Archive for October 2010
2010 COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
[Under the constitution, the following committees were appointed by the state convention president.]REGISTRATIONNat Simmons, chairman, Annaville Baptist Church, Corpus Christi; Larry Grimes, Yorktown Baptist Church, Corpus Christi; Josh McClary, First Baptist Church, Portland; Jo Sturm, River Hills Baptist Church, Robstown; Armando Torralva, Brighton Park Baptist Church, Corpus Christi.RESOLUTIONSThomas White, [...]
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Former president tapped as candidate to lead Criswell
DALLAS?Criswell College trustees will convene on Nov. 5 to consider the selection of former president Jerry Johnson to fill his former office, which has been under interim leadership for the past two years. "He is eminently qualified, specifically prepared, and joyfully welcomed to the presidency of Criswell College," board [...]
Continue ReadingChurch shows grace to families with special-needs children
FORT WORTH?When Willis Richardson graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2009, he never imagined he would plant a church for families with special-needs children in his community a year later. Yet this fall, Beth-El Fellowship in Fort Worth will launch with 35 members and a goal to become [...]
Continue ReadingSBTC meeting features new SBC leaders
CORPUS CHRISTI?Newly elected SBC entity leaders Kevin Ezell and Frank Page will be among those addressing messengers and guests from Southern Baptists of Texas Convention churches Nov. 14-16 in Corpus Christi for the 2010 SBTC Bible Conference and Annual Meeting.With a focus on 2 Chronicles 7:14's admonition to humbly seek [...]
Continue ReadingBurn victim blazing new trails
Fort Worth man placed on waiting list for rare facial transplant. FORT WORTH?Dallas Wiens bears little of his former image?at least not above the shoulders. But by all accounts, the image of God in him shines brighter than before. Soon, with the help of leading-edge medical science, a new face [...]
Continue ReadingDevastating accident, blindness put man in position to hear, see
FORT WORTH?"Dallas was a pretty rebellious guy," Scott Cox recalls.The pastor at Ridglea Baptist Church in Fort Worth remembers meeting Dallas Wiens on several occasions, though he didn't know him well. Dallas' grandparents, Del and Sue Peterson, prayed for years that Dallas would return to the faith he once [...]
Continue ReadingSome anti-bullying rhetoric is censorship
Several well-known incidents of people harassing others who later kill themselves has made "bullying" a hot topic. Maybe we are getting meaner as a culture but before we can even contemplate that question, the discussion is being turned to serve political agendas. Presto-change-o and an amazing number of things [...]
Continue ReadingJoin us to 'Pray and Listen' Nov. 15-16
You are invited to attend the SBTC Annual Meeting in Corpus Christi Nov. 15-16. You probably have more places to go than you can get to. I encourage you to make this brief time investment. Let me give you some reasons to make the trip.CelebrationYou will hear testimonies of people [...]
Continue ReadingQueridas Iglesias Hispanas de la Convencin Bautista del Sur
Les doy un fuerte saludo en el precioso nombre de nuestro Seor Jesucristo. Ya se aproxima la fecha de nuestra Convencin de los Bautistas del Sur de Texas (SBTC), que se llevar a cabo los das 15, 16 y 17 de noviembre en Corpus Christi. El domingo, da 14 de [...]
Continue ReadingCrossover evangelism event Nov. 13
The annual Crossover pre-convention evangelistic outreach moves to the inner city of Corpus Christi this year. Volunteers have already laid the groundwork by inviting 6,000 children to attend an evangelistic event featuring Team Impact. Local Southern Baptists distributed backpacks on Aug. 8 that helped prepare students with supplies for [...]
Continue ReadingMoore, Merida among preachers at SBTC Bible Conference
For the past year, SBTC Bible Conference officers have mulled over a desire to start making a difference in the communities in which they serve. That burden became the theme of "Why Not Here? Why Not Now?" in planning the Nov. 14-15 pre-convention SBTC Bible Conference to be held [...]
