ODESSA—Growing up in East Texas, Jared Wellman was surrounded by multiple institutes for continuing education.

“When I moved to West Texas, two things became evident to me,” said Wellman, who became pastor of Mission Dorado Baptist Church in Odessa earlier this year. “First, people were starving for Bible education, and second, there wasn’t any local Bible education. Sure, the church teaches the Bible, but people were searching for something likened to a college. When you hear the word ‘Bible study’ in church today, it usually means a small group which is more applicative than educational.”

Out of this void, Mission Dorado Baptist Institute (MDBI) was born.

“I wanted to provide a place that offered real, deep, and authentic Bible education,” Wellman said. “We held people accountable through weekly reading and quizzes, among other things. I handed out a syllabus on the first day so that the class knew what to expect.”

MDBI opened its doors in the church facilities this fall. One course was offered for the first semester. “The Lord had already spoken to me some time ago to do a study on Heaven and this seemed like the perfect time,” Wellman noted. “It is a subject that is not talked about too often and people are interested in it.”

With the support of the church, MDBI held a registration night so people could sign up for the course, “A Biblical Survey of Heaven,” and purchase the textbook.

“The response was overwhelming,” he said. “We had 114 people register.”

Participants included church members and non-members. One student, Lucy Smith, traveled from San Angelo, about two hours away. “This just shows the thirst for rich Bible study with accountability,” Wellman said.

The desire for Bible study and an interest in the subject matter led Smith to enroll, she explained. Smith formerly worked in Midland as a licensed counselor, but moved to San Angelo after retirement. Following the death of her husband earlier this year, Smith decided to go back to her counseling work in Midland two days a week. One of her clients mentioned MDBI and its upcoming first semester class on Heaven.  

“If it hadn’t been for this client, I wouldn’t have known about it,” Smith said. “If anyone mentions institutes and learning, I’m there.” Smith has to stay over an extra night in Midland, but she said the sacrifice is worth it.

“I’ve progressed with learning on the Heaven topic,” she said. The death of her husband made the study of Heaven very important to her, she noted. “I’ve found comfort there.”
Gayle Dobbs, a member of Mission Dorado Baptist Church, said she also found comfort and peace through her studies at MDBI. “I’ve always envisioned Heaven as a celestial choir,” Dobbs said. “Frankly, I don’t sing well and I was just thrilled to know that we are going to be busy and have a full life in Heaven. Every day is going to be fabulous.”

“Because the first course concerned a topic that many have not ever studied, we have seen some large steps made in people’s understanding of the Bible,” Wellman said. “My goal was to show people that the Bible is the very best book that a person can read who wants to know about Heaven. I think people’s eyes have been opened to the hope we have of being a resurrected people, with our resurrected King, in a resurrected world.”

With one semester completed, Wellman said he is looking toward the future of MDBI. In the short term, he is planning two classes for the second semester, one on apologetics and the other on Islam. “My hope is that the excitement continues to press on as we tackle other topics in the semesters to come.”

Wellman added: “My ultimate hope and vision for the MDBI is that we can become a solidified Southern Baptist educational organization for those who are interested in studying the Bible in West Texas. Only the Lord knows what he is going to do with the MDBI, but it has been an incredible journey so far.”

For more information about Mission Dorado Bible Institute, visit missiondorado.com and click on the “ministries” tab and then “Bible Institute.”

History has many examples of military combatants setting aside their fight for special occasions. Our War Between the States produced many personal tales of cease fires to allow care for the wounded or recovery of the dead. Sentries sometimes would arrange trade of food or tobacco between the lines. Religious holidays that both sides had in common, Easter and Christmas particularly, were times when local exchanges of seasonal good will were offered. The most well-known Christmas cease fire may have occurred during the Great War near Ypres, Belgium in 1914. In this case, British and German troops actually came out of their lines to sing together, trade souvenirs and food, and to bury their dead. Smaller versions of this Christmas truce occurred later in the war but they were officially discouraged and made less likely by the increasing horror of that particular war.

