The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-03/14/2014 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd VIEW: Photographers capture missions, national attention by Staff/IMB Date: March 14, 2014 - Friday EDITOR'S NOTE: 2nd VIEW is a key Baptist Press story that has been posted within the past several days. For a listing of additional key stories in Baptist Press in recent days, always take a look at the daily RECENT NEWS listing. Originally posted March 13, 2014 RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- Rahima* barely makes a living begging on the busy streets of Bangladesh. As Rahima and her two young daughters sat down on the edge of the sidewalk to eat a bag of cooked rice and vegetables, photographer Joanna B. Pinneo sees a story unfolding before her eyes and takes the shot. Each year IMB releases a special collection of their images taken during the past year. Many of those images compel Southern Baptists to give and go on missions to help relieve suffering through sharing the love of Christ. This article includes links to images and audio comments from photographers who covered the stories overseas. This year, IMB's CommissionStories magazine also was recognized by Pictures of the Year International as a finalist in their Best Publication Division/Best Magazine category. National Geographic received top honors in that category for Best Use of Photography by a Magazine. German Geo and the International Mission Board were the category's finalists. For more information about the award go to http://www.poyi.org/71/35/index.php. The following includes more details behind IMB's photographs. Click here to see full collection. Begging for a better life Through Pinneo's lens she was able to share Rahima's story. See the image here. Listen to Pinneo's comments here. Rahima and her family are forced to make a living in the best and most respectable way they can. This life of mere survival is not Rahima's choice. Her hope and dream is that her two daughters will have a better education and environment than she has had and become "good women." Rahima said, "I do not have any dream for myself. I only have dream and hope for my children." The Light of Hope Learning Center seeks to give girls an opportunity to expand their horizons and to make a living for themselves. The school, started by Southern Baptist worker Geri Hennerman,* lifts the girls up spiritually and provides them an education and handicraft skills. The teachers approach each girl as a whole person, treating them with respect, love and care. (See related stories from BP's May 14, 2013, edition). Hennerman said, "The stories, pictures and video have gotten many people more involved in all the Lord is doing here. We have heard from individuals, churches and groups via email and have also received numerous financial gifts." Because of this, pre-teen girls like Rahima's 9-year-old daughter Minara are able to attend the school five days a week. View a video update about the center and hear the Hennermans expressing their thanks to Southern Baptists for their support here. To get in touch with the Light of Hope Learning Center directors about how you or your church can get involved, email lightofhope916@gmail.com. Ongoing need Another visual story includes a Syrian child taking a nap in a rented home in northern Lebanon, where there are no official, government-backed refugee camps. See the image here. Listen to photographer Joseph Rose's comments here. Roughly half of the some 2 million refugees resulting from the Syrian civil war are children. (Read more at commissionstories.com/speakup). Southern Baptists have an ongoing relief ministry among Syrian refugees in four countries where they have fled. Contribute to the distribution of food packets, hygiene kits and temporary shelters at imb.org/syrianrefugees and designate "Syria relief" in the comment line. Swath of destruction A child runs along the rocky shore at Gibitngil Island, seemingly oblivious to the destruction caused to her community by Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013. Behind her are the ruined structures of a small beach resort that provided a valuable tourism income for the tiny community. Gibitngil Island, like many communities that suffered almost total destruction, remained unreached by relief efforts for days because of its inaccessibility. Baptist Global Response (BGR) partnered with local IMB personnel to make assessment trips to many of these more isolated parts of northern Cebu Island to make plans for immediate and long-term assistance. See the image click here. Listen to photographer Hugh Johnson's comments here. For an update on related relief efforts, click here. To donate to Southern Baptists' Typhoon Haiyan Relief fund, click here. The selections IMB submitted were presented in memory of photographer Don Rutledge, who died in February 2013 at age 82. Traveling throughout the United States and to more than 140 countries for more than 40 years, Rutledge captured many moments of humanity and ministry in hundreds of classic photographs taken for the Home (now North American) Mission Board and later for the Foreign (now International) Mission Board. For many mission photographers, Rutledge revolutionized missions storytelling and influenced several generations of Christian communicators. His images helped millions of inspired viewers to understand, pray for and participate in missions. --30-- *Name changed. Story compiled by IMB. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp). -------------------------------------------------------------------- Spring breakers find Jesus 'by surprise' during BeachReach by Amy Jacobs Date: March 14, 2014 - Friday PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (BP) -- The land of bright sunshine and snow-white sand can be a spiritual dark spot each and every spring break. Rowdy weeks of partying often bring with them a spirit of recklessness and outright rebellion into Panama City Beach, Fla. While locals brace for the invasion and disruption they've come to expect with spring, quiet forces determined to share the hope of Jesus Christ make their way south. Retirees who serve with the Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief Team link arms with college students from churches and collegiate ministries across the country for BeachReach. BeachReach is a mission trip experience in the heart of Panama City Beach. Servant evangelism takes the form of free van rides and free pancake breakfasts. College students provide simple acts of service that open the door to life-changing conversations about the hope and love of Jesus Christ. Here's how it happens: Each evening a team of students takes their place in a call center, where they receive inbound calls from spring breakers who need rides. An entourage of white passenger vans, church vans and the occasional minivan are dispatched to the Panama City Beach strip where they offer free and safe van rides in hopes of sharing their faith. Each morning, armed with pancake mix and truckloads of syrup, the Georgia team sets up a mobile kitchen in a nearby strip mall parking lot. Hungry spring breakers trickle in and are greeted with pancakes -- pancakes that lead to conversations. "BeachReach is often the experience that causes my students to share their faith for the first time," Austin Wadlow, college pastor at First Baptist Church in Denton, Texas, said. "When they start a conversation, on the van or over pancakes, it opens a door in their walk with Christ. They go from not sharing their faith at all, to sharing it on the strip or in a bowling alley, to realizing they can do that anywhere. What they learn to do at BeachReach is so transferrable to what they should be doing on campus." Prior to joining LifeWay Christian Resources as the BeachReach event coordinator, Bill Noe spent twelve years in Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) on the University of Louisville campus and participated in BeachReach year after year. "I brought students to BeachReach and did so every year because there was no other experience I'd offered my students that created that kind of change in them, one that lasted beyond the week and came back to the campus," Noe said. "BeachReach really seeks to help believers develop a passion and heart for lost students. That doesn't just stay in Panama City Beach; it transfers back to the local campus." If Panama City Beach is the schoolroom for learning to share