
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-04/24/2003

DISCLAIMER: Baptist Press should be credited for any reprinted stories that originate with BP.
Suggested credit line: Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. 

Please note that Baptist Press periodically carries stories from other sources by permission. Individuals interested in reprinting non-BP stories should contact the entity where the story originated to seek reprint permission.


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Scouts a great way to reach boys for Christ, leader says
by Bob Carey
Date: April 24, 2003 - Thursday

RIDGECREST, N.C. (BP)--Southern Baptists and the Boy Scouts of America have worked through the Association of Baptists for Scouting for almost 50 years, so it was a reunion of sorts when more than 120 Scout leaders from 12 states and various Baptist denominations met in early April at LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center. 

The conference, titled "God and Country," provided innovative ways Baptists can positively influence America's youth from elementary to high school through Cub Scout packs and Boy Scout troops.

The weekend brought pastors and scout leaders together to find ways for local churches to encourage the growth of Boy Scout troops. Several pastors committed to add either Boy Scout troops or Venturing programs in their churches. Venturing is a coeducational program for youth between the ages of 14 and 20.

There are more than 90,000 Baptist congregations (SBC and non-SBC) in the United States and approximately 5,000 have Scouting programs, according to Don York, director of the relationships division of the Boy Scouts of America.

Several speakers discussed the outreach possibilities Scouting offers churches. R. Chip Turner, vice president of FamilyNet of Ft. Worth, Texas, said Scouting and Baptist churches have a long history together. 

"Dr. George Truett of First Baptist Dallas endorsed the concept of Scouting in churches in 1924, but we still have a lot to do to reach more youth."

David Hansley, president of the Association of Baptists for Scouting, told attendees, "You've got to get into the pastors and youth ministers to let them see the benefits of Scouting. You begin by sitting down with the pastor and explaining the program. Most pastors when they see the benefits of Scouting will catch the vision. There are too many boys to reach. It's a great outreach if the churches will just take it and run." 

Retired Navy Commander Robert Fant Jr. a former Vietnam POW, reiterated the importance of churches and Scouting. 

"When I was captured, the first thing I concentrated on was the Lord's Prayer, then the 23rd Psalm. Soon after that I began concentrating on the Scout Law. It was these things I had learned at church and in Scouting that helped keep me going."

Fant's close friend, Bill Dukes, a Clemson, S.C., physician, added that he was always impressed with Fant on scout outings. 

"He may have been little compared to some of the other Scouts, but he had a drive and heart that allowed him to set the pace," Dukes said.

Dukes and his wife, Sylvia, became the first couple to receive the Silver Good Shepherd award. Dukes had previously received both the Good Shepherd award and Boy Scout of America Blue Ridge Council's Silver Beaver award for recognition of his work with Boy Scouts in the western North Carolina area. 

In addition to the general sessions and specialized training, the conference also featured two banquets to honor recipients of the Good Shepherd Cross and Staff award. The award is a national recognition for adults who render outstanding service to Baptist youth through their church and the Boy Scouts of America. The award is given to either laypersons or pastors who lead in the spiritual, physical, mental and moral development of youth. 

This year 22 recipients were recognized for service to Baptist Scouting, with six of the recipients receiving Silver Good Shepherds awards representing at least 50 years of Scouting involvement. Several well-known men are former recipients of the award: LifeWay President James T. Draper Jr., Executive Committee President Morris Chapman, Billy Graham, Jimmy Carter and Sen. Trent Lott.

Author and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar is slated to receive the honor later this year.

Eight other Southern Baptists received the Silver Good Shepherd award this year: Gerald Primm, Eller Memorial Baptist Church, Greensboro, N.C.; Frank Lewis, Emanuel Baptist Church, Frankfort, Ky.; Lucian Rice, Calvary Baptist Church, Lexington, Ky.; Edmond Poole, First Baptist Church Renfro, S.C.; Neil Showalter, First Baptist Church, Harrisonburg, Va.; James Hall, First Baptist Church, Griffin, Ga.; Robert Justice, Southside Baptist Church, Spartanburg, S.C. and E. W. Rabon, First Baptist Church, Easley, S.C.

The union between Boy Scouts of America and Ridgecrest is becoming a tradition in its self. 

