
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-06/29/2012

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CULTURE DIGEST: Petition seeks to sell 'Cosmo' magazine only to adults
by Staff
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- The granddaughter of Hearst Corporation founder William Randolph Hearst has joined a petition asking the Federal Trade Commission to stipulate that Cosmopolitan magazine be sold to adults only.

Victoria Hearst contacted the Hearst Corporation, Cosmopolitan's publisher, to express her opinion -- backed by two psychologists -- that the magazine's content is pornographic and harmful to girls. Despite her name, Hearst did not receive a reply from the corporation.

Recently, Hearst added her support to a petition initiated by former model Nicole Weider of Project Inspired in Woodland Hills, Calif., who, in a June 27 news release, listed the graphic topics featured just in the current issue of the magazine. 

The petition, which has more than 33,000 signatures, says Cosmopolitan is the best-selling women's magazine, making it easily available to boys and girls of any age. Furthermore, the magazine aggressively targets girls with material that is inappropriate for their development, Weider said.

"Join me in my fight to get Cosmopolitan sold in a nontransparent plastic bag where it's made available to adults 18 and older, and our youth won't be subjected to this vulgar material," Weider wrote. "Let me reiterate my goal: That no one under 18 sees the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine on newsstands or at their grocery stores and that no one under 18 can legally buy Cosmopolitan magazine."

John Leibowitz, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, told Weider his office will investigate the issue only when they believe it is a threat to society. "This means they need more complaints -- that is, signers of this petition," Weider said.

"We're not asking Cosmopolitan to change their content," Weider said. "We simply want them to take responsibility for it. 

"They say it's for adults, so let them sell it only to adults. This is what we are in communication with the FTC about. If they are going to print sexually explicit articles and images, it should not be marketed and sold to kids. It's that simple," Weider said.

To sign the petition, visit anticosmomission.com but be warned that a link from that site to the petition includes a photo of a Cosmopolitan cover.

WOMEN COVERING UP TO COOL OFF -- The swimsuits are marketed under such names as HydroChic, Wholesome Wear, Simply Modest and Divine Modestee -- pool and beach attire that typically covers from the knees to the neck, with variations in between.

What the suits have in common is a market of Christians, Jews and Muslim women who want to cover their torsos, thighs and chest while enjoying a dip in the pool. But wait, according to news reports, the suits also are enjoying popularity among women not driven by religion.

Chantelle Thomson, owner of Divine Modestee marketed to Mormon women, told The Huffington Post that an estimated 30 percent of her business this year is driven by women who "aren't affiliated with a religion. A world that embraces fashion is now embracing modesty without even knowing it." Thomson predicts her company's business this year will rise 50 percent, having sold nearly 75,000 suits the first three weeks of June.

Also popular are retro styles reminiscent of the 1950s, including one-piece styles and high-waisted bottoms, sold by such fashion giants as Marc Jacobs, Norma Kamali, Michael Kors, Missoni, Urban Outfitters and Spanx.

Former plus-size model Tulin Reid told The Post, "My faith is not an influence on my swimsuit choice. I paddleboard and do water aerobics. It allows me to be athletic and active without worrying" about keeping everything covered.

But not every woman is choosing to cover up. In the preliminary Miss Utah pageant events in late June, contestants given the choice of one- or two-piece attire in the swimsuit competition overwhelmingly chose to bare their midriffs. Pageant organizers said no woman has won the Miss America contest in a one-piece swimsuit in a long time.

IBISWorld market research indicates two-piece styles will account for 68 percent of the $2.6 billion in U.S. swimsuit sales this year.

N.C. LEGISLATURE OPTS NOT TO PAY EUGENICS VICTIMS -- The North Carolina legislature has turned back an effort to pay $50,000 apiece to people who were sterilized under the state's eugenics program.

Lawmakers passed a $20.2 billion budget June 21 without the proposed compensation for victims who are still living, Reuters News Service reported. Had the payments been enacted, North Carolina would have become the first state to compensate such victims.

More than 30 states had compulsory sterilization laws in the 20th century, and it is estimated that more than 60,000 Americans were sterilized under those programs. Those who were sterilized included people who were mentally impaired, poor, non-white and criminals.

A task force established by Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue recommended in January a $50,000 payment apiece to surviving victims of decisions by the North Carolina Eugenics Board, which endorsed the sterilization of about 7,600 people from 1929 to 1974. The state estimates there are as many as 1,800 sterilization victims still living, but only 146 have come forward and been confirmed, according to Reuters.

The House of Representatives, which is controlled by Republicans, and Perdue supported the payments, but GOP senators declined to back them during budget negotiations, Reuters reported. "We all agree with the fact that an apology is certainly appropriate," Republican Sen. Chris Carney said, according to the news service. "But I don't think that makes us any more sorry because we attach a dollar figure to it."

Perdue can veto the budget bill within 10 days after its passage.

Charmaine Fuller Cooper, executive director of the state-supported N.C. Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation, said many of the living victims "are angry, many of them are just distraught and devastated. Everyone had gotten their hopes up."

"It was never about money. It was about restoring dignity to people who had that dignity stripped away at a very young age," she said, according to Reuters.

INDIAN DOCTORS ARRESTED FOR SEX-SELECTION ABORTIONS -- A husband-and-wife abortionist team in India has surrendered to police and reportedly admitted to operating an illegal sex-selection operation.

The doctors -- Sudam Munde and his wife Saraswati -- are believed to have told authorities they performed about 4,000 sex-selection abortions after tests in their clinic showed the unborn children were girls, India Today reported June 22. Their clinic is in Parli, a city of about 90,000 in the state of Maharashtra.

The couple actually has performed about 7,000 illegal sex-selection abortions in a year, opponents of the practice said, however. 

"Our scrutiny on them has revealed that they conduct, on an average, 20 abortions a day, which comes to 7,200 abortions in one year," said Varsha Deshpande, head of an organization that works against sex-selection abortions, India Today reported. "The Mundes are known to be in collusion with a lot of doctors from remote districts in Maharashtra as well as Andra Pradesh &#91;a neighboring state&#93;, from where people come to them to get their ultrasound examinations done."

Police also arrested Rahul Kolhe, a doctor in Jalgaon, for performing sex-determination exams in cooperation with the Mundes, according to the report.

Authorities charged the Mundes in May with negligence in the death of 28-year-old Wijaymala Patekar, who died during the abortion of what would have been her fifth daughter, according to the Press Trust of India.

Sex-selection abortion is a major problem in such Asian countries as China and India, where male children often are valued more than females.

HOUSE COMMITTEE VOTES TO PREVENT ABORTION FUNDING -- A U.S. House of Representatives committee has acted to protect taxpayers from funding abortions.

