The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-02/22/2016 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FLOYD: Prepare now for SBC's 2016 annual meeting by Ronnie Floyd Date: February 22, 2016 - Monday Ronnie Floyd is president of the Southern Baptist Convention and senior pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas. SPRINGDALE, Ark. (BP) -- Significant actions are taking place right now for our 2016 Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis. Permit me to list 10 things in a briefing today about our June 14-15 gathering of the Southern Baptist family. 1. Online registration opens today Online registration opened today at 8 a.m. CST for the 2016 Southern Baptist Convention. You can begin registering messengers from your church at SBCAnnualMeeting.net. This website also answers all your questions about becoming a messenger to the Southern Baptist Convention. 2. Anyone can attend the 2016 Southern Baptist Convention While our convention does have elected messengers from our churches, anyone can attend a Southern Baptist Convention gathering. You can come and attend everything, even if you are not a messenger. Please join us even if your church has its messenger capacity filled. 3. Crossover St. Louis needs you and your church's assistance The week before the Southern Baptist Convention, but especially on Saturday, June 11, our convention has many people volunteer, making an investment in personal ministry throughout metro St. Louis, on both sides of the river. Please go here to find out more about Crossover 2016. Please pray for Jim Breeden and his team from the St. Louis Metro Baptist Association who are making this a fantastic experience. This association encompasses 150 cooperating churches in a region of 2.7 million people. We have a need for 2,500 volunteers to come and help these churches in 75 different projects. Contact them today. 4. Final decisions are being made We are making final decisions now in regard to our convention program. While we have much already completed, there are so many more decisions that must be made. Please pray for us. 5. Committee on Resolutions is almost completed Within the next several weeks, I will release names of the 10 persons who will serve on our 2016 Committee on Resolutions. This is a very important committee. There are many pieces that complete this puzzle, bylaws to follow, and many matters to take into consideration. I can announce to you today that Stephen Rummage will serve as chairman of our Committee on Resolutions. Dr. Rummage is the senior pastor of Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon, Fla. He is also an officer on the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. Please begin to pray for Dr. Rummage. 6. Committee on Committees is being recruited now Additionally, within the next several weeks, I will release a list of the 68 members of our 2016 Committee on Committees. There are many bylaw restrictions that are part of appointing this significant committee. It is a long process from initial work to final completion. I can announce to you today that Willy Rice will serve as chairman of our Committee on Committees. Dr. Rice is the senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Fla., and served last year as president of the 2015 Pastors' Conference of the Southern Baptist Convention. 7. 2016 Pastors' Conference of the Southern Baptist Convention John Meador is serving as the President of our 2016 Pastors' Conference this year. Dr. Meador is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Euless, Texas. Please plan to join thousands of us in this pre-SBC conference that begins on Sunday night, June 12, and goes through Monday night, June 13. Please go to www.sbcpc.net to learn more. 8. Tonight I am speaking to the SBC Executive Committee and leadership Tonight I will speak to the SBC Executive Committee and the SBC leadership meeting in Nashville. Please pray for me. Also pray for Dr. Frank Page and the entire Executive Committee during all their meetings on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 22-23. 9. A strategic time with leaders from across our Southern Baptist family On Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, Feb. 23-24, I have called a strategic meeting with leaders from across our Southern Baptist Convention. I have invited all state convention executives, state convention presidents, SBC entity leaders and a group of pastors to join Dr. Frank Page and me in Nashville for this strategic time together. This is an unprecedented gathering in our modern history, as these groups are rarely together except for our annual convention, and do not typically meet together in a strategic sense. Please pray for us. We are all partners in the Gospel and need to be together to chart our future. While schedules prohibit some from coming, approximately 90 of us will be meeting together. 10. #SBC16 Most of us use social media in some form or another. When you mention our 2016 annual meeting in St. Louis on social media, remember to use the hashtag #SBC16. We will all benefit from sharing with one another in this way. Finally, these are great days to be part of our Southern Baptist Convention. Please pray for these days leading up to and through our 2016 Southern Baptist Convention on June 14-15. