
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-03/23/2009

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Federal shift in marijuana policy is called 'disastrous'
by Staff
Date: March 23, 2009 - Monday

WASHINGTON (BP)--The Obama administration's "surrender to bad state policies on so-called medicinal marijuana will have disastrous effects," a Southern Baptist ethics leader said in response to a shift in marijuana policy indicated by Attorney General Eric Holder.

"Medicinal marijuana is the Trojan horse of the marijuana decriminalization movement," said Barrett Duke, vice president for public policy of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

The federal government no longer will raid medical marijuana distributors if they are in violation only of federal law and not of state law, Holder told reporters March 18 during a question-and-answer session at the Department of Justice, according to the Associated Press.

The new policy under President Obama marks a switch from that of the previous administration. During the Bush administration, federal agents raided medical marijuana distributors in California, even though that state's law allowed its distribution and use for such a purpose.

"The policy is to go after those people who violate both federal and state law," Holder said. Federal law prohibits the sale of marijuana for medical purposes, but California and 12 other states have legalized the use of medical marijuana. The other dozen states are Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, according to the Drug Policy Alliance Network.

"Given the limited resources that we have, our focus will be on people, organizations that are growing, cultivating substantial amounts of marijuana and doing so in a way that's inconsistent with federal and state law," Holder said, AP reported.

Duke, of the ERLC, said the Obama administration's decision "is not the kind of change America needs." Medicinal marijuana, he said, is "a threat to our nation's well-being and health, not a prescription for a better life."

The failure to enforce federal, anti-drug laws will not help the sick or society, Duke said. Marijuana has not been shown to be especially helpful in relieving pain, he said. Its greater medicinal use likely will lead to increased usage by young people, potential legalization for recreational purposes and widespread drug-related problems, Duke said.

Advocates for medical marijuana use had a different response to the policy change. "It signals a new direction and a more reasonable and sensible direction on medical marijuana policy," said Kris Hermes, a spokesman for Americans for Safe Access.
--30--
Compiled by Baptist Press Washington bureau chief Tom Strode.


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Students reach out in melee-marred town
by Joni B. Hannigan/Florida Baptist Witness
Date: March 23, 2009 - Monday

SAMSON, Ala. (BP)--The memory of 18-month-old Corrine Gracy Myers running down the tiny rural church's center aisle brought a subdued chuckle to pastor Brent Gay.

"You know how kids run around," Gay said quietly.

Gay's memory of the incident was seared into place when he learned that little Corrine and her mom, Andrea D. Myers, along with eight others were gunned down March 10.

Gay said it had become somewhat of a joke that the first person to "walk the aisle" in response to his invitation was a mere toddler. Myers, wife of Geneva County deputy Josh Myers, had visited the church Gay leads, Mt. Pleasant Baptist in Samson, Ala., several times since he had become pastor several months earlier. Gay also is a ministerial student at The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville, near the Florida/Alabama border, commuting an hour to and from Samson for his ministry.

Police say Michael McLendon, 28, was responsible for the massacre, which included five of his family members and ended when he committed suicide at a metals plant where he previously had been employed.

The day the shootings happened, Gay was in Samson with Mark Rathel, a BCF professor who preached that night during Mt. Pleasant's week of spiritual renewal.

Moved by the sight of people "on the side of the street crying," Gay asked the college if he could spearhead a ministry effort in the hurting town over the weekend, and "Project Samson" was born.

"I think it's critically important during times like this for the church, the body of Christ, to go out there and help hurting people in the community," Gay said. "It's times like this that people find that a lot of things that they have put their hope in have no significance whatsoever. It's a time that we can point them to Jesus Christ as the only source of true hope."

On March 14, nearly two dozen students and faculty members blanketed the town and the surrounding rural area -- prayerwalking, leaving flyers on the doors of all residences and businesses, and being available to listen and pray.

Drawing on his experience as a ham radio operator with Florida Baptist disaster relief and his emergency management training, Gay obtained permission from officials in Samson for the initiative.

