
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-05/12/2009

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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Trump criticizes media, lets Miss Calif. keep crown
by Michael Foust
Date: May 12, 2009 - Tuesday

NEW YORK (BP)--Capping a three-week media and blogosphere firestorm, Donald Trump let Carrie Prejean maintain her role as Miss California USA, saying Tuesday the 21-year-old has taken "a tremendous amount of abuse" following her publicly stated opposition to "gay marriage." 

"You should be ashamed of yourselves," Trump, the owner of the Miss Universe organization, told the news media during a press conference.

Officials with the Miss California USA pageant said Prejean was in danger of losing her title because of what they said were violations of her contract, including her appearing at her church and in a National Organization for Marriage press conference and ad opposing "gay marriage." A racy but non-nude picture of her taken at age 17 also surfaced, which Miss California officials said should have been disclosed before she entered the pageant. 

Her supporters, though, said she indeed was being targeted for her views, with some of her backers calling it a "character assassination." What happened to Prejean, they warned, will happen to all opponents of "gay marriage" if it is legalized.

Trump, in fact, used much of Tuesday's press conference defending Prejean. He and Prejean each noted that her position was also the stated position of President Obama. Trump said she "gave a very, very honest answer when asked a very tough question."

"It's the same answer that many people give," Trump said. "… She gave an honorable answer. She gave an answer from her heart, and I think for that she has to be commended." 

The co-executive directors of the Miss California pageant had been highly critical of Prejean's partnership with the National Organization for Marriage, saying that in the history of the pageant no title holder had so "readily committed her face and voice to a more divisive or polarizing issue." Ironically, one of those co-executive directors, former Playboy model Shanna Moakler, has since been featured in a pro-"gay marriage" ad calling for the overturning of California Proposition 8.

Prejean, speaking at the press conference, defended her comments by citing her grandfather, who fought in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II but rarely spoke about his war heroics.

"But he did speak about the freedoms he fought for, and &#91;he&#93; taught me to never back down and never let anyone take those freedoms away from you," she said, tears in her eyes. "On April 19, on that stage, I exercised my freedom of speech, and I was punished for doing so. This should not happen in America. It undermines the constitutional rights for which my grandfather fought for."

Moakler and the other co-executive director, Keith Lewis, also appeared at the press conference, and Trump said Prejean and the Miss California officials were getting along fine now and were working together. Prejean said she was looking forward to continuing her responsibilities as Miss California. She hugged Moakler and Lewis after the press conference. 

Prejean, who spoke for about 10 minutes, said she wanted to "address the hateful attacks, despicable rumors and false allegations" against her. She also thanked the thousands of people who had contacted her, giving their support. 

"Being at the center of a media firestorm is not something I had planned or signed up for," she said. "But the days since have taught me to stand up for what you believe in, regardless of the consequences, personal attacks or disagreements.... I hope I have inspired others to maintain compassion, civility, respect and tolerance while staying true to your convictions, and to never, ever compromise your beliefs."

She thanked God "for giving me the strength to stand by my beliefs" and said her faith "commands us to forgive one another." She said she had forgiven those who had criticized her. She said she was not an activist but instead an advocate "for the importance of not redefining marriage."

"I hope at the end of the day, everyone can respect my rights as I respect theirs, and together we can bring back civility back to our social and cultural discussion," she said. 

The controversy began April 19, when Prejean was asked during the Miss USA pageant whether she believed other states should follow Vermont's lead in legalizing "gay marriage." A student at San Diego Christian College in El Cajon who attends The Rock Church in San Diego, Prejean responded by saying "marriage should be between a man and a woman." She finished first runner-up, with some observers saying the answer cost her the crown. 

The judge who asked the question, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, posted a video on his website saying Prejean lost because she was a "dumb &#91;expletive&#93;." A second judge, Las Vegas entertainment reporter Alicia Jacobs, wrote on her blog that Prejean "made the mistake of not knowing when to shut her mouth." MSNBC anchor David Shuster piled on, writing on his Twitter account of Hilton, "I think his assessment of Miss &#91;California&#93; USA's logic was accurate." Giuliana Rancic, a news anchor on E! Television, wrote on her Twitter account regarding Prejean, "she is an ignorant discrace &#91;sic&#93; and she makes me sick to my stomach."

News about a past cosmetic surgery and even Prejean's parents' divorce leaked onto blogs and soon surfaced in mainstream news. Some outlets theorized that her parents' broken relations somehow led to her beliefs.