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Can police protect citizens amid a 'chill wind'? by Art Toalston Date: February 22, 2016 - Monday NASHVILLE (BP) -- FBI Director James Comey has warned of a "chill wind" undercutting law enforcement officers in America. If data begins to confirm Comey's warning of police officers' wariness to get out of their cars amid jeering and cellphone videos, the chill wind also would undercut America's governance. "The most visible form of government is the law enforcement officer," said Patrick Oliver, director of the criminal justice program at Cedarville University, a Baptist college in Ohio. "The primary purpose of every American law enforcement officer is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States," with its Bill of Rights "to protect the rights given by God to man," Oliver said in written comments to Baptist Press. "The law enforcement officer's job has more authority than any other job in our society, with a range of discretion from a verbal warning to deadly force -- all that may be legal under the law," Oliver said. "That amount of authority," he noted, "must be guided by high moral character, objectivity and humility." Thor Madsen, professor of New Testament, ethics and philosophy at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo., likewise underscored law enforcement's role "to ensure that the God-given rights of each citizen are protected, both proactively and reactively, so that we all remain free to do what pleases Him." "Actions really do have consequences, given the realities of human nature," Madsen told Baptist Press in written comments. "Thus, for example, if private citizens give the police reasons not to enforce the law intensively, the police will be tempted to stand down. "If they elect representatives who tolerate drug trafficking, drug trafficking will increase. If our legal system does not deter violence, we will get more of it," Madsen said. "Our nation does not need more data to establish these cause-and-effect outcomes. We've known about them for decades, in keeping with straightforward common sense." It is too early to tell whether America is on a trajectory for crime to soar after more than a year of protests and violence in some communities in what has been called "the Ferguson effect" stemming from the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and a number of other young black men in confrontations with police. An 11 percent uptick in the national murder rate has been projected in a preliminary 2015 analysis by the New York University School of Law's Brennan Center for Justice. Fourteen major cities experienced increases while 11 had decreases, according to the analysis. The overall crime rate (encompassing such felonies as robbery and assault), meanwhile, is projected to drop by 1.5 percent. According to local media reports, Baltimore's 2015 per capita murder rate was the highest in the city's history; St. Louis recorded the highest number of murders in two decades and Nashville's was the highest since 2009; Chicago's murder rate rose 12.5 percent. The 339 murders in New York City as of Dec. 25, however, was only a small increase from the previous year's historic low of 333. FBI Director Comey, in a widely reported address to the International Association of Chiefs of Police last October in Chicago, discussed various reasons for an apparent rise in crime in 2015, adding his theory that "maybe something has changed in policing." Comey pondered such questions as: "In today's YouTube world, are officers reluctant to get out of their cars and do the work that controls violent crime? Are officers answering 911 calls but avoiding the informal contact that keeps bad guys with guns from standing around?" Officers in one big city precinct, as Comey put it, told of "being surrounded by young people with mobile phones, video cameras rolling, as they step out of the cars, taunting them, asking them what they want and why they're there. They described a feeling of being under siege and were honest and said, 'We don't feel much like getting out of [our] cars.' I have been told about a senior police leader who told his force, 'Our political leadership has zero tolerance for you all being connected to another viral video.'" This "chill wind," Comey acknowledged, can have a positive effect as officers "learn more about de-escalation and better use of force." Assessing the potential rise in violence and how to address it, he also said, is hampered by data inconsistencies across the country on crime trends and patterns as well as officer-involved shootings. Prayer & ministry Arkansas pastor Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, told Baptist Press, "It is disturbing to read how violent crime is up across the nation in some of our major cities.... While problems exist in many areas, there is no greater need than to see the next Great Awakening in the United States." Philadelphia pastor K. Marshall Williams, president of the National African American Fellowship in the SBC, said in the days after the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014, "This is a sin-sick, self-centered secular society in which we live" afflicted with "greed, hatred, racism, classism and injustice.... We need passionate prayer, spiritual renewal and revival in our land." Williams urged Christians "to unify by the power of the Holy Ghost and exemplify radical obedience to the Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) which