
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-04/06/2004

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Pastor reaches out to Jewish community, builds friendships & shares Gospel
by Bob Baysinger
Date: April 06, 2004 - Tuesday

RAYTOWN, Mo. (BP)--The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle sees "a sign of deepening ties between the Jewish and evangelical Christian communities."

The newspaper voiced its observation after 2,000 Christians and Jews met to pray for the peace of Jerusalem at First Baptist Church, Raytown, the largest Southern Baptist church in Missouri.

Aptly called "The Gathering 2," it was the second such Jewish-Christian meeting since First Baptist pastor Paul Brooks conceived the idea about two years ago while attending a rally at a Jewish school in the Kansas City area following a massacre in Israel.

"I didn't know anybody in the Jewish community at the time," Brooks said. "While sitting there, I felt like the Lord spoke to me. He reminded me that if we can come together politically -- Christians and Jews -- we can get together and pray for the peace of Jerusalem, setting aside our differences. We don't have to agree who the Messiah is to obey Scripture and pray for peace."

Brooks subsequently met with several Jewish rabbis to begin planning the first Gathering.

"The rabbinical association met and decided it was a good idea," Brooks recounted. "We held our first joint prayer meeting last winter and had about 1,700 people, 30 to 40 churches and five to six synagogues present. The second Gathering on March 1 brought in more than 2,000 people, and we had 50 or 60 churches.

"Everybody is really excited about this and wants to know when we can do it again," Brooks said.

"The Jewish people feel pretty alone in the world," the pastor said. "They've been driven out of country after country and slaughtered by many different maniacs. A lot of the anti-Semitism has come from the Christian community.

"I have made friends with several rabbis. I tell them I can't undo what has been done in Europe, but maybe we can make things better in Kansas City. And that's what we're trying to do -- make things better and get along better."

Brooks said both sides understand there are different views toward Jesus Christ.

"One rabbi said to me that when the Messiah comes we will ask Him, 'Is this the first or second time?'" Brooks said. "He went on to say that since we can't agree, we ought to set that aside and just be friends."

In an interview with the Jewish Chronicle, Brooks said he understands why there is mistrust on the part of the Jewish community.

"I'm a Southern Baptist, and I know that not all Southern Baptists would agree with me," Brooks said. "I can only speak for myself and for many of my friends in Kansas City and say that we have no hidden agenda to try and convert the Jews. ... That's not our goal. Our goal is to be friends."

Brooks also told the Jewish publication that Southern Baptists are a "people of the Book" who recognize that Jews are a covenant people with a unique relationship with God.

"We believe that we are also a covenant people under a different covenant and that we have a unique relationship with the same God. ... Because we love the same God, we ought to love each other."

Brooks said he does not agree with some in the Christian community who subscribe to dual covenant theology -- the teaching that there are two roads to heaven, the Abrahamic covenant for Jews and the New Covenant for Gentiles.

"It is true that God has a covenant with Jews," Brooks said, "but that does not change John 14:6 where Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.' The Book of Romans teaches us that the Jewish people have been blinded to the truth. It goes on to say that the Messiah will come and all Israel will accept Him and will be saved at some point in the future.

"Now, however, Jesus is the one and only way to heaven," Brooks emphasized.

Concerning his relationship with Jewish people in Kansas City, Brooks said he doesn't have the power to open eyes to the truth that God has blinded.

"I try to establish a friendship," he said. "I am very up front with all of my Jewish friends. I tell them that I believe Jesus is the Messiah. We agree to disagree.

"We are trying to be friends and be supportive. In the process, I share the Gospel message with a large portion of the Jewish population I have contact with, but I don't attack them or try to be offensive.

"When I began ministering to the Jewish community, I did receive some criticism, but none from my church that I know of. They &#91;First Baptist&#93; know that I don't compromise anything." 
--30--
Bob Baysinger is managing editor of The Pathway, newsjournal of the Missouri Baptist Convention. (BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo title: JOINING IN PRAYER.




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Hymns remain most popular as use of praise music grows
by Staff
Date: April 06, 2004 - Tuesday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Studies show that while praise and worship choruses are being used more often in America's churches, traditional hymns are still the most frequently selected choice of church members.