"It is a natural place for us to meet, it is geographically easy to get to and there are a large number of Baptists within 100 miles &#91;of Ridgecrest&#93;," said H. M. "Smokey" Eggers, former president and current Southern Baptist representative for the Association of Baptists for Scouting. This was the 12th time the group has met at Ridgecrest since the early 80s. "There is such a strong history for us attending Ridgecrest. It's like coming home," 

LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center is owned and operated by LifeWay Christian Resources. It has recently undergone extensive renovation to provide affordable opportunities for organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America. 

"This planning committee met for two years." Eggers said of the extensive preparation. "It takes a lot of work to get the speakers lined up. The help here at Ridgecrest is tremendous. The staff has been taking prayer requests from us during the last two years. They have gone the second and third miles."
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(BP) photos posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo titles: GOD AND COUNTRY, WISE WORDS, PHOTOGRAPHER, LISTENING, BREAK, and IMPORTANT TOPIC.


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Effort seeks to enlist 1 million to pray for spiritual awakening
by James Dotson
Date: April 24, 2003 - Thursday

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--The North American Mission Board is asking Southern Baptists to examine their own hearts as a starting point for seeking a dramatic move of God nationally. Under the banner of "One in a Million," NAMB is seeking 1 million to enlist to pray regularly and specifically for personal repentance, personal revival and national spiritual awakening.

"One in a Million is not a program," said John Yarbrough, NAMB's vice president for evangelism. "It is an invitation to join thousands of others with a passion to see a mighty movement of God sweep across North America. It is a call to repentance. Repentance always precedes revival and revival always results in evangelism."

With personal renewal as a starting point, the goal of national renewal is more likely to follow, added Chris Schofield, NAMB's director of prayer evangelism.

"As a person is revived and renewed, then they begin to seek the Lord for a national spiritual awakening, for God to change our culture. But it's got to start with me," he said. "It's a lot easier for me to pray for national spiritual awakening than it is to get honest with God and say I need renewal myself. Once we do that, our prayers are more effective, and we have a greater awareness and vision for the need for national spiritual awakening."

The effort is in preparation for "What Now?" a continental strategy for evangelism and spiritual awakening in 2005. Schofield said One in a Million also dovetails with the Empowering Kingdom Growth initiative underway across the Southern Baptist Convention, as well NAMB's Great Commission Prayer Strategy for churches.

The basis is 2 Chronicles 7:14: "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

"As we focus on His Kingdom we must focus on Him," Yarbrough said. "... What we must have is a mighty movement of God that moves us beyond anything we can produce. However, we can be in a position of prayer and seek the Father to 'forgive our sins and heal our land.'"

Participation in One in a Million begins with registration, either by phone at (770) 410-6333 or through the www.namb.net/prayer site. Weekly updates provide inspiration and challenge to help guide personal prayer efforts. Other resources also are available to help enlist others in the prayer effort.

"To me this initiative hits at the root of why we are seeing our culture decline and rampant ineffectiveness in ministry," Schofield said. "Our light is not shining as it needs to and the darkness is prevailing. Things will only change when we as God's people recognize our sin and accept responsibility for the declining culture. Revival and awakening must start with God's people."
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Ga. convention has right to elect college's trustees, judge rules
by Staff
Date: April 24, 2003 - Thursday

ROME, Ga. (BP)--A Georgia judge ruled April 23 that Shorter College's board of trustees must still be elected by the Georgia Baptist Convention.

However, the judge, Daniel M. Coursey Jr. of the DeKalb County Superior Court, also ruled that the college can proceed with plans to transfer its assets, estimated at $50 million, to a newly formed foundation.

The Georgia convention, in a statement issued after Coursey's ruling, responded to the decision by saying:

"We are gratified that the court ruled that the Georgia Baptist Convention is a member of Shorter College and that Shorter's May 31, 2002 bylaw amendment restricting the right of the convention to elect trustees was void.

"Shorter has been wrong in its refusal to recognize the convention's duly elected trustees. The convention believes it would be a mistake for Shorter to continue with its dissolution in that it is not in the best interest of the college, its students or its financial viability."

The next stop in the dispute likely will be the Georgia Supreme Court, the judge had acknowledged in an earlier hearing.

The college, with 2,100 students, is located in Rome, Ga., and has been affiliated with the Georgia convention since 1959.

The Georgia convention, in a news release last December, recounted that in 1959 -- "at the college's request" -- the convention "assumed ownership of the school to help it avoid financial ruin. Since taking ownership, the GBC has invested nearly $26 million in Shorter, and the school has thrived, having recently been ranked by US News & World Report as one of the South's top 20 comprehensive liberal arts colleges."