Although other counseling and support services were available to residents after the tragedy, Gay said Project Samson took to the streets and sought people out instead of waiting for them to ask for help.

During training sessions at the Florida campus on Friday, March 13, Gay briefed the students on the general atmosphere in Samson and the logistics for how they would move around town. Both Gay and Mike Burns, a BCF professor who teaches courses in Christian counseling, had been in Samson since the shooting to prepare for the project.

Burns and Sue Gilbert, a campus counselor and adjunct professor, led in crisis/grief ministry training, while BCF dean of faculty Robin Jumper talked about prayerwalking.

"We were simply trying to prepare students and others as much as possible for what they would see," Jumper said. But, he noted, experience in the field, especially in evangelism, is important. "You can't learn how in a classroom," Jumper said. "You actually learn how face to face with a lost person."

A bus and several vehicles departed early March 14 from Graceville and met at Samson High School where 24 students and faculty members divided into six teams. They put fliers in people's doors and stopped at local businesses where shop owners posted a phone number that those who were hurting could call and kept a few flyers on their counters as well.

Gay said his team met up with Deputy Myers who had just returned from the first of the funerals related to the shootings. On the day of the melee, Myers' wife Andrea was visiting neighbors "right there on that street," Gay said -- in the same community where the church is -- when she was gunned down as she sat on a porch with her daughter by her side. The Myerses' 4-month-old daughter Ella was wounded in the shooting and has been released from the hospital; their 4-year-old son Issak was found hiding inside the home, unharmed.

Andrea Myers grew up near Wichita, Kan., and she and Josh moved to Samson about 18 months ago, according to news reports.

"I'm sure right now he's going through a lot," Gay said of Myers, recounting that his team encircled the deputy and held hands with him. "We had a chance to talk to him ... and we had a chance to pray with him."

At a business in Samson, one lady heard Gay speaking with the owner and approached him to say how brokenhearted she was.

"I was able to minister to her in the store and assure her that the emotions she was having were normal," Gay said. He also left her a devotional booklet designed for crisis counseling situations.

At a local hardware store, the owner showed one team a bullet hole in the American flag -- and told them 15 other bullet holes were discovered throughout the store. None, however, hit any of the five customers in the store at the time, the grateful owner said as the team posted flyers on newly installed windows.

BCF students Allen Marsh and John Harrell found themselves in the back of a police cruiser, being taken across town to the home of a young man who needed someone with whom he could talk.

"The meeting went very well and they were able to help &#91;the man&#93; with some of his issues," Gay said. "At the end of the meeting they shared the Gospel with him."

Noting that Samson and its surrounding communities typically are places where people congregate on their porches and are not afraid to leave their doors open, Jumper said he believes the BCF effort will help. Although people were leery when first approached, he said they quickly became appreciative upon learning of the teams' efforts.

"This is not supposed to happen in a small town in Alabama," Jumper said. "We simply sought to provide ministry with each person as we felt led by the Lord to do so. We were trying to be a listening ear. To hear how it affected them and how they were connected, and we tried to respond from there."

Jumper encountered an elementary school teacher and member of a Baptist church in Samson who voiced concern about how she could help children connected directly and indirectly to those who were killed.

"How was she going to do her job and handle it spiritually?" Jumper said, describing the teacher's concern. Jumper and two BCF team members "prayed for her. We held hands, the four of us, and just offered loving care and prayer and support for her, at her home, and she was very grateful."

Gay said the effort will continue inasmuch as there is a telephone number that people in Samson can call if they are in need of prayer or they just want to talk.

"We live in a tough world and that's where it is," Jumper said. "If we are going to minister in that world, we've got to be ready to face the difficulty."
--30--
Joni B. Hannigan is managing editor of the Florida Baptist Witness (www.floridabaptistwitness.com), newsjournal of the Florida Baptist State Convention.


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Teen's vision brings water to Darfur
by Mark Kelly
Date: March 23, 2009 - Monday

MILAN, Tenn. (BP)--Joshua Guthrie was a troubled teen. Like many others of his generation, the high school sophomore was troubled by the needless suffering of so many people in so many places. Hunger and poverty. Wartime atrocities and sex trafficking. AIDS orphans and genocides.