The trend toward more praise and worship choruses was reported by Ellison Research for the March/April edition of Facts & Trends magazine, published by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. A research team at the SBC's North American Mission Board earlier reported that traditional hymns are holding their own among worshipers.

According to Ellison, five years ago, 38 percent of congregations surveyed indicated they used praise and worship choruses at least once a month. Now, 74 percent report their usage. At the same time, the use of traditional hymns has increased by 12 percent, from 76 to 88.

NAMB reported that when Southern Baptists were asked to mark up to two options regarding what they prefer in congregational worship, traditional hymns was the category selected most frequently, at 67 percent. Among worshipers of various denominations, 61 percent selected traditional hymns most frequently. Praise music or choruses was second, with 56 percent of Southern Baptists and 33 percent of all worshipers choosing that category.

Among other results from Ellison assessing trends in worship services:

-- Today, 95 percent of churches surveyed pass an offering plate at least once a month, compared to 80 percent five years ago.

-- An altar call is issued in 67 percent of churches, up from 57 percent five years earlier.

-- Eighty-nine percent observe communion at least once a month compared to 72 percent five years ago.

-- Hymnals are used in 78 percent of services, compared to 73 percent half a decade ago.

-- Sunday evening worship services are held in 51 percent of churches, compared to 44 percent five years ago.

-- PowerPoint or similar computer graphics are used in 36 percent of worship services at least once a month, compared to just 5 percent five years earlier.

Among Southern Baptists, the Ellison study showed 18 percent said their worship services have become much more contemporary in recent years, and 44 percent classified their services as "a little more contemporary." Ninety-six percent said they use traditional hymns, and 89 percent use praise choruses at least once a month. Ninety-seven percent give an altar call, while 44 percent use PowerPoint or other computer graphics.

The typical sermon length in Southern Baptist churches falls along the average across denominations, Ellison found. Southern Baptists devote an average of 32 minutes to sermons, while among other Baptists the average is 35 minutes; among Methodists, 22; Lutherans, 20; Pentecostals, 40. Sermon lengths have essentially remained the same during the past five years.

The Ellison study was conducted among a representative sample of 659 senior pastors from all Protestant denominations in all 50 states. The NAMB research was part of a larger study called "Southern Baptist Congregations and Worshipers: Supplement to A Field Guide to U.S. Congregations," which surveyed approximately 20,000 worshipers in 165 Southern Baptist churches.
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For more information about the Ellison study, visit http://www.greymatterresearch.com/index_files/Worship_Styles.htm.

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Book offers hope & advice to parents of special needs children
by Terri Lackey
Date: April 06, 2004 - Tuesday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Laura Jernigan vividly recalls when Stephen, her now-16-year-old son with Down syndrome, was undergoing treatment for leukemia in 1999. Once a week for 18 months, Jernigan took a day off work to take Stephen to the doctor.

When she pulled him from the car, she settled him on her knee and then heaved his 70-pound weakened body into her arms. Jernigan, 50 at the time, carried Stephen from her car and rode a snail-paced elevator up to the doctor's office.

"I was so worried about Stephen, I didn't even think about getting a handicap sticker," said Jernigan, who also carried supplies with her for an all-day stay at the doctor's office.

Jernigan is among the parents for whom Janet Lynn Mitchell and Susan Titus Osborn have written a new book, "A Special Kind of Love: For Those Who Love Children with Special Needs," released by Broadman & Holman, the trade book division of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Stories like Jernigan's fill the pages of the book by Mitchell and Osborn, both of whom intimately understand the hardships and rewards of living with special needs children. In 1990, Mitchell gave birth to a premature son, and six weeks later her daughter was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. In 1992, Osborn married a man with a 26-year-old mentally handicapped son who later married a mentally handicapped woman. Together the young couple had two children who eventually were adopted by other family members.

"This book is written for moms, dads, grandparents, foster parents and extended families who live with 'special' children on a day-by-day basis," the authors write in their forward. "It is also designed for teachers, doctors, social workers, friends of the family and pastors who work with these children."