Conservative leaders, though, came to her defense. She appeared on Focus on the Family's broadcast May 11 and 12, telling the story of why she stood for her beliefs.

"The way she responded &#91;at the pageant&#93; showed she was willing to put her belief in traditional marriage and her moral principles above her longstanding desire to win the Miss USA title," Focus on the Family's James Dobson said. "Carrie is deeply committed to Jesus Christ and is paying a high price for her faith."

Dobson said Focus on the Family's purpose in the broadcast was not "to debate the merits of beauty pageants or the swimsuit competition or the profession of modeling" but instead to know the behind-the-scenes story of Prejean's bold stance. 

National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez and the Claremont Institute's Seth Leibsohn co-wrote a column in which they expressed concern over her "support system" and some of her modeling choices but also over how she has been treated because of her stance.

"Watch carefully," they wrote in an article posted on NationalReview.com. "This is what happens when people take a position against gay marriage -- a view that the majority of the population supports, according to a new CNN poll.... &#91;N&#93;ote what the movement of tolerance does when you simply exercise your rights to free speech, taking a position they disagree with. They go personal. They go for the jugular. They try to embarrass and humiliate you. They will stop at nothing not only to discredit but absolutely destroy you."

The National Organization for Marriage's Maggie Gallagher said, "Of course Carrie is not perfect. On a personal note, as a former unwed mother, I want to say to Americans: you don't have to be a perfect person to have the right to stand up for marriage."

Prejean appeared on NBC's "Today" show two days after the competition and was asked if she would have answered the question differently if given the chance. 

"It's not about being politically correct," she said. "For me, it was being biblically correct." She added, regarding her missed opportunity to win the crown, "It wasn't what God wanted for my life that night."

In recent days Prejean has expressed regret over having taken the photo as a 17-year-old. Hours before Trump made his decision, even more racier photos of Prejean surfaced on an Internet blog. Prejean said at the press conference that the pictures were part of a photo shoot and that the photographer did not have authorization to release them. She called the pictures "inappropriate" and said the photographer "had violated" her trust. The pictures, she said, had been taken between poses. One picture from that photo shoot had previously been released and was published in Bliss magazine.
--30--
Michael Foust is an assistant editor of Baptist Press. To read how "gay marriage" impacts parental rights and religious freedom click here.

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'Great Commission Resurgence' must be fueled by relationship, Henry Blackaby says
by Mark Kelly
Date: May 12, 2009 - Tuesday

ATLANTA (BP)--If Southern Baptists want to see a "Great Commission Resurgence," Henry Blackaby believes they need to focus on the relationship between disciples and the living Lord Jesus, not launch a new emphasis on evangelism.

"I have felt for a long time that Southern Baptists have focused on evangelism and missed discipleship," Blackaby told Baptist Press May 11. "The most important part of the Great Commission is 'teach them to practice everything I have commanded you.' That's discipleship and that's the heart of the Great Commission. If we want to have a resurgence in the Great Commission, there's got to be a refocusing on the priorities of Christ for discipleship."

Blackaby, a longtime pastor, college president and coauthor of the "Experiencing God" series of Bible study materials, said declining baptism and membership statistics in the Southern Baptist Convention reflect not so much a lack of passion for Christ's command to make disciples as a lack of relationship with Jesus Christ.

"When you hear the Southern Baptist leadership being concerned about baptisms and all that, those are a byproduct of discipleship," Blackaby said. "When you lead a person ... into a relationship where Christ is Lord, everything else follows. You don't have to convince them they need to spend time in God's Word or prayer or in the fellowship or on mission. That's a spontaneous response to a relationship to the living Lord."

Issuing a call for a resurgence of commitment to the Great Commission triggers the wrong response in Christians who are focused on religious activity, rather than a relationship with Christ, Blackaby added.

"Southern Baptists are program-oriented. We are missing the relationship," Blackaby said. "When you make a statement like &#91;that&#93;, the first thing most pastors look for is, 'What program's going to come down the pike to help me do that?' You don't need a program to help you do that. You just need the relationship to the living Lord. The reason we are not effective is because we have moved from the relationship to a program activity."

THE REASON FOR DECLINE

Substituting activities for relationship also is why many churches are in decline or on a plateau, Blackaby said.