The Appropriations Committee voted June 20 in favor of an amendment that extends a current ban on coverage of abortions to the multi-state health insurance programs established under the 2010 health care reform law commonly referred to as "Obamacare." The panel also rejected an amendment to liberalize the prohibition on government funding of abortions in the District of Columbia.

The committee voted 28-20 for an amendment by Rep. Alan Nunnelee, R-Miss., that applies the existing ban on abortion coverage by the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program to the new multi-state programs. The panel attached the amendment to the Financial Services and General Government spending bill, which was approved by the committee.

"This committee has had a long history of bipartisan agreement of recognizing that taxpayers should not be asked to pay for elective abortions, nor should the taxpayers be paying for health plans that are administering elective abortions," Nunnelee said.

The panel voted 26-21 against a proposal by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., that would have applied a ban on funding abortions in D.C. only to federal money, according to LifeSiteNews.com. Pro-life advocates have pointed out such language is meaningless in its effect, because federal and local funds are combined for the district. As a result, the D.C. government can specify as local the money used to underwrite abortions.

KAN. REVOKES LICENSE OF TILLER ABORTION ASSOCIATE -- The state of Kansas stripped the license from an associate of the late abortion doctor George Tiller for failing to conduct sufficient mental health exams.

The State Board of Healing Arts revoked the license of Ann Kristin Neuhaus June 22. The board affirmed a February ruling by an administrative judge that Neuhaus "seriously jeopardized" the care of patients, according to The Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal. The case focused on her mental health exams of 11 patients aged 10 to 18 in 2003. Neuhaus advised the girls to have late-term abortions because of serious mental health issues, but the judge ruled her records did not demonstrate she had performed adequate exams.

State law requires abortion doctors to have a second opinion from an independent source before performing a late-term abortion. Neuhaus and Tiller, however, had a financial link, according to LifeNews.com.

Tiller was probably the country's most famous abortion doctor before he was murdered by an anti-abortion extremist in 2009. His Wichita clinic was a major reason Kansas was described as "the late-term abortion capital of America." 

It advertised on its website it had "more experience in late abortion services over 24 weeks than anyone else currently practicing in the Western Hemisphere, Europe and Australia." Women travel to his clinic from throughout the United States and various foreign countries in order to have late-term abortions.
--30--
Compiled by Tom Strode, Erin Roach and Diana Chandler of Baptist Press. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).

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EDITORIAL: Las misiones y la diversidad
by Octavio J. Esqueda
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

LA MIRADA, Calif. (BP) -- La Convención Bautista del Sur, es la denominación cristiana más grande de los Estados Unidos y quizá del mundo entero. Dios ha bendecido a este grupo de creyentes y les ha permitido ser un agente esencial en la misiones nacionales e internacionales. El celo evangelístico que tradicionalmente ha caracterizado a los bautistas ha sido usado por el Señor de maneras increíbles para que miles de personas en todo el mundo conozcan las buenas noticias de la salvación por la gracia de Dios a través del sacrificio de nuestro Señor Jesucristo. 

El programa cooperativo de los Bautistas del Sur se ha convertido en el medio más eficaz para que las iglesias puedan unirse en el servicio al Señor y en la proclamación del evangelio. Cada iglesia o congregación de creyentes es independiente, pero voluntariamente colabora con otras iglesias bautistas para que unidas puedan hacer mucho más. Un gran porcentaje de las ofrendas de las iglesias se une y se destina a la obra misionera. De esta manera, miles de misioneros bautistas pueden concentrarse totalmente en el servicio a Dios sin tener que preocuparse por conseguir dinero para su sustento. 

Desde sus inicios, los Bautistas del Sur han hecho de las misiones su mayor fortaleza. Por ejemplo, en el siglo XIX la misionera norteamericana más importante y de gran influencia fue sin lugar a dudas Charlotte (Lottie) Moon. Lottie Moon (1840-1912) se convirtió en 1872 en una de las primeras mujeres misioneras de los Bautistas del Sur cuando inició su ministerio en China en donde sirvió por cuarenta años. A través de muchas cartas y artículos Lottie Moon influenció a los bautistas para que redoblarán sus esfuerzos para obedecer la Gran Comisión que Jesús le dejó a sus seguidores en Mateo 28. Lottie Moon falleció el 24 de diciembre de 1912 cuando su barco estaba anclado en Japón ya que intentaba regresar a los Estados Unidos debido a sus enfermedades crónicas. Desde 1888 los Bautistas del Sur tienen una ofrenda especial para las misiones mundiales que ahora lleva el nombre de Lottie Moon y que ha pasado de tres mil dólares en su primer año a 146.8 millones de dólares en el año 2011. 

A pesar de su éxito misionero, la mayor debilidad de los Bautistas del Sur ha sido su racismo histórico. El origen tormentoso de esta denominación se debe a su deseo de afirmar la esclavitud de los afroamericanos y su rechazo a concederles libertad. Este sentimiento ignominioso y claramente contrario a las enseñanzas de Cristo, hizo que en 1845 los bautistas del sur de los Estados Unidos formaran su propia denominación y se desligaran de los bautistas del norte que estaban en contra de la esclavitud. En los últimos años los Bautistas del Sur se han arrepentido de sus acciones en el pasado y han afirmado la igualdad de todos los seres humanos sin importar su color de piel. Sin embargo, no fue sino hasta este año que los Bautistas del Sur han dado un paso gigantesco hacia delante al elegir a su primer presidente afroamericano en su historia.

La reciente elección de Fred Luther, pastor de Franklin Avenue Baptist Church en la ciudad de Nueva Orleans, como presidente de la convención es quizá uno de los acontecimientos más significativos en la historia de los Bautistas del Sur. Por primera vez una persona no "blanca" representa a esta denominación. La elección unánime del pastor Luther es un destello esperanzador para los que deseamos que los Bautistas del Sur seamos fieles representantes del cuerpo de Cristo en este mundo. 

Los afroamericanos han sufrido mucha segregación a lo largo de su historia. A pesar de que la esclavitud se abolió hace muchos años, la discriminación y desigualdad aún forman parte de la cotidianidad para muchos de ellos y para muchos otros grupos minoritarios en este país. Por lo tanto, para los creyentes afroamericanos la justicia social se ha convertido en unos de sus valores principales. Muchos de ellos enfatizan correctamente que el mensaje de Cristo debe ser integral y, por lo tanto, que su luz debe reflejarse en todos los sectores de la sociedad. La fe en Cristo no es solamente algo "privado" que transforma "individuos" sino una fe "pública" que transforma "sociedades." ¡Los creyentes bautistas tenemos mucho que aprender de nuestros hermanos afroamericanos!

