Ruth is a brilliant young female attorney living in a male-dominated legal world.

The year is 1959, and although she graduated at the top of her class in one of the nation’s most prestigious schools, Ruth can’t land a job in a law firm. Some male lawyers believe she should use her skills as a secretary. Others would like to hire her, but fear their wives would become jealous.

So Ruth takes a position as a law professor at Rutgers University. There, she will mold the nation’s future lawyers to enter the fast-changing world of the 1960s. The job also will allow her to practice law in the courtroom if the right case arises.

Such a case lands in her lap when she learns about Charles Moritz, a Colorado single man who is taking care of his ailing mother and wants the same tax benefits for hiring a nurse that are afforded to women. But the federal tax law allows only females to use the tax deduction when hiring in-home nurses.

Ruth believes if she can convince a federal court to overturn a law that unfairly targets a man, then it could lay the groundwork for overturning laws that unfairly target women.

Will her strategy work?

The movie On the Basis of Sex (PG-13) is now playing in theaters, giving us an overview of the early life of now-Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It begins with her entrance into Harvard Law School in 1956 and ends with her arguing Moritz’s case before the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in the early 1970s. Her nephew, Daniel Stiepleman, wrote it.

Although Ginsburg is one of the nation’s most socially liberal justices — supporting legalized abortion and same-sex marriage, for example — the film aims for broad appeal by spotlighting her targeting of sexually discriminatory laws. She complains that wives should not have to sign up for credit cards in their husbands’ names. She says women aren’t allowed to work overtime. She notes that there were no women’s restrooms when she began attending law school.

The words “abortion” is never heard in On the Basis of Sex, even though she became one of the biggest supporters of its legalization. Perhaps this is because Ginsburg didn’t play a direct role in the 1973 ruling.

The result is that people from both parties can watch the film and cheer her, even if her legal philosophy needs questioned. One such example is when Ginsburg in the film argues that times are changing and that the law is behind the public sentiment. This begs the question: Then why not pressure the legislature to change the law? Or change the legislature?

In fact, the real-world Ginsburg said in 2013 that she regretted how abortion was legalized — with one case overturning all pro-life laws nationwide. Roe, she said, became “a symbol for the right to life movement.” She would have preferred a piecemeal approach to legalizing abortion — although, for sure, it still would have come through the legal process.

“That would have been my ideal vision of how this would have been evolved,” she said.

Like the real-world Ginsburg, the big-screen Ginsburg (played by Felicity Jones) supports incremental change, too. Her goal in the film is to take on each law where men and women are viewed differently. Supposedly, there were 178 of them. When the three justices ask her if she’s wanting to overturn all 178 laws, she says, “no.” She’s only fighting to overturn one section of the tax law. Legal attacks on the other ones will come later.

“We’re not asking you to change the country,” she says. “That’s already happened without any court’s permission. We’re asking you to protect the right of the country to change. Our sons and daughters are barred by law from opportunities based on assumptions about their abilities.

“You have the power to set the precedent that will get us started.”        

There’s a lot to like about Ginsburg in On the Basis of Sex. She fought for common-sense women’s rights that all women today — conservative and liberal — enjoy. She backed an incremental approach that leaders in any movement would be wise to use. She also was a devoted mother of two children and a wife. The film shows her caring for her sick husband when he faced the possibility of death after a testicular cancer diagnosis. She even attended his classes and took notes. (He was in law school, too.)

But lurking in the background, unsaid, is her stance on more controversial decisions. As a Supreme Court justice in 2000, she voted with the majority for legalized legal partial-birth abortion — a procedure in which an unborn late-term baby is partially delivered, feet-first, before its brain is suctioned. When a similar case came before the court in 2007, she voted the same way again, although this time she was in the minority. In 2018, she joined dissenting justices who would have required pro-life pregnancy centers to hang signs about the availability of abortion.

It’s easy to cheer for the Ginsburg in On the Basis of Sex. It’s just not the full picture.

Content warnings:

Warning: minor/moderate spoilers!

(Scale key: none, minimal, moderate, extreme)

Violence/Disturbing

None.