"We are not leading people into that immediate relationship with the living Lord. If you listen to most sermons, that intimate personal relationship is missing," Blackaby said. "If you talk to many church members, they feel they are in the right relationship to God when they attend all the worship services, they tithe, they go on a mission trip. And many a pastor would evaluate a member, not from the intimate relationship with the Lord, but for how faithful he is in all the activities of the church. And does he tithe?

"It's activity. Many of God's people have moved from the relationship to religious activity," Blackaby added. "We are content to live without the manifest presence, power and activity of God."

The place many churches need to begin is not with a call to commitment and activity, but with a call to repentance, Blackaby explained.

"We don't talk about repentance," Blackaby said. "Repentance is the essence of what God says throughout the Bible: 'You have lost the relationship. Return to Me and then you will experience Me returning to you.' When that happens, the manifest presence and power and activity of God is very real."

Attempts at evangelism without relationship are artificial and yield artificial fruit, Blackaby noted.

"If you try to bypass &#91;relationship&#93; and give them a program, the Roman Road or another pattern for evangelism, you are creating an artificial approach to evangelism. And of course it has that same kind of fruit," Blackaby explained. "Those who have been led to the Lord on a program are very reluctant to respond to the lordship of Christ."

Witnessing to the lost is supposed to be a spontaneous response to a relationship with Christ, not an activity, Blackaby added.

"&#91;The Bible&#93; doesn't say, 'You are to do witnessing.' It says, 'You are witnesses unto Me,'" Blackaby said. "'Out of the relationship with Me, you will have an enormous witness unto Me.' If you're not doing it now just out of relationship to the Lord, don't look for a program that would help you do what you ought to be doing spontaneously."

'THE GREATEST SINGLE NEED'

What would most help Southern Baptists experience renewed passion for the Great Commission is solid biblical teaching about Christ as head of the church, Blackaby contended.

"The reaching of the lost is a spontaneous response to the lordship of Christ. If you bypass the lordship of Christ and you get God's people in a mode to take the Gospel to a lost world ... you're going to have a tough time," he said. "I have talked to many, many people in the churches. They have never had one message on the nature of the church. Not one. So they are practicing religious activity and looking for a program, but the headship of Christ, what that means and what it will look like and how we respond when Christ exercises His headship, that's just not being taught.

"I would say the greatest single need is to return to the absolute lordship of Jesus Christ and all of the implications that come from that," Blackaby said. "If a church is in a spiritual mess, the only thing that can get them out of that is a good, solid biblical exposition that leads them into the deepest and most profound relationship with the living Lord."

Ironically, calling on pastors to focus on evangelism ultimately results in less evangelism if it causes a loss in focus on the lordship of Christ, Blackaby noted.

"There's a huge gap in the teaching ministry of pastors. We have put on them a huge sense of the priority of evangelism. We had an evangelist in our church not long ago. He said the thing I thought he would say: that the No. 1 priority above everything else is to reach out to the lost," Blackaby said. "I would say that's not true. The priority of every congregation is the lordship of Christ and everything else will come out of that. Many a pastor would not know how in the world to guide their church under the lordship of Christ ... because His life doesn't function out of that mindset."

When church members begin living in a vital relationship with Christ under His lordship, baptisms and membership growth will take care of themselves, Blackaby said.

"Anybody coming under the lordship of Christ automatically has a God-given DNA to be on mission with their Lord to touch a lost world," Blackaby said. "It's not a matter of trying to get our churches back on the program of the Great Commission, but rather into the relationship with the living Lord who is on mission in our world.
--30--
Mark Kelly is an assistant editor with Baptist Press. Henry Blackaby is located on the Internet at blackaby.org.


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Chicago's diversity is his mission field
by Mickey Noah
Date: May 12, 2009 - Tuesday

CHICAGO (BP)--Michael Allen could have been the guy who comes to install or repair your computer. Originally, that was what he was trained to do.

Instead, his work today takes place in uptown Chicago, about a mile northeast of Wrigley Field's ivy-covered outfield fence. The church he serves as senior pastor, Uptown Baptist, is close to the corner of Sunnyside and Sheridan or "Blood Alley" -- famous locally for its unsolved murders, rapes, gangs and prostitution.

None of this deters Allen, who also has served as a North American Mission Board missionary the past three years.

"I like it here because it fits who I am, fits my journey and fits the vision that God has given me for my life," Allen said. "It allows me to be Jesus to so many different kinds of people."