It seemed so impossible for a 16-year-old in west Tennessee to make a difference.

Then Joshua read "Do Hard Things," a bestselling book by twin brothers Alex and Brett Harris, at 20 years old only barely out of their teens themselves. The book challenges young people to rebel against "the myth of adolescence" -- the notion that teens are by nature irresponsible, immature and rebellious. "By breaking the mold of what society thinks we are capable of, teens can achieve so much more than what's expected," the brothers write. "We've seen 'average' teenagers transformed from channel changers to world changers who are accomplishing incredible things."

The book rocked Joshua's world.

"For as long as I can remember, my family has supported children through World Vision, and we have gotten their catalogs, which list items you can buy for needy people around the world," Joshua said during an interview at his parents' home near Milan, Tenn. "I had always wanted to be able to buy one of the really big items, like the largest well, which was $10,000."

Joshua knew that clean, safe water is a life-and-death issue for nearly 900 million people around the world. He found it deeply disturbing that water-related disease kills more than 3.5 million people each year -- the vast majority of them children, almost half of them because of simple diarrhea.

Joshua's desire to help grew even more when Jeff Palmer, executive director for Baptist Global Response, came to the Guthrie home for dinner in the spring of 2008. Palmer and Joshua's dad, George, had been friends since their college days at Union University in nearby Jackson, Tenn., where George Guthrie now serves as a Bible professor. Joshua learned that Baptist Global Response, an international relief and development organization, works on precisely the kind of human needs ministries he cared so much about.

"Mr. Palmer told me Baptist Global Response was helping drill water wells in Sudan and he gave me some tips about how to go about raising money for a project like that," Joshua recounted. "I thought that paying for a well would be a really cool thing to do, but a teen really can't save up $8,000 or $10,000 for a well. I knew I would have to raise it with the help of others. When I read Do Hard Things, I thought, 'I really need to get going on this if I actually want to do anything.' So I kind of took the step to get started."

Joshua zeroed in on the idea of giving other teens an achievable goal: giving up one drink so they could give $1 to help build one well in Sudan. He set a goal of raising $8,000 by Christmas. With his parents' help, he reserved an Internet domain -- dollarforadrink.org. They registered the new organization as a nonprofit, got a post office box and set a launch date of Oct. 1. They got a basic website up, and Joshua started talking the project up in the forums at the Harris brothers' website, therebelution.com.

"It's a wonderfully run website," Joshua said. "I got lots of advice, encouragement and suggestions, even before I started the project. Then the Harris brothers announced they would match all donations given by their members, up to a total of $1,000.

"It came in fast," Joshua said. "The first gift we received was $250 from a college student. In less than two weeks, we had reached the $1,000 matching gift goal. And the day after Christmas, when we received the $1,000 check from Alex and Brett Harris, we had raised a little over $10,000."

Money kept coming in, however, and by the time they were ready to write the check to Baptist Global Response, the total had risen to $11,200.

The drive succeeded, not because of large checks, but because so many people made small donations.

"We had kids who were in their youth groups or on their campuses doing these mini-drives," said Joshua's mother, Pat. "We'd get these checks from these little churches and groups, just all over the place."

"Apart from the Rebelution check, everything else was pretty much small donations," Joshua said. "We didn't have a whole lot of single-dollar donations, but we had lots of $5 and $10 gifts. I'm sure lots of people in churches and at schools gave single dollars, but it just came to us in a larger check.

"Through the post office box, we got a lot of money in with cards and letters, just giving us encouragement to keep going and that they really appreciated what I was doing," he added. "It was always a lot of fun to go to the post office and find a large stack of letters and read them. My favorite was from a little old lady in a nursing home who said, 'I don't have much I can give. I just wanted to give what I could,' and there was like $5 in the envelope. It was so sweet. I wrote her back to thank her."