In thinking of Christmas, I’m reminded of strange tales I’ve seen and heard about people unable to understand the mentality behind these truces. Surely, the German, French, British, and Canadian troops that took a few minutes away from the war were not also laying aside their patriotism or whatever convictions they had regarding the issues surrounding the war. Many had likely known friends who died at the hand of the enemy they now wished “Merry Christmas.” But they were all lonely men, far away from home on what is either the best or worst night of the year for those who celebrate Christmas. For that night, they had that in common—that plus the hope that their lives would not always be full of mud, blood, and slaughter.

Some of us are unable to understand that the real offenses and important differences that divide people, even family members, are not always the most important issues of the moment. We are prone to forget that we are also far from home, living in a world that will not always be filled with the mournful sounds of battle.

I think of those who will not attend the funeral of a parent because they disagreed over a business matter. I’ve heard of parents who do not attend the wedding of a child to avoid seeing an ex-spouse—even of children who do not invite parents to a wedding because of some earlier battle. And brothers and sisters sometimes will not even contact one another for years at a time because of nothing any of them count as crucial—just pride and unforgiveness.

Is this the way things are always going to be? No, the redemption story that begins in Genesis 3 does not end there by a long shot. There is a disarming and leveling humanity about the most exalted or debased among us as we sit together in a funeral home or around a Thanksgiving meal. And here I don’t mean only the fallenness of humanity but the person inside who longs for something more perfect than his normal experience of life. We are, each of us who follows Christ, creatures who groan within ourselves and eagerly await the manifestation of the sons of God. Now and again, it is appropriate that we should behave as though this is true.

Friends, surely you know that I do not subscribe to the “don’t talk about religion, sex, and politics in polite company” rule of etiquette. Polite company need not be the exclusive domain of airheads, I think. I’ve more than once been lifted intellectually and spiritually by conversation with others in the most polite company I know. But we also know when our conversation about the most important subjects of life is merely impish, divisive for the sake of our own amusement. We know when we are disturbing the peace inappropriately.

I’m blessed to remember my grandparents, and even my great grandparents. My Great Grandma Garrison was a pious gentle lady who grew up in the country. When I knew her, you could walk from her house to the homes of three of her children in less than 30 minutes. Great Grandma wouldn’t let us hunt squirrels on Sunday afternoon because “nothing should die on the Lord’s day.” I don’t remember any of us being inclined to ignore her opinion. There is a hierarchy in extended family that gentled me. Quarrels with my siblings or parents were set aside at Granny’s house or Great-Grandma’s house. It just felt like a reasonable respect. No one had to tell me that my own pettiness and cruelty were too ugly for these audiences with our clan matriarchs. It was an understanding of etiquette that clearly showed that all of us knew what mattered and what could be put aside for a bit.

If you’re blessed with loved ones you’ll see this Christmas, honor the occasion as a preview of what will be rather than a tired rehash of past outrages. Maybe there is someone conspicuously not present or welcome as you gather around the table. Just for once, wouldn’t it be a relief to leave past grievances outside? We often regret not having done that after it’s too late for anything but regret.

Christmas, above all holidays, can be about the promise of redemption. That redemption was planned, even accomplished in Heaven before the foundation of the world. In our present-tense life it became substantial when the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. God’s sons and daughters can celebrate that by doing more than singing the best music and reading the best things in the Scriptures. We can try to see those we rarely understand as fellow shepherds and kings who come before the newborn Savior because our spirits groan within us. We need peace, and not for just this one glorious night.

The SBTC is offering “labs” for churches interested in the Embrace strategy to engage unengaged, unreached people groups (UUPGs).

“These labs will help churches to understand what it means to embrace a UUPG and what they will need to give in the process,” said SBTC missions associate Chad Vandiver.

Churches will hear from a Southern Baptist pastor who has led his church to embrace a UUPG, Vandiver said, and they have the opportunity to network with other churches and pastors who have begun the journey to embracing a UUPG.

Churches will also hear about future training sessions on embracing a UUPG, Vandiver said.

Registration is available online at the following links:

• Jan. 14: Embrace Lab-North Texas at FBC Euless, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.; sbtexas.com/embracenorth.
• Feb. 11: Embrace Lab-East Texas at Champion Forest BC in Houston, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.; sbtexas.com/embraceeast.
• Feb. 18: Embrace Lab-South Texas at Castle Hills First Baptist Church, San Antonio, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.; sbtexas.com/embracesouth.
• March 10: Embrace Lab-West Texas at Redbud Baptist Church in Lubbock, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.; sbtexas.com/embracewest.