Trustees, however, voted last November to sever their ties with the convention following a year-long dispute over the trustee selection process. College officials cited a March 2002 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools report claiming that "undue pressure is being placed on the Board of Trustees by an outside agency, namely the Georgia Baptist Convention" and recommended a change in how trustees are elected to the board.

The trustees also voted to pursue "all the options necessary" to recover more than $9 million in school money that had been frozen by the convention. The college subsequently filed suit for the $9 million, prompting a countersuit by the convention which was been joined by several Shorter trustees. The Georgia convention, in its news release last December, said the countersuit seeks to prevent "a scheme and conspiracy by Shorter's president and members of its board of trustees to illegally convert, take over and steal Shorter from the GBC."

Under the college's plan, new trustees would be elected by the convention but only from a list of multiple suggestions approved by trustees before being submitted to the convention.

Shorter's president, Ed Schrader, quoted by the Rome News-Tribune as saying, "We won the case," noted that "the judge saw we had the right to reincorporate the college."

However, attorney Richard Robbins representing several trustees opposing the college's bid for self-selection of trustees, told the newspaper, "This thing is far from over.

"We intend for the properly constituted board to reconsider this dissolution plan," Robbins said. He also noted, "The court curiously agreed with us three quarters of the way" about the convention's right to elect Shorter's trustees, and "then switched gears" by approving the transfer of assets to the college's new foundation.
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Christian music star Velasquez criticized for scenes in new movie
by Michael Foust
Date: April 24, 2003 - Thursday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A new movie starring contemporary Christian music's Jaci Velasquez has received thumbs down from two family oriented websites for its moral content and the scenes in which the singer appears.

Such criticism has led to debate on Velasquez fan websites and a response from the singer herself.

The movie, a comedy called "Chasing Papi," is rated PG and was released April 16 by 20th Century Fox. The plot involves three single women -- "Cici," "Lorena" and "Patricia" -- who think they have found the perfect man, "Tomas." After discovering that he has been dating all three simultaneously, each woman tries to get him to pick her.

Three scenes involving Velasquez, who plays "Patricia," have received the most criticism.

In one scene, all three women end up at Tomas' house without knowing of the other's presence. Then, according to Screenit.com, the three women "all walk out from different rooms in Tomas' place, hoping to surprise him, but instead see each other. Each is wearing lingerie he bought them...." Tomas, it turns out, isn't at home.

In a later scene, Cici "tears or otherwise modifies Lorena and Patricia's clothing to make them look sexier for a dance number....," Screenit.com reports. 

In a third scene, "all three women sleep on the bed" with an unconscious Tomas, according to "Plugged In Film Reviews."

Velasquez, who recently released her latest album "Unspoken," and whose single, "You're My God," is climbing the Christian charts, addressed the criticism in a letter to fans on her website.

"I hear that there are many questions about the movie, especially now since people are seeing the trailer or previews out in theaters," she wrote. "To put your minds at rest, No I haven't left my personal faith in God, and I don't ever intend to."

She added that "by the grace and power of God" she was able to witness to those on the movie set. She said she was "surprised" by the content of the trailer, which includes clips from some of the controversial scenes.

"The trailer doesn't really tell the complete story," she said. "... I am grateful for the production company, because they allowed me to change and edit several scenes that I was uncomfortable doing because of my beliefs. The process of deciding to enter Hollywood was a very thoughtful, prayerful one. I constantly consulted my family and pastor to make sure I was answering my calling."

But two family oriented websites that review movies say Christians should steer clear of the movie. One of those is Focus on the Family's Plugged In Film Reviews.

"Don't let Jaci's starring role mislead your family," wrote Plugged In's Steven Isaac. "Chase teens and tweens away from Papi."

Isaac quoted teenager Alena Takii of Whittier, Calif., as saying, "How can Jaci Velasquez represent the Contemporary Music industry in the skimpy outfits she wears in her new movie 'Chasing Papi?' I like her music and can understand that she wants to break into the mainstream industry to reach out to the rest of the world, but is she really giving herself a good name by choosing to be in a movie that compromises what she stands for as a Christian?"

In the movie trailer, Velasquez's character is more modestly dressed than the other two women, including in the lingerie scene. But Plugged In's Isaac said the scene has obvious inferences.