The children in Mitchell and Osborn's book are blind, deaf, mentally, emotionally or physically challenged. Laura, the daughter of Linda Evans Shepherd, a mother who tells her story throughout the book, sustained brain damage in an auto accident when she was 18 months old. The doctors told Shepherd half of Laura's brain was destroyed and that she was in a permanent vegetative state.

"His unspoken words screamed, 'End it now! Pull the plug!'" Shepherd writes. 

"But half of her brain is intact," she answered, then challenging the doctors by saying, "Are you telling me you can scientifically factor the impact my love, faith and prayers will have on this child's future?"

Now a young teen, Laura is in a wheelchair, on life support and can only communicate with tongue signals. Still, she attends two schools -- one for kids with special needs and one for typical kids. "But you know, Laura is a happy little girl who really enjoys life," Shepherd writes.

"Parenting is challenging for most people," Mitchell and Osborn write. "However, dealing with a handicapping condition, a chronic illness or an emotional or social disability in a child presents an uphill challenge every day. Recent statistics have shown that more than 20 million families in the United States have a child with special needs -- that's nearly one in three families."

The book offers optimism and advice to family members of special needs children.

"Living with chronic illness is difficult," the authors write in a chapter about hope. "Knowing that each day the person will face the side effects of his or her disease can be depressing. For a child, the contrast of physically feeling bad and the desire of wanting to fit in can be overwhelming.

"Hope is the ingredient that brings the excitement of tomorrow. It involves putting one's faith into action when doubting would be easier."

Their advice includes:

-- Getting second and third medical opinions before making major decisions. "Never accept one laboratory result or one doctor's diagnosis as fact," they write.

-- Forgive and realize that anger at people and situations is OK. Amid the "If you only prayed more" and "What's wrong with him?" comments coming from rude and thoughtless people, Mitchell and Osborn note that "forgiveness is in your control."

-- Take care of your own emotional, physical and spiritual needs. "Name your most immediate needs and be honest with yourself," they counsel.

The chapter themes in the book include faith, hope, loving unconditionally, trusting, forgiving, developing courage, overcoming setbacks and standstills, accepting, healing, blessings and joy.

"A Special Kind of Love" is available at LifeWay Christians Stores and online at www.lifewaystores.com.
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(BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo title: 'A SPECIAL KIND OF LOVE.'




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Annuity Board wellness walk slated for second year in Indy
by Wendy Ashley
Date: April 06, 2004 - Tuesday

DALLAS (BP)--The Annuity Board, along with several of its life and health vendors, is sponsoring its second annual one-mile wellness walk at the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis. In addition to the one-mile walk, a new 5K course will be set up for runners and walkers who want the additional challenge.

The 2004 Living@YourBest Wellness Walk and 5K Run will be held Monday, June 14, at 6:30 a.m. at White River State Park, within walking distance from most hotels in the downtown Indianapolis area. A warm-up stretch will begin at 6:15 a.m. Healthful refreshments will be served to all participants at the end of the walk.

Anyone interested in participating can register online at www.absbc.org. The first 500 registered walkers will receive a free "Living@YourBest" T-shirt. 

"The purpose of the wellness walk is to demonstrate the Annuity Board's ongoing commitment to wellness," said O.S. Hawkins, president of the Dallas-based SBC entity. "We want to encourage Southern Baptists to take responsibility for their own health by choosing to live more healthful lifestyles."

Wellness has been an important focus of the Annuity Board for the past few years. At the 2002 SBC annual meeting in St. Louis, Hawkins introduced the Annuity Board's wellness emphasis and challenged the messengers to make changes in their lifestyle.

Byron McWilliams, pastor of First Baptist Church in Buna, Texas -- one of the messengers who accepted Hawkins' challenge in 2002 -- has been invited to start the run this year in Indianapolis.

He and his wife were attending the St. Louis meeting on their 20th wedding anniversary when, as McWilliams recounted, Hawkins spoke "about the rising cost of health care, stating a primary factor for this surge was that individuals are increasingly becoming more and more overweight. I came to realize that at 256 pounds, I was part of the problem. I returned home to Texas committed to eating healthy and starting an exercise plan."

