The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-03/10/1999 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------- On Mission magazine scores in helping readers share Christ by James Dotson Date: March 10, 1999 - Wednesday DULUTH, Ga. (BP)--Like many Christians, Jennifer Gastley was well aware of her responsibility to lead others to Christ. But it wasn’t until she started reading the North American Mission Board’s bimonthly On Mission magazine that she began to discover real opportunities for making that happen.
One article prompted her to commit to leading two people to Christ in 1999. Shortly after that a neighbor couple accepted Christ at a Christmas program. They and about 150 others had received a church newsletter from Gastley advertising the evangelistic program.
Other opportunities also were sparked by the magazine. After being made aware of the importance of forming relationships with lost people, she also went to a movie with a new friend -- and in the process found ways of discussing the nature of heaven and hell.
And a new practice of what she calls “name dropping,” slipping mentions of God or Christ in everyday conversations and being open to positive response, has provided ongoing opportunities for witness.
“That has prompted people to come up to me and speak to me about church and about God,” said Gastley, of Duluth, Ga., of her regular references to God in teaching aerobics classes. “It’s amazing. And I would never have done it if it hadn’t been for the magazine.”
That sort of transformed lifestyle is precisely the objective of On Mission, and its growing popularity suggests it is working. NAMB’s new tool for “helping you share Christ in the real world” has seen its requested circulation more than double over the past two months. Individual requested subscriptions grew from 8,000 to 17,000, while bulk mailings jumped from 30,000 to 58,000. Total distribution is now more than 158,000.
“I think what has happened is pastors and gatekeepers who have received the first few issues are saying, ‘This really is for all the congregation, not just missions leaders, staff and those who are tuned in to denominational activity,’” said Nate Adams, vice president of mobilization and mission education for NAMB.
A special form wrapped around the January-February issue of the magazine made it easy for readers to sign up others who might appreciate a free subscription.
Editor Carolyn Curtis also attributed the interest to articles that demonstrate the magazine’s commitment to helping laypeople incorporate a Christian witness into everyday life.
On its cover was a scene from “The Prince of Egypt,” illustrating a package of articles on how that and other movies -- such as the one Gastley saw with a friend -- can be used as conversation starters for Christian themes.
“We found there was an overwhelmingly positive response to this,” Curtis said. “And I think it was probably because the issue was so well timed. It came out the day the movie arrived in the theaters. People don’t always realize that evangelism can be that relevant and that current, and that’s what we were able to give them.”
Other likely contributors to the circulation jump, she said, were the issue’s readable, contemporary writing and design and a preview of topics to be addressed in future issues.
Curtis, a veteran journalist from Annapolis, Md., who has edited a dozen magazines and authored six books, was consulting editor of On Mission at its debut last June and was named editor in September.
The lay-oriented magazine is currently offered free of charge to anyone who requests it -- including lists submitted by churches and bulk mailings. Plans call for an eventual move to a paid subscription basis.
At On Mission’s core is a four-step process of how individuals and churches become “on mission” with God in his mission of reconciling the world to himself. Like Gastley, they become “awakened” to the need for seeing those around them and globally come to faith in Christ. Then they “adjust” their lives so God can use them more effectively for those purposes; “activate” by becoming directly involved in seeing people come to Christ; and “advocate” the on-mission lifestyle for others.
Adams, who developed the original vision for the magazine, said the idea was to help readers connect as a community rather than just receive information. “The real value of a magazine is to make it something that is personal to the reader,” he said.
Readers choose magazines that reflect who they are or who they want to be, Adams said, and thus the magazine targets lay Christians who are, or want to be, someone who is sharing Christ. “We wanted a tool to help them discover their way of sharing Christ,” he said.
In addition to helping Christians find their fit for evangelism right where they live, On Mission articles show readers the possibilities for involvement in short-term or full-time mission work and the work of NAMB’s nearly 5,000 missionaries.
“Pastors have an opportunity now while the magazine is free to see that it gets directly into the hands of members who are either involved in mission work or who have a growing interest in it,” Curtis said. “If pastors are trying to help their members awaken to the on-mission lifestyle, this would be an excellent resource and tool to place in those people’s hands. We have articles that provide not only the theory of being ‘on mission,’ but they give highly specific ideas for carrying it out.”
Further information is available through the magazine’s Internet website, www.onmission.com, or by calling (770) 410-6284.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Families that pray together ‘lay hold’ of God’s power, Sh by Date: March 10, 1999 - Wednesday NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A call for families to pray together is sounded by Shirley Dobson, who chairs the National Day of Prayer task force, in the April issue of HomeLife, a family magazine published by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
“Families that pray together don’t just stay together, important as that is. They lay hold of the very power of God to cope with the challenges of daily living,” writes Dobson, who is the wife of James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family.