is to love God -- and inextricably linked up in loving God is loving your brother." Churches considering outreach to law enforcement officers as one of their community ministries must be aware of the culture, said Dan Crumley, who leads the Atlanta-area Courageous Servant Ministries for carrying the Gospel to those with a badge. Pride runs high, said Crumley, who was an officer in several Atlanta-area jurisdictions for 18 years. "They must adopt a mindset at the beginning of their work to consider themselves bigger, tougher, faster -- whatever the adjective -- so they can overcome and defeat their opponent," Crumley said. "They have the authority, for the most part, to have people do whatever they tell them to do. This alone causes them to think much more highly of themselves than many others do. "Almost every time, this persona carries over into their personal lives as well," he added. Additionally, they are wary of the public, Crumley said. "Consider the fact they are lied to every day, a large portion of the media coverage is tainted against them, and society tends to look for their faults instead of their highlights.... As a result, an 'us or them' mentality results," he said. "The job often insulates officers from anyone else but other cops." One key to reaching police for Christ, Crumley said, is "breaking through the false armor," often with "a confrontation of their sinful lives in comparison to a holy God." Crumley encourages churches to be proactive, "with the understanding that instead of asking [officers] to come to them, the church goes to them." He has helped churches take a meal to a precinct with several members there to serve the food. "This type of outreach lets the officers know that nothing is expected of them; the church is only there to show the love of Christ," he said. Individual church members can participate in a citizens police academy if one is offered in their community. "They are usually eight to 10 weeks long where ordinary citizens get an opportunity to learn all aspects of police work, ride with officers on their shift, and get to know the individual, instead of the badge. These are excellent opportunities for Christians to share the Gospel." Among Christians who work in law enforcement, Michael Lawson, director of campus security at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, said, "Police officers only see society at its worst, and so it is hard at times to maintain 'love for your neighbor' when you may not trust your neighbor." Yet opportunities for witness are abundant, said Lawson, who also is an auxiliary police officer, SWAT team member and chaplain in Wake Forest, N.C., near Raleigh. "I have been able to speak truth into situations in which a pastor would never be involved." Lawson said. "I don't necessarily tell them that the truth I am speaking is biblical, but if asked, I certainly can. You are constantly dealing with issues of sin and its consequences, so to be able to speak biblical truth into those situations is a great blessing." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Seminary prof now a police academy graduate by Sharayah Colter Date: February 22, 2016 - Monday FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- For counseling professor John Babler, intertwining ministry as a fire department chaplain with academic training has been a natural part of life and work. Now, he also is a police academy graduate. Babler, a Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary faculty member, attended the North Central Texas Council of Governments Regional Police Academy during 22 weeks of a sabbatical last year. Upon graduation, he became a reserve police officer for the Fort Worth-area Forest Hill Police Department. Babler already serves as chaplain for the community's police and fire departments and will continue in his roles as professor at the seminary and director of its Walsh Counseling Center; part-time minister of missions at Birchman Baptist Church in Fort Worth; and current vice president of the Texas Corps of Fire Chaplains. The goal of sabbatical leave from the seminary, Babler explained, is to expand a faculty member's ministry. Going through the academy as one of the cadets will make him more effective as a chaplain as he ministers to and encourages those working in law enforcement. "It provides a level of credibility," Babler said. "Obviously, as a seminary professor, my education and experience on the ministry side is there, and they don't question that. I've been accepted very well because of that. "Now, having been through the academy, I'll have a credibility where they can't say, 'Well, you really don't understand because you don't know what it's like,'" Babler said. "I don't know what everything's like," he acknowledged, "but I've been through the academy. I know a lot of what they've gone through. "To some degree, in some ways, it's somewhat incarnational in the fact that I'm there and one of them." The experience also strengthens his classroom teaching and writing in addition to improving his counseling roles and work as a Texas Line of Duty Death Task Force response director. Babler not only graduated from the academy with a deeper respect for law enforcement officers and civil servants, but he said the Lord also taught him humility and empathy. "It is a humbling experience to recognize the number of challenges that people, especially in law enforcement, face," Babler said. A few weeks into his time at the academy, Babler began a Bible study with cadets in his class. At least 12 of the 22 cadets came at least once, and three came regularly, with Babler trusting that the Lord was allowing him to impact those in his class while studying with them. Unlike previous sabbatical leaves Babler has taken, this time he opted to take half for his police academy quest and the other half to write a book about emergency services chaplaincy -- a task his academy experience will help to shape and fuel. "Part of my vision," he noted, "is to help churches and Christians and pastors develop a vision for chaplaincy as ministry." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Risen takes first place in new releases by Diana Chandler Date: February 22, 2016 - Monday NASHVILLE (BP) -- "Risen," a film that tells of Jesus' resurrection from the eyes of an unsaved soldier who participated in His crucifixion, opened in first place at the box office among new wide releases the weekend of Feb. 19–21, Box Office Mojo reported. The movie grossed an estimated $11.8 million, well ahead of its nearest competitor among new releases "The Witch," which took in $8.68 million. Among all films at theaters, Risen brought in $4.015 million to place second on opening night Feb. 19 behind the blockbuster "Deadpool," but over the entire weekend finished a distant third to the comic book fantasy, which raked in an estimated $55 million. Risen was also a crowd pleaser, garnering a CinemaScore of A- in ratings received from moviegoers on opening night, and is anticipated to remain in theatres through Easter, March 27. Movieguide gave the film four stars, its highest rating, but advised discretion for older children The PG-13 film is endorsed by leading Southern Baptists and others. "Risen is one of the most high quality, historically accurate, and spiritually provoking movies you will see," Frank S. Page, president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, said. "It will speak to audiences of every age. I encourage everyone to see this film." Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Ga., and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, called Risen "a must-see for pastors and their congregations." "Risen is intriguing in that we all wonder what the response of the religious establishment of Jesus' day would have been after His death and resurrection," Hunt told Baptist Press. "Risen being fiction simply imagines what might have been." Producer Mickey Liddell and director Kevin Reynolds said they worked to remain true enough to Scripture to please the faith community, but dramatic enough to entertain unbelievers. "We don't really want to tell anyone what they should believe," Reynolds said. "People can use this film as a vehicle to examine their own spirituality, or just enjoy the story purely from a cinematic standpoint." The lead character Clavius is a fictional Roman military officer but the film includes biblical characters including Jesus, the disciples, Mary Magdalene and Pontius Pilate. Movie promoters noted the movie strives to achieve historical accuracy. Risen drew an audience predominantly of 25-year-olds and above, but Josh Griffin, high school pastor at Saddleback Church and founder of DownloadYouthMinistry.com, recommends the film for teenagers as well as adults. Affirm Films, a division of Sony Pictures, has distributed top faith-based films including the Kendrick Brothers' "War Room" and "Courageous." Risen ministry resources include a church kit with customizable sermon outlines, outreach resources including postcards, door hangers and bulletin inserts, and a novel from Bethany House Publishers. More information is available at risen-movie.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Deadpool' & dangers of movie sex, profanity by David Roach Date: February 22, 2016 - Monday NASHVILLE (BP) -- A comic book-based film atop the box office has prompted Christian film critics to warn of spiritual dangers for viewers of movies with nudity, profanity and sexual content. A commentary on the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission's website cautioned there is "no margin to voice allegiance to Christ and then attempt to justify slipping into a theater to see a movie like 'Deadpool,'" an X-Men film released Feb. 12 whose protagonist has been described as "a foul-mouthed, murderous, ex-special forces soldier with super abilities." Movieguide, a family-focused movie screening website, rated Deadpool's content "abhorrent," noting "heavy" language, violence, sex and nudity. Still, the Marvel comic-based film has grossed more than a quarter billion dollars its first two weekends in theaters, according to Box Office Mojo. Pastor and author John Piper "dare[d] anyone to watch nudity [in a movie] and turn straight to God and give him thanks and enjoy Him more because of what you just experienced." A professor from the University of Mobile's Center for Performing Arts agreed with Piper and added there may be isolated instances in which highly limited profanity, violence or non-sexual nudity may be appropriate to portray "historical information." But even then he urged discretion for young viewers. Grant Castleberry, executive director of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, wrote in a commentary on ERLC.com that "watching