On March 15, Joshua received photos of the well put in by his Dollar for a Drink campaign. The photos were sent by Abraham Shepherd, who directs Baptist Global Response work in North Africa. One image showed young people from a community of about 6,000 people in Sudan's Darfur region, drawing water from the new borehole. Before this well was drilled, people had to walk at least four hours to get to a source of clean water, Shepherd said.

"On behalf of the needy people of Sudan, I thank you for caring and rallying others to care with you, to provide that drink of water," Shepherd wrote. "When I told them about your desire to raise more funds and drill more wells, in working with BGR, the response from Sudan was: 'We need all the help that we can get. We need people like yourself who will help us quench the thirst of the needy and give them hope.'"

Jeff Palmer agreed: "The Apostle Paul said to Timothy, 'Don't let anyone look down upon you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.' I think Joshua has set that kind of example for us all. He took on this awesome vision, followed God's leading and showed a whole generation his own age, as well as those much older, that God can do amazing things when we hear and follow His plans for us. My prayer is that more people will be inspired by Josh's story and dare to make a difference."

Joshua has his sights set on another round of fundraising -- with a goal of $16,000 to drill two wells. This time, he can spend his summer raising awareness, instead of organizing the project, and he plans to launch the campaign Sept. 1 to coincide with the start of school.

He said he has learned two important lessons from his experience.

"I learned you actually have to take the first step forward," he said. "In the beginning, I was just kind of thinking, 'Well, what do I need to do?' I guess starting something like this was kind of intimidating. But Dad and I sat down and made a list of five things we needed to do. They were real simple things, and then we just kind of got going with it. Things started accelerating, and by the time we got into October, I was kind of like, 'How did we get here?'

"I also learned you've got to trust God that it's possible to do something like this," he noted. "It doesn't matter what your age is. So often people think, 'Well, that person is exceptionally gifted' or 'That person really had the right resources. I couldn't do that.' I'm just a completely ordinary guy, but I serve an extraordinary God.

"I just really want to say that it's possible for God to use you, if you'll just take the step forward and let Him do His work."
--30--
Mark Kelly is an assistant editor with Baptist Press. More information about Dollar for a Drink can be found at www.dollarforadrink.org. Baptist Global Response is on the Web at www.gobgr.org.


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Crossover '09 aims for 'lasting impact'
by Mickey Noah
Date: March 23, 2009 - Monday

<i>REVISED March 25, 2009.</i>

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Even storied, 135-year-old Churchill Downs -- home of the Kentucky Derby -- will be among the ministry venues as Southern Baptists engage in Crossover Louisville '09.

Now in its 21st year, Crossover is an evangelistic thrust to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ the week before the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in each year's host city.

Crossover Louisville '09 will kick off with Intentional Community Evangelism (ICE) on Sunday, June 14, and will culminate the June 19-20 weekend prior to the June 23-24 SBC annual meeting at the Kentucky Exposition Center. Crossover will be jointly sponsored by SBC's North American Mission Board, the Kentucky Baptist Convention, Long Run Baptist Association, Kentucky Woman's Missionary Union and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

"Our objective is to share Jesus and have a lasting impact on metro Louisville," said Charles Barnes, longtime Baptist lay leader in Louisville, retired banking executive and chairman of the Crossover Louisville '09 steering committee.

"We're not interested in things that will have some glamour for only a week or so and then die," Barnes said. "We want to go at things in a way that will not only win people to Christ but will disciple them thereafter. Hopefully, out of Crossover '09's block parties and festivals, we will not only have decisions for Christ but will have new churches that will emerge. We hope it will spark us to a new era of growth among all our churches and as a catalyst to move forward more aggressively."

Barnes said the Long Run Baptist Association includes some 160 Southern Baptist churches, and about 40 of them will participate in 32 block parties in various Louisville neighborhoods. Five churches will band together for a single block party in Veterans Park in the Louisville suburb of Jeffersontown.

Hundreds of Southern Baptist volunteers from around the nation are expected to come to Louisville to support Crossover events -- the block parties, an international fair featuring nine different ethnic groups, a separate Hispanic fair and door-to-door evangelism by ICE (Intentional Community Evangelism) team volunteers from NAMB and across the country.

