The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-05/28/2014 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 'A Christ-Centered Wedding' counters culture's pressures by Erin Roach Date: May 28, 2014 - Wednesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- Amid strong influences from the modern wedding industry, evangelicals now have a practical guide for honoring God and pointing others to Him through one of the most important events of their lives. "A Christ-Centered Wedding: Rejoicing in the Gospel on Your Big Day" by Catherine Strode Parks and her mother Linda Strode, published by B&H Publishing Group, reminds couples what God originally intended for the sacred marriage ceremony. "One of our main goals is to free couples from the culture-driven idea that you need to re-imagine your wedding, and your marriage, in order to make it 'unique,'" Parks said. "There is a beautiful freedom in seeing that weddings are nothing new. The Bible begins and ends with a wedding." God set forth His plan for marriage in Scripture, Parks said, and weddings can reflect what He designed marriage to reflect -- the beauty of Christ's love for His bride, the church. "There is joy in making that our goal rather than succumbing to many of the pressures that come with planning a wedding," she said. Parks and Strode recognize there are two occasions in most lives that give believers an opportunity to publicly share the Gospel with their friends and family: weddings and funerals. And only one happens while the believer is there to participate. Weddings of professing Christians, however, often look like those of the world. "Unfortunately, we have bought into the world's ideas about marriage and weddings, and much of the time we do not realize there is a better way to go about it," Parks and Strode write. "Weddings, like marriage, were God's idea -- remember the first wedding took place in the Garden of Eden. So why is He absent from our ceremonies, except for a token prayer or Scripture reading?" The Bible is filled with wedding and marriage metaphors, the authors note, including repeated references to Israel as His bride and His betrothed. The ultimate comparison is found in Revelation, which pictures Christ returning for the church, His bride. Parks and Strode remind couples that until Christ returns, the perfect wedding is elusive. No amount of spending will ensure the fairytale most brides seek, and placing the focus on the one in white ultimately will disappoint. "Ask your officiate to bring it back to the gospel," the authors write. "And know this is not just for those unsaved family members and friends in the audience. This gospel proclamation is for you. We need to reflect on the power of God's gospel work and His grace every day of our lives -- particularly as we are making the most serious human commitment possible." A Christ-Centered Wedding guides couples through more than just how to plan a Christ-honoring ceremony. It starts with the engagement and -- through anecdotes from Parks' experiences and testimonies from other couples -- offers practical advice on decisions from registries to the rehearsal dinner. The authors even make sense of the countless decisions a couple faces when planning a wedding, from the flowers for the ceremony to the food served at the reception. Though some of the decisions can seem mundane when the overall goal is presenting the Gospel, the authors say the details are a means to an end -- and accomplishing the means can be an act of worship. Though the authors respect wedding traditions, Strode counsels that if she were able to go back in time, one thing she would do differently in planning her daughter's wedding is make not only the wedding day but the whole planning process more about the Gospel and less about tradition. By valuing the Bible more than bridal magazines, believers can use their special day as an occasion for more than an elegant party and warm memories. "We are made to worship the Creator, not His creations," Parks and Strode write. "And so our desire must be for our Creator to receive the glory in our weddings as we present the Gospel for all to see." --30— Erin Roach is a writer in Nashville, Tenn. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp). -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mission: Dignity graces retirees' 'love story' by Roy Hayhurst Date: May 28, 2014 - Wednesday DALLAS (BP) -- Twenty-five dollars each month. That's what Bobby Walker received when he went to his first pastorate. "He never made a decision for a pastorate on salary," Tommie Walker said of her late husband. "He said, 'If God guides, He will provide.' So we went on that." The Walkers' testimony is not uncommon. A deep love for each other and a commitment to the calling from God characterized their marriage. "We never did have much of a salary, but God blessed us in so many ways; we had each other," Walker said. "I still miss him so badly." Tommie Walker's story is told in new Mission:Dignity videos available free to churches. The videos also include the stories of Raymond and Odessa Crow, a retired pastor and his wife, and Virginia Pangle, another pastor's widow. Mission:Dignity -- an initiative of GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention -- provides financial assistance to about 2,000 retired pastors, ministry