
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-01/28/2015

DISCLAIMER: Baptist Press should be credited for any reprinted stories that originate with BP.
Suggested credit line: Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. 

Please note that Baptist Press periodically carries stories from other sources by permission. Individuals interested in reprinting non-BP stories should contact the entity where the story originated to seek reprint permission.


--------------------------------------------------------------------

Korean churches see Cooperative Program's value
by Karen L. Willoughby
Date: January 28, 2015 - Wednesday

TORRANCE, Calif. (BP) -- The more time Paul Kim spent with his fellow Southern Baptist pastors, the more he saw the discrepancy between the way they did missions and the way he led Good Community Church to do missions. The California church doubled in size after he refocused his congregation to join together with other Southern Baptist churches for cooperative missions.

Good Community Church was organized in 1991. By 2007, it had grown to 500 people participating in Sunday morning worship in the city of Torrance.

They were making token acknowledgement of their tie to Southern Baptists by giving $100 a month to missions through the Cooperative Program. Missions was important then as now, but most of Good Community Church's missions offerings went to independent missionaries in Korea, South America, the Middle East and elsewhere.

But as Kim's relationships grew with other pastors and leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention, he became aware that the church didn't have a good accountability and financial integrity system for all their missions support.

Kim came to realize the SBC provided the accountability, financial integrity, missions zeal and doctrinal purity the church wanted to be part of, and he directed the church to work with the SBC's International Mission Board and North American Mission Board as they looked for missions opportunities.

By 2013, more than 1,000 people were participating in one of five Sunday morning worship services at Good Community -- not counting the Hispanic and Japanese congregations that use the building rent-free -- and they gave $30,000 to missions through the Cooperative Program, 5 percent of their operating budget.

"Our church focuses on two things: worship and prayer," said David Yoon, English ministry pastor at Good Community. "Early-morning prayer really sets the tone for what the missions and vision of the church is.

"Families who join the church really want to come on board and share in that vision," Yoon continued. "In the last five years, that message has really penetrated these families, and they are giving that vision to their children."

It's a vision with longstanding appeal. Koreans are known for their commitment to prayer and to fulfilling the Great Commission by going out or by sending others as missionaries. Their ethnic fellowship group -- Korean Council of Southern Baptist Churches in America -- is focused toward helping them do that.

And through the Cooperative Program, they are part of supporting 4,800 missionaries through the International Mission Board and a similar number through the North American Mission Board.

"I believe in the power of collaboration," said Man Poong "Dennis" Kim, pastor of Global Mission Church of Greater Washington in Silver Spring, Md., where about 1,600 people participate in Sunday morning worship. "That is the reason I have always led the Global Mission Church to be faithful in its participation in the Cooperative Program."

Like Paul Kim of Good Community Church, Man Poong "Dennis" Kim (no relation), former president of the Korean Council and a nominee for SBC president in 2014, became more interested in the Cooperative Program as he saw its effectiveness. "With a steadfast commitment to world missions, our church is training and sending more than 10 short-term mission teams every year, and it has produced more than 50 career missionaries working for the IMB."

Byungh Choi, pastor of Zion Korean Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., was born into a Southern Baptist family in Korea and graduated from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He started Zion Korean in 2008 -- today about 120 people participate in Sunday morning worship, increasing their Cooperative Program support as their numbers grow.

"First of all, our church was started with Cooperative Program support," Choi said. Southern Baptists also aided him in theological education through New Orleans Seminary. "I received a great amount of gift from Southern Baptist churches so our church must give back to Southern Baptists," the pastor said.

"The purpose of Southern Baptists is not only &#91;helping&#93; one church, but all lost people," Choi continued. "That is why we continue to be a part of the Cooperative Program."

In Alabama, Chun-Ho Choi is pastor of Huntsville Baptist Church, a Korean congregation where about 100 people worship on Sundays, followed in typical Korean style with a traditional Korean meal.

Despite the size of the church, they gave nearly $1,500 last year to missions through the Cooperative Program, which was a sizable increase over the previous year.

The pastor credited the congregation, saying, "All church members get together and decide &#91;the budget&#93;. Cooperative Program is missions. It helps fulfill Great Commission."