Es mi deseo que los Bautistas del Sur así como eligieron a Fred Luther como su presidente, también "elijan" las prioridades y pasiones de los creyentes afroamericanos. En el cuerpo de Cristo hay unidad en la diversidad y es importante que todas las voces sean escuchadas para que juntos podamos verdaderamente reflejar al Cristo que nos une. 
--30--
Octavio Javier Esqueda es profesor en los programas doctorales en educación en Talbot School of Theology de la Universidad Biola en La Mirada, California. Es miembro de la iglesia bautista Green Hills en La Habra, California y ha tenido la oportunidad de enseñar en diferentes países, instituciones y niveles académicos.

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'Suits for Servants' founder Tatum passes away
by Joni B. Hannigan/Florida Baptist Witness
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP) -- Radiant in an ivory dress suit, a smiling Bernice Tatum told mourners she met Jim Tatum nearly 63 years ago on a rainy July evening when he sought shelter from Florida's rain.

It was the first time he ever set foot in a church, she said. What followed was a dedicated life of service to God and to the church, his wife told hundreds at a memorial service at First Baptist Church in Jacksonville.

Jim Tatum, a longtime Sunday School teacher at First Baptist, a leader in state denominational life and the father of four adopted children, died May 26. He was 85.

Known throughout the Southern Baptist Convention for his "Suits for Servants" ministry, Tatum clothed thousands of ministers and missionaries, domestically and internationally. 

After a successful career in insurance, Tatum opened a string of men's clothing stores but eventually invested his time in operating only one while he traveled to show his wares at conferences, conventions, schools and seminaries.

Bernice Tatum joined First Baptist Jacksonville's pastor Mac Brunson, executive pastor of education Steve Clifton and Florida Baptist Convention's executive director-treasurer John Sullivan on the platform behind the flag-draped casket where her husband rested May 30.

She thanked those in attendance for honoring her "sweet husband" and lightened the moment with a revelation. "Can you believe he told me to do this?" After pausing for laughter, she said, "I thought that was stretching the submission."

Recalling young Tatum as a "very handsome visitor" at the young persons' fellowship following church those long years ago, Bernice spoke affectionately of his long, black, curly hair and his olive skin, blue eyes and "nice smile."

"I don't remember the first sentence I spoke to him, but I know what his was: 'Can I get your phone number?'" she chuckled.

A few weeks later the two were smitten and after four months (it took her mother that long to sew the bridesmaids' dresses) they were married, but only after Tatum was saved. After he had "gotten out of the rain," Bernice said. "He was immediately changed and eager to find out more and more and more." 

The most meaningful habit the Tatums had in their marriage was their daily devotions, Bernice recalled. He made the coffee, fluffed her pillows, and then they spent time reading the Bible and praying together.

"God gave us four wonderful adopted children, and they gave us nine wonderful grandchildren; and so a lot of our prayer time was devoted to them, and he prayed by every one of them by name," Bernice said.

"He's just a man of prayer, he's the real deal. The same at home and at church," Bernice said. "Except he didn't shake as many of our hands."

What she will miss the most, Bernice said, is her daily quiet time with her husband. Reading Ecclesiastes 7 the day after he died, Bernice said she was surprised at Solomon's words, "the day of death is better than the day of birth.'"

While she pondered this, Bernice said that although some fear death and avoid going to funerals, "there is still time to change, to examine the direction our lives are going and have time to confess our sins before God before we have to stand in front of Him as our judge."

"Jim and I lived 63 happy years, and I pray that for all of you," she concluded. "Give God and His Word first place in your lives, and that's the most exciting life that you could ever live. Don't just show up at church Christmas and Easter. Give Him your best. All that Christ has done for us, how can we do less?" 

Brunson spoke comforting words to family members and those gathered, reminding them Tatum had a great capacity to love. "Jim Tatum loved this church," Brunson said. "Because he loved this church, he loved the house of the Lord."

Comparing Tatum to Barnabas of the Bible, Brunson said Tatum was an encourager who taught people in his Sunday School class at First Baptist to go out and knock on doors to visit people before fellowshipping with each other.

"He loved people. He loved saved people, he loved lost people and he loved preachers," Brunson said of Tatum. "He pastored that class.... There's a legacy left to us in the man."  

Through the business and ministry Tatum developed, Brunson recalled the layman taking men's suits to students at a seminary in upstate New York where the young men often would proclaim, "It's the only suit I've ever had."

In Germany, where First Baptist has a partnership training pastors in a church where Baptists' forefathers' worshiped, "a third of those preachers there I know have been clothed by Jim Tatum," Brunson said. 

Speaking of Tatum's dedication to Christian ministry, Brunson said the World War II veteran not only knew Jesus but like David in the Psalms, Tatum "walked with Him day in and out." 

"I have never seen anyone get as much kick out of ministry as Jim Tatum," Brunson said. "He loved serving others; it was the generosity of his heart."

In describing what he anticipated would have been Tatum's first words in Heaven, John Sullivan imagined him standing at the gates of heaven and sizing up the Apostle Peter: "'You're about a 46-long,'" Sullivan joked.

"I loved my friend Jim Tatum, and my friend Jim Tatum loved me," Sullivan said quietly.

Citing a Bible passage which refers to Paul and Timothy being servants of Jesus Christ, Sullivan recited, in part, Philippians 1:6, "He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."

"That simply means that Jim Tatum's life on this earth is over, but let me tell you until the day of Jesus Christ, his Christian influence will continue to live. That's the secret of the Christian life. That's the secret of what it means to follow Jesus," Sullivan said.

Citing 1 Samuel 20:17-18, Sullivan spoke of the story of Jonathan and King David, of the "friendship and love" between the two. Tatum likewise loved his king, Sullivan said. And he loved his family. 

Telling a story about a family who was going to give up a child, Sullivan recalled the grandmother of the family insisting those adopting be "a Christian family." The counselor remembered 18 months earlier "a family by the name of Tatum had adopted a child." That's the way the Tatums adopted their fourth child, Sullivan said. "How do you measure that?"

"He loved him as he loved his own soul," Sullivan said of Tatum's son. "He loved his family, and his family loved him. They were attentive, and they took care of him. They take care of their mother because of their deep love and appreciation."

Sullivan, who also is a member of First Baptist Jacksonville, said he appreciated his friend's wise counsel and the way he taught his Sunday School class -- "He could get more out of a verse of Scripture than I could" -- and his "impeccable integrity."

"Trying to catch the character of a man like Jim Tatum and the influence that he has exerted and continues to exert is like trying to catch the St. John's River in a teacup," Sullivan said. "You just can't measure, and we don't know how. We just know what we know. There are things that he did that are hidden and known only to God."

A leader in Baptist work in the state, Tatum was serving a third three-year term as a member of Florida Baptist Convention's State Board of Missions. He served as second vice president of the Florida Baptist State Convention from 2003 to 2004. He previously served on Florida's SBOM from 2001 to 2006, was appointed to FBSC's committee on nominations in 1997 and was elected to the committee on order of business from 2006 to 2009.