"There's no other way to interpret the implications of this 'lingerie scene' as anything other than sexual," he wrote. "Women simply don't bounce into a man's bedroom wearing trench coats and little else for any purpose other than sex."

Another family movie reviewer, Alan Boyer of Preview Family Movie & TV Review, gave the movie a "- 1 1/2" rating on the acceptability scale, which, according to the website's criteria, means the movie is "quite objectionable."

"Both the moral content and the entertainment value of this film are low; you would be better off not 'Chasing Papi,'" he wrote.

A third family-oriented movie review website, Movieguide.org, was less critical than the aforementioned family websites but did advise "caution, especially for parents of the teenagers who might be attracted to this movie."

The controversy has led to much discussion by fans on unofficial Velasquez website forums. At one website, alwaysjaci.com, one fan wrote, "I don't think I'll see it after what I saw in the preview. No offense to Jaci or anything, I just don't feel right about it." On another website, jacimedia.com, some fans also were squeamish. One wrote, "Sometimes I want to give Jaci a hug ... and sometimes I want to strangle her. Sigh." Another wrote, "It's just that the movie plot and implications weren't the best for someone like her to be in."

A fan on alwaysjaci.com was critical of the way Velasquez dresses on and off screen. "It's acceptable by the worlds &#91;sic&#93; standards to dress like that, but that doesn't mean it's right. I think women should dress modestly, and not in a way that might encourage guys to lust."

But others fans defended the movie and the CCM star. One fan on alwaysjaci.com said that Velasquez did not compromise her Christian values: "I know a lot of people were upset about the &#91;lingerie&#93; scene and there were rumors of her drinking alcohol, but after seeing it, Jaci was highly respectable and moral in all of her actions. If you haven't seen the movie yet, get out there -- it's really funny and cute!!"

A fan on jacionline.net wrote, "God has blessed her so much! Why &#91;can't&#93; people appreciate what God is doing for Jaci!?"

Velasquez is the feature of a cover story in the latest issue of CCM magazine in which she talks about her dating relationships and openly says that she is a virgin. She also addresses an issue her mother says is the subject of frequent fan mail -- the way Velasquez dresses.

"Every Latin journalist wants to know why I dress so conservatively," Velasquez told CCM. "They always ask, 'Why don't you ever show your body?' It's amazing to me that in the Latin market I'm considered conservative, and yet in the Christian market I always get letters saying, 'You dress too sexy. I was offended; I'm never taking my kid to your show again.'"

The movie opened in only 585 theaters -- many movies open in more than 2,000 theaters -- and finished 11th its first weekend with a gross of $2,404,557. It did better in average gross per theater, finishing fourth among the top 11.

During her career Velasquez, 23, has recorded 16 No. 1 songs in the Christian and Latino market. She won the 1999 Dove Award for female vocalist of the year.
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Church music must encourage participation, songwriter says
by Sara Horn
Date: April 24, 2003 - Thursday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Kim Noblitt is no stranger to Christian music.

The music minister from First Baptist Church, Euless, Texas, is a 25-year veteran of music ministry since graduating from Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, Calif. He toured eight of those years with the vocal ensemble "Truth," and as a songwriter, was nominated for a Dove Award Song of the Year for "If You Could See Me Now."  

But it wasn't until he began his ministry at First Baptist Euless six years ago that his passion "accidentally" shifted to music for the church.

"A large part of that had to do with the pastor's encouragement and desire for worship," said Noblitt, referring to Claude Thomas, pastor of First Baptist Euless.

Together their objective is to affect the worship culture in Baptist life.

"Our brethren in other denominations have done a tremendous job (writing music for the church)," said Noblitt. "There hasn't really been a Baptist voice out there writing original material."

Noblitt said his two main passions are leading musical worship and song writing. He continually challenges himself and other music leaders with the question: Does music written for the church encourage participation by the congregation?

Noblitt believes congregational participation in musical worship is critical. His recent projects with LifeWay Church Resources, a division of LifeWay Christian Resources, makes evident his passion for church music. Works include "You Saved Me," "You Are My Victory," and "His Kingdom Shall Never End" - choral arrangements that enable participation by choir and congregation alike.

"Corporate worship has to include the congregation," Noblitt said. "A common refrain for the worship team at First Baptist Euless is, 'It's not about us, it's about Him.'" 

It's also a matter of discipline. Noblitt said churchgoers often attend services on Sunday mornings hoping to be inoculated with worship and with God's presence instead of nurturing that relationship throughout the week.