It's hard to say what's more diverse in Allen's life -- his ministry or his congregation.

When Allen is not preaching sermons and shepherding his multicultural flock of 180 at Uptown, he's leading a "Men's Fraternity" discipleship group for businessmen in downtown Chicago; overseeing a Monday night meal for up to 350 homeless men, women and children; directing a shelter for 50 women; managing a church staff of six; counseling; serving on the board of Pacific Garden Mission; and serving as moderator of the Baptist association of which Uptown is a member. And in his spare time, he and his wife Marla homeschool their four children.

"As pastor of Uptown, one day I can be in a suit and tie at a press conference with the mayor of Chicago and other movers and shakers, and later that day be on the street talking to somebody who just gave his girlfriend AIDS or to a drunk," Allen said.

"It's a powerful thing and an amazing thing," he said, getting choked up. "It's God at work changing people's lives, and I feel like a pawn on God's chess board. It's just remarkable to be His piece being moved into position wherever He wills, and being available wherever He wants you on that board."

The Uptown area of the Windy City, like the church Allen leads, is diverse by any measure: ethnically, economically, educationally, gender, age.

"There must be at least 80 or 90 languages spoken in the public schools here in Uptown, so it's a fun place," Allen said. "There's not a dull or boring day in ministry, in business, in school or in government because of that diversity.

"There are still so many more ethnic groups out there that are not represented in our church right now. We might have 10 or 15 different ethnic groups in church on a Sunday morning," he said. "But there is much more to be done and we're just beginning."

Born in Jamaica, Allen grew up in a Christian home and accepted Christ in a Nazarene church at age 9. After earning a computer electronics degree and working as a technician in south Florida, he was called to the ministry as a member of First Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 1989. Allen holds a Bible degree from Trinity College in Miami, Fla., and a master of divinity degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill. He also has served on the staffs of Moody Church in Chicago and Sagemont Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Houston. 

Allen is one of more than 5,600 North American Missionaries supported by Southern Baptist gifts to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions and the Cooperative Program.
--30--
Mickey Noah is a writer with the North American Mission Board. To learn more about the Annie Armstrong Offering, go to www.anniearmstrong.com; to learn more about the Cooperative Program, go to www.sbc.net/cp.


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Ky. leader to be 1st VP nominee at SBC
by Todd Deaton
Date: May 12, 2009 - Tuesday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Kentucky pastor John Mark Toby will be nominated for first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention during the June 23-24 annual meeting at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.

Toby, pastor of Beacon Hill Baptist Church in Somerset, Ky., since 1999, currently is president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. He will be nominated by Kevin Smith, pastor of Watson Memorial Baptist Church in Louisville and assistant professor of church history at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

"I want to nominate Brother Toby because he is a fine representative of a Kentucky Baptist and a Southern Baptist," Smith told the Western Recorder, newsjournal of the Kentucky convention.

"He is obviously supportive of the state convention as demonstrated by his volunteer service in a variety of positions, culminating with his election as president last November," said Smith, who served as KBC first vice president in 2007.

"Additionally, &#91;Toby's&#93; church has been a regular supporter of the Cooperative Program and other state and national offerings," Smith noted. "He has a good working relationship with a broad cross section of Baptists and he has a gracious spirit. On top of this, he leads his church on short-term missions trips and serves as a &#91;Kentucky&#93; National Guard chaplain. On many levels, he is a fine Christian leader."

Information from the 2008 Annual Church Profile for Beacon Hill Baptist Church lists 24 baptisms and primary worship service attendance of 513. The church gave $132,257, or 15 percent, through the Cooperative Program from total undesignated receipts of $882,807. According to the ACP, the church also received $23,736 for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and $7,768 for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions.

Toby, a member of the Kentucky National Guard since 1983, is an endorsed chaplain of the North American Mission Board, supervising four chaplain unit ministry teams that minister to 1,645 soldiers. He has served as a Task Force New Orleans chaplain in relief and recovery operations for victims of Hurricane Katrina and is a volunteer chaplain at Lake Cumberlands Regional Hospital.

Beacon Hill also has a television ministry that reaches into five states with a potential weekly viewing audience of 3 million homes.

Toby served as a member of the Tellers Committee in 2004 and 2007 when the Southern Baptist Convention met in Indianapolis and San Antonio, respectively.