A graduate of a Baptist seminary in his native South Korea, Choi said, "I like Southern Baptist theology. I like the Southern Baptist focus on the Bible."

Yong Kyu Cho, pastor for 16 years of First Korean Baptist Church in Radcliff, Ky., where about 80 participate in Sunday worship, said he led the church to support the Cooperative Program because he trusts it.

"Southern Baptists are missionary-oriented people," Cho said. "We believe the offering will be utilized for missionary work, IMB and NAMB.... I am always grateful to serve God and country and Southern Baptists."

Southern Baptists work together and as a result get much more done than could be done without cooperation, said David Gill, founding pastor of Concord Korean Baptist Church in Martinez, Calif., where 650 people gather Sundays for worship.

"I am a Christian by conviction but a Southern Baptist by choice," said Gill, a former second vice president of the SBC who was led to the Lord by a missionary in Korea when he was 16.

"I am a product of the Cooperative Program because I went to Golden Gate &#91;Baptist Theological Seminary&#93;, which is supported by the Cooperative Program, and we planted a church in the San Francisco area with the help of the Cooperative Program," Gill said. "I am more grateful to the Cooperative Program because seven units went out as IMB missionaries from my church. All that is only possible through the Cooperative Program and cooperative efforts."


--------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite Boko Haram, Gospel impacts Nigeria
by Staff
Date: January 28, 2015 - Wednesday

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (BP) –- As Boko Haram militants continue to attack Nigeria and threaten neighboring countries, Christian workers there say the Gospel is going forth and impacting receptive hearts.

Greg Dorsey*, a Christian worker in West Africa, said Nigerian Christians are effectively engaging many areas of the country.

"The northeastern corner of Nigeria where Boko Haram has wielded most of its activities remains a difficult area for believers to freely worship and share their faith," Dorsey said. "However, God has raised up believers who have remained steadfast and bold in the midst of applied pressures to silence them."

Another Christian worker told of hearing the testimonies of believers from troubled areas of northern Nigeria at a recent meeting. "Each one that shared was brought to the Lord by a brother or other close relative. Earlier this year, some of these same men were imprisoned. While we prayed for their release, they were sharing their faith and welcoming new brothers into the Christ-life."

One man exhibited amazing joy in Christ even as he showed scars from his imprisonment and torture. The day after the man shared his story, he received a phone call that his house had been burned and his family scattered.

In what is described as Boko Haram's deadliest attack to date, hundreds of gunmen invaded the town of Baga and 16 surrounding villages in Borno state on Jan. 3 and continued to slaughter residents and burn homes throughout the following week, killing an estimated 2,000 people.

Yet, Nigerians continue to seek peace in the midst of the country's struggles, according to Christian workers.

One worker shared the story of a religious leader who said, "I've searched the Quran for peace, and every time Jesus is mentioned. Can you tell me about Him?"

After hearing stories of Jesus, the man repented, prayed for salvation and was later baptized.

Amid the persecution, believers are reminded that even their persecutors can experience the power of the Gospel.

"Remember that the apostle Paul was once a religious terrorist until he met Jesus on the Damascus Road. Ask God to open the eyes of those who are blinded by the deceiver and bring them to Christ that they too might become great evangelists," one Christian leader said.

Boko Haram, seeking to establish Sharia law, has killed thousands of Christians, moderate Muslims, government officials and civilians in attacks targeting religious communities in northern Nigeria since 2012, according to news reports, with the death toll calculated between 10,000 and 12,000. An estimated 1.5 million Nigerians have been forced to flee their homes, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs as of September 2014.

Boko Haram intensified attacks in Nigeria after Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in northeastern Nigeria in May 2013 and has become more indiscriminate in attacks that originally targeted Christians.

Christians around the world are urged to pray that believers will share eagerly with fellow Nigerians the truth of God's peace and love; that persecuted Christians will have courage and strength in spite of losing homes, belongings and even family members; that believers will remember Jesus' promise that He has overcome the world and find His peace that passes all understanding; for followers of Jesus to have boldness from the Holy Spirit to share "the hope that lies within."

