
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-04/18/2008

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North Carolina church puts passion into creativity, kids
by Kay Adkins
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

</i>EDITORS' NOTE: The following two stories are part of a monthly Baptist Press series to explore and describe how individuals, churches, associations and conventions exhibit a passion for Christ and His Kingdom.</i>


EDEN, N.C. (BP)--Pastor Steve Griffith of Osborne Baptist Church vividly remembers prayerwalking around the corporate headquarters of a major textile plant one day in February 1998 when he sensed God telling him, "I'm going to give you this building."

"I could take you to the spot," said Griffith, adding that God impressed on him that it wasn't a matter of bricks and mortar but of His passion for people.

Nearing the time of his graduation from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1993, Griffith preached in view of a call at the Eden, N.C., church, which was at a crisis point. He was perplexed when the church voted against calling him as pastor.

"About three weeks later they called me back saying the church had split and the people who wanted me to come were the ones who stayed," Griffith recounted. He sought counsel from his mentor, the late Mark Corts, then-pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, who frankly warned him to "Run!"

But God did not let Griffith and his wife Jenny off the hook so easily. He returned a second time to preach and was called as Osborne's pastor.

"When churches go through a split, nobody wins. The first two years were really weird," Griffith said. "I went to the Lord and asked Him, 'What are You doing? Where do You want us to go?'"

Griffith quickly recognized a need to update the building. But the day a plan to spruce up the 120-seat worship facility was presented, God radically changed Osborne's course. Griffith said he told the committee to go ahead with presenting the plan, but he himself would not be able to recommend it. "The pastor's lost his mind," they thought. But before the meeting was over, church members voted to launch a building program with worship seating capacity for 500.

Osborne at the time was a typical "three hymns, a sermon and a slap on the back, then you go home" type of church, Griffith said. He sensed a need to "shake things up a bit." They began by attempting a full-blown Easter passion play, which successfully drew audiences for several years and was a turning point in revitalizing the church. "We tried to love the people and not cram the message down their throats," Griffith said. "We started seeing people change, get saved, and marriages were being restored."

He added, "Fortunately, when we started changing things, people saw that God was working. And they say, 'If God is working, that's what matters the most.'"

Around 1997, Eden's main industry -- textiles -- started declining. "EVERYBODY worked in textiles," Griffith said. "People were losing their jobs -- the town was becoming depressed." Eden's population decreased from 16,000 then to about 12,500 now.

In spite of the textile industry's decline, "God was still moving in the church," Griffith said. Osborne had gone to multiple services and had outgrown their space while still paying on the debt from their building program.

And God was about to move on their behalf. In the middle of the night, Griffith's wife made a trip to the grocery store. While there, a stranger spoke to her, saying, "Aren't you Steve's wife? You guys should think about buying the Fieldcrest Cannon office."

Pillowtex, another textile producer, had bought the facility that was soon to close. The asking price for the 30-acre manicured campus with a 70,000-square-foot office was $1 million. Church leaders met and soon put in an offer of $325,000. While waiting for a response, Griffith personally contacted the Pillowtex officer in charge of the property and was told their offer probably would not be accepted.

Griffith told the man, "I'm sure you're aware of the tax write-off you could have. I don't know if this means anything to you or not, but I believe God honors people who honor Him." The Pillowtex employee told Griffith that his own father was a pastor and that he would get back to them with an answer.

After some negotiation, Osborne purchased the campus for $375,000. One member handed Griffith a check for the entire purchase price, and the congregation as a whole gave a one-time cash offering of $300,000 in addition to $2 million in pledges. By the end of 2004, Osborne had paid off its entire debt.

More than 1,000 people now meet weekly for worship in the building God promised to Griffith during his prayerwalk, and Osborne Baptist continues to grow amid Eden's population decline.

Kevin Garrison, who ministers to 200-plus kids each week as Osborne's children's ministry director, credits Griffith for being a gifted leader and visionary. "Steve made up his mind to plant his feet and win people to the Lord and to find out what would work in our generation. And he's never looked back," Garrison said. "He's implemented things that people are willing to give their time and money to."

Walter Shepherd was one whose life changed when he crossed paths with the new Osborne Baptist Church in 1994. A dentist and orthodontist by trade, Shepherd now heads up the congregation's marriage ministry. He gives a very open testimony of how he and his wife of 24 years, though they were committed Christians, were struggling in their marriage, leading to an affair and his decision to abandon the marriage.

"Everything began crashing down when I got a phone call extorting money," Shepherd said. At that point, he decided to bring his affair into the open.

The couple did not receive a lot of help from their own church, but their housekeeper, Griffith's wife Jenny, invited them to attend Osborne's passion play. "We started attending OBC, and we began to see what it was like to live in community with people who were forgiven and not afraid to tell their stories," Shepherd said.

When old friends inquired about their move to Osborne Baptist Church, Shepherd said the attitude was, "Isn't that a church for the desperate?" 

"Initially I was taken aback, but then said, 'Yeah, that's exactly right, and that's me!'" He added, "The church has been so amazing about seeing people's lives change. The openness and being transparent -- I don't think I've ever been in a church where nobody needs to take the credit. It has been quite a ride."

The Shepherds have been involved at Osborne for 12 years and lead Wednesday night marriage courses two or three times a year as part of the church's "Power Classes" program.

Jeff Lynch and his wife were regular churchgoers when they visited Osborne after moving to Eden from Winston-Salem in 2002. Lynch, who soon was recruited to play Jesus in the Easter production, recounted, "I'd never had acting experience, so I went from nothing to playing the major role. It grew me in a lot of ways because I really had to depend on God."

Then the Lynches went on a mission trip to India. "I went from just going to church, to the play, to the big mission trip," he said. "God really showed me how big He was and what He could do through my life. I began to think I wanted my life to mean more."

Lynch told Griffith he sensed God might be calling him into ministry. God began giving him a burden for youth and Griffith approached him about becoming Osborne's youth director. Lynch left his management position at a textile plant two years ago and now ministers to about 80 Eden-area kids.

Though the Easter passion play had impacted many individuals like Shepherd and Lynch, Griffith began to sense that the time for another change had arrived. "We realized that 90 percent of the people coming were from other churches," he said. He sensed God telling him not to use the resources at Osborne to minister to other churches.

They began to shift their energies from the intense efforts required to produce the passion play to drawing in the unchurched in the community on a regular basis. Two "hooks" with which they fish regularly are creatively presenting the Gospel message in worship services and quality children's programs and opportunities.

Griffith preaches expository sermons through books of the Bible about half of the year. But he and his ministry team devote the other six months to innovative topical messages that generate curiosity and make it easy for church members to invite the lost to come and hear the Gospel at Osborne. "Survivor: Eden" involved the filming of a cast tackling different challenges -- and the congregation voted someone off the cast each Sunday. Griffith used the videos to segue into sermons on "Surviving Difficult Times," "Surviving Parenting," "Surviving Divorce" and finally "Surviving Eternity."

Other past themes include "C.A.R.S." (Connect, Align, Restore, Shine) and "Lord of All Things," during which the stage was decorated like "Lord of the Rings" middle earth. The most recent theme, "Dirty Jobs: Cleaning Up the Relationships in Your Life," was a six-week series in which Griffith himself was filmed doing different dirty jobs around town.

Griffith sandblasted the inside of a million-gallon water tank, milked 150 dairy cows and worked at the county landfill to transition to messages on cleaning up conflict, using the "pure milk" of God's Word to tame one's tongue, and getting the garbage out of marriage. The series ended on Palm Sunday, with Griffith standing in front of three crosses to tell about the dirtiest job ever done, saying, "The cross means that our sin is forgiven, and without the blood of the precious Lamb of God there could be no forgiveness of sin. When He was experiencing horrible humiliation and pain and shame, He was thinking about us, because He wants to forgive us."

"It's about being creative," Griffith said, "and trying to make it so that when people come to our church they leave here not saying that it was 'cool' or 'fun' but 'what a great God!' We use that as a hook and it gets them in. When they get here, they get Jesus."

Whenever Griffith asks people why they selected a church, he often hears, "Because of what they have for my children." So Osborne Baptist Church's second "hook" has been reaching children in the community.

"We decided to really invest in this," Griffith said. "We decided to build a high-tech, Disney-esque playground and coffee shop. We know if we can get the kids here, we can minister to their families." Thus, "Kingdom Clubhouse" celebrated its grand opening on March 2 as Osborne's newest "hook."

The play area has two different sections in the same 1,200-square-foot room -- one for preschoolers and the other for elementary children. Older children access their area by climbing the inside of a 22-foot tree. Two spiral slides get them down from the area. The preschool area is a smaller version of the treehouse. Parents must register and obtain an access code to use the facility, providing a measure of security.

"We can't get kids out of there," Griffith said of Kingdom Clubhouse's appeal. "We have reports of kids waking up early saying, 'We have to get to church!'" And it has "surpassed our wildest expectations in terms of how many in the community are showing up," Griffith noted, though no official counts have been kept.

Griffith also is pleased with the One Way Café -- a place for parents to relax and visit while their children play. Church members staff the café, serving specialty coffees, salads, soups, deli sandwiches and hot dogs. Flatscreen monitors play continuous evangelistic messages, marriage moments and Christian music videos, depending on the type of audience present in the café, whether parents, children or teens. 

Walking through the café one day, Griffith noticed a gentleman watching a short video talking about the love of Christ. "A tear ran down his face," the pastor said. "Lots of ministry is taking place.

"We're about Jesus. That's who we are. We'll do whatever it takes whenever we have to do it just to reach people."

"You shouldn't limit what you think God can do just because you're in a smaller area," Garrison, Osborne's children's minister, added. "Dream big. This can happen even in a small town!"
--30--
Kay Adkins is a writer based in Mountain View, Ark.


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Passion for kids appeals to parents
by Kay Adkins
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

EDEN, N.C. (BP)--Why are kids waking up early on Sunday mornings to nag their parents, "We have to get to church!" And why does a church in a declining small town continue to grow?

One reason: Reaching children is one of the top priorities at Osborne Baptist Church in Eden, N.C.

Osborne's passion for young families was evidenced in last October's "Generation to Generation" emphasis when the church gave a one-time cash offering of $456,000 and another $1 million in pledges to fund a building project that would house, among other things, "Kingdom Clubhouse," an indoor 22-foot-high treehouse playground that opened in March.

Osborne's pastor, Steve Griffith, noted that when he has asked parents their reason for choosing a particular church, they often answer, "Because of what they have for my kids." Griffith reasons that reaching children opens a door to reaching their parents. And he's thrilled that the indoor playground seems to be doing just that. "It has surpassed our wildest expectations in terms of how many in the community are showing up," Griffith said.

In addition to the Kingdom Clubhouse, the 10,000-square-foot addition includes an expanded lobby, 10 new preschool classrooms, seven new adult classrooms, a state-of-the-art children's worship center and One Way Café.

The playground and café are open to the community every day of the week. Parents can watch their children through a window while enjoying the amenities offered in the café, such as gourmet coffees, Internet access, sandwiches, soups, deserts and videos that play continuously on flat-screen TVs. "Moms are bringing their children and staying for two to three hours at a time," Griffith said.

Shane and Abby Hensley, who have been attending Osborne since the beginning of the year, said their 10-year-old son Logan has become excited about going to church. "What your kid can do at church now is amazing," Shane said. "It's great for them to be learning about Jesus in a fun environment. Osborne has just made it fun, exciting and dynamic."

Kevin Garrison, Osborne's children's ministry director, said the Sunday morning children's program now includes both a Bible study hour and a children's worship hour -– with elements of the same lesson the entire time, whereas Sunday School and children's church in the past had different lessons.