Tatum also is survived by four children and nine grandchildren.
--30--
Joni B. Hannigan is managing editor of the Florida Baptist Witness, online at www.GoFBW.com.

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Peruvians give their all to reach Amazon region for Christ
by Emily Pearson
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

IQUITOS, Peru (BP) -- Just three days after his wife died, 72-year-old Edison Romero climbed into a cramped wooden boat for a journey down the Amazon. He could have stayed home to mourn, but he took a 12-hour trip from his village to Iquitos, Peru, to attend missions training.

"I just couldn't miss it," Romero said.

 by ourselves. There's just too much to be done. ... But if I can send a bunch more Peruvians and invest my life in them, I can be more effective sending than I can going." <i>

<b>-- IMB missionary</b>]The School of Cross-cultural Missions that Romero attends near the city of Iquitos is one of three training centers launched by Peru a las Naciones (Peru to the Nations), a Peruvian Baptist organization. 

Every two months, Romero and about 30 other participants and family members -- ranging from elderly adults to toddlers -- convene outside Bethany Evangelical Baptist Church in Iquitos. They pile into two crude metal buses with their luggage and a half-dozen live chickens for a jarring hour-long ride over a muddy road full of potholes.

When the road ends, the travelers -- loaded down with young children and luggage -- hike barefoot through a swampy mud pit. At the bank of the Nanay River, which flows into the Amazon, they cram into a narrow wooden boat. There's barely breathing room; the air is stifling. Then it's another 45-minute trip downriver to the jungle camp.

After they reach the shore by the camp, they haul their belongings down a dirt path to the wooden cabins -- covered with dried banana leaves and mosquito netting -- that will be home for three days. There's no electricity or hot water. And since there's no refrigeration, the live chickens will provide fresh food each day. The small children must occupy themselves without the help of modern conveniences, toys or physical comforts.

But no one complains.

CROSS-CULTURAL MISSIONS

Leaders of the group are Tommy and Beth Larner, International Mission Board missionaries from Texas. Tommy, who works with Peru a las Naciones, helped to start the training camp. He and Beth lead a team that teaches Bible storying, evangelism techniques, church-planting methods and other missions principles. 

Training national believers in missions is crucial to reaching Peru with the Gospel, Tommy said.

"We can't &#91;reach the world&#93; by ourselves. There's just too much to be done," he said. "We could go to an unreached people group. But if I can send a bunch more Peruvians and invest my life in them, I can be more effective sending than I can going."

Cross-cultural missions often implies taking the Gospel to other countries. But the school near Iquitos teaches believers in the Amazon how to effectively share Christ in the many jungle villages throughout Peru.

"These &#91;believers&#93; live in cross-cultural missions," Tommy said. "Their passion is to go deeper and farther into the jungle where the Gospel has not been preached."

Carlos Peñaherrera, pastor of Bethany Evangelical Baptist Church in Iquitos, shares that passion.

Peñaherrera met Tommy at a missions conference in another Peruvian city and helped him begin the school. The pastor now travels to Amazon villages already reached with the Gospel, promoting the school and challenging believers with the Great Commission. He also participates in the training sessions.

"There is a lot of need in our own villages, in our own country and particularly in the Amazon," Peñaherrera said. "There are places that haven't been touched by the Gospel yet. Some are small. Some are large. There are many cultures, languages, ethnicities. Some may be similar, but they're still different peoples."

GOING THE DISTANCE

Students at the School of Cross-cultural Missions are ready to do whatever it takes to reach the Amazon with the Gospel, leaders say. Sergio Soria is one example.

On the boat trip from Iquitos to the school's training camp, passengers are crowded and uncomfortable, but Soria has learned to sleep through just about anything. He naps sitting with one hand clinging to the edge of the boat's thatched roof, snoring softly. He's had lots of practice.

Like many of his fellow students, Soria lives in a jungle community. The boat ride from his village to Iquitos takes 12 to 18 hours, depending on the condition of the Amazon River. And that's before the group trip from Iquitos to the training camp. Still, he makes the journey every two months to get the training he believes will help him fulfill God's purpose for his life.

"I've been &#91;to&#93; villages along the river and seen the needs of the people," Soria said. "And God just put in my heart the desire to work as a missionary. I want to use what I've learned at this school to better understand the people so I can go into places where the Gospel has never been taken."

The boat ride to Iquitos costs Soria about $30. For an artisan who sells inexpensive crafts at a local market, that's hard to come by. Many of Soria's fellow students face similar financial struggles. 

Rafael Ijuma repairs and sells used shoes for a living but wants to be a full-time missionary. Every three weeks he goes up and down the Amazon, sharing the Gospel in different communities. During the time he's at home, he must earn enough money from his shoe business to support his family for when he's gone doing missions. 

But sharing Christ is worth the struggle, Ijuma said.

"I have seen the need of the people," he said. "I put myself in their place, and I see them as I was before Christ. The need that I had before, they have now. And all my effort is so that they can understand what I was before, and what I am now.

"But money is a real issue," Ijuma added. "I want to work full-time as a missionary, but it's a question of finances. So I pray that God will provide a way for me to give more time to missions."

Both Soria and Ijuma have identified new places where they want to take the Gospel, but both need their own boats to get there. They are praying for God to provide. 

Meanwhile, Soria and Ijuma are among the graduates of the School of Cross-cultural Missions' first commencement ceremony in June in Iquitos. The school's leaders ask Southern Baptists to pray for all of the graduates. 

"Pray that they will use their training to be better witnesses for Christ in Peru," Tommy Larner said. "Pray also that God will provide them the transportation and finances needed to spread the Gospel throughout the Amazon jungle."
--30--
Emily Pearson is an International Mission Board writer living in the Americas. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).

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Christians in Egypt worried about future
by Jamie Dean
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

CAIRO, Egypt (BP) -- For Christians living in predominantly Muslim Egypt, the week of June 24 began with a heavy question: What does the election of an Islamic-fundamentalist president mean for the future of Christians in the country? 

That question rings as loud as the cheers that erupted from Cairo's Tahrir Square when Egyptian officials announced Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi narrowly won a presidential runoff against former regime member Ahmed Shafiq. 

No doubt, the occasion was momentous: Morsi's win marked the first time Egyptians had freely elected a president in their country's modern history. 

Revolutionaries overthrew former President Hosni Mubarak's 30 years of dictatorial rule last year. Nearly 16 months later, Egyptian voters had chosen a leader for themselves in a country that had suppressed free speech and harbored corruption for decades. 

The tens of thousands of demonstrators packing Tahrir Square on June 24 seemed to celebrate the freedom to elect a president as much -- if not more -- than the president they elected. 