workers and their widows who are struggling to make ends meet. These men and women faithfully served God's people in small, mostly rural churches and now find it difficult to meet their own basic needs. "Our videos help tell the story of Mission:Dignity," said John Ambra, director of development for GuideStone Financial Resources. "Under the theme of 'every love story deserves a happy ending,' we are showing these stories of the enduring love and devotion of these retired pastors and their widows, and showing how Southern Baptists have helped to provide a true happy ending -- that they may live out their later years with a sense of financial dignity." Raymond Crow served nine churches during his 34 years of ministry. He and Odessa have been married 72 years. "Mission:Dignity has been a life-saver," Raymond Crow said. "She and I are both on medicines and that gets to be very expensive. We've been able to make ends meet because Mission:Dignity has been here to help us. "It's hard because my nature is to give, but Mission:Dignity is the thing that builds faith: faith in the Lord and faith in fellow man." Mission:Dignity Sunday is June 22. Churches, Sunday School classes and mission groups can participate in this special day. Free bulletin inserts and these videos (available in three-, two- and one-minute versions) are available by request. Call 1-888-98-GUIDE (1-888-984-8433) or visit www.MissionDignitySBC.org. The materials are undated so they may be used when convenient for churches. --30-- Roy Hayhurst is department head of denominational and public relations services for GuideStone Financial Resources. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp). -------------------------------------------------------------------- Water gives relief to fire-ravaged Chileans by Lily Jameson Date: May 28, 2014 - Wednesday VALPARAISO, Chile (BP) -- Sections of Valparaiso, Chile, looked like a war zone after a forest fire destroyed nearly 2,500 houses on April 12. The fire also killed 15 people and displaced at least 12,000, according to Chilean news reports. "There was total devastation, and we saw people who had lost absolutely everything," said Karen Wright, a Southern Baptist missionary who is working with Baptist Global Response in the relief effort. "And for the first couple of weeks, people didn't talk very much." Wright said BGR partners requested relief funds after the disaster so they could help distribute food and other aid in some of the 42 affected hillside neighborhoods of Chile's chief seaport. But they discovered other organizations were addressing those needs and the government was distributing emergency housing. So, instead, they have assessed the situation and are using relief funds from Southern Baptists to help with water access. "We decided that the best thing we could offer them would be to help them rebuild towers and to provide a water tank," Wright said. Before the fire, residents had built their own makeshift water tanks and towers and the city has sent water trucks to periodically fill the receptacles. However, many of these tanks have burned. BGR's relief effort is installing new tanks and towers for more than 100 Valparaiso families. Wright said when one resident heard she would receive a tank and tower, she cried and praised God. The community encompasses a large number of low-income families, Wright said, noting that drugs are a problem. Wright and her team, however, have built relationships with local officials in the midst of the disaster. The president of the neighborhood association even cried each time a local pastor prayed for her. "I just pray God continues to soften hearts here," Wright said. Wright asked for prayer that these relationships will strengthen and the Valparaiso community will heal quickly and for prayer for the BGR team. Each of the BGR partners has been dealing with family issues while simultaneously helping with relief efforts, and they need God to give them endurance. Prayer also is requested for volunteers. The BGR team in Chile needs more help installing tanks and towers, Wright said. Those interested in donating their time to this cause can contact her at kswright653@hotmail.com. --30-- Lily Jameson writes for Baptist Global Response, on the Web at www.gobgr.org. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Sudanese woman jailed for her faith by Staff Date: May 28, 2014 - Wednesday JUBA, South Sudan (BP) -- A 27-year-old Christian mother on death row for alleged apostasy has given birth to a daughter while another Christian woman is jailed in Sudan on a similar charge, Morning Star News reported. Meriam Yahia Ibrahim gave birth early Tuesday morning (May 27) to daughter Maya in the Health Center Clinic of Omdurman Federal Prison for Women, according to her husband Daniel Wani, a South Sudanese-born U.S. citizen with ties to New Hampshire. Ibrahim is in prison awaiting a sentence of 100 lashes and death by hanging for marrying a Christian and denying the Muslim faith. Born to a Muslim father and Ethiopian Orthodox mother, Ibrahim contends she was raised Christian after her Muslim father deserted the family when she was 6. Ibrahim also is caring for her 20-month-old son in prison and is expected to be allowed to nurse her daughter until age 2 before the death sentence is carried out, according to news reports. Her husband has not