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Spanish| Most historians agree that the first Baptist Association in America was founded in Philadelphia in 1707. This is the 300th-year celebration of a vital part of Baptist life. Basically, associations were limited in geographic area, characterized by doctrinal accountability and involved in local missions and ministry. God used associations in a blessed way.
Just as culture and technology have changed at warp speed, denominational life has begun to follow suit. Associational life is not what it was 10 years ago, much less 50 years ago. I served as a pastor for 21 years in Louisiana. In the old Louisiana system (It has since changed), directors of missions (DOMs) were paid by the state convention. This connectional polity is foreign to Baptist life. In perception or reality, many of the DOMs evidenced more loyalty to the state convention than to the churches of the association. There were few DOMs who modeled evangelism or had a missions strategy. I never considered being a DOM, until a call came from the Northwest Baptist Association in Bentonville, Ark. Northwest Arkansas was and continues to be a rapidly growing area. It is the economic engine of Arkansas with several blue chip companies located there. The association called me with the understanding that doctrinal accountability, church planting and leadership development would be integral parts of my direction. It was my joy to serve as a director of missions in Arkansas for 3 12 years. God blessed our efforts in an incredible way. When the search committee of the Southern Baptists of Texas contacted me, I was more than reluctant to be interviewed. Whatever was to be accomplished, it had to be positive, missionary and visionary. My proposal was to have a state convention based on principles similar to those of the Northwest Baptist Association. There had to be mutual doctrinal accountability among the churches. There had to be an emphasis on missions and evangelism. The third strand in the cord (Ecclesiastes 4:12) was the close relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention, particularly through the traditional Cooperative Program. Again God has blessed our efforts in a great way. Due to my background in associational work as a pastor and service as a DOM in Arkansas, I wanted to have a strong relationship with associations in Texas. Unfortunately, the denominational climate did not provide a positive atmosphere. In 2000, the SBTC invited all DOMs to a luncheon. We threw a party and no one showed up! The next year 20 DOMs ventured out to our meeting. The next year 40 attended. With about 94 DOMs in Texas, we now have a working relationship of some kind with 89. We welcome these partnerships and thank God for the friendships that have developed. Since churches are autonomous, they can form associations. There are about a dozen associations that have sprung up since 1998 that relate to the SBTC. Policies established by the SBTC determine how associations may be recognized. Virtually all of these new associations face challenges. The SBTC seeks to help these associations when invited to do so. Dynamics in denominational life have moved to the point where affinity associations have formed. Now there are cowboy church fellowships, ethnic fellowships and church-model associations. Some of the critics of the Baptist system of associations simply form associations of their own. Purpose Driven, Emerging, and Willow Creek churches have their own associationsconventions whether they call them that or not. Baptist associations in Texas face a double difficulty. Not only do they have to become more of a resource service to churches and less of an assumed membership for many churches, they have to deal with two conventions in Texas. Most Texas associations contain both churches affiliated with the SBTC and those affiliated with another convention. This is the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about. A further difficulty associations may soon face is deciding if they will include non-Southern Baptist churches in their fellowships.
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Month: April 2007
Outrages enough for all
| I saw a bumper sticker last week that read, “If you aren’t outraged, you’re not paying attention!” There was probably a story or cause behind it but it seemed to suit our times in an ironic way. I disagree with the message, by the way.
