel. I ordered my usual meal there - Chicken n Dumplins with sides of dumplins and dumplins. This may be the most unhealthy combination imaginable but I love it. We had an unbelievably good waitress named Brianna. She works Sunday-Tuesday. We assured her we would be back. (Note: This is the OCD version of this game.)

-When we checked out, we were pleased to see our old friend BC behind the counter. If you know BC, I know what you are thinking. She correctly processed our bill.

-We then returned to my house where we watched the WWE’s presentation of RAW. It had been a long time since either of us had watched wrestling but I had heard rumors that the Von Erich family would be announced as inductees to the WWE Hall of Fame. The show was being filmed in Texas and it seemed natural that the announcement would be made there. It was not. There has been speculation that the weekend death of former WWE performer Andrew “Test” Martin contributed to the delayed announcement.

-Despite the absence of the Von Erichs, we enjoyed talking together. We also got to see an old school jobber match. The jobber in question was Dolph Ziggler (pictured). note: A jobber is a wrestler whose primary function is losing to better-known wrestlers.

-Most importantly, on Monday I had my first interview with Rutledge Baptist Church. See this Prayer Blog post for details.

Word of the Day - 3/17/2009

2009-03-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

Descry

To descry is to see (something unclear or distant) by looking carefully; discern; espy.

While Jesus' trial was being held, one of the servant girls of the high priest descried Peter as one of his associates as he sat in the courtyard.

and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, "You also were with Jesus the Nazarene." (Mark 14:67, NASB)

Peter famously denied her identification.

Note: This on canvas of Peter denouncing Christ was painted by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669).

Associated Baptist Press - 3/16/2009

2009-03-16T23:59:00.000-07:00

Associated Baptist Press
March 16, 2009 · (09-38)

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

In this issue
Widow of slain pastor says she isn't angry at accused killer (382 words)
Church gathers for worship week after pastor slain (640 words)
Slain Baptist pastor hailed as hero, martyr (729 words)
Gift of $2 million to fund new chapel on Central Seminary campus (409 words)

Widow of slain pastor says she isn't angry at accused killer
By Bob Allen (382 words)

MARYVILLE, Ill. (ABP) -- The widow of slain Baptist pastor Fred Winters says she harbors no anger toward her husband's alleged murderer.

"I do not have any hatred or even hard feelings toward him," Cindy Winters said March 16 on the CBS Early Show. "We have been praying for him."

She said one of the first things her daughter said after the attack was that she hoped the accused gunman, 27-year-old Terry Sedlacek, would somehow come to "love Jesus" because of the experience.

"We are not angry at all," Winters said.

She said she does not have any opinion about what should happen to Sedlacek in the legal system but she hopes that he "finds peace with God."

"I hope that he understands that God loves him in spite of his sin, and he can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ."
Winters said she and her daughters are holding up well under the circumstances. "I think I'm a great example that prayer works," she said.

Winters said she did not know Sedlacek and had never seen him before, but now she would like to reach out to his parents.

"In some way we have been united through this crisis, and when they are ready I have a desire to meet them and let them know personally that I love them and in some way I feel their pain. I feel like we're united together in our pain."

"The way I was comforted by others, I have a desire to comfort them."

Winters said she is grateful that neither she nor either of her daughters was in the early service March 8 during the attack. She said she attends the second of the church's three regular morning worship services and had not yet left home. Her older daughter was at church, but helping out in the nursery.

"None of us, fortunately, were in the service to experience what happened, and I am so grateful to God for that," she said.

She also said she knows that coping with her loss is going to be a long process. "I know that the same way God got me through last Sunday, he's going to get me through the next week and he is going to get me through the next 10 years," she said.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Church gathers for worship week after pastor slain
By Bob Allen (640 words)

MARYVILLE, Ill. (ABP) -- One of a select fraternity of pastors who has experienced a church shooting consoled and challenged an Illinois Baptist congregation one week after its popular pastor was fatally shot while preaching his Sunday sermon..

"You are the most prayed-for church in all of Christendom this morning," Al Meredith, pastor of Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, told worshipers in one of three morning worship services March 15 at First Baptist Church in Maryville, Ill.

Meredith delivered the sermon from the pulpit where 45-year-old Pastor Fred Winters' life was cut short March 8, when Terry Joe Sedlacek, 27, of nearby Troy, Ill., killed Winters with a gunshot wound to the heart. No motive for the shooting has been revealed, but Sedlacek's family claims he is mentally ill.

Meredith's church suffered similar violence nearly a decade ago, when 47-year-old Larry Gene Ashbrook interrupted a youth prayer service with gunfire that killed seven and wounded seven others. Meredith warned the Illinois congregation it is "heading into uncharted waters" in dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy. He said the old hymn line, "every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before" is "baloney."

"Every day with Jesus is not sweeter than the day before," he said. "Some days are evil days, and last Sunday was an evil day."
Still, he said, the message of the gospel is, "there is hope in this violent world."

"That's why the media are so eager to hear your story, because it's so unique," he said. "We live in a hopeless world."

Describing in detail events of Sept. 15, 1999, that turned Wedgwood Baptist Church into "a killing field for a hopeless madman," Meredith said one question asked during an initial press conference was if there is anywhere in society that is safe.

"Of course not," Meredith said. "We live in a hostile world. The only real place of safety is in the center of God's will." But even that, he said, does not guarantee against untimely death.

Another question Meredith said he received was, "where was God?" when the shooting took place.

"God is exactly were he was when his own dear son was cruelly tortured and murdered," he said. "He is a parent who knows what it's like to lose his only son."

Meredith said God is in control and gives Christians who struggle the ability to get through when they need it.

He also said there are members of his church who are still having counseling nearly 10 years after the tragedy. He warned the Maryville congregation to reach out for help and avoid the "phoniness" of claiming "victory in Jesus" and going it alone.
"Get help from the body of Christ," he advised. "We are still struggling."

Meredith said the Wedgwood tragedy gave him numerous opportunities to share a Christian witness through the mass media.

"God has given us hope and peace in the face of life's worst tragedies," he said. "God gives a peace that the world doesn't understand."

On the other hand, Meredith said, tragedy can cause doubt.
"Faith is not having no doubts," he said. "In fact, faith necessitates doubt."

It's one thing to believe in God when everything makes sense, he said. It's when "God pushes into the abyss where it doesn't make sense" that faith comes into play.

"You don't really have faith until you're pushed beyond your controls," Meredith said. "Most of you are control freaks, and you want to have all your ducks in a row, and last week your ducks all fell apart."

Meredith challenged the Maryville congregation "it is time to put up or shut up" about their faith.

"You are what you are under pressure," he said. "If you squeeze an orange, you don't get Dr Pepper.... When you're squeezed, what's on the inside is what comes out."

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Slain Baptist pastor hailed as hero, martyr
By Bob Allen (729 words)

MARYVILLE, Ill. (ABP) -- A fellow pastor and former church member hailed slain Baptist preacher Fred Winters as a "hero and a martyr" at a memorial service at First Baptist Church of Maryville, Ill., March 13.

"I believe with all my heart Pastor Fred died as a hero and a martyr," Tim Cowin, pastor of the The Rock Church in nearby St. Louis, said of his friend of more than 20 years, who was struck down by a gunman's bullet while preaching from the same pulpit March 8.

Without going into detail Cowin said, "Because Fred acted last Sunday, many lives were spared."

"A martyr is a person who is killed for his faith," Cowin said, adding that Winters "died the way he lived his life, in the midst of service to his King Jesus."

Cowin said a martyr is also someone whose death is a witness to the Christian faith.

Cowin said he does not know why God would allow his friend to die, but that already God was using the tragedy to "raise people to a higher level" of Christian witness.

Winters' widow, Cindy, said she met her future husband when she was 14. "We grew older together, but he never grew up," she said of the fun-loving pastor, husband and father.

She said Winters used to leave chocolate for her in her purse and at night would snuggle with her and ask how he could pray for her.

"He loved being a pastor," she told a packed sanctuary. "He had a pastor's heart. When you hurt, he hurt. When you were happy, he was happy."

"I never heard him once get sick of it," she said. "He loved you guys, and he would be proud of you."

She said Winters would be angry if people put too much attention on him. "The best way we can honor him is by honoring God," she said.

"Fred and I have been talking a lot about how God is on the verge of doing incredible things through this congregation," she said.

"Satan knew it, too, but nothing's changed."

"I refuse to let Satan win," she said. "He's not going to steal my joy. He's not going to steal my passion. I'm not going to hate, and I want to carry out the mission of this church."

"I'm not going to survive this thing," she said. "I'm going to become a better person because of this thing."

Fred Winters was born Dec. 4, 1963, in Kansas City, Mo., and felt the call to ministry while in high school. He and Cindy Lee Jackson were married in 1987. They have two daughters, Alysia, 13, and Cassidy, 11.

He graduated from Southwest Baptist University in 1985 and earned a master's degree from Wheaton Graduate School in 1987. He earned a master of divinity degree from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1991 and went on to receive a doctor of ministry degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Winters came to First Baptist Church in Maryville when the church consisted of just a few families. Today membership has grown to 1,400 and a weekly average of 1,200 people attend worship services. In 2007 Fred and Cindy Winters celebrated both 20 years of marriage and 20 years of service at First Baptist Church.

Adam Cruise, a former staff member at First Baptist Church in Maryville who now leads a church of his own, told mourners that his mentor would not want his death to result in discouragement or defeat. Rather he borrowed an illustration from a World War II story -- something that Winters often did -- to challenge the church to carry on its mission.

"Let the future generation of First Baptist Church, Maryville, look back on this generation and this moment and say this was our finest hour," he said.

Terry Sedlacek, the 27-year-old gunman charged with murder and aggravated battery in Winters' death, was released March 12 from the hospital where he was treated for self-inflicted stab wounds. When they searched his home in nearby Troy, Ill., police seized a planning calendar with March 8 marked "death day."

Cindy Winters read a message from her daughters at the memorial service saying "it was not death day for my daddy" but rather "the best day of his life."

"On Sunday my husband did not die," Winters said. "He just simply got a promotion."

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Gift of $2 million to fund chapel for new Central Seminary campus
By Robert Marus(409 words)

SHAWNEE, Kan. (ABP) -- Central Baptist Theological Seminary will be able to build a chapel on its new Shawnee, Kan., campus thanks to a $2 million gift from a prominent Baptist family foundation.

The John and Eula Mae Baugh Foundation of San Antonio pledged the money toward the seminary's $8 million "Cultivating Excellence" campaign, school officials announced March 12. The gift from the foundation -- which has provided support to several moderate and progressive Baptist organizations, including Associated Baptist Press -- brings total pledges in the campaign to $6.2 million.

It will fund Central's proposed Baugh-Marshall Chapel. The building's name follows Baugh Foundation practice in memorializing the charity's founders and honoring the president of the institution to which the building is donated, in this case Central President Molly Marshall.

"I am humbled by the generosity of the Baugh family," Marshall said, according to a school press release. "The prospect of having my name linked with theirs is a signal honor for me."

In a move designed to cut high maintenance costs, the 107-year-old seminary announced in 2006 that it would sell sell its historic campus in nearby Kansas City, Kan. It purchased and remodeled a former church facility in Kansas City's fast-growing southwestern suburbs, turning it into classroom, office and library space. The chapel will provide dedicated worship and meeting space on the Shawnee campus.

Other portions of the capital campaign include endowing faculty chairmanships, upgrading Central's library, providing housing for international students and visiting scholars and expanding the school's technological capabilities.

"With this pledge, every component of the campaign has received a pledge," said the seminary statement. "In the current financial climate it truly is an amazing gift and a wonderful affirmation of the mission of Central."

School officials indicated construction on the Baugh-Marshall Chapel would begin this summer or fall. Spokesperson Robin Sandbothe said March 16 that architectural renderings were not yet available for the building because "before this gift, we didn't know we'd get to begin building it so soon."

The seminary has, historically, been affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. While it remains so, Central describes itself as also being "in full support of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship." The school has hosted increasing numbers of students from moderate Southern Baptist backgrounds in recent years as fundamentalists solidified control at the official Southern Baptist divinity schools, including Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo.

Central also includes students from approximately 20 other denominational backgrounds.

Robert Marus is managing editor and Washington bureau chief for Associated Baptist Press.

Prayer Blog - 3/16/2009, #2

2009-03-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

Tonight I had my first interview with Doug Smith, the chairman of the Pastoral Search Committee at Rutledge Baptist Church. I really enjoyed our discussion and I will have a second meeting with the entire search committee next week. I learned that the church had been disbarred from its local Baptist Association for featuring women deacons. I really, really want this job. Please keep the church and my potential involvement with it in your prayers.

Prayer Blog - 3/16/2009

2009-03-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight I talked to my maternal grandmother MEHV on the phone. She requested prayer as arthritis in her knees has severely slowed her already limited mobility. Please keep my grandmother in your prayers.

Separated at Birth?

2009-03-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight JTH and I watched the WWE’s presentation of RAW as I had heard rumors that the Von Erich family would be announced as inductees to the WWE Hall of Fame. While the Von Erichs were not announced, WWE Hall of Famer Roddy Piper (left) did make an appearance. Both JTH and I felt that he currently resembles Michael J. Fox. Sadly, the physical effects of Parkinson’s Disease do not appear that much different than a career in professional wrestling.

Word of the Day - 3/16/2009

2009-03-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

Cachet

A cachet is an official seal, as on a letter or document.

Judah realizes that he is the father of his daughter-in-law Tamar's child when she presents his cachet. (Genesis 38)

He said, "What pledge shall I give you?" And she said, " Your seal and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand." So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. (Genesis 38:18, NASB)

Note: This oil on canvas of Judah and Tamar was painted by Emile-Jean-Horace Vernet (1789-1863) in 1840. It part of the Wallace Collection in London.

