
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-04/19/2006

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FY 2005 stats: Southern Baptists experience drop in baptisms
by Russ Rankin
Date: April 19, 2006 - Wednesday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Recently compiled statistics for the Southern Baptist Convention show that baptisms -- which rebounded in 2004 after a four-year decline -- slumped again in 2005, according to LifeWay Christian Resources President and CEO Thom S. Rainer. 

According to the Annual Church Profile (ACP), information gathered by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, baptisms last year dropped from 387,947 to 371,850, or -4.15 percent. 

“Southern Baptists should view this report as a wakeup call,” Rainer said, noting that the totals for baptisms dropped to the lowest since 1993. “We must focus our efforts, prayers and resources on reaching people for Christ. Baptism is the outward act of obedience that pictures God’s work of redemption in a believer’s life, and so for Southern Baptists the ACP figures indicate we are faltering in our efforts to reach a lost world.”

There was growth in some areas, however. The ACP showed a net increase of 234 churches established in 2005 for a total of 43,699, up from 43,465 in 2004. 

Total membership increased slightly to reach 16,270,315, and total receipts and missions expenditures were up. 

Other key areas that saw decreased enrollment were Sunday School (8,068,780 -- down 137,660), men and boys mission education (388,264 -- down 34,943) and WMU enrollment (804,983 -- down 162,848). 

The totals for several categories were impacted by the fact that 33 associations in Texas did not ask all of the 2005 ACP questions. This impacted discipleship training, music ministry, WMU, men/boys mission education, total gifts and the value of congregational property. 

Rainer also pointed out that the impact of the hurricanes on the Gulf Coast in 2005 is not fully known. While the state conventions involved made efforts to minimize the impact on reporting and statistics, three of the state conventions in the affected area -- Florida, Mississippi and the Baptist General Convention of Texas -- reported a loss in total membership, while two -- Alabama and Louisiana -- reported slight gains. 

Total offering receipts were up $550,347,520 to more than $10.72 billion, Rainer reported. Total mission expenditures increased 2.82 percent, Rainer pointed out, bringing receipts to $1.23 billion. 

“Last year was a difficult year for Southern Baptists and the communities where they minister,” Rainer said. “While natural disasters dominated the headlines, relief and rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast and Southeast Asia captivated the hearts of our churches. Southern Baptists have been blessed with bountiful resources and in 2005 we saw the church respond in unprecedented ways both home and abroad.” 
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Attorney: Churches don't violate IRS code when supporting marriage amendments
by Michael Foust
Date: April 19, 2006 - Wednesday

PHOENIX (BP)--Churches can support proposed constitutional marriage amendments without any fear of losing their tax-exempt status, an attorney with a religious liberty organization says.

Seven states are scheduled to vote on marriage amendments this year, and conservatives in two others -- Arizona and Colorado -- are gathering signatures with the goal of being added to that list.

Gary McCaleb, senior counsel with the Christian legal group Alliance Defense Fund, said pastors can voice support for the amendments from the pulpit and churches can assist in petition drives without fear of reprisal from the Internal Revenue Service.

"In respect to their Internal Revenue Service tax exemption, they have a lot of liberty and leeway to support a ballot initiative," McCaleb told Baptist Press. "As long as what they do is an insubstantial amount of their total budget, they're pretty much free to do whatever they want in support or opposition to the ballot initiative."

Various courts have ruled that a "substantial amount" ranges anywhere from 5-15 percent of an organization's total resources, McCaleb said. So, if a church's budget is $100,000 and it spends less than $5,000 to support a marriage amendment -- which would amount to less than 5 percent of the budget -- "you're home free and clear as far as the IRS is concerned," McCaleb said.

Nineteen states have adopted marriage amendments, and churches have been critical to their passage in nearly every instance. Facing a deadline in Oregon in 2004, churches in that state helped gather 200,000 signatures in only five weeks in a successful effort to place an amendment on the ballot. It passed easily. Support for the amendments from the pulpit also has helped drive conservative voters to the polls. The 19 amendments have passed with an average of 71 percent support.