Indeed, Morsi had garnered tepid support during the first rounds of presidential elections in May. But when those contests put him into a runoff with a former member of Mubarak's regime, Egyptians faced a stark choice: a throwback to the old ways or a future with an Islamist leader. 

Even some secularists chose the Islamic leader after military officials made a series of sweeping declarations on the eve of the runoff: The ruling military council drained the presidency of significant powers and held onto powers of legislation and security for itself. Many Egyptians balked at what they saw as a bald power grab at best and an intentional coup at worst. 

If that helped propel Morsi to win, it's unclear what powers he'll possess in coming weeks. Demonstrators say they are determined to force the military council to return powers to the presidency ahead of a scheduled handover to civilian rule on Sunday, July 1. 

Meanwhile, minority groups -- including Christians that make up as much as 10 percent of the population -- wonder what Morsi's win means for them in the long run. 

In an email two days after Morsi's victory, Pastor Sameh Maurice of Kasr el Dobara Church in Cairo told WORLD that Christians are concerned about Morsi's presidency. 

Kasr el Dobara -- the largest evangelical congregation in the Middle East -- has had a front-row seat to the massive demonstrations over the last year for a simple reason: The church sits just off Tahrir Square. 

During last year's 18-day revolution that ousted Mubarak, the church's volunteer doctors tended injured protesters and interacted with demonstrators in the streets. 

Like many Christians, some in the church hoped the government and presidency would take a secularist direction, and allow greater freedoms for Christians already facing oppression. 

The Muslim Brotherhood's sweep of nearly 50 percent of parliamentary seats last year was a blow. The election of the group's candidate to the presidency earlier left them stunned, according to pastor Maurice, "It was a shock because we predicted that Shafiq would be the winner." 

Their concerns aren't unfounded: Morsi represents a fundamentalist strain in the Muslim Brotherhood and has openly advocated for conforming civil legislation to Islamic law. Isobel Coleman of the Council on Foreign Relations wrote that Morsi "openly endorses a strict Islamic vision." 

Morsi tried to allay Christians' fears during his campaign and after his election on Sunday, saying he would be a president "for all Egyptians." Maurice, the church pastor, welcomed those comments, but added, "We are used to the Muslim Brotherhood to promise, and then they do not act as they promised." 

Indeed, the Muslim Brotherhood originally promised not to field a candidate for the presidency at all. Meanwhile, Morsi promised during his campaign that he would uphold Egypt's Camp David peace treaty with Israel. The day after his election, Iranian media quoted Morsi as saying, "We will reconsider the Camp David Accord." 

Those realities lead Christians to doubt assurances that an Islamist president would protect them. "Christians are very afraid -- afraid of the unknown and the uncertainty of what may happen to the country," Maurice said. "The future is uncertain." 
--30--
Jamie Dean writes for World News Service, where this story first appeared. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).

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CBF honors Vestal, passes strategic report
by Tammi Reed Ledbetter
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- Participants in the June 20-22 General Assembly meeting of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship considered what moderator-elect Keith Herron described as "life in the wrinkle of time between the past and the present," as Coordinator Daniel Vestal was honored for 15 years of leadership and a strategic report to refocus and streamline organizational structures was embraced unanimously.
       
Twenty-one years after fellowship organizers broke away from the Southern Baptist Convention, moderator Colleen Burroughs praised a refusal to "sign on the dotted line" as she offered her final report as moderator. "The neighborhood of networks and partners escape conventional definition," resisting a traditional model of what it means to be a Baptist, she said.
       
"You refuse to paint your lips red with creeds or wear skinny jean theology that flatters no one and just makes you unable to breathe," Burroughs added, urging young leaders who have no memory of "the holy war" to remember their first name by demonstrating a picture of cooperation.
       
Described as a network of partner churches and individual Christians, communications director Lance Wallace said the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is not a denomination, has no doctrine and does not make statements of beliefs or take official stances on social issues, according to an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
       
By the closing night registration had grown to 1,625 fellowship Baptists as Vestal spoke on the meeting theme of "Infinitely More" drawn from Ephesians 3:20-21. He encouraged listeners to "go into the future boldly" as new leadership emerges in "new wineskins." At the close of the final session, participants took communion by intinction in observance of the Lord's Supper.
       
Earlier in the week, Quaker folk singer Carrie Newcomer offered a concert where Vestal was honored in anticipation of his retirement. Wallace noted, "She helped us grieve Daniel's moving on while giving us hope for the future at the same time."
       
Of the more than 1,800 partnering congregations, 1,500 are dually affiliated with another Baptist organization and 171 were identified by coordinator search committee chairman George Mason as the "most deeply engaged in CBF" according to affinity markers that include attending general assemblies, endorsing chaplains, giving certain amounts of money, supporting CBF missionaries and sending students to the 15 partnering schools of theology.
       
A relatively flat $12.4 million operating budget was approved for the fiscal year 2012-2013.
       
In addition to conversing with pastors of those "engaged" churches about the person to replace Vestal as coordinator, the search committee met with ministry partners, prompting Mason, the pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, to conclude, "We are finding confidence that we will be able to take this next step together."
      
Officers for the 64-member Coordinating Council include Herron as moderator; Bill McConnell, a partner with Rogers and Morgan, Inc., and member of Central Baptist Church of Bearden in Knoxville, Tenn., as moderator-elect; and Renee Bennett, a marriage and family therapist and member of Highland Hills Baptist in Macon, Ga., continuing as recorder.
       
CBF commissioned five new field personnel to serve in Haiti, Danville, Va., and Merritt Island. Three new church starters were assigned to Clayton, N.C., Houston and Charlotte, N.C.
       
"Throughout our history, we have started around 150 new churches," said David King, associate for church planting. "We also partnered with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and Baptist General Association of Virginia in an Hispanic initiative to engage over 200 mostly house congregations." The number of field personnel serving in other countries amounts to 132, with five area coordinators located stateside.
       
In place of the current CBF Coordinating Council, the adopted strategic report provides a governing board, a missions council and a ministries council to develop resources needed by congregations.
       
Cooperative agreements will be developed between national CBF and state/regional organizations. The plan also calls on the fellowship community to become "increasingly committed to generosity without strings," allowing leaders the freedom to allocate funds necessary to fulfill CBF's mission.
       
"There's no missing the point we're living in the wrinkle of time between the past and the future, between leaders, between structures, living in the interim, seeking, praying, working and trusting," Herron said, calling the period a preparation to "realign our sights and refocus our energies and rearrange our priorities."
       
Workshops and partner meetings filled out the schedule over the course of three days. One of the best-attended workshops showcased the products of CBF partner schools as six young preachers, two women and four men, provided the crowd of about 60 people with samples of their style.
       