For additional information, call the SBTC missions office toll-free at 877-953-7282 (SBTC) or e-mail Gayla Harris at gharris@sbtexas.com.
 

FORT WORTH—A “nobody from Nowhere, Texas” is what the History Channel’s “Top Shot” for season three, Dustin Ellermann, called himself in an interview given to the National Rifle Association recently. Although he had watched the show and was a big fan, the thought of actually being a contestant wasn’t even a thought for this Christian kids’ camp director who told his story at Southcliff Baptist Church in Fort Worth last month.

Sixteen contestants are chosen out of thousands to “shoot it out” for the title of “Top Shot.” This is a title given to a marksman—man or woman—who can withstand physically demanding, almost impossible, challenges with accuracy and endurance.

The prize: $100,000, and the prestigious title of “Top Shot.”  

The contestants included a national revolver champion, two homeland security agents, a former Navy SEAL, two cops, a nurse and several firearms instructors. Two of the competitors were self-taught, including Ellermann.

Asked why he applied for the show, Ellermann said, “Really, I was told by a friend that I should put my name in to the History Channel for Top Shot, and thought it sounded fun. I didn’t think I’d hear back from them though.”

He added, “I just sent an e-mail with my picture and said, ‘Hey, I work at a Christian kids’ camp, I’m a foster parent, love God, love kids, oh, yeah, and I like to shoot and I’m pretty good at it too.’”

He was called the next day out of 20,000 who had applied.

“I know I was chosen as the ‘token’ Christian guy,” Ellermann said with a smile, “but I think it was God’s favor.”

During the show, comments were made to Ellermann by other contestants saying, “Aren’t you supposed to be at your Christian camp teaching kids how to read the Bible?” Yes, he does that too.

With a pregnant wife, two children, and many more responsibilities as the director for Camp His Way in the small town of Zavalla in the piney woods of East Texas, Ellermann left for the competition. “It was tough, I had to be away from my family for a total of six weeks,” Ellermann said. “But I knew that God had a plan in it; I mean how else would any of this had happened?” Dustin said through the experience he was able to be a quiet yet widely heard witness for Jesus Christ.

“I was in an environment that I wasn’t used to, being surrounded by some pretty rough and tough characters,” Ellermann said, “but I wasn’t given this gift by the Lord to show up and judge or condemn those around me … I was there to be Jesus to all who surrounded me, and show love and acceptance.”

For example, “The first week I was there I think it was, one of the ‘coolest’ guys on the set came up to me and said, ‘Hey, Dustin, I’ve been watching you and how you react to things.’ ‘Uh-Oh,’ I thought to myself. But then he went on to say, ‘You’re one of the coolest Christians I know.’”

“I must’ve been doing what I should be doing with these guys,” Ellermann said.

Despite the drama going on between the competitors, Ellermann said he was just there for fun. He was considered the odd man out with no training or professional title, but Ellermann wasn’t trusting in his credentials to get him through. Rather he was trusting in God.

Carroll Marr, pastor of Southcliff, said: “I wanted our people, those who know Christ, to walk away with an understanding that God can and will use them to accomplish his purposes. Even our hobbies can be tools in God’s hand.”

Ellermann’s appearance that Sunday was also used as an evangelism tool to attract those who would not have been receptive to his message otherwise.

“The first person I met Sunday morning,” Marr related, “was a man with his son who had heard about the event through a handout at a local gun shop. His son was a fan of the show … and loved Dustin.” The father and son sat on the front row and were engaged through the entire service, though they were not church goers, Marr said.

To read about Ellermann’s ministry, visit camphisway.com.

FRISCO—South Carolina pastor Don Wilton will be among the speakers at the 2012 SBTC Empower Evangelism Conference, Feb. 27-29 at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco. The theme, “I Am Not Ashamed,” is taken from Romans 1:14-17.

This year’s conference will feature many familiar names, and one of those is Wilton, pastor of First Baptist Church of Spartanburg, S.C. and president of The Encouraging Word, a ministry that broadcasts Wilton’s preaching and teaching across the United States.

In addition to his pastorate, Wilton has served on the faculty of New Orleans Seminary and has been a frequent speaker for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. A close friend of Graham, the noted evangelist considers Wilton his pastor.