But while IRS law is clear in allowing support for marriage amendments, state election laws occasionally are not. In March, a Montana state official ruled that a Southern Baptist church there broke state law in 2004 by gathering signatures for a marriage amendment and voicing support for it from the pulpit. The church, the ruling said, first should have registered with the state as an "incidental political committee." ADF has filed a suit seeking to have the state law struck down, arguing it violates constitutionally protected religious expression and free speech. A federal judge could issue a ruling any day.

Arizona's law is similar to Montana's, McCaleb said, adding that Colorado's law appears to give more leverage to churches. He believes Montana's law and others like it eventually will be struck down as unconstitutional.

"&#91;T&#93;he bottom line is that this is clearly a constitutional right," he said of supporting a marriage amendment. "We would very readily stand in and defend a church that allowed petitions to be circulated on its premises, because we think that the laws that regulate are almost undoubtedly unconstitutional."

Asked what advice he would give to churches, McCaleb said, "Don't take counsel of your fears.

"&#91;Y&#93;ou should have the courage of your convictions," he said.

"Christians look at this as a very principled issue of free exercise of religion," McCaleb said. "The left-wing looks at it as an opportunity to silence the Christians."

It actually helps, McCaleb said, that a handful of liberal churches in Arizona and other states are opposing the amendments. Because of that, liberal groups are less likely to turn in conservative churches.

"The organized opposition would probably be reluctant to file a complaint, because someone would burn them the same way," he said.

But churches in Arizona wanting to gather signatures for a marriage amendment can take practical measures to try and avoid breaking state law -- even if they believe the law is unconstitutional. For instance, copies of the petitions could be made on paper and copiers not owned by the church, McCaleb said. Also, volunteers could be allowed to come into the church to gather signatures. It even helps if the volunteers are not given a table but instead walk around and use clipboards, he said.

"If these folks are volunteers doing it of their own volition, the only real question is, 'Does a church official want to call these people trespassers and throw them off, or do you let them on as guests?'" McCaleb asked.

Laws such as those in Montana and Arizona "need to be stricken down, and the only way they can be stricken down is through court action. And that takes a church willing to stand for its rights," he added.

Seven states are scheduled to vote on marriage amendment this year: Alabama, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. It is possible that by the end of 2006, a majority of states will have adopted them. The amendments are designed to prevent state courts from legalizing "gay marriage." Massachusetts has no such amendment, and in 2003 its highest court issued a ruling legalizing "gay marriage." Currently, eight states are involved in "gay marriage" lawsuits. Only one of the states has a marriage amendment.

The Alliance Defense Fund can be reached at 1-800-TELL-ADF. 
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For more information about the national debate over "gay marriage," visit <a href="http://www.bpnews.net/samesexmarriage">http://www.bpnews.net/samesexmarriage</a>



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Prof put on leave for leading vandalism of pro-life display
by Staff
Date: April 19, 2006 - Wednesday

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (BP)--A Northern Kentucky University professor who instigated the destruction of a school-approved, pro-life display was placed on leave April 17.

NKU President Jim Votruba announced the action April 18, saying literature professor Sally Jacobsen had been removed from her classes through the end of the semester. Jacobsen already had decided to retire after the semester to close 27 years of teaching at the school.

Jacobsen reportedly led about 10 students April 12 in removing and throwing in the trash 400 crosses that made up a pro-life display titled the “Cemetery of the Innocents.” A sign for the display, which was set up by the Northern Kentucky Right to Life student organization, also was destroyed.

Jacobson acknowledged she invited students during a break in a British literature class to destroy the display, according to The Cincinnati Post. She asked “if any students wanted to participate in practicing their freedom of speech in destroying the very offensive right-to-life, anti-abortion display in the central plaza” of NKU, the newspaper reported.

Jacobsen declined to say if she took part, but a photo in the Internet edition of the school’s newspaper April 13 appeared to show her destroying the display’s sign, while small, white crosses lay on the ground around her, according to The Post.