Nearby Broadway Baptist Church provided an introduction to Taize, a contemplative style of worship, and Vespers, a reflective service utilizing dimmed lights and candles, silence and ancient prayers from the Book of Common Prayer.
       
Leading worship for Baptist Women in Ministry were Meredith Stone, women in ministry specialist at the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT), and Jana Harwell of Arlington, Texas. Other partner events featured Central Baptist Theological Seminary President Molly Marshall, Mercer University Professor David Gushee and Wake Forest Divinity School Professor Bill Leonard.
       
CBF printed a disclaimer stating that the views expressed at partner events coinciding with the General Assembly do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of, or endorsement by CBF or its members.
       
The BGCT was the only state convention featured at partner events and on the program as choirs from Baptist University of the Americas, Hardin-Simmons University and Baylor's Truett Seminary led in worship.
              
The Greg Warner Lifetime Service Award went to Toby Druin, former editor of the Baptist Standard, during the Friends of Associated Baptist Press Dinner.  Current editor Marv Knox praised Druin as "an exceptional war correspondent" who covered Baptist controversies of the 1980s and 1990s.
       
With the retirement of Vestal at the end of June, much was made of CBF's future direction, with Burroughs encouraging the next generation not to worry when they are misunderstood.
       
"From the moment you were born you refused easy identifiers that would confine you inside the walls of another institutional McMansion," Burroughs said. "We didn't construct walls for you on purpose. The fluid, nimble nature of your networks and partners' identity is actually what will save you from sure destruction."
       
While CBF parents dreamed about what their child would become, Burroughs said, "Now, on your 21st birthday, you have grown into a beautiful young mother yourself, having given life to countless children who fill in your address as the only Baptist home they have ever known."
       
A "neighborhood full of seminaries" now cultivate "even more neighborhoods of ministers trained to think critically about the Bible and theology," carrying with them the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ with "their GPS locked on Micah 6:8."
       
Praising the evidence of celebrating their giftedness "just like we knew you would back when women were not allowed to preach," Burroughs said, "You're doing it. You have become exactly what we dreamed you would become."
       
The 2013 CBF General Assembly will be held June 26-29 in Greensboro, N.C.
--30--
Tammi Reed Ledbetter is news editor of the Southern Baptist Texan, newsjournal of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

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FIRST-PERSON: The health care ruling was no slam-dunk win
by Kelly Boggs
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP) -- I must admit to being stupefied when the news broke June 28 that the Supreme Court had upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often known as Obamacare. 

I was astonished when I learned that Chief Justice John Roberts, a man appointed by President George W. Bush, was the deciding vote and author of the majority opinion. My mental state gravitated from dumbfounded disbelief, to aggravated anger and then to the resignation of reality. 

What I deemed unthinkable had actually happened. Not only was the health care law found to be constitutional by the Supreme Court, but an avowed "constructionist" jurist had sided with the consistently left-leaning judges of the court in upholding the law. 

The whole situation seemed too bizarre. 

As the day wore on, I took solace in the wisdom of Psalm 17:22, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." So instead of getting sick, or crying, I decided to simply smile and look for a bright side. I also recalled advice from my father who always took negative news in stride. His philosophy was, "Sleep on it. It probably won't look nearly as bad the next morning." You know what? He was right. 

A closer inspection of the ruling reveals that it wasn't a slam-dunk win for supporters. As legal scholars begin to parse the ruling, things do not look as rosy for the president's showcase legislation. 

After reading dozens of articles dissecting the Supreme Court's decision, the following represent a synthesis and summation of a few salient observations being made by some sharp legal minds. 

The first aspect of Roberts' decision to consider is that the chief justice ruled the individual mandate is unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause -- turning back the argument proposed by the administration. 

In practical terms, Chief Justice Roberts' ruling said to Congress, "You cannot mandate, compel or force U.S. citizens to buy any product or service just because they happen to be alive and breathing."  

Some have tried to compare the mandate to purchase health insurance with that of a state requiring a car owner to carry liability insurance. A glaring difference between the two is that a person can choose whether or not he or she wants to own a car; if a person is alive he or she has no choice but to breathe.  

A second aspect of Roberts' ruling is that since Congress cannot mandate the purchase of health care, the only way it can regulate and fund the health care law is through its authority to tax.  

When selling the law to the masses, President Obama insisted there was no taxation associated with the legislation, only penalties. However, when his Department of Justice argued in front of the Supreme Court, it admitted the so-called penalty, in fact, could be classified as a tax. 

Roberts' agreed with Obama's DOJ and said that while Congress cannot mandate that the American people purchase health insurance, the health care law can be funded and regulated via the taxation of people who do not purchase insurance. 

As far as I can tell, funding the law via a tax -- rather than the president's preferred penalty -- will represent one of the largest tax increases in the history of America and will affect every single person in the United States. This will be difficult for supporters of the health care legislation to downplay and could well be a factor in future elections.

The most troubling aspect of the taxation ruling is that Americans are now going to be taxed on something they do not do or do not purchase. There is no doubt this opens the door for all sorts of future taxes. Are we going to see taxes on failing to exercise, not buying broccoli, failing to get an annual medical exam? 

A third aspect of Justice Roberts' decision dealt with the provision that Congress can coerce states into participation of the Medicaid expansion by threatening to withhold their current level of Medicaid funding. The federal government, the court said, cannot do that. Without the ability to force states to participate, the legislation seems to have lost some of its "national" luster. 

Ultimately, only Chief Justice Roberts knows the rationale and motive behind his ruling. And, of course, time will tell how the aforementioned observations will actually play out. My ultimate hope is that the health care law eventually will be repealed. That said, my take concerning the Roberts ruling is while it is not good, it looks somewhat better now that I have slept on it. 
--30--
Kelly Boggs is a weekly columnist for Baptist Press, director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention's office of public affairs, and editor of the Baptist Message www.baptistmessage.com, newsjournal of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).

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FIRST-PERSON: Throwing our hats over the wall
by Jason Duesing
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- Irish writer Frank O'Connor told the story of two boys standing beside a tall orchard wall launching a small, felt, round object up in the air like a Frisbee. If you had been there to see them, it would have looked strange -- even foolish. With the enthusiasm of a college graduate, one of the boys hurls his hat and you arrive just in time to see it leave the hand of its owner and travel high -- up and over an imposing and significant wall.

You might have wanted to call out and say, "Why did you do that? Now you are going to have to climb over and get it!" To which, the boys would reply with sly and knowing grins, "Exactly. That's the whole idea."