faith, it's a rough one. BeachReachers are stretched and challenged by what they see and hear and, as they learn to share their faith, they learn to extend grace to their peers. "One of the things that overwhelms me about BeachReach every year is how it takes spring breakers by surprise," Noe said. "They expect one thing from us and they get something that's so much more genuine, loving and gracious than they expect. There is a temptation to be overwhelmed by the behavior and think we have to correct behavior. That's not the heart of BeachReach. BeachReach is offering the hope of Jesus through service." LifeWay continues to offer BeachReach as a ministry opportunity each spring break. "BeachReach is one of the most important ministries we do. We see both souls and lives saved each week," Faith Whatley, LifeWay's director of adult ministry, said. "As we mobilize college students to share their faith boldly, those van rides and conversations often save young women from dangerous and destructive evenings. The ministry our BeachReachers extend is life-saving." Last year, after two weeks of ministry, 11,186 van rides were given. Seventy-eight students accepted Christ. The 767 BeachReach participants served 9,473 plates of pancakes. At three pancakes per plate, that stacks up to 28,419 pancakes all prepared by the hands of the Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief Team. "The Georgia team is made up of retired senior adults who know that Jesus loves these spring breakers, and at some level they may feel unequipped to reach them. But they've found this unique way to impact these students," Noe said. "The pancake volunteers know the students are better equipped to have those conversations. They want to see that happen and they set them up to have those conversations over a hot plate of pancakes." It's a collaboration of college students and an older generation who believe service and friendship will make a difference. --30-- Amy Jacobs is marketing strategist for young adult ministry at LifeWay Christian Resources. This story originally ran in the Winter 2013/2014 issue of SBC Life. The next BeachReach 2014 takes place in Panama City Beach March 15-21. For more information about BeachReach visit www.lifeway.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Community Day' set to spread nationwide by Tobin Perry Date: March 14, 2014 - Friday VALDOSTA, Ga. (BP) -- Redland Baptist Church's attempts to share the love of Jesus were threatened when its 2008 trip to Mexico fizzled because of travel risks. Instead the Valdosta, Ga., church may have started a movement when they decided that year to host their first-ever Community Day. Six years later, close to 100 South Georgia Baptist churches launched an effort to help seven church planters throughout North America host similar events. "Community Day is everything a family needs," Jay Watkins, pastor of Redland Baptist, said. "We give [food, medical care, etc.] to families with the love of Christ. It opens doors for us to tell them what Christ has done in us and through us, with people we wouldn't normally come into contact with." Watkins said 25,000 people attended the last Community Day in Valdosta in April 2013. More than 60 Valdosta-area churches participated in the event sponsored by the Valdosta Baptist Association. More than 70,000 local residents have been served through the event, and 1,000 people have come to Christ since the first Community Day in 2008. In January, Watkins and Valdosta Baptists hosted a banquet attended by about 100 South Georgia churches -- and the seven church planters with whom they'll be partnering. Church members were challenged to help take Community Day to church plants in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto, Jackson Hole, Wyo., and Memphis, Tenn. Watkins began spearheading the campaign shortly after attending his first meeting as a North American Mission Board trustee. It was there he first learned the extent of North America's lostness. "I came back and called all my pastor buddies," Watkins said. "I asked them, 'How many lost people do you think are in the U.S.?' A couple of them made some good guesses. I told them, 'There are 239 million lost people in the United States. Add Canada in and there's 259 million lost people in North America. We have to do something.'" And they did. Leaning on their experience with Community Days in Valdosta and elsewhere, the South Georgia pastors decided to launch partnerships with church planters from each of NAMB's five regions. A different South Georgia sending church -- along with multiple supporting churches -- will take responsibility for each of the seven Community Day events. The first of the seven scheduled Community Day events is March 22 in Memphis. The Georgia Baptist Convention is supporting the events by lending a tractor-trailer to make supply transportation easier and more cost-effective. Community Day events will play a key role in helping church planters connect with their communities and share the Gospel in underserved areas of North America. "Community is valued in Canada," Toronto church planter Daniel Yang said. "Canada is a very inclusive country -- Toronto especially. When you, as a church, say we want to do this 'for you,' without any anything or any expectations in return, it will be very well received. Canada is very inclusive of all kinds of people and if we can make Community Day along those lines, it's going to be very successful." The events won't be uniform in all seven locations. Los Angeles-area planter Zach Drake said his Santa Monica community is affluent and concerned about physical health. The initial plans have the South Georgian teams focusing on putting together a community "Olympics," with a specific focus on youth. Drake also hopes the team might bring in health food rather than the typical fare. "Partnering with Valdosta Baptists has been a tremendous encouragement to us," said Drake, lead pastor of Santa Monica Church. "We're a very small church in Santa Monica. We're in a city without a lot of Christian support. Gaining support from Christians outside of the city -- and even across the country from us -- has been super, super encouraging to us." Valdosta Baptists hope this movement will motivate other Southern Baptist associations to try similar efforts throughout North America. Watkins has shared the story of Community Day in various gatherings throughout the United States. Drew Boswell, pastor of children and families at First Baptist Church in Valdosta, said, "We hope other SBC associations and churches will seek to do it in their contexts well." "They can take the model we're developing and say, 'We can have a banquet, bring our churches together, we can identify our six cities ourselves so that it becomes a multiplication effect," he said. "It'll begin this big ripple effect. Our prayer is that revival will spark." --30-- Tobin Perry writes for the North American Mission Board. For more information about Community Day, visit communityday.us. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp). -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mother's Day offering approved for Sunrise by Roger Alford Date: March 14, 2014 - Friday LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) -- The Kentucky Baptist Convention Mission Board is asking churches across the state to help support Sunrise Children's Services after the agency saw a major decline in annual giving last November while embroiled in controversy regarding a recommendation to hire gay employees. In December the president of Sunrise Children's Services, Bill Smithwick, resigned amid disapproval from Kentucky Baptists over his support for allowing homosexual employees at the state convention-affiliated child care agency. Since then, Sunrise has asked the KBC to promote a Mother's Day offering to make up for the agency's financial shortfall. "The Thanksgiving offering fell far short of the goal and even farther short of the needs," KBC Executive Director Paul Chitwood said. The special "Shine!" campaign "could potentially allow Sunrise to catch back up. Now that the Sunrise board has quashed the idea of hiring homosexual staffers, I believe Kentucky Baptists will again be willing to provide the financial support needed." Smithwick received a vote of no confidence on Nov. 12 from messengers at the Kentucky Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Paducah. Sunrise trustees had already rejected Smithwick's