been allowed to see his newborn daughter. In a similar case, Sudanese immigration/citizenship police arrested Faiza Abdalla, 37, as she tried to obtain her national identification number April 2 at an official building in El Gadarif on Sudan's eastern border, Morning Star News reported May 27. Abdalla, whose parents converted to evangelical Christianity before her birth and raised her in the same faith, was arrested because she has a Muslim name and professed Christianity. Her Catholic husband fled Sudan two years ago because of persecution, Morning Star News reported. As in the case of Ibrahim, Sudanese officials terminated Abdalla's marriage and accused her of apostasy when she refused to deny Christianity. Ibrahim's case has been widely reported and condemned by a broad spectrum of Christians and human rights activists. Russell D. Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, has written a letter urging Secretary of State John Kerry to denounce Ibrahim's sentence as "cruel and inhumane, to demand her release, and to use the diplomatic influence of the State Department to advocate for this most fundamental human right, the freedom of religion and belief." In the U.S. House of Representatives, 21 Republicans and one Democrat have signed a letter urging Kerry to "condemn the ruling handed down by Sudan's court and call upon the Sudanese government to respect human rights and free Mariam Yahya Ibrahim [sic] and her young son immediately," according to news reports. Senators Roy Blunt, R.-Mo., and Kelly Ayotte, R.-N.H., have signed a similar letter and also asked Kerry and President Obama to reappoint an ambassador at large for international religious freedom to monitor, prevent and respond to such injustices. The United Nations human rights office also has voiced concern over Ibrahim's sentence, and online petitions calling for her freedom have gained momentum, including one by Amnesty International signed by more than 660,000 people. The World Council of Churches has urged Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir to drop Ibrahim's sentence. Christian Solidarity Worldwide's chief executive, Mervyn Thomas, said May 27 that the charges against Ibrahim violate religious rights guaranteed under Sudan's interim constitution as well as covenants that Sudan has signed. "We are pleased to hear that Mrs. Ibrahim and her baby are reportedly in good health; however, we urge the authorities to ensure that Mrs. Ibrahim's husband and lawyers are granted access to see them, and that they are guaranteed medical attention," Thomas said in a statement on CSW's website. "CSW continues to call upon the Sudanese authorities to annul the inhumane and unwarranted sentence given to Meriam Ibrahim, and to release her and her young children immediately." Ibrahim was sentenced May 15 for leaving Islam, a religion she never practiced, after someone claiming to be her relative reported her to authorities in 2013. Witnesses in Ibrahim's defense were not allowed to testify. The court ruled that Ibrahim was born to Muslim parents, has the Muslim name of Abrar Elhadi Muhammad Abdallah Abugadeen and is guilty of adultery because of her marriage to a Christian. Ibrahim has identified herself as a medical doctor and University of Khartoum graduate, but the court ruled it had no proof of such an education. Instead, the court said Ibrahim is a lab technician who graduated from Sudan University for Science and Technology. --30-- Compiled by Diana Chandler, general assignment writer/ editor for Baptist Press, the Southern Baptist Convention's news service. BP reports on missions, ministry and witness advanced through the Cooperative Program and on news related to Southern Baptists' concerns nationally and globally. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp). -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: Gosnell's grisly anniversary by Penna Dexter Date: May 28, 2014 - Wednesday DALLAS (BP) -- At the one-year anniversary of the murder conviction of late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell in mid-May, several pro-life organizations used the moment to press forward in behalf of defenseless infants. Dr. Gosnell was found guilty of killing babies that were still alive after botched abortions and was convicted of 21 felony counts of illegal late-term abortion. He is serving three life sentences in state prison. Some of his former employees also are doing time. Grisly as this episode was -- and as much as we'd like not to think about it -- pro-lifers are doing their best not to let it slip from American consciousness. The Gosnell case helped paint a picture worth a thousand words for protecting women. The filthy and otherwise disgusting conditions in his Philadelphia clinic have helped push forward laws in several states requiring abortion facilities to meet certain safety standards and mandating that abortionists have admitting privileges at local hospitals. The atrocities uncovered at that horrible clinic also tell another story: As Arina Grossu, director of the Center for Human Dignity at the Family Research Council, succinctly noted at a news conference on the one-year anniversary of Gosnell's conviction, "The babies that Gosnell brutally killed felt pain." Grossu was referring not just to the little ones who didn't die when they were supposed to in a botched