This issue of the TEXAN has stories of events that we could all agree are outrageous. Children are beheaded for being from Christian families; their murderers get a prison sentence more appropriate for a bank robber. Other Christians are murdered in Nigeria and Ethiopia for rejecting another “peace-loving” religion. Nursing homes are forbidden from blocking the killing of clients by “merciful” physicians–on the home’s own property. An influential segment of the Israeli government is suggesting that evangelism should be made illegal. And so it goes. It’s all outrageous, and not just this paltry selection of terrible things. Add to this a selection of things that some of my fellow Americans find upsetting but I don’t so much, and you’ve got a potential rebellion on every corner. Let’s not, though. I am trying to pay attention. On my better days, I’m not outraged so much as saddened by the parade of sorrows that depraved humanity joins with such energy. We see some of the aftermath of mankind’s best efforts at fixing things in places like Brooke Army Medical Center. It can be shocking and poignant until it leaves us speechless, but I reject the notion that we should be hopeless, or often furious. Outrage is occasionally useful. Jesus was outraged when he cleared the temple. Moses was outraged when he came down from Sinai the first time. Determination is useful more often; so is faith, and also hope. These things are far more common than fury among those God gave us for examples. We are not without comfort in the midst of daily alarms. Neither are the more immediate victims of murder, war, and injustice. We also know that the redemptive purpose of God is more than sufficient for the things that frighten us (Romans 5:15-21). We know that the most unanswerable tragedy is already in the process of being worked out (Romans 8:18-25). The best use of our time, then, is to find our calling–our part of the load, and bear it well. To be distracted by every news brief or e-mail forward is to be like the general who got on his horse and rode off in all directions. And no general who rode a horse ever had the access to information (much of it outrageous) that we have today. We hear about a home invasion in Wichita and double check our doors assuming it could happen in our home, any minute. We read about a city council across the country from us that wants to ban the pledge of allegiance and we get our back up on that community’s behalf, even if ours is very different. It’s not usually our part of the load, so it’s a distraction. Of course, those who seem to me to be too often in the outrage mode are trying to recruit workers for their cause. They assume, maybe rightly, that many of us watch complacently instead of seeking our own calling. In an effort to engage the passive in the fight, a fight, any fight, they send their calls out as broadly as they can. I guess that was the clumsy intent of the bumper sticker. Understandable but overdone. So give peace a chance. There is a place of engagement between complacency and freaked out. There’s a place for each of us that still leaves us peace amid the storm. The men Jesus gave his peace to in John 20:21 were mostly future martyrs. The same is true to a lesser degree of Paul’s “grace and peace” greetings in his letters to churches. No one is denying that the storm is real. There is horror in seeing the innocent and the guilty alike swept overboard as the ship lurches and rolls wildly. There is a role for those who guide the ship into the wind, another for those who manage the sails, a huge role for those who rescue the perishing, and a place below deck for those who mend the injured. There is just not much need for people who only shriek and complain. It’s more likely that those of us who are not usually outraged know something that the easily panicked do not get. We are paying attention and agree that things are serious. That’s why we preach a hope more serious and pertinent than any action that has entered into the heart of man. |
Houston church ministers to ministers
HOUSTON?”Stress is good for you. Distress is bad for you,” said E. Dixon Murrah, a licensed therapist and Southern Baptist minister who for 19 years has conducted “Stress in the Ministry,” a conference for couples needing refreshment for their ministries and marriages.
About 800 couples from various denominations have benefited from the conference, offered through Sagemont Church in Houston. Many of them profess that their participation in the conference salvaged their marriages, their ministries, or both, Murrah explained. The weeklong, intensive seminar covers topics such as church dynamics, dealing with people and church problems, dealing with burnout and the death of a dream, and relationships with God, self, family and the church.
The conference is held several times each year at Sagemont’s Danbury Retreat Center, 45 minutes from Houston. It is open to any evangelical minister (pastors, missionaries, music ministers, seminary professors, etc.) and their spouses, “whether they are already having problems or not, because both parties are deeply effected. Stress in the church will cause stress in the marriage, and vice versa,” Murrah said. Sagemont provides travel, food, and lodging at no cost to attendees.
Bill Campbell is pastor of Baptist Bible Fellowship in Northwest Houston. Campbell admits that he delayed going to the conference for about eight years. He and his wife had always had a close relationship, and would think, “We don’t really need to go there.” But, being in their 60s and about to begin a new phase of ministry, they went and learned how to let go of unrealized dreams and build new ones.
The Campbells also learned how to develop more open communication in their marriage.
“We are very, very close, but even in that week we grew closer. Learning how to listen to your mate?that was a key,” he said.
Campbell has since assisted Murrah in teaching the conference material and is now completing his own education in counseling. He and his wife hope to continue assisting in this ministry and others like it, he said. Campbell asserts that the topics covered ought to be part of seminary course work, but he is unaware of any seminary program that teaches it.
“Bottom line,” he said, “At the end of a conference, you hear couples say they weren’t going to come but it was a last-ditch effort. And they leave with a new commitment.”
“Stress in the Ministry” was birthed in 1989. Sagemont Pastor John Morgan asked Murrah to develop something that would help some of his peers struggling in their pastorates. Murrah, who was over Sagemont’s counseling ministry, teamed up with Rapha, then an in-hospital psychiatric program, to develop a program that would help struggling ministers.
Separate from the church’s counseling ministry, a biblically based restoration ministry was established with two goals: To help those ministers who have burned out, and to provide prevention tools for ministers endangered by burnout.
For the last six years, Murrah and his wife, Lois, have devoted themselves exclusively to the restoration ministry. Their philosophy, Morgan quipped, is that “it is better to put a roadblock at the top of the hill than to put an ambulance at the bottom.”