When Osborne added the children's worship hour they included new "stations": a Snack Shack, Creation Station for art projects, a game room with board games and the Bible Bus where they learn Bible skills. Children rotate from station to station and spend about 15 minutes per area, including the Kingdom Clubhouse.

No one can enter the children's area without a sticker containing an alpha-numeric code that must be matched up by a teacher when parents come for their children. Parents register at one of four terminals in the lobby to obtain the stickers, a procedure that also serves as an outreach tool to facilitate gathering contact information on the families who use the playground.

Since the new facility opened, Osborne's weekly worship attendance has increased from about 850 to nearly 1,100. "A lot of families who used to just come for the 11 a.m. worship are now bringing their kids at 9:30 &#91;for the expanded children's program&#93;, so parents are getting involved in our adult connection groups &#91;Osborne's Sunday School&#93;," Garrison said.

Recent large events, like a Superman conference that drew 170 men and a women's retreat with author and speaker Angela Thomas, have contributed to the surge as well. "People come in the building, and they see what we have, and they come back," Garrison said.

Cathy Vincent was impressed by the large number of women -– 450 -- who turned out for the retreat. "It just felt good!" said Vincent, a working mother with four children. Vincent, noting the challenge she faces developing friendships with Christian women like herself, recently signed up for a "mom's group" through the church.

Vincent's family began attending Osborne earlier this year, though they've been involved in Upward Basketball and Cub Scouts at the church for several years. "We were seeking a more family oriented church," she said, "and we needed relationships with adults who could relate to young family life."

The four Vincent children, ages 2, 4, 7 and 9, have enjoyed Osborne's new facility and the two-hour Sunday children's morning program. Her previously "clingy" 2-year-old now goes happily to her classes at the church, freeing the Vincents to worship together without worrying about their children. "And they are learning," Vincent noted.

Though the Vincents still are adjusting to moving from a church they had attended for years, Cathy is delighted with the changes they have seen in their family. She and her husband find themselves talking about the sermon all through the week "and about what we should do." Osborne "has had a wonderful impact on our family," she said, "and I'm looking forward to the future there."
--30--
Kay Adkins is a writer based in Mountain View, Ark.


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Land: 'Expelled' a must-see movie
by Michael Foust
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Following weeks of controversy about not only its content but its filming and production, Ben Stein's documentary "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" opens this weekend.

The 90-minute movie (PG, thematic elements, very brief language) explores the ongoing academic, legal and cultural battle between supporters of Darwinian evolution and Intelligent Design, which is the belief that certain aspects of the world are so complex that they are best explained as having been created by an intelligent being, instead of by a random process. Stein talks to people on both sides of the debate, and in a climactic scene, interviews noted atheist and evolutionist Richard Dawkins.

The movie's premise is simple: Supporters of Intelligent Design are being "expelled" -– fired, shunned or ridiculed (or all three) -– from institutions for their beliefs. Stein's famous dry humor is on display throughout the film.

Pro-family leaders, including Focus on the Family's James Dobson and the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission's Richard Land, have given the film thumbs up.

"Expelled is a wonderful movie," Land said on the April 17 broadcast of "For Faith and Family" in which he interviewed Stein. "I think it should be required viewing for anyone who wants to understand what is going on and what is at stake in the debate over worldviews in this society."

Land encouraged Christians to tell their friends about it.

"This is one of these times when you can vote with your pocketbook. You can vote with your economic franchise, and Hollywood will listen when they see the dollar signs," he said.

Contrary to what some people might assume, Stein said he's not on a quest for the teaching of Darwinian evolution to be replaced by Intelligent Design in schools and colleges. Rather, he simply wants to see ID be given a place at the academic table.

"Darwin proposed &#91;evolution&#93; as a hypothesis, &#91;and it&#93; has become a dictatorial totalitarian regime within big science and the academy of the United States of America, colleges and universities, and foundations," Stein told Land. "&#91;Y&#93;ou cannot question it, you cannot doubt it, you cannot express the slightest quibble with it, or you lose your grant, you lose your job, you lose your office, you lose your friends, sometimes you lose your family. You are expelled, in other words, and we think that's a bad state of affairs in a free society and a society founded on the freedom of speech and freedom of inquiry."

One reason the evolution debate frustrates Stein, he said, is because its supporters pretend that it answers questions it in fact doesn't. In one of the movie's more dramatic and humorous moments, Stein asks Dawkins if he believes it's even remotely possible that an intelligent being could be responsible for life on earth. Dawkins responds by suggesting aliens could have played a role.

"It is possible," Stein said, "that evolutionism explains changes within species. I have no doubt about that, frankly, but does it explain where life came from? No. Does it explain where matter came from? No. Does it explain where energy came from? ... &#91;It&#93; doesn't explain any of those things, so it is a theory which, at best, it explains a very teeny part of the puzzle."
--30--
Michael Foust is an assistant editor of Baptist Press. For more information about "Expelled," visit www.GetExpelled.com.
Click  here to listen to Richard Land's interview with Ben Stein.


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Lessen focus on eternity, McLaren says at Willow Creek student ministries conference
by David Roach
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

SOUTH BARRINGTON, Ill. (BP)--The emphasis Christians place on the traditional Christian doctrines of hell and the second coming of Jesus inhibits believers from living effective lives of service in this world, according to speaker and author Brian McLaren.

McLaren explained his views April 9-10 at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., as a featured speaker during the Willow Creek Association's annual Shift student ministries conference. During the conference's opening session, Bo Boshers, executive director of student ministries for the Willow Creek Association, said he does not agree with all McLaren's views but that all youth ministers should consider his thoughts.

In his most recent book, "Everything Must Change" (Thomas Nelson), McLaren commends Willow Creek pastor Bill Hybels as one of only a handful of evangelical leaders properly addressing global poverty and equity for the world's population.

"Some of us came from a religious tradition or a religious background where our main role was to recruit kids to go to heaven," said McLaren, a controversial leader within the emerging church movement. "And that's a good thing. Mortality rates are still pretty high, and we all have to face that decision. But I'm here to challenge you to think bigger and deeper and in more layers and dimensions about your role."

In a later conference breakout session, McLaren elaborated, "There are some ideas that are not truly ideas of the Gospel but are ideas of the modern understanding of the Gospel. The problem isn't the Bible. The problem is modern rings that we put around the Bible. And what we need to do -- some of us in our thinking -- is to find the courage to snip the ring so that our faith ... can really have a future."

Though he did not specify at Willow Creek which traditional doctrines need revision, McLaren wrote in his 2007 book "Everything Must Change" that the doctrine of hell needs radical rethinking. He argues that people who believe in hell may be inclined to dominate and take advantage of other people, rather than help them.

"Many of us have been increasingly critical in recent years of popular American eschatology in general, and conventional views of hell in particular," he wrote. "Simply put, if we believe that God will ultimately enforce his will by forceful domination, and will eternally torture all who resist that domination, then torture and domination become not only permissible but in some way godly."

The orthodox understanding that Jesus will return at a future date and forcefully conquer all His enemies also needs rethinking, according to McLaren.

"This eschatological understanding of a violent second coming leads us to believe (as we've said before) that in the end, even God finds it impossible to fix the world apart from violence and coercion; no one should be surprised when those shaped by this theology behave accordingly," McLaren wrote.

The book of Revelation does not actually teach that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, he wrote, but that a new way of living is possible within this universe if humans will follow Jesus' example.

By going to the cross, McLaren argued in his book, Jesus committed an act similar to the Chinese student at Tiananmen Square in the late 1980s -- he placed himself in harm's way to demonstrate the injustice of a society that would harm a peaceful and godly man.

McLaren's views break harshly from traditional Christian theology that Jesus died on the cross as substitute for sinful humanity, taking the punishment that men and women deserved for their sin. Traditional Christian theology also contends that those who do not trust Jesus for their salvation will be punished in hell eternally for their sins and that Jesus will return at a future date to conquer all evil.

At Willow Creek, McLaren outlined some of the world's most pressing problems and explained how humanity is facing several serious crises.

The "prosperity crisis" refers to the fact that humans have turned the quest for prosperity into a religion that exalts possession and consumption at unsustainable levels, he said. The "equity crisis" refers to the growing gap between the world's ultra-rich and its extremely poor, which prompts the poor to resent and even hate the rich minority, while the "security crisis" refers to the danger of war and violence arising from intensifying resentment and fear among people at the opposite ends of the economic spectrum, he said.

In attempts to solve these problems, humans often have resorted to imperialism, revolution, scapegoating and isolation, McLaren said. But Jesus offered an alternative strategy that offers people the prosperity, equity and security they seek, he said.

Jesus told people, "Listen everybody, I want you to stop believing those other stories," McLaren said. "That's in part what the word 'repent' means. I want you to think again about what's going on here. I want you to have a fresh vision of what's going on in this world.

"Repent doesn't just mean feel guilty. That's certainly part of it, but repent means something much bigger than that. It means realize that your entire way of seeing things is misguided and wrong."

The world's hope consists in believing Jesus' teaching that a life of care for others and stewardship of resources is ultimately more fulfilling than a life of seeking wealth and security at the expense of caring for the needy, according to McLaren.

"Jesus is saying that switching sides -- choosing to serve the needs of the poor instead of working the system that favors the rich -- is a way of 'laying up treasure in heaven,' of working for a higher spiritual economy rather than the 'unclean' imperial economy," McLaren wrote.

Citing the Lord's Prayer, he told conference attendees that youth ministers must shift their thinking and teach teens that involvement in earthly matters is more pressing than focus on eternal matters.

"As youth workers, a shift is happening and a shift is needed," he said, "that you become agents of recruiting people, young people, to consider devoting their entire lives to living not just for themselves and their own selfish interests, not just for their nation and their own national interests, but to work as agents of the Kingdom of God, joining with Jesus Christ in His good news of the Kingdom of God."

In the breakout session, McLaren said the world is moving from an era of modern thinking to an era of postmodern thinking and youth ministers must transition their teaching accordingly.

While modern thinking emphasizes analysis, postmodern thinking moves beyond reason and analysis to a focus on larger realities, he said.

"We're in a period of profound shift in our world today," he said. "And what has been familiar to us and our churches is in some ways shaking and crumbling and being reconfigured."

Youth ministry in the postmodern world must stop pointing out to teens the faults of non-Christian religions, McLaren said, because postmodern people do not view critiques positively.

"The kids walk out thinking, 'Man, I don't want to be a Christian because Christians are always attacking everybody else,'" he said. "So you end up giving the opposite message you intended to give because they're living in a world where to be critical seems like it's dangerous because they're worried that people are going to kill each other and blow each other up. We've got to realize the storm is occurring and the landscape is changing."

Though older Christian ministers may be able to remain in the bubble of modern thinking, youth pastors must trust God through this time of transition and make a change to new ways of thinking, he said.

"We're going through this kind of deep shift," he said, "and the non-youth pastors, many of them, feel they can afford to not have to face this because they will get older as their congregation gets older, and their congregation will live in the bubble of modernity as it passes from this scene. But youth pastors don't have that luxury."
--30--
David Roach is a writer for Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Baptist Press correspondent.


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SBTS prof: McLaren 'Serpent-sensitive'
by David Roach
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

SOUTH BARRINGTON, Ill. (BP)--Recent denials of hell and a literal second coming of Christ by emerging church leader Brian McLaren are absurd and actually lead to the kind of violence McLaren seeks to prevent, said Russell D. Moore, senior vice president for academic administration at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

In his latest book, "Everything Must Change," McLaren argued that those who believe in a Jesus who will crush His enemies by force may be inclined to dominate and take advantage of other people. McLaren explained some of the ideas in his book when he spoke at the Shift youth ministry conference April 9-11 at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill. He did not specifically deny hell or the second coming at the conference.