Metro Louisville's 1 million population includes some 50,000 Hispanics, with several hundred living right around Churchill Downs, working as jockeys, trainers, groomers and in other capacities, said Joshua Del Risco, NAMB's coordinator for multiethnic evangelism in Alpharetta, Ga.

With help from Yurian Santiesteban, Southern Baptist chaplain at Churchill Downs, Crossover volunteers will visit the racetrack, witness to the Hispanic horsemen and invite them to nightly revival services at 10 area Hispanic churches, including a new church plant located almost across the street from Churchill Downs, Iglesias Baptista Victoria (Victory Baptist Church).

"When we leave Louisville, these 10 young Hispanic churches will be expected to continue their growth and keep implementing the things we learned during Crossover," Del Risco said.

Walnut Street Baptist Church will be the host church for the Crossover initiative, with eight other churches serving as ICE "anchor churches": Galilee Baptist Church, Bible Community Fellowship, Emmanuel Baptist Church, Guiding Light Baptist Church, Hunsinger Lane Baptist Church, Immanuel Baptist Church, St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church and Temple of Faith Baptist Church.

Victor Benavides, coordinator of urban evangelism for NAMB, said planners are praying for at least 2,000 salvation decisions and six-to-eight new church plants resulting from Crossover in Louisville.

"This is an opportunity for Southern Baptists to be a part of something God is doing," Benavides said. "Crossover is an evangelistic effort in a small window when we can go out there and win people for Christ. It will show us what the revival of a spiritual awakening could be like if we got out there and did it on a regular basis. We want people not just to pray for revival, but to get involved in it by coming to Louisville and sharing the Gospel with a lost person."

Since Crossover originated during the SBC annual meeting in Las Vegas in 1989, more than 41,000 individuals have prayed to receive Christ.

For additional information about Crossover Louisville '09, to register as a volunteer or to participate in ICE, go to www.crossoverlouisville.com.
--30--
Mickey Noah is a writer for the North American Mission Board.


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Legalizing marijuana incrementally
by Barrett Duke
Date: March 23, 2009 - Monday

WASHINGTON (BP)--The decision by the Obama administration to surrender to bad state policies on so-called medicinal marijuana will have disastrous effects. (See accompanying  BP story .)

Medicinal marijuana is the Trojan horse of the marijuana decriminalization movement. The movement sees it as the means to appeal to people's compassion in order to change public opinion about marijuana and ease the way toward decriminalization of marijuana. The Obama administration's decision to cave on enforcement of federal drug laws against marijuana distribution represents the dropping of the first shoe on decriminalization of marijuana and signals the next one is coming. 

With the federal government out of the way, we can expect to see a rapid rise in marijuana distributors and marijuana demand in states that have fallen victim to the medical marijuana scam. None of this escalation will prove especially helpful to the sick or to society. Those who use medicinal marijuana will pay the price first, and then everyone else will. Marijuana is not a necessary or particularly effective pain-relieving aid. 

For years, the pain-relieving ingredient in marijuana has been available by prescription. So, one cannot make the argument that medicinal marijuana is a new addition to the pain-relief arsenal. In fact, it isn't even that useful for pain relief. Most people who use marijuana to help them cope with severe pain take other stronger pain relief drugs in combination with marijuana because the pain relieving properties of marijuana are not that potent. 

On the other hand, smoking marijuana threatens to make bad situations worse for many users. Marijuana introduces multiple toxic chemicals into the systems of people whose bodies are already weakened from their ailments. Not only might these toxic chemicals hinder people's ability to fend off the cause of their pain by weakening their defenses, but users risk developing additional problems related to their use of marijuana, including respiratory ailments and addiction. 

In addition, the public's acceptance of marijuana as a medicinal aid will weaken resistance to its recreational use. As it becomes more entrenched in our society, it will be perceived as less dangerous. This will likely lead to more experimentation with marijuana by our nation's young people. Since marijuana is undoubtedly a gateway drug, we can expect to see even more of our nation's youth lose their lives and their futures to drug addiction. 