On the state level, his denominational service also includes KBC first vice president, 2005-06; member of the convention's mission board; secretary of the KBC administrative committee; secretary of the business and finance committee; chairman of the audit work group; co-chairman of the tellers committee; twice chairman of the Committee of Committees; and member of the Committee on Arrangements. He also was president of the 2006 KBC Pastors' Conference.

KBC Executive Director Bill Mackey, in affirming the nomination, noted that Toby has been "consistent in strong financial support of missions and ministries through the Cooperative Program and has provided positive leadership for Kentucky Baptists." Emphasizing Toby's extensive leadership experience and knowledge of convention life, Mackey added, "He will provide great support for the convention president."

"If elected," Toby said, "I would consider it an honor to serve the SBC and assist the president in any way possible to communicate Christ clearly through our churches to our communities, culture, country and the world through Southern Baptist endeavors."

Toby is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville and Luther Rice Seminary in Lithonia, Ga. He also is a graduate of the U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College. Prior to Beacon Hill, Toby served as pastor of First Baptist Church in Fairdale, Ky., for five years. He and his wife of 24 years, Cathy, have a 10-year-old son, Daniel.
--30--
Todd Deaton is editor of the Western Recorder, Kentucky Baptists' newsjournal.


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EDUCATION BRIEFS: Dallas Baptist Univ., Anderson Univ. and Okla. Baptist Univ.
by Staff
Date: May 12, 2009 - Tuesday

DALLAS (BP)--Dallas Baptist University is initiating a "Patriot Veteran's Opportunity Program" in conjunction with the new Post-9/11 GI Bill that goes into effect Aug. 1.

The DBU initiative includes a Patriot Veteran's Opportunity Scholarship and assignment of university personnel to assist veterans in academic planning, G.I. benefits and financial aid.

If a veteran has served at least 36 months of active duty on or after Sept. 11, 2001, the new GI Bill will provide up to 100 percent of the cost of tuition and fees at the most expensive public university in a veteran's state, along with possible assistance for housing and books. For veterans wishing to attend a private institution such as DBU, the Veterans Administration also offers a "Yellow Ribbon" program to bridge tuition differences between a public and private education. DBU has pledged to cover any additional amount needed for a full scholarship for veterans receiving full benefits through the new GI Bill. A range of assistance also is available if a veteran's service is less than 36 months.

Donovan Fredricksen, dean of DBU's college of adult education, noted that many veterans never access the GI Bill benefits, inadvertently allowing the benefits to expire.

"Our experiential learning credits and flexible schedules are designed for working adults; veterans especially find this crucially important. We do not want to see anyone postpone their education because they think they cannot balance family, career and school," Fredricksen said. "All students in our college of adult education face these same constraints. So DBU works with our students to help them earn their degrees while balancing their home life and work responsibilities. We want veterans to know that college is an option for them, and that DBU can help them earn the degree they need to succeed while providing for their families."

DBU's mascot, incidentally is the Patriot.

"Veterans can expect a Patriot's welcome at DBU," said J. Blair Blackburn, DBU executive vice president. "DBU selected the Patriot as our mascot because it represents faithfulness, justice and a selfless, courageous commitment to one's fundamental beliefs of freedom-for-all. These qualities blend seamlessly with the DBU mission to produce servant leaders who integrate faith into their spheres of activity. We salute these veterans as America's Patriots, our heroes of freedom, liberty and democracy. DBU welcomes our veterans to become DBU Patriots through the opportunities of the new GI Bill."

For more information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, go to www.gibill.va.gov. For more information on Dallas Baptist University's Patriot Veteran's Opportunity Program, phone 214-333-5337. The university website is www.dbu.edu.

$8 MILLION GIFT RECEIVED FOR MINISTRY GRAD STUDIES -- Anderson University has received an $8 million gift to support graduate study for ministers, resulting in the naming of its new graduate school the David T. Clamp Graduate School of Christian Ministry.

The graduate school, established in 2008 with Michael Duduit as its dean, will begin offering a master of ministry degree in August. Anderson University is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Duduit has taught at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Union University and is the founding editor of Preaching magazine, a role he will continue in addition to his academic post.

The $8 million estate gift, the largest in Anderson University's 98-year history, was announced during the May 2 commencement by the school's president, Evans Whitaker. The gift represents the estate of the late David T. Clamp, originally of Honea Path, S.C. In recent years he and his wife Jane resided in Waynesboro, Va., where they were members of First Baptist Church.