The staff at First Baptist Euless decided they'd approach musical worship as a way to lift up God rather than trying to appeal to style preferences -- contemporary or traditional.

"Our strategy has always been to move toward the message time," Noblitt said. "Everything is an act of worship."

Projector screens displaying the words of songs during services -- whether choir specials or congregational singing -- have helped those with hearing difficulties know what's being sung. Noblitt said traditional hymns repackaged with contemporary tempos encourage younger people to participate in the worship experience as well. 

The death of Noblitt's mother in early April from breast cancer helped him focus his music on Christ's return to earth.  "She was the most godly woman I knew," he said, calling her "The spiritual anchor in the life of our family."

In a revival service held recently at LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, the choir sang "You Are My Victory," a song with a poignant message written by a son inspired by his mother's relationship with the Lord. 

Lord, I give You all the glory

By Your love, You set me free.

Sin is paid for, Death is conquered.

You have crushed the enemy.

You are my Victory. You are my Victory.

Before joining First Baptist Euless, Noblitt served as minister of music at Henderson Hills Baptist Church, Edmond, Okla., Dauphin Way Baptist Church, Mobile, Ala., and First Baptist Church, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 
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LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention is one of the world's largest publishers of religious materials, producing 180 monthly and quarterly products and more than 210 new undated products annually.  Established in Nashville, Tenn., in 1891, LifeWay is engaged in the production and sale of Bibles, church literature, books, music, audio and video recordings, church supplies, and Internet services through www.lifeway.com.  The company owns and operates 115 LifeWay Christian Stores throughout the United States, as well as two of the largest Christian conference centers in the country.  LifeWay is a religious nonprofit organization that receives no funding from the denomination, and reinvests income above operating expenses into mission work and other ministries around the world. (BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo title: ORIGINALITY.



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Pensacola center planned by NOBTS; grad courses planned in Jacksonville
by Shannon Baker
Date: April 24, 2003 - Thursday

NEW ORLEANS (BP)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary will pursue the development of a graduate extension center program in Florida's panhandle -- at Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola -- in response to requests from potential seminary students in the area.

Currently, the closest graduate extension center is around 130 miles away in Graceville, Fla., on the campus of The Baptist College of Florida. Other students travel more than 200 miles one way to take classes on the New Orleans campus.

Seminary trustees also have approved the expansion of the Jacksonville, Fla., extension center program to include graduate-level courses. Associate-level classes have been offered in Jacksonville since 1993.

"We already see the need for pushing out the boundaries for theological education in Florida in cooperation with the Florida Baptist Convention and the Baptist College of Florida," said Jimmy Dukes, dean of NOBTS' extension center system. "My desire is to see more and more Florida students take advantage of accessible and accredited theological education.

"As we go through the processes of approval with our accrediting agencies, I will be praying for God's leadership in these areas," Dukes said. "I anticipate some classes being offered at the sites this fall.

Ted Traylor, pastor of Olive Baptist Church, said the church "realizes the importance of equipping ministers for the new millennium. We are excited about our partnership with NOBTS as we open the new seminary extension center in Pensacola. We look forward to seeing what God will do as we partner together to train and equip those God has called into vocational service."

Since 1977, New Orleans Seminary has been pushing the campus out closer to the church field, making it possible for someone who may be in a ministry position to maintain that position and pursue theological education. Recognizing that many ministers in Southern Baptist churches do not have formal training, the faculty, administration and trustees felt it was important to provide as much access to training as possible near to the scene of their ministries.

NOBTS operates graduate and undergraduate extension centers throughout the Southeast. Graduate centers include the Central Louisiana Center in Pineville; North Louisiana Center in Shreveport; Clinton Center in Clinton, Miss.; Birmingham Center in Birmingham, Ala.; North Georgia Campus in Decatur; South Georgia Center in Albany; Graceville Center in Graceville, Fla.; Orlando Center in Orlando, Fla.; and the Theological Center of the Americas in Miami. Undergraduate centers include Baton Rogue, Lake Charles and Shreveport, La.; Jackson, Miss.; Birmingham and Huntsville, Ala.; Albany and Decatur, Ga.; and Jacksonville and Miami, Fla. 

NOBTS also will begin offering the bachelor of arts in Christian ministry degree at the extension center in Miami. What began as a ministry to Spanish-speaking people in 1977 has developed into an extensive program reaching out to train leadership in Spanish, English, Portuguese and French in that area.