Morgan has been Sagemont’s senior pastor during its 41-year history, and has seen the church grow to a membership of 16,000. On Wednesday night of the “Stress in the Ministry” conference, Morgan spends about an hour with conference attendees, sharing from his heart things he has learned in his lengthy experience that can cause the seemingly unbearable stresses, he said.
“We burn out trying to keep up with all the programs and trying to keep all the plates spinning we think are necessary if we are going to be in ministry,” Morgan said. “But you don’t get stressed out just loving God and loving people. It is very important that ministers und
I’m a graduate of this place,’ Welch, former SBC president, tells vets
SAN ANTONIO?”My name is Bobby Welch. I’m a preacher,” the former SBC president said. “I’m also a graduate of this place.”
With that, as he did at least a dozen times April 9 while walking the sidewalks and halls at the sprawling Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Welch tugged at the Purple Heart ribbon affixed to his jacket lapel and briefly explained his journey from a bloody Vietnam battlefield to a months-long stay at the Army hospital back in 1966.
“Let me take a good look at you,” Welch boldly asked the young soldier, whose facial profile revealed the cruel effects of a roadside bomb blast. “See, you don’t look that bad at all,” Welch said, attempting to rouse the young man’s spirit.
As the soldier and Welch compared war stories, the young man kept his back to the half-dozen others milling around nearby. Instead, he looked out the window as the two talked. Standing alone several minutes later, the soldier leaned on a crutch and flipped the pages of the “Soldier’s Bible” Welch had given him as Welch and several chaplains moved on.
Until April 9?Welch’s first visit inside Brooke Army Medical Center since his hospitalization 41 years ago (the old hospital building has long since been abandoned)?the Purple Heart he earned as a young officer in Vietnam went unworn, “because I never had occasion after that to wear my dress uniform,” he said.
But this time the Purple Heart was an entree for dialogue with the soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen who call Brooke a temporary home; some stay 18 months or longer through multiple surgeries and long, grueling rehabilitation.
Duty bound
Before leaving his hotel for Brooke Army Medical Center, Welch, recently retired from the pastorate at First Baptist Church of Daytona Beach, Fla., and now the SBC Executive Committee’s Strategist for Global Evangelical Relations, recalled his massive chest injury in Vietnam and how he overheard medics say he wouldn’t survive as he lay on his side atop the bodies of three dead GIs on a rescue helicopter.
“I always felt like I was conscious that whole helicopter ride,” Welch said. “I remember doing several things to try and stay alive,” including grabbing a C-ration box and wedging it behind him to keep from rolling over if he passed out for fear that his voluminous bleeding would seep into his lungs.
“This morning, I’m really facing this with mixed emotions,” he said. “Sometimes it’s hard to look face to face at these sorts of disastrous wounds. But we are duty bound to take a good, long, hard look because that is the price of freedom.”
After meeting up with a small band of Army chaplains, Maj. James Duke, a Southern Baptist Convention-endorsed chaplain who led Welch’s tour of the base, pinned the Purple Heart on Welch’s jacket in the breezeway outside the hospital.
Armed with boxes of “The Soldier’s Bible,” provided through the SBC’s LifeWay Christian Resources, Welch offered a Bible and prayer when a serviceman seemed receptive, which most were.
Several of those Welch spoke with said they were Christians and told when they came to Christ.
A young Kentucky native who lost a leg from an IED told Welch how he came to Christ through a basketball ministry at a Southern Baptist church in Louisville, Ky.
Welch sat and talked for several minutes with the 20-year-old soldier about his being fitted for the first time that week for a prosthetic leg and about the burns on his hand and right leg.
Many of the wounded at Brooke are missing one or both legs because of IEDs. Some were also severely burned by the IEDs, which are often concealed by Islamist insurgents along wel
Cordial SWBTS meeting contrast to previous session
FORT WORTH–The cordial spirit at the spring board meeting of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary contrasted sharply from the tension surrounding their session last fall, with indications that trustee officers and a Texas pastor are working to restore a relationship strained by disagreement.
“I am absolutely satisfied that my concerns have been fairly heard,” said Arlington pastor Dwight McKissic in an April 5 interview with the TEXAN. In the months prior to the April 2-3 board meeting, trustee officers met McKissic to address what board chairman Van McClain deemed possible trustee policy violations.
Initially, McClain expressed doubt the disagreement between board officers and McKissic could be settled because the Texas trustee had made their private correspondence public. At that time McClain spoke of the possibility those officers would recommend in June that the SBC remove McKissic from the board. McKissic publicly criticized SBC agency policies against the charismatic use of tongues and private prayer language.