*Name changed. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

FIRST-PERSON: John R. Sampey & Christ-centered Bible study
by Trevin Wax
Date: January 28, 2015 - Wednesday

NASHVILLE (BP) -- I confess to being a bit of a Baptist history nerd. In my office are pictures of two Southern Baptist heroes -- John A. Broadus and E.Y. Mullins. I admire Broadus for his example of Christ-centered preaching and Mullins for his denominational statesmanship and advocacy of religious liberty in Romania, where I was involved in missions for several years.

I may soon be placing another picture on my desk, that of John R. Sampey (1863-1946).

The past few weeks, I've been reading a print-on-demand copy of his memoirs, written in the twilight of his long life after having served as a professor of Old Testament for nearly 60 years, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary during the worst of the Great Depression (1929-42) and president of the SBC from 1936-38.

Sampey's autobiography is full of activity that displays his passion for evangelism, scholarship and missionary work, particularly in Brazil. But what strikes me about his memoirs is how often he talks about the church's ongoing discipleship ministry, particularly through Sunday School.

Sampey was a brilliant Old Testament theologian, but he didn't simply busy himself with discussions and debates in the ivory towers of academia. In his book, we find him traveling frequently to Nashville to meet with workers at the Sunday School Board (now LifeWay Christian Resources). We see him serving on the International Sunday School Lesson Committee, recommending study plans and Bible passages. This was a scholar who knew the conversations in Sunday School every week are just as formative and important as the debates in academic halls or the sermons from a pastor's pulpit. 

In 1914, some were complaining that the lessons lacked a "redemptive" focus. So, Sampey recommended a study plan for taking participants through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. They formed a six-year plan through the Bible, followed by a briefer overview of both Testaments in two years. World War I put the plans on hold, but Sampey wouldn't be deterred. The new plan launched in 1918.

Looking back over his decades of service to Sunday School planning, Sampey reflected on the trends and changes in developing and using curriculum. But through it all, there was one principle that guided him -- he wanted people to see how the whole Bible points to Christ. 

Sampey wrote: "When the advocates insisted that the lessons be pupil-centered, I countered by insisting that the lessons should be Christ-centered. I sought to make Jesus Christ the center of each cycle.... For 46 years I sought to exalt the redemptive element of the Bible. And how many noble men of the Lesson Committee joined me putting Christ Jesus and His salvation in the center of our lesson system!"

Christ Jesus and His salvation at the center! That should be the heart's cry of every teacher, small group leader and facilitator who opens God's Word to communicate God's truth. 

Even today, 100 years later, we are told we should be "pupil-centered" if we are to reach people in our congregations. But "Me-centeredness" isn't a solution; it's part of the problem. The way we realize the world doesn't revolve around us is by seeing how it revolves around Jesus -- the One from whom, and to whom, and for whom are all things.

Every generation needs to be reminded of redemption. John Sampey was ringing this bell a century ago. W.A. Criswell preached the "Scarlet Thread" through the Scriptures a generation later. And today, LifeWay continues this mission of showing how, in the words of the Baptist Faith and Message, "all Scripture is a testimony to Jesus Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation." 

As managing editor of The Gospel Project, I have the privilege of working with a team who wants to make sure Christ is at the center of every study cycle and every session. As we get ready to embark on a three-year journey through the Bible's story of redemption, I can't help but feel a sense of a gratitude for men like John R. Sampey and their vision of Christ-centered Bible study. 

After all, we never stop needing to be reminded and refreshed of the redemption God has given us in His Son. May the Spirit of God empower us to spread the news of His great salvation to all people everywhere.


--------------------------------------------------------------------

Crime scenes provide ministry opportunity
by Marilyn Stewart
Date: January 28, 2015 - Wednesday

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- Gun violence in New Orleans' quiet Gentilly neighborhood once was rare, but after four shootings rocked Gentilly Baptist Church in a year's time, pastor Ken Taylor decided something had to change.

That "something" turned out to be him; he began visiting crime scenes to care for hurting people, even scenes marked by the faint imprint of Voodoo.

Taylor's commitment came in the wake of a church family grieving the loss of two teenage sons whose deaths occurred mere months apart and after a nearby double-murder took place while one victim's brother played basketball in the church gym. And a man was shot in front of the church as he left the Sunday worship service to go home.