"Many of us have been increasingly critical in recent years of popular American eschatology in general, and conventional views of hell in particular," he writes. "Simply put, if we believe that God will ultimately enforce his will by forceful domination, and will eternally torture all who resist that domination, then torture and domination become not only permissible but in some way godly."

McLaren also argues the orthodox understanding that Jesus will return at a future date and forcefully conquer all His enemies needs rethinking.

"This eschatological understanding of a violent second coming leads us to believe (as we've said before) that in the end, even God finds it impossible to fix the world apart from violence and coercion; no one should be surprised when those shaped by this theology behave accordingly," McLaren writes.

Moore, who also serves as dean of Southern's school of theology, said the doctrine of a forceful Jesus actually should restrain Christians from committing acts of violence.

"When the apostle Peter takes up the sword to defend Jesus, he is rebuked precisely because Jesus says He can call 'more than twelve legions of angels' to defend Him (Matthew 26:53), but His time is not yet," Moore said. "The apostle Paul tells us not to avenge ourselves. Why? Because, he writes, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord' (Romans 12:18-20).

"As for domination, the Bible tells us not to dominate one another, precisely because 'we will all stand before the judgment seat of God' (Romans 12:10)."

Even though McLaren claims to want world peace, his own view is actually the one that leads to violence, Moore said.

"When a Christian understands that he does not fight for his own honor, but that justice will be done by God, either through union with Christ and His cross or at the judgment itself, the Christian is freed then to trust God, not his sword or his gun or his fists or his tongue," he said. "It is McLaren's vision of a life that consists only of the justice achieved in this era that leads to violence and Darwinian struggle to see that a pound of flesh is exacted.

"It is the kind of world that McLaren envisions, without a messianic hope of a second coming, that leads to the bloody utopian experiments we have seen throughout the twentieth century. If human beings do not expect a Messiah in the skies, they will expect to elect one or anoint one or biochemically engineer one. And, do not be deceived, such pseudo-Messiahs always eventually have a sword."

Christians should know by now that McLaren displays "hostility to the most basic aspects of the Gospel message," Moore said, adding that Willow Creek should not have invited him to speak.

"McLaren's comments at Willow Creek are not themselves surprising," he said. "What is surprising is that a Christian conference, especially one growing out of a movement designed to reach 'seekers' for Christ, would invite him to speak. When McLaren questions the existence of hell and the hope of the second coming, he is not a 'new kind of Christian.' Such things are neither new nor Christian.

"They are instead a repetition of the voice of a snake in a long-ago garden: 'Has God said?' and 'You shall not surely die.' It is tragic that one of the world's most renowned evangelical churches would highlight this kind of Serpent-sensitive worship."

Dan Kimball, another emerging church leader and pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, Calif., is to be commended for saying at the same conference that it is wrong for Christians to focus so much on social justice that they neglect to speak about eternal life, Moore said.

"Dan Kimball's comments were courageous and correct," he said. "An evangelicalism without the Gospel is no advance for the church."
--30--
David Roach is a writer for Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Baptist Press correspondent.


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Don't forget eternity, Kimball urges
by David Roach
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

SOUTH BARRINGTON, Ill. (BP)--Though it is right for the church to fight for social justice, Christians must never focus on conditions in this world so much that they fail to tell people about the eternal life available through Christ, Dan Kimball said April 11 during the Shift student ministry conference at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill.

Kimball, pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, Calif., and a leading voice in the emerging church movement, was among several speakers advocating more traditional views at a conference that often focused on social justice and adapting Christianity to confront the 21st century.

The conference also featured Brian McLaren, another leading emerging church voice and author of the 2007 book "Everything Must Change," which encourages Christians to stop focusing on eternity and think of God's kingdom as something they can bring about fully in this world.

Shane Claiborne, author of "Irresistible Revolution," was a main session speaker, while optional activities included viewing a film featuring Rob Bell, founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Mich., and attending a discussion group called "Emerging Church, Questionable Theology, Social Vision."

"This is what I'm just concerned about a little bit with some of the things that are going on today," Kimball said. "The church is waking up to the fact that we have to be involved in global social justice issues. And that is fantastic. We should be repenting (and saying), 'I can't believe we did not think of this. This is the command of Jesus and what we should be about.' And we need to be so involved in all of this because the kingdom is about life on this planet here and not just about when we die.

"But my subtle fear is that we don't then swing the pendulum so much that we forget that there is life after we die and that we do have to still remember that there is an eternity with God and an eternity apart from God."

Kara Powell, executive director of the Center for Youth and Family Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., also called for more Gospel proclamation, saying the Gospel of grace will inspire teens to persist in their Christian faith after high school.

"My best guess is probably about 50 percent of the students who are decently involved in your youth ministry through 12th grade ... won't be serving the Lord 18 months after graduation," Powell said, adding, "Somehow the Jesus that fed them, that met their needs in high school -- somehow isn't doing it 18 months later."

Darren Whitehead, pastor of Next Gen Ministries at Willow Creek, told youth ministers they must exegete both the culture and the Scripture in order to reach students effectively. Greg Hawkins, Willow Creek's executive pastor, presented research suggesting that Bible reading and study are the most important factors in a person's spiritual growth.

Kimball, in the conference's closing session, said most Americans have a favorable impression of Jesus but do not see Christians in a favorable light.

"When we did kind of an informal sort of survey," he said, "what we hear about us as Christians (is): we're judgmental, negative, we're homophobic, we mesh rightwing politics with our religion, we arrogantly think that we are right and everybody else is wrong with other religious faiths -- and that's arrogantly -- we oppress women in the church and it's male dominated and we're fundamentalists that take the whole Bible literally."

Though not all of these characterizations are accurate, people hold such opinions of Christians because we often remove ourselves from culture and build evangelical sub-cultures, rather than remaining in but not of the world, as Jesus prayed, Kimball said.

A key to successfully reaching non-believers with the Gospel is creating an atmosphere in the church that promotes evangelism, he said. An inviting atmosphere doesn't have to be on the cutting edge of culture but simply must make all people feel welcomed and loved, according to Kimball.

He noted that his own conversion to faith in Christ occurred because loving senior adults in a London church reached out to him while he was playing in a punk band. The church members were completely unlike him but communicated that they cared for him and welcomed his questions about the Bible, Kimball said.

"You have a 23-year-old guy that is a total punk music guy," he said of himself. "You'd think, 'We need a hip, other kind of musician guy to be a witness.' No. God said, 'I'm going to use an 83-year-old man and a bunch of elderly people who are about as uncool as you could possibly get, don't know anything about music or culture, but they have Jesus in them."

Dealing with cultural shift is ultimately not complicated, Kimball said. Believers can affect the culture if they will simply "be in the world" and simultaneously be committed to Christ and His church, he said.
--30--
David Roach is a writer for Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Baptist Press correspondent.


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LIFE DIGEST: Researchers in Great Britain create human-cow hybrid embryos
by Tom Strode
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

WASHINGTON (BP)--Researchers have created human-animal embryos in Great Britain for the first time.

Scientists at Newcastle University announced April 1 they had placed human cells into empty cow eggs, creating what have become known as cytoplasmic hybrids, or "cybrids," according to The Times of London. Researchers hope eventually to grow the hybrids to six days of age in order to extract stem cells and conduct research for treatments of various diseases, The Times reported. The removal of stem cells kills an embryo.

The Newcastle "cybrids," which are described as 99.9 percent human, lived for three days, the British Broadcasting Co. reported, according to The Times.

Parliament soon will be debating legislation that would legalize such hybrid embryos. Currently there is a ban on permitting the embryos to grow beyond 14 days or to implant them in the womb of a human being or animal, according to The Times. 

In January, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) granted one-year licenses for the Newcastle scientists and another team to conduct such research.

The research is "ethically monstrous," Family Research Council President Tony Perkins wrote in an online commentary on the FRC website. "Out of respect for the legislative process and the citizens of Great Britain, the government at the very least should have allowed for a thorough and transparent public debate before authorizing scientists to proceed."

U.S. ASIANS USING SEX-SELECTION ABORTIONS -- Some Asians in the United States apparently are expressing their preference for sons by using sex-selection abortions to produce male babies.

A new examination of the 2000 U.S. census showed an increase in the births of sons of Chinese, Korean and Asian Indian parents after they have one or two daughters, according to RedOrbit, an online science, space, health and technology site.

The authors of the research, published March 31 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said their findings suggested that "in a sub-population with a traditional son preference, the technologies are being used to generate male births when preceding births are female," RedOrbit reported. The researchers surmised some Asian parents are using ultrasound technology to determine the sex of unborn babies, resulting in a subsequently inordinate number of abortions of girls, according to the report.

Douglas Almond, an economics professor at Columbia University, and Lena Edlund of the National Bureau of Economic Research reported there was an increase in the use of ultrasound among Asian Americans in the 1990s and the appearance of a gender imbalance in later births at the end of that decade, according to RedOrbit. Ultrasound use during pregnancy among non-Japanese Asian women in the United States grew from about 38 percent to 64 percent between 1989 and 1999, they said.

Almond and Edlund's study showed the normal birth ratio in the 2000 census among Asian Americans for the first child was 1.05 boys to 1 girl, RedOrbit reported. If the first child were a girl, the ratio grew to 1.17 boys to 1 girl among Asians. After two female babies, it increased to 1.51 boys to every girl. There was no such difference among Asian births in the 1990 census, according to RedOrbit.

The male-female ratio among whites remained constant, Slate magazine reported.

Sex-selection abortion has been a growing problem in recent years in some Asian countries, where parents often favor sons, at least in part, because of a desire to be supported by them in old age.

China and India have led the way in using ultrasounds to identify females in the womb and then to abort them, with Nepal and Vietnam prepared to follow their examples, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reported in October.

China, which has a coercive, one-child policy, had 120 males born for every 100 females in 2005, according to the UNFPA. India's 2001 census showed the ratio nationally was 108 to 100, but some northern and western states had a ratio as high as 120 to 100, UNFPA reported. The normal ratio is about 105 to 100.

ARIZONA GOVERNOR VETOES PRO-LIFE BILLS -- Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed April 4 two bills restricting abortion, keeping her record perfect on the issue.

Napolitano, a Democrat, rejected a measure that would have prohibited partial-birth abortion and another that would have strengthened the current law requiring parental consent before a minor undergoes an abortion. In so doing, the governor extended her record of never signing a limitation on abortion rights since she took office in 2003.

"Rather than introducing more criminal penalties into the relationship between a woman and her physician, let us focus our collective efforts to remedy the root issue of unwanted pregnancies by addressing such important topics as family planning and the prevention of sexual violence against women," Napolitano said in a letter explaining one of the vetoes.

Cathi Herrod, president of the pro-life Center for Arizona Policy, said, according to the Arizona Daily Star, the governor had demonstrated again "how radical she is on the abortion issue."

There are not enough votes in the legislature to override the vetoes, the Daily Star reported.

MORE THAN 1,300 BRITS HAD AT LEAST FIFTH ABORTION -- Last year, more than 1,300 British women had at least their fifth abortion.

Statistics released in March by the government showed about 950 women had their fifth abortion in 2007, nearly 200 had their sixth, 110 had their seventh and 54 had at least their eighth, the Daily Mail reported.

"What harder evidence do we need that the abortion law as it stands is being abused?" said Nadine Dorries, a Tory in Parliament, according to the newspaper. "Abortion is supposed to be allowed if a pregnancy poses a significant risk to a mother's health or well-being. But in fact it's being allowed over and over again for purely social reasons. Girls now get pregnant and think, 'It doesn't matter; I'll just get an abortion.'"
--30--
Tom Strode is the Washington bureau chief for Baptist Press.