Since that time, McWilliams has become a walking-or-running advocate for wellness. He said God gave him a verse of Scripture, Hebrews 12:11, on which to base his future: "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Armed with this Scripture and a determination that only God could provide, McWilliams began running four to five times per week. His goal was to run a marathon in January 2003.

"At first I struggled to run any distance longer than a mile without stopping," McWilliams said. "But God has masterfully crafted the human body in such a way that it responds amazingly fast to regular periods of physical activity. Before I knew it, my long runs moved beyond three, to five, then eight, then 10, and on up the mileage went." McWilliams said he will never forget the day he ran 10 miles without stopping. "Every step of the way I realized God was bringing to pass what He had promised in His Word."

On Jan. 19, 2003, McWilliams ran his first marathon in four hours and 54 minutes. He has continued to train, running more than 1,000 miles in 2003. On Jan. 18 of this year, he completed the marathon in just four hours and 28 minutes.

Overall, McWilliams has lost about 50 pounds. In addition to making more healthful food choices and running several times a week, he has added weight training to his routine. "I have a responsibility to keep myself healthy not only for myself, but for my three children," he said. "I cannot choose not to be healthy."

An added benefit of living a healthier lifestyle is that it can save money on healthcare. McWilliams has received great reports from his doctor over the last couple of years. 

"Although I have never had to take blood pressure medicine, my blood pressure sometimes ran borderline high, but not anymore. It is completely normal," he said. "I have no ongoing health issues, and I really believe I have secured lower healthcare costs for a long time to come by heading off problems in the future."

McWilliams said he feels better than he has in years and is better able to serve God's purposes for his life. "Because of God's strength, I am achieving a goal that has eluded me for over 19 years. God bless Dr. Hawkins and the Annuity Board for challenging me to be all I can be for His Kingdom!"

To register for the walk/run, visit the Annuity Board's website at www.absbc.org or call 1-800-262-0511.
--30--
Wendy Ashley is a project team leader in the communications department for the Annuity Board.




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'You must pray,' prof exhorts at inaugural prayer conference
by David Roach
Date: April 06, 2004 - Tuesday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Christians must make prayer a priority if they hope to fight the powers of darkness and make an impact for Christ, according to speakers at the first annual Great Commission Prayer Conference at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The conference, sponsored jointly by the North American Mission Board, the Kentucky Baptist Convention and Southern Seminary, focused on the theme, "A Great Commission Prayer Conference ... Invading the Kingdom of Darkness on our Knees." The conference included 180 participants from across Kentucky and Indiana.

"The goals of this conference were threefold: to educate pastors, prayer leaders and laypersons in issues relating to prayer, to encourage those who lead prayer in their churches, associations and state conventions and to aid prayer leaders in building networks through fellowship," said conference co-coordinator Eric Allen, director of the Kentucky convention's prayer strategies office. 

Plenary addresses were delivered by Bill Mackey, executive director of the Kentucky convention; John Avant, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Ga.; and Chuck Lawless, professor of evangelism and church growth and senior associate dean of Southern's Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth.

The March 19-20 conference also included 18 workshops taught by seminary faculty and other leaders from around the United States. Worship was led by teams from several Louisville-area churches.

Preaching from Ephesians 6, Lawless told participants that Christians must pray with persistence in order to maximize the power of prayer in their ministries.

"You are in a battle," he said. "You are trying to take the Gospel of light into the kingdom of darkness. You are being used of God to rescue people who are held in the bondage of sin, and this battle is intense. This battle is real, and we need prayer warriors who simply do not give up in the task."

The task of prayer can be grueling, Lawless said. But Christians must continue to pray because of prayer's power to affect missions and evangelism, he said.

"... You must pray even when the battle hurts. And you must pray on even when it seems like you are praying by yourself. And you must pray on even when the results seem few. You cannot give up in the battle," Lawless said.

"... We have an obligation to pray for all our missionaries today who are on the front lines, taking the Gospel into the darkness. ... Our task is significant. We need to be praying for missionaries."