"David Clamp was one of the finest men I have ever known," Whitaker said. "He had a lifelong passion for Christian higher education and Anderson University in particular. His interest led him to commit to help Anderson successfully launch its graduate programs. He was particularly interested in providing avenues of study that prepare men and women for the ministry."

AU's vice president for advancement, Dean Woods, described Clamp as "a very humble and unassuming man who dedicated the better part of his life to saving and investing as a matter of stewardship. In recent years, he was especially proud of the way Anderson University had advanced and risen in the national rankings. He saw his gift as an investment that would pay dividends far beyond his lifetime."

During the May 2 commencement, Whitaker posthumously awarded Clamp an honorary doctor of humanities degree for his life of service, stewardship and support of Christian higher education. His wife also was awarded an honorary doctor of humanities degree.

The graduate school's 42-hour master of ministry program will be offered both on campus and online, focusing on the core competencies of pastoral ministry and leadership. More information on the program is located at www.auministry.com.

OBU'S MISSIONS HERITAGE LAUDED -- "&#91;A&#93; person or institution without a sense of history soon loses the way through a wilderness of change," Oklahoma Baptist University alum Don Kammerdiener said in delivering the annual J.M. Gaskin Lectures in Baptist History and Heritage.

OBU, the retired missions exec said, has not lost its heritage.

Kammerdiener cited an International Mission Board report that the Shawnee, Okla., campus has more alumni serving as IMB missionaries than any other college. In all, more than 800 alumni have been appointed by the board for international service.

"OBU is a small school in a low-population state, landlocked and far removed from many of the currents of international events," Kammerdiener said, attributing the university's missions heritage to its founding purpose, as stated in its charter documents, to carry out the Great Commission and its dedication to developing students' spiritual lives in an range of academic disciplines, from business and history to music and foreign languages.

"The missionary spirit on campus has been enriched by the presence of international students in the student body," Kammerdiener added in his two lectures March 23. "The presence of international students serves as a window to the world and to a more realistic understanding of the challenges of missionary service."

Kammerdiener noted OBU's population of missionary kids (MKs), who bring their world experience and understanding to Bison Hill, and missionaries-in-residence who share their experience through teaching and counseling. Other positive factors, he said, include numerous OBU mission trips, the adoption of a people group in southern Asia and the creation of OBU's International Graduate School.

"The missions environment at OBU took another significant step forward with the establishment of the Avery T. Willis Center for Global Outreach," Kammerdiener said. "&#91;T&#93;he attention given to any emphasis can ebb and flow according to current fads and the particular interests of administrators. The Global Outreach Center is a means of locking the fact that OBU believes in and participates in the carrying out of the Great Commission."

Kammerdiener and his wife Meredith graduated from OBU in 1958 and, after his graduation from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, they were appointed as Southern Baptist missionaries in 1962, subsequently serving in Costa Rica, Columbia and Argentina. For two decades, he was part of the leadership team of the International Mission Board, before moving into the executive vice president role for 11 years until his retirement in 2001.

Kammerdiener received the OBU Alumni Association's top honor, the Alumni Achievement Award, in 1987. He received an honorary doctorate from OBU in 1994. In 2005, OBU honored Kammerdiener with the opening of The Don R. Kammerdiener Center for Missiological Research, an online database with information about countries, people groups, religions, languages, bibliographies and practical knowledge related to missions.
--30--
Compiled by Baptist Press editor Art Toalston.


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FIRST-PERSON: The church's message for men
by Jason Cruise
Date: May 12, 2009 - Tuesday

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (BP)--This is a true story. It happened years ago on a Sunday morning, right during the middle of the church service for everyone to see. I couldn't believe my eyes, or my ears. I'm sitting on the third pew in total disbelief that I'm hearing a sermon which feels a lot more like something my old football coach would be saying instead of the a gentle, low dose of expectation that had become customary. I have to admit, it felt good.  

Why? Because it was a man-sermon. He was preaching to the men in the church that day. Better yet, he wasn't screaming at us for being lazy Christians. He was giving us great words on the truth that real men are called to be like those champions found in Scripture who had lived their lives as bold men who served a bold God. 