“Mealtime and bedtime prayers are a great starting point,” Dobson writes, “but they’re only the first step.”
Among her suggestions for establishing more in-depth family prayer:
-- Set regular times for family prayer gatherings.
-- Keep a journal of prayer requests. “Occasionally read back over former needs and concerns to refresh your memory and jump start prayers of thanksgiving,” Dobson adds.
-- Pray aloud together, which is “the best way for young children to learn the ‘mechanics’ of effective prayer,” Dobson writes. “With children, prayers can be sung, staged, danced, painted, drawn -- the possibilities are practically limitless!
“Families that pray together are committed, communicative, loving and built upon the one firm foundation,” Dobson writes. “Their health and wholeness shine like lights in a rapidly darkening and dysfunctional world. Their eyes are open to realities that others refuse to see; they walk hand in hand with Christ through a larger, more wondrous world than some are capable of imagining.
“Through prayer they’ve established direct links between their homes and the heart of the King of all creation.”
A booklet on “The Power of Family Prayer” is available from the National Day of Prayer offices at 1-800-444-8828. The cost is $4.
This year’s National Day of Prayer is Thursday, May 6.
Subscription information for HomeLife is available by phoning 1-800-458-2772.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Multiplying partnerships goal of new missions coordinator by Date: March 10, 1999 - Wednesday RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--A former missionary to Kenya will help Southern Baptists multiply partnerships with places where missionary evangelism and church planting are sorely needed.
Sam Turner, an associate director in the International Mission Board's volunteers in missions department, has been selected to serve as partnership development coordinator for the IMB and the North American Mission Board.
Turner, an Arkansas native who served 23 years as an IMB missionary in Kenya, will work with Baptist state convention leaders to identify places in North America or overseas that need missions assistance and then share the list of such places with Baptist associations interested in forging missions partnerships.
Turner will be succeeded in the volunteers department by Clinton "Sonny" Sweatman, who served as an evangelist in eastern and southern Africa for 12 years prior to becoming director of the World A Resource Center at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C., in 1998. In his new role, Sweatman will coordinate volunteer projects in Africa and the Middle East.
The effort marks a major step forward in the development of missions partnerships, said Bob Franklin, NAMB's associational strategy team leader.
"This is the first systematic effort to identify places that want partnerships and help them find each other," he said. "It's an approach that emphasizes the association's role in developing a God-given vision for missions and will result in more churches being involved in kingdom work."
As Southern Baptists have developed partnership missions, they have discovered that not only is the receiver enriched but the sender as well, Turner said.
"Partnership can let you be more effective in missions outreach because it puts you together with someone who knows the language, culture and context of the place God has sent you," he said. "It's not a foster-parent ministry but a 'paraclete' ministry where you go alongside and share in the kingdom work."
The new project involves surveying associations to find out which ones want partnerships, training associational leaders in strategy development and coordinating with state convention and partnership missions leaders, Franklin said.
"Our goal is to see every association partnering with a mission site somewhere in the world," he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- IMB selects Holste to lead global research initiatives by Date: March 10, 1999 - Wednesday RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Southern Baptist missionary Scott Holste has been selected to lead the International Mission Board's global mission research efforts.
The IMB’s global research department plays a strategic role by monitoring gospel advance among the world's 12,862 ethnic people groups and working with other evangelical mission agencies to share information about worldwide response to the gospel.
Holste, 40, a Florida native who was appointed by the International Mission Board as a church planter to the Philippines in 1987, replaces John Gilbert, who resigned Oct. 20 to become executive pastor of Rush Creek Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas.
Holste and his wife, the former Jane Daugherty of Chickasha, Okla., later served as strategy coordinators for new work among a major unreached people group in Southeast Asia -- 3 million people who had never had an opportunity to hear the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.
Since August 1997, Holste has worked as a missionary-in-residence in the IMB's office of overseas operations, assisting David Garrison, the board's associate vice president for strategy coordination and mobilization. In that role Holste helped train overseas leadership teams; oriented missionaries, staff and trustees to the IMB's global missions strategy; and coordinated the work of the board's Global Resource Team, which helps IMB leaders design and implement effective church-planting strategies.
The research department Holste will direct gathers and analyzes data on the status of world evangelization so mission leaders can make strategic decisions about where and how to focus mission efforts. The global research office has been reorganized to include the board's evangelism and church growth section and a personnel search is under way to fill a new associate director's position.
"In a real sense, global research is our window on the world," Holste said. "Through the regular reporting of our 4,400-plus field personnel and the information gathered by other evangelical agencies and researchers, we see where God is at work, what he is doing and the means through which he is accomplishing his purposes among the peoples of the world.