But McKissic and the board officers met privately and confidentially, tabling any recommended action against the McKissic. Asked about the status of their reconciliation, McClain told the TEXAN he felt “peace had been secured” during the spring board meeting.
McKissic agreed with that assessment, adding, “I characterize my relationship with the board as being in the process of healing and restoration. I have grown to have a tremendous amount of respect and appreciation for Dr. Van McClain,” McKissic added, calling him a “gracious, godly and forgiving man.”
“I also deeply appreciate the counsel, corrections, cautions and concerns shared by Dr. McClain and the trustee officers toward SWBTS and myself,” he stated. “I maintain the freedom, God-given responsibility and calling to address any biblical, theological, justice or moral issue that I feel compelled to address without any restraints or parameters except those given by the Word of God and the Spirit of God.”
McKissic expressed his perspective by quoting the words of Martin Luther, stating, “‘My conscience is captive to the Word of God. To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Here I stand.'”
Trustees emerged from executive session April 3 having passed a policy that clarifies the responsibilities and duties of a trustee. Meeting behind closed doors for more than half an hour, board members reviewed a memorandum that explained the legal status of the seminary, its relationship to the SBC and those outside the institutions. Their new policy limits the expression of public objection by individual trustees to board-approved actions as well as criticism of sister entities.
As a Texas non-profit corporation, Southwestern Seminary is a private organization not bound by the legal requirements of a public body “required to be open to public scrutiny,” the statement reads. That said, the policy concludes, “A trustee’s accountability to the Southern Baptist Convention is to protect the seminary and its mission as approved by the Convention. It is the seminary’s welfare that a trustee must put first and foremost, not withstanding any of a trustee’s personal desires and beliefs.”
Despite this priority, the trustee’s accountability does not limit his expression of doctrinal or moral convictions “as long as the trustee does not suggest a specific link to trustee or seminary policy and action,” the document added.
A set of 10 duties and responsibilities are spelled out, leading with the primary charge of setting policy which the administration implements. The board approves the budget, authorizes an audit of finances, selects the president, senior administrators, deans and faculty, and adopts curriculum offerings.
Other sections of the policy stipulate prompt and cooperative responses to officer requests, preservation of the board’s autonomy from influence that fails to utilize appropriate channels that allow the full board’s consideration, and a duty to enhance the public perception of the kingdom of God, the seminary, the SBC and its agencies.
Several instructions address confidentiality, expecting trustees to keep all materials for private use, avoiding even the appearance of leaking any such information.
Certain things are to be avoided—usurping administrative responsibilities in management or operations, conflicts of interest whether financial or personal views, and public criticism of the SBC and subordinate agencies.
“These decisions are and should be formulated in privacy so candid and open debate may flourish, although some of the decisions may be announced publicly if the board chooses to do so. While a trustee may be strongly opposed to a policy and express opposition during a board meeting, once the board’s decision is made, it is inappropriate to express opposition to that policy outside the meeting,” the reference reads.
The document clarified that only the full board can determine what type of confidential information received by the board may be disclosed outside of the board. “For an individual trustee to be able to make an independent determination of what is confidential would completely destroy the duty of confidentiality and hinder the discussions of board matters.”
Regarding confidential information having legal consequences to its disclosure—personnel information, financial information pertaining to individuals and transactions for proposed projects under consideration—the board is bound to keep private.
The three-page document was formulated after reviewing governing documents, state non-profit law, IRS material relating to charitable organizations, court interpretations and similar documents used by the boards of SBTC, sister seminaries and similar organizations.
With the vote on the policy taking place in closed session, McLain told the TEXAN it passed overwhelmingly, adding, “All of the trustees have said they will seek to honor the policy statement.”
Looking back on his second board meeting since election last June, McKissic told the TEXAN, “I look forward to working in harmony and peace with the board and the administration to fully carry out all the responsibilities of a trustee.”
McKissic said if ever his calling to prophetically address any matter God lays upon his heart, including naming entities and personalities whether SBC-related or not, conflicts with his role and responsibility as a trustee, he would be faced with the choice of suffering the consequences of his actions or resigning from the board.
“At this point in my trustee pilgrimage I am not faced with such a conflict. If a situation arises where I am faced with that conflict and I feel compelled to respond, I will be forced to make a decision regarding my future as a trustee. If I choose not to resign because of convections, then the board will be forced to make a decision regarding recommending to the SBC in session to dismiss me as a trustee,” he explained.
“Quite frankly, I’d rather not put the board in that predicament. However, until I’m faced with that situation I do not know how I will respond.”