Sexuality/Sensuality/Nudity

Minimal/moderate. We see Ginsburg disrobe down to a slip and kiss her husband in the bedroom. The scene then cuts away.

Coarse Language

Moderate. A– (4), s–t (3), D–n (2), misuse of “Jesus” (1), misuse of “God” (1), b–ch (1), b—ard (1), f-word (1), d–k (1), “h-ll no” as part of a chant — several times.

Discussion Questions

1. Is Ginsburg a legal hero? Why or why not?
2. Name three positive traits about Ginsburg from the movie. Name three negative ones (from either the film or real life).
3. What led to abortion’s legalization?    

Entertainment rating: 3 out of 5 stars. Family-friendly rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Rated PG-13 for some language and suggestive content.

Pastors who formerly deducted out-of-pocket business expenses on their taxes can no longer do do so under a new law.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 lowered the tax rates for all individuals but it also eliminated the tax deduction for unreimbursed business expenses—such as for restaurant meals, conference curriculum and office supplies that are not reimbursed, said Bryan Baughman of PSK CPA.

The change took place in 2018, which means pastors cannot make the deduction on this year’s tax returns. The law impacted everyone: non-profits such as churches and for-profit business, too.

“You can still get reimbursed by the church, tax-free, but you can no longer deduct those on your own return if you don’t get reimbursed,” Baughman told the TEXAN.

LAS COLINAS Women attending the SBTC Empower Conference Feb. 25 will enjoy a session just for them featuring worship along with a message from noted Christian author and speaker Lisa Harper. Using her mix of humor and sound biblical teaching, Harper will encourage and inspire during the women’s session on Monday afternoon from 1:00-4:15 p.m.

Registration for the conference is free and available at sbtexas.com/empower.

RANGER—In a bit over two years, The Woodbridge church plant has grown to about 170 mostly unchurched people of varied ages in Sunday morning worship, and at least 40 baptisms.

Church planter Jared Johnson has done this with shoe leather, acts of service and simply inviting folks to the church that meets in the Ranger Academy of Martial Arts.

“America has voted on whether or not they want to go to church, and the church is dying,” Johnson told the TEXAN. “You can do all the neat gadgets and tricks you want to get people there, but they’re not going to come on their own unless they feel love and trust.”

The Woodbridge’s story starts in 2005, when a pastor told Johnson, “If I would start a church with five people who weren’t steeped in tradition, I’d be further along in one year than with a church that started with 100 people steeped in tradition.”

Johnson traces his call to church planting—and to church planting with a focus on the unchurched—back to that remark. In 2015, he left a church staff position to begin a one-year church planter apprenticeship under Nic Burleson, pastor of Timber Ridge Church in Stephenville, which had just started in 2011.

Plan A was to start a church in an under-churched big city. Plan B was to focus on a section of a city and make a more focused impact on the unchurched.

“Then,” Johnson said, “I began to ask myself, ‘How big would that section of a city be?’ And as I was passing through all the little towns on my way home from the big city, I felt like the Holy Spirit tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘This big.’ That’s when we began to see the value of ministering to a small town.”

He and his family—wife Laine and four children under 8—didn’t know anyone when, in February 2016, they arrived in Ranger, a community near his hometown that he had rejected the first nine times it came to mind. 

Ranger sits just off Interstate 20 about 75 miles west of Fort Worth. It had a population of about 50,000 during its early 1920s heyday as an oil boom destination. Today, only around 2,400 people remain. An initial demographic study showed only about 10 percent of the town’s residents attended church, most of whom were senior citizens.

“I went around Ranger and asked people to help us start a church, people not in church,” Johnson said. “We started a launch team and probably had 20 folks, give or take, who were pretty invested and excited before we had our first church service.”

Jared and Laine Johnson met weekly in their home with the launch team. Three preview services in August 2016 led to the grand opening service that about 75 people, all from Eastland County, attended. SBTC’s church planting ministry added strength to the effort by providing basic training, financial support and coaching.

The Woodbridge worships with contemporary music and a four-instrument praise team. A monthly rotation provides leadership for KidBridge, aimed at children between birth and fourth grade and coordinated by Laine Johnson. 