Deadpool or other sexually explicit and crude films like it is not only morally wrong, but poses devastating moral consequences for men and women who see them." Watching films that objectify women on screen, Castleberry wrote, is antithetical to Scripture's teaching that men should "value all women as beautiful image-bearers of God." Pursuing God's Kingdom, he added, yields far more pleasure than any "illicit fantasy, power-play or exotic experience a Hollywood director could conceivably imagine." Castleberry, pastor of evangelism at Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, Ky., continued, "The church must decry Deadpool as the toxic danger that is it, and we also must present a more compelling vision -- a vision for the less-traveled path to the Kingdom of Christ. A vision of how men are to act. A vision for how they are to treat women. A vision for the beauty of sex in marriage. A vision of Christ Himself." Piper, in a commentary adapted from a 2014 podcast and published in response to Deadpool, presented seven questions believers should consider before viewing movies or television shows they know contain nudity. Among them: -- "When will I tear out my eye, if not now?" Viewing nude images, Piper said, often "causes a man, or woman, to sin with their minds and their desires, and often with their bodies. If Jesus told us to guard our hearts by gouging out our eyes to prevent lust, how much more would He say, 'Don't watch it!'" -- "Do I care about the souls of nudes?" Piper noted, "God calls women to adorn themselves in respectable apparel with modesty and self-control (1 Timothy 2:9). When we pursue or receive or embrace nudity in our entertainment, we are implicitly endorsing the sin of the women who sell themselves to this way and are, therefore, uncaring about their souls." -- "Would I be glad if my daughter played this role?" -- "Am I free from doubt?" Citing Romans 14:23, Piper said, "If you doubt, don't. That would alter the viewing habits of millions, and oh how sweetly they would sleep with their conscience." -- "Am I assuming nudity is necessary for good art?" "There is no great film or television series that needs nudity to add to its greatness," Piper said. "No. there isn't. There are creative ways to be true to reality without turning sex into a spectator's sport and without putting actors and actresses in morally compromised situations on the set." Bruce Earnest, associate dean of the Center for Performing Arts and School of Worship Leadership at the University of Mobile, told Baptist Press he agreed with Piper that viewing nudity in movies and television shows is harmful. It can lead to struggles with pornography, he added. Earnest also cautioned against viewing entertainment with profanity, stating, "If you're viewing something that has profanity, you need to figure out why that's interesting to you." Earnest noted that nudity may be acceptable in a small number of isolated cases where films seek to portray "historical information" such as the evils of a concentration camp where Jews and others were stripped of their clothes and executed. "Nudity that leads to sexuality or encourages sexuality" is never appropriate, he told BP. Similarly, film depictions of a character cursing "in the context of incredible despair" are "maybe" appropriate, Earnest noted. He said depictions of violence that seek to represent historical realities like war are "different than" gratuitous violence. In the end, Earnest said, entertainment choices must honor Christ. "Seek holiness as much as possible," Earnest said. "... There are things out there for us to watch. We just have to be picky or choosy." -------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Awaken America' registration opens for SBC St. Louis by Art Toalston Date: February 22, 2016 - Monday ST. LOUIS (BP) -- Registration for the SBC's "Awaken America: Reach the World" annual meeting, June 14-15 in St. Louis, has opened. Online registration for messengers and local hotels can be accessed at www.SBCAnnualMeeting.net. Through online messenger registration at the www.SBCAnnualMeeting.net tab, each messenger will receive an eight-digit registration code to present at the annual meeting's Express Registration lane in St. Louis, preferably as a printout for the church's credential. The code will be entered into a computer at the SBC registration area and a nametag will be printed. The appropriate church-authorized representative must complete all online registrations. The SBC constitution and bylaws were amended last year to broaden messenger representation. Each cooperating church that contributes to convention causes during the preceding fiscal year now automatically qualifies for two messengers; previous rules allowed for one messenger. Additionally, the convention will recognize 10 additional messengers from a cooperating church under one of the following options: -- One additional messenger for each full percent of the church's undesignated receipts which the church contributed during the fiscal year preceding through the Cooperative Program, and/or through the convention's Executive Committee for convention causes, and/or to any convention entity. -- One additional messenger for each $6,000 the church contributes in the preceding year through the normative combination of the Cooperative Program, designated gifts through the Executive Committee for