The last shoe to drop will be the legalization of marijuana distribution for recreational purposes. As marijuana use becomes part of the culture, we can expect to see a movement toward decriminalization of all marijuana use and distribution. If marijuana is decriminalized, we will see the rise of every kind of drug related problem, from performance impairment to family disruption to addiction to crime to premature death. This is not the kind of change America needs. What we need is the enforcement of laws that protect the vulnerable and that help all Americans achieve their greatest potential. What we don't need are more threats to that goal. 

Medicinal marijuana is a threat to our nation's wellbeing and health, not a prescription for a better life. The Obama administration has just made life more difficult for many of our fellow citizens and threatened the future of many millions more.
--30--
Barrett Duke is vice president for public policy and research for the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.


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Powered by the Cross
by Kenneth S. Hemphill
Date: March 23, 2009 - Monday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--I grew up near Randleman, N.C. That location may not ring any bells with you if you aren't a NASCAR fan, but for those who follow stock car racing, they may recognize it as the original location of Petty Enterprises -- which it was during my childhood. In those days, before racing became such a big business, it was possible to go by the Petty garage and see what was going on.

If you were there at the right moment, you might see them unload a crate containing one of the powerful "hemi" engines that powered the Plymouths that Richard Petty drove. That engine was unloaded from the crate, dismantled, tested, tweaked and mounted in one of the Petty blue racing machines.

During his prime, Petty was the most dominating driver on the circuit. One year he created quite a stir when the words, "powered by Plymouth" painted on the side of his car were replaced with "powered by Petty." Apparently, he was attempting to be more accurate about the power plant under the hood of his car. By the time his mechanics finished with that stock engine, it was substantially different than when it arrived in the crate. Thus the words "powered by Petty" seemed most appropriate.

What would we write on the side of our church? Is its source of power its programs, organizations and staff? We often act as if that's the case, and the results are clear when we look at the lack of vitality and growth displayed by the average church in America. What would happen if we wrote "Powered by the Cross" across the wall and began to appropriate the power made available by Christ for the launching of the church as the instrument of Kingdom advance? Would we see greater vitality? More baptisms? Greater levels of commitment? Sacrificial levels of giving?

THE POWER OF PROMISE

Speculation concerning the identity of Jesus was reaching a fevered pitch as messianic expectation grew. The miraculous signs that Jesus accomplished had caused some to believe that Jesus might be the long-awaited Messiah. In truth, some of their notions of what the Messiah might be and do for them were more political and militaristic in nature than those Jesus would espouse. Nonetheless, excitement was mounting and the crowds were growing in size.

The religious establishment was troubled by the growing popularity of Jesus. Matthew 16 tells us that the Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus with a request for a sign from heaven to test Him. Jesus refused to perform a miracle and told them that the only sign that would be given was the sign of Jonah. This reference to the Old Testament prophet who spent three days and nights in the belly of a whale was a prophetic reference to His pending death and resurrection.

With this background, Jesus asked His disciples concerning what people were saying about Him: "Who do people say that the Son of Man is? (Matthew 16:13). They were rattling off the various suggestions being made, when Jesus confronted them with the question of the hour: "But you, who do you say that I am?" Peter, the spokesman of the twelve dared to articulate what they had come to believe -- "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (16).

Jesus not only confirmed the identification, which had been made known to them by the Father; He then revealed His plan for advancing His Kingdom throughout the earth. His daring strategy was to redeem a called-out community (church) that would be given such power and authority that the gates of Hades could not stand against it. This church would be given the keys of the Kingdom, enabling it to have an eternal impact.

But there is more. Matthew states it this way: "From then on Jesus began to point out to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day (Matthew 16:21). Now that the disciples knew His true identity and His plan for advancing His kingdom throughout the earth, He could tell them about His coming death and resurrection.