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/16/2009, Part 4

2009-03-16T06:03:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Sunday, March 15th, 2009

-I had one goal for Sunday: to not leave the house. Mission accomplished.

-Since I was not going anywhere, my friends came to me. JTH, ALK, and I watched the Tennessee basketball team play in the SEC championship game. The Vols had not won the SEC Tournament since 1979. They may never get a better chance to win it either. (Note: This is ALK's feet while wrestling with JTH. You will note the half-socks she is wearing.)

-Mississippi State defeated the Vols 64-61. It was the most frustrating Tennessee game I have seen and that says a lot this year. The Vols had two possessions in the final seconds in which they could take the lead. Not only did they not score, but turned the ball over before they took a shot. The only positive thing I can say about watching the game was that Verne Lundquist did not reference Tim Tebow, a feat I did not think was possible. If you don’t think Lundquist could not focus on Tebow during a UT-MSU basketball game, you have not heard Lundquist.

-While we watched the game downstairs, my mother held a baby shower for my cousin HANW upstairs. HANW is due on May 11th. The baby girl will be named Mikayla. Mikayla racked up on this day.

-It was good seeing all four of my cousins. HANJ flew in from Abilene, Texas, and ACN was home on spring break from UMass. Her flight from Atlanta the previous night had been cancelled and she was forced to miss her sister’s final big dance performance the night before. We have not yet forgiven Delta.

-After disbanding for the afternoon, JTH and ALK returned to my house where we watched the Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy. While none of us is an especially big fan of Larry the Cable Guy we enjoyed the show, which we watch annually. It is ordinarily a guilty pleasure, but when Larry the Cable Guy is involved, it is a very guilty pleasure.

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/16/2009, Part 3

2009-03-16T06:02:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Saturday, March 14th, 2009

-I spent Saturday with my family. I ate breakfast with my parents at Shoney’s. I convinced my mother DLNV to go without makeup. She worried about her appearance throughout the meal. Yes, I reminded her that she was at Shoney’s. I also showed great restraint by not taking a picture for the blog.

-My parents and I went to the 2 PM performance of the Tennessee Children’s Dance Ensemble (TCDE) at the Clarence Brown Theatre. On the way, my mother needed to stop by both Food City and Kroger for a shower she was throwing the following day. I no longer ask questions like “Why exactly do we need to stop at two grocery stores?” That shows growth.

-This is the eight straight year we have gone to the TCDE watching the careers of my cousins ACN and HLN. As HLN graduates this year, it will be our last year. My cousin HANW is pregnant with a girl and we all suspect that we will be going to see Mikayala dance one day. (This is HLN pictured with the company’s two other seniors, Caroline Bibb and
Hannah Myers.)

-The venue was very different this year. Due to the Clarence Brown Theatre being smaller than in the past, the girls presented six shows in two days. They performed three times for local schools as well as three for the general public. I cannot imagine how exhausted they must have been. The group was clearly cutting costs as my dad and I were told that we could only get one program between us because we constituted a “group”. Really?

-Attendance was down due to it being the first weekend of Spring Break and the Tennessee basketball game tipping shortly after the show started. The big show was later in the night. As such, this was the first time we had seen the show without HLN’s family. We watched with ECD and MCVD, my aunt and uncle. Yes, I missed the first half of the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. If there was any doubt, I love my cousin.

-The show was good as usual. I thought the costumes were especially good this year and not just because my aunt is one of the primary seamstresses. I was disappointed that “The Limelight” was not on the bill. When I can name their routines, I have probably seen them one too many times...

-I did manage to get home in time to watch the second half of the Tennessee basketball game. The Vols beat Auburn 94-85 to advance to the finals of the conference tournament for the first time since 1991. I was especially pleased with Wayne Chism and not for his career-high 27 points and nine rebounds. I was happier that when asked his motivation for the game, he said that Auburn “ bogarted us the last time we played them.” Well played, sir.

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/16/2009, Part 2

2009-03-16T06:01:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Friday, March 13th, 2009, Part 2

-On Friday night, after briefly visiting JTH at MoFoS, KJW, MPW, RAW and I watched the Tennessee basketball team play its first game in the SEC Tournament. We watched the game at MPW’s condo. RAW and I arrived before MPW, who was running late after eating with KL and her parents. MPW invited us to shimmy the lock as he insisted it was weak. That seemed like a B & E charge waiting to happen so KJW, RAW, and I waited in his car.

-The Vols played Alabama, who had defeated them on Sunday in Knoxville. Naturally, the inconsistent Vols played great and won 86-62 in an impressive dunk fest. It was their largest SEC Tournament victory margin since 1949.

-KJW ate throughout the game. RAW would chew pretzels into shapes of letters and numbers and KJW correctly identified them all. I was impressed. Later, we gave her a Twizzler. We were wondering whether the candy was cherry or strawberry so we asked KJW what it tasted like. Her answer: “Red.” Fair enough.

-KJW was occupied most of the night, which allowed us to watch the game. Most of the night, she was busy positioning bags of shredded paper throughout the house. (MPW had shredded documents earlier in the week. I think he just wanted to use his paper shredder.) After KL arrived, KJW played with her on the computer. This produced the following dialogue:

KJW (pointing to snot she had deposited on KL’s computer chair): “Ooh look!”
KL: What is that?”
KJW: “A booger.”
KL: “Go get Matt to give you a tissue?”
KJW: “No thanks.”

-KJW also tried to pants KL at one point in the evening. I love that kid.

-Despite KJW’s usual preciousness, KLTW phoned in the story of the night. While working at Morristown-Hamblen hospital, a pregnant woman asked KLTW if an ultrasound could determine the sex of her baby. When KLTW learned the woman was 16-18 weeks pregnant, she informed the woman that at twenty weeks the baby’s sex could be more accurately determined. The woman then asked if the ultrasound could identify the race of the baby! For the record, no, an ultrasound cannot predict race.

-Finally, Friday, was the 31st birthday of my West High School bud JECL. Happy birthday, Elaine! I miss you.

Prayer Blog - 3/15/2009, #2

2009-03-15T21:01:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow would have been my grandmother Mary Louise Jones Nodell's 95th birthday. It is the first time her birthday has passed since her death last May 3rd. Please pray for my family, especially my mother DLNV, tomorrow.

Prayer Blog - 3/15/2009

2009-03-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, my cousins will be traveling. Most of the family will be driving to Baltimore where my cousin HLN will be attending Goucher College. Meanwhile, my cousin HANJ flies back to her home in Abilene, Texas. Please pray for safe travel, that the family receives additional financial aid from Goucher, and that I remember to chauffeur HANJ to the airport.

Separated at Birth?

2009-03-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else think that Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman (left) resembles Conrad Bain (the dad from television’s Diff'rent Strokes)? (Note: Conrad Bain is the Caucasian male in the photo.)

Bible Trivia - 3/15/2009

2009-03-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

Question: What Old Testament matriarch had a nurse named Deborah?

Answer: Rebekah. (Genesis 35:8)

Comments: There are two Biblical characters named Deborah, the famous prophetess/judge in the Book of Judges and a lesser known nurse who appears in the book of Genesis. Nothing of the latter’s life is mentioned, only a notice of her death. Deborah died at Allon-bacuth and was buried by her master’s son Jacob, who was returning with his family to Canaan.

Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named Allon-bacuth. (Genesis 35:8, NASB)

Famed commentator Rashi (1040-1105) wrote that Deborah was sent by Laban to care for his sister Rebekah when the latter went to marry Isaac (Genesis 24:59). In Genesis 35, the elderly nurse was informing Jacob that it was safe to return home.

Others have speculated that Deborah was delivering the news of her master’s death when she died. Rebekah’s death is not recorded in Scripture.

Note: This painting, “Rebekah at The Well” by Michael Deas, depicts Rebekah offering water to Eliezer. The scene is from Genesis 24, Rebekah’s debut in the Biblical text.

Word of the Day - 3/13/2009

2009-03-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

Impute

To impute is to attribute or ascribe.

King Herod the Great imputed Jesus' miracles to be the work of a resurrected John the Baptist. (Matthew 14:2; Mark 6:14)

and said to his servants, " This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him." (Matthew 14:2, NASB)

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/13/2009

2009-03-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Wednesday-Thursday, March 11th-12th, 2009

-On Wednesday night, WAM and I went to the Regal Pinnacle 18 in Turkey Creek for the 7 PM showing of Watchmen. WAM wanted to see the film on their “IMAX” screen. We did not view the film in true IMAX but we did see it on the largest screen imaginable. For our $13.25 per ticket we also had a concession attendant on hand throughout the film.

-The film, based on a popular 1980s graphic novel, opened on March 6th but this was the first night I could see it. WAM sacrificed and waited to watch the film with me. We caught up before the movie began. As opposed to the usual film ads, posters from Watchmen were flashed on the screen while the film’s diverse soundtrack played. For WAM’s typical brilliance during this portion of the evening, check out the WAM Quote of the Day.

-We both enjoyed the movie very much though I will be the first to admit it is not for everyone. If you cannot handle watching violence, do not view this film. It depicts an alternate universe which shares history with ours until 1940. It diverges at that point with America winning the Vietnam War and Richard Nixon repealing term limits. Nixon is serving his fifth term when the movie takes place, in 1985.

-After the movie, WAM and I headed to Applebees. We spent the better part of the night discussing where the movie deviated from its source material, of which WAM is well acquainted. I learned that Nena’s song “99 Luftballoons”, which is featured in the soundtrack, is a Cold War era protest song about toy balloons triggering an apocalyptic overreaction by the military. Other than WAM, who knew?

-AFH was our waitress. She gave us warning that she will no longer be serving on Thursdays as she will soon begin as eight-week Bible study. WAM said it best (as he usually does), “You’ll have to settle for inferior service on Thursdays.”

-In other news, on June 14th I will be preaching the “Classic Service” at the Central Baptist Church of Bearden. Mike Chesney (CMC) and Jim Heizer (JLH) are now running that service in the wake of ADF’s retirement which is effective March 29th. Anyone who wishes to come is welcome.

-Finally, Wednesday marked DBN’s 30th birthday. Happy birthday, Mongo!

Associated Baptist Press - 3/12/2009

2009-03-12T23:59:00.000-07:00

Associated Baptist Press
March 12, 2009 · (09-37)

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

In this issue
Christian comic, former SNL star labels Obama a communist (779 words)
Freeman: For women, proper question not 'ordination' but 'calling' (725 words)
Opinion: The future of American Christianity (834 words)

Christian comic, former SNL star, labels Obama a communist
By Bob Allen (779 words)

NEW YORK (ABP) -- Former "Saturday Night Live" cast member and conservative Christian comedienne Victoria Jackson said in a Fox News interview March 9 that President Obama is a communist and that what America needs is the Bible.

"My motivation is gone, because [Obama] will punish me if I'm successful," said the 49-year-old entertainer, best known for playing ditzy blonde characters on the hit NBC comedy show from 1986 to 1992, to interviewer Sean Hannity. "That's how you start communism, is just take -- Cuba! Obama wants to be Castro."

Jackson said she would like to see Hannity run the country, along with conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the failed GOP vice-presidential nominee.

Jackson, a vocal evangelical Christian who has appeared on the Christian Broadcasting Network's "700 Club" and who spoke at a major Southern Baptist gathering in 2004, said she wasn't interested in politics before the last election. Last year, she supported the GOP presidential nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, and opposed one of her former "SNL" colleagues, Al Franken, who ran as a Democrat for one of Minnesota's two Senate seats.

"Well, I've never been involved in politics, 'cause it's just 'neh neh neh, neh neh neh,' but all of a sudden it was, it was: 'Oh, Hillary Clinton is a socialist, she wants to socialize medicine. Well, I'll have to vote against her.' And then all of a sudden a communist appears! Out of nowhere! And that's when I started to get involved."

At that point Jackson said she did research and found that "black liberation theology, his church, is Marxist, and his professors are Marxist."

"He says, 'Redistribute the wealth,'" she said.

It isn't the first time Jackson has called Obama a communist. Last year on another Fox News program, "The O'Reilly Factor," she said she was supporting McCain because she thought Obama was a communist.

"My husband said; 'Don't use that word. Say 'radical' or 'Marxist.' But you know, Karl Marx wrote the book The Communist Manifesto, so I don't see why people are afraid to say the word 'communist.'"

She said her research included reading George Orwell's book 1984 -- twice -- and said seeing Obama's picture on the cover of every magazine in an airport bookstore reminded her of "Castro, or the guy in China."

"I think we've already started sliding into socialism," she said. "The liberals are controlling all the TV channels. I mean the only one telling the truth is yours. This is the only one we watch."

Jackson explained in a recent "700 Club" interview why she began speaking out.

"The last couple of months I've been involved in giving political speeches, because I passionately have Christian values that I'm afraid I might lose," she said. "So I started speaking out, and people are now asking me to give political speeches." She then blurted out: "Yeah Sarah Palin!"

"I'm so proud of Sarah Palin," she said. "I was praying, 'God please help our country return to -- I have all our founding fathers' speeches of how they loved Jesus and God."

She said David Barton's Wallbuilders website, for example, "proves our country was founded -- hello! -- on Christianity."

"I was praying, 'God please let us retain our freedom to have Christian radio and not be persecuted like Christians are in other countries. Please God help this election.' And all of a sudden Sarah Palin dropped out of the sky. I'm like, 'You're kidding me! A Christian?' It was a miracle."

Jackson grew up in a conservative Christian home and dropped out of college to head for Hollywood. Eventually she received a theater degree at Palm Beach Atlantic University, a Southern Baptist school in Florida.