The seminary supports teaching at these extension centers through the use of modern technology, including Compressed Interactive Video (CIV). This technology uses live, interactive video to connect classes in multiple locations, allowing a professor in New Orleans to teach classes in several other cities at the same time. The professor and the students are able to dialogue and interact with each other as though they were in the same room.

Other classes are taught by commuting faculty from the main campus as well as adjunct professors who live near the various centers. Extension centers also offer night and weekend schedules.

All graduate center students must fulfill a residency requirement of 30 semester hours on the campus of New Orleans in order to complete their degrees, often through weeklong workshops or special summer terms.

For additional information about New Orleans Seminary's extension centers, contact Dukes at 1-800-514-1175 or visit online at <a href="http://www.nobts.edu/extensions">www.nobts.edu/extensions</a>.
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FIRST-PERSON: Growing up with the Great Commission
by Tom Elliff
Date: April 24, 2003 - Thursday

DEL CITY, Okla. (BP)--Recently our youngest daughter and her husband received notice that the International Mission Board had approved their application for missions service in Southeast Asia. In a few months they will be appointed and then go to the Missionary Learning Center near Richmond, Va., for their training. They and their four children will leave for the field just prior to the Thanksgiving holidays. Jeannie and I are excited about this new and exciting turn in their lives, having known for several years that their hearts were always sensitive to this possibility.

We already have a "family connection" in Southeast Asia. Another daughter, her husband and their five children currently serve with the IMB in that same region. The two families will have the privilege of living in neighboring countries, at least for awhile. It doesn't always work out that way. We're just happy that we can visit two of our children and nine of our 18 grandchildren by heading in the same general direction! And there is incredible joy in knowing that our children and their families who live here in the United States also share a similar passion for fulfilling the Great Commission.

Why am I writing about all this? Perhaps I can best answer that question by telling you of another question frequently asked of us: "Doesn't it grieve you to have your children and grandchildren so far away?" Our answer is always the same: "We love our children and grandchildren dearly! And it's true that being apart is naturally accompanied with some occasional moments of sadness. But isn't it for this that we rear our children? Shouldn't we be determined to plant in their hearts the unique joy that accompanies obedience to the Lord? And shouldn't they see the importance of investing their lives, whatever their calling or occupation, in fulfilling the Great Commission? Isn't it a blessing when your children do not consider their lives as their own, but the Lord's?"

There are two extremes we must learn to avoid. The first expresses itself in the notion that "missionaries and ministers reach and preach" and the rest of us are just not that significant in the fulfillment of the Great Commission. My friend Kent Humphreys, a businessman whose witness and compassion touches multitudes with the Gospel, is fond of reminding folks that the "Hall of Faith" (Hebrews 12) is comprised mostly of business people who simply shared their faith in the marketplaces of the world. The Great Commission is for all of us "since we are going anyway."

The other extreme we must avoid is the notion that ministry and missions is to be "settled for" or "forced into." Parents often brag on the recently graduated child who lands an overseas assignment. "What an adventure! Think what this will mean to your biographical portfolio. And look at the benefits!" But the tune often changes if that same child comes home from summer camp with the news that God has issued a call to missions. "Are you sure? Isn't it dangerous? You'll be so far away! And what possible benefit could there be to all this?"

We must learn to rear our children with eternity in view! It should be the rare individual among us who DOESN'T spend time focused on the importance of sharing the Gospel. Where better to learn this than in the home? And what better time than now? As missionary Amy Carmichael once said, "We each have all of eternity to celebrate our victories; but only a few minutes before sundown to win them!" Let's give our children the privilege of growing up with the Great Commission.
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Elliff is pastor of First Southern Baptist Church, Del City, Okla., and chairman of the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life, which is joining forces with LifeWay Christian Resources and the SBC Pastors' Conference in presenting Southern Baptists' first-ever Kingdom Family Rally the evening of June 16 in conjunction with the 2003 meeting of the SBC in Phoenix.


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Paper's story on Hemphill retirement called 'speculation,' 'patently false'
by Staff
Date: April 24, 2003 - Thursday

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Kenneth S. Hemphill denied a report by the Texas Baptist Standard that his retirement from the Fort Worth, Texas, seminary was prompted by an ultimatum from a small group of SBC leaders, calling the allegation "speculation that borders on libel."