He is the author of numerous books such as “Starting for the Finish,” “Totally Secure,” “The Absolute Certainty of Life After Death,” and “When God Prayed.”

Other scheduled guests at the Empower Evangelism Conference include Alabama evangelist Junior Hill, pastors such as Florida’s Ted Traylor and Bob Pearle of Fort Worth, and denominational leaders such as International Mission Board President Tom Elliff.

Also among the speakers will be Steve Scheibner, a former pastor and American Airlines pilot who was bumped at the last minute as pilot of one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. A video about Scheibner’s experience titled “In My Seat: A Pilot’s Story” may be viewed at youtube.com.   

Musicians for the conference will include Charles Billingsley of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., and Grammy-winning vocalist Larnelle Harris as well as Ernie Haase and Signature Sound. Praise teams from First Baptist Church of Odessa and Birchman Baptist in Fort Worth will also appear.

RELATED EVENTS

• The Spanish-language sessions that coincide with the conference include a Saturday workshop (Feb. 25) at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano that includes breakfast and lunch, and a Sunday evening rally (Feb. 26) at the Dr. Pepper Center in Frisco.
• The Ladies’ Session of the conference is planned from 1:30-4:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 27.
• The Conference of Texas Baptist Evangelists will meet at the convention center from 1:30-4:30 p.m. and will feature the preaching of Larry Taylor, Jon Randles and Don Cass.

The Monday evening session will include Gardendale, Ala., pastor Kevin Hamm, Steve Gaines, pastor of Belleview Baptist Church in suburban Memphis, and Scheibner.

Tuesday morning will feature Pearl, Georgia evangelist Jerry Pipes, and Wilton, pastor of First Baptist Church, Spartanburg, S.C.

On Tuesday afternoon, Marc Farnell, pastor, Crossridge Church in Little Elm, will preach, as will First Baptist Odessa pastor Byron McWilliams and Wichita Falls evangelist Jay Lowder.

On Tuesday night, preachers will include Ronnie Floyd, pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas; and Robert Smith, professor of divinity and Christian preaching at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Ala.

Wednesday morning’s conclusion will feature Traylor, pastor of Olive Grove Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla., Hill, a longtime Alabama evangelist, and the IMB’s Elliff.
Watch for more details online at sbtexas.com/evangelism.

DALLAS—The Criswell College Board of Trustees approved a new degree plan in church planting and revitalization (CPR) following extensive interviews with 12 nationally known leaders in the field of study who shared what school President Jerry Johnson described as “the best courses, best professors, best practices and best books.”

A committee of three Criswell professors developed the content, which could be studied as a major for the bachelor of arts degree in biblical studies or for a certificate in church planting.

“We have people who are middle-aged or seniors who want to come and learn church planting, but we’re also hoping to equip a lot of church planters who are not even looking for the degree,” Johnson added.

Among those who offered input on the curriculum were Barry Calhoun, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention church planting team leader, International Mission Board President Tom Elliff, North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell, Southern Baptist Convention President Bryant Wright and numerous church planters.

For information on enrolling in the program contact the school toll-free at 800-899-0012 or visit criswell.edu.

The board also elected Barry K. Creamer as the new vice president of academic affairs, replacing Lamar E. Cooper Sr., who requested a return to full-time teaching in the areas of Old Testament and archaeology. (See related article.) Trustees recommended by the SBTC and the W.A. Criswell Foundation were approved for re-election and include: David Galvan, Garland; Curtis Baker, Lindale; Paul Pressler, Houston; Richard Land, Nashville; Susie Hawkins, Dallas; and Barbara Stephens, Dallas.

The board also approved a recommendation establishing a standing Investment Committee, housing allowances for 2012, the annual audit report, a tuition assistance policy for full-time faculty members to pursue more graduate and post-graduate level education, a faculty travel fund for attendance at professional conferences, and proposed college departmental outcomes.

Resolutions of appreciation honored the 25 years of service by Cooper and expressed appreciation for the life of Edward J. Drake, a former board member from Dallas who died Nov. 25.

FORT WORTH—Jim Richards said the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s decision to support the seminary by helping to build the new chapel came easily.