In 2004 she spoke at an "Elevate" conference sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board. The event aimed to help college students and young professionals merge faith with daily life.

As time ran out on her most recent Fox interview, Jackson pulled out her Bible and held it aloft. "This is what our country needs, the Bible," she said. "I didn't get time to get to that."

In a March 11 post about Jackson's appearance on the left-leaning blog Crooks and Liars, David Neiwert termed Jackson's ranting "idiocy."

"Back when she was a cast member of 'Saturday Night Live,' I didn't find Victoria Jackson particularly funny. I thought her ditzy-blonde routine was too over the top and demeaning; nobody could really be that idiotic, I thought. Later, I came to realize that it wasn't just a routine," Neiwert wrote.

He concluded, "Is this is the face of the new conservatism? The average, Fox-watching, Limbaugh-loving American? If so: Wow."

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press. Robert Marus, ABP's managing editor and Washington bureau chief, contributed to this story.

Freeman: For women, proper question not 'ordination' but 'calling'
By Steve DeVane (725 words)

MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. (ABP) -- Asking whether women should be ordained to the ministry is the wrong question, according to Baptist professor Curtis Freeman.

"The question is, 'Who is being gifted in the church?'" said Freeman, research professor of theology and director of the Baptist House of Studies at Duke Divinity School. "Where are those gifts being displayed?"

Freeman was guest lecturer for the Vivian B. Harrison Memorial Lecture at Mount Olive College in Mount Olive, N.C., March 10. His lecture focused on women's voices in the church. He also preached during the Free Will Baptist school's chapel service that day.

Freeman said ordination doesn't give one the gift of preaching. Ordination is instead the church recognizing that gift, he said.
"The point is, the church doesn't really call people into ministry," he said. Instead, "We help people discern God's call on their life."

The lectures included an overview of four 17th-century Baptist women who wrote about their experiences. They were among nine Baptists and about 300 total prophetesses in England between 1640 and 1660, Freeman said.

The four Baptist women wrote at least 748 pages of material -- much of it in pamphlets, which were cheaply reproduced and available to a wide audience.

"The pamphlet was like the 17th-century Internet," Freeman said.
Historical records indicate that the women influenced early English General and Particular Baptists, according to Freeman.

"Through their writings they surely attained an even wider audience," he said. "Yet there was also a tension between the prophetic voices of these women, the gathered churches and the wider society that eventually refused to swallow their prophetic pill."

Freeman said that revolutionary forces in England at the time had destabilized governmental power and other forces that "long had kept women in their place."

"The social spaces that opened up enabled women not just to think freely but to speak their minds freely," he said. "Yet, as the Baptist movement became organized and institutionalized, many of the more egalitarian expressions of the early days dissipated."

These and other women who spoke out were on the fringes of the early Baptist churches, Freeman said.

"Maybe these women standing on the edge see something those of us at the center of the church can't see," he said.

Freeman said women have found a space to share their voices during other periods of social upheaval, such as the American Revolution, the settling of the Western frontier and the social upheaval of the 1960s and '70s. He asked if churches could find a way to create such a space without waiting for the wider culture to create it.

Freeman used the story of the first woman ordained by a Southern Baptist church to suggest three essential elements of discernment used by the church. Addie Davis was ordained by Watts Street Baptist Church in Durham, N.C. on Aug. 9, 1964.

The church was "committed to the practice of calling out the called," Freeman said. Such a call includes both inward discernment and outward confirmation, he said.

"It's not about women in ministry," he said. "It's first about this principle of calling."

The second conviction of the Watts Street church was what Freeman called "openness to more light from the word." For many the issue of women in ministry is settled, one way or the other. But others remain searching and open.

"It's a sense that our understanding is growing," he said.

Freeman said Watts Street was also committed to stand together with others under the rule of Christ. An ordination council from the local association examined Davis.

"Because a local congregation stands under the immediate rule of Christ, it has the power to call its own ministers, celebrate the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and administer the keys of church discipline," he said. "Yet no congregation is independent. It is interdependent with those who 'walk by the same rule.'"

Freeman said this is a "hard word," since all Baptists don't agree.
"Sometimes I'd like it to be me and Jesus, but in the end I don't think that's the way it is," he said.

The challenge of standing together will take patience and humility, Freeman said.

"It is the vector of the Baptist vision that suggests that we find our way together," he said. "Ultimately, it is not a matter of gender or ordination, but of spiritual discernment."

Steve DeVane is managing editor of the North Carolina Baptist Biblical Recorder.

Opinion: The future of American Christianity
By David Gushee(834 words)

(ABP) -- Trinity College's American Religious Identification Survey was released March 9. Its headline finding, as summarized by USA Today: "Faith is shifting, drifting or vanishing outright." The news that "almost all denominations are losing ground" is sobering indeed. It helps to clarify that recent budget cuts in Baptist life and elsewhere are not just about our current Great Economic Meltdown, but instead dovetail with a broader fade of organized American Christianity.

First, let's consider some of the most important numbers, in case you missed them. Since 1990:

--The percentage of Americans who self-identify as Christians has dropped by 11 percent, over half a percentage point per year.

--The percentage who claim no religion has nearly doubled, from 8 percent to 15 percent. The "Don't Know/Refused" group also more than doubled, from 2.3 percent to 5.2 percent.

--Self-identified Baptists have dropped from 19.3 percent to 15.8 percent of the population.

--Mainline Protestants have dropped from 18.7 percent of the population to only 12.9 percent; Methodists went from 8 percent to 5 percent. At that rate, the mainline will die within 40 years.

--The percentage who identify as Wiccans or other new religious movements has increased from 0.8 percent to 1.2 percent, a small but rapidly growing number. Adherents of Eastern religions have also doubled numerically, as has the Muslim population.

--The percentage of Catholics has dropped only slightly, from 26.2 percent to 25.1 percent.

--Those who identify as "followers of Jesus" or some other kind of generic Christian represent 14.2 percent of the population, down a bit from 14.8 percent in 1990 but still representing 32 million people.

We are a nation still populated by a majority of self-identified Christians -- nearly 75 percent claim some relation to Christian faith. But the numbers are dropping quickly; if trends continue, Christians will constitute 64 percent of the population in 2026, and barely half in 2044. The shortfall will be made up primarily by what statisticians of religion are starting to call the "Nones," pure secularists who claim no religious affiliation.

In terms of the culture-war battles that have wracked the nation for a generation, unless wise new leadership emerges in both the Christian and the secularist communities, vicious battles will continue over all manner of symbolic and substantive issues -- from monuments on courthouse grounds to abortion, gay rights and the use of religion in the armed forces. It also seems likely that the volleys between aggressive atheists like Richard Dawkins and those seeking to counter them will only intensify.

There will continue to be sharp regional differences, as secularist numbers spike in the West and Northeast (Vermont led the nation with a 34 percent None population) and grow more slowly in the Bible Belt. Increasingly, secularists and their children and grandchildren will have no exposure to the Bible and Christian traditions, and therefore little interest in or understanding of the residual cultural overlay of religiosity still apparent in our national life.

What does all of this mean for Christian mission and our witness in culture and politics?

I think we will witness (are already witnessing) a winnowing process in which weak, ineffective, or maladaptive churches and religious organizations are simply going to die. Congregations will close, parachurch organizations and schools will shut down, and entire denominations will fold or merge with others. Creative efforts will be required everywhere to forestall this fate.

It is likely that surviving denominations, including the Baptist bodies, will have to consolidate their operations. It is hard to imagine there being six surviving Southern Baptist Convention seminaries a generation from now, or over a dozen Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-related seminaries and divinity schools. It could be (ironically enough) a Darwinian moment, as only the strongest and most adaptive survive.

Many congregations and parachurch groups will drop denominational labels in order to ensure their greatest chance of success and not be damaged by denominational-brand baggage. This will continue to deeply challenge the ongoing significance of, for example, Baptist identity.

Christian colleges will have to decide how serious they are about their faith identification. Those that deliver excellent education in a context of robust spiritual vitality will do better than those that provide only one of the above -- or neither. The weakest of these colleges will also merge or die.

Christians who bring faith-based moral convictions into the public square will win less and less. Some will respond by just shouting more loudly, thus turning more people away from Christ. Others will shift to a paradigm of faithful witness rather than cultural victory.

Broad-based coalitions across religious and ideological lines will be a necessity.

The era in which cultural Christianity delivered bodies and dollars to churches and sustained thousands of often marginally effective Christian organizations is ending. The era in which Christians could afford to spend their time and money fighting with each other in the pews or the annual conventions or the newspapers is ending.

We will either deliver to people vital, meaningful, life-changing, Christ-following Christianity, or we will die of our own irrelevance.

David Gushee is distinguished university professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University.

Prayer Blog - 3/12/2009

2009-03-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I have another meeting with RWB at the Central Baptist Church of Bearden. The meeting was scheduled today for 1:30 PM tomorrow. As always, please keep the encounter in your prayers.

Word of the Day - 3/12/2009

2009-03-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

Malar

Malar means of or pertaining to the cheek or zygomatic bone.

The prophet Micaiah's malar region was struck by Zedekiah when Micaiah opposed the interpretation of his fellow prophets. (I Kings 22:24; II Chronicles 18:23)

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "How did the Spirit of the LORD pass from me to speak to you?" (I Kings 22:24, NASB)

Micaiah was vindicated when his prophecy came true.

Note: This miniature of Zedekiah striking Micaiah was created by the Master of Otto van Moerdrecht around 1430.

Associated Baptist Press - 3/11/2009

2009-03-11T23:59:00.000-07:00

Associated Baptist Press
March 11, 2009 · (09-36)

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

In this issue
Wedgwood pastor to preach Sunday at grieving Illinois church (788 words)
Police investigate money missing from Missouri Baptist nursing school (294 words)
Martial-arts seminar at Baptist school leads kung-fu master to Christ (794 words)
CBF field personnel direct training center, minister to villagers in Belize (770 words)

Wedgwood pastor to preach Sunday at grieving Illinois church
By Bob Allen (788 words)

MARYVILLE, Ill. (ABP) -- One week after its senior pastor was shot and killed while delivering a sermon, an Illinois church will welcome as its guest preacher March 15 one of the few pastors with a similar experience.

The website of First Baptist Church in Maryville, Ill., said the church plans to hold its normal Sunday schedule that day. It will feature Al Meredith, pastor of Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, preaching at all three worship services.

Nearly 10 years ago a disturbed gunman walked into an evening youth rally at Wedgwood, fired more than 100 rounds from two handguns and exploded a pipe bomb. The attack killed seven and wounded seven others before the gunman took his own life.

Though Meredith was not present when the attack occurred on Sept. 15, 1999, he is one of only a few pastors with first-hand experience in coping with the aftermath of something like what happened to the Maryville congregation.

Police say Terry Sedlacek, 27, of nearby Troy, Ill., gunned down Fred Winters, a married father of two who led First Baptist Church as pastor for nearly 22 years, before stabbing himself in the throat and wounding two church members who tried to subdue him. Sedlacek faces charges of first-degree murder and aggravated battery.

In the years since the Wedgwood shooting, Meredith has spoken publicly about the impact the attack had on the Southern Baptist flock that is affiliated with both the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

An article on the Wedgwood website said the biggest question the church had to answer was the unanswerable, "Where was God when all this happened?"

Out of that struggle came a new understanding of what it means to say, "God is sovereign."

"He was there during the shootings," the article says. "He comforts us today as we grieve and as we continue to recover. Through trials he brings understanding; he strengthens our faith when there can be no understanding."

In a 2004 story in the Baptist Standard, Meredith said he had heard of other churches that fell apart after a tragedy. At conferences about dealing with trauma and grief, Meredith learned that people often start breaking down about six months after a tragedy. He responded with a six-part series of sermons about how characters in the Bible handled depression.

Meredith said the church also offered a safe place where people could discuss their doubts and anger with God openly and honestly.

"It's a healthy sign that you believe in God's sovereignty enough to be angry with him when things work out irrationally or tragically," Meredith said. "That's a rational response. And God can handle our anger."

At a 2004 conference on crime victims, Meredith said that because of the attack he was able to share the message of hope in Jesus Christ when he offered the invocation at the Cotton Bowl in 2000.

Meredith said the congregation experienced a deeper sense of God's presence in worship after the tragedy, and as news of the congregation's positive outlook spread, visitors started attending from out of town.

Attendance grew about 50 percent in the five years after the shooting, and the church sent out 120 members to launch a mission congregation in 2004.

Meredith said post-traumatic stress syndrome is "real," and it can return in waves years later, but Wedgwood Baptist Church was committed to moving on.

"Don't ask us when we'll get over it," he said. "We'll never get over it. We'll get through it."

Services at First Baptist Church of Maryville are scheduled at 8:15, 9:30 and 10:55 a.m. on Sundays. Meanwhile, the church is arranging for overflow parking and shuttle services from neighboring churches for the memorial service for Winters, scheduled for March 13.

The church website said the building is getting swamped with flowers and plants, and requested that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to a trust fund being set up for Winters' two daughters.

Information on how to give is available from the website and a Facebook page set up for prayer for the church and Winters' family. As of midday March 11, more than 10,000 members had joined the group.

Prayer services for First Baptist Church were scheduled Wednesday night, March 11, at United Methodist, Catholic, Disciples of Christ, Lutheran and Assembly of God churches in Maryville, coordinated by the town's ministerial alliance.

Dan Crawford, a member of Wedgwood Baptist Church and former professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote a book about the Wedgwood tragedy in 2000. Titled A Night of Tragedy, a Dawning of Light, the book is no longer in print but is accessible as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file on the Wedgwood website.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Police investigate money missing from Missouri Baptist nursing school
By Bob Allen (294 words)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (ABP) -- Police in Springfield, Mo., are investigating the suspected embezzlement of more than $500,000 from a nursing school operated jointly by a Baptist university and a Catholic hospital.