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Broadway Baptist pastor resigning
by Staff
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--The embattled pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, is stepping down to take a position at McAfee School of Theology.

Brett Younger, who survived a vote in March that would have led to his removal, is leaving to become associate professor of preaching at the school, which is situated on the campus of Mercer University in Georgia.

The congregation has been a leading voice in moderate Baptist life. Younger’s final Sunday at Broadway will be June 8.

"I feel like the Spirit is leading me to this new ministry," Younger told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I am also sad at leaving Broadway. The church has taught me so much about following Christ. The congregation has faced difficult issues with great courage. One of my hopes in my new position is that I will be able to help students lead their own congregations to be as faithful as Broadway has been."

Church members had voted March 9 to retain Younger by a 499-237 margin (68 percent to 32 percent).

The church has been embroiled in controversy for the last several months as members have struggled with issues such as whether to allow homosexual couples in the church to be presented as couples in a planned 125th anniversary pictorial directory.

At issue was not whether homosexuals should be able to serve, attend and hold positions of authority in the church, but whether a pictorial directory that included homosexual couples would make it appear as if the church endorsed the homosexual lifestyle. That issue was settled Feb. 24 when the church voted 294-182 to leave family portraits out of the directory in favor of candid photos.

A group calling itself Friends for the Future of Broadway had brought a litany of complaints against Younger in recent months, criticizing his handling of the pictorial directory controversy, his invitation to controversial theologian Marcus Borg to preach to the church and a decline in church attendance since the beginning of his tenure in 2001.
--30--
Compiled by Michael Foust, with reporting by Samuel Smith, a writer based in Fort Worth, Texas.


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FIRST-PERSON: The difference 'Expelled' will make
by William A. Dembski
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Ben Stein's new movie "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" opens this weekend in theaters. It explores the widespread persecution -- destruction of livelihoods, careers and reputations -- of scientists who doubt Darwin's theory of evolution and think intelligence is needed to explain life's origin and development. 

Controversy surrounds this film. Reviews tend to be extremely positive or extremely negative. Who likes it? People who think God may have had something to do with our being here and therefore find it reasonable that God may have left tangible evidence of His involvement in creation. Who hates it? A science, education and media elite who prefer that God had nothing to do with it and think that nature must do all its own creating.

Who's right? That's the wrong question. Anyone who has studied the history of science knows about "the pessimistic induction." The pessimistic induction says that all scientific theories of the past have to varying degrees been wrong and required modification (some were so wrong that they had to be abandoned outright). No scientific theory is written in stone. No scientific theory should be venerated. Every scientific theory should now and again be subjected to severe scrutiny. This is healthy for science.

Expelled, by contrast, points up the unhealthy state of contemporary science regarding biological origins. Our intellectual elite have insulated Darwinian evolution from scientific scrutiny. Moreover, they have institutionalized intolerance to any criticism of it. Expelled documents this institutionalized intolerance and thereby unmasks the hypocrisy of an intellectual class that pretends to value freedom of thought and expression, but undercuts it whenever it conflicts with their deeply held secular ideals.

Spotlighting yet another sin of society is all fine and good. Happily, Expelled also suggests a way forward in the debate over biological origins. The most surprising thing viewers learn from watching the film is the flimsiness of the scientific evidence for thinking life can be explained apart from a designing intelligence -- the other side's rhetoric notwithstanding. Take Jeffrey Kluger's review of the film for Time Magazine:

"He &#91;Stein&#93; makes all the usual mistakes nonscientists make whenever they try to take down evolution, asking, for example, how something as complex as a living cell could have possibly arisen whole from the earth's primordial soup. The answer is it couldn't -- and it didn't. Organic chemicals needed eons of stirring and slow cooking before they could produce compounds that could begin to lead to a living thing." 

Come again? Take some organic chemicals, slow cook them, give enough time, and out pops life? This isn't a scientific theory. This is an article of speculative faith. 

In Expelled, Stein interviews atheistic scientist after atheistic scientist, and they all admit that they haven't a clue how life arose. There is no materialistic theory of life's origin, and anyone who suggests otherwise is bluffing. In creating conceptual space for Intelligent Design, Stein, and not the dogmatic defenders of Darwin, champions true freedom of thought and expression. 

Will the movie succeed in opening up discussion about evolution and Intelligent Design? Here we need to be realistic. As Thomas Kuhn, in his "Structure of Scientific Revolutions," has clearly documented, those who support the status quo rarely change their views (and Darwinism is the status quo). Or, as Kuhn puts it, a new scientific paradigm (in this case Intelligent Design) succeeds on the graves of the old guard. Don't expect the scientific community and intellectual elites to turn to Intelligent Design in response to this film. If anything, expect a backlash.

But that's OK. The unwashed masses, in which I place myself, will love the film. Ordinary people, who often pay the Darwinists' salaries through their tax dollars, will rightly be incensed. They'll see that enough is enough: They will no longer be bullied by a Richard Dawkins, who tells them that if they don't subscribe to Darwinian evolution, they're either stupid, wicked, ignorant or insane. They will start demanding that evolution be taught honestly -- warts and all. And young people will be encouraged to take up careers in science to restore its health and integrity.

Expelled's impact will be felt immediately. But its long-term impact will be even greater. The film opens with documentary footage of the Berlin Wall going up and closes with it coming down. The day Darwinism and Intelligent Design can be fairly discussed without fear of reprisal represents the removal of a barrier even greater than the Berlin Wall. When future intellectual historians describe the key events that led to the fall of "Darwin's Wall," Ben Stein's Expelled will top the list.
--30--
William Dembski is research professor of philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and is interviewed in "Expelled." For more information, visit www.GetExpelled.com.

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EDITORIAL: 'Et tu, Bob Casey?'
by Will Hall
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Following the sweeping turnover in Congress resulting from the mid-term elections of 2006, newly elected Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), was touted for his right-to-life record. Even conservatives sensed he would be a strong pro-life voice in the Democratic Party and the Senate. Now, however, pro-life supporters in both parties must be scratching their heads following Casey's recent endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

His decision to back Obama against rival Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) reversed his previous position of neutrality he hoped would allow him to broker peace between his two fellow Democrats following the presidential primary race.

Do not get me wrong: It is not unreasonable for him to support a candidate from his own party. Despite his pro-life orientation, he apparently already has reconciled himself with the pro-abortion plank in the Democrats' national platform. Also, it does not matter that he chose to support Obama over Clinton.

But the convoluted justification he gave for his decision -- saying in essence Obama was the best pro-life choice among the two -- is inexplicable.

"He has the unique skills to try to lower the temperature and foster a sense of common ground, and try to figure out ways that people can agree," Casey said, according to The Washington Post. "On this issue, it's particularly hard."

Given Obama's extreme pro-abortion views, I cannot grasp how Casey could ever perceive Obama in the role of peacemaker between the pro-abortion and pro-life camps -- even if limited to within the Democratic Party.

Simply put, Obama has staked out hard-line pro-abortion positions:

-- As an Illinois legislator, he opposed a bill that would have required medical treatment be given a newborn baby that survived an abortion attempt.

-- In 1997, Obama would not support an Illinois bill banning the heinous partial-birth abortion procedure even though it included an exception to save the life of the mother.

-- He did not support parental notification in the case of young girls being taken out of state for abortions (often by the adult who impregnated them) even with an exception for the life of the minor.

-- Last July he gave a speech to Planned Parenthood -– the nation's largest abortion provider -– where he said, "There will always be people, many of goodwill, who do not share my view on the issue of choice. On this fundamental issue, I will not yield and Planned Parenthood will not yield."

The National Right to Life Committee has given Obama a rating of 0 percent -- the lowest pro-life rating possible. Although Casey only garners a 57 percent rating, Obama's pro-abortion views could not be more opposed to Casey's stated pro-life positions. Casey has said he favors the overturn of Roe v. Wade; opposes tax-funded abortions; and rejects stem cell research that harms a human embryo. Yet, Casey said Obama offers "to chart a new course" for America.

Unfortunately, nowhere is the potential harm of Obama's new direction more evident than in how Obama would change the makeup of the Supreme Court; and Casey knows Obama's apparent differences with him in this area threatens to imperil the unborn in November and for decades to follow.

In his race against Rick Santorum, a staunch pro-life supporter whom Casey defeated for his Senate seat, Casey voiced his support for the then-nominees for the U.S. Supreme Court, Samuel Alito and John Roberts. Obama criticized Alito and Roberts, saying the role of a justice is to favor the weak over the strong and that Roberts' and Alito's hearts "weren't in the right place."

Obama's interpretation of the justices' role is a far cry from "equal justice under the law," which is etched above the entrance to the Supreme Court Building. Moreover, his definition of the weak does not include the most vulnerable in our nation, the unborn.

Casey's endorsement of Obama on the basis of Obama's ability to be a moderating voice on the issue of abortion reminds me of William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." Shakespeare immortalized Caesar's murder by close friend and ally, Marcus Junius Brutus, a Roman senator.

Roughly summarized: Caesar was attacked by a group of senators who -- motivated by ambition -- conspired against Caesar by rumoring he was moving toward establishing Rome as a monarchy under his own rule. Brutus was cajoled to join them. Caesar initially resisted their attack when they came upon him, until he spied Brutus, who in Shakespeare's account stabbed Caesar last, and Caesar spoke the famous line, "Et tu, Brute?

"Julius Caesar" is a complex tale that is difficult to generalize to most situations. However, it exemplifies the saying that politics makes strange bedfellows -- a trusted friend was turned from loyal ally to assassin by partisan politics; and this point does translate to the present situation.

Given Bob Casey's contorted 'abortion debate' rationale for endorsing Obama, the pro-life movement might ask, "Et tu, Bob Casey?"
--30--
Will Hall is executive editor of Baptist Press.


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La visita del Papa subraya las diferencias y similitudes entre bautistas del sur y católicos
by Por Mickey Noah
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)- Durante la visita del Papa Benedicto XVI a los Estados Unidos esta semana, los 16 millones de bautistas del sur y 75 millones de católicos en el país concuerdan en algunos asuntos doctrinales, aunque no en todos.

Los católicos y los bautistas del sur creen en la trinidad, la deidad de Jesucristo, el nacimiento virginal y que Jesús fue libre de pecado, murió en la cruz por los pecados del hombre, resucitó y ascendió al cielo.

"Cuando hablas con los católicos, no los tienes que convencer de creer en Dios, en Jesucristo o en la Biblia," dijo Tal Davis, coordinador interreligioso en el grupo de evangelización de la Junta de Misiones Norteamericanas de los bautistas del sur. "La mayoría de los católicos ya lo creen. Pero aún hay diferencias significativas."

Davis añadió que en los últimos 30-40 años los católicos han moderado sus puntos de vista acerca de los bautistas del sur y de otros evangélicos, y ha sido algo bueno.

"Nunca vamos a cambiar completamente la manera de pensar uno del otro, pero en lo que sí estamos de acuerdo es una buena cantidad de asuntos de política pública," declaró Davis, citando "asuntos vitales" como el aborto, la investigación de células madres y la eutanasia. Ambos grupos se acercan en otros asuntos morales tales como la promoción de los valores de la vida familiar y la guerra en contra de las drogas.

Davis dijo que en general los católicos tienden a ser más liberales en otros asuntos nacionales, tales como la guerra y la pena de muerte, asuntos en los cuales el Vaticano ha tomado fuertes posturas en particular.