Reactions to the conference have encouraged leaders in looking to the years ahead, said John Ewart, associate vice president for distance education and innovative learning at Southern and conference co-coordinator.

"We have already started planning for next year's conference in partnership with the Kentucky Baptist Convention," Ewart said. "Our intent is to build upon the success of this year and to continue developing a prayer conference as an annual event. We want to see the ongoing growth of the awareness and practice of prayer on our campus and in our churches."

Lawless said the conference laid a foundation for effective prayer ministries in local churches across Kentucky and Indiana.

"One goal was simply to raise the priority of prayer on this campus and in this state," he said. "I believe we gave our prayer leaders practical tools to build prayer ministries in the local church."
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(BP) photos posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo titles: PRAYER PARTICIPANT and PRAYER WARRIOR ENLISTMENT.



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Church must awaken from its sleep, Bailey Smith says
by Kyle Smith
Date: April 06, 2004 - Tuesday

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)--If many churches lost the Holy Spirit, they wouldn't even know it for several months, prominent Southern Baptist evangelist Bailey Smith said.

Churches that ordain homosexuals, for example, and look more like the godless world rather than God-inspired bodies of believers need to be honest enough with themselves to take the word "church" off of their sign, Smith said in a chapel message at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary where the Bailey Smith Chair of Evangelism is named in his honor.

America is currently in a critical crisis, the former Southern Baptist Convention president said, exhorting churches to wake up from their slumber to affect the culture.

"We've lost Him in our schools," Smith said. "We've lost Him in our government, and we've lost Him in our society. Why? Because the church of Jesus Christ has been asleep. If America is so decadent, why are we doing less and not doing more?"

Smith also warned that a very real danger exists for ministers to become lulled into the same kind of complacency that characterizes their culture, even in the midst of their constant interaction with the things of God. He exhorted students not to miss the centrality of having a personal relationship with Jesus, rather than just doing those things necessary for His service.

"The greatest danger you may have," Smith said, "is making your proximity to the physical things of Jesus a substitute for a relationship with the spiritual Christ."

Without that ongoing personal relationship, a pastor loses all the power and fervor that the Holy Spirit brings to his ministry, Smith said. Pastors must rely on that help, he said, if they are to accomplish the things God has given them to do.

"Whatever He asks you to do, you cannot do by yourself," Smith reminded the seminarians. "When God gives you a responsibility, it is always with Him by your side."

The church also must be actively listening to the directives of God found in His Word and obeying His command to take the Gospel to a lost world.

"The church of Jesus Christ is so asleep that we can't hear what He has to say to us," Smith said. "It's not that God has shut His mouth. It's not that the Word of God is not powerful. God is still saying the same thing. The church is just asleep. We have a message to preach to a lost, decadent world, and that message is, 'Jesus saves. Jesus saves.'"
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(BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo title: WAKE-UP CALL.


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FIRST-PERSON: John Kerry & his Catholicism
by R. Albert Mohler Jr.
Date: April 06, 2004 - Tuesday

<i>EDITORS' NOTE: This is the first of two columns on presidential candidate John Kerry.</i>
 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Sen. John Kerry, soon to become the Democratic Party's official candidate for president, has been using biblical language of late and infusing his campaign speeches with religious content.

Speaking to a church in St. Louis, Kerry recently cited a Bible verse to criticize leaders who have faith without deeds, apparently intending to criticize President Bush. "The Scriptures say, what does it profit, my brother, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?" Kerry said. "When we look at what is happening in America today, where are the works of compassion?" Kerry got the biblical text, James 2:14, almost right, but he set off a firestorm of criticism.

Kerry only recently has incorporated such religious language into his speeches, and his identity as a professing Roman Catholic has as yet made little impact on the presidential race. This stands in stark relief to the controversy over the candidacy of John F. Kennedy, who served as the first and only Catholic candidate elected to the nation's highest office.

TIME magazine recently pointed to a potential problem with Kerry's Catholicism. This time, the criticism is not coming from non-Catholics opposed to a Catholic candidate, but from Catholic authorities increasingly frustrated with Catholic politicians who violate the church's moral teaching in their political lives.