The Springfield News-Leader reported March 11 that St. John's College of Nursing and Health Sciences told police about the missing money on March 5. The college is operated in partnership between St John's Mercy Health System and Southwest Baptist University, a four-year school with 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students in nearby Bolivar, Mo.

The paper quoted a spokesperson of the nursing school who said one employee had been fired and the matter turned over to police. The article quoted an officer who said an arrest had been made, but the suspect's name was being withheld until charges are filed.

A television station said the same suspect is also being investigated for theft from a public-school Parent Teacher Organization in the Springfield suburb of Republic, Mo.

The Southwest Baptist University website describes the St John's College of Nursing and Health Sciences as "a unique venture between two faith-based institutions" that "offers programs in nursing that reflect its strong Judeo-Christian heritage."

The college offers both associate and bachelor's degrees in nursing, drawing on the legacy of two historic faith-based institutions.

Southwest Baptist University was founded in 1878 and is affiliated with the Missouri Baptist Convention. St. John's Health System was founded in Springfield, Mo., in 1891 by the Sisters of Mercy as a Catholic institution. The St. John's School of Nursing began in 1905.

Representatives of the university and hospital began working in the mid-1980s to combine their efforts to meet nursing needs in the local and regional communities. The nursing school began partnering with Southwest Baptist University to offer professional nursing degrees in 1996.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Martial-arts seminar at Baptist school leads kung-fu master to Christ
By Crystal Kieloch (794 words)

BLUEFIELD, Va. (ABP) -- Taiwanese kung-fu master Liu Chang probably didn't think a routine seminar he led at Virginia Baptist-affiliated Bluefield College would lead to him converting to Christianity. But that's just what happened.

Liu, a widely-respected karate expert, was one of two visiting instructors at a martial-arts seminar hosted by Doug Minnix, Bluefield's assistant professor of exercise and sport science and faculty advisor for the school's Karate Club. Liu was joined by Kimo Wall, an American karate expert who conducts seminars around the world.

"Master Liu is no typical kung-fu master," Minnix said. "He is a 12th-generation direct descendant of the White Crane system."

The White Crane system is a southern Chinese martial art widely practiced around the world. It is characterized by deep-rooted stances, intricate hand techniques and fighting mostly at close range. There are different levels of the White Crane system; the Feeding Crane level, at which Liu excels, is the most combative.

"[Liu's] technique reminds me of the legendary methods that are only read about and no longer to be found," said Minnix. "How such a remarkable individual ended up on tour with Kimo Wall and in the small town of Bluefield, I believe was orchestrated by God."

Before making his own profession of Christian faith, Minnix, who was a student at Bluefield College in the late 1980s, practiced the principles of Zen Buddhism and traveled to China to research the particular style of karate to which he was devoted.

But, "In the midst of a culture dominated by Zen, I had a God moment," Minnix recalled about his trip to China. "While walking down the streets, a young man witnessed to me about Jesus and handed me a gospel tract. This seed stayed in my heart and would remain, yet undeveloped, until I returned to Bluefield College."

Kung Fu master Liu Chang (center) offers a demonstration during a Bluefield College martial arts seminar. (PHOTO/Bluefield College)

Scott Bryan, who chairs Bluefield's exercise and sports science department, mentored Minnix during his days as a student at Bluefield and shared more about Christianity with him. During his senior year, Minnix answered the call of Christ and subsequently gave up his study of martial arts.

"But, in my devotional time, I kept running across Scriptures that seemed to run harmoniously with karate principles," Minnix said. "It was during that time that God gave me a vision for a martial-arts ministry."

That same karate ministry, which involves Scripture memorization and Bible study, is what brought Liu and Wall to Bluefield last summer. Wall, a former Zen Buddhist who also converted to Christianity and who is a longtime sensei (a Japanese title used to address teachers in martial arts) to Minnix, brought Liu to Bluefield to present the Feeding Crane system to karate students from the college and community.

But, the karate students were not the only individuals to leave the martial-arts seminar changed by the experience. During an after-hours dinner, Liu shared the details of a series of events that led him to find both lost relatives and martial-arts techniques. The circumstances, he believes, were magic, because they were too well orchestrated to be coincidence. Wall boldly responded, "Not magic, but a miracle, the power of God."

Later during the seminar, Liu received word from Taiwan that his home had been damaged by a typhoon. Concerned about his family, Liu found encouragement from people within the college and local church community. They offered Liu support and prayer. Sensing God's direction in the entire experience, Minnix gave Liu a Chinese/English Bible.

"Following some encouragement by Kimo sensei, I finally presented Mr. Liu with the gospel," Minnix said. "He opened the book, and with tears in his eyes and a humble disposition, said, 'All my life I hear about this book, but today [is] the first day I see it.'"

Minnix shared later that he, along with Wall, were amazed at how a man of such stature, position and power could be so quickly touched by God.

Minnix recalled, "He said to me, 'Now you first time from now on study Feeding Crane; now I first time from now on study the book.' I can't explain how I felt that night. God truly intervened and crossed cultural lines to connect us in a very special way."

Liu would end his trip to Bluefield with a visit to Minnix's church, and said afterward, "This is [the] first time I go to church. I feel very special power [that I have] not felt before."

Liu communicated later with Minnix and others his desire to learn more about Jesus. He also said his Bluefield experience is one he plans to share with students all over the world.

"I will never forget Bluefield," Liu said. "Bluefield is [the] place where I first talk to God. I go home and tell people here, and they cannot believe. 'You talk to God?' Amazed."

Crystal Kieloch writes for Bluefield College.

CBF field personnel direct training center, minister to villagers in Belize
By Laurie Entrekin (770 words)

ATLANTA (ABP) -- Recently appointed as Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel in Belize, North Carolina natives Eric and Julie Maas serve as the directors of the Western Region Baptist Training Center. Started in the 1980s by Baptist missionaries, the 10-acre-camp hosts working mission teams, biblical training for pastors and other religious or educational retreats and conferences.

Their journey to Belize began two years ago, when the Maases were considering full-time missions work overseas. Linda Jones, missions coordinator for CBF of North Carolina visited their church and spoke with Eric, a native of Greenville, N.C., about ministry needs in the Central American country.

"She planted the initial seed," said Julie, a native of Raleigh, N.C. "We were in the process of discerning where God want[ed] us to be. We thought it was Nicaragua." Julie jokingly credits a pair of bumper stickers for jump-starting their journey to Belize. She visited her local library and saw a car in the parking lot covered with bumper stickers.

"The top left sticker said 'Belize' and the bottom right sticker, on the tailgate, said 'The answer.' Those were the only two I saw," she said.
Prayer, networking and other "subtle hints" led the Maases to decide on Belize by June 2007. By July 2008, after selling their home and nearly all their belongings, the couple moved there with their 5-year-old daughter and now 18-month old son.

The Maases have made a two-year commitment to direct the Baptist training center.

"We see it as a career move," Julie said. "If God calls us to stay in Belize or move somewhere else, we are surrendered to God's will."
Managing the day-to-day operations of the center, scheduling and assisting with group visits and caring for their own children's needs are the primary activities of the Maases' ministry.

With a background in construction management, Eric has spent considerable time doing needed repairs and maintenance to the buildings. Julie, a registered nurse, said that as they are beginning "to get the camp down pat" and starting to know their neighbors better, they are spending more time addressing the villagers' needs, both physical and spiritual.

The Baptist center is located in the middle of the small village of Camelote amid great poverty.

"Villagers are just trying to make it day in and day out, pay their bills, and get their children off to school," said Julie. "We are the eyeballs on the ground, and pretty much wherever we look, there is something that needs to be renovated or torn down, and challenges that each family faces."

Last October, when a devastating flood with a hurricane-like impact struck Belize, causing millions of dollars in damage to crops and homes, Eric was able to deliver a large box of food and a flashlight to a pregnant woman and her family who were stranded in a remote village.

"When the detailed logistics of 'how to' were unknown and seemed impossible, especially in the dark, God delivered a boat to cross that river when we didn't know if there would be one," Julie said. "The food was enough to feed the family until the water receded."

The Maases have not only ministered in the villages, but also opened the doors of their home -- the camp -- to the villagers, through informal playgroups with their children as well as organized activities. As Eric and Julie work to build relationships, they seek to put Mother Teresa's words into practice, doing "small things with great love."

"One thing God has led me to do is start a prayer group with the women in the village," said Julie. "I love to pray -- that's my passion."
For the last several months, nine to 13 women have met weekly at the center for an hour and a half for discussion and prayer time.

"We talk about the concept of prayer," said Julie. "I want to empower them with the power of prayer -- not offer money or medicine. I want them to know that God is right there with them; they don't have to leave their home or get an education to reach out to God, draw close to him, and learn who he is and his love for his people. My prayer and desire is to empower the women, with God's help, to truly have a relationship with Christ that will cause a positive ripple effect to those around them."

The Western Region Baptist Training Center operates year-round. Mission teams that have stayed at the center have led vacation Bible schools, completed construction projects, conducted evangelistic outreach, assisted schools and churches with various needs and held medical clinics.

Laurie Entrekin writes for CBF Communications.

WAM Quote of the Day - 3/11/2009

2009-03-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight, WAM and I watched Watchmen on the “IMAX” screen at the Regal Pinnacle 18. In this picture, WAM is picking up our tickets from Fandango. Shortly after arriving we caught up. I recounted all of the teaching and preaching I have done of late. When pressed, I admitted that I had not gotten paid. WAM then asked if I had at least gotten paid for my gas. Again, I confessed I had not. WAM then analyzed,

“You paid them...travel expense is very important.”

Before this conversation I thought I was merely working for free. Now, I realize that I am actually so hard up that I pay people to hear me talk. Thanks, WAM.

Word of the Day - 3/11/2009

2009-03-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

Perfervid

Perfervid means very fervent; extremely ardent; impassioned.

After being abusively rejected by the Jews in Corinth, Paul makes a perfervid speech in which he announces his intent to go to the Gentiles.

But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean From now on I will go to the Gentiles." (Acts 18:6, NASB)

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/11/2009, Part 3

2009-03-11T06:02:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Tuesday, March 10th, 2009, Part 2

-I spent Tuesday night with JTH and JBT. It did not start out this way. I had planned on making a brief stop by MoFoS to see JTH and then calling it a night. When I arrived, JTH and I headed to his house so that he could pick up documents to file his taxes online at the store. (He uses the store’s internet as he has no computer in his home.) While at JTH’s house, we could not help but notice that his neighbors were grilling out. This made me want a hamburger. We remembered that JBT needed a delivery to the Halls store so we asked if we could make the delivery and eat at the Bel-Air Grill. (JTH is the only person I have ever met who does not like Litton’s hamburgers.) JBT agreed but decided to go with us. So we headed out for Halls. (Note: JDK manned the store throughout. We were not entirely irresponsible. Just mostly irresponsible.)

-JBT wanted to drive to show off his new 2008 Nissan Titan. Though it is difficult to tell from this photo, the truck is midnight blue. It is massive. JBT has owned the vehicle so short a time that he has yet to fill it up with gas. According to his calculations, the V8 is averaging 13.2 miles per gallon. Yikes!

-After eating at the Bel-Air Grill, we headed to the Halls store to make the delivery that was ostensibly the reason for our trip. JTH and I officially met Barbara, an employee who has recently been re-hired by JBT. It appears that the Halls store is getting prepared for a major staff overhaul. We spent minutes in the store and stayed after the 10 PM closing time. Believe it or not, it was primarily JTH shopping and not me. So much for my brief stop by MoFoS.

-Despite doing virtually no work, JTH was on the clock throughout the night!

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/11/2009, Part 2

2009-03-11T06:01:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Tuesday, March 10th, 2009, Part 1

-On Tuesday morning, CBP allowed me to lecture her class at Carson-Newman College for the third consecutive semester. On this day, I would be teaching her Intro to the New Testament courses on Paul and the book of Romans.

-The class used the Fifth Edition of Stephen L. Harris’ The New Testament: A Student's Introduction as the text. I had an hour to teach the vast amount of material. It was not my finest hour as a teacher and my lack of experience showed as I struggled pace the class.

-The first class met at 8 AM which gave me the rare opportunity to see a sunrise. (Notice that the street light is still on in this photo.) My poor performance in the early class was exceeded only by the abysmal response of the students. There were only eight students present. Of the eight, two slept during part or all of the lecture and one left prematurely! I take credit for putting only one student to sleep as the other was asleep before I opened my mouth. I repeatedly used the word “uh” which I cannot ever remember doing. On the plus side, I did not say “basically”... (see the March 13th, 2008 edition of “In Eckleburg’s Eyes” for details.)

-I could not help but notice birds chirping outside. They sounded strikingly like crickets to me. Thankfully, two nursing students were attentive and attempted to help their drowning lecturer.

-In between classes I got to talk with CBP and HBT and meet Christine Jones, the Assistant Professor of Religion. I really enjoyed this. HBT asked how I would teach the difficult Romans 9-11 passage. I said all I would say was that it was “really hard”. He appreciated this.

-At 10:30, I taught a much larger class who were far more receptive to me and my questions. The first class only had one student who had previously heard me, while the second had roughly half a dozen. This probably helped a lot. I was not good in the second class but I was far better than the first.

-I then drove back to Knoxville to volunteer at the Hope Resource Center. My 2 PM appointment was very easy and even showed up early. I needed this as I was drained.

-Finally, on Tuesday afternoon, I was visited by my uncle RLN who let me know that my cousin HLN was accepted to Goucher College, her first choice. This is great news. Now, please start praying for funding.