In a written statement, Votruba said what Jacobsen had done was “inconsistent” with the university’s “commitment to free and open debate and the opportunity for all sides to be heard without threat of censorship or reprisal.”

Jacobsen’s “lapse of judgment was severe and, for a period of time, has caused some in our community and beyond to question whether Northern Kentucky University upholds freedom of expression. My answer to this question is an unequivocal yes.”

The NKU faculty senate approved a resolution strongly supporting the school’s obligation to protect freedom of expression, Votruba told The Post.

Jacobsen, who has tenure, will not lose any retirement benefits, Votruba said, according to the newspaper. The punishment “should be considered in the context” of Jacobsen’s 27-year career, he said.

The investigation into the incident is continuing. No penalties have been announced for the students who took part in the vandalism.

Each of the 400 crosses in the pro-life “cemetery” represented 10 abortions that occur daily in the United States. The right to life group had set up the display for a week with the school’s permission, The Post reported. The 15-member organization reconstructed the display shortly after the crosses were recovered.

With about 14,000 students, NKU is located in Highland Heights, which is seven miles south of Cincinnati.
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New Orleans church’s community is ‘land of opportunity’
by Keith Manuel
Date: April 19, 2006 - Wednesday

NEW ORLEANS (BP)--Grace Baptist Church and the surrounding Bywater neighborhood were battered by Hurricane Katrina’s winds but not the floodwater that inundated so much of New Orleans.

“This area, since most of it did not flood, is called the ‘Sliver on the River,’” pastor Bill Rogers said.

“This is going to be a land of opportunity,” said Rogers, buoyed by the teams of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief workers who have been painting, hanging sheetrock, wiring new air conditioning units and tending to other needs so the church get going again.

Rogers has been Grace Baptist’s pastor for 29 years and his father-in-law, Leslie Scharfenstein, was the pastor before him for 36 years.

Over the years, the Bywater neighborhood, so named in the 1940s because of its proximity to the River and the Canal, has experienced many changes. Before Hurricane Betsy destroyed the community in 1965, blue-collar Caucasians inhabited the area; after the storm, most of them moved to St. Bernard Parish, and the dwellings in Bywater became subsidized rental property for a poorer black community.

In recent years, Bywater became a historic district, rekindling interest in homeownership. But this brought another transition: The bohemian culture, known for attracting disenchanted people with non-traditional lifestyles, became a growing segment in Bywater, creating a gumbo mixed with one of New Orleans’ lowest economic populaces. The area was known for its artistic and homosexual lifestyles and also its drug culture, multiple murders and underperforming schools.

Now, months after Katrina, murders no longer dominate the news. The schools remain closed, with very little hope of reopening. Even before the storm, the neighborhood’s demographics counted only 6 percent children and youth.

Grace Baptist Church averaged 70 worshipers prior to Katrina, with the majority of the families from St. Bernard Parish and eastern New Orleans. The storm displaced about 75 percent of the congregation and all five of the church’s deacons.

But now signs of renewal are emerging.

Grace’s associate pastor, Charlie Dale, is beginning to see more families with young children moving into the immediate neighborhood.

And Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers have helped bring hope to the Bywater community -– and not just by their manual labor, but also by ministering door-to-door.

A 75-member team of Texas volunteers, for example, invited people in the community to the church for an outreach featuring 200 pounds of boiled crawfish.

“I hope a lot of people come,” team leader John Taylor said prior to the event, “because I don’t think many of us from Texas are going to eat a lot of crawfish.”

The volunteers hailed from the Permian Basin and Lamesa Baptist associations and the Basin Baptist Network in southwest Texas.

“I was just so excited to get down here and get my hands dirty,” one of the Texans, Grant Kellar, said. “Then I found out I could go door-to-door and actually meet the people. I really wanted to do that and show the people of New Orleans that there are people that care about what’s happening to them.”