"That provides our leadership with the information it needs to align resources and strategies with what God is already doing."
Global research also helps IMB leaders evaluate how well the board is doing its job, he said.
"Global research helps us see how much progress we've made and what else needs to be done," Holste said. "It helps us see how effective we've been, not only as Southern Baptists, but also as the larger body of Christ."
Sharing information about global need for and response to the gospel with other evangelical mission agencies is one way the International Mission Board can help speed the process of sharing the gospel with the whole world, Holste said.
"The task of winning the world to Christ is larger than Southern Baptists or any denomination or agency, but it's not too big for the whole body of Christ," he said. "So we're committed to networking with likeminded evangelicals in appropriate ways wherever we can around the world to accomplish that task."
-------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 state conventions join together to produce stewardship materials by Date: March 10, 1999 - Wednesday JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--Four state conventions have joined forces to produce stewardship materials for use across the Southern Baptist Convention.
"New Century Giving provides materials for a three-Sunday emphasis which places the lordship of Jesus Christ as the declarative biblical principle and sacrifice as the giving model," said Jim Rich, stewardship director for the Missouri Baptist Convention.
"It is strongly Bible-based, with the event of Jesus' encounter with the young ruler in Matthew 19:21-29 as the focal passage," Rich said.
The guide includes instructions, sample worship service agendas, worship handouts, preaching suggestions, dramatic sketches, offering envelopes, age-graded Sunday school leaflets, teacher's guides, poster and clip art and follow-up ideas.
New Century Giving is unique in several respects, said Rich, who administrated the effort among state conventions in Missouri, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Florida.
"It rose from the grassroots," he said. "It came from the vision of those who promote stewardship growth every day." And the program is nonprofit and completely funded through Cooperative Program gifts.
"Amid a changing day as a denomination, the four state [stewardship] leaders desired to create a simple set of resources that would be available to all state stewardship leaders to develop stewards,” Rich said.
David Wagner, stewardship and Cooperative Program ministries specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, said, "As we approach the new century, New Century Giving is a way to challenge people to acknowledge God's ownership, to make Jesus Lord of all and to give at a sacrificial level."
Printed materials for the New Century Giving materials will be made available to all state conventions. Initial orders for the 17-piece program packet have totaled 1.9 million, Rich said. Design and production of materials were coordinated by the MBC stewardship and public relations departments.
In an effort to make New Century Giving materials available to all state conventions regardless of size, Rich said older state conventions are partnering with newer state conventions and fellowships.
David Michel, stewardship director for the Mississippi Baptist Convention, said the program challenges believers to examine their personal spiritual contentment and to clarify their commitment to Christ.
"In the first century, Jesus said, ‘It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven.' In the 21st century we need a metaphor for Christian living that is just as radical. New Century Giving calls us out of our affluence and complacency and asks us to focus on bringing to fulfillment the kingdom of God," Michel said.
Clarence Hackett, director of stewardship promotion for the Florida Baptist Convention, said it is important for church leaders to understand the difference between New Century Giving and other stewardship programs.
"New Century Giving is more than an emphasis and greater than a program," he said. "What we are most concerned about is the issue of the lordship of Jesus in developing faithful stewards."
More information about New Century Giving may be obtained by contacting Jim Rich in the MBC stewardship department at (573) 635-7931, ext. 223, or e-mail, jrich@mobaptist.org.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Mo. governor permits 2 executions since deferring to the pope in Jan. by Art Toalston Date: March 10, 1999 - Wednesday JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan has refused to intervene in the execution of two convicted murderers since he commuted the death sentence of a triple murderer at the request of Pope John Paul II in late January.
The latest execution took place March 10 just after midnight. The Vatican had sought Carnahan’s intervention, but this time to no avail.
News media noted the convict, Roy Roberts, 46, had buttressed his claims of innocence by insisting on taking and then passing a lie detector test administered by a former Kansas City police department polygrapher who had been with the department for 30 years.
Carnahan is a Southern Baptist layman and popular Democrat planning a run next year for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican John Ashcroft, a former Missouri governor.
When he commuted the sentence of Darrell Mease on Jan. 27, Carnahan noted in a statement the next day “the historical significance of the papal visit to the city of St. Louis and the state of Missouri,” and stated, “I continue to support capital punishment, but after careful consideration of [the pope’s] direct and personal appeal and because of a deep and abiding respect for the pontiff and all he represents, I decided last night to grant his request.”