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/11/2009, Part 1

2009-03-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Monday, March 9th, 2009

-On Monday night, JTH, MPW, and I went to Bearden High School to watch the Bearden Bulldogs play the Morristown East Hurricanes at 7 PM. The stakes were raised for this game and not just due to the $6 ticket price. It was a sectional (substate) game, meaning the winner would advance to Murfreesboro for the state tournament while the loser’s season would end. Win or lose, this would be Bearden’s last game in Knoxville.

-We sat at midcourt in the front row. The seats were not as choice as you might think. We were positioned next to Bearden’s student section. Our view was partially obstructed throughout the game. JTH attended because two of our former pupils from daycare, Ronrico White and Will Winton, play for Bearden. MPW went because he loves good basketball. I went for both reasons. MPW did wear the opposing teams colors but not because his grandfather attended the school. (I know that’s what you were thinking.) It was just a coincidence. The game was an event. We saw too many people from church to list them.

-Prior to the game, Bearden coach Mark Blevins was honored for his 400th win at the school, accumulated during the Bulldogs’ romp through the district tournament. Bearden athletic director Scott Witt presented him with a plaque. In fifteen years at Bearden, his record (after the game) stands at 404-109. That’s 26.9 wins a year! Blevins took over as Bearden coach for Cary Daniels in my sophomore year of high school.

-Bearden’s victory was never in doubt. Had the teams been evenly matched athletically (and they were not), Morristown East would have been dominated as they had no player taller than 6'4". Bearden’s guards exceeded that height. This also does not factor in Bearden’s depth. Morristown East never led but hung on for one quarter. Bearden only led the Hurricanes by four entering the second quarter (13-9). The Bulldogs’ pressure defense held MEHS scoreless for a 5:28 stretch of the second period. This contributed to a 23-2 run that pushed the Bulldogs to a 36-14 halftime lead and all but ended the Hurricanes hopes.

-Morristown East’s strategy was to play physical. This seemed to motivate Bearden all the more. Sophomore guard Ty Greene drew four offensive fouls alone during the game. I don’t know if I have ever seen that before.

-After three quarters the score was 65-23 and when Blevins finally pulled his first two units with 5:05 left in the game, the score was 70-23. The Bearden first wave more than tripled Morristown East and amassed a 47-point lead. The mercy rule was incorporated (meaning the clock did not stop in the final period) and Bearden won 76-34. It was the most lopsided substate victory I have ever witnessed.

-In my biased opinion, the two most impressive plays of the game were a rebound and a dunk. When Ronrico White grabbed a rebound high above the rim in the second half, it drew thunderous applause. When a rebound draws cheers, it is impressive. The dunk came when Nathan Parker grabbed a rebound and dunked over a defender in one motion. The referees called over the back but the kid more or less vaulted his defender.

-JTH and I were very proud of Ronrico (pictured, shooting a free throw). He played great. He and senior Blake Jenkins, both sons of former Tennessee basketball players, led the team with 13 points apiece.

-Morristown East is not a bad team either. They finished their season with a 25-9 record. Bearden, now 35-2, set a school record for wins. It is Blevins’ fourth team in fifteen years to advance to the state tournament. Bearden did not lose to an in-state opponent all season and has gone two straight years without losing to a local (Knox County) school. (Note: In this picture Ronrico White is mugging for the camera while a teammate is interviewed.)

-The smell of popcorn in the gym had made us hungry all night, so we hit Kingston Pike in search of food. We set out to try something none of us had ever eaten before. We stopped at Josephine’s Old World II Pizzeria and Restaurant (pictured, located at 10943 Kingston Pike). Despite its hours of operation indicating it was open, the doors were locked and no one appeared to be inside. Now craving pizza, we drove a few miles down the road and ate at Little Joe’s Pizza’s in Farragut. En route, JTH regaled us with a history of American grocery stores. Evidently he had done a report on them in high school and is a fountain of information on the subject. Of all things to be an expert on...

-Everyone in the restaurant was either a friend or family of our waitress. Her toddler, Cody, received a boisterous response when he walked through the door. Unfortunately, this scared the poor child profusely. While at the restaurant, we were briefly visited by RAW, who needed the keys to my truck. KLTW and KJW remained in the car as the child was sleeping. It was for the best. I would not have wanted to give Cody an inferiority complex...

Associated Baptist Press - 3/10/2009

2009-03-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

Associated Baptist Press
March 10, 2009 · (09-35)

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

In this issue
Bill to permit guns in churches revived in wake of pastor's shooting (570 words)
Baptist pastor accused of setting fire to church (298 words)
Therapeutic robot takes center stage for residents of retirement community (636 words)
Opinion: Leaving Alabama (960 words)

Bill to permit guns in churches revived in wake of pastor's shooting
By Bob Allen (570 words)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (ABP) -- An Arkansas lawmaker says she will reintroduce a bill to allow concealed weapons in churches after a deadly Illinois church shooting March 8.

State Rep. Beverly Pyle (R-Cedarville) originally introduced a measure Jan. 29 to remove "any church or other house of worship" from a list of places where people licensed to carry concealed weapons are prohibited from bringing their guns.

The bill passed the Arkansas House of Representatives on a 57-42 vote Feb. 11 but then died on a voice vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee Feb. 25.

After a gunman entered First Baptist Church in Maryville, Ill., and killed Pastor Fred Winters with a gunshot to the heart, Pyle told Little Rock CBS affiliate KTHV Channel 11 she was making changes to the bill and planned to take it back to the committee hoping for more votes.

"I have received numerous e-mails and phone calls concerning this wanting me to bring this back, none against it," Pyle told the TV station March 9.

The station talked to one Arkansas legislator -- Sen. Hank Wilkins (D-Pine Bluff) -- who indicated he might change his vote from "no" to "yes."

"In light of the shooting yesterday I think there will be a number of legislators who will want to reconsider this," said Wilkins, who is also a United Methodist pastor.

Police said the suspect in the shooting, 27-year-old Terry Joe Sedlacek, was armed with enough ammunition to kill as many as 30 people and had planned the attack to the point of writing "death day" on is planning calendar for March 8.

His weapon jammed after four shots, however, before he pulled a knife and wounded himself and two church members trying to subdue him.

Dave Travis, managing director of the Leadership Network, told the Associated Press that most megachurches have coordinated security plans and undercover guards, but smaller congregations are often more vulnerable.

Jeffrey Hawkins, executive director of the Christian Security Network, said 75 percent of churches have no security plan, making them a "soft target" for attack. He said security isn't only about preventing things from happening, but having a plan for dealing with catastrophic events after they occur.

First Baptist Church of Maryville said on its website that all activities at the church are canceled for the week following the attack, and that grief counselors are available if anyone needs to talk or have someone pray with them.

Visitation for Winters, 45, is scheduled from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. March 12 at the church. The funeral service is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. March 13, also at the church. Graveside services are private.

The church is accepting gifts both to a Winters Family Memorial Fund and to the church building fund.

"In this day, where uncertainty seems to abound creating an environment in which people are vulnerable in doing things they might not do otherwise, one thing is certain, we, as human beings need a foundation upon which we can live our lives," said a statement on the website. "We at First Baptist Maryville, along with other Christian believers, share this conviction: that foundation is God's Word. In the pages of the Book we call the Bible, we find the pathway for peace, hope, and a quality of living life despite what circumstances we find ourselves in.

"To those who believe in the power of prayer, we covet your prayers right now."

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Baptist pastor accused of setting fire to church
By Bob Allen (298 words)

BELTON, S.C. (ABP) -- A Southern Baptist pastor in South Carolina is facing arson charges after allegedly setting fire to his own church building March 8.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division announced March 9 the arrest of Christopher Daniels, 41, of Belton, S.C., on a charge of second-degree arson. A press release said Daniels "willfully and maliciously" set fire to Blue Ridge Baptist Church in Belton.

On March 9 the Greenville News reported the church's pastor discovered a fire while unlocking the building for Sunday worship.

The next day the paper quoted Anderson County Fire Chief Billy Gibson as saying officials found evidence early on that the fire was intentionally set. After further investigation, they concluded that Daniels was the suspect.

Roger Orman, associate executive director of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, said the congregation -- until recently known as Triangle Baptist Church -- is on a roster of churches that cooperate with the state convention. A searchable database of Southern Baptist churches says the congregation was formed in 1900 and has 107 members.

The local newspaper said about half of the congregation's active membership -- about 25 members, mostly elderly women -- stopped attending after a series of attacks by vandals who spray-painted what appeared to be gang symbols on walls of the sanctuary.

In January the Anderson, S.C., Independent-Mail quoted Daniels as saying the church was vandalized about five times within a two-month period.

If convicted Daniels could receive up to 25 years in prison. He was held on $25,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court April 24.

Daniels reportedly became a Southern Baptist pastor about a year ago, and Triangle Baptist Church was his first preaching job.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Therapeutic robot takes center stage for residents of retirement community
By Holly Raidabaugh (636 words)

RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) - There's a new resident at Lakewood Manor, one of Virginia Baptist Homes' retirement communities. Paro is by far the furriest member of the Lakewood community and he takes his meals through a battery charger, not in the dining facility. Paro is an interactive robotic baby Harp seal, designed to provide therapeutic benefits to residents of retirement communities.

Also known as mental-commitment robots, therapeutic robots are developed to elicit emotional attachment from humans, according to the creator's website. Three types of effects are sought: psychological, such as relaxation and motivation; physiological, such as improvement in vital signs; and social, such as encouraging communication between residents and caregivers.

Lakewood is one of three retirement communities in the country to include Paro in its care team. The robot's inventor, Takanori Shibata, senior research scientist of Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, has been working with health organizations in Europe and Japan since 2005, but is just now making his debut in the United States.

Paro's effects are closely related to pet therapy. "Many studies show that interaction with animals is useful for people to relax, relieve mental stress and exercise for physical rehabilitation," says the Paro website.

But why a baby Harp seal -- an animal native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and unfamiliar to most Virginians?

Paro's inventor explains that robots can be divided into four categories, according to the way they look: humanoid robots; robots designed to look like animals, such as dogs or cats, familiar to virtually all people; robots that approximate uncommon or non-familiar animals, such as seals, penguins or whales; or robots that are not designed to look particularly like any actual living creature.

Robots that look like humans or familiar animals raise expectations that the robot will function much like its real look-alike -- expectations that are invariably disappointed when the differences become clear. Users often lose interest in interacting with those robots. New characters or artificial animals will attract the interest of some people but not others -- and it's not easy to determine what kind of person will find interaction with that kind of robot appealing.

Robots that look like non-familiar animals, however, typically attract widespread and long-lasting interest. While most people have never owned a seal or penguin as a pet, they do know something about them.

"Pet-therapy programs help to increase relaxation, motivation, vital signs, socialization, and laughter and to decrease stress, depression, and loneliness in residents who participate in these programs," said Susan Weirich, Lakewood's certified therapeutic recreational specialist.

"It is very exciting for Lakewood to have the opportunity to enhance the quality of our residents' lives through the use of Paro. What a great tool for increased health in our residents' lives on a daily basis!"

Paro has five kinds of sensors -- tactile, light, audio, temperature and posture -- with which it can perceive people and its environment. With the light sensor, Paro can recognize light and dark. The robot "feels" when it is stroked or struck thanks to the tactile sensor, and the posture sensor determines when it is being held. With its audio sensor, Paro recognizes the direction of a voice, as well as words such as its name, greetings and praise. Paro can learn to behave in a way that the user prefers, and respond to its new name. For example, if it is stroked each time it is held, Paro will remember the previous action and try to repeat an action that will elicit stroking. If Paro is hit, it remembers the action that prompted the blow and tries not to repeat it.

By interaction with people, Paro responds as if it is alive, moving head and legs, making sounds, and reflecting the preferred behavior. Paro also imitates the voice of a real baby Harp seal.

Holly Raidabaugh is director of marketing for Lakewood Manor.

Opinion: Leaving Alabama
By Jim Somerville (960 words)

(ABP) -- I was born on March 14, 1959, in Selma, Alabama. My mother tells me I was the most difficult of all her babies to deliver, and that while she was waiting for me to make up my mind about being born she walked the hallways of that hospital, saying the 23rd Psalm over and over: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." My father was the new pastor of the Presbyterian church in Hayneville, Ala., 35 miles away, and recently he told me the story of his own labor there, and of his eventual delivery.

He said that when he was considering a call to that church he asked the committee chairman what the civil-rights situation was in Hayneville. Since the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision that outlawed segregation in public schools, resistance to integration had been strong in the South, and sometimes violent. The chairman said, "Well, you're a good old South Carolina boy, aren't you? You know what it's like." And it's true. My father had grown up in South Carolina. He probably knew exactly what it was like. But he came anyway.

He hadn't been there very long when a member of the church invited him to say the opening prayer at the next meeting of the White Citizens' Council. "What is the White Citizens' Council for, exactly?" my father asked. "Could I look over a copy of the constitution and bylaws before I give you my answer?" And the man looked at my dad as if he were crazy, or maybe a communist, and said, "Well you know what it's for: it's to keep niggers in their place!"

Although I don't think their constitution and bylaws read that way, that is what the White Citizens' Council was for. According to one of my better sources, the WCC was a white-supremacist organization that flourished in the United States between the mid-'50s and the mid-'70s. "With about 15,000 members, mostly in the South, the group was well known for its opposition to racial integration," Wikipedia says. Its issues involved the so-called "protection" of "European-American" heritage from those of other ethnicities. If my dad had only had Wikipedia he would have known all that.

But, in answer to the man's reply, Dad said he didn't think that was his role in the community. He said he thought his role was to share the gospel with anyone who would receive it, black or white, and to make no distinction between the two. "And that," my father said, "was when he looked at me as if he really did have a rattlesnake loose in his house."