Continue Reading2010 SBTC Annual Meeting schedule
MONDAY EVENING SESSION6:15 PRE-SESSION MUSIC Choir and Orchestra, First Baptist Church, Odessa Curtis Brewer, associate pastor of worship and celebration6:25 CALL TO ORDER Byron McWilliams, president, SBTC PRAYING AND LISTENING Steve Dorman, pastor, [...]
Continue ReadingANNUAL MEETING BRIEFS
Online MESSENGER registrationSBTC churches received a letter in early October explaining the registration process for the 2010 SBTC Annual Meeting in Corpus Christi, said Facilitating Ministries Director Tom Campbell. Churches will register messengers online (sbtexas.com/am10) and will not need a messenger card, expediting the registration process, Campbell said. Deadline is [...]
Continue ReadingFt. Worth church produced Baptist leaders
Sagamore marks 100 storied years FORT WORTH?In the grand scheme of Christian history, 100 years is but a dog-eared page in the annals of the life of the church. But for a congregation that grew up on the east side of Fort Worth in the midst of the booms of [...]
Continue ReadingTexas Port Ministry a gospel lighthouse
FREEPORT HARBOR?For 36 years volunteers with the Texas Port Ministry (TPM) have endeavored to meet the spiritual needs of the seafarers who make port here. But when TPM Director Bobby Fuller realized 200,000 trucks annually make their way in and out of the harbor, he knew his mission field [...]
Continue ReadingHistoric Beaumont church takes it to the streets
BEAUMONT?Eyebrows rose when Pastor Christopher Moody announced the church's plan for last summer's Vacation Bible School. But it wasn't the first time the congregation of First Baptist Church of Beaumont had been thrown for a loop from the pulpit."We have been a church all about change," said Carol Matherne, [...]
Continue ReadingCriswell College celebrates 40th anniversary; draws SBC leaders, alums from across US
DALLAS?Southern Baptist leaders, pastors and alumni of Criswell College celebrated the school's 40th anniversary at the Dallas-based campus on Oct. 5. With 1,807 graduates and additional alumni serving worldwide, and 370 students enrolled this semester, the school has remained faithful to founder W.A. Criswell's vision of "intensive Bible study, based [...]
Continue ReadingCriswell alum and SBC EC chairman: Prioritize Great Commission in preaching
DALLAS?Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee Chairman Roger Spradlin reminded the Criswell College homecoming audience of the priority of preaching that reflects the Great Commission. "We as Baptists and evangelicals are Great Commission people. But even though that's the underpinning of so much of what we believe and do, it's [...]
Continue ReadingDespite misperceptions, IMB still sending career missionaries
RICHMOND?Southern Baptists are staying on track with efforts to deploy as many new missionaries worldwide as resources will allow. After lower Cooperative Program receipts and the U.S. recession forced a reduction in International Mission Board personnel, IMB Interim President Clyde Meador told the TEXAN he expects the anticipated end-of-year [...]
Continue ReadingGrieving varies across cultures, missionaries say
EDITOR'S NOTE: Often death represents an opportunity for Christians to tell about the hope available in Christ. Such evangelism occurs in one-on-one encounters with grieving individuals and at funeral services where ministers can share the gospel with scores of mourners. Thankfully, the Lord has brought many people to Jesus [...]
Continue Reading'Because He Lives': SWBTS couple finds ministry of hope amid grief
FORT WORTH?Casey Chappell never expected the first burial service she would ever attend would be that of her newborn son, Asher Daniel. Diagnosed at 28 weeks in utero with omphalocele, a condition in which abdominal organs grow outside the body, Casey and her husband, Dan, a Southwestern Baptist Theological [...]