The SBTC gave $200,000 in surplus funds in 2007 to Southwestern Seminary to provide the baptismal pool in the rotunda of the school’s new J.W. MacGorman Chapel, dedicated Dec. 1.

“Our ministries are joined at the heart,” said Richards, SBTC executive director. “We desire the same results out of the efforts that we put forth together to reach people for Christ. We support the vision and the dream of training those who serve the Lord through the building of this facility.”

During a special service following the dedication ceremony in the new chapel, Birchman Baptist Church Pastor Bob Pearle baptized five believers in the baptismal. Both Birchman members and Southwestern guests attended the service.

While baptizing one of the candidates, Pearle reiterated that baptism is to symbolize faith that has already been placed in the death and resurrection of Christ.

“One of the distinctives we have as Baptists,” Pearle said, “is that we have ‘believer’s baptism’ and ‘believer’ is always first.”

Richards said by funding the baptismal, an octagonal pool built in the rotunda of the new chapel, the convention essentially makes three statements.

“We’re making a statement about evangelism. Baptism is the outward sign of the inward experience,” Richards said. “We’re making a statement about missions because I think that there will be churches that will be started in the Fort Worth area—perhaps even in the entire metroplex—that as they are beginning, they don’t have a building, they surely don’t have a baptistery. This would be a prime place for some of those new church starts to come and do their baptismal services.”

The third statement, Richards said, concerns the ordinance itself.

“While salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, the ordinance of baptism is still a very important aspect of our belief as Baptists,” Richards said. “So, therefore, we wanted to underscore that baptism is by immersion. We also believe that it is by the proper authority, which is the local church.”

The seminary, since it is not a church, does not have the authority to baptize, Richards said. But the baptismal gives students a place to practice the ordinance before entering pastoral ministry.

In his booklet “What is Baptism?” Southwestern Seminary President Paige Patterson said the scriptures concerning baptism are some of the most misinterpreted and misunderstood. Patterson’s booklet offers clarity on the meaning of the passages. The booklet also described ancient churches’ immersionist baptisms and why Baptists believe the method is most aligned with the Bible. Patterson also discussed the symbolism in immersing a believer in water.

“Here in MacGorman Chapel, this octagonal baptistry, featuring eight of the best-known New Testament baptismal texts, is designed to tell that story,” Patterson wrote. “As the candidate for baptism steps into the baptismal waters, he reenacts the death of Jesus, his burial, and his resurrection. In so doing, the disciple of Christ openly confesses his confidence and faith in that historic reality as the sole basis for his salvation.”

In the close of his booklet, Patterson reaffirmed a message characteristic of all gatherings at Southwestern, reminding readers and hearers that Christ alone has provided the sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world and that only a relationship with him can reconcile sinful man to God.

“There are not many acceptable ways. Just as there is but one Lord, so there is only one faith,” Patterson wrote. “And there is but one true baptism. After conversion to Christ, a disciple makes just one public declaration or profession of his faith in Jesus. Therefore, two questions are imperative. Have you experienced godly sorrow for sin, which led you to repent and place your faith in Jesus alone for forgiveness and salvation? Second, have you publicly confessed Jesus as your Savior and Lord in baptism by immersion?”

Those questions will no doubt be the crux of all activity to come through the new chapel as Southwestern’s leaders work to keep spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth their focus.

Richards, along with Patterson and GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins, who spoke and prayed, respectively, during the baptism ceremony, said the convention hopes to be further involved with the seminary and its new chapel by holding events such as the annual convention and evangelism conferences in the new chapel in the coming years, though no events have been scheduled yet. Richards said the convention is excited to support the furthering of the gospel and the salvation of souls through its support of the seminary.

“The baptismal fount will be a testimony of evangelism, missions, [and] the doctrinal fidelity to the ordinance of baptism to all those who come by,” Richards said.

MALAKOFF—For the sake of his three young sons and the daughter he and his wife will soon adopt from Africa, Pastor Nathan Lorick says he has drawn a line in the dirt of his East Texas community in defiance of an atheist group’s demand that a nativity scene be removed from the lawn of the Henderson County Courthouse.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, at the behest of an anonymous Henderson County resident, sent a letter to county officials Dec. 1 stating the religious display was in violation of a United States Supreme Court decision and should be removed from county property. The Henderson County nativity sits amid a collection of Christmas-themed displays, including Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, a group of carolers and assorted gnomes.