It was not long after I was born that the leaders of Dad's church sat down with him to discuss the policies of racial integration being promoted by the denomination. According to some Presbyterians, at least, black people ought to be welcome in the church just like white people. The elders of the church in Hayneville talked about that for a long time and finally decided that black people -- "negroes," as they called them in polite company -- were welcome to visit the church but not welcome to join it. And then they looked at my dad to see what he thought.

He must have been about 30 years old at the time -- a young man, sitting in that room with all his elders, trying to be respectful. But finally he said, "This church doesn't belong to us. It belongs to Jesus Christ. And I don't think he would keep anyone from joining because of their skin color." And the man who had chaired the search committee looked at my dad and said, "Son, I don't know what kind of religion they taught you in seminary, but we've only got one kind of religion here, and it's that good old Southern religion."

Soon word began to get around that the new pastor of the Presbyterian church in Hayneville was a "nigger-lovin'" preacher. Church attendance began to fall off. Women would stare at my mother in the grocery store. And then one morning while she was fixing breakfast, she noticed a string of cars passing by the house, slowing down at the front yard and then speeding up again. One of our neighbors called to ask if we were all right and Mom said, "Yes, why wouldn't we be?"

"Didn't you know?" said the woman. "Why, the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross in front of your house last night!"

Mom hung up the phone and got my father out of bed. He put on his bathrobe and slippers and walked across the front lawn to a patch of burned grass. My mother watched him poke a pile of ashes with the toe of one slipper, and when he came back in, she said, "Well?"
And he answered, almost disappointed: "Sure was a little one."

But, after that, the threats began to get more serious, until my father finally decided he needed to get his family out of there. So, he loaded up his wife and three little boys in a 1953 Ford Fairlane, strapped a dog house on top with our dog, Lady, and her five puppies inside, nailed a piece of plywood over the opening, and then, under cover of darkness, pulled out of the parsonage driveway and headed up the road toward southwestern Virginia, where he would try to continue his ministry under happier, friendlier circumstances.

Things were happier there, and friendlier, too. But -- even though I was just a toddler when we left Alabama -- those stories, and my father's courageous example, have shaped my views on race relations ever since. How about you? Who shaped your views on this issue?

-- James Green Somerville is pastor of the First Baptist Church of Richmond, Va. This column was adapted from a March 7 entry on his blog, Jimsblog.

Word of the Day - 3/10/2009

2009-03-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

Puissance

Puissance means power, might, or force.

In Romans, Paul asserts that the gospel has the puissance of salvation for everyone who believes.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16, NASB)

Associated Baptist Press - 3/9/2009

2009-03-09T23:59:00.000-07:00

Associated Baptist Press
March 9, 2009 · (09-34)

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

In this issue
Pastor gunned down in pulpit (737 words)
Obama ends Bush restrictions on embryonic stem-cell study (759 words)
Baptists getting older, study says (509 words)
Baptist seminary honors Glenn Hinson for half century of teaching (920 words)
Longtime Baptist professor: Pastors must integrate science, faith (688 words)
Opinion: Whither -- or wither -- conservatism (1,169 words)

Pastor gunned down in pulpit
By Bob Allen (737 words)

MARYVILLE, Ill. (ABP) -- A past president of the Illinois Baptist State Association died March 8 when a gunman walked into his church and shot him down during an early-morning worship service. Fred Winters, 45, pastor of First Baptist Church of Maryville, Ill., died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

The following day prosecutors charged Terry Sedlacek, 27, with first-degree murder and aggravated battery. Police did not comment on a motive, but a newspaper report last year said Sedlacek is mentally ill.

Police say Sedlacek fired a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol four times before it jammed, then pulled out a four-inch knife and began injuring himself.

Several male church members subdued him, and two received non-life-threatening cuts that sent them to a local hospital.

About 150 people were attending the 8:15 a.m. service, one of three worship services the 1,400-member church holds each weekend.

Sedlacek was held without bond and hospitalized for the wounds. Last August he was subject of a St. Louis Post-Dispatch story about how Lyme disease caused him to be mentally ill.

Police said Sedlacek entered the 1,000-seat sanctuary in suburban St. Louis and walked toward the pulpit while Winters delivered a sermon on finding happiness at work. He exchanged words with the pastor before revealing the gun and shooting. It was unclear as of press time March 9 if the two men knew each other, and a First Baptist staff member who saw the man briefly said he did not recognize him.

Winters, who had been senior pastor of First Baptist Church since 1987, presided over the Illinois Baptist State Association meeting in 2007, its 100th anniversary year. Nate Adams, executive director of the state affiliate of the Southern Baptist Convention, released a statement.

"Our great God is not surprised by this, or anything," Adams said. "That he allows evil and free will to have their way in tragedies like this is a mystery in many ways. But we know we can trust him no matter what, and draw close to him in any circumstances. Let's draw closer to him and to one another during this terrible tragedy, and renew our faith and obedience to his purposes for however many days we have remaining to serve him."

Winters reportedly deflected the first shot with his Bible, sending a spray of paper into the air that worshipers thought was confetti and part of a skit.

Mark Jones, the congregation's worship minister, told reporters gathered outside the church building that Maryville First Baptist sometimes used dramatic elements in worship, and the attack caught everyone off guard. He said the quick response by church members probably saved other lives.

Jones said in an interview on local TV station KMOV he had no idea about the shooter's motives, but the church will carry on.

"Things will come our way in life, but what we need to tell the people is our foundation is the rock, which is Jesus Christ, and the Bible tells us about the life that we can have in him," he said. "We can go through challenging times. We can go through storms. And if we have that faith and the trust that will help us to have that internal peace."

Jones said the church would probably consider added security after the shooting, but "we think this is a one-time situation."

"We have seen attacks in our country," he said. "People cannot stop living their lives. People cannot be paralyzed with fear. We're going to continue to live our lives and we're going to live with a greater intentionality and purpose," he said.

"I know that our senior pastor would definitely want the church to continue to pursue with passion and intentionality exactly what has been pursued these last 20 years," Jones said.

Winters is survived by his wife of 21 years, Cindy, and two children.

Nearly 1,000 people gathered for a prayer service for Winters the evening of March 8 at Metro Community Church in nearby Edwardsville, Ill.

A 1985 graduate of Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., Winters earned a master's degree in systematic theology and church history from Wheaton Graduate School in Wheaton, Ill., a master of divinity from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo., and a doctor of ministry degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He was an adjunct professor at Midwestern Seminary, according to the church website.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Obama ends Bush restrictions on embryonic stem-cell study
By Robert Marus (759 words)

WASHINGTON (ABP) -- With a March 9 executive order, President Obama made official what many scientists had long anticipated -- and many religious conservatives had long feared -- lifting his predecessor's effective ban on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.

"[I]n recent years, when it comes to stem-cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values," Obama said, in a statement accompanying his executive order. "In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research -- and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly."

He had been widely expected to reverse a policy, first instituted by President Bush 7 1/2 years ago, that severely limited the kinds of embryonic stem-cell "lines" available for federally funded research. But Obama went further, with a memorandum accompanying the executive order, that asked officials in his administration to institute policies to ensure that political pressure will not come to bear in the government's future decisions about science policies.

Scientists have studied embryonic stem cells for more than a decade because of their potential to become any one of more than 200 types of tissues in the human body. The research, scientists say, has the potential to produce treatments and even cures for a wide array of injuries and degenerative conditions that are disabling and even fatal.

"At this moment, the full promise of stem-cell research remains unknown, and it should not be overstated. But scientists believe these tiny cells may have the potential to help us understand, and possibly cure, some of our most devastating diseases and conditions," Obama said. "To regenerate a severed spinal cord and lift someone from a wheelchair. To spur insulin production and spare a child from a lifetime of needles. To treat Parkinson's, cancer, heart disease and others that affect millions of Americans and the people who love them."

However, such stem-cell research has proven highly controversial, because the embryos are destroyed in the process of harvesting the stem cells..

In addition, some scientists have proposed cloning human embryos from patients with certain diseases. Such cloning would prevent rejection of any new tissues or organs grown from the stem cells and used for those patients.

Religious conservatives -- and many non-religious bioethicists -- find both prospects ethically troubling. Conservatives, in particular, consider the destruction of five-day-old embryos as tantamount to abortion.

Supporters of the research -- and polls consistently show large majorities of the public and of professional biologists in favor of it -- counter that it is done on frozen embryos that would otherwise be discarded because they are by-products of fertility treatments.

Stem-cell-research opponents roundly criticized the Obama order, noting that recent advances in creating embryonic-like stem cells from adult tissue in ways that don't destroy embryos have shown the promise to render the moral quandaries over stem-cell research moot.

"Adult stem cells have been proven to treat every single disease the president mentioned in his speech today, from Parkinson's to diabetes, heart disease to spinal cord injuries," said a statement from the conservative Christian group Family Research Council. "The action by the president today will, in effect, allow scientists to create their own guidelines without proper moral restraints."

The group urged Congress to renew a federal law -- known as the Dickey-Wicker Amendment -- that bans federal funding for research that destroys or harms human embryos. President Clinton's administration interpreted the law to ban funding for the destruction of the embryos themselves, but not for funding of research on the resulting lines of stem cells.

Obama's separate memorandum instructed White House officials to "develop recommendations for presidential action designed to guarantee scientific integrity throughout the executive branch" on science-policy decisions.

President Bush's administration was regularly criticized by scientific groups for decisions in science-related areas -- such as stem-cell research, global warming, teenage sex education and HIV-prevention efforts -- that seemed influenced more by conservative political ideology than the latest research and the scientific community's consensus on those issues.

Obama said he issued the memorandum to make certain "that in this new administration, we base our public policies on the soundest science; that we appoint scientific advisors based on their credentials and experience, not their politics or ideology; and that we are open and honest with the American people about the science behind our decisions."

Robert Marus is managing editor and Washington bureau chief for Associated Baptist Press.

Baptists getting older, study says
By Bob Allen (509 words)

HARTFORD, Conn. (ABP) -- Baptists may be the grayest of any major religious group in America, according to a study released March 9 by Trinity College of connecticut.

The 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, the third set of data in a landmark study tracking changes in religious loyalties, reported 21 percent of the people who identify themselves as Baptists are 70 and older. That compares to 12 percent of the general population, 13 percent of Catholics, 14 percent of mainline Christians and 10 percent of Mormons who fall in that age range.

Forty percent of the national population is 50 or older, while 58 percent of Baptists fall into that age bracket.

Related to that, the percentage of Baptists who are widowed is 12 percent, twice the national average. One demographic in which Baptists have far less than their share is among never-marrid singles -- who make up 13 percent of Baptists, but a full 25 percent of the general population.

Baptists have gained members in the last 18 years, but comprise a smaller percentage of the population than they did when the study first compiled statistics. In 1990 there were 33.9 million Baptists, 19 percent of the population. In 2008 they numbered 36.1 million but declined to 15.8 percent of the population.

Baptists are still less educated than the general population and most denominations, but the percentage of Baptists who are college graduates increased from 11 percent in 1990 to 16 percent in 2008.

The survey defines "Baptist" in a broad sense, including Southern Baptist, American Baptist, Free Will, Missionary and African-American denominations.

In general the survey found that the American population self-identifies as predominantly Christian, but Christianity's share of the population is decreasing. Ten percent fewer Americans self-identified as Christians in 2008 (76 percent) than in 1990 (86 percent.)

The portion of the population claiming no religion grew from 8.2 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008, a gain of almost 20 million adults. Researchers called the rise of the so-called "Nones" as "one of the most important trends on the American religious scene."

Seventy percent of Americans said they believe in a personal God, while 12 percent are either agnostic, atheist or unsure. A surprisingly high percentage, 12 percent, expressed belief in a deist or pagan view of a higher power, but not a personal God.

Researchers found views on religion changed more during the 1990s than since 2000, attributing that to large numbers of immigrants from Latin American countries who are overwhelmingly Christian and Catholic.

Baptists lost ground, meanwhile, both among Hispanics and Asians. Seven percent of Hispanics self-identified as Baptists in 1990, compared to 3 percent in 2008. Asians were 9 percent Baptist in 1990 but now make up 3 percent of Baptists. Asians were also the group most likely to profess no religion.

Researchers said the loss of religious identity could have long-lasting consequences for religious institutions. One sign of the lack of attachment of Americans to religion is that 27 percent do not expect a religious funeral at their death.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press

Baptist seminary honors Glenn Hinson for half century of teaching
By Bob Allen (920 words)

LEXINGTON, Ky.. (ABP) -- The Baptist Seminary of Kentucky honored one of its founding professors for 50 years of teaching by launching an endowed lecture series in his name March 6-7.

The free-standing Baptist school on the campus of the Disciples of Christ-related Lexington Theological Seminary established the E. Glenn Hinson Lecture Series to honor the life and work its senior professor of church history and spirituality. Future lectures will build on Hinson's legacy of study in spiritual formation, church history, ecumenism and Baptist history.

Baptist Seminary of Kentucky President Greg Earwood said knowledge of his field, experience in the classroom, passion about teaching and love for Christ and the church made Hinson a natural choice when the school set out to hire its first faculty members in 2001.

But Earwood said Hinson, a lighting rod for attacks from the right during the Southern Baptist Convention controversy in the 1970s and 1980s, feared he might hurt the seminary's reputation and attempts to raise money.

"Of course none of that has come to be," Earwood said. "Dr. Hinson has been a valuable representative of our seminary, faithful in his commitment to us, a blessing and encourager to me, and we are grateful."

Hinson's teaching career nearly ended as soon as it began. Near the end of his first year at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1959, Hinson noticed trouble hearing some of the questions of his students. That began decades of worsening deafness, which continued to dog him throughout his career.