Por algún tiempo, la Iglesia Católica Romana consideró a los protestantes y evangélicos como apóstatas –detractores de la fe. En las últimas décadas, ha habido un diálogo ecuménico entre el Vaticano y un número de denominaciones que no incluyen a los bautistas del sur. Sin embargo, el año pasado, el Vaticano publicó una declaración reafirmando que las iglesias no católicas eran detractoras o no verdaderas iglesias sino meras comunidades eclesiásticas, por lo tanto no contaban con los "medios para la salvación."

La definición de "iglesia" es uno de los mayores contrastes entre ambos.

Los bautistas del sur entienden que la iglesia es tanto un cuerpo local de creyentes bautizados como el cuerpo universal de Cristo, el cual incluye a los redimidos de todas las eras. 

De acuerdo con Davis, los católicos creen que la verdadera iglesia es la Iglesia Católica Romana, la "Iglesia de Dios en la tierra"- una institución altamente estructurada y reglamentada por todo el globo, incluyendo a mil millones de miembros, &#91;equivalentes a&#93; 16 por ciento de la población mundial.

"En segundo lugar, abajo del cristianismo, la Iglesia Católica Romana es, de hecho, la institución organizada más antigua y más duradera sobre la faz de la tierra, que data desde el siglo VI. La Iglesia Católica es dirigida por el Papa a quien los católicos consideran como la autoridad infalible, el sucesor de Pedro &#91;el apóstol&#93;," dijo Davis.

Los bautistas del sur rechazan la creencia en una jerarquía terrenal y en su lugar creen en el modelo del Nuevo Testamento, el cual otorga la autoridad divina a la iglesia local. También creen en la enseñanza neotestamentaria acerca de la responsabilidad individual de la salvación.

Otro experto en catolicismo en la JMN es Bill Gordon, consultor de recursos para el equipo de evangelismo masivo en la junta.

Gordon dijo que en comparación con otros grupos, es más fácil discutir el Evangelio con  los católicos ya que ellos y los evangélicos comparten doctrinas y creencias comunes.

"Fes tales como el movimiento de la Nueva Era, no tienen nada en común con los evangélicos. Los creyentes de esta religión creen que ellos son Dios. Los evangélicos tienen muy poco en común con los mormones, quienes no creen en la trinidad, o con los musulmanes, quienes no creen que Jesús murió en la cruz."

Gordon y Davis concuerdan en que los dos puntos de fricción entre los cristianos evangélicos y los católicos son sus respectivos puntos de vista acerca de la salvación y del pecado.

"Los católicos y los bautistas del sur están de acuerdo en que Jesús murió en la cruz y resucitó para pagar por nuestros pecados. Pero los católicos ven la salvación como un largo proceso que requiere los siete sacramentos," explicó Davis. Estos sacramentos incluyen el bautismo al nacer, la confirmación, la Eucaristía, la orden sacerdotal, la unción de los enfermos, el matrimonio y la penitencia.

"Para obtener acceso a la gracia de Dios, los católicos tienen que pasar a través de la Iglesia Católica y los sacramentos. Nosotros los bautistas del sur pensamos que eso no es necesario y, de hecho, es un estorbo para Dios.

Nosotros vamos directamente a Jesús para la salvación por medio de la fe solamente. No hay obras involucradas. Tú no te puedes salvar a ti mismo y tú no puedes añadir nada al plan de salvación de Dios," acertó Davis.

Gordon dijo que otra de las mayores diferencias entre católicos y evangélicos es la manera en que cada uno define el pecado.

"Ellos reconocen que son pecadores pero piensan que sus pecados son sólo veniales o menores, y que ellos mismos pueden encargarse de los pecados veniales a través de las buenas obras y del purgatorio, un lugar temporal después de la muerte.

"La mayoría de los católicos no ven la necesidad de la salvación porque no consideran que sus pecados son mortales, los pecados que sí pueden mandar a un alma al infierno si no se confesó con un sacerdote." Gordon añadió que según las estadísticas, sólo el 26 por ciento de los católicos se confiesan una o más veces al año. 

Gordon dijo que los evangélicos, por otro lado, creen que cualquier pecado es suficiente para enviar a esa persona al infierno. También creen que el pecado debe ser confesado de inmediato y directamente a Dios.

"Y esta gran diferencia en la definición del pecado es una barrera. Nosotros pensamos que nos hemos comunicado con ellos pero luego nos frustramos porque ellos todavía no ven la necesidad de la salvación porque piensan que sus pecados son sólo menores," comentó Gordon.

Los bautistas del sur no están siendo irrespetuosos con los católicos por compartir el Evangelio – de la manera en que lo creemos- con sus amigos católicos, aclaró Davis.

"No les estamos faltando al respeto y aunque es obvio que no concordamos con ellos, sólo estamos siendo fieles a nuestras creencias y a nuestra fe," dijo Davis.

Davis ofrece estas ideas para los evangélicos que comparten su fe con los católicos:

-- Aclara tu propia fe cristiana y lo que crees.

-- Infórmate más acerca de lo que creen los católicos.

-- Desarrolla una relación amistosa y conoce más a esa persona.

-- Deja que vean a Cristo en ti.

-- No te distraigas con los asuntos espinosos y ni siquiera te centres en que el catolicismo es el problema. No debatas. Comienza con Dios, Jesús y las cosas que los bautistas y los católicos tienen en común.
--30--
Mickey Noah es un escritor de la Junta de Misiones Norteamericanas (NAMB, por sus siglas en inglés). Para obtener más información sobre la Iglesia Católica Romana a través de la JMN, visite http://4truth.net y haga un clic en la palabra "denomination."


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Lo que creen los católicos
by Por el Staff
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) – Aunque concuerdan con la mayoría de los puntos de los cristianos, los católicos romanos están en desacuerdo con éstos en puntos críticos relacionados con la salvación. Contando con más de 74 millones de seguidores en los EE UU, los católicos conforman el mayor grupo cristiano &#91;no evangélico&#93; en el continente. A continuación, algo básico sobre el trasfondo del catolicismo:

-- Alrededor de los siglos V y VI la Iglesia Católica fue establecida como una  institución. El papa actual es Benedicto XVI (Joseph Ratzinger, nombrado el 24 de abril de 2005).

-- América del Norte cuenta con 74´517,041 miembros del catolicismo.

-- La Iglesia Católica tiene su matriz en la Ciudad del Vaticano.

-- Los católicos creen:

-- lo mismo que los cristianos evangélicos acerca de la naturaleza de Dios y de la muerte, entierro y resurrección de Cristo.

-- En los mismos 66 libros de la Biblia protestante aunque también afirman los textos apócrifos. Además, sostienen que la autoridad se encuentra en las enseñanzas de los apóstoles de la manera en que ellos las han preservado en la Iglesia Católica, aparte de la Biblia. Así que el cargo de papa tiene "poder completo, supremo y universal sobre toda la Iglesia" (CCC, no. 882).

-- "a través del Bautismo se nos libera del pecado y renacemos como hijos de Dios; nos convertimos en miembros de Cristo" (CCC, no. 1213).

-- Los sacerdotes pueden perdonar pecados.

-- La gracia es administrada a través de los sacramentos durante la Eucaristía (Misa).

-- María fue perfecta. Los católicos la ven como la co-mediadora de la gracia de Dios y colaboradora con la salvación de Jesús su Hijo (CCC, nos. 510, 973). Según el Papa Pablo VI, "La devoción de la Iglesia por la Bendita Virgen es intrínseca en la adoración cristiana" (CCC, no. 971).
--30—
Adaptado de "Roman Catholicism" un resumen escrito por Bill Gordon, consultor de recursos para el equipo de evangelismo masivo de la Junta de Misiones Norteamericanas (NAMB, por sus siglas en inglés). Para obtener un resumen más detallado, visite http://4truth.net y haga un clic en la palabra "denomination." Las citas provienen del Catechism of the Catholic Church, Liguori, Mo.: Liguori Publications, 1994.


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El evangelio compartido en blanco y negro para alcanzar la zona urbana de Filadelfia
by Por Norm Miller
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

FILADELFIA (BP)--La Iglesia Keystone Fellowship ubicada en un suburbio de Filadelfia celebró su cuarto aniversario estableciendo la Iglesia Epiphany Fellowship en medio de algunas de las calles más humildes de la Ciudad del Amor Fraternal.

Keystone tenía escasamente tres años en el 2004 cuando se asoció a la Junta de Misiones de los Bautistas del Sur en Norteamérica para establecer Epiphany.

"Fue una acción suicida," dijo Eric Mase, pastor principal de Epiphany.

Pero eso no le importó a John Cope, pastor de Keystone. Tenía el establecimiento de iglesias en la sangre. Sabía todo sobre eso. Habiendo comenzado en agosto de 2000 con solamente seis personas ?los miembros de su familia? Keystone oficialmente se organizó un año después con 300 personas. Y First Baptist Church de Orlando, Florida se asoció a Cope para establecer Keystone. De esta relación, Cope aprendió lo indispensable que sería Keystone para criar Epiphany Fellowship.

Tanto Keystone como Epiphany fueron establecidas en conjunto con la iniciativa de establecimiento de iglesias y evangelismo de Enfoque Estratégico en la Ciudad de NAMB que funciona en las principales ciudades de los Estados Unidos de América.

La relación de establecimiento de iglesias entre las dos congregaciones es significativa debido a que la membresía de Keystone es predominantemente caucásica mientras que la diversidad de etnias de la congregación de Epiphany es tan variada como un arco iris.

"Epiphany no es una iglesia de negros," dijo Mase. "Tenemos gente de diferentes trasfondos étnicos." Mase es de ascendencia africana al igual que el pastor asistente William Branch; ambos se graduaron del Seminario Teológico de Dallas. 

"Desde el inicio del proyecto de este esfuerzo, hemos obtenido más respuestas favorables de gente blanca de las que hemos obtenido de los de nuestro mismo matiz," dijo Mase. "Y no me disculpo por el impacto de esta declaración.

"Uno de mis mentores me dijo: 'Nunca te disculpes por el papel del hombre blanco en tu vida.' Ahora, a algunos líderes negros les gustaría llamarme 'blanqueado', pero eso no podría importarme menos."

Al explicar cómo seleccionó a sus compañeros de ministerio. Mase dijo: "Nos enfocamos en lo que Dios valora, según la Biblia. Consideramos la pregunta: ¿Cómo nos evalúa Dios? Entonces buscamos a aquellos con deseos de ser fieles a la forma en la que Dios nos evalúa, y decidimos juntarnos con ellos."

Ni Mase ni Cope, quienes se reunieron a Branch para una entrevista de Baptist Press, nunca consideraron su trasfondo étnico como una piedra de tropiezo para la unión de Epiphany y Keystone.

Cope, quien viene de Pine Bluff, Arkansas, dijo que uno de sus mejores amigos en el seminario era afroamericano. "La raza nunca ha sido un problema para mí, y esto no es por ninguna penitencia por lo que el hombre blanco hizo en el pasado.

"Usted sabe, el racismo puede ser un problema allá, lejos de aquí, en el sur," añadió Cope.

"Pero en esta parte, la dinámica cambia, hermano," interpuso Mase. "Usted no puede permitirse ser separatista en nuestra atmósfera no bíblica.

"Es como en la Segunda Guerra Mundial," dijo Mase. "Mi papá fue un soldado de Búfalo, y él dijo que todo el racismo que vio en Carolina del Sur cambió cuando estuvo en batalla. Dijo: 'Cualquiera que dispara hacia la dirección opuesta a la nuestra está en nuestro equipo'".

Cope dijo que él y Mase tienen "el mismo ADN espiritual," con un propósito común de alcanzar a la gente para Cristo, lo cual ha puesto en movimiento el entusiasmo entre los miembros de Keystone.