convention causes or to any SBC entity. Registration information for St. Louis for SBC preschool children and programs for children ages 6-12 and students in grades 7-12 also is available through the website. Click here for Baptist Press story today with details. SBC President Ronnie Floyd, in his weekly column today (Feb. 22), announced that Stephen Rummage, senior pastor of Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon, Fla., will chair the Committee on Resolutions, and Willy Rice, senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Fla., will chair the Committee on Committees, one of the key committees involved in the nomination of trustees for SBC entities and committees. Other members of the two committees will be announced this spring. Floyd, in a column last year, pointed to "7 reasons to come to St. Louis on June 14-15, 2016": 1. We need to be with our family, our Southern Baptist family. 2. We need to be inspired to believe again that God can awaken America spiritually and the world can be reached for Christ. 3. We need to hear the Word of God proclaimed, pray and worship together by the thousands, and have our spiritual lives set on fire again. 4. We need to hear the wonderful testimonies and reports about what God is doing across America and the world through our work together. 5. We need to hear how our churches' financial investment in the Cooperative Program and mission offerings is being used to share the Gospel. 6. We need to be encouraged to know that when we are together and working together there is hope in America and this world. 7. We need to join together by the thousands as we pray for our nation at this critical time, calling out to God to revive His church and awaken America so we can reach the world for Christ. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Trump wins GOP, 'evangelical' vote in S.C. primary by Tom Strode Date: February 22, 2016 - Monday WASHINGTON (BP) -- Billionaire Donald Trump easily won the Republican primary Feb. 20 in the evangelical Christian stronghold of South Carolina, strengthening his frontrunner's status for the presidential nomination. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton defeated Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Nevada caucuses the same day, providing an important victory after her 20-point loss in New Hampshire. The former secretary of state and first lady gained 52.6 percent of the vote, while Sanders, a self-described socialist, polled 47.3. Trump won all 50 GOP delegates in play in South Carolina, receiving 32.5 percent of the vote. Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz finished second and third with 22.5 and 22.3 percent, respectively. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's fourth-place finish with 7.8 percent prompted him to suspend his campaign. Trump's triumph demonstrated that the strength of his appeal to GOP voters stretches from secular New England, where he won by nearly 20 percent Feb. 9 in New Hampshire, to what is considered the deeply religious South. The success among self-identified evangelicals in South Carolina of the thrice-married celebrity with inconsistent policy positions and a caustic, coarse delivery on the stump nearly mirrored his total among all Republican voters in the state. Two-thirds of GOP voters identified themselves as "white evangelical or born-again Christians" in exit polls, according to The New York Times. Of those, Trump received the support of 34 percent, Cruz 26 and Rubio 21. How many of the South Carolina evangelicals who voted for Trump actually attend a church service regularly is in question. Reuters polling nationally in late summer showed evangelical GOP primary voters who go to church as little as once a month are half as likely to support Trump (21 percent) as those who attend less often, according to a report by The Federalist. That distinction between churchgoing and non-churchgoing evangelicals "highlights the shifting nature of the Bible Belt as it relates to nominal, cultural Christianity," said Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Much, Moore told Baptist Press in a written statement, "hangs in the balance in this election, from concerns on human dignity, marriage and religious freedom. The next generation must raise up Christians who see themselves as kingdom citizens first and Americans citizens second." Barry Creamer, president of Criswell College and professor of humanities at the Dallas school, said in written comments for BP regarding Trump's success among evangelicals, "Probably the starkest indictment against the depth of American evangelicalism is how indistinct its political expressions are from the secular world. When celebrity, profanity, anger and quick speech characterize the preferred candidate among evangelicals, just what is it that identifies them as Christian?" The political parties next swap states in the nomination process, with Republicans caucusing in Nevada Feb. 23 and the Democrats holding their primary in South Carolina Feb. 27. The biggest day of the primary election season occurs March 1, when both parties hold primaries in nine states -- seven in the South -- and caucuses in two. The GOP also will have caucuses in three additional states. In the race for Republican delegates, Trump has 61 delegates, Cruz 11 and Rubio 10. The other candidates remaining -- Ohio Gov. John Kasich and famed