As TIME reports, "Kerry's positions on some hot-button issues aren't sitting well with members of the church elite." The magazine cites a Vatican official who said, "People in Rome are becoming more and more aware that there's a problem with John Kerry, and a potential scandal with his apparent profession of his Catholic faith and some of his stances, particularly abortion."

Kerry has been a stalwart defender of abortion rights, and he holds to a thorough pro-homosexual set of policy positions. Though he claims to oppose same-sex "marriage," he voted against the federal Defense of Marriage Act and opposes President Bush's call for a constitutional amendment establishing marriage as a union of a man and a woman. He has taken confusing and contradictory positions in response to the same-sex "marriage" controversy in Massachusetts, and supports civil unions for homosexual couples.

Does Kerry see a problem with his selective Catholicism? "I don't think it complicates things at all," he told TIME in an interview aboard his campaign plane. Kerry seems to think that the best defense is a good offense.

Kerry went on to explain his self-understanding as a Catholic politician by drawing a parallel with John F. Kennedy. "We have a separation of church and state in this country. As John Kennedy said very clearly, 'I will be a president who happens to be Catholic, not a Catholic president.'"

Kennedy made that statement in 1960 as he addressed the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, a group of Protestant clergy who were suspicious of Kennedy's Catholicism. Kennedy, then running as the Democratic nominee for president, told the pastors, "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute -- where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote -- where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference -- and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him."

Nevertheless, in order to assert this point, Kennedy had to redefine religion in terms of a totally privatized faith. "I believe in a president whose religious views are his own private affair," the candidate said, "neither imposed by him upon the nation or imposed by the nation upon him as a condition to holding that office."

The background to Kennedy's statement included the Catholic Church's teachings on issues like birth control, divorce and sexual morality. Kennedy insisted, "I am not the Catholic candidate for president. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for president who happens also to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my church on public matters -- and the church does not speak for me.

"Whatever issue may come before me as president -- on birth control, divorce, censorship, gambling or any other subject -- I will make my decision in accordance with these views, in accordance with what my conscience tells me to be the national interest, and without regard to outside religious pressures or dictates," Kennedy pledged. "And no power or threat of punishment could cause me to decide otherwise."

Kennedy ended his speech with a promise to resign his office if a conflict of conscience should ever arise. "But if the time should ever come -- and I do not concede any conflict to be even remotely possible -- when my office would require me to either violate my conscience or violate the national interest, then I would resign the office, and I hope any conscientious public servant would do the same."

That last statement draws more focused attention to the challenge now faced by John Kerry. As TIME reflects, Kennedy's statement was made "before Roe v. Wade, bioethics, school vouchers, gay rights and a host of other social issues became the ideological fault lines that divide the two political parties and also divide some Catholics from their church."

John F. Kennedy did not face pointed and inescapable questions about abortion, same-sex "marriage," embryo research and the like. John F. Kerry must face those issues squarely, and he comes to this presidential campaign with a record of votes in the Senate dealing with the same issues. There can be no question that John Kerry stands in direct violation of the clear teachings of his church on any number of controversial issues.

In the modern age, the Catholic Church has faced the development of "cafeteria Catholics" who pick and choose the church teaching they will accept, and simply disregard and disobey the rest. In political life, this has produced candidates and politicians who appeal to Catholic voters as fellow Catholics, but identify with the left wing of the Democratic Party once elected, taking positions in stark opposition to the church's teaching on the sanctity of human life and the integrity of marriage. There are "cafeteria Christians" of many stripes, and the heated debates of the culture wars are drawing increased attention to this problem.

The Vatican is increasingly frustrated with politicians who run for office as Catholics, only to violate Catholic moral teaching at every turn. Will rank-and-file Catholics see John Kerry as a renegade? The question is certain to be magnified as the campaign heats up. This is going to be a long, hot summer.
--30--
R. Albert Mohler Jr. is president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. This column was adapted from his weblog at www.crosswalk.com.