"Mucha de nuestra gente creció en la ciudad y se ha trasladado a los suburbios," dijo Cope. "Todavía tienen pasión por la ciudad. De manera que cuando esta oportunidad se presentó, hombre, nuestra gente ni pestañó. De hecho, nunca escuché un comentario negativo. Ni siquiera uno."

Mase estuvo listo para añadir que Keystone no ayudó a establecer Epiphany debido a algún "complejo mesiánico" o por sentimiento de culpa. Lo hicieron porque tienen corazón por la gente de las zonas urbanas."

El pastor de enseñanza de Epiphany, Branch, ha estado dos veces nominado a los premios Grammy como artista rapero cristiano y fundó el grupo musical: The Cross Movement (El Movimiento de la Cruz). Es conocido en la industria musical como "El Embajador," también fundó la disquera Movimiento de la Cruz y dirige un estudio para ayudar a lanzar el ministerio de otros raperos cristianos que emplean el género musical Hip-Hop para compartir el evangelio de Jesucristo.

Branch, quien cree que Dios lo ha llamado a este singular ministerio en la cultura Hip-Hop, le dijo a Baptist Press que inicialmente había sido contactado en relación con el establecimiento de una iglesia en Filadelfia. "Pero no me veo como el pastor principal. Yo soy un colaborador," dijo Branch, y añadió que le habló a Mase acerca de la oportunidad de establecer una iglesia. Branch se había reunido con Mase en años anteriores cuando Mase era pastor de jóvenes de Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship en Dallas y se había involucrado en Movimiento de la Cruz para algunos eventos juveniles.

Mase le dijo a Branch que "conocía un grupo de personas a quienes les encantaría ver un movimiento misionero que contextualizara el evangelio entre uno de los grupos menos alcanzados en el mundo ?aquellos que socializaron y crecieron en la cultura Hip-Hop.

"Esta era una visión compartida que teníamos," dijo Mase, refiriéndose a un artículo de una revista que detallaba la historia y la influencia global de la cultura Hip-Hop, la cual incluía, de acuerdo con algunos observadores, la promoción del materialismo, la violencia, la promiscuidad, el abuso de las drogas y la misoginia (odio a las mujeres).

"Creemos que el Hip-Hop es un helenismo moderno," dijo Mase, señalando la propagación de la cultura musical a nivel mundial y recurriendo a las palabras de Jesús en Lucas 16:8": …porque los hijos de este siglo son más sagaces en el trato con sus semejantes que los hijos de luz."

"En otras palabras, la gente perdida conoce su reino mejor de lo que los cristianos conocen el reino de Dios. Y ellos sacan ventaja de su reino, pero nosotros no sacamos ventaja del de Dios," dijo Mase. "Entonces queremos ser un equipo que lleve al máximo la oportunidad que Dios nos ha dado sin violar las Escrituras."

Mase rápidamente añade: "No somos una iglesia Hip-Hop. No aceptamos que la gente nos llame así."

Branch estuvo de acuerdo. "No queremos que el adjetivo modifique al sustantivo. Puede ser mala gramática, pero queremos que el sustantivo modifique al adjetivo," queriendo decir con esto que Epiphany Fellowship quiere usar la iglesia para compartir el evangelio con aquellos atrincherados e influenciados por la cultura Hip-Hop.

Mase decididamente aprueba la categoría de Branch en la industria de la música cristiana Hip-Hop para atraer a algunos a Epiphany, pero encuentra irónico que Branch raramente "ejecute algún arte" a través de su música rap en la iglesia.

La popularidad de Branch atrae a cristianos raperos como Da' T.R.U.T.H., Steven el Levita, Shailinne y la Pandilla de Dios. "Ellos hacen más que solamente arte rap," dijo Mase. Muchos de ellos ayudan en las sesiones fundamentales del primer viernes de Epiphany. Estas se llevan a cabo el primer viernes del mes; el sótano del templo se llena completamente con cerca de 150 personas que asisten a la reunión; lo que sigue por aproximadamente dos horas es enseñanza bíblica, discusión, y expresiones artísticas en canciones y en palabras relacionadas con los fundamentos de la fe cristiana.

Defensor de la Biblia como inerrante, Mase subraya la filosofía, metas y prácticas que él y Branch imaginaron para Epiphany: mostrarles a los residentes de las zonas urbanas "los nutrientes del evangelio ?la exaltación de Jesucristo, la exposición de la Biblia, el evangelismo a los perdidos y la edificación de los santos, local, nacional e internacionalmente."

Mase dijo que los valores de Epiphany se reflejan en su lema: "Desplegar la gloria de Cristo en cada área de la vida, a través de Cristo como centro, el compromiso, la comunidad, la comunión, las conversiones y el ministerio culturalmente relevante."

"Enseñamos línea por línea y predicamos expositivamente," dijo Mase "Creemos en la predicación y la adoración centrada en Cristo." Y se realiza la Santa Cena cada semana. "Cada cosa que hacemos," dijo, "señala a Jesús, exalta a Jesús, señala la cruz como lo único que puede servir de puente entre el hombre y Dios.

"Estas verdades del evangelio no son declaraciones teológicas en Epiphany, pero son principios que la comunidad de la iglesia aprende y vive, añadió Mase.

Si los números son algún indicador, la filosofía de pastores asistentes funciona. Oficialmente inaugurada hace dos años, Epiphany ha crecido de nueve a casi 300 miembros, con casi la mitad proveniente de conversiones a Cristo.

"No tenemos muchas transferencias de otras iglesias Bautistas del Sur," dijo Cope.

"No aquí," añadió Mase. "En un 85 por ciento de esta región no hay iglesias."

"Lo más difícil aquí es que mucha gente creció en alguna religión," dijo Cope, quien añadió: "Saben lo suficiente de la religión como para estar enojados."

"Pero queremos ver la realidad de Cristo formada en la gente," dijo Mase, "de una manera que antedate el 325 d. de J.C., cuando Constantino institucionalizó la cristiandad. Queremos ver la fe histórica cristiana comprometida entre los grupos de personas no alcanzadas."

Observe los apetitos espirituales de la gente que Epiphany está alcanzando: "Solamente tienen mucha hambre, hambre, hambre, hambre, haaaaaaambre," enfatizó Mase, quien algunas veces predica sermones de casi una hora

Otro aspecto del acercamiento es que "No ponemos a Dios primero. No creemos que tengamos que poner a Jesús primero," dijo Mase. "Creemos en ponerlos a ambos en el centro de nuestra vida. Eso es debido a que si un cristiano pone a Dios primero, entonces Dios está solamente en una lista de prioridades ?algo para ponerle una marca de que ha sido hecho?. Pero cuando Dios está en el centro, se infiltra en todo. Es inyectado en cada área de nuestra vida."

Mase cree que esas ideas ministeriales son responsables del crecimiento de Epiphany: "La palabra salió. Todo el vecindario del norte de Filadelfia nos conoce. Por donde vayamos, la gente está emocionada. No estamos tratando de ser una iglesia para niños o para jóvenes. No somos un grupo de niños con aliento a leche y chupete en la boca, todavía en pañales que piensan que podemos hacer a la iglesia mejor. No, somos un grupo de personas que realmente quiere llevar a cabo el crecimiento en el nombre de Jesús. ¿Entienden lo que digo?"

El promedio de edad de la congregación de Epiphany es de 26 años; la tercera parte de la congregación está compuesta por estudiantes universitarios. Mase dijo que una razón por la que la iglesia ha crecido en esta categoría es porque los veinteañeros de Epiphany que tienen trasfondo de iglesia quieren ser tratados como adultos: "Tienen, carreras y familias e hipotecas. Ya no son adolescentes. Dicen: 'Quiero ser responsable de la fe cristiana.' Quieren que los libros de historia hablen de ellos como aquellos que mantuvieron valientemente la bandera manchada de sangre, por así decirlo.

"Otra cosa en la que continuamos trabajando en Epiphany es en la hombría," dijo Mase. "Queremos ver hombres con vidas centradas en Jesús y accionados por la testosterona. No queremos pusilánimes, fumadores de hierba o consumidores de alucinantes. Queremos hombres que vean a Jesús como el Dios hombre" y que lo sigan, dijo Mase. "Para ellos, Jesús no es solamente un ejemplo sino el recurso para convertirse en todo lo que Dios desea que sean.

"Mucha gente ve Epiphany como algo realmente diferente," añadió Mase. "Pero no somos realmente diferentes. Simplemente nos vemos a nosotros mismos como misioneros a un grupo particular de gente, eso es todo."
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Norm Miller es un escritor independiente de Richmond, Virginia. Para ver ensayos ilustrados/musicales de un servicio de adoración de la Iglesia Epiphany Fellowship, vaya a  http://www.bpnews.net/mediaplayer.asp?Id=30.


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Pastor, rapero cristiano, alcanza la cultura Hip Hop
by Por Norm Miller
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

FILADELFIA (BP)--Como pastor de enseñanza de la Iglesia Epiphany Fellowship en la zona urbana de Filadelfia, William "Duce" Branch también es un artista rapero cristiano. El grupo que cofundó: "El Movimiento de la Cruz" (The Cross Movement,) ha recibido dos nominaciones para los premios Grammy.

El hoy pastor de enseñanza, sin embargo, ayer era un chico de la calle. Habiendo pasado la mayoría de sus años adolescentes alejados de Dios, Branch abandonó lo nocivo de la cultura Hip-Hop pero no el llamado para evangelizarla.

"Hip-Hop fue la principal influencia social de mi generación," le dijo Branch a Baptist Press. "Yo quería tener la fe de mi padre, pero también la conexión social de lo que estaba pasando en ese momento."

En lo que respecta a su conversión a Cristo cuando era niño, Branch le da crédito a su padre, quien lo crió solo y que a su vez fue "discipulado por cristianos evangélicos conservadores. Eso me dio un marco teológico sólido, pero no me enseñó a luchar inteligentemente a través de asuntos como la fe y la cultura.

"Tú sabes, estás en las manos de la cultura o subcultura cristiana. Y normalmente es la versión de alguien más," dijo Branch. "Normalmente, no se te enseña a reconciliar la fe y la cultura."

La fe de su padre se volvió más su propia fe cuando Branch estudiaba para obtener su licenciatura (en Pennsylvania) y la maestría en el Seminario Teológico de Dallas. Pero algunas de las raíces de la cultura de la calle como afroamericano nunca lo abandonaron, y lo capacitaron para exitosamente mezclar la lírica bíblica con la música rap, la cual apela a los que dejan la cultura Hip-Hop y a los que permanecen en ella.

"Algunos cristianos no sienten que sea un crimen ser ignorante de la cultura Hip-Hop, aunque estamos en un mundo donde ésta tiene un mayor impacto en la nueva generación. Algunos mundos cristianos están seguros de la influencia de la cultura Hip-Hop. Ni siquiera tienen que considerarla, saber sobre ella o involucrarse con ella. Pero fuera de ese pequeño mundo -- es un pequeñísimo mundo -- el globo habla de Hip-Hop," dijo Branch, citando el siguiente género global.

"También, Hip-Hop tiene más implicaciones teológicas de las que la gente se da cuenta," dijo Branch, cuya tesis de maestría se tituló "Implicaciones Teológicas de la Cultura Hip-Hop." Branch -- quien es conocido en el mundo rap como "El Embajador" -- usó el contenido de su tesis como material creativo para su último CD, "La Tesis."