McKissic fully participated at the meeting, at one point making a recommendation that the seminary compensate the president’s wife for extensive service as a professor and host for numerous seminary functions.
After hearing a report from Mrs. Patterson detailing the 2,073 guests served at Pecan Manor, hundreds of seminary-related individuals receiving personal correspondence on their birthdays, and teachings assignments she fulfilled in the women’s program, McKissic asked the board to offer her a salary commensurate with her work.
“I appreciate her heart and graciousness and contribution. It’s incumbent on us in a tangible way to say thanks,” he added, acknowledging the likelihood that she would turn down such an offer.
Trustees referred his recommendation to the Business Affairs Committee for further consideration after which time the president noted that his wife would likely decline such an offer, preferring to model an important “spirit of volunteerism” on which most schools and churches depend.
“Regardless of whether she accepts it or not, we want to honor the intent and rejoice in this report, thankful for what God is doing in our women’s ministries,” McClain responded.
Both the president and his wife made reference to the increasingly common occurrence of public criticism that ministers and their wives experience. In his report to the board, Patterson expressed concern that fewer people are responding to a call to pastor.
“Everybody is now an expert on every pastor so they are constantly assailed in various new ways. Some are not new, but in other ways they’re making life miserable for pastors and many say why should I do that?”
While he urged young people to follow the call of God if led to pastor, Patterson said many students preparing for ministry turn to church planting as a preferred option.
“Plenty of pastors testify to the difficulty of taking even a good, existing church and making something out of it in the hostile environment we have,” he added.
While not wanting to discourage an increased focus on church planting, Patterson appealed to pastors to keep “calling out the called” and encourage those who respond to seek seminary training, noting the biblical warning against putting a novice into the pastorate.
“They need some time to season, learn to respond to difficulties and criticism,” he said, describing the time spent studying under gifted mentors as just as valuable as the academic training.
In other actions, the board re-elected McClain to a second term as chairman with trustee Dan Nelson of California praising McClain for honoring his pledge to listen to the needs and concerns of students, remaining accessible to them.
John Mark Caton, pastor of Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church in Allen, was elected vice-chairman and Harlan Lee, a businessman from Phoenix, was chosen as secretary.
Two current professors were elected to administrative posts while 10 men were hired for faculty positions upon the recommendation of the Academic Affairs Committee, which heard their testimonies and questioned them on various matters of theology and educational experience. Those selections include:
Garry (Joe) Hardin as associate professor of church music. Tom Kemsup Song as associate professor or church music, David Thye as professor of church music, Edwards H. Pauley as vice provost for academic programs, Terri Stovall as dean of women’s programs and associate professor women’s ministries, Robert Caldwell as assistant professor of church history, Paul Li-Tah Chen as assistant professor of Old Testament at Southwestern’s Havard School in Houston, Scott M. Preissler as professor of stewardship, Nathan (Chris) Shirley as assistant professor of adult ministry, and Joshua Williams as assistant professor of Old Testament.
Elected to the College at Southwestern faculty are Harvey E. Solganick as professor of humanities and James (Lee) Williams as associate professor of history.
Revisions were made to the advanced master of divinity, master of arts in archaeology and biblical studies, master of arts in worship, and master of music degrees.
Approval was given to various faculty promotions and the assignment of endowed academic chairs. Students approved and certified for spring graduation were also approved.
Trustees approved recipients of the L.R. Scarborough Awards for the coming year, including former faculty members James Leo Garrett, George Kelm and John W. Drakeford, and their spouses.
The newly approved budget of $36.1 million for 2007-2008 represents an increase of 5.48 percent over the previous year’s budget, which remained flat from the prior year. The final budget was cut back from an original increase of 7.4 percent. Directors were elected to the school’s two foundations according to governance requirements to include members from outside the seminary.
SBTC gives $100,000 toward new Southwestern Seminary chapel
FORT WORTH?”Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention are joined at the heart based on biblical inerrancy and Baptist distinctives,” stated SBTC Executive Director Jim Richards April 3 as he presented $100,000 from the convention to help build a new chapel on the Fort Worth campus.
“The chapel will be used to promote worship and provide biblical instruction,” Richards said as he delivered the check made possible through surplus in-state funds. In addition to a common goal of “reaching Texas and touching the world,” Richards said the seminary and state convention are ministry partners through Southern Baptists’ Cooperative Program missions-funding channel. Fifty-four percent of the undesignated receipts of more than 1,850 SBTC-affiliated congregations are given toward SBC mission causes, which includes Southwestern.