It may seem a bit incongruous to mention the triumphant church in one breath and His death in the next. At least, it did to Peter. Thus, Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked Him, indicating that death and victory did not seem compatible. But it was precisely the death and resurrection of Jesus which provided the victorious launch of the church in its Kingdom activity.

THE POWER

We must now fast-forward to the end of Matthew's Gospel. The events of the passion have now unfolded before their very eyes. Jesus spends His last Passover on earth with these men who are to be instrumental in establishing His Kingdom community. He again reminds them that the time of His crucifixion is near. He gives them the sad news that all of them will fall away and be scattered because of Him (Matthew 26:31).

As painful as this news must have been to those early disciples, Jesus assures them that the crucifixion is not the end of the story. "But after I have been resurrected, I will go ahead of you to Galilee" (Matthew 26:32). The resurrection is an accomplished fact in the sovereign plan of God, and thus, Jesus refers to it to assure them that He will meet with them again in Galilee in a few days.

Following His resurrection, the disciples obediently gather in Galilee at the mountain which Jesus had designated (Matthew 28:16). When they see Him, their first response is to worship Him, the resurrected and triumphant King. Jesus tells them that the events of the crucifixion and resurrection will have far-reaching eternal consequences. "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). You may recall that Jesus' ministry began as the Devil offered Him all the kingdoms of the earth (Matthew 4:8). Now by virtue of His obedience to follow the way of the cross, He has been given far more -- all authority in heaven and earth. 

THE PURPOSE

The power forms the foundation for the commission to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). It must have sounded incomprehensible that such a small group of believers could have a global and eternal impact. Yet the book of Acts gives us compelling and convincing evidence that this small group of unlearned and untrained men turned the known world upside down. It was the promise that He would be with them always to the end of the age, which assured them that they could succeed in the task set before them.

The book of Acts picks up the story. Luke tells us that Jesus provided many convincing proofs concerning His resurrection and taught them concerning His Kingdom (Acts 1:3). Nevertheless, He does not yet allow them to engage in this venture of expanding the Kingdom. He commands them to wait for what the Father had promised, the baptism with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4-5). The Holy Spirit will be God living in them, empowering them to accomplish the task set before them in the power of the resurrected Lord.

When the day of Pentecost arrived, the Spirit descended on them in power, and their witness and preaching resulted in the gathered crowds hearing the Gospel in their own language. This advance of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth was inaugurated with the power unleashed by the cross.

But the story doesn't end with the book of Acts. It continues in your church today. The promise has become reality, the power of the resurrected Christ has been given, and the purpose of advancing the Kingdom has become our responsibility. 

Are we willing to appropriate the power and assume our responsibility for the reaching of the nations? The Acts 1:8 imperative has not been completed, and the power of the cross is still available to you and your church today. Will we become Kingdom-centered churches and do our part to complete the task?

We are living in days of great opportunity. The financial meltdown we have experienced has reminded us that we are dependent on God for daily bread. The world around us is looking for answers. Will we walk through this door of opportunity powered by the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?
--30--
Kenneth S. Hemphill is the SBC's national strategist for Empowering Kingdom Growth.


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'Gay marriage' bill sails through Vt. Senate
by Michael Foust
Date: March 23, 2009 - Monday

MONTPELIER, Vt. (BP)--Vermont took a major step Monday toward becoming the first state voluntarily to legalize "gay marriage," although it's not the only New England state where such a bill is advancing.

A bill that would legalize "marriage" for homosexual couples passed a second reading in the Vermont Senate by a veto-proof margin of 26-4, setting up a much-anticipated vote in the House, where its passage is likely and the primary drama will be whether it can muster a veto-proof majority there as well. Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican, has yet to pledge to veto it although he has said he opposes "gay marriage" and has criticized legislators for taking it up. The bill, S. 115, passed via voice vote Tuesday on the third and final reading, formally sending it to the House, where it must first be heard in committee.

Connecticut and Massachusetts also recognize "gay marriage," although both changes in law came via court order. 