Branch también está a la cabeza de la Disquera el Movimiento de la Cruz (Cross Movement Records,) una entidad dedicada a descubrir raperos cristianos y a lanzar sus carreras. Pero él no deja de tener sus detractores, uno de los cuales ha difamado a Branch y a otros raperos cristianos por mantener conexión con el mundo Hip-Hop. Branch responde en un estilo auto interrogativo: "¿Sería esta una gran herramienta ministerial si Jesús me dejara tal cual estaba, pero cambiara mi interior, mi entorno, mi visión del mundo, mis lealtades, pero dejara mis formas, mi contoneo? ¿Entiendes lo que estoy diciendo? Cualquier cosa que no sea como él, deshazte de eso. Entonces, el orgullo de Hip-Hop no puede coexistir. El enfoque en sí mismo tampoco, la vulgaridad tampoco; las drogas tampoco. Probablemente, comienzas a despojarte de los pecado de Hip-Hop -- ¿Queda algo? Bien, sí. El sombrero tal vez, el tamaño de mi camiseta, tal vez. Algunos de mis amaneramientos, el movimiento de las manos adquirido del presentador.

"Quiero impactar la cultura a través de dos medios principales," dijo Branch: "El púlpito de la iglesia y luego el micrófono como un púlpito &#91;a través de la música cristiana rap&#93;."

"No estoy en busca de las estrellas, no estoy enfocado en la fama," añadió. Pero sí en el ministerio, "Busco ir más allá de lo que llegué antes, si es posible."

Branch dijo que su sentido del llamamiento "fue simplemente en quien soy, se siente natural en mí, como algo que puedo hacer. Estoy aprendiendo cómo Jesucristo llega y se hace cargo." Se ha consagrado al ministerio urbano por casi 15 años, los dos últimos como pastor en Epiphany.

La visión de Branch para Epiphany Fellowship, donde es pastor asistente con Eric Mase -- otro graduado del Seminario Teológico de Dallas quien está estudiando para su doctorado en el Seminario Teológico Gordon-Conwell -- comenzó hace algunos años cuando se volvió a Cristo. "Cuando vi el evangelio alcanzando un grupo e hizo que ese grupo se sintiera aceptado por Dios sin tener que cambiarse el sombrero o el estilo de peinado, me emocioné con esa misión."

Defensor de la táctica evangelizadora del apóstol Pablo de hacerse a todas las cosas para alcanzar a todas las personas, Branch dijo: "Tú me ves, y entonces ves &#91;a Tony Evans, pastor de Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship en Dallas&#93;, y dices: 'Eres ambos en el púlpito. Ambos son negros. Pero tú eres diferente. Parecen como provenientes de dos mundos diferentes.' Ahora, la pregunta es esta: '¿Es mi mundo malo y el de él bueno?' Tendrías que decir: 'No, porque cuando escuché su postura sobre la justificación proveniente de la Biblia, era la misma que tú estabas diciendo. Y la tuya era la misma que el apóstol Pablo proclamaba'.

"Uno de mis deleites es tomar verdades que fueron depositadas en mí, o que aprendí en mi caminar, y asegurarme de entregarlas a un mundo que está conectado a las formas de pensar equivocadas," dijo Branch. "Dios me preservó del escándalo, vertió en mí ricamente y me dio pasión por enseñar. Sé que Dios también me llamó al pastorado. Soy una bisagra. Tengo conexiones con los dos mundos. Y no quiero que estén separados."

El mundo Hip-Hop de Filadelfia y el evangelio no permanecen separados. Epiphany comenzó con nueve personas hace alrededor de dos años; ahora atrae a 300 cada domingo, la mitad de las cuales vinieron a Cristo por primera vez a través de los ministerios de la iglesia.

Branch citó una serie de eventos y contactos; dijo que la Junta de Misiones de Norteamérica apoyó Epiphany como parte de su iniciativa de establecimiento de iglesias en las principales ciudades de los Estados Unidos de Enfoque Estratégico en las Ciudades.

"Cada domingo, tenemos una gran afluencia de visitantes, lo que indica que a la gente le gusta la experiencia de Epiphany lo suficiente como para decirles a otras personas acerca de ella. Es estable. Pero esto no es en relación con números, es acerca del ímpetu," dijo Branch.

"Tenemos padres que vienen y nos observan preocupados por el bienestar de sus hijos, y luego los padres comienzan a asistir también" dijo Branch, "y esto es en tiempos en los que la gente se siente más atraída a la forma que a la función, o a lo externo en vez de a lo interno.

"Algún día, 'lo sé, les llevaremos un gran espectáculo.' Pero realmente no tenemos ninguno," añadió Branch. Tanto él como Mase dicen que la iglesia no es una iglesia Hip-Hop sino que ministra a aquellos que viven o vivían en esa cultura. Branch ha tenido solamente dos presentaciones de rap cristiano en Epiphany.

"Hip-Hop está eclipsado por nuestro compromiso con las cosas que unifican a los cristianos, y esa es la manera que nos gusta, sin traicionar el hecho de que la cultura Hip-Hop es uno de nuestros principales enfoque demográficos," dijo Branch. "Sabemos que Hip-Hop no será extrañada porque muchos de nosotros fuimos redimidos de ese contexto social. Mucho de esto es todavía parte de nosotros y todavía se muestra, pero lo subordinamos para ganar a algunos para Cristo."
--30--
Norm Miller es un editor independiente de Richmond, Virginia. Para un relato audio/pictórico del testimonio personal de William Branch, vaya a  http://www.bpnews.net/mediaplayer.asp?Id=29.


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Artista mezcla Hip-Hop, historia y teología
by Por Keith Collier
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Un momento determinante en la vida de Quincy Jones fue aquel en el que su mamá oró por él mientras él miraba fijamente la cocaína que tenía en la mano. Solamente unos días antes, el joven de 21 años había sido confrontado con su necesidad de un salvador y puso su fe en Jesucristo. Ahora, enfrentaba un dilema: Vender el último poquito de cocaína para pagar sus cuentas o tirarla en el inodoro y confiar en que Dios proveería.

Después de orar, su madre dijo: "Quince, necesitas tirar eso por todo lo que el Señor ha hecho por ti y por la forma en la que te ha protegido." En ese momento decisivo, él rindió todo a Dios, dejó completamente su forma de vivir vendiendo y usando drogas. Un amigo comenzó a discipularlo y lo ayudó a involucrarse en ministrar a jóvenes en el área de Washington, D. C. 

Pronto descubrió que su amor por el ministerio y su pasión por la música Hip-Hop podrían usarse para abogar por el Dios que lo había rescatado de su adversidad. Cuando un joven artista Hip-Hop comenzó a llegar a la iglesia, Jones sintió la necesidad de orar por la salvación del joven. Un mes después, él joven se convirtió a Jesucristo. Después de que otro amigo llegara a Cristo varios meses después, los tres formaron el grupo cristiano Hip-Hop Cristocéntrico y comenzaron a escribir canciones que hacían eco de los latidos de los corazones de los reformadores de siglos atrás.

Cuando Martín Lutero escribió las palabras del que muchos llaman "El Himno de Batalla de la Reforma," buscaba crear música de adoración que tuviera apoyo teológico fuerte. Partiendo de la forma musical religiosa del momento, himnos como "Castillo Fuerte es Nuestro Dios" llegaron a ser herramientas para fortalecer a los cristianos, corregir la doctrina y compartir el evangelio con los perdidos.

Con estas mismas metas en mente, Jones, conocido como Q-D.O.G., ve la música cristocéntrica como la convergencia de la historia de la iglesia, la teología y Hip-Hop. Con cantos como "Castillo Fuerte," una increíble adaptación del clásico de Lutero, y "La Suficiencia de las Escrituras," su singular mezcla de ritmo y verdades teológicas nació en respuesta a la pobre teología que encontraban cuando viajaban para hacer presentaciones.

Jones ve la historia como una parte integral de su música. "Dentro de cada contexto, toda la historia es la historia de Dios. Mi historia como afroamericano en los Estados Unidos de América y cómo la fe cristiana nació en nuestra gente a través de la esclavitud es la historia de todos," señala él. "La historia de la Reforma es toda de nuestra historia. Usted no puede hacer teología si no habla de historia."

Al ver individuos atrapados en la teología de "palabra de fe" y en el evangelio de la prosperidad, Cristocéntrico se dirige a llamar a la gente a que vuelva a las Escrituras y al evangelio bíblico. De no ser así, esos individuos "está alejándose del aspecto central de la Palabra de Dios" y buscan solamente entretenerse, dice Jones.

"La vida que ellos tienen ahora es más temporal. Están enfocados en cosas y en su propia felicidad en vez de encontrar su satisfacción en Dios, lo que significa que tenemos que regresar al evangelio, donde nuestra esperanza está en Cristo y en su venida. Dentro del contexto afroamericano, muchas de nuestras iglesias están dominadas, desafortunadamente, por este tipo de teología &#91;prosperidad&#93;, y necesitamos regresar a la fe bíblica.

"El reto con esto," admite él, "es que no todos quieren teología en su música. Somos una sociedad dirigida al entretenimiento… No necesariamente queremos pensar; no somos una cultura pensante." La música de Cristocéntrico busca retar a los cristianos con teología profunda que los dirija a la mente de Cristo.

Como uno se puede imaginar, la marca Cristocéntrico de Hip-Hop ha enfrentado muchos conceptos equivocados: "¿Es Hip-Hop un medio apropiado para la alabanza en la iglesia? ¿No es la cultura Hip-Hop una manera de vivir mundana y criminal? ¿Por qué incorporar teología profunda en sus líricas? ¿No perderán su audiencia?"

Jones responde, "La incorporación de la teología comienza con la idea de que, como creyentes, preguntamos: '¿Cómo debe ser la música en la iglesia?' Cuando usted se hace cristiano, todo acerca de usted es redimido, aun su expresión personal." Señalando la necesidad del sonido de la música teológica, él dice, "usted no puede alabar a quien no conoce. No puede dar gracias por cosas que no sabe que son verdad."

Reconociendo la naturaleza egocéntrica del secular Hip-Hop, donde los artistas presumen de sí mismos y de sus habilidades, Jones señala que Cristocéntrico, aun en su nombre, desea centrar su música en Cristo y usar el género para esparcir el evangelio.

Con un amor por la predicación, Jones está ahora continuando una educación teológica. Nativo de Silver Spring, Maryland, y padre de cinco hijos, asiste a la universidad del Seminario Teológico Bautista del Sur en Fort Worth, Texas, y lleva la carrera de licenciatura en humanidades con énfasis en la historia de las ideas.

"Un fuerte fundamento en filosofía e historia bajo entrenamiento teológico, que equipa para la apologética y el compromiso cultural, hacen el programa muy atractivo," dice Jones. "A medida que estudiaba más las Escrituras, me daba cuenta que estudiar la Palabra era necesario. Me tomó dos años convencerme que necesitaba estudios de la Biblia en un seminario, pero el Señor se mantuvo mostrándome por qué era necesario el entrenamiento." Seguidamente del trabajo de pos grado, él planea estudios de maestría y posiblemente estudios doctorales para prepararse para un futuro ministerio.

Jones también es miembro del Compañerismo de Seminaristas Negros, una organización estudiantil universitaria comprometida con el enriquecimiento de la experiencia estudiantil y con la promoción de la unión en Cristo de toda la gente. "Cualquiera que esté interesado en la comunidad afroamericana o que solamente quiera venir para tener compañerismo, está invitado," dijo Jones, y añadió, "Sentimos que es para todos. Queremos ser de bendición para toda la comunidad Bautista del Sur ayudando a otros a captar no solamente una visión sino a amar a todas las personas."

Aunque en los años recientes Jones ha tenido que reducir su participación en Cristocéntrico, un futuro proyecto está en camino. Finalmente, sea dejando salir un ritmo o enseñando en la iglesia, la vida de Quincy Jones reverbera un compromiso con la doctrina sonora y con el esparcimiento del evangelio de Jesucristo. Su historia es un legado del poder del evangelio para cambiar una vida, y su ministerio refleja la diversa naturaleza con que el evangelio se presenta.
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Keith Collier es escritor para el Seminario Teológico Bautista del Sur. Para ver un video especial acerca de la entrevista con Quincy Jones, visite www.swbts.edu/Qjonesvideo.