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FIRST-PERSON: The oppressive old master
by Gregory Tomlin
Date: April 06, 2004 - Tuesday

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--There are days Americans will always remember. Dec. 7, 1941, Nov. 22, 1963, and Sept. 11, 2001, are but a few of those days when the course of history changed and our country showed itself resolute in its defense of freedom.

A day the world should remember is April 9, 2003, when millions were riveted to news channels broadcasting images from the fall of Baghdad, Iraq. The most profound image was of the formerly oppressed people of Baghdad dancing atop a toppled 30-foot-tall statue of Saddam Hussein.

The crowd was so jubilant that it severed the head of the statue, attached a rope to it and spent an hour pulling it through the streets. Several children -- and a few old men -- took turns sitting on top of the head as it was pulled along like Baghdad's newest carnival ride.

Within days the jubilation turned sour as looters ravaged the nation's banks, government buildings and museums. The people of Iraq had been without freedom so long that many did not know how to act when they were granted it.

Shiite Muslims began to call for the establishment of a fundamentalist Islamic state. Sunni Muslims, uneasy about the possibility of suffering retribution for their years of control over the Shiites, began conducting public relations marches with banners that read, "No Sunni. No Shiite. Only One Islamic Nation."

Most perplexing was that the crowds, which would not have been able even to assemble while Hussein's boot was on the throats of the Iraqi people, began protesting the American "occupation" of Iraq with signs that referenced American imperialism.

Ahmed Kubeisi, a Sunni cleric, told the Associated Press during one of the marches that the United States was only after Iraq's oil and should "get out before we force you out. ... We are the ones who are going to reconstruct our country. We don't need any interference from America."

Kubeisi and the remainder of the protestors reflected a serious misunderstanding of history. In January 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell told an audience at an economic forum in Switzerland that force was necessary to remove Hussein from power, but that the world need not fear the rebirth of colonialism. There had never been another nation in history like the United States, he said.

"We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years ... and put many wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in," Powell said.

Profound words from Secretary Powell. Still, the United States will never convince the Iraqis of its motivations prior to the establishment of stability and prosperity. The answer as to the ambitions of the United States will be judged, as they were in past wars, by history.

As the one-year anniversary of the fall of Baghdad approaches, violence has once again gripped the country. Guerillas and foreign fighters have forgotten that Hussein was their oppressor, America their liberator, and they have showed their ingratitude by dragging American corpses through their streets to the cheers of the mob. 

Beyond the political and historical implications of the liberation of Iraq, recent events in Fallujah provide a profound spiritual analogy that speaks to all those liberated by Christ. In Galatians 5:1-2, the Apostle Paul wrote, "For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand fast, therefore, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery."

Newly born into eternal life, the Galatians had the shackles of sin and death removed. They were freed from the law and from their insatiable quest for righteousness in the eyes of God.

The church, however, was threatened by two corruptions of the Gospel: nomism and libertinism. Nomism, or Jewish legalism, threatened the church when Jewish Christians began to persuade the gentiles of their need for circumcision. The libertines threatened the church with their appeals to the seemingly high authority of human conscience. To them, there was no need for law. The result of such thinking was licentiousness.

Paul wrote that the Galatians should not be "burdened again" by their old master. That statement is perplexing since the Christians at Galatia were mostly former pagans who had no knowledge of the living God or the law.

But his assertion was simple really. If the Galatians daily trusted in anything other than Jesus Christ to obtain favor in God's eyes or misinterpreted what freedom in Christ meant, then they had denied the Lord and the efficacy of His work on the cross. In Paul's eyes, both nomism and libertinism were as corrupt as the paganism from which Christ rescued the gentiles.

Christ's atonement for the sins of the Galatians, Paul wrote, required faith in Christ expressing itself in love for their brethren and those outside the church. Complete and utter dependence on Christ -- daily fellowship with Him through the Holy Spirit -- produced moral behavior and the "fruits of the Spirit."

Countless millions throughout history have experienced the grace of God through Jesus Christ. I have experienced it, unworthy as I am. But in order for me to live in the grace of Christ daily, I must realize that faith is not rigid adherence to a set of principles. Nor is faith serving my conscience.