“What are Christians going to do about this?” the 30-year-old pastor of First Baptist Church Malakoff asked in a phone interview with the TEXAN hours before an appearance at dawn on the nationally broadcast Fox & Friends television program. “It’s time for the silent majority to wake up, speak up and stand up.”

A majority of Henderson County commissioners said they opposed moving the nativity scene based on the FFRF complaint, according to the Malakoff News, reporting on a perspective shared by County Judge Richard Sanders. The county does not own the nativity scene nor the secular decorations, but allows a local group known as Light Up Athens to set them out on the courthouse lawn on the corner of Palestine and Corsicana streets in Athens.

While FFRF relied on a 1989 Supreme Court case argued by the ACLU as the basis for their complaint of an unconstitutional endorsement of religion, the group claimed the nativity scene on the courthouse lawn is the only seasonal display. Sanders said the county’s attorney had reviewed pertinent cases and found Henderson County to be in compliance with federal law.

In the letter to the judge, FFRF argues, “When the county allows this manger scene to be created, which depicts the legendary birth of Jesus Christ, it places the imprimatur of the county government behind the Christian religious doctrine.” The East Texas display is one of a dozen nativity scenes that the non-profit Wisconsin-based FFRF is working to eliminate.

Lorick is concerned at the ever-increasing secularization of America, noting that Christian symbols and speech are no longer a significant part of the fabric of the culture and often are marginalized or vilified.

That is not the America in which he wants to raise his children. Lorick and his wife, Jenna, have three sons ages 7, 4, and 2 years old. The couple is in the process of adopting a girl from Africa.

“My kids are young and it’s worth fighting to restore the fundamental Christian beliefs we were founded on for my kids’ future,” he said.

After the Malakoff newspaper broke the story on its Facebook page Dec. 6, Todd Starnes of Fox News Radio, a former Baptist Press employee, spread the word nationally, talking with Lorick by phone. Lorick told Starnes he wants his children to grow up in the same country that had the religious freedom and opportunity to “worship Jesus as I did.” That includes the soon-to-be daughter he and his wife are adopting.

“I want to teach her that this is a Christian society,” he told the TEXAN.

Lorick also questioned how one local resident and an organization on the other side of the country can turn his county on its head—a county, Lorick said, is predominantly evangelical. He feels a “moral, parental and spiritual responsibility” to stand against those who literally would take Christian expression out of the public square.

Recalling that well-known pastors like Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas have taken a stand for Christian convictions that prompted both notoriety and criticism, Lorick said excited to see young pastors speaking out this year in what he referred to as an annual Christmas tradition of atheists versus freedom of religious expression. He hopes his youth and pleas on behalf of his children will add a fresh dynamic to the argument.

Among those who joined Lorick in planning a Dec. 17 Nativity Rally are Robert Welch of Rock Hill Baptist in Brownsboro, Eric Graham of Sand Springs Baptist Church in Athens and Derek Rogers, a county resident who pastors the Cowboy Church of Corsicana. The group circulated a YouTube video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW05U6L_M1Y calling for Henderson County pastors to meet Dec. 9 at the Athens Sand Springs Baptist Church.

Speaking of himself and his peers, Lorick said, “There’s a generation coming up that is willing to take a stand and fight against that and bring our nation back to the Christian principles on which it was founded.”

In a Dec. 7 interview with KDFW-TV, FFRF founder Annie Laurie Gaylor said public displays of Christian symbols, such as the nativity scene, can be “intimidating” and send a message to non-Christians that they are not welcome in the county courthouse.

“The reason people come to us is because people are fearful of reprisals. They are fearful of stones being thrown through their window. They are fearful of losing their jobs, losing their friends, losing their clients because there is so much hostility if you speak up for separation of church and state,” Gaylor told the Dallas station.

Lorick and others want nothing to do with the kind of visceral response FFRF’s spokeswoman alleged.

“Disagreements should be spoken with love and respect,” he said. It is his hope that what is said and done in response to the atheist group’s demands will “go viral” in news and social media coverage and the entire situation can serve as a platform for the glory of God, he said.

—Tammi Reed Ledbetter contributed to this report.