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COMPENDIO VIDA: Los abortos para seleccionar sexo llegan a Estados Unidos a través de los asiáticos; ...
by Por Tom Strode
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

WASHINGTON (BP)--Algunos asiáticos en los Estados Unidos aparentemente están expresando su preferencia por tener hijos varones usando los abortos para seleccionar el sexo y así producir bebés varones. 

Un nuevo examen del censo de la población de los EE UU en el año 2000 mostró un aumento en los nacimientos de hijos varones entre los padres chinos, coreanos e indios asiáticos que habían tenido una o dos hijas, según RedOrbit, una página de internet que versa sobre ciencia, espacio, salud y tecnología.

Los autores de la investigación, publicada el 31 de marzo en Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, dijo que sus hallazgos sugirieron que "en una sub-población con una tradicional preferencia por los hijos varones, las tecnologías están siendo usadas para generar nacimientos de varones cuando los nacimientos anteriores han sido de niñas," reportó RedOrbit. Los investigadores suponen que algunos padres asiáticos están utilizando la tecnología del ultrasonido para determinar el sexo de los bebés nonatos, dando como resultado subsiguiente un número inusual de abortos de niñas, de acuerdo con el reporte mencionado.

Douglas Almond, un economista, profesor en Columbia University, y Lena Edlund de National Bureau of Economic Research reportaron que entre los asiático-americanos  hubo un aumento en el uso del ultrasonido en la década de 1990 y que apareció un desequilibrio entre los géneros de los nacimientos posteriores al final de esa década, según RedOrbit. El uso del ultrasonido durante el embarazo entre las mujeres asiático-americanas no japonesas en los Estados Unidos creció del 38 al 64 por ciento entre 1989 y 1999, dijeron.

El estudio hecho por Almond y Edlund mostró que en el censo del año 2000 la tasa normal de nacimientos del primer hijo entre los asiático-americanos era de 1.05 varones por cada niña, reportó RedOrbit. Si el primer hijo era niña, la tasa aumentó a 1.17 niños por cada niña entre los asiáticos. Después de dos bebés niñas, aumentó a 1.51 niños por cada niña. No hubo tal diferencia entre los nacimientos asiáticos en el censo de 1990, según informó RedOrbit.

La tasa masculina-femenina continuó siendo constante entre la población de raza blanca, reportó la revista Slate. 

En algunos países asiáticos el aborto para seleccionar el sexo del bebé ha sido un problema creciente, ya que los padres a menudo favorecen a los hijos varones, en parte debido a un deseo de que ellos les apoyen en su vejez.

China e India han sido los líderes en usar el ultrasonido para identificar a las niñas en el vientre y luego abortarlas, y Nepal y Vietnam están preparándose para seguir sus pasos, según reportó en octubre el Fondo para la Población de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas.

China, país que cuenta con una política que les obliga a tener sólo un hijo, tuvo 120 nacimientos de varones por cada 100 de niñas en 2005, según el fondo mencionado. El censo de 2001 en India mostró que la tasa nacional era de 108 por cada 100, pero en algunos estados del norte y oeste la tasa alcanzaba los 120 por cada 100, reportó FPPNU. La tasa normal es de unos 105 por cada 100.

EQUIPO BRITÁNICO CREA "CÍBRIDOS" -- En la Gran Bretaña, por vez primera los investigadores han creado embriones humano-animales.

Los científicos en la Universidad Newcastle anunciaron el 1 de abril que habían puesto células humanas en óvulos de vaca vacíos, creando lo que se ha dado a conocer como híbridos citoplásmicos o "cíbridos", según informó el periódico The Times of London. Los científicos esperan que con el tiempo logren que los híbridos lleguen a los seis días de edad para así extraer células madres y hacer investigaciones para el tratamiento de varias enfermedades, reportó el diario inglés. Al remover las células madres el embrión muere.

Los "cíbridos" de Newcastle, los cuales han sido descritos como 99.9 por ciento humanos, vivieron 3 días, reportó British Broadcasting Company, según el periódico mencionado.

El Parlamento pronto debatirá la legislación que legalizaría tales embriones híbridos. Actualmente hay una prohibición que no permite que los embriones crezcan más allá de los 14 días o que se les implante en un vientre humano o animal, según The Times of London.

En enero, la Autoridad de Fertilización Humana y Embriología (HFEA, por sus siglas en inglés) otorgó licencias de un año a los científicos de Newcastle y a otro equipo para que conduzcan tal investigación.

La pesquisa es "éticamente monstruosa," escribió Tony Perkins, Presidente de Family Research council, en un comentario publicado en la página de internet de esta organización. "Por respeto al proceso legislativo y a los ciudadanos de la Gran Bretaña, el gobierno por lo menos debería permitir un debate público completo y transparente antes de autorizar que los científicos prosigan."

LA GOBERNADORA DE ARIZONA VETA PROPUESTAS DE LEY ANTIABORTISTAS -- La gobernadora de Arizona, Janet Napolitano, vetó el 4 de abril dos propuestas de ley que restringen el aborto, manteniendo su récord perfecto en tal asunto.

Napolitano, del partido demócrata, rechazó una medida que hubiera prohibido el aborto de nacimiento parcial y otra que hubiera fortalecido la ley actual que requiere el consentimiento de los padres antes que una menor de edad tenga un aborto. Al hacerlo, la gobernadora amplió su récord de nunca firmar una limitación a los derechos del aborto desde que tomó el cargo en 2003.

"En lugar de incluir más penalidades criminales en la relación entre una mujer y su médico, enfoquemos nuestros esfuerzos colectivos en remediar la raíz del asunto de los embarazos no deseados dirigiéndonos a tan importantes temas como la planeación familiar y la prevención de la violencia sexual en contra de las mujeres," declaró Napolitano en una carta explicando uno de los vetos.

Cathi Herrod, presidenta de la organización antiabortista Center for Arizona Policy, dijo, según el diario Arizona Daily Star, que la gobernadora había demostrado de nuevo "qué tan radical es acerca del asunto del aborto."

No se cuenta con los votos suficientes en la legislatura para derogar los vetos, reportó el diario mencionado.

MÁS DE 1,300 BRITÁNICAS TUVIERON POR LO MENOS EL QUINTO ABORTO -- El año pasado, más de 1,300 mujeres británicas tuvieron por lo menos su quinto aborto.

Las estadísticas dadas a conocer en marzo por el gobierno mostraron que unas 950 mujeres tuvieron su quinto aborto en 2007, cerca de 200 tuvieron su sexto, 110 tuvieron su séptimo y 54 tuvieron por lo menos su octavo, reportó Daily Mail.

"¿Qué evidencia más contundente necesitamos de que la actual ley del aborto está siendo abusada?" dijo Nadine Doréis, una de las conservadoras en el Parlamento, según informó el diario mencionado. "Se supone que el aborto se permite si un embarazo pone en un riesgo significativo la salud de la madre o su bienestar. Pero de hecho se está permitiendo una y otra vez por razones puramente sociales. Las niñas ahora salen embarazadas y piensan, 'No importa; sólo tengo que abortar."
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Tom Strode es el jefe del buró de Baptist Press en Washington.


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EDITORIAL: Cuando le echan más leñas al fuego
by Por Óscar J. Fernández
Date: April 18, 2008 - Friday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Todos nosotros, en alguna medida, hemos experimentado a lo largo de nuestra vida la frustración y el dolor que produce estar sufriendo injustamente por algo, y que se nos añadan más cosas por la cuales debamos sufrir. Esto sin dudas es como "llover sobre lo mojado" o echar más leñas al fuego.

La situación no es nueva. Por el contrario, en la Biblia encontramos muchos ejemplos de este tipo de situaciones que a veces suelen llegar a ser terribles y muy difíciles de soportar. Incluso en ocasiones, se llega a dar el caso de que hayamos trabajado con dedicación y sacrificio, logrando hacer grandes contribuciones al desarrollo de un proyecto, empresa o compañía, y que haya sido un aporte continuo, realizado durante años. Sin embargo, de pronto llega un nuevo jefe, que nada sabe de lo que hemos hecho y que no está interesado en conocer la historia. En muchos casos, no solo ignora las contribuciones hechas por nosotros en el pasado, sino que de manera intencional y deliberada se propone hacernos la vida amarga y difícil en el futuro.

Este también fue el caso del pueblo de Israel. En el libro de Éxodo capítulo 5 se nos narra una historia que a muchos de nosotros nos resulta familiar, por ser muy semejante a nuestra propia experiencia. Moisés y Aarón se habían presentado ante Faraón para pedirle que le permitiera al pueblo de Israel salir al desierto para celebrar fiesta. Pero Faraón no había conocido a José y al parecer, no estaba interesado en conocer los hechos del pasado. Hoy también vivimos días en los que parece que la gente tiende a padecer de "amnesia social" olvidando lo que hicimos ayer en su favor. Cada día vemos más cómo la gente olvida lo que hicimos por ellos pero sin embargo recuerda y amplifica lo que pudieran considerar ofensas.

Faraón se negó a darle al pueblo la libertad que Dios le estaba pidiendo por medio de Moisés y no solo mantuvo la carga que había puesto sobre Israel, sino que la incrementó. El monarca no solo ordenó que los hijos de Israel siguieran haciendo ladrillos, sino que ahora también salieran al campo a buscar la paja para hacerlos y que no se redujera la cantidad de ladrillos que tenían que hacer. ¿Le suena familiar? ¡Más ladrillos y ahora sin darles la paja! ¡Más trabajo con menos recursos! ¡Más ganancias para los dueños, con menos recompensa para los que las producen!

Eso no solo era mantener el abuso, sino incrementarlo. El pueblo de Israel no había sido tomado cautivo como esclavo por Egipto en alguna guerra. Jacob y sus hijos habían venido a reunirse con José que Dios había llevado a ser uno de los funcionarios de más alto rango en la corte de Faraón. Con el tiempo, Dios bendijo ricamente a su pueblo que creció y se multiplicó en gran manera. Pero también hubo cambios en el gobierno. Un nuevo Faraón se levantó en Egipto y este se sintió amenazado por el pueblo de Israel y comenzó a oprimirlo. ¿Le resulta acaso familiar?

Vivimos en un mundo lleno de injusticias. La historia se repite cada día. Muchas veces los justos sufren por el temor de los más poderosos y por la envidia de otros. Sin embargo, hay buenas noticias. En el caso del pueblo de Israel, Dios le dijo a Moisés: "… ahora verás lo que yo haré a Faraón…" Éxodo 6:1a.

Si su historia es en cierta forma parecida a la que vivía en esta ocasión el pueblo de Israel, no tengo dudas en decirle que confíe en Dios y clame a Él. A su tiempo, usted también verá lo que su Señor hará a ese que se ha convertido, tal vez, en una especie de Faraón para usted.

Dios nunca olvida a sus hijos y le hace justicia a aquellos que los oprimen. No importa en qué forma lo hagan; ya sea de manera física o emocional. Por eso, cuando alguien le eche leñas al fuego para hacer más difícil nuestra situación, debemos doblar nuestras rodillas y alzar nuestras manos a Dios para clamar a nuestro Rey y Señor con la absoluta seguridad de que Él va a obrar de la misma manera en que lo ha hecho siempre. 
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Oscar J. Fernandez es el editor jefe de LifeWay Español para Adultos de Leadership & Adult Publishing, LifeWay Church Resources en Nashville, Tenn.