Not much later, due to working 20 hours a day completing a dissertation while carrying a full teaching load, he wore down and also lost his voice.

"The loss of one vital faculty is difficult, but the loss of two in quick succession can be overwhelming," Hinson said. "I felt the floodwaters roll over me."

Supported by family, colleagues and friends, Hinson said he finally came to accept what the apostle Paul wrote in First Corinthians about his "thorn in the flesh," hearing a message from the Lord, "My grace is sufficient for you."

One of the things Hinson, 77, said he learned over 50 years of teaching is "that you have to play the hand you are dealt." That means teachers "should take account of your limitations."

"I wouldn't give you a nickel for deafness," he said, "but, let me say, I wouldn't take a million dollars for what I have learned because I have had to cope with this handicap."

Hinson said he probably would have been a better teacher with good hearing, but he benefited from improving hearing-aid technology that allowed him to continue his work. Once more at the point of being unable to function in a classroom, Hinson soon will have cochlear implants installed.

Hinson said a second lesson he learned while teaching came in 1960, when he took his first church-history class on a field trip to the Abbey of Gethsemane. Their host was Thomas Merton, a Trappist Catholic monk who wrote more than 60 books on spirituality. To Hinson's horror, one of his students asked why someone with Merton's intellect would waste his life in a monastery.

Hinson said that, rather than rebuking the student, Merton smiled and answered: "I am here because I believe in prayer. That is my vocation."

"You could have knocked me over with a feather," Hinson said. "I had never met anyone who believed in prayer enough to think of it as a vocation."

Hinson pondered Merton's words alongside the Protestant rubric, "God has no hands but our hands, no feet but our feet, no voice but our voice."

"If that is true," he concluded, "our world has to be in an awful mess."

Inspired by the encounter and subsequent trips to Gethsemane, Hinson introduced a course on Classics of Christian Devotion that quickly became one of the most popular classes on campus. It also began to influence a generation of Baptist church historians to integrate spirituality into their teaching about church history.

One of Hinson's former students, Loyd Allen, now a professor at McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta, said all 15 of the moderate Baptist seminaries, divinity schools and houses of studies started since the 1980s have an emphasis on spiritual formation. Each individual teaching those classes has some personal connection with Hinson.

"Glenn started a good work of spiritual formation among us, but it is far, far from over," Allen said." If we truly wanted to honor him, then what we would do is put our energy and our resources into seeing that his work of contemplation and action on spiritual formation for ministers and laity continues."

John Inscore Essick, recently named assistant professor of church history and Hinson's successor at the Kentucky seminary, introduced a panel of Hinson's former students responding to his remarks.

"Seminary professors are often, for better or for worse, like a stone dropped into a calm pool," Essick said. "Ripples, endless ripples, go out from that point."

"You," he said to Hinson, "have been like a very fine stone dropped into a very needy pool, and you have left many ripples as a result of that.

The Baptist Seminary of Kentucky began classes in 2002 with 14 students and held its first commencement with three graduates in 2005. To date the seminary has graduated 13 students. The school offers two master-of-divinity degrees, taught by three full-time and 15 adjunct faculty.

Before coming to the Kentucky seminary, Hinson taught at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond from 1992 until retiring in 1999.

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Longtime Baptist professor: Pastors must integrate science, faith
By Bob Allen (688 words)

LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABP) -- For Christianity to remain relevant in a world influenced by modern science and technology, future ministers must help church members integrate faith and knowledge rather than view them as incompatible, a veteran seminary professor warned.

Glenn Hinson, senior professor of church history and spirituality at Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, told a crowd gathered March 6 to celebrate his 50 years of teaching that the issue of faith and science, "more than any other, divides Christians from one another today."

Since his backyard in Louisville, Ky., abuts the campus of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Hinson said he is "keenly aware that those who now run that institution have chosen to dismiss the world view given by science and to affirm more or less literally the one found in the Bible."

Hinson said Kurt Wise, who heads the seminary's Center for Theology and Science, has declared it impossible to both accept evolution and believe the Bible and teaches that the Earth cannot be more than 10,000 years old.

Interestingly, Hinson said, Wise's conclusion is shared by atheist author Richard Dawkins. Hinson said Dawkins also insists one cannot accept both the Bible and conclusions of modern science, but for him the proper place to stand is with science and against faith. Dawkins devoted three pages to Wise in his 2006 best-selling non-fiction book, The God Delusion.

Hinson also pointed out the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum is located in Kentucky. He said he is told many Southern Seminary students go there for "hands-on learning" about young-Earth creationism.

Hinson taught church history at Southern for 30 years before departing as the seminary shifted from being a moderate-to-progressive institution toward biblical literalism and fundamentalism in the 1990s. He said the seminary now offers a master's degree in biblical counseling.

"Implicit in that is the rejection of the painstaking effort Wayne Oates made to employ the best insights of modern psychology in pastoral care," Hinson said. Oates, who died in 1999, taught psychology of religion and pastoral at Southern Seminary from 1947 until 1974

Based on a conversation with a recent Southern Seminary graduate, Hinson said, "I gather that biblical science supplants insight from contemporary psychology, psychiatry, or psychotherapy."

Hinson said the graduate "seemed quite unaware that Wayne Oates saturated everything with an essentially biblical theology," noting that Oates studied the New Testament at the graduate-school level.

Hinson called the relationship between faith and science "a big issue" for theological education.

"Should we prepare ministers to equip people to live in a world that has not existed for a century, if ever?" he asked. "Should ministers stick to teaching the Bible and not assume a responsibility to help people to relate their faith to findings of science? This is the issue that stands behind the shibboleth that the Bible is inerrant and infallible on any issue it touches."

Hinson said letting such a view of Christianity prevail would result in "the reduction and deprivation of any meaning of this faith."

"If you open the Bible and read it, you will find it directs us and invites us to seek God in the world we live in and among the flawed people whom God brought into this world," Hinson said. He quoted former Southern Seminary President E.Y. Mullins, who commented during an earlier evolution controversy that the Bible "does not tell us how the heavens go; it tells us how to go to Heaven."

"We do not rely on the way primitive people spoke about their world to understand how we should speak about our world," Hinson said. "The Bible is a book of faith."

"We must not divide life into compartments: here's our religious life, yonder the life of everyday," Hinson said. "What distinguishes the preparation of ministers at this seminary [the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky] from the preparation of students at a fundamentalist seminary centers precisely on this issue."

Hinson said future ministers must be able to help church members understand the words of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit priest and philosopher who died in 1955: "Nothing here below is profane for those who know how to see."

Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

Opinion: Whither -- or wither -- conservatism?
By Benjamin Cole (1,169 words)

WASHINGTON (ABP) -- Last month, I joined more than 8,000 other conservatives from across the country for the annual gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. Throughout its three-day program, disempowered and occasionally distraught conservatives plotted endlessly an array of strategies to resurrect a party smarting from two cycles of election-day drubbings.

A line-up of aspiring party leaders was organized to fulfill a tall order: soothe the pain and fire up the faithful. In this regard, CPAC 2009 was equal parts analgesic and epinephrine.

The pain conservatives feel is acute, however, and the internal tensions are profound. The fusion of the 1970s and 80s whereby fiscal and social conservatives forged an alliance with economic and political libertarians is suffering the threat of fission in the age of Obama. Today, everybody is pointing fingers at the other guy, looking for a plausible scapegoat.

Fiscal conservatives blame social conservatives for debacles like the Terri Schiavo incident; social conservatives point out the fiscal irresponsibility of the Republican Congress that allowed the national debt to reach $10 trillion and the budget deficit to swell.

Compounding the electoral losses we Republicans have faced are the personal losses we have experienced. In the last six years, we have buried three of our greatest heroes: The president, Ronald Reagan; the philosopher, William F. Buckley; and the preacher, Jerry Falwell.

The loss of these influential conservatives has left a vacuum that could have been filled by George W. Bush had he not become political kryptonite thanks to a wild-eyed federal spending spree, a tanked economy, and a prolonged and expensive war. And while blaming Dubya helps salve the conscience of recklessly complicit congressional leaders, it does little to revive a party experiencing its lowest level of political power since the aftermath of Watergate and the election of Jimmy Carter.

So conservatives arrived at CPAC, so to speak, between Barack and a hard place.

If you listened to media reports after CPAC, you might be convinced that Rush Limbaugh's red-meat keynote was the apex of the event.. But for me, the highlights were the speeches given by men like Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), a compelling leader of the next generation in Congress, whose "Roadmap for America's Future" offers real policy initiatives for entitlement and tax reform that empower Americans to direct their own lives with the kind of liberty that the Founders envisioned.

Or the speech by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who continues to generate ideas by the bushelful for reforming America's health-care system and addressing our energy crisis.

Or Indiana Rep. Mike Pence's sober counsel to conservatives "in the wilderness" of political power that no circumstance of electoral defeat should force them to jettison their first principles.

What I saw and heard were conservatives figuring out how we came so far from our basic commitments to strengthen families, eliminate waste, cut spending, defend liberty and unleash American industries and entrepreneurs to compete in a global marketplace.

Conservatives again were reminded that the movement is about principles, not personalities.

Sure, there are some incredible challenges ahead for conservatives and for the nation. Those who once stood for limiting the size of the federal government will have to deal with the bloated bureaucracies that have grown in the last eight years. Those who oppose unrestricted abortion rights will have to prepare themselves for the judicial confirmation battles ahead. Those who believe in the fundamental justice of capitalism will have to hold the line against calls for greater regulation and nationalization of financial markets.

Being in the minority, however, is not only about holding the line. It's about reforming and renewing your commitments. It's about articulating what conservatives are for as much as what we're against. With this in mind, I suggest a few commitments for conservatives.

First, we must recognize that the same guiding faith that causes us to speak out against injustices to the unborn should cause us to withhold our curses of fellow countrymen on the other side of the political aisle.

Second, we must be as fierce in our indictment of corporate corruption as we are in our defense of deregulated free markets. With the same breath we must steadfastly explain why our ideas offer a better future for all Americans, not just privileges for a fraction thereof.

Third, conservatives need to get back to basics and refuse liberals further opportunities to pin the label "obstructionist" on us. To be conservative does not mean total opposition to change or progress. What it does mean is adapting to new challenges without forsaking the tradition of one's fathers. It means that we look to the Constitution --as adopted and amended by the states -- as the fixed star in the constellation of our politics. Every legislative initiative, every policy proposal is judged by it. Conservatives in the Congress must remember that they too have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and that interpreting the document is as much a responsibility of the legislative branch as it is of the judicial.

Fourth, conservatives must be guided by the prudence of prioritization. That is, we must discern which battles are worth fighting now and which ones can wait for later. When the economy is in a free-fall and success in Afghanistan is hanging by a thread, it's not time to be introducing constitutional amendments on flag burning or school prayer. Conservatives waste valuable time and resources by focusing their efforts on issues that don't pass the basic test of prudential prioritization. Pandering to one's base is not leadership in a time of national crisis.

Fifth, conservatives need to learn a new language of compassion. Regrettably, compassionate conservatism got a black eye in the past eight years. So much that sailed through Congress under President Bush's agenda of compassion has resulted in greater disparities in wealth and more intense political division. The concept of social justice is almost alien to conservatives, but the time is long past for us to cede liberals total claim to any area of public policy. The incidence of poverty, illiteracy and other social ills are major concerns in America, and they should be major concerns for conservatives. There is a reason that a community organizer ended up in the White House, and cracking jokes about President Obama's record of service in Chicago is not going to win the hearts and minds of the voters.

For the time being, Republicans exist in the land of the judges with no king in Israel and every man doing that which is right in his own eyes. Until the dust settles from 2008 and a unifying man or woman rises who has the personal character and political savvy to lead the disparate conservative tribes, Republicans are, as Rep. Pence said, "in the wilderness."

But like Israel of old, the wilderness is a good place to reacquaint yourselves with where you came from, remind yourselves where you're going, and figure out how to bring as many people with you as possible.

-- Benjamin Cole is a former Southern Baptist pastor who now works on public-policy issues in the nation's capital.

Prayer Blog - 3/9/2009

2009-03-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I will be teaching two New Testament courses at Carson-Newman College at 8 AM and 10:30 AM. CBP has graciously allowed me to teach on Paul and the book of Romans. Please pray that all goes well.

WAM Quote of the Day - 3/9/2009

2009-03-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight, WAM and I texted one another while making plans to attend Watchmen on Wednesday night. WAM obligingly offered to pay for my ticket and told me to consider it an early birthday present. He then checked, to make sure my birthday was the 12th. I told him it was, but it was the 12th of April. WAM replied,

“At least I got the day right. That’s close enough for me.”

Me too.

Word of the Day - 3/9/2009

2009-03-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

Durance

Durance is incarceration or imprisonment (often used in the phrase durance vile).

Several of the letters canonized in the New Testament are said to have been written when Paul was in durance.

Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. (Philippians 1:12-14, NASB)

Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon are all considered "prison epistles" or "captivity letters".

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/9/2009, Part 5

2009-03-09T06:04:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Sunday, March 8th, 2009, Part 2

-The basketball game’s noon tipoff prevented MPW and I from eating beforehand so we stopped by the Food Court at West Town Mall on the way home. As usual, I ate at Sbarro.

-After dropping MPW off at his condo, I returned to the Central Baptist Church of Bearden in time for a 4 PM seminar from Milfred Minatrea. Minatrea’s 2004 book Shaped By God's Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches has inspired RWB so much that he hired him to work with church’s Long Range Planning Committee and give a weekend seminar about being “on mission”. He had also preached during the morning service. The seminar was well attended in part because it substituted for the “Classic Service” that meets at 5 PM. As such, I was ten years younger than anyone else in attendance.