My faith, which I recognize as a marvelous gift from God, comes from the realization that He "graces" me even today. I was not "rubber stamped" with grace as a 7-year-old. Grace is not checked baggage that I pick up at the end of my flight through life.

God lavishes his grace on me and all of His children daily. Those He has called to Himself cannot live in Christ without it, and we cannot avoid the same extremes that threatened the fledgling church at Galatia without it.

I do not want to be bound by a law, the law, or any law. I do not want to follow my conscience. When I serve any law or my conscience, I assuredly go astray and inevitably trust in something or someone other than Christ. I desire to follow Christ.

Imagine the citizens of Baghdad building a new and bigger statue to Hussein. Imagine a city where lawlessness or license prevails. Both scenarios are equally unappealing. The real hope for Iraq is that its citizens will use their newly granted freedom wisely.

That is my prayer for myself and all those who follow Christ. He has given us freedom, but only the freedom to follow Him instead of our oppressive old master or any new authority.
--30--
Gregory Tomlin is director of communications at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.


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FIRST-PERSON: The healing power of Easter
by Trey Graham
Date: April 06, 2004 - Tuesday

MELISSA, Texas (BP)--I took a walk the other day around the small lake near our home. As I was sitting and thinking and praying, I met three ducks. These three ducks, one brown, one white, one black, were minding their own duck business while going for an afternoon swim.

As the ducks swam toward me, I noticed that the white duck had something sticking out of his neck. I could not determine exactly what the protruding object was. Soon, however, as the ducks swam past my spot, I noticed that sticking out of the side of the white duck's neck was a metallic needle, with a yellow tip on the end. My imagination then began to work overtime, wondering how a duck happens to get a metal needle in his neck.

I began to study the white duck's actions and realized that this duck, which I named Paul (obviously, because he had a thorn in his side), lived his duck life just like the black and brown ducks did. Paul the duck swam and flew and walked and ate and quacked, just like every other duck in the world, with one major exception. Paul lived his duck life with a needle in his neck.

Paul the duck had plenty of duck friends around, but no one seemed to notice or care about the thorn in his side. Either they did not notice, did not care or were unable to help him. No matter the reason, sadly, Paul's friends never once attempted to remove this needle. Everyone simply let Paul endure the needle, too preoccupied with making their own duck living.

Sadder still, Paul the duck himself never tried to remove this foreign object from his body. He obviously must have known that he had a needle stabbing him in the neck, but never once tried to remedy the problem, instead learning to live and swim and eat and quack as normally as possible, notwithstanding the metal needle.

Do you have anything that is stabbing you today? Have you learned to live life with something that you know is wrong or foreign or painful, yet you ignore it and go on? Is there a habit or fear or anxiety or doubt that you wish could be removed, yet no one will help you be healed? Do you have a thorn in the flesh that won't go away?

Do your friends see your pain? Have you learned to hide it from them and press on, as if you had never been stabbed? So many in our world go through life with pains and sorrows and fears sticking out of their necks, and we, their neighbors, co-workers and friends, either ignore their problem or refuse to offer any assistance.

The ultimate symbol of Easter is the empty tomb, the resurrected Christ having defeated death and sin by rising again. Jesus understands pain and is willing to help you deal with the greatest of all pains, the pain of sin, which causes separation from God.

As we celebrate Easter, may we remember that this holiday commemorates the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians around the world celebrate Jesus of Nazareth taking the ultimate stabbing on the cross of Calvary so that the sins of all human beings might be forgiven. If you can't fix life on your own, why don't you let God try? The One who made us knows how we ought to live and is dying (in fact, already died) to show us how.

During this Easter season, let's work to remedy the pains in our own lives and in the lives of our friends. If you see someone like Paul the duck, offer to help them heal. If you are like Paul the duck, find a friend whom you can trust to help you remove the needle from your neck. For all of us, though, let's remember that Jesus Himself was stabbed long ago and died and rose again on that first Easter morning that we might have life, eternal life.
--30--
Trey Graham, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Melissa, Texas, is a speaker, columnist, author of "Lessons for the Journey" (America House, 2001), and director of Faith Walk Ministries (www.faithwalkministries.com).