controversial recommendation. Chitwood said interim Sunrise President Dale Suttles and the board of trustees are committed to supporting biblical values and to ensuring that the organization reflects a strong Christian witness. Because of that, Chitwood said, the organization is worthy of financial support from churches across the state. Chitwood explained the depth of the deficit on his blog and urged the state's 2,400 Baptist churches to get behind Sunrise. "Sunrise receives about 70 percent of its funding from government contracts, leaving a funding gap of around $7.5 million," he wrote in a Feb. 25 post. "Some secular funding sources, displeased with Sunrise's hiring practice that seeks to keep good role models in front of the children, have withdrawn the monies they had earmarked for Sunrise. To make up for this deficit and do much needed repairs on some of the aging facilities, Sunrise stands in need of $5 million." Sunrise board Chairman William Hurley has assured Kentucky Baptists that there is no reason not to support the children's agency. "Rest assured that if you and your church continue to support Sunrise financially, we will never forget our responsibility to the children extends not just to their physical well-being, but to their spiritual well-being also," Hurley wrote in a letter to churches last December. "We will not knowingly expose any child in Sunrise's care to unbiblical influences." --30-- Roger Alford is communications director for the Kentucky Baptist Convention. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp). -------------------------------------------------------------------- CP ministry reports now available online by Staff Date: March 14, 2014 - Friday NASHVILLE (BP) -- In an effort to give more visibility to the work of SBC entities, the Cooperative Program 2014 Ministry Reports are now available to all Southern Baptists in an easily-accessible, online format, viewable at SBC.net. The Executive Committee had previously made these reports available to Executive Committee members and state Baptist paper editors in a printed format. Now these reports are being made available to the general public online in a digital format. "This new platform gives every Southern Baptist an opportunity to see firsthand the good work our SBC entities are doing," Ashley Clayton, vice president for Cooperative Program and stewardship, said. "It brings to life ministry reports that the Executive Committee was already compiling as part of its own ministry assignment." The Executive Committee, under the leadership of Frank S. Page, has emphasized the importance of the Cooperative Program as the best way to fuel and support what God is doing at home and around the world through Southern Baptists. "This change in format for annual ministry reports, providing public access with up-to-date reporting, is consistent with Dr. Page's efforts over the past three-and-a-half years to elevate and champion all SBC missions and ministries," Clayton said, "as well as to promote long-held SBC values of missions, church planting, evangelism, church strengthening and revitalization, theological education, collegiate ministry, disaster relief, and moral advocacy, along with many other important ministries provided by our state conventions." Rather than having to hunt through multiple sources to find information, Southern Baptists can find ministry updates in one convenient spot, Clayton said. Reports are available from the SBC entities which receive Cooperative Program funds: International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, six SBC theological seminaries, and Council of Seminary Presidents. GuideStone Financial Resources does not receive Cooperative Program dollars, but also submits annual reports. The 2014 Ministry Reports are compilations of SBC entity responses to questions and other related reports, presented in separate categories. Each category can be viewed by clicking its respective tab in the online interface: President's Letter, Ministry Inquiries, Ministry Goals and Accomplishments, and Financial Management. Each seminary report also includes a Seminary Formula and ATS Report. The online format allows for the addition of visual elements like graphics, videos and color. In addition to the written component of the reports, entity presidents are given the opportunity to share their own heart for ministry through a President's Letter video message. These President's Letter videos "allow the stories of the great things God is doing through our entities to be told in a fresh way, and from a personal perspective," Clayton said. "They allow Southern Baptists to get face-to-face with our leaders, see their passion, and put a face to a name." The flexibility of the online format also allows for additional up-to-date information to be added through a mid-year update section. This update will be available in July. The current 2014 Ministry Reports are available at www.sbc.net/cp/ministryreports. --30-- This article first appeared in the Spring 2014 issue of SBC Life. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp). -------------------------------------------------------------------- Christians beheaded by extremists in Somalia by Staff/Morning Star News Date: March 14, 2014 - Friday NAIROBI, Kenya (BP) -- Islamic extremists from the rebel Al Shabaab militia last week publicly beheaded a mother of two girls and her cousin in southeastern Somalia after discovering they were Christians, Morning Star News reported from sources inside the country. In the port town of Barawa, the extremists March 4 called residents to the town center to witness the executions of the 41-year-old mother, Sadia Ali Omar, and her 35-year-old cousin, Osman Mohamoud Moge, the sources said. Before killing them, an Al Shabaab militant announced, "We know these two people are Christians who recently came back from Kenya. We want to wipe out any underground Christian living inside of mujahidin [jihadists'] area," according to an area resident whose name is undisclosed for security reasons. Omar's daughters, ages 8 and 15, witnessed the slaughter, sources said, with the younger girl screaming and shouting for someone to save her mother. A friend helped the girls, whose names are withheld, to relocate to another area. "We are afraid that the Al Shabaab might continue monitoring these two children and eventually kill them just like their mother," the area resident told Morning Star News. The militants from Al Shabaab -- which has vowed to rid the country of the Christian fellowships, which meet secretly as leaving Islam in Somalia is punishable by death -- became suspicious of Omar and Moge because of their irregular attendance at Friday mosque prayers, sources said. "The two people who were killed ... did not take Friday prayers seriously, especially Omar, who claimed that she was praying in her house," another area resident said. One source noted of Al Shabaab, "They have some spy everywhere in Somalia." Somalis who have lived in Christian-majority Kenya are especially suspect. The sources told Morning Star News Omar lived in the Nairobi suburb of Eastleigh for seven years. Her husband became ill in 2011 and returned to Somalia, where he died. Omar and her cousin Moge, who helped take care of her daughters, left Kenya for Somalia in January 2013. Barawa reportedly came under Al Shabaab control in 2009. In October 2013, a U.S. Navy SEAL team raided a beachside house in the town in an unsuccessful search for Al Shabaab leader Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr. In the capital city of Mogadishu last October, gunmen who said they intended to kill a Christian for spreading his faith shot him to death, according to an area resident. Two men armed with pistols on Oct. 20, 2013 shot Abdikhani Hassan seven times as he approached his home after closing his pharmacy. Hassan was survived by a wife who was pregnant and five children ranging in age from 3 to 12. The Somali cell of Al Qaida, Al Shabaab was suspected of killing Fatuma Isak Elmi, 35, on Sept. 1, 2013 inside her home in Beledweyne, in south-central Somalia. Her husband had received a threatening note that morning believed to be from the Islamic extremist group and was away at the time of the murder. Al Shabaab's attack on the upscale Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya on Sept. 21, 2013 killed at least 67 people, with dozens still unaccounted for. On April 13, 2013, Al Shabaab militants shot