A roofer named Tracey was among the volunteers’ encounters. He professed faith in Christ yet was struggling with smoking marijuana.

“He was trying to get his life together,” Kellar said. “We talked to him, gave him a tract and prayed for him. His &#91;home&#93; church was destroyed &#91;by the storm&#93;, so he was looking for a place to go. We told him that Grace was open and that there were good people to talk to him and care for him.”
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CULTURE DIGEST: Networks sue FCC over indecency rulings; homosexual egg rollers get no time with Bush
by Erin Roach
Date: April 19, 2006 - Wednesday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox filed lawsuits in federal appeals courts last week, challenging the Federal Communications Commission for its aggressive enforcement of indecency laws, and some say the move could end up at the Supreme Court.

“In filing these court appeals we are seeking to overturn the FCC decisions that the broadcast of fleeting, isolated -- and in some cases unintentional -- words rendered these programs indecent,” the networks, along with their affiliates, said in a joint statement April 14.

In March, FCC commissioners released decisions resolving more than 300,000 consumer complaints about nearly 50 television programs broadcast between February 2002 and March 2005, proposing a total of $3.9 million in new fines. 	The largest fine issued was for a record $3.6 million against dozens of CBS stations and affiliates for airing an episode of the crime drama “Without a Trace” with the graphic depiction of “teenage boys and girls participating in a sexual orgy.”

But the networks took issue with the FCC’s rulings on shows containing expletives, such as CBS’ “The Early Show,” Fox’s “Billboard Music Awards” and ABC’s “NYPD Blue.”

“The FCC overstepped its authority in an attempt to regulate content protected by the First Amendment, acted arbitrarily and failed to provide broadcasters with a clear and consistent standard for determining what content the government needs to penalize,” the networks said.

Pro-family leaders reacted with dismay toward the network lawsuits, and Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, dismissed the networks’ contention that parents can prevent broadcast indecency from entering their homes by using the V-chip censoring device. 

“Let me get this straight: Would the same networks say it was OK for corporate polluters to dump mercury in the town reservoir and claim that parents are responsible for filtering at the kitchen faucet?” Perkins wrote in his “Washington Update” April 17.

The Parents Television Council also denounced the lawsuits, saying it is “beyond preposterous that the networks would even propose that airing the ‘f-word’ and ‘s-word’ on television is not indecent.”

“Memo to the networks: The broadcast airwaves are owned by the American people, and the broadcast industry must abide by community standards of decency,” L. Brent Bozell, president of the PTC, said in a statement April 14. “This is not a proposal, it is the law that the Supreme Court affirmed many years ago. The FCC rightly decided that the use of these words is considered indecent. It is the networks’ responsibility to follow the law.”

HOMOSEXUAL EGG ROLLERS GET NO TIME WITH BUSH -- Soulforce and other homosexual activists had planned to make a statement in Washington this spring by lining up 1,000 “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender” families to participate in the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. But they ended up with less than 200 such families and didn’t even get that coveted time mingling with President Bush on the South Lawn.

Homosexual families were among the first in line over the weekend for tickets to the April 17 event, but most of them received time-stamped passes for noon -- hours after the president and first lady made an appearance to kick off the “happiest of traditions at the White House.”

About 16,000 tickets were distributed, but early slots were reserved for VIPs, staff members, youth volunteer groups and victims of Hurricane Katrina, according to USA Today.

When their turn came, families with two mothers or two fathers wore multicolored leis to set them apart as children used spoons to roll dyed eggs through the grass and giant storybook characters roamed the grounds.

Across the street, six protestors waved signs and expressed their views over a loudspeaker, USA Today noted. 

“I am fed up with the homosexual agenda. It makes me want to vomit. And it makes God want to vomit," Ben Narsil, an Atlanta travel agent, shouted.

NEW JEWISH SEMINARY LEADER IS ‘PRO-GAY’ -- The recently appointed chancellor of Conservative Judaism’s flagship school, the Jewish Theological Seminary, says he welcomes the ordination of homosexual rabbis.