President John F. Kennedy referenced this story in 1963 when speaking of his commitment to space exploration despite the dangers and many unknown factors. He explained how O'Connor and his friends "would make their way across the countryside, and when they came to an orchard wall that seemed too high and too difficult to permit their voyage to continue, they would take off their hats and toss them over the wall -- and then they had no choice but to follow them." Kennedy then applied this to the nation and declared that the United States had now "thrown its hat over the wall of space and had no choice but to follow it."

When it comes to the willingness to take the Gospel to those who have never heard it, I am convinced that we share a similar position and outlook that our nation held when considering the prospects of sending a man to the moon. Standing beside what seems an insurmountable wall of fear, excuses, distractions and, if we are honest, selfishness, we sit down. Or we turn around. Or we try to find some other wall that is easier to climb.

Often, though, all it would take for us to follow God to the ends of the earth is to stop the analysis and debate and instead take off our hats, hold them firmly in our hands, and throw them over the wall by faith. If we made that decision to reach the unreached, then we would have no choice but to find a way over the wall to reach them.

After returning from a 10-day trip to southern Madagascar for the purpose of establishing a plan to send teams of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary students to reach the Antandroy people with the Gospel, the question I have been asked most frequently is, "So, what exactly are you all going to be doing there?"

This fair and honest question and others similar to it often come when someone learns of the great lengths or expense one takes to visit a people so very different than those around the corner. In short, they are asking not just what are we doing there but why are we even wanting to go in the first place. Why would a seminary send two vice presidents, an academic dean and other staff halfway around the world to explore this distant culture? In these cases, Romans 15 and Coca-Cola often come to mind as a way to respond.

The book of Romans gives the model example of a missionary-theologian. As Paul concludes his letter containing life-changing theological explication, he reveals his ultimate ambition. Paul hopes to travel to see the believers in Rome but then to continue to the then-known ends of the earth, Spain. In chapter 15, Paul explains that in the geographic area where he has labored for his entire ministry he has "fulfilled the ministry of the Gospel of Christ" (15:19). The idea here is not that he preached the Gospel to every individual but rather that he sufficiently established in every area believers and churches to take over that task. Seeking now not to "build on someone else's foundation," Paul desires to move on to areas where Christ has not yet been named (15:20).

By way of further explanation of this specific calling, Paul quotes Isaiah 52:15, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand." In this passage, Isaiah tells of a day when peoples who have not heard of the Messiah would see and understand. Paul is acknowledging, by the use of this verse, that such a day had come with the advent of Christ and the proclamation of the Gospel.

The U.S. Center for World Mission documents that more than 90 percent of the global evangelical missionary effort is concentrated among the 60 percent of the world that is reached or within reach. This means that only 10 percent of our missionary force is working among the remaining 40 percent who have never heard the Gospel or have little access to the Gospel.

To those who would rightfully remind the ones zealous for unengaged peoples that there are plenty of lost and even unreached peoples at home, I gladly acknowledge that the call to leave all and go is not universal. However, Romans 15 makes clear that a specific calling exists in the New Testament for believers to see that the Gospel is taken to the unengaged and unreached peoples of the world. While not the specific vocational call for all believers, all are to contribute to the task. Just as Paul left some working behind in the reached areas, many should stay behind today. But, just as Paul sought to enlist those believers in Rome and other cities to aid in reaching the unreached, all should support that ultimate task to see the fulfillment of Psalm 67 for God's saving power to be made known among all nations.

Even with advancements in technology and travel, one reason why there exist still many people who have not heard of Jesus Christ is simply because travel to them remains very difficult. The Antandroy, meaning "people of the thorns," live among thorny plants in the bush. You will find the majority of these 850,000 people along a remote 400-mile stretch across the southern portion of Madagascar. With a single unpaved road traversable only part of the year, exposure to the Gospel for these people created in God's image has only just begun. However, difficult to reach does not mean unreachable.

An early chairman of Coca-Cola set out as his goal to see a bottle of Coke within "an arm's reach of desire" of every person on the globe. This strategy led to the exponential growth of the company throughout the 20th century and the virtual fulfillment of that dream by the 21st century.

While traveling among the tribal villages in Madagascar on sandy roads navigating quad-four-wheelers, there was little that reminded me of home in the USA. Stick huts, homemade canoes and ragged clothing met me in every village. Yet along with these scenes came the familiar red signs with white script announcing the availability of Coca-Cola. Local missionaries told us that in many regions where drivable roads stop, porters are hired to carry Coca-Cola to the remotest villages, proving that if one is committed to achieving his mission in this world, few earthly obstacles remain to prevent it.

The father of modern missions, William Carey, writing in his mobilizing manifesto, "The Enquiry," recognized even in 1792 the often-unparalleled commitment of commercial enterprise to reach the ends of the earth. Carey noted that if "we should have as much love to the souls of our fellow-creatures, and fellow sinners, as they have for the&#91;ir&#93; profits … all these difficulties would be easily surmounted." Thus, while difficulties in travel abound, the unreached for Christ are already reached by many for monetary gain, who come just as far at great expense but not with "good news of great joy that will be for all the people."
	
To those who ask and are puzzled as to why Southwestern Seminary would expend effort, time and resources to assist the International Mission Board in reaching the Antandroy people of southern Madagascar, I suppose Southwesterners must look like the two boys standing at the base of a seemingly insurmountable wall dangerously close to throwing their hats to the other side.

However, when asked whether we realize the weight of what we are attempting to do and that our attempts to go to the ends of the earth will necessitate following through regardless of hardship and challenges -- you might just see a few sly grins of joy and expectation and hear the boyish reply, "Exactly. That's the whole idea."

A wall exists that appears high and too difficult to traverse when it comes to the planning, funding, sacrificing and sending of those to engage the unengaged and reach the unreached with the Gospel. Nevertheless, believing God and His Word, and with a love for the peoples of the earth, we have thrown our hats over the wall. Will you join us as we seek to retrieve them?
--30--
Jason G. Duesing serves as vice president for strategic initiatives and assistant professor of historical theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and is the editor of the forthcoming book, "Adoniram Judson: A Bicentennial Appreciation of the Pioneer American Missionary" (B&H Academic, 2012). This column first appeared at TheologicalMatters.com, a blog of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).

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SBC President Fred Luter's mother dies
by Frank Michael McCormack
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

NEW ORLEANS (BP)  --  Viola Blayton Brooks, the mother of newly elected Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter Jr., passed away Wednesday, June 27, at the age of 82.
	
A life-long resident of New Orleans, Brooks was one of two daughters born to Joseph and Winnie Blayton, who preceded her in death. She grew up in New Orleans' Third Ward neighborhood and later moved to the city's Lower Ninth Ward.

As a single parent, Brooks worked multiple jobs, including as a seamstress and an assistant surgical technician, to provide for her five children. Luter has said his mother worked extremely hard to make ends meet or to get them "close enough to wave at each other."