"The shootings certainly brought home to us what we knew the city has been facing for a long time," Taylor said. "It personalized it for us more."

As crime reports came in, Taylor, a New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary professor of missions, found himself most often in the nearby 7th Ward where locals often delineate between the "lake side" of St. Claiborne Avenue, a main artery bisecting the region, and the more troubled "river side" where violence is more prominent. 

Good has come from Taylor's visiting crime scenes as one man began attending church and is now considering a call to ministry. And in the pulpit, Taylor said he feels a greater sense of urgency and knows he's speaking to many "who live on the cusp of life or death."

Though quiet has mostly returned to Gentilly, the need remains. Last fall, Taylor was called to a home he knew well to see yet again the all-too-familiar sight of the grandmother mopping up blood on the porch.

In that shooting, one woman told Taylor she thought she knew the perpetrator but was too afraid to tell. The woman believed the shooter to be the man who had murdered her own son.

"People are scared," Taylor said.

Burdened for the city and for a way to help students connect to its need, Taylor decided to take his Urban Missions class out to prayerwalk in the troubled 7th Ward after a quadruple shooting left one man dead and three injured, including a one-year-old girl.

When Taylor and his class of seven students pulled up, they saw a makeshift memorial of teddy bears and flowers marking the house where the shootings had taken place three days earlier.

While the students walked the neighborhood in prayer, Taylor stayed at the scene and talked to family members.

One NOBTS student, Sarah Clawson, talked to several neighbors, including a group of men outside a neighborhood convenience store who were disturbed by the murder and "the baby who was shot."

The neighbors want real change, Clawson said. "With the exception of only one person, all asked for prayer for their community."

At the scene, the victim's sister, the last surviving member of her immediate family, grieved publicly but eventually allowed Taylor to pray with her.

While there, Taylor said he was caught up in an emotionally-charged altercation involving the victim's aunt and a neighbor that ended as police led the neighbor away in handcuffs. The police had arrived to monitor a Second Line -- typically a march where participants dance as they follow a brass band -- that was pre-arranged in the victim's honor.

Instead, the band played and participants danced in front of the crime scene as the victim's aunt poured pieces of candy over the memorial and another woman poured beer, a ritual that hints of Voodoo and paying homage to deceased loved ones, Taylor said.

Clawson said the non-traditional Second Line began with people having a good time, then switched to loud waling and weeping.

"There was a feeling of hopelessness," she said. "This was all they had left of him."

Taylor pointed to the pervasive influence in the community of the little-publicized Spiritualist Church of New Orleans, a group that researcher and author Claude F. Jacobs has described as a syncretistic mix of Catholic and Protestant orthodoxy, Pentecostalism, Voodoo and spiritualism.

"We were speechless," Taylor said. "I could not have arranged a more fitting setting for urban missions. It was quintessential New Orleans."

Another student, Bryan Coble, said the experience in the 7th Ward confirmed his sense of call to urban missions and has emboldened him to share the Gospel.

"Dr. Taylor genuinely cares for his students," Coble said. "He wants us to see the real New Orleans and experience what it will take to heal the brokenness of the city."

Finding ways to address violence is a continuing process, Taylor said, noting that the church needs to be at the heart of the solution.

"While there is a lot of bleakness and fear, I see God working in individual lives," Taylor said. "It is through Jesus Christ that lives are changed, and 
it's only through changed lives that we can deal with this."


--------------------------------------------------------------------

Mormons on LGBT rights called naive, unhelpful
by Tom Strode
Date: January 28, 2015 - Wednesday

WASHINGTON (BP) -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will support civil rights for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people if religious freedom protections also are ensured, its leaders announced Tuesday (Jan. 27).

Southern Baptist leaders, however, said the Mormons' approach to the conflict between sexual rights and religious liberty is naive and unhelpful, as well as unacceptable to proponents of LGBT rights.

In a Salt Lake City news conference, Mormon leaders described their stance as "fairness for all" -- or a "balanced approach between religious and gay rights" that endorses protections in housing, employment and public transportation for LGBT people and, at the same time, safeguards the rights of religious institutions and people.