Those fifth grade and older stay in the worship service. Youth meet Wednesday nights in their “One80” group, while students from Ranger Community College meet Thursday evenings. Adults meet during the week in three life groups.

Sunday mornings start early, with volunteers rolling up the martial arts mats and punching bags, setting up the chairs and children’s classrooms and then replacing everything after the service.

The Woodbridge story mostly takes place in the community.

“If the city is doing it, we’re involved,” Johnson said. “We try to partner with the city with everything we can—city, school, whatever.

“We’ve done a lot of things to earn a good reputation,” Johnson added. “One of our most effective ways of discipling people is to put people in charge of something and walk with them. We ask people early on to serve.”

The Woodbridge returned the city park to a place of useful beauty, including transforming the unused tennis court into a regulation basketball court, painting playground equipment and park benches, landscaping and more.

For the last three summers, the church has provided free family movie nights in the park. Other community outreaches include popsicles and water at the summer parade and popcorn and hot chocolate at the winter parade, a harvest event in October that includes a pumpkin smash and pumpkin toss for parents and a variety of activities for youngsters, including a hay maze.

“It’s a pretty big deal,” Johnson said, referring to the church’s emphasis on local involvement. “We don’t make it into something religious. We just try to bless the community and invite people to church.

“With whatever we do, we invite people to church. We tell people there’s no bad day to bring somebody the first time.”

Johnson’s advice to his volunteers each week: “Find a heart and heal it. Find a need and fill it.” 

The church’s name—a bridge between God and people, joined together by a now-empty wooden cross—reflects its mission. 

“Our goal is to bring people closer to God, to the unchurched, de-churched and atheist,” Johnson said. “A lot of people don’t come to church because they don’t know anyone there. They don’t feel loved. 

“My job as pastor is to teach people to love people. We stress the importance of loving, so love them, and invite them.”  

J.D. Greear, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, is challenging us to pray for and witness to one person in 2019 in an effort to win that person to Jesus. Juan Sanchez, president of the SBTC, is challenging our state convention to prioritize evangelism. The SBTC’s emphasis will culminate at the Oct. 28-29 Annual Meeting in Odessa. Shane Pruitt, SBTC Evangelism Director, is leading us to participate. The North American Mission Board is making “Who’s Your One?” a national focus.

We have a plethora of options when it comes to evangelism training. The SBTC staff has many practical tools we will gladly share with your congregation, and I would encourage you to plan an evangelism workshop in your church. While I endorse the use of methods, there is something missing that information cannot fill. It has been my contention for some time that it is not a lack of programs, but a lack of passion, that keeps us from sharing Jesus with others.

I confess I have to work at being a witness. For some time, the approach has been for us to share Christ out of the overflow of our lives. We will get so full of Jesus that some of him will spill out when we interact with others. This is not always the case with me. I love Jesus, but opportunities arise where I could speak the gospel and I clam up. It just doesn’t come out. For me, having a regular time to go holds me accountable.

When I was a pastor, I pulled rank and got all the hot prospects when we went on church visitation. I would go into homes of people who had been to our church. It was easier for me to present the good news to folks with whom I had a connection. Don’t get me wrong—I witness to Uber drivers, waiters and service people—but it is not the same. Having a set time to share the gospel is not legalism, it is obedience.

Being a witness and seeking to “win” someone to Christ is not the same. We can hand out a tract as a witness. We can pray the gospel in a hospital room as a witness. We can speak the name of Jesus to those we come in contact with, thereby being a witness. A true gospel conversation culminates in asking the person if they would like to receive Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. This is different from being a witness. I do a fairly good job of being a witness; I have to work at be a soul-winner.

The SBTC Empower Conference is Feb. 25-26. Speakers will remind us of how great the Great Commission really is, and we will have numerous breakouts designed to equip you in methods for gospel presentation. Soon, a devotional produced by the SBTC Evangelism ministry will be released which will seek to inspire us to have passion for Jesus and the lost sheep. All of these things are helpful, but ultimately we must decide we are going across the street or across the room to plead with someone to accept Jesus as their Savior.