"She sacrificed a lot for me to be where I am today, and where all the siblings are today," Luter said. "She worked hard to provide for us a life. I just thank God for all the sacrifices she made for us through the years."

In raising her children, Brooks made sure they attended church. Luter said she was the one who planted the seed of faith in his life.

"Yes indeed, she was the one," he said.

Because of her failing health, Brooks was not able to attend Luter's nomination and election June 19 to the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention, but she was able to watch via the Internet.

"She was excited; she told me she cried," Luter said. "I went to see her the next day in between sessions, and she just told me how proud she was of me. She always did say that, though. She always did."

Luter said that, typically, when he would visit his mother, she would greet him with "Well, look at my pastor" when he'd walk through the door.

"But that day when I came in, she said, 'Well, look at my president,'" he said. "So it was pretty neat."

Brooks was also preceded in death by her eldest son, Shelby Neveaux. She is survived by her sister, Evelyn Taplin; her children Yolanda Keeler, Fred Luter, Keith Luter and Felicia Blayton and their spouses, and by 13 grandchildren, who called her "Dear."

Funeral arrangements are to be finalized this weekend.

"The condolences of all the convention go out to Dr. Fred Luter in the loss of his mother," said Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee. "This occurrence should encourage all of us to pray more for Dr. Luter. I believe that the evil one targets persons in positions like this. We need to pray one for another."
--30--
Frank Michael McCormack is New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary's assistant director of public relations

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NYC churches can meet in schools, judge rules
by Staff
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

NEW YORK (BP) -- A federal judge ruled Friday (June 29) that churches and other faith groups can continue to meet in New York City public school buildings for worship services.

Judge Loretta Preska of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the churches a permanent injunction against the New York City Department of Education, determining that the city's policy of prohibiting worship violates the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The city, the court said, is permanently forbidden from denying churches' applications to rent space in public schools for meetings that include religious worship. The city is expected to appeal. 

The Alliance Defense Fund, which led the fight on behalf of churches, said congregations meeting in New York schools have fed the poor, helped rehabilitate drug addicts, worked toward the restoration of families and provided for the disabled. 

Churches also have painted the interiors of inner-city schools and donated computers, musical instruments and air conditioners as well as provided effective after-school programs, ADF said.

"There is no reason to exclude worship services from these empty school buildings, especially when the school allows all other community groups to meet," Jordan Lorence, ADF's senior counsel who argued before the court June 1, said. "Why exclude churches that are helping their neighbors in so many significant ways?"

The latest development is part of a 17-year legal battle in Bronx Household of Faith v. Board of Education of the City of New York. 

In February, Preska issued a preliminary injunction, blocking enforcement of the ban while the case proceeded. The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction five days later but urged Preska to release a final ruling by mid-June.

"If a rule is unconstitutional, it is unconstitutional as to all similarly-situated parties," Preska wrote in February.

An earlier round of decisions that went against NYC churches were based on an examination of the Free Speech and Establishment Clauses, not the Free Exercise Clause. That earlier round of cases ended in 2011 when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to get involved. It appeared churches had reached the end of the legal road until Preska sided with the congregations.

"A law is not neutral if its object is to infringe upon or restrict practices because of their religious motivation," she wrote.

In April, the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission joined local and national religious organizations in a friend-of-the-court brief that urged the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals to invalidate the education department's policy. The brief, written by the Christian Legal Society, also called on the court to permanently block the policy from being enforced.

New York City's school policy infringes on the opening two clauses of the First Amendment, the brief signed by the ERLC said. Those clauses say, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

The policy "is not one that feigns neutrality on its face, hiding an ulterior purpose to target religious exercise," the friend-of-the-court brief said. "The Board's policy openly and notoriously singles out 'religious worship services' for exclusion from the public space that is otherwise available for other social and civic functions."

Read Preska's June 29 decision online at http://www.adfmedia.org/files/BronxPermanentInjunction.pdf.
--30--
Compiled by Baptist Press assistant editor Erin Roach. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).

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Crisis pregnancy centers get big legal win
by Michael Foust
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- In the latest legal victory for pro-life crisis pregnancy centers nationwide, an appeals court has struck down a Baltimore, Md., law that would have required such facilities to post, in large print outside their doors, a sign saying they don't provide abortions or refer clients to abortion providers. 

Crisis pregnancy centers said the signs would have chased women away before they got the help they needed, and they also argued the signs were an unconstitutional violation of free speech.  

In a 2-1 ruling June 27, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the centers, upholding an earlier decision by a lower court judge. 

In a separate 2-1 decision the same day, the appeals court also struck down a Montgomery County, Md., law requiring that pregnancy centers post a sign with two disclosures: first, stating that a "licensed medical professional" is not on staff, and second, that the "Montgomery County Health Officer encourages women who are or may be pregnant to consult with a licensed health care provider." 

The Montgomery County law, the court said, "amounts to an impermissible
government control of speech."

"The government-mandated statement, which must be posted 'conspicuously' on a pregnancy center's wall, suggests to potential clients that the center is not to be trusted and that a pregnancy center's services, like religious counseling or job placement assistance, will usually be inferior to those offered by medical professionals," the majority ruled.

"To be sure, Montgomery County is entitled to believe that pregnancy is first and foremost a medical condition, but it may not compel unwilling speakers to express that view."

Last year, a federal judge blocked enforcement of a New York City ordinance that would have required crisis pregnancy centers to post signs saying they don't perform abortions or refer women to abortion providers.

Often supported by churches, crisis pregnancy centers are needed, supporters say, because Planned Parenthood -- the nation's largest abortion provider -- is biased in its counseling and has a financial interest in guiding women to abortions. 

The pro-life centers often provide such free services as pregnancy tests, ultrasound exams, prenatal care, childbirth classes, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, post-abortion counseling and material assistance. Abortion clinics typically do not provide many of these services.

The ultrasounds -- which show a woman her unborn baby in detail -- have been particularly helpful in deterring abortions. 

The Alliance Defense Fund, a pro-life legal group, was involved with both cases and applauded the rulings. 

"Pregnancy centers offer real help and hope to women. They should be free to share that message instead of being compelled to provide the government's preferred message, which sends women elsewhere," said ADF attorney Matt Bowman. "Pregnancy centers provide women with the emotional support and practical resources they need, giving them more choices. They should not be made to speak negatively about the important services they provide."

The majority opinion was authored by Judge Paul Victor Niemeyer, who was nominated to the appeals court by President George H.W. Bush, and joined by Judge Steven Agee, who was nominated by President George W. Bush. Dissenting was Judge Robert Bruce King, who was nominated by President Clinton.
--30--
Michael Foust is associate editor of Baptist Press.

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En 'Avance Hispano,' Robert Amaya de 'Courageous' les insta a 'Vivir la Verdad'
by