The Mormons' newly announced support for LGBT rights legislation throughout the country followed its endorsement of a similar Salt Lake City ordinance in 2009. Mormon leaders said they were able to support the city measure because it adequately protected religious freedom.

This approach does not represent a change in doctrine but a desire "to encourage mutually respectful dialogue in what has become a highly polarized national debate," Mormon leaders said. They included no mention of same-sex marriage in their comments, an apparent indication the Latter-day Saints will maintain their view of marriage as only between a man and a woman.

"I think the Latter-day Saints are well-intentioned but naive on where the reality stands today," said Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. "I do not think, in most instances, sexual orientation ought to matter in housing or employment, but of course the proposals to address these concerns inevitably lead to targeted assaults on religious liberty."

As he thought, the Mormons' announcement of a revised position "was greeted with hostility from gay rights organizations and disappointment from social conservatives," Moore said. 

R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said on his Wednesday (Jan. 28) podcast, "&#91;A&#93;lmost anyone who understands the scope and scale of today's moral revolution will understand why such a proposal might be made. But if you're looking at the landscape of America today, this appears to be a proposal that comes rather too late to be genuinely helpful. And perhaps the response to the proposal yesterday helps to make that point more than anything else."

Mohler said, "&#91;A&#93;lmost immediately, it was clear that the leadership of the LGBT movement isn't going to buy this kind of bargain."

"&#91;W&#93;hat we're looking at," Mohler said, "is the LDS church basically asking for what almost anyone in the gay-rights movement would have been ready to grant as recently as two to three years ago -- certainly five to 10 years ago.

"What we are now witnessing is a radical acceleration of the movement to redefine religious liberty so that &#91;it&#93; means almost nothing," Mohler said, according to a transcript of the podcast.

Reaction demonstrated how unacceptable the religious freedom protections called for by the Mormons are to LGBT advocacy groups. 

"The so-called religious exemption is the size of five Mack trucks. It entirely neuters their proposal," said Fred Sainz, vice president of communications and marketing at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), according to The Washington Post. HRC is the country's leading LGBT organization.

The Mormons are "demanding broad and unnecessary religious exemptions that hurt LGBT people and families," said Sarah Kate Ellis, president of GLAAD (formerly the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), in a written statement. "The 'compromise' is that the Mormon Church will support non-discrimination only if it won't have to follow laws that require equal treatment of LGBT people. This is not a 'compromise,' it's a compromising of fairness and basic respect for LGBT people."

The Mormons' announcement came as cities, and even smaller municipalities, increasingly are enacting ordinances expanding anti-discrimination protections to LGBT people in employment, housing and public accommodation, which covers hotels, restaurants and other businesses. The city councils of Houston and Plano, Texas, are among those that approved LGBT ordinances in 2014. At one point, the Houston government even subpoenaed the sermons of pastors who opposed the ordinance as part of a lawsuit before backing down. 

Some Southern Baptists and other Christians who ascribe to a biblical sexual ethic have opposed the laws, contending they often infringe upon freedom of religion and conscience for individuals, churches and businesses. 

In a written statement, Moore said, "As Southern Baptists, we believe gay and lesbian persons are created in the image of God and ought to be respected. We also believe that any sexual expression outside of marriage between one man and one woman is morally wrong. And we believe that freedom of conscience for those of us who dissent from the Sexual Revolution ought to be maintained."

Mormons have been strong allies with evangelical Christians and other social conservatives on such issues as marriage and religious freedom. Both Moore and Mohler have met with Mormon leaders on these matters. 

Mohler has spoken at Brigham Young University -- a Mormon school in Provo, Utah -- on two occasions, making clear both times "there is a great theological chasm between biblical Christianity and the LDS church," he said on his podcast. "As I said in both of those lectures, I don't believe we are going to heaven together, but I do believe we're at risk of going to jail together. It's that second concern in some sense that drove the announcement coming from the LDS church yesterday."

The Mormons' announcement could be an attempt to aid Mitt Romney in a 2016 presidential campaign, said R. Philip Roberts, former director of the North American Mission Board's interfaith witness department. Romney lost as the Republican nominee for the White House in 2012 and has sent signals he may run again.