-The seminar was slated to conclude at 6:30 PM. Having already read the book and been in class all weekend, I left at intermission.

-I spent Sunday night with JTH and ALK. We talked at length. Actually, ALK and I talked at length. JTH watched the movie Step Up on television while we chatted despite the fact that the volume had been muted. For whatever reason, this film infuriated him. Specifically, JTH hates the film’s star Channing Tatum. (Note: This picture is of the couple reading together. Each are reading issues of Us Weekly which almost justifies my subscription.)

-Two things of note: 1. ALK cut her middle finger and in showing me the injury flipped me off. That’s right, Sweet Bart flipped me the bird! 2. Earlier in the day, JTH learned that he was born in the Year of the Monkey (1980). This seemed fitting to all involved. (If you know JTH well at all, you have likely heard his spot-on monkey impression.)

-After we waited for quite some time to see ALK’s favorite dance scene (she insisted it was forthcoming for minutes), we ate a late dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Unfortunately, we just missed GAB. After eating, we spent the rest of the night driving around town and talking. It was a good way to end a long weekend.

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/9/2009, Part 4

2009-03-09T06:03:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Sunday, March 8th, 2009, Part 1

-On Sunday morning, I taught the college department at the Central Baptist Church of Bearden. I substituted for MLM who was away leading a retreat for the church’s young married couples. I taught on “The Song of the Vineyard” (Isaiah 5:1-7) from the Collegiate curriculum package by Threads. I adapted the lesson plan as I thought the commentary provided was excellent but the lesson itself less than stellar. They geared it towards God’s expectations when I feel the passage lends itself toward social justice.

-The class was great. I am “friends” with many of its members on Facebook so it was great to see them. I was amazed at the attendance given their age and the fact that it was both the first morning after the change to Daylight Savings Time and the fact that the Tennessee basketball game tipped off at noon.

-The church is still taking letters for the retiring ADF. We all found it amusing that the letterhead the church used has ADF’s name and dates served making it appear as though ADF had died!

-I enjoyed the class very much. Next door, HBT was teaching on The Shack. At one point, I stuck my head in and informed him that his volume indicated that he had gone from teaching to preaching. He pushed me back through the door.

-After I dismissed the class I rushed to meet MPW at Thompson-Boling Arena to watch the Vols play Alabama at noon. The game was broadcast by CBS Sports. As I was late and UT continues to block off more and more parking, I wound up parking well over a mile from the stadium. I missed the first eight minutes of the game. I did not miss much as Tennessee scored only eight points during that time. (Note to self: recommend church start an hour early when the Vols tip at noon.)

-There was a co-promotional offer on this day. One’s basketball ticket entitled its owner to see the Vols baseball game at 2 PM free of charge. Why wasn’t that in effect the day before when I went to the game?

-The Vols trailed by ten at halftime but made a run at the Crimson Tide in the second half. With the game tied at 67, Anthony Brock banked in an amazing 35-foot three-point shot at the buzzer to win the game 70-67 for Alabama. Brock had driven to the game himself after attending his grandmother’s funeral. It was his only basket of the second half. Still, we were not a bit surprised when the shot bounced in. The Vols had won three in a row and have been unable to produce a real streak all year.

-The Vols had no one to blame but themselves for the loss. Their second half free throw shooting was abysmal. The Vols hits only 6 of 16 free throw attempts and this does not count missing two front ends of one-and-one opportunities.

-How many Tennessee games has Teddy Valentine officiated this year? On this day, the refereeing was unbiased and if anything in favor of the Vols. Still, Valentine seems to almost always be assigned to the Vols . Why?

-Halftime was typical. The promotion where a fan tries to recreate a famous Tennessee shot continued. This time, the fan had to duplicate Dale Ellis’ eighteen foot jump shot that defeated VCU at the buzzer on March 15th, 1981. The shot propelled the Vols into the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. The fan missed the shot.

-The other halftime “entertainment” was the announcement that Smokey, the Tennessee mascot, was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame. There were only three inductees this year, two professional mascots and Smokey. Seven former men who had donned the outfit were on hand. They must not be selling the orange blazers as these guys were all given a complimentary blazer for the event.

-After this announcement, there was a game of musical chairs with Smokey and other area mascots. The game was clearly rigged from the beginning as the music stopped with Smokey always in front of a chair. When the game came down to two contestants, the seven former Smokeys rushed the other mascot and granted Smokey the win. The exhibition made me question the integrity of every elementary school teacher who had used the game.

-The first mascot eliminated was Ronald McDonald which was ridiculous as he has the smallest “uniform” of them all and as such should be more mobile. Both MPW and I find him very creepy.

-MPW and I have vowed to make a list of halftime suggestions for Vol games next year. They clearly need our help. If you have any ideas, e-mail them to me.

-Former Tennessee football corner back and current broadcaster Charles Davis sat in Section 105 and was announced to the crowd.

-Despite the loss, the Vols will be playing at 7:30 PM on Friday night at the SEC Tournament in Tampa as the SEC East' top seed.

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/9/2009, Part 3

2009-03-09T06:02:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Saturday, March 7th, 2009, Part 2

-Thankfully, my nine-hour class ended early on Saturday. JTH and I took advantage of the extra time and an absolutely gorgeous day to watch the Tennessee baseball team play the second game of a double header against the Ohio Bobcats at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. JTH is a regular while I had not been to a Vols baseball game in years. He was disappointed that there is no longer a buy one get one free coupon in the school coupon books. As such, we paid $6 apiece for admission.

-We sat in the bleachers down the left field line with the visiting fans, who were not massive but surprisingly large in number. We learned that Tennessee had won the day's first game 8-6. One fan was especially vocal and argued virtually every call the umpire made. She amused me greatly. Eventually Tennessee hit a ball between the Bobcat third baseman and shortstop (obviously in fair territory). I jumped up and screamed “That was clearly foul!” Most of the Ohio section laughed along with us. The woman temporarily moved seats!

-The game was exciting. We stayed for the first seven innings and the Vols scored in all but one of them while hitting five home runs. We left with the score 13-6 and no runs were scored after we left. It was not all smooth sailing. In the 2nd inning, Tennessee pitcher Steven Griver hit two batters and threw a wild pitch. (Note: Briefly attending in our section was Tennessee basketball coach Bruce Pearl who individually greeted many of the opposing fans.)

-My favorite part of the game came during the bottom of the sixth inning. The Vols first four batters all got hits which culminated in a Blake Forsythe a grand slam. Not surprisingly, the Bobcats made a pitching change. Beck’s song “Loser” played over the public address system during the switch!

-I was pleased that I got to see preseason All-American Kentrail Davis in action. In the first inning The Vols' center fielder laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, rare for a guy placed third in the batting order. In a subsequent at bat, he hit a ball to the warning track. I vowed not to leave until Davis got a hit even if it meant sitting at the stadium until the following games days. Thankfully, he came through and finished the day 2-for-4. Davis also made a great diving catch that even elicited cheers from the Ohio section.

-The entertainment during the game's breaks was also amusing. In between the 6th and 7th innings we saw two men don sumo wrestling outfits (complete with girth) and square off hitting pro wrestling moves on one another. There was also a contest between two kids to see who could put on a frozen t-shirt quicker. The winner received a five-pound chocolate bar. I guess this was worth it to the kids.

-JTH was especially amused by the players’ personal theme music. When each Vol came to bat, a song of their selection played over the p.a. The mix was eclectic to say the least. It was amusing to hear country followed by hip-hop. What song would be your theme?

-After the game, we stopped by Best Buy (JTH had an expiring rebate) and then ate at the Applebees in bearden. We had a good time reconnecting with our friend/waitress, Lindsay M.

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/9/2009, Part 2

2009-03-09T06:01:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Saturday, March 7th, 2009, Part 1

-I spent the better part of Saturday confined in the Jane and David Bailey Education Complex on the UT campus. My Adult Learning class started at 8:30 AM and was scheduled to go through 5:30 PM.

-Class started on an ominous note. My friend JCP forgot the charger to her laptop! We depend on that device to get us through the long days. On the plus side, she did remember to bring my Girl Scout cookies that I had bought from her daughter. Not only did I get the delicious Thin Mints, but I helped her daughter earn a special patch.

-JCP was tired. She had stayed up the night before to see a West High School alum on Survivor Tocantins: The Brazilian Highlands. Her husband graduated from my alma mater. The contest, Ben Wade graduated in 1989 and as such, I do not know him.

-RGB taught on Intelligence and Memory on this day. Due to the long hours, RGB dresses casually on Saturdays. This is image is of what I like to call “Casual Ralph”.

-At the class’ lunch break, I drove to Chick fil-A. I needed to get away. Unfortunately, I had to rush to get back on time so I ate in my car. Dipping and driving is not as easy as it looks. It is also not smart.

-In the second portion of the class, we watched a video interview of Adult Education guru Sharan Merriam. The interview was part of a series called Conversations on Lifelong Learning developed by Gretchen Bersch. The interview was conducted in 1992 and released in 2005. In the event we were tired, the volume was blaring on the video. No one slept through it, though in this photo it looks like RGB is dozing off. (He was not. I just liked the photo.)

In Eckleburg's Eyes - 3/9/2009, Part 1

2009-03-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

News & Notes from Friday, March 6th, 2009

-On Friday night, my Adult Learning Class at UT met for the first time since January 30-31. The class meets from 5:30-9:30 PM on Friday night and 8:30 AM-5:30 PM the following Saturday in the Jane and David Bailey Education Complex. Once again, I struggled to find parking as “Event Parking” closed most lots. This is beginning to be a pet peeve.

-In the Friday night session, we covered self-directed learning (SDL). My professor, RGB, is one of the nation’s leading experts on this topic. I found it ironic that he could have taught self-directed learning on himself. He began the class by showing a YouTube video created by Justin Vacca as part of a course at Northern Illinois University. If you would like to view the video, click here.

-The second portion of the class was spent on presenting class projects. There would be four on this night, four the following night, and fourteen in the class’ final weekend in April. Two of the presentations were done via tri-fold display boards while the others were a web site and a wiki.

-The class went four minutes long. This may sound trivial, but in a long weekend, this seemed like an eternity. To make matters worse, our small classroom was packed with several projectors and numerous laptops. The room felt like a furnace, and not just to my hot natured self.

-After class, on the way to meet my friends at Applebees, I stopped by my house. There, I perpetuated a practical joke on my parents. Earlier in the day, my mother had set the alarm with me in the house. Unbeknownst to me, I triggered a silent alarm and the police were called. Fortunately, my father intercepted them before they got to the house. I thought it would be funny to return the favor. Long story short: I was the only one amused.

-Little did I know it would be a night of alarms and arrest news. The MoFoS crew closed the store early to meet me at the restaurant. In their “hurry” JTH activated the alarm.

-Not only did I get to see JTH and TJK but I was thrilled by a surprise visit from PAT. Since our last visit to Applebees, our beloved waitress, AFH, had been arrested for driving on a suspended license. This would not be the only recent incarceration we would learn of on this night.

-One person who did not join us was NHH. He had left his shift early to bail his friend GAV, with whom we are all acquainted, out of jail. We spent a good deal of time speculating on GAV's offense. Our only clue was that bail had been set at $500. Our initial response from NHH, whom we were texting, was ““lol some stupid s!@# he did”. We then made our guesses. PAT picked indecent exposure. I guessed public intoxication. TJK selected statutory rape. JTH was busy on his phone and missed this discussion. When asked, he guessed theft. We were impressed when he nailed it. We were very disappointed when it came out that he had insider information. (Note: I realize this discussion may seem inappropriate, but if you knew GAV, you would not think so.)

Bible Trivia - 3/8/2009

2009-03-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

Question: What French philosopher who died in 1778, said that within 100 years of his time. Christianity would be swept from existence and pass into history, only to have his house used by the Geneva Bible Society after his death to print Bibles?

Answer: Voltaire.

Comments: The highly influential French philosopher and deist (not atheist) Voltaire (1694-1778) was one of Christianity’s greatest critics. In a letter to Frederick the Great in 1767, Voltaire wrote, “Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world.”

While Voltaire’s loathing of Christianity is undeniable, the widespread apologetic story of his home being used to print Bibles is likely apocryphal. Details of the story such as date, location, and Bible society vary with each telling. It does not appear any home Voltaire ever owned was ever owned by a Bible society. For a comprehensive analysis of this myth, see the article “Voltaire's House and The Bible Society” published by The Open Society, the Journal of the New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists.

Prayer Blog - 3/7/2009

2009-03-07T21:00:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I will be teaching the college class at the Central Baptist Church of Bearden. I will be substituting for MLM who is leading a retreat for the church's young married couples. Please keep my lesson and the retreat in your prayers.

Bible Trivia - 3/7/2009

2009-03-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

Question: Name the first son of David.

Answer: Amnon. (II Samuel 3:2)

Comments: Amnon was the first of David’s numerous sons. His mother was Ahinoam of Jezreel (I Samuel 25:43). His name (Hebrew: אַמְנוֹן) means “faithful”.

Sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; (II Samuel 3:2, NASB)

Amnon is best remembered for raping his half-sister Tamar and then being murdered by his half-brother and Tamar’s full brother Absalom. (II Samuel 13)

Note: This oil on canvas of Amnon and Tamar was painted by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri 1591-1666, known as “Guercino” due to his squinting). It hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

Prayer Blog - 3/6/2009

2009-03-06T23:59:00.001-08:00

After having my Adult Learning class at UT from 5:30 to 9 tonight, I am slated for a return session from 8:30 AM to 5 PM tomorrow. As you did last time I had one of these weekends, pray for stamina throughout the day. I enjoy the class but nine straight hours is just too long to study any one subject.