The April 21 story by Mark Wingfield, managing editor of the Standard, relied on a number of unnamed sources to report about Hemphill's April 8 retirement announcement after nine years of service. In a letter to the Standard April 23, Hemphill wrote, "Slander and gossip damage the precious name of our Lord, the cause of His Kingdom, and hurt the body of Christ."

According to "most insider accounts," Wingfield wrote, "Hemphill was urged to leave the Southwestern presidency by a small group of SBC leaders. Sources both in Fort Worth and North Carolina told the Baptist Standard Hemphill had been called to a meeting in North Carolina a few years ago in which he was told either to resign or be fired."

Hemphill asserted in his letter to the paper that no such meeting ever occurred, and that the Standard could have called him to clarify what the meeting was about.

"No group of SBC leaders has ever met with me about a deal to remain at or leave Southwestern. Mark refers to a North Carolina meeting where I was 'reportedly' instructed to resign or be fired. No such meeting ever occurred! The only meeting in North Carolina was held at my request over the Christmas holidays two years ago at Calvary Baptist Church with my three mentors, Mark Corts, Jimmy Draper, and Charles Fuller. I asked them to pray with me concerning my desire to move back to pastoral ministry," Hemphill wrote.

Draper, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, and a former longtime pastor respected across the Southern Baptist Convention, supported Hemphill's claim, saying that Wingfield's assertion was "patently a lie."

"This whole notion of a meeting where he was given an ultimatum is ludicrous. Ken asked me to contact Mark Corts and Charles Fuller to pray with him, and because of Corts' health, we decided the meeting would have to take place in North Carolina where he was. I took a day between Christmas and New Years and flew out there to join them. We talked and prayed for a day. None of us other than Ken had anything to do with Southwestern. We just met and prayed for him because he was concerned about his own ministry. He missed being in a pastoral role, as I do every day."

Paige Patterson, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., named by the Standard as one possible successor to Hemphill, said that he also was unaware of any meeting between SBC leaders and Hemphill.

"If any group ever met with Dr. Hemphill outside of his own trustees I am unaware of it," Patterson said. "If they had, and I believe Dr. Hemphill when he says they didn't, they wouldn't have asked him to step down. That is not their prerogative. This is a conclusion he came to after prayer, and I know that he had been feeling for a long time that he would like to be back in a pastoral role."

Wingfield further claimed that some leaders of the convention essentially brokered a deal "to allow Hemphill to stay until now and then to be moved to the specially created position in Nashville -- where he would continue to be paid for the next year by Southwestern."

Hemphill wrote that no group of SBC leaders had ever met with him to discuss a deal to remain at or leave Southwestern. Draper, Patterson and Morris H. Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee, said Wingfield had erred there as well.

"There was never any meeting I know anything about to broker a position for him here in Nashville. We didn't even know this &#91;Empowering Kingdom Growth&#93; emphasis was going to come about until it was approved last June," Draper said.

Draper also said it was only in the past two months that the need became clear to have an individual serve as a spokesperson for the SBC-wide Empowering Kingdom Growth initiative. "Because of Ken's work with our church growth concepts in the early 1990s, his name came up as someone who could fulfill that role," Draper said.

Patterson said that few could have conceived how "keenly suited" Hemphill would be for the role of national EKG spokesman.

"He came into the seminary at a most difficult moment with an incredible gentleness and sweetness of spirit. It prevailed and won the day," Patterson said. "When I think of a consistent exposition of genuine Christianity, I think of Dr. Hemphill. I also believe that if I were setting out to find someone to take the message of EKG to the churches, in a manner which they could understand, I could not have found anyone's gifts more perfectly suited to the task than his," Patterson said.

Chapman, in a statement to Baptist Press, refuted Wingfield's implications that he had taken part in "brokering a deal" to move Hemphill to Nashville and denounced any attempt to bring into question the underlying vision of EKG.

"I have never participated in a meeting in North Carolina, nor anywhere else, in which a 'deal' was 'brokered' with Ken Hemphill," Chapman said. "In fact, I have no knowledge of any such meeting other than what I read in the article by Mr. Wingfield. The first I heard of Dr. Hemphill's availability was a few weeks ago, when in a conversation with Dr. Jimmy Draper, discussion of the possibility arose. Those working with the EKG Task Force took Dr. Hemphill's willingness to devote his considerable gifts and energies to EKG as a direct and welcomed answer to prayer.