Then he dropped the bomb. Right as he was hitting his homiletical stride, right at the point where every good preacher knows that you've got the audience ready, even begging you, to tell them what to do, he did the unthinkable. In a baritone voice that would make Vince Lombardi proud, he said: 

"Men, you've got marching orders from Holy God. You have the opportunity to give you life's work to something that actually matters. You can serve a King and His Kingdom and make an eternal difference in this world. And you can do it right here in this church. The best place you can start is by serving our biggest need -- our nursery and pre-school ministry. You can love on those kids, change those diapers, and teach them all about Jesus. Men, we're here to serve! The church and the men in it are here to serve our God -- just like we are called to serve our wives. He calls the church His bride. We are all the bride of Christ. We all were called to wear that wedding dress of service, serving Him until He comes again." 

I could not believe my ears, or my eyes. He kept on preaching for the next 15 minutes, but I never heard another word. My thoughts stopped. My spirit deflated. I was speechless. As if it weren't hard enough to try and delete from the hard drive of my mind the image of being forced to wear a wedding dress, I had also just been told by a preacher that my opportunity for serving God was all but bound to the nursery. The implication was that if I did not accept the call, I was spiritually out of touch with the God that made me. 

I am not saying that this pastor was wrong for wanting men to serve kids. He was not wrong in that at all. Where he got it wrong was that his definition of what it means to serve God was out of step with the male psyche. Where he got it really wrong was using a wedding dress metaphor to describe how I should be relating to God. I am in no way stating that serving kids is a lesser calling. It most certainly is not. Serving kids is a great calling, but it's not for every man. What I am saying is that, like it or not, many men simply do not get amped up from that sort of ministry option. I should know, for I speak to thousands of men a year, and this is at the heart of their struggle, not with God, but with "church" and how so often the church narrowly defines what is and what is not "ministry."  

Evangelicals today have media capabilities that would boggle the mind of the first century church. We spend millions every year on our message. Jesus spoke a simple sentence, "Come follow Me ..." and rough necks like Peter gave up a career path for the Kingdom call. Yet, with all of our current media savvy, churches everywhere are struggling to reach men. It's no secret that Jesus' very own congregations can't seem to find a message that attracts men. 

As I've worked with congregations seeking to construct men's ministries, I've discovered that churches often end up creating what I've come to call the "marginal man." The average guy in the pew has a thought process in which he realizes that he's not called to preach. Furthermore, he realizes that he's not necessarily a good Bible teacher, and they won't let him sing in the choir. He's been on a few committees, but that wasn't enough. Left with those options, he starts to see ministry, by the way the church defines it, as a forgone conclusion. Does this fit the mentality of all churches? No. Yet my experience has found that it's far more the mindset that rules the day rather than the exception. 

Given these options, the marginal man quietly sits on the boundaries of church life. It's not that he doesn't love God, it's that he's bored. He feels left out because he does not necessarily embrace the tight mold of what congregations are, and are not, willing to give the title of "ministry position." 

Consider Jeremy Harrill, another true story. Harrill is a wildlife officer in North Carolina, and a hard working man of God at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Cleveland, N.C. Knowing that many men in his congregation loved to hunt and fish, Harrill started a Bible study specifically for outdoorsmen. The content, the stories, the brotherhood, all centered around that niche of men who would willingly skip church during hunting season. 

Harrill's small group study was well received, and it wasn't long until he had another wild idea. He knew that many of these men were barely connected to church life, but if he could find just the right opportunity, he believed that God could push these men to go on a mission trip. So, Harrill took his outdoorsmen to Alaska with the mission of sharing the Gospel via a DVD produced through the Alaska Baptist Convention called "Life:Alaska." Harrill led his men to share the Gospel, using the DVD concept, with fisherman lining the banks during the summer Salmon runs. The rest is history ... still in the making. Jeremy Harrill understands that if you form a ministry around a man's passion, you don't have to motivate him. All you have to do is give him permission to serve God through his personality, not in spite of it. 

Churches today could reach men in droves if they would start with where men are at, instead of where they want them to be. Marginal men are not necessarily content to be marginal. Whether it's through golf, disaster relief, motor cycles, home repair, coaching, business networking, or hunting and fishing, marginal men will turn into hardcore Jesus followers if you can teach them how to turn their passion into a ministry with a Kingdom agenda. Shout the message that your church embraces testosterone, and your message will not only be heard, it will be received by men.
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Jason Cruise is the founder of Outdoor Ministry Network. Visit his websites at www.outdoorministrynetwork.com and www.bethemanministries.com.