“While SBTC loves the other five Southern Baptist seminaries, Southwestern holds a special place in the hearts of Texas Baptists,” Richards said, praying “that God would use the new chapel for his glory as we uplift the name of Jesus Christ.”
Trustees heard and approved plans to raise an additional $21.4 million beyond an initial $16 million lead gift from long-time seminary supporters Harold and Dottie Riley of Austin.
A digital video representation of the proposed new chapel is shown online at www.swbts.edu/newchapel. The Spanish-style, 106,000 square-foot building will include a 3,500-seat auditorium, classroom and conference areas, and a prayer tower visible for miles around.
The current seminary auditorium, built in 1950, holds 1,000 people, Southwestern Seminary President Paige Patterson explained. That prevents assembling all of the student body for chapel and limits the number of people in the community who can attend events such as the annual presentation of “The Messiah.”
“In the chapel we model ‘how to do church,’ he explained on the website. “We will teach students how to ‘lift an offering'” while modeling effective exposition and application of God’s Word, demonstrating of proper public prayer and Bible reading, as well as participating in music that honors God and exalts the Savior.
More than 30,000 alumni worldwide will be asked to consider dedicating seats in the new facility in honor or in memory of individuals at a cost of $2,400 for the lower floor or $1,200 for the upper gallery.
The capital campaign called “Preparing Tomrrow’s Ministers … Until Jesus Comes” will be used to build the chapel as well as a facility to house the Roy Fish School of Missions and Evangelism.
A dead end on the final frontier?
| Have you ever stood under a night sky and felt small before the expanse of creation? Do the timeless mountains make you seem insignificant and temporary? According to a recent New York Times article, cosmologists today would say you don’t know the half of it. One, Lawrence M. Krauss of Case Western Reserve, says, “We’re just a bit of pollution. If you got rid of us, and all the stars and all the galaxies and all the planets and all the aliens and everybody, then the universe would be largely the same. We’re completely irrelevant.”
Feel better? The revolutionary insight that prompts Krauss and others to say things like this is the existence of “dark matter” and “dark energy.” I confess I don’t know much about these two things. What disturbs the sleep of astrophysicists today is that they don’t either. According to the theory, 96 percent of everything in existence is made up of these “dark” things. They are not dark because they are unlighted but because they are inscrutable. In fact, physicists cannot even relate dark matter and dark energy to other types of energy and matter. They can only note that “something” is affecting observable matter in a way similar to the way energy and other matter might. The question of human significance comes up because everything we see that makes us seem so small is in fact only 4 percent of all that is. The rest is dark. Here’s part of how the idea of “darkness” came about. In observing the speed and organization of how our galaxy spins, it was expected that stars and other bits would be slung off. That’s not happening. Something that acts like matter is exerting a gravitational effect on the coherence of our universe–something not observable or, as of yet, reproducible. Dark energy was supposed after a series of calculations and observations indicated that the cosmos was expanding and accelerating, instead of slowing (as expected) due to the effects of gravity. Something that had an influence like energy was continuing to expand the stars and galaxies. Again, something unlike anything we can observe, reproduce, or understand. It’s fascinating, even the little bit I understand of what the smart guys are saying. Some scientists find it troubling to think that such a huge portion of all things is so thoroughly mysterious that even the term they use to describe it is called a “placeholder” until they understand enough to give it a more descriptive name, if that day ever comes. They’ve likened it to gravity. We can describe the effects of gravity on a thing and even predict what will happen when gravity causes one thing to draw another to itself, but what is it? That’s a harder question, maybe a related one, some say. One unnamed physicist quoted in the Times article spoke of hundreds of physicists going “off to do something else” if nothing breaks that will give a clue to the nature of dark matter. It sounds like a huge crisis for the professional observers of creation. While I’m left to take the word of the experts regarding the potential revolution these discoveries portend, the human element is something I can observe and understand a bit more clearly. On that, I’ll offer some thoughts. First, maybe their evaluation is a bit pessimistic. If some cosmologists have trouble seeing the next step in their attempts to understand the universe, that doesn’t mean there is no next step. If we assume, as I do, that God made it all and gave us minds to understand a good bit of it, all the “ologists” will find something important to poke around in for the remaining years of time. I respect their honesty for saying they’ve found something they don’t know how to investigate. That doesn’t mean the mystery leaves us without a clue. If, in fact, scientists are at a dead end, it might be that their assumptions, dare I say their philosophical worldview, are wrong. I maintain that God is the author of all true things. Our study of creation, to the degree we understand it rightly, will not lead us to despair unless we consider his sovereignty bad news. Some attitudes of modern scientists are indeed starting to look like blind bias. The complete freak-out that occurs on a college campus every time a non-Darwinist is allowed on the premises seems contrary to the spirit of discovery and dialogue. Most recently, this occurred on the campus of SMU here in Dallas. The university rented an auditorium to an outside group sponsored by a student organization?all this is pre |
Mobile porn poses an increasing threat