“I’d like to see it possible for gay and lesbian students to be ordained,” Stanford scholar Arnold M. Eisen, who is not a rabbi, told The New York Times during an interview at the seminary in Manhattan, where he set forth some priorities for his tenure.

The Times noted that the seminary’s chancellor historically has enjoyed great influence over the direction of the Conservative Judaism movement, and Eisen’s predecessor adamantly opposed the ordination of homosexuals as well as the idea of rabbis performing same-sex unions.

Eisen said his opinion comes not from familiarity with Jewish law but from “just knowing gay and lesbian people, friends, students, co-workers; and the sense that Judaism has always adapted itself to fit changing circumstances,” he told The Times. “Not every change is good, but this is one in which I think it’s time.”

1 IN 4 MARRIED SYRIAN WOMEN ARE BEATEN -- Observers are applauding a recent study by the United Nations as a milestone while lamenting its findings that 25 percent of married Syrian women have been beaten. 

The study, conducted under the supervision of the quasi-governmental General Union of Women in Syria, selected nearly 1,900 families at random and questioned the men and women separately, according to a report by The New York Times April 10. Results were released recently as part of a report on Syria by the U.N. Development Fund for Women.

“In Syria there was simply no data on violence against women; formal studies hadn’t ever been done before,” Shirin Shukri, a manager of the project at the U.N. regional offices in Jordan, told The Times. “The issue of violence against women was kept silent here for many years. But we’re making people in Syria aware that this is something that happens everywhere in Europe, in Asia, in the United States, and this is opening up discussion.”

Reports about the findings have been published by Syrian media outlets, The Times said, and experts are hoping the attention will lead to “practical action on the ground.”

“The most surprising thing is that for the first time in Syria, a semigovernmental organization, the women’s union, has admitted that there is a problem,” Maan Abdul Salam, a campaigner for women’s rights, told The Times.

DIFFERENT TAKE ON ‘GOSPEL OF JUDAS’ -- Michael Duduit, editor of Preaching magazine, is making light of some scholars’ portrayal of the newly discovered gospel of Judas as a “lost gospel.” 

The document, revealed in early April, has no impact on Christian theology as some are arguing, and its popularity in the media “suggests there may be a market for future such ‘discoveries’ that can be arranged,” Duduit mused.

Among the lost documents Duduit suggested in his “Preaching Now” newsletter April 11:

“The Lost Book of Luther, in which we learn that the German monk never intended to post ‘95 Theses’ on the church door. It was supposed to be a list of ‘95 Recipes’ for use in next Sunday's Dinner on the Grounds. The confusion contributed to the Protestant Reformation.

“The Lost Rick Warren letter, in which we learn that he never intended to wear a Hawaiian shirt to worship, but the dry cleaner failed to make his normal Saturday delivery. The confusion contributed to a dramatic decline in men's suit sales,” Duduit wrote.
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Poll: Majority of Americans don't believe in evolution
by Michael Foust
Date: April 19, 2006 - Wednesday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Once again, a nationwide poll shows that Americans are prone not to believe in evolution -- even if many academic leaders and media members do.

The CBS News poll, conducted April 6-9, asked two subgroups of adults different questions about man's origins. Although their answers varied depending on the question, in each instance they rejected secular evolution -- that is, the belief that God was not involved at all in the process:

-- In the first subgroup, 53 percent of adults agreed that "God created human beings in their present form." Twenty-three percent believed that "human beings evolved from less advanced life forms over millions of years, but God guided the process," and 17 percent believed that human beings evolved but "God did not directly guide" it. The subgroup included 468 adults.

-- In the second subgroup, 44 percent agreed with the statement that "God created human beings in their present form within the last ten thousand years." The rest of the question was identical to the one posed to the first subgroup. In this instance, 30 percent believed that God guided evolution, and 17 percent believed in secular evolution. This subgroup included 431 adults.