Roberts, the prisoner executed March 9, was convicted for the death of a prison guard during a 1983 riot by 25 or 30 prisoners, found guilty of holding the guard while other prisoners killed him. Roberts was in prison at the time for an armed robbery four years earlier.
Roberts claimed he could not have killed the guard because he was brawling at the time with another guard, who later confirmed that he and Roberts indeed had fought during the melee. But three other guards identified Roberts as the prisoner who held the murdered guard, even though, according to Roberts’ clemency petition, they did not do so during the initial investigation, The New York Times reported. Defense attorneys also contended Roberts had no blood on him after the incident, the Associated Press reported.
A St. Louis newspaper columnist additionally quoted an acquaintance of Roberts as admitting to the armed robbery, involving restaurant receipts of $2,000, The Times reported.
“You’re killing an innocent man,” Roberts was quoted as saying before dying by lethal injection.
Mease, the prison whose death sentence Carnahan commuted, claims to have had a jailhouse conversion prior to his 1988 conviction for the murder of Lloyd J. Lawrence, in a dispute over control of Lawrence’s methamphetamine-producing business. Also murdered were Lawrence’s wife and 19-year-old disabled grandson near their rural southwest-Missouri farmhouse. Mease initially confessed to the crime, but on appeal contended the confession had been obtained illegally.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Religious educators to meet April 15-17 in New Orleans by Art Toalston Date: March 10, 1999 - Wednesday NEW ORLEANS (BP)--“Discovering, Discipling, and Deploying the People of God … Now” will be the theme of the Southern Baptist Religious Education Association’s annual meeting April 15-17 in New Orleans.
The SBREA is a 1,100-member organization open to church, association and convention staff members working in Christian/religious education and teachers in the field at the college and seminary level.
Among the featured speakers at this year’s SBREA annual meeting will be:
-- Edith Weiner, president of Weiner, Enrich, Brown, Inc., a leading futurist consulting group based in New York City.
-- Bill Taylor, director of the Sunday school group of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Roy Edgemon, director of LifeWay’s discipleship and family group.
-- Dellanna O’Brien, executive director of Woman’s Missionary Union.
Special video presentations will feature:
-- Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Community Church, Lake Forest, Calif., and author of “The Purpose Driven Church.”
-- Thom Rainer, dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky.
-- Bobby Welch, pastor of First Baptist Church, Daytona Beach, Fla., which originated the FAITH Sunday school evangelism strategy now being utilized by LifeWay and the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Lloyd T. Householder and Robert S. “Bob” Cook will receive this year’s Distinguished Leadership Award.
Householder is a former assistant vice president for communications with the former Baptist Sunday School Board (now LifeWay) and was SBREA president from 1986-87. Cook is the retired director of the Florida Baptist Convention’s family life department.
Information about the association and its annual meeting can be obtained by phoning (817) 326-4509.
Bernie Spooner, current SBREA president, is director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ Sunday school/discipleship division.
The annual meeting’s sessions will be held in the Radisson Hotel New Orleans.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- ‘Cowboy preacher:’ Pastor meets folks on horseback by Stacey Hamby Date: March 10, 1999 - Wednesday POCAHONTAS, Mo. (BP)--Known as the "cowboy preacher," Mike Harrison rides his horse, "Red," about 150 miles a month (in good weather) in rural southeast Missouri, visiting with people along the way.
"As far back as I can remember, I've liked horses and cowboy things," said Harrison, pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church, Pocahontas. "I was told by my boys once that I was born 100 years too late."
Horses have been a lifetime hobby for Harrison, but a few years ago, he said God revealed to him something from his Word. "God asked Moses, 'What's that in your hand?' And I realized that we're to use what God gives us to bring honor and glory to him. I had always prayed that my desire for horses and to be a cowboy would bring honor and glory to God.
“So, I just started doing visitation on horseback."
He has done his horseback ministry in other communities before moving to the area, but this is where he has concentrated on it the most.
"I found out that when I was out riding for relaxation people would readily come up to me and want to touch my horse. ... They trusted me, and people received me. It took away the intimidation of being a pastor. I guess they didn't think pastors rode horses."
Harrison rides his horse up to people in their yard and they start talking, or he'll be riding down a road and people will stop their cars to visit. "I always try to say something about the Lord or invite them to church."
Sometimes, he said, he rides with church members or other people from the community -- simply to answer questions or even to have a counseling session. "Riding seems to relax them more."
The biggest feature about his horseback ministry, he said, is that it's just different. But it's popular. "You'd be surprised at the number of church people and other people that want me to come visit on horseback now."
Harrison was quick to point out that this ministry is something special God has given to him. "My hope is that people can see they can use any hobby they have or any desires they have to use for kingdom work. 'What's in your hand?' What's God given you that you can use?"