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NASHVILLE?You have the computer in a very public area of your home so you can monitor its use, and you’ve subscribed to the best Internet filtering system available. Think you’ve safeguarded your family against the threat of pornography? Think again. New technology allows users to download material from the Internet directly to wireless handheld devices, such as the new generation of cell phones and iPods. This “third generation” of mobile devices provides access to digital video content including games, real-time news, and entertainment options, among other advanced features. To make this development even more harmful, it is typically young people who are the most technically sophisticated and the prime users of such equipment. The technology itself is not dangerous; the danger is that there are no regulations or safeguards in place to protect children and teens from being exposed to unwanted, explicit pornographic content that is downloadable to these wireless handheld devices. Privacy and anonymity are even greater when individuals use wireless devices instead of computers to search and view pornography. “Mobile phones and other personal devices that either connect to the Internet or allow a user to download pictures are vastly more private and personal than even a ‘personal’ computer,” says Daniel Panetti, in a white paper for the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families. (The paper, “What every parent needs to know about emerging technology,” is available at www.nationalcoalition.org.) Some telecommunication experts speculate that, unlike most other countries, until U.S. cell phone carriers provide filtering and the means for parents to block the Internet on phones, adult content will not be readily available here. Yet in a Jan. 24, 2006, Scripps Howard release, Pamela Paul, author of “Pornified: How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships and Our Families,” told USA Today the mobile delivery of pornography will soon be an industry unto itself. “It’s happening,” she said in the news report. “People say, ‘Oh well, porn will never take off because the image is too small.’ Fifteen years ago, if you asked people if they looked at pornography at their desks, they would be horrified. But today a huge number of men and women look at pornography in their office over the Internet.” Steve Hirsch, an executive with an adult film production company, expects “mobile porn” to eventually account for 30 percent of their sales, notes the USA Today report. “This is going to explode. People want porn in their pocket,” the article quoted Hirsch as saying. The adult-entertainment industry is not the only group excited about the new technology; the gambling industry is exploring ways to expand its virtual operations. It is not a matter of if, but when, graphic sexual content will be readily accessible from wireless handheld electronic devices in the U.S. In anticipation of that day, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention is working closely with the Department of Justice, the Federal Communications Commission, and the wireless industry’s trade association through the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families to demand parental education, filters to block adult content, and means to restrict Internet access be provided by the carriers and phone manufacturers.
Pornography: What’s a wife to do? Erin Roach, Baptist Press NASHVILLE, Tenn.?Resources to help men deal with pornography addictions are common, but how should a woman deal with the devastating pain of knowing her husband has been ensnared in one of Satan’s most lethal traps? Rebekah Land, a Southern Baptist psychotherapist in private practice in Nashville, Tenn., told Baptist Press that Internet pornography is considered the “crack cocaine” of pornography these days because it’s so addicting and easily accessible. Pastors are not immune to its deceitful allure, tearing apart families every day. “It used to be that if a guy wanted to look at pornography he’d have to go to some seedy, XXX theater and watch awful B-grade or C-grade films,” Land said. But today, the most common pornography users wouldn’t dare go to a theater or creepy bookstore; the average man can be swept up and his marriage shattered without even leaving his office. In this kind of environment, it’s all the more necessary that wives become armed with the knowledge of how to respond to such potential infidelity before they’re taken down by despair. “A lot of times the first thing that happens when a wife finds out, they’re just devastated,” Land said. “Before they can even get to what they need to do as far as their husband is concerned, they need to deal with it themselves. They have to deal with the hurt, the devastation, the embarrassment, the anger. It feels like a betrayal, it feels like he’s had an affair. Probably the first thing they have to do is try to get their own head together and identify their feelings and what it means to them.” Land said pornography use is not an instant justification for divorce because God says in his Word to forgive no matter how hard it seems. Situations vary, she said, and something a woman needs to consider is the reason why her husband has turned to pornography. If the husband’s sin is an indiscretion, Land said, that’s different than if it’s an indication of a pattern of addiction. Some men simply fall into the trap of lusting after multiple women, while for others their addiction is the result of a deeper, lifelong pattern of sin, she said. “If you uncovered what looked like maybe a lifelong pattern, it would be a little harder to accept that he’s going to get over it because that’s one of the issues,” Land said. “The behavior has to stop. So if you realize that he’s got maybe multiple addictions and you didn’t realize he did, if it looks like a pattern that’s been there for years and years?I’m not saying that justifies you leaving, it’s just realistically you may have a whole lot bigger mountain to climb than somebody else.” Women almost automatically think that if their husbands use pornography it’s because the wife doesn’t measure up physically. But Land said that’s not always the case. “That may not be what he’s saying. The problem with Internet stuff or just print pornography, what happens is it’s easier to do that than to work at a relationship with your wife,” she said. “It’s not necessarily that it’s more satisfying than she is, that may not be what he’s saying. It’s more convenient, a picture doesn’t talk back to you.” One factor that can lead men into pornography use as adults is if they were exposed to it at an early age, Land said. “If he finds a stack of magazines that his dad has under the bed or in the closet or something, what can happen is that awakens sexual feelings and attaches them to a picture as opposed to a person,” she said. “That is a very difficult thing to pry loose.”