abortion, but also the ones who did die -- while still in the womb. Sen. Lindsay Graham has introduced the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The bill prohibits the abortion of unborn babies after 20 weeks gestation, or five months, due to the excruciating pain they feel as the procedure takes lives. Mothers considering abortion need to be informed, and strongly reminded of that fact, as they are making their "choice." The House passed a similar measure a year ago and several states have enacted their own laws that cut off abortions at five months. The Senate bill has 40 co-sponsors, but Majority Leader Harry Reid has refused to allow the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to come to the floor for a vote. He's protecting pro-choice senators from having to explain their position on this in an election year. He's right to worry. According to an NBC poll, one in five people who say they favor abortion rights favor these "pain capable" laws. While a growing body of research tells us that unborn babies feel pain at 20 weeks, if not earlier, medical textbooks and professional anesthesiologists generally agree that anesthesia and analgesia are warranted for fetal surgical procedures. America is one of several countries that permit abortion on demand after 20 weeks gestation. Joining us in this category are China and North Korea, not exactly known as champions of human rights. This is inexcusable. We have the science to ban these late-term abortions. --30-- Penna Dexter is a regular panelist and frequent guest host of Point of View, a nationally syndicated issues-oriented talk radio program. Her weekly radio commentaries air on the Moody Broadcasting Network and Bott Radio Network. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd VIEW: Church reaches out to South Sudanese fleeing violence by JoAnn Bradberry Date: May 28, 2014 - Wednesday EDITOR'S NOTE: 2nd VIEW is a key Baptist Press story that has been posted within the past several days. For a listing of additional key stories in Baptist Press in recent days, always take a look at the daily RECENT NEWS listing. Originally posted May 27, 2014. NIMULE, South Sudan (BP) -- As a third of South Sudan's population faces starvation, International Mission Board personnel and Baptist Global Response are partnering with a local church to care for those fleeing ethnic violence. Nearly four million people may starve to death as a result of the country's now five-month-old civil war, the United Nations reports. On the first day of 2014, Mary Loso was cooking dinner for her children when the trucks arrived carrying those trying to escape the ongoing fighting. One by one -- a total of seven trucks, 150 people -- they pulled into the Faith Baptist Church compound where the women's leader lives with her husband and 11 children. Loso panicked. "I was afraid at first," Loso said. "I was afraid there wasn't enough food." But they were her people, and she couldn't turn them away. They were among the hundreds of thousands fleeing their homes in South Sudan because of the violence that began when ethnic fighting broke out in the capital city of Juba. Nimule is a border town -- a natural stopping point for refugees on their way out of South Sudan, fleeing to Uganda. As the town flooded with those fleeing, word began to spread about Loso's hospitality. That first day, Loso gathered the displaced people together with her family, and called the church elders. Church members soon arrived at the compound to pray. Three times a day, they stopped their work to pray together. They prayed for peace in the country, for their lost husbands and brothers, for enough food for the day. The church took up an offering to buy some food. Eventually, some of the families moved onto the church compound, into an open-air sanctuary and into the homes of the pastors. "All-in-all, God stood strong," Loso said. On the church compound there is a small office, the size of a pantry or a walk-in closet. Thin foam mattresses are stacked against a wall. Five pastors have been living in the office together. The pastors gave up their own homes on the church compound for the displaced families. "We took their burdens to be ours -- we are crying with them," pastor Tolbert Alochi said. "These people, they looked desperate," he said. "No food, no water. Things were very hard." In the first days of the crisis, Alochi called the elders of the church together, and they decided to welcome those in need. "We told them that if anybody feels that he wants to stay, we can stay with them here. Most of them are not ready to go [across the border to Uganda]. They have lost husbands, they have lost children, and they are waiting for them here." A team of IMB missionaries assessing the situation in South Sudan was moved by the ministry of Faith Baptist Church and called on BGR to help. Through BGR funding, missionaries helped Faith Baptist complete housing for the displaced families. "This is an instance of a church wanting to reach out to an IDP [internally displaced persons] crisis situation and help the community around them," Mark Hatfield, BGR area director for sub-Saharan Africa, said. "We are thankful to be able to encourage the church to follow their biblical mandate of being a church and in being significant in their community for the Kingdom of God." Despite the