The debate over evolution has divided Americans since at least the late 1800s, and that divide deepened after the famous "Scopes Monkey Trial" in Tennessee in 1925. In fact, in 1925 the Southern Baptist Convention adopted its first statement of faith (the Baptist Faith & Message) in part in reaction to the controversy over evolution.

The media largely has assisted supporting a belief in evolution. An April 12 CNN.com headline about evolution said simply, "Fossil connects human evolution dots." A New York Times headline the same day read, "New fossils add link to the chain of the evolution of humans."

But despite the media's role and an education system that backs evolution, Americans aren't buying it. The CBS News poll mirrors other recent polls:

-- A Gallup poll of 1,005 adults from September 2005 showed that 53 percent of adults believed "God created human beings in their present form exactly the way the Bible describes it." Thirty-one percent believed humans "evolved over millions of years from other forms of life and God guided" the process, and 12 percent said humans "have evolved over millions of years from other forms of life, but God has no part."

-- A Harris poll of 1,000 adults in June 2005 found that 64 percent believed "human beings were created directly by God," 22 percent said humans "evolved from earlier species" and 10 percent believed humans "are so complex that they required a powerful force or intelligent being to help create them." In a separate question, only 38 percent said humans "developed from earlier species."
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FIRST-PERSON: The best career plan
by Howard Dayton
Date: April 19, 2006 - Wednesday

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (BP)--Apparently it’s never too early to plan for a career, considering the fact that our modern-day public schools often are forcing teens to make key education and career decisions at increasingly earlier ages -- sometimes as early as 6th or 7th grade. 

A recent news program reported that an online poll conducted by Scholastic magazine says more than 80 percent of our children do not want to be president of the United States. That’s a complete reversal from 2004, when 75 percent of the elementary and middle school children wanted to be the head man or woman in the White House.

There are a lot of folks asking our kids questions about their future, but are our youth learning a biblical model for education and career decision making? Unfortunately, most of us would have no idea where to start to help a child solve career issues from a biblical perspective, because no clear process has ever been taught to us at home, at school or in the church. 

However, there are some steps you can follow to discover how God has designed you, what His calling is for your life, and what is the spiritual nature of work. Then, knowing this, perhaps you can help others as well.

One study said that half of the men and women who went to work this morning feel they are in the wrong career field. It’s not just that they think they would like a different job, but they feel they are in the wrong career altogether. Another study indicated that 52 percent of those working in the information technology field said they would rather be doing something in the area of liberal arts. 

These statistics reflect the fact that people make career decisions based on faulty foundations. They use the world’s perspective for career choice. These include choosing a job because: it pays so much; it’s the first or easiest you can get; it’s offered to you; you have friends who work for the company; you’ve done that kind of job before; the job sounds good or has a good title; your parents do or did that job; or -- perhaps worst of all -- it will fulfill your parents’ unfulfilled dreams. 

Do any of these sound familiar? Unfortunately, they are all too common, and the results are always the same -- stress, lack of fulfillment and eventual burnout. 

However, there is good news. There is a biblical perspective of work and career, so you don’t have to operate under the world’s perspective of work. As Christians, we should understand that God has ordained each of us to fill a special role in His service. Every Christian has a calling, which God has prepared for us in advance. Each of us has been uniquely designed by God, and through the work He calls us to, we can serve others, honor Him, impact the world around us, and win others to Him. 

It’s never too late to teach your children about the biblical principles of work and stewardship of talents. Everyone needs a model to follow. The question is this: Will your children be influenced by God’s direction or the world’s perspective? 

Our youth need to be brought up with the realization that they are uniquely created by God and need to look prayerfully to Him for what His will is for their lives. It makes no difference whether they become doctors, custodians, lawyers, preachers -- or president. What matters is whether they are following God’s will for their lives. 
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Howard Dayton is CEO of Crown Financial Ministries. Dayton and the late Larry Burkett joined forces in 2000 when Crown Ministries, led by Dayton, merged with Christian Financial Concepts, led by Burkett. The new organization became Crown Financial Ministries, on the web at www.crown.org.