Citing sources he is familiar with, Roberts said the Mormon approach could be intended "to defuse the center and some of the left against criticizing him for his moral views and soften his approach and increase his appeal to those elements in the political spectrum. ... &#91;T&#93;here's no other reason for them to be doing this at this point in time, unless it is to help Romney."

Roberts is director for international theological education with Global Ministries Foundation in suburban Memphis.

Though he questions the Latter-day Saints' approach, Moore said he looks forward "to working with Mormons and others on protecting religious liberty for everyone in the years ahead."

In the Jan. 27 news conference, Jeffrey Holland cited several examples of the kinds of institutional and individual religious rights for which Mormons are seeking protection. Among these were the freedom of churches and other religious groups to teach, express their views publicly, choose their leaders, hire employees and use their property according to their beliefs. Individuals should have the right to live out their religious convictions, he said. For instance, a Mormon doctor should have the right to refuse to conduct an abortion or perform artificial insemination for a lesbian couple and a Catholic pharmacist should not be coerced into providing the "morning-after" pill, said Holland, one of three members of the governing Twelve Apostles who spoke alongside a female leader to reporters.

While Mormons are known for their pro-family and socially conservative views, their beliefs contradict Christian teaching on such doctrines as the person and work of God the Son, salvation and the sufficiency and authority of the Bible.

The spread of same-sex marriage also has imperiled the religious liberty of Christians and others with conscientious objections. Florists, photographers, bakers and others who provide services for weddings have been especially vulnerable to efforts to force them to contradict their beliefs.

Gay marriage is now legal in 36 states –- nearly tripling the 13 states where it was legal just 18 months ago –- and the District of Columbia. The U.S. Supreme Court announced Jan. 16 it would review a lower-court decision on same-sex marriage, signaling it likely will determine by late June whether states can define marriage as only between a man and a woman.


--------------------------------------------------------------------

ABS to move headquarters to Philadelphia
by Staff
Date: January 28, 2015 - Wednesday

PHILADELPHIA (BP) -- After nearly 200 years in New York City, the American Bible Society has announced a relocation of its headquarters to Philadelphia.

Though the ministry will "maintain a presence" in New York, it will open a 10,000-square-foot office in Philadelphia's historic district this summer, according to an ABS news release.

"For 20 decades, American Bible Society has worked to make the Bible available where needed most so that all may experience its life-changing message," ABS President and CEO Roy Peterson said. "As we work toward the goal of having 100 million Americans engaging with God's Word and 100 percent of the world's languages open for Bible engagement, our new Philadelphia headquarters will become the launching pad for Bible ministry in the U.S. and around the world."

ABS works to distribute Scripture across the world and equip Bible translators, according to the organization's website.

ABS leaders selected Philadelphia as the site of their new headquarters because of "strategic collaboration opportunities, affordability and livability" among other considerations, the news release said.

In addition to ministry offices, the new ABS facility may include a Bible Discovery Center, a rare Scriptures depository and a scholarly working library.

"We are thrilled that we will be starting a third century of service headquartered here in Philadelphia," Peterson said. "Home to America's first hopes as a new nation, Philadelphia is now home to a very bright future for American Bible Society."

In recent years, ABS has experienced some upheaval, with Peterson taking over as president last February following the firing of Douglas Birdsall after just six months on the job. Prior to his service at ABS, Birdsall served as executive chairman of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization and organized the Lausanne Movement's 2010 congress in Cape Town, South Africa. At the time of Birdsall's firing, WORLD News Service reported that ABS had operated for at least two years with budget deficits.

ABS's history includes a long relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention. During the 20th century, some Southern Baptist churches sent money to the SBC Executive Committee designated for ABS, and the EC forwarded the funds. Through 1998, ABS reported to messengers at each SBC annual meeting. However, ABS reports were discontinued when the annual meeting was shortened from three days to two. Among the reasons for eliminating the reports was to provide more focus on giving through the Cooperative Program.

Between 1846 and 1991, the SBC adopted 48 resolutions affirming ABS's ministry.