“…a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.” 2 Peter 2:19 (NIV) DALLAS–The statistics are unnerving, though Jason Illian admits the damage to the kingdom of God is hard to quantify just yet. He said Pure Online is unique on the Internet in its approach to providing Christian resources for sexually addicted men and women. The goal is to route clients back onto the path of righteousness. The workshops, developed by author and Christian counselor Joe Dallas, use the acronym ROUTE–Repentance, Order, Understanding, Training, and Endurance. In an overview of its resources, Pure Online states: “The program was created by a team of men who understand what you are going through–and specifically the unbelievable barriers to getting help. We understand the need for confidentiality and the need for a program that can help without you having to tell four different people that you need help.” Created and founded two years ago by Brandon Cotter, Pure Online is now steered by Illian. Both men, graduates of Texas Christian University, were drawn to the issues surrounding sexual sin and how it is damaging society. Though they were walking a similar path, speaking God’s truth regarding sex and relationships, it wasn’t until after graduation that the two men met and realized they had a common concern and a unique opportunity to help the healing. “Anyway you look at it, it’s bad,” Illian said of the proliferation of porn in the last decade. He said a recent study he reviewed stated that one-third to as much as one-half of Americans view porn on a daily basis. And the problem is not an “other people” experience. It is in the church and the church, he stated, is not dealing with it. “The reality is we need to speak openly and honestly about this so lives can be healed. Here’s the problem. If we don’t talk about it [godly sexual relations] on the healthy side, we’ll have to deal with it on the porn side.” Illian noted the recent disgrace of Ted Haggard, pastor of megachurch New Life Ministries in Colorado Springs, Colo., who was fired last November after it was revealed he had a relationship with a male prostitute. Illian said the pastor probably had several opportunities over the years to seek help, but he didn’t. Other pastors, hiding sexual sins, have little or no accountability and therefore no one to turn to for help. “This sin,” he said, “trails behind and affects everything you do.” That is where Pure Online becomes a lifeline for renewal and reconciliation. Illian said a person may log onto the website and select one of the four workshops and begin. Each workshop is geared to a specific user: single men, married men, single women, and a workshop with counseling for married men. There are also resources for pastors, wives, and parents. The workshops range in cost from $140 for a 15-chapter session to $450 for a similar session that includes personal phone counseling. Illian said all the material points to Scripture. “What did our Lord intend our relationships to be?” Beginning the healing is not easy, Illian admitted. So many men deny they even have a problem and have to hit rock bottom before seeking help, while others are too embarrassed to confess to a confidant. Sexual sin seems to draw a more repulsive response from the church than other sins such as alcohol and drug addiction, Illian said. But having a Christian accountability partner is one of the goals for Pure Online clients. Such a friend keeps the client focused on the process of healing and helps prevent further excursions into the darker side of cyberspace. “Isn’t that what being a Christian is all about? Grace?” Illian asked. He said the pureonline.com site gets thousands of hits and about 200 new clients a month. “We’ll take them one at a time if that is God’s desire.” But, Illian’s hopes are to broaden the website’s scope of influence in order to make the site more accessible. Churches and ministries with websites can choose to post a Pure Online banner. The advertisement would be a direct link to the self-help website. LifeWay has posted the site under its Christian Resources section. Illian said the pornography industry has not only been prolific in its production of filth but has been on the cutting edge of technology, creating new ways to disseminate their product. Thanks to them, Illian said, films and still images can be downloaded to cell phones and iPods. It is Illian’s goal to give the porn industry a run for its money in the arena of accessibility. “For once we can’t let the porn industry get ahead. We want to be just as accessible, and have an equal number of resources.” |