neurosurgeon Ben Carson -- have 5 and 3, respectively. With Bush out less than two weeks after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina departed the race, it may be a matter of time before Carson and Kasich also halt their campaigns. Cruz and Rubio appear to be battling to qualify for the chance to defeat Trump in a head-on, two-man race. His second-place finish in South Carolina, though narrow, lifted Rubio's hopes of being the survivor against his fellow freshman senator. Cruz "appeared to lose the most," said Bruce Ashford, provost and professor of theology and culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, in a written statement to BP, since "he has focused his campaign on winning the vote of very conservative voters and the religious right, especially in the South. If he can't win the South by a fairly wide margin, he can't win the nomination. And if he couldn't win South Carolina, it is difficult to envision him winning the South." Bush's departure from the race likely will help Rubio most, Ashford said. "Not only are Bush's supporters more likely to vote for Rubio, but Bush's concession could rapidly consolidate the Republican mainstream, showering [Rubio] with endorsements and donations." The GOP primary in South Carolina was "a mixed bag" for conservative evangelicals who seek a president who is "pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-religious liberty," Ashford told BP. "On the negative side, the winner of the S.C. primary seems soft or questionable on exactly those issues, while the candidate who appears to have lost the most, Ted Cruz, is strong on each of those questions," he said. "The good news is that Marco Rubio fared better than predicted, and he, like Cruz, is strongly pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-religious liberty." Regarding the Clinton win in Nevada, Ashford told BP the result demonstrates the problems for Sanders going forward. The senator from Vermont "faces unified and determined opposition from the [Democratic National Committee] establishment," he said. "He seems also unable or unwilling to shift the emphasis of his message depending upon the audience. Ultimately, he has only one idea to communicate -- that America is a land of deplorable economic injustice in which the system is rigged in favor of the rich. This message alone will not earn him the nomination."  For evangelicals, Ashford said, the bad news on the Democratic side is both Clinton and Sanders "are vigorously pro-abortion, reject the traditional view of marriage and are questionable in their support for a robust freedom of religion." -------------------------------------------------------------------- SBC child care, children, youth registration open by Staff Date: February 22, 2016 - Monday ST. LOUIS (BP) -- Registration is open for preschool child care, Giant Cow Children's Ministries and Youth on Mission in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention's 2016 annual meeting June 14-15 in St. Louis. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) child care volunteers will care for preschoolers; Giant Cow Children's Ministries will lead the 5- to 12-year-olds, and Woman's Missionary Union will guide Youth on Mission curricula and activities. All activities for children and youth will be housed at the America's Center, the annual meeting site. Youth who have completed grades 7-12 will begin their days at the convention center with worship before going into the community for hands-on mission projects. Pre-registration is required and is available online at sbcannualmeeting.net under the "children/youth" tab, with a deadline of May 6 or whenever the space limitation of 120 children is reached. Registrations will not be taken on site. Preschool Child care SBDR childcare volunteers will offer child care for newborns through 5-year-olds June 12-15, encompassing the SBC Pastors' Conference June 12-13 and the annual meeting. The cost is $25 per child for the Pastors' Conference and an additional $25 per child for the annual meeting. There is also a $10 non-refundable registration fee per child. Lunch for preschoolers will be available for $6 a day June 13–15. Parents should pay all related fees upon registration to insure their child's participation. The SBC will verify registrations with an emailed confirmation packet, including a parent's handbook. Every lesson and game for preschoolers will focus on the theme "Jonah and the Whale." Giant Cow Ministries Giant Cow Ministries will be offered for staggered fees; $65 for June 12-15, $55 for June 13-15, $45 for June 14-15, and $25 for each individual day. Registration deadline is May 30 or until available spaces are sold. WMU will provide missions education as part of the curriculum. Registration is open at sbcannualmeeting.net or www.thegiantcow.com/#!blank/tz247. Youth On Mission Youth On Mission will engage students in hands-on missions projects June 14-15 for $55 per youth, plus a nonrefundable registration fee of $10 per youth. "Youth on Mission will have the opportunity to study the Bible together, hear testimonies from North American and International missionaries, and gain a greater understanding of how God can use them in His work in the world," said Jess Archer, Louisiana WMU children's/youth missions education strategist and Youth on Mission coordinator. Lunch and snacks will be provided both days.