I have my “one” in mind. Others are on my heart. It is just a matter of me getting out of my seat, going in the street and giving the the gospel with a plea to respond. So, who’s your one? 

Terry Turner understands firsthand the value of knowing African-American history because he has seen the importance of discovering his own family’s history. 

Turner, a past president of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, began looking into African-American history as part of his doctoral research and discovered a correspondence between his story and the larger story of African Americans. During this time, Turner was introduced to the research of Orlando Patterson, who described the links between the breakdown of African-American families today and slavery. 

“Patterson brought to my attention that the greatest problem that African Americans were given from slavery is a history of disconnected fathers and husbands,” said Turner, whose own research and story became the basis of a 2017 book, God’s Amazing Grace: Reconciling Four Centuries of African American Marriages and Families. “Because those roles were destroyed, we’ve never been able to redefine them in the African-American community. Of course, fathers lead families. No family is complete without a father.”

Turner experienced this himself at age 10 when his father passed away. The pain and stress of growing up without a father followed him for years. Later, he had a child out of wedlock, continuing a cycle of absentee fatherhood into a new generation.

Eventually, Turner came to faith in Christ, got married and had additional children. For his first 25 years of pastoral ministry, he counseled couples to live out Christian principles in their marriage, but he struggled to bring the satisfaction he felt should have come from his own marriage and family. Turner returned to school for his doctorate with an emphasis on family and marriage, in part, to get answers to the pain in his own family.  

As he researched the broader history of African Americans for his dissertation, Turner became interested in his lineage, tracing his family back to Warren and Elvira Turner, both born into slavery. Warren had conceived a son with another woman before gaining his freedom in 1865. Even after gaining his freedom and marrying Elvira, Warren fathered another child out of wedlock.

Later generations of men in the Turner family continued this pattern of risk factors, including cohabitation and out-of-wedlock births. 

Turner notes that during slavery 89 percent of African Americans cohabited because they were forced to do so. 

“I believe these risk factors were handed down to us through the generations of time,” said Turner, who serves as the senior pastor of Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church in Mesquite. “The Bible tells us that the sins of the father would be handed down to the third and fourth generations. A lot of time we don’t take into account how what our parents went through impacts our lives. … Many of the risk factors present in my life were also present in my great-grandfather’s life.”

To turn around what Turner calls a crisis in American families, he urges all Americans to understand African-American history—both the broader history of slavery and racism and the individual stories within families. 

“I think the big problem is a lack of knowledge,” Turner said. “That’s what my book is all about, trying to promote an awareness and knowledge of our history. African-American history has been basically written out. A lot of people don’t take into account where we are today in our country as far as race relations and the problems our families have. The family is the first institution God created. It is the basis of all of society. When the family structure is messed up and diluted, you’ll find that society is messed up.”

Turner says while slavery impacted African-American families by taking fathers and husbands out of the home, it impacted Anglo families by passing on racism and prejudice through later generations. 

Turner believes churches have a role to play in teaching African-American history since most won’t learn it elsewhere.

He says it’s important for churches to teach the Christian principle of love—and be clear about their opposition to hate. But love isn’t just something for Caucasians to better understand; African Americans need to get it, too. 

“You have to fight hatred with love, which is the premise of my book,” Turner said. “Many African Americans look at American history and see how evil it was toward us and how enslavement was so difficult on our ancestors, and they want to rise up and take vengeance. My book is designed to show how the power of love brought our ancestors through all of that pain—and it will also bring us through it, too.”

Turner notes that his book is full of biblical passages. He says the Bible speaks directly to what ails families, whether African-American or otherwise. 

“The Bible addresses every issue we deal with,” Turner said. “Preachers today don’t preach against sin like we used to. The greatest tool we have to change society is when a preacher stands up and preaches against the sins in society.”

Turner believes there is hope for struggling families as churches begin to directly address some of the risk factors that are not only present in African-American families but are rising across the board. Those risk factors include out-of-wedlock births, cohabitation and abandonment by fathers. 

“I believe it can be turned around, but we have to know where we came from,” Turner said. “I encourage everyone to study their history. It was beneficial to me and has helped me to become a better father, a better husband, as I learned what my ancestors went through.”