Continue ReadingBMA task force to propose ministry agreement with SBTC
The Baptist Missionary Association of Texas (BMAT) has announced it will recommend to its messengers a "working ministry relationship" between BMAT and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention when the group meets Nov. 10 in Lufkin for its 110th annual session.The related ministry agreement proposal is patterned after one [...]
Continue ReadingHunting dogs point upward to Jesus
FORT WORTH?The dozens of men stood there hollering, gesturing, trying desperately to divert the dog from his master's agenda. "Prophet," as his master-owner Hank Hough calls him, was indifferent to their pleas. To the dog, the men's chatter was background noise. Then Hough called his name. "Prophet!" The dog [...]
Continue ReadingSecond SBTC Holy Land tour planned for May
Want to walk where Jesus walked?The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention is sponsoring its second-ever Holy Land Tour, May 16-28. Mike Smith, Minister-Church Relations director, said those who went on the previous tour had a rich spiritual and historical experience."The Bible comes alive, opening up a new perspective to the [...]
Continue ReadingSpeaking for the dead
Funeral messages are by nature underprepared. It is rare for a preacher to have more than 72 hours notice before the service?three days filled with regular responsibilities plus extra time spent with the family of the deceased. It is a privilege, though, a chance to minister to people uniquely [...]
Continue ReadingOrdering Creation
I love wild places. The relative silence of a remote location restores me as few things do and I try to find such a place a couple of times a year. No apologies for that. God does declare himself in what he has made and humbles me when I [...]
Continue Reading'Joy comes in the morning'
"Do not sorrow as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13)."What this Scripture tells me is that it is normal and expected for even Christians to grieve. Paul wrote to the believers at Thessalonica about their deceased loved ones. He told them the sequence of events that would [...]
Continue ReadingSBTC Annual meeting briefs
Bible Conference offering will benefit SBC adoption effortThe offering taken during the SBTC Bible Conference Nov. 14-15 in Corpus Christi will further a cause championed lately by a growing chorus of Southern Baptists: adoption.Bart Barber, SBTC Bible Conference second-vice president and Farmersville pastor, told the TEXAN that after expenses are [...]
Continue ReadingHow to help in grief
How can you comfort a grieving person? What should you do? What should you say? A Christian has both immediate and long-term opportunities to show God's love to a grieving friend. When you learn of the death?Call immediately. Pray right on the phone with the grieving person.Be certain his [...]
Continue ReadingChurches struggle at ministry for grieving men
Kenny Brown's wife had long struggled with heart problems. But over the last three years of their 31-year marriage, the heart problems led to complications with other organ systems and it became obvious that her life was coming to an end.That end came in the summer of 2008 when [...]
Continue ReadingHouston pastor offers hope amid grief
HOUSTON?"Why do you grieve like those who have no hope?" Pastor Abraham Tamang asked the woman.The Nepalese Hindu woman had lost her adult son to cancer and an infant granddaughter?earlier in the year?to the same disease. But before his death, Dilli Ram Biswa and his wife were led to [...]
Continue ReadingBooks for those in grief:
?"A Grief Observed" by C.S. Lewis, Harper, rereleased 2001. This bestseller offers Lewis' testimony of his struggle in dealing with the death of his wife, Joy, from cancer. While it served as the inspiration for the much later movie "Shadowlands," the book offers an even more honest portrayal of how [...]
Continue ReadingTexas board to book publishers: Present religion fairly
AUSTIN?The Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) narrowly passed a resolution on Sept. 24 warning textbook publishers that content "demonizing or lionizing one or more [religions] over others" would be rejected.The resolution addresses what it says were inequities in Texas social studies textbooks purchased in years past and some [...]
Continue ReadingCivil suit likely over arrest, detainment involving Texan, others at Arab festival
DEARBORN, Mich.?A civil lawsuit is likely on behalf of four people?including two Southern Baptists, one from Texas?who were arrested and later acquitted on charges of "breaching the peace" at an Arab festival in Dearborn, Mich.Attorney Robert Muise of the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., said the [...]
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