fragile ceasefire signed earlier this month, many are afraid to return home. With the help of BGR, more than 10 families have been able to remain under the care of the church, while the church continues reaching out to those who are fleeing the violence. "We are encouraging them and comforting them with the Word of God," pastor Alochi said. "They never believed they would make it up to this far." On a much larger scale, BGR is working to drill four boreholes in refugee camps, as well as provide jerry cans, metal containers typically used for transporting and storing water, for 12,000 families living in the camps. To learn more about how you can help, go to gobgr.org/projects/project_detail/south-sudan-crisis. Pray: -- Pray for Faith Baptist Church as they continue showing the love of Christ to IDPs in their midst. -- Pray for IMB missionaries and national pastors working together in the refugee camps for South Sudanese. --30-- JoAnn Bradberry is an IMB writer and photographer based in Nairobi. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp). -------------------------------------------------------------------- Baptism, worship declines prompt Southern Baptist leaders' prayers for 'renewed passion' by Carol Pipes Date: May 28, 2014 - Wednesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- Southern Baptists experienced growth in the number of churches affiliated with the convention in 2013, while other key measures declined, according to the Annual Church Profile (ACP) compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions. The number of churches in the Southern Baptist Convention grew by 91 to 46,125, a 0.2 percent increase over 2012. SBC churches also reported 4,789 church-type missions last year, a decline of 203 from 2012. However, some state conventions no longer use the designation of church-type mission, which may have impacted the total. While the number of SBC churches increased, reported membership of those churches declined by 136,764, down 0.9 percent to 15.7 million members. Primary worship attendance declined 2.21 percent to an average of 5.8 million Sunday worshippers. For the second year in a row, Southern Baptists experienced a decline in baptisms, down 1.46 percent to 310,368. Reported baptisms have declined seven of the last nine years. However, the decline in 2013 is not as sharp as the previous year's decline. In 2012 baptisms declined 5.5 percent. "I am grieved we are clearly losing our evangelistic effectiveness," said Thom S. Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources. "I continue to pray for revival and a renewed passion for the Great Commission in our churches. May God renew all of us, including me, with a greater heart for the lost." Commenting on the annual summary, Frank S. Page, president of the SBC Executive Committee, cited Old Testament prophet Amos: "Woe to you who are at ease in Zion" (Amos 6:1). "That warning in the book of Amos is a clear call to the people of God who have lowered their guard, relaxed their vigilance and reduced their commitment and passion for the things of God," Page said. "That very same thing can be said of our modern-day churches as we yet again see a disappointing decline in our ability to reach our continent for Christ." Page said he is thankful for an increase in the number of churches, but lamented a "lack of passion for reaching people for Christ. The numbers of people in our continent are increasing dramatically while our evangelistic efforts are failing in many places and in many ways. "God help us realize the great needs that are before us and the great opportunities that are there. Lord, forgive us of being at ease in Zion," Page said. Giving and mission expenditures Total and undesignated church receipts reported through the ACP decreased 2.7 percent and 1.4 percent respectively. Total mission expenditures reported by churches also declined by 1.5 percent in 2013. However, reported Great Commission Giving increased 4.5 percent from $744 million in 2012 to $777 million in 2013. This is only the third year churches have been asked to report Great Commission Giving as a reflection of each church's financial gifts to local, state and national SBC missions causes. Giving through Southern Baptists' Cooperative Program (CP) mission initiative is not included in the ACP annual report because those totals are more accurately available through Baptist state conventions and the SBC Executive Committee, which processes the mission gifts. CP gifts forwarded from state conventions for SBC causes in fiscal year 2012-13 were 1.92 percent below the previous year. CP gifts received by the SBC Executive Committee for the first seven months of the 2013-14 year were reported to be 0.58 percent behind the same period the year before. While several categories of the ACP reflected a decline in 2013, totals for various categories were affected by the fact that not all state conventions asked churches for the information in a way that would allow proper year-to-year comparison. Statistics for the national ACP are reported by individual churches to their local association and/or state convention. National totals are compiled and released after all cooperating state conventions have reported. --30-- Carol Pipes is a writer for LifeWay Christian Resources. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).