Fartun Omar to death in Buulodbarde, 12 miles from Beledweyne. Omar was the widow of Mursal Isse Siad, killed for his faith on Dec. 8, 2012 in Beledweyne, 206 miles north of Mogadishu. He had been receiving death threats for leaving Islam. Siad and his wife, who converted to Christianity in 2000, had moved to Beledweyne from Doolow eight months before. The area was under government control and there was no indication that the killers belonged to the Al Shabaab rebels, but the Islamic extremist insurgents were present in Buulodbarde, and Christians believed a few Al Shabaab rebels could have been hiding in Beledweyne. On June 7, 2013 in Jamaame District in southern Somalia, insurgents from the group shot 28-year-old Hassan Hurshe to death after identifying him as a Christian, sources said. Al Shabaab members brought Hurshe to a public place in the town of Jilib and shot him in the head, they said. On Feb. 18, 2013, suspected Islamic extremists shot Ahmed Ali Jimale, a 42-year-old father of four, on the outskirts of the coastal city of Kismayo. In Barawa on Nov. 16, 2012, Al Shabaab militants killed a Christian after accusing him of being a spy and leaving Islam, Christian and Muslim witnesses said. The extremists beheaded 25-year-old Farhan Haji Mose after monitoring his movements for six months, sources told Morning Star News. Mose drew suspicion when he returned to Barawa in December 2011 after spending time in Kenya, according to underground Christians in Somalia. Kenya's population is nearly 83 percent Christian, according to Operation World, while Somalia's is close to 100 percent Muslim. --30-- This story first appeared at Morning Star News (www.MorningStarNews.org), a California-based independent news service focusing on the persecution of Christians worldwide. Used by permission. -------------------------------------------------------------------- CALL TO PRAYER: Learn from Jesus to pray by Steve Gaines Date: March 14, 2014 - Friday EDITOR'S NOTE: This column is part of the call to prayer issued by Frank S. Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, to pray for revival and spiritual awakening for our churches, our nation and our world. This particular Call to Prayer is an edited excerpt from an interview between Jason Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo., and Steve Gaines, senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn. To read or hear the entire interview, visit http://jasonkallen.com/2014/03/conversation-steve-gaines-prayer/. KANSAS CITY (BP) -- The Lord Jesus is the only expert on prayer. Though He was God in the flesh, He put a high premium on prayer. How do you explain that? I do not know, except He knew that communication with the Father was imperative. Jesus prayed openly. Luke recorded that Jesus prayed at His baptism. As He prayed, the heavens were opened and the Spirit of God came down upon Him (Luke 3:21). I love that. One of the ways you open heaven is to pray. Jesus prayed intentionally. Immediately after His baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days of prayer and fasting. As He prayed He came under temptation, but was victorious through prayer, fasting, and knowing and quoting Scripture -- the only protection any of us have with any type of temptation. Jesus came out of the wilderness with an anointing upon Him. He came out "in the power of the Spirit" (Luke 4:14). Jesus prayed constantly. In his Gospel account, Mark noted that early in the morning while it was still dark, after a very busy previous day and night, Jesus went out to a place of solitude and prayed (Mark 1:35). The language suggests it was a protracted time of prayer. This was an apparent regular practice, for Luke indicated that Jesus often slipped away into the wilderness to pray (Luke 5:16). When Jesus fed the 5,000, He took the little boy's lunch and blessed it. He prayed over it and there was abundance. Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Judas knew exactly where to find Him because John recorded that Jesus frequently went to that place to pray. Jesus prayed fervently. Luke records that Jesus prayed fervently, and His sweat was like great drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:44). It was very intense prayer. The writer of Hebrews noted that in the Garden, Jesus prayed with "loud crying and tears," and "was heard because of his piety" (Hebrews 5:7, NASB). Jesus prayed redemptively. Jesus prayed on the cross! Several of the sayings from the cross are prayers. Jesus prayed, "Father forgive them, they do not know what they are doing." Then he prayed twice by quoting from the Psalms. He prayed Scripture when he prayed Psalm 22:1, which is a prophetic text about the crucifixion. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" he asked (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34). One of the most vivid descriptions of the cross is Psalm 22. I have often said, "You would never have the Shepherd of Psalm 23, if you had not had the Savior dying for us in Psalm 22." Jesus prayed Psalm 22:1 on the cross. He also prayed from the Psalms when he said, "In your hands I commit my Spirit" (Luke 23:46; Psalm 31:5). Jesus prays everlastingly. Even in His resurrected state at Emmaus, our Lord would not put a morsel of bread in His resurrected mouth before He prayed over it (Luke 24:30). In His role as the "one mediator between God and men" (1 Timothy 2:5), we read that "He ever lives to make intercession" for those who "draw near to God through him" (Hebrews 7:25). Jesus is praying right now. One of the most encouraging things I know is that Jesus prays for his children. The question for us. If the Son of God needed to pray while He was on this earth, how much more do we need to pray? The early church gained its power through prayer! Some people say the problems with the church today -- lethargy, lack of power, impotence -- are because we do not preach the pure Gospel or we do not sing the right songs. I do not think the problems are found in songs or sermons. Think about it. We all believe that Jesus died an atoning, sacrificial death. We know He was raised bodily from the dead. We call people to repentance and faith in Christ. We sing, as Paul instructed, "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19). I think we sing the same songs and preach the same sermons. The reason we do not see the movement of God is because we do not pray like the early church prayed. Prayer is the secret to it all. I have asked the Lord for years to get me to the point where I would rather pray than preach. We ought not try to talk for the Lord before we talk with the Lord. I say with and not to because God speaks to us. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice" (John 10:27). Deuteronomy 13:4 says, "You will hear my voice." Isaiah said, "Your ears will hear a word behind you, 'This is the way; walk in it,' whenever you turn to the right or the left" (Isaiah 30:21). God speaks to us through His Word, impressions and His Holy Spirit. The more we talk with the Lord, the more the Lord talks with us. The ultimate answer is to study what Jesus taught on prayer as summarized in the Lord's Prayer. It downloads a pattern for us to follow. It includes praise at the beginning, surrender of the will, asking for forgiveness, intercession, petition and spiritual warfare. All of that is in there. It is an amazing pattern. I have used that over the years in my prayer life, and it has changed my life. --30-- Steve Gaines is senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tennessee. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp). -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: 9/11 cross by Kelly Boggs Date: March 14, 2014 - Friday ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP) -- An atheist group has filed a lawsuit to prevent cross-shaped steel beams from being included in a museum dedicated to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the World Trade Center towers. The group contends including the cross will violate the principle of the separation of church and state. Two days after the horrific attack on the iconic towers located in the heart of New York City, a first responder searching for bodies discovered two steel beams broken in such a way that they formed an almost perfect cross. "I was already working 12 hours. I was quite weary and the cross comforted me," said Frank Silecchia, the man who found the cross, according to news reports. The 20-foot-tall cross was lifted from the rubble and placed in the center of where recovery efforts were being handled. It became a rallying point for first responders and has already been installed in the new museum ahead of its May opening, the Religion News Service reported. The group American Atheists says, "the cross is a part of religious history and its presence on public property violates the separation of church and state," The Washington Times reported. The organization's website describes the group as follows: "Since 1963, American Atheists has been the premier organization fighting for the civil liberties of atheists and the total, absolute separation of government and religion." "We are worried about the alienation being suffered by atheists. This cross screams Christianity, but there were perhaps 500 or 1,000 people who died in this tragedy who were not Christians," Edwin Kagin, the group's national legal director told a New York federal appeals court, according to the Times. "It's dangerous for this to be in a government-backed display," Kagin added. "This is about an endorsement of Christianity. What is wrong with having a plaque that says atheists died here, too'?" he asked. With all due respect to Mr. Kagin, his argument is not correct. The cross is not being included in the museum as a memorial to the Christians who perished in the terror attacks. The cross found in the rubble is being included as part of the story of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the recovery that followed. "Mark Alcott, representing the museum, which is run by a foundation and receives public funding, said, 'The curators decided to place this object in the museum because they believe it was an important part of the history of this story. Rescue workers took comfort in this remnant of the building structure and they prayed to it as a religious object,'" London's newspaper The Telegraph reported on its website. "But there is a difference between displaying an artifact of historical significance and saying we want you [the public] to bless it -- museum-goers understand that distinction," Alcott added. Alcott is correct in more ways than one. Museumgoers do have the ability to discern between the display of an artifact that may viewed as a religious symbol and the expectation that it be accepted as such and, in essence, honored or blessed. So too, do citizens of the United States. The first clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...." In general, laws either mandate or prohibit activity. In other words, laws indicate you must do something or you can't do something. Put simply, the First Amendment says that Congress shall create no law that forces a citizen to embrace any particular religion. Said another way, lawmakers cannot establish a state church people must attend. Additionally, the First Amendment declares that the government cannot enact legislation that would forbid the pursuit of particular religion. Congress cannot outlaw a religion. The Supreme Court has ruled the government can regulate religious behavior. However, in order to do so, the government must show a compelling interest why it should be allowed to regulate a particular practice. The regulation of a religious practice by the government has been a very rare occurrence in the history of the United States. Displaying a cross created when the towers came crashing down on Sept. 11 in a museum dedicated to the event in no way represents a law establishing Christianity. What is the compelling interest for keeping it out of the museum? Shortly after Thomas Jefferson was elected president in 1801, a group of Baptists, primarily from western Connecticut, wrote America's third chief executive and expressed concern about the issue of religious liberty. The Danbury Baptist Association's letter expressed doubt that the First Amendment was strong enough to protect religious freedom. Jefferson responded ensuring them it represented a bulwark that would protect the church from the state. In part, Jefferson wrote, "... I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State...." The purpose of the First Amendment, according to one of America's founders, was to protect the church from incursion by the government and not vice versa. It was certainly not meant to keep a relevant artifact, which is also considered a religious symbol, from being displayed in a museum. The appeals court is expected to make a decision in several months. --30-- Kelly Boggs is a weekly columnist for Baptist Press, director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention's office of public affairs, and editor of the Baptist Message (www.baptistmessage.com), newsjournal of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp). -------------------------------------------------------------------- EDITORIAL: Simplemente acércate a ellos by Fermín Whittaker Date: March 14, 2014 - Friday NOTA DEL EDITOR: La columna First-Person (De primera mano) es parte de la edición de hoy de BP en español. Para ver historias adicionales, vaya a http://www.bpnews.net/espanol FRESNO, Calif. (BP) -- Leer ha sido mi pasión durante toda mi vida. Me encanta leer y procuro leer un libro cada dos meses. Tenemos mucho que aprender de otros. Terminé de leer el clásico de Bill Hybels, Simplemente acércate a ellos: Pasos sencillos para guiar a las personas hacia la fe. Con frecuencia sentimos la presión de recorrer el mundo y mientras tanto perdemos la oportunidad de acercarnos a otros, que están en la misma habitación, para hablarles de Cristo. Continuaré presentando mi fe a otros, comenzando por el círculo de mi familia y amistades. Hay gozo en presentar a Cristo a otras personas. A todos se nos "envía" como misioneros para alcanzar al mundo, comenzando con nuestra Jerusalén. ¿Está usted consciente de lo "perdida" que está su comunidad? ¿Ha pensado cómo hacer un impacto por Cristo en su comunidad? Existen muchos métodos y libros escritos acerca de la evangelización. Pienso que todavía hay innumerables seguidores de Cristo esperando que les asignen esta tarea tan importante. A veces el temor, la incertidumbre, la ansiedad y la renuencia nos impiden ser los testigos que Dios quiere que seamos. Cuando reflexiono en las oportunidades "perdidas", no permito que el pasado me obsesione. Mi deseo es orar, hablar, sentarme para tener una conversación y contar la historia de Jesús que vino a morir por mí. Su amor está disponible para todos. Hace poco estaba hablando con alguien por teléfono y la persona me dijo: "He ido demasiado lejos. ¿Piensa usted que seré bienvenido?" Contesté: "Sí, usted no puede ir tan lejos como para que el amor de Dios no le alcance. Nosotros creemos esto porque nuestro Padre Celestial dice: "Clama a mí, y yo te responderé, y te enseñaré cosas grandes y ocultas que tú no conoces", Jeremías 33.3. "Que si confesares con tu boca que Jesús es el Señor, y creyeres en tu corazón que Dios le levantó de los muertos, serás salvo", (Romanos 10.9). Antes de terminar la semana, tome un tiempo para acercarse a otros en el cuarto, al otro lado de la calle, en la oficina, etc. y conviértase en un testimonio viviente de la gracia de Dios. --30-- Fermín Whittaker es el director ejecutivo de la Convención Bautista del Sur en California. Los materiales en español publicados por esta convención se encuentran en http://www.csbc.com/languageresources. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Ministerio en medio de los disturbios en Venezuela by Por María Elena Baseler Date: March 14, 2014 - Friday CARACAS, Venezuela (BP) -- Mientras las tensiones escalan en medio de las protestas anti gobierno a lo largo y ancho de Venezuela, los misioneros de la Junta de Misiones Internacionales y sus compañeros bautistas venezolanos están ministrando a los venezolanos a ambos lados del conflicto. Un pastor bautista venezolano va hasta el frente de los opositores, ora con ellos y sus oponentes en las barricadas que los opositores han erigido en Caracas, la ciudad capital. También visita la Guardia Nacional de Venezuela y las estaciones de policía para orar por sus fuerzas, aunque algunos de ellos han sido acusados de alegadas violaciones a los derechos humanos en contra de los opositores. En la barricada donde fue a orar con los manifestantes, el pastor "detuvo un ataque a los opositores," reportó Matthew Starr*, misionero de IMB en Caracas. Residentes de un barrio (tugurio) se acercaron con palos y piedras, listos para atacar a los manifestantes. Los barrios de Caracas -- que se extienden por las montañas que rodean la ciudad -- están considerados bastiones de apoyo del gobierno socialista. "Él se fue hasta donde estaban los atacantes y les dijo que era un pastor bautista y que estaba orando con la gente de ambos lados, compartiendo su necesidad de que Dios tomara el control de la situación," relató Starr. "Esto diseminó el conflicto y ellos no llevaron a cabo el ataque." "Oren por este pastor mientras él hace de esto su ministerio durante esta crisis," añadió Starr. "Él también les está pidiendo a otros pastores que se involucren." Otro ministerio de primera línea está sucediendo a través de una iglesia bautista localizada cerca del área principal de protesta en Caracas. Cada mañana algunos de los miembros de la iglesia hacen caminata de oración en el área antes de que los manifestantes comiencen en la tarde. Aunque los líderes de iglesia cancelaron las reuniones de oración en su edificio por razones de seguridad, ellos les pidieron a los miembros que oraran juntos en los hogares e invitaran a los vecinos a unirse a ellos. Una familia compartió que cinco de los vecinos no cristianos llegaron a la reunión de oración en su hogar. "Muchos venezolanos que no son salvos están dándose cuenta que no tienen los recursos espirituales para enfrentar la crisis," observó Starr. La última crisis brotó a inicios de febrero cuando estudiantes en el oeste de Venezuela escenificaron manifestaciones luego de que una estudiante universitaria presuntamente fue violada. Los manifestantes demandaban que el gobierno se hiciera cargo del asunto del crimen; el país tiene el quinto índice de asesinato más alto del mundo, de acuerdo a reportes de noticias. También se quejaban por el 56 porciento de índice de inflación de Venezuela -- el más alto del mundo -- y la escasez de productos básicos como leche, aceite para cocinar y papel sanitario. Después de que la policía detuvo a algunos estudiantes, las manifestaciones anti gobierno se extendieron a Caracas y a otras ciudades. Venezuela ha sido profundamente dividida políticamente durante casi 15 años, una desavenencia que comenzó cuando el fallecido presidente Hugo Chávez facilitó el camino al socialismo durante su presidencia de 14 años. Esa desavenencia se amplió después de la muerte de Chávez en marzo del 2013 y la reñida contienda electoral el pasado abril de su personalmente escogido sucesor, Nicolás Maduro. "Ha habido mucho descontento en el país, aun antes de que las protestas estallaran," señaló Starr. "[La agitación] solamente se ha ido desarrollando." "Un fusible ha sido encendido, pero no sabemos cuán largo es el fusible," le dijo el pastor venezolano a Starr hace seis meses. Hasta ahora, por lo menos 20 personas han muerto debido a la violencia en torno a las manifestaciones, dijeron reportes de noticias. Después de las primeras de esas muertes, la Convención Nacional Bautista de Venezuela publicó una declaración que condenaba la violencia e instaba a soluciones demócratas. La declaración también les pedía a los cristianos alrededor del mundo que oraran por Venezuela llamando a una "sincera y continua oración a Dios implorándole que hiciera brillar su rostro sobre nosotros, que sanara nuestra nación y que nos ayudara a enfrentar y transformar las circunstancias presentes por el bien de todos los venezolanos." Los líderes de IMB hicieron eco de ese llamado a la oración e instaron a orar por los bautistas venezolanos y los misioneros de IMB en Venezuela. Terry Lassiter, líder estratega de IMB para las etnias afines americanas, dijo… Dios se está moviendo de grandes maneras en el evangelismo y la plantación de iglesias [allí] como nunca antes." "Este no ha sido un tiempo fácil para nuestros misioneros [y sus compañeros bautistas venezolanos]," añadió Lassiter, "así que oren para que Dios los use a ellos de maneras poderosas como nunca antes." Christopher Rigdon*, misionero de IMB en Caracas, dijo: "Mientras el mundo se enfoca en Venezuela y sus problemas, oren para que nosotros también como nuestros compañeros nacionales permanezcamos fieles a lo que hemos sido llamados a hacer." A pesar de los disturbios, los bautistas en Caracas están planeando el lanzamiento temprano de una campaña evangelizadora en toda la ciudad previamente programada para agosto. En preparación, los líderes les pidieron a los miembros de las iglesias que comenzaran reuniones de oración en los hogares e invitaran a los vecinos no cristianos a unirse a ellos. "La idea es saturar la ciudad en oración," dijo Ridgon. "Solo imaginen cómo sería si cada calle y cada edificio de apartamentos estuvieran cubiertos en oración. Cada grupo de oración tiene el potencial de convertirse en una nueva iglesia en la red de iglesias de la ciudad." Mientras tanto, Rigdon y sus colegas de IMB están extendiéndose a sus vecinos mientras pasan más tiempo en el hogar debido a las barricadas en las calles y los asuntos de seguridad. Rigdon y su esposa Kate* han encontrado oportunidades de ministerio mientras esperan en las largas filas en las tiendas de comestibles debido a la escasez de alimento. Un día, una mujer detrás de ellos dijo que acababa de recibir un mensaje de twitter que reportaba que otra manifestación había comenzado. "Se podía ver la preocupación y la ansiedad en su cara," recordó Rigdon. Rigdon entonces le ofreció orar por ella. "Justo allí en la fila de la caja, nos inclinamos en oración," dijo él. "Mi esposa levantó la vista al final de la oración y se dio cuenta que aquellos alrededor de nosotros también se inclinaron en oración." Otro día en la fila de la caja, un venezolano mencionó el reciente disturbio. Rigdon convirtió el tema en un asunto espiritual y compartió su testimonio. El hombre parecía abierto, así que Rigdon ofreció reunirse con él luego para compartir más. Al cabo de unas pocas horas, el hombre le envió un texto a Rigdon y le pidió que se reunieran el siguiente sábado. "Muchos venezolanos saben que necesitan algo en su vida. Desafortunadamente, muchos han llenado ese vacío con cosas mundanas y no con Dios," dijo Rigdon. "Ellos necesitan [creyentes] que les hagan preguntas fuertes como: '¿Qué te impide hacer la decisión de seguir a Cristo?'" Starr y su esposa Monica* están haciéndole estas preguntas a una familia venezolana que injustamente perdió su negocio debido a la política venezolana y a la situación económica. Cuando la familia luchaba para superarse, los Starr compartieron el evangelio con ellos. La madre y sus hijos ahora llegan dos veces a la semana al apartamento de los Starr, donde Monica los guía en un estudio bíblico. "Oren para que ellos lleguen a tener una relación con el Señor," dijo Monica. Los Starr y sus colegas les pidieron a los bautistas del sur que oraran por la misma cosa para los venezolanos en ambos lados del conflicto del país. "Muchos venezolanos le han vuelto la espalda a Dios… y ellos necesitan someterse a Dios y reconocer su soberanía," dijo Matthew Starr. "Una nación que le vuelve la espalda a Dios no va a ser bendecida." Peticiones de oración: -- Oren para que las iglesias evangélicas en Venezuela no tomen partido en el conflicto político de Venezuela sino que se enfoquen en alcanzar a los venezolanos para Cristo. -- Oren para que muchos venezolanos que no son salvos en ambos lados del conflicto lleguen a conocer a Jesucristo como Salvador. -- Oren por la protección y la sabiduría de Dios para los misioneros de IMB y sus compañeros bautistas venezolanos cuando busquen maneras creativas de ministrar en medio de los disturbios. -- Oren por la seguridad de algunos bautistas venezolanos que ministran en las líneas del frente de las áreas de protesta. -- Oren para el gobierno de Venezuela escuche las preocupaciones de los manifestantes y que puedan ser encontradas soluciones pacíficas. -- Oren por la reconciliación entre la gente de Venezuela, que está profundamente dividida políticamente. --30-- *Nombre cambiado. María Elena Baseler es editora y escritora de IMB, quien vive en América. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Los fideicomisarios de IMB comienzan búsqueda para encontrar el sucesor de Elliff by Por Tess Rivers Date: March 14, 2014 - Friday AUSTIN, Texas (BP) -- El presidente de IMB, Tom Elliff, ha pedido a los fideicomisarios de la organización que comiencen la búsqueda de su sucesor. Tal pedido vino durante la reunión de los fideicomisarios del 25 al 26 de febrero en Austin, Texas. Elliff, 70, quien ha dirigido la agencia misionera desde el 2011, seguirá como presidente de la organización hasta que el próximo presidente de IMB haya asumido la dirección. Aunque ninguna fecha ha sido propuesta, Elliff animó a los fideicomisarios a moverse con rapidez y cuidado para completar el proceso de búsqueda. "Yo prometo mi animado y devoto servicio como su presidente hasta que mi sucesor sea escogido y este oficiando", él dijo. "Pero estoy urgiendo al equipo de búsqueda que actúe con máxima conveniencia…no con apuro descuidado o abandono, pero con una deliberación bañada en oración y sin descanso. "Nosotros debemos trabajar y orar juntos, tal como hemos hecho estos años pasados, para lograr esta transición tan perfecta y efectiva como sea posible. La causa de nuestro Salvador y el bienestar de nuestro personal merecen nada menos que lo mejor de nosotros". En respuesta, el presidente de los fideicomisarios de IMB, David Uth, pastor principal de First Baptist Church de Orlando, Florida, nombró un comité de búsqueda de 15 miembros. El grupo representa una diversidad geográfica, de edad, vocacional y género. Ninguno fungió en el comité de búsqueda que nominó a Elliff como presidente. Los miembros del comité de búsqueda incluyen al primer vicepresidente John Edie, retirado, miembro de Second Baptist Church, Springfield, Mo.; Jay Collins, ingeniero civil, miembro de First Baptist Church de Haughton, La.; Jay Gross, pastor, West Conroe Baptist Church, Conroe, Texas; Scott Harris, ministro de misiones, Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood, Tenn.; Rick Lewis, pastor, Ken Caryl Baptist Church, Littleton, Colo.; Jaye Martin, director de ministerios, First Baptist Church, Houston, Texas; y Vickie Mascagni, dietista registrada, miembro de Morrison Heights Baptist Church, Clinton, Miss. El comité también incluye a John Meador, pastor principal, First Baptist Church de Euless, Texas; Matt Pearson, pastor de First Baptist Church de El Dorado, Ark.; Doyle Prior, pastor principal, Bethel Baptist Church, Norman, Okla.; Cindy Snead, científica de laboratorio clínico, miembro de North Phoenix Baptist Church, Phoenix, Ariz.; Matt Taylor, pastor principal, First Baptist Church de Lebanon, Mo.; Kristen White, director de movilización global de la California Baptist University, miembro de Magnolia Avenue Baptist Church, Riverside, Calif.; y Jay Wolf, pastor, First Baptist Church de Montgomery, Ala. Uth servirá como presidente. Cuando Elliff inicialmente compartió su deseo con Uth de comenzar el proceso para encontrar un sucesor, Uth deseaba consejo en seleccionar los miembros del comité de búsqueda pero también deseaba mantener la confidencialidad. "Yo sabía que necesitaba el consejo de otros, pero no podía decirles lo que yo estaba pidiendo", dijo Uth. "Por tanto, yo hice la pregunta: Si yo fuera a juntar un equipo de personas para pensar acerca de cómo el futuro luce, ¿a quién usted recomendaría?" Usando esta manera de proceder, Uth pudo asegurarse de conseguir nombres "que vienen a mí con gran confianza, aun cuando ellos no sabían a que posición ellos estaban recomendando (a estos fideicomisarios)", él dijo. "Mientras mantuve estos nombres en mi escritorio, yo presente sus nombres al Señor", Uth dijo. "Yo creo que Dios honrara a este grupo". Uth también apoya la decisión de Elliff de permanecer en su cargo como presidente hasta que se nombre un sucesor. "La belleza de (este arreglo) es que Tom continua dirigiendo", Uth dijo, notando que IMB continua moviéndose hacia adelante. Durante la reunión, los fideicomisarios de IMB nombraron 40 hombres y mujeres a servir en países alrededor del mundo, con un total de fuerza misionera de IMB de más de 4.800. Tanto Elliff como Uth están de acuerdo que una transición sin pliegue es el mejor camino hacia adelante para el beneficio del personal ultramar y que se dirige a la urgencia de alcanzar a un mundo perdido con el evangelio. "Estamos corriendo y cruzando la meta", dijo Elliff. "Muchas veces cuando una organización del tamaño de la nuestra cambia liderazgo, hay un mal paso. Nosotros no vamos a disminuir el paso. Estamos en movimiento hacia adelante". Para proponer nombres para consideración del comité de búsqueda de IMB, envíe un correo electrónico a searchteam@imb.org. La próxima reunión de fideicomisarios de IMB será del 13 al 14 de mayo en Spartanburg, S.C. --30-- Tess Rivers es una escritora de IMB. Traducción por David Raúl Lema, Jr. -------------------------------------------------------------------- La diversidad étnica es viable en la iglesia, dice Newbell by Por Tom Strode Date: March 14, 2014 - Friday NASHVILLE (BP) -- Las barreras de la diversidad étnica en la iglesia -- barreras ya destruidas por el evangelio de Jesús -- pueden ser eliminadas en la práctica cuando los cristianos se despojan de suposiciones y vencen los temores, sostiene la autora Trillia Newbell. Newbell, quien ha escrito un nuevo libro sobre la diversidad en el cuerpo de Cristo, dice que las relaciones basadas en un deseo humilde de entender pueden ser vitales en una causa por la que ella siente pasión. "[U]stedes no quieren asumir. Ustedes quieren hacer preguntas," dijo ella en una entrevista en video en línea de la Comisión de Libertad Religiosa y Ética de los bautistas del sur. "Es maravilloso lo que podemos aprender los unos de los otros cuando estamos abiertos y dispuestos." "Así que creo que uno puede entrar en una relación sin asumir que ya lo sabe todo, [y estar] dispuesto a preguntar si no sabe," dijo Newbell, consultante para iniciativas de mujeres de la ERLC. El temor también puede inhibir el esfuerzo de lograr una diversidad étnica, dijo. "Si usted no conoce a alguien o no sabe algo acerca de alguien, podría solo estar asustado," le dijo Newbell a Daniel Darling, vicepresidente de comunicaciones de la ERLC. "También es un asunto candente. ... y por eso la gente está, creo, solamente asustada, asustada de hablar de eso por lo que vemos no solamente en los medios sino en nuestros patios. Puede ser un tema delicado, pero no tiene que serlo. Puede ser algo de lo que podemos hablar, porque creo que cuando comencemos a hablar de esto, ayudará a romper estas divisiones y barreras, especialmente con los cristianos porque no hay una, no debería haber una." El evangelio ha erradicado tales divisiones para los seguidores de Cristo. "El evangelio nos une y nos hace hermanos y hermanas," dijo Newbell en subsiguientes entrevistas. "Solamente en el cuerpo de Cristo pueden dos personas ser diferentes y sin embargo la misma (iguales en creación, iguales en redención). La sangre de Jesús rompe la división que tan frecuentemente nos enreda." A pesar del evangelio y de la celebración de Dios de la diversidad en la humanidad, "el problema con el modelo actual de iglesia y la experiencia de la mayoría de nosotros es que aunque afirmamos estas verdades con nuestros labios, el domingo en la mañana revela una diferente historia," dijo. Convertida al cristianismo cuando joven, Newbell era parte de una iglesia de Knoxville, Tennessee, formada mayormente por gente blanca durante una década. Una petición de su pastor la llevó a escribir su libro: "United: Captured by God's Vision for Diversity" (Unidos: Capturados por la visión de Dios sobre la diversidad). "Mi pastor en ese entonces me pidió que leyera y revisara el libro de John Piper 'Bloodlines,' (Linaje)" le dijo ella a Baptist Press. "El libro me afectó mucho porque fue la primera vez que leí tan claramente acerca de asuntos de raza escritos por un teólogo blanco. Desde entonces escribí un blog acerca de mis propias preocupaciones y luchas como mujer negra en una iglesia predominantemente blanca. La respuesta era muy notable para mí. Así que mucho parecía resonar con lo que yo estaba compartiendo; parecía como que el tema debía ser tratado." Newbell creció en el sur, y su padre le contó sobre ser golpeado por rehusarse a cantar "Dixie" en un evento deportivo, sobre el sufrimiento que los negros experimentaban en esos días. Él también le enseñó a amar a todas las personas, sin importar su etnicidad. Cuando ella se convirtió a Cristo, llegó a comprender que ser negra "no era su primera identidad," escribió ella en su libro. "Y aunque la riqueza de esa verdad tomó tiempo para penetrar, primero pasé a ser cristiana, luego mujer negra." Además de encontrar su identidad en Cristo, ella también se benefició grandemente de las relaciones profundas con dos jóvenes mujeres cristianas -- una blanca y otra china. Esas amistades le dieron cuerpo a la diversidad étnica del cuerpo