New England has become a hotbed for "gay marriage" supporters in the wake of stunning losses elsewhere last fall. The Boston-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) has a goal of seeing all six New England states legalize "gay marriage" by 2012. Although 30 states nationwide have adopted constitutional marriage amendments aimed at preventing the redefinition of marriage, the six New England states have not.

Democratic leaders in Vermont, having made the bill a priority, put it on a fast track; it could be on the governor's desk within a week or two. It passed the Senate Judiciary Committee a mere three days prior to the full body considering it.

Bill opponent Steve Cable, president of Vermont Renewal and spokesperson for the Vermont Marriage Advisory Council (vtmarriage.org), told Baptist Press that despite the Senate's vote margin, all hope is not lost. The House vote is expected to be much closer.

"Round two of five rounds is over, and we do have two black eyes," said Cable, who urged Vermonters to call not only their representatives (at 802-828-2228) but also Gov. Douglas. "But usually that makes the &#91;traditionally minded citizens&#93; in Vermont more angry and have more energy, and that's what's happening."

Vermont, though, isn't the only New England state where "gay marriage" supporters are making progress. Elsewhere:

-- In New Hampshire, the House Judiciary Committee deadlocked at 10-10 on a "gay marriage" bill March 18, although it still will advance to the full body and is expected to be voted on within days. Democrats control both chambers, and Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, has not taken a position on the bill but has said in the past he opposes "gay marriage." The bill is H.B. 436.

-- In Maine, a bill that would legalize "gay marriage" is before the Judiciary Committee, comprised of members of both chambers. It has 55 co-sponsors in the 151-member House and 10 sponsors and co-sponsors in the 35-member Senate. Among those sponsors are the House speaker and the Senate majority leader, both Democrats. Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat, has in the past opposed "gay marriage" but has not taken a position on the bill. The bill is L.D. 1020.

-- In Rhode Island, the Senate Judiciary Committee has heard testimony on a "gay marriage" bill but has yet to vote. A spokeswoman for Marriage Equality Rhode Island, which supports the bill, told The Boston Globe it has 31 co-sponsors in the 75-member House and five co-sponsors in the 38-member Senate. Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, a Republican, has pledged a veto. The bill is S. 147.

Cable said adopting the bill in Vermont would result in dramatic societal change.

"If Vermont passes same-sex marriage, it would be saying, No. 1, that men and women are completely interchangeable because the bill neuters all gender terms in all laws, and No. 2, that Vermont no longer seeks to promote children to have both a mother and a father. As it stands now, it's inherent in marriage law that children have a legal bonding right to their mother and father that created them."

Vermont state Sen. Kevin J. Mullin, a Republican, supported the bill but also backed a failed amendment that would have allowed Vermonters to have their say on the issue. Mullin's amendment, which lost 19-11, would have placed a non-binding referendum on the ballot asking Vermonters if they supported "gay marriage" legalization.

"There is a perception that this is being rammed down the throats of Vermonters," Mullin said during floor debate

Democratic Sen. John F. Campbell, the bill's sponsor, spoke extensively during floor debate and answered various objections to it. He said by passing the bill the body would not be "condoning homosexuality." He also criticized opponents for arguments related to the traditional family.

"I will not stand by and let someone tell me that just because of someone's sexual orientation they can or cannot be a good parent," Campbell said.

But Republican Sen. Randolph D. Brock, who opposed the bill, said the traditional family is "unique" in what it can provide. 

"Like President Obama, Vice President Biden and Gov. Douglas, I believe that marriage is an institution that should be between one man and one woman," Brock said. "Marriage as we've known it for centuries has been the union of one man and one woman, and it's unique. It's the only publicly sponsored institution that can result in the procreation of children -- the essential element in the continuation of our society."

He also criticized the speed with which the bill has been pushed.

"We have spent more time in this session licensing landscape architects than we have on dealing with an issue of immense social importance and a public policy issue that will affect Vermonters and the history of our state," he said.

In 2000 Vermont became the first state to legalize same-sex civil unions, which grant homosexual couples all the legal benefits minus the name.
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Michael Foust is an assistant editor of Baptist Press.