"The implications drawn by the Baptist Standard and the motivations assigned to my decision about EKG leadership are not even partially true," Chapman said. "My greatest concern is that, left as stated, the article will diminish the importance of Dr. Hemphill's role as national strategist for EKG. As I said in an open statement two weeks ago, I am extremely thrilled and energized that Dr. Hemphill has agreed to serve the Southern Baptist Convention as national strategist for Empowering Kingdom Growth.

"I have earnestly hoped, and deeply believed, that EKG may very well be a vehicle God uses to renew Southern Baptists' vision and zeal for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness" Chapman added. "We will continue to trust in God, and believe in the good sense of Southern Baptists to see through any attempt to draw us aside from God's vision."

The chairman of the seminary's board of trustees, David Allen, also took exception to Wingfield's story. The allegations in the Standard about the North Carolina meeting and a brokered deal are "patently false," Allen said.

"I spoke with Ken personally, and there was no time when he met with SBC leaders who said he had to resign. Likewise, there was never a meeting of trustees where any individual or group on the board of trustees at the seminary asked him to resign," Allen said.

Miles Seaborn, former chairman of Southwestern's board of trustees, also said that any speculation that Hemphill was forced to retire or leave early was false. Wingfield quoted Seaborn, who chaired the search committee that invited Hemphill to Southwestern, as saying April 8 about Hemphill's retirement that "This is God's will."

"What I actually said was that he &#91;Hemphill&#93; feels that this is God's will. I regret that the misquote might have caused some to question the reason for this change," Seaborn said.

"The trustees of Southwestern were saddened by my recent announcement, but supportive of my desire to be obedient to God's will," Hemphill wrote.

Hemphill also responded to claims that the removal of David Crutchley from the position of dean of the theology school at Southwestern was mandated, as the article in the Standard alleged. He reassigned Crutchley in December 2001, a decision he claimed was his and his alone based on his understanding of Crutchley's "gifts and passion." "I believe then and believe now that it was a decision that was in his best interest and that of the seminary," he wrote.

Expressing dismay at the Standard's claim that "those close to him report that he and his wife, Paula, have been deeply hurt by the whole ordeal," Hemphill wrote that he and his family were grieved at the printed speculation and rumors about his retirement and the "appearance that others know more than we do about our lives."

"Texas Baptist churches deserve and should demand a paper more concerned with truth than rumor, unspecified reports, and anonymous allegations," Hemphill wrote. "To restore trust in Southern Baptist life we must speak the truth in love. Slander and gossip damage the precious name of our Lord, the cause of His Kingdom, and hurt the body of Christ."

Marv Knox, editor of the Standard, responded to Hemphill's letter informing him that it would appear in the April 28 edition of the paper. In a separate call from Baptist Press April 24 to inquire whether Wingfield's story would be retracted, Knox's voice mail stated he was out of the office until April 28.
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Based on reporting by Art Toalston & Gregory Tomlin.




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New Christmas musical combines old-time favorites, original songs
by Sara Horn
Date: April 24, 2003 - Thursday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Kim Noblitt associates Christmas with one thing: worship. 

Noblitt, minister of music at First Baptist Church, Euless, Texas, recently completed his third project, "His Kingdom Shall Never End: A Praise and Worship Christmas," for Genevox and LifeWay Christian Resources. Noblitt and the choir from First Baptist Church, Euless will premiere the work Friday night, April 25, at Music California, a gathering of music publishers from across the country.

The musical is based on Luke 1:33 and offers a fresh look at the biblical narrative found in Isaiah and the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John. It combines Christmas favorites with original songs arranged by J. Daniel Smith in a contemporary style Noblitt feels will appeal to many church choirs, and the 59-minute length will appeal to audiences as well.

"'His Kingdom' doesn't focus on a manger but on the fact that Jesus is a king who came to establish a new kingdom," Noblitt said. "It's a reminder that His kingdom shall never end and we aren't of the kingdom of this world, but His kingdom."

Three worship leaders who assume different characters and require no costuming lead the narrations, written by Lawrence Kimbrough. The musical takes the audience on a chronological journey through the Christmas story.

Noblitt says worship music is definitely his passion, and he's enjoyed his relationship working as a songwriter with LifeWay. 

"LifeWay's been very good to me," he said. "They've stretched and I'm being stretched. It has been a wonderful experience helping people worship and giving them resources that they can use."

"His Kingdom Shall Never End: A Praise and Worship Christmas," is available for order on lifeway.com.
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