de Cristo y formó mucho de su peregrinaje personal descrito en el libro. "Al desarrollarse en diversas relaciones, le desplegamos la reconciliación y redención de Cristo a un mundo que está roto y dividido," dijo Newbell. "La verdadera unidad se encuentra primero a través de ser reconciliados con Dios y luego los unos con los otros. Caminar en esa unidad codo a codo con gente de cada tribu y raza es declararle al mundo que la sangre de Cristo es suficiente para la lucha de la reconciliación racial." Debido a que la salvación en Cristo de los pecadores trasciende todas las etnicidades, "nuestras iglesias deben ser los ambientes más agradables en el planeta," escribió. "Más que ningún otro lugar, la iglesia debe ser más abierta a tener gente diferente y estar emocionada por eso." Newbell; su esposo Thern Newbell, quien es blanco, y sus hijos se trasladaron al área de Nashville el año pasado y son parte de otra congregación predominantemente blanca, una nueva iglesia planta bautista del sur. Las iglesias, especialmente sus líderes, pueden dar pasos intencionados para albergar la diversidad étnica. "Creo que es importante tratar de desarrollar un personal que refleje sus deseos de diversidad," dijo ella. "También creo que es importante que ellos hablen acerca de esto y les presenten una visión de eso a sus congregaciones." Los cristianos pueden promover la diversidad en sus familias invitando gente de diferentes etnicidades a sus hogares y leyendo libros juntos "sobre otras personas, otras naciones y otras tribus," dijo Newbell. "La hospitalidad les enseña a los niños, uno, a amar a la gente y a servir a otros porque hay que enfocarse en los otros para ser hospitalario, pero también les puede enseñar que acogen en su hogar a otras personas que no son como ellos en términos de etnicidad," dijo. Newbell es la editora principal de Karis, el canal de mujeres para el Consejo sobre virilidad y feminidad bíblicas, y blogs en sitios tales como la Coalición del evangelio y Deseando a Dios. Su libro, publicado por Moody Publishers, está disponible en Lifeway Christian Stores, otros vendedores de libros cristianos y Amazon. --30-- Tom Strode es jefe de la oficina de Baptist Press en Washington. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Se acerca la apertura del museo de la familia Green, sobre la Biblia by Por el Personal Date: March 14, 2014 - Friday WASHINGTON (BP) -- Un museo sobre la Biblia, cuyo nombre todavía está por decidirse y cuyos dueños son la familia Green de las tiendas Hobby Lobby, ha avanzado un paso más cerca de su apertura programada para el 2017 en Washington, D.C., con la contratación de dos ejecutivos de administración de alto nivel. El Museo de la Biblia, una organización sin fines de lucro que supervisará el museo, contrató a David Trobisch como director de las colecciones del museo y a Steve Bickley como vicepresidente de mercadotecnia, finanzas y administración, esto según un boletín de prensa del 6 de marzo. El museo, el cual se enfocará en la historia e impacto de la Biblia, se ubicará en un espacio reconstruido de 400,000 pies cuadrados que anteriormente era el Centro de Diseño de Washington, justo a tres cuadras del Capitolio de los EE UU. En dicho recinto se albergará una colección de 40,000 antiguos textos y artefactos bíblicos, incluyendo una de las mayores colecciones privadas de los Rollos del Mar Muerto y los textos más antiguos del Nuevo Testamento que hayan sobrevivido en el idioma materno de Jesús. Steve Green, el director del museo y presidente de la cadena de tiendas de artes y manualidades Hobby Lobby, alabó la pericia de Trobisch como un erudito bíblico independiente que da consultas a las sociedades bíblicas de EE UU y Alemania. "Cuando buscamos en la comunidad académica a… un erudito que pudiera dirigir nuestra adquisición y esfuerzos de investigación, escuchamos una y otra vez el nombre de David Trobisch como un erudito muy dotado y distinguido," dijo Green. Trobisch aconsejará sobre las nuevas adquisiciones, identificará las tramas para las exhibiciones del museo y supervisará a un equipo de 30 eruditos y curadores. Bickley había sido el vicepresidente ejecutivo de mercadotecnia y desarrollo de negocios para Bell Media, la mayor compañía de medios de comunicación en Canadá. Desarrollar un museo para educar al mundo sobre la Biblia es un movimiento importante, dijo Green. "Probablemente tenemos a la población más ignorante [sobre la Biblia] que haya habido en nuestra sociedad porque se está quitando de nuestras escuelas," dijo Green. "Queremos poder, de una manera sencilla, explicarles, 'Aquí está lo que es la Biblia.' A final de cuentas, se trata del hecho que somos pecadores, necesitamos a un Salvador y Cristo lo es. Y que Él vino a morir por nosotros para que tuviéramos vida." Green es el dueño de la mayor colección privada de textos y artefactos bíblicos en todo el mundo, y solamente comenzó esta misión en el 2009. Él cree que la Biblia es "el libro más increíble que jamás que haya escrito" y que ha tenido "el mayor impacto en nuestra sociedad que cualquier otro libro." Él planifica que el museo cuente la historia de la Biblia de una manera sólida y académica. Hasta que el museo abra sus puertas, la Colección Green está siendo presentada por todo el mundo como una exhibición itinerante llamada "Pasajes." La exhibición, de 14,000 pies cuadrados con multimedia interactiva, incluye manuscritos bíblicos raros, Biblias impresas y artículos históricos como papiros bíblicos antiguos, porciones de la Biblia Gutenberg y múltiples primeras ediciones de la Biblia en inglés a través de la versión King James. Un vocero de la Colección Green dijo que la familia amasó la colección "no con la intención de encerrarla bajo llave para protegerla o meterla en un centro de estudios, si no para compartirla con el mundo. No se consideran a sí mismos como coleccionistas. Su meta es que la historia, erudición e impacto de la Biblia sean accesibles para todos. --30-- Compilada por Erin Roach, el editor asistente de Baptist Press. -------------------------------------------------------------------- EDITORIAL: Simplemente acércate a ellos by Por Fermín Whittaker Date: March 14, 2014 - Friday FRESNO, Calif. (BP) -- Leer ha sido mi pasión durante toda mi vida. Me encanta leer y procuro leer un libro cada dos meses. Tenemos mucho que aprender de otros. Terminé de leer el clásico de Bill Hybels, Simplemente acércate a ellos: Pasos sencillos para guiar a las personas hacia la fe. Con frecuencia sentimos la presión de recorrer el mundo y mientras tanto perdemos la oportunidad de acercarnos a otros, que están en la misma habitación, para hablarles de Cristo. Continuaré presentando mi fe a otros, comenzando por el círculo de mi familia y amistades. Hay gozo en presentar a Cristo a otras personas. A todos se nos "envía" como misioneros para alcanzar al mundo, comenzando con nuestra Jerusalén. ¿Está usted consciente de lo "perdida" que está su comunidad? ¿Ha pensado cómo hacer un impacto por Cristo en su comunidad? Existen muchos métodos y libros escritos acerca de la evangelización. Pienso que todavía hay innumerables seguidores de Cristo esperando que les asignen esta tarea tan importante. A veces el temor, la incertidumbre, la ansiedad y la renuencia nos impiden ser los testigos que Dios quiere que seamos. Cuando reflexiono en las oportunidades "perdidas", no permito que el pasado me obsesione. Mi deseo es orar, hablar, sentarme para tener una conversación y contar la historia de Jesús que vino a morir por mí. Su amor está disponible para todos. Hace poco estaba hablando con alguien por teléfono y la persona me dijo: "He ido demasiado lejos. ¿Piensa usted que seré bienvenido?" Contesté: "Sí, usted no puede ir tan lejos como para que el amor de Dios no le alcance. Nosotros creemos esto porque nuestro Padre Celestial dice: "Clama a mí, y yo te responderé, y te enseñaré cosas grandes y ocultas que tú no conoces", Jeremías 33.3. "Que si confesares con tu boca que Jesús es el Señor, y creyeres en tu corazón que Dios le levantó de los muertos, serás salvo", (Romanos 10.9). Antes de terminar la semana, tome un tiempo para acercarse a otros en el cuarto, al otro lado de la calle, en la oficina, etc. y conviértase en un testimonio viviente de la gracia de Dios. --30-- Fermín Whittaker es el director ejecutivo de la Convención Bautista del Sur en California. Los materiales en español publicados por esta convención se encuentran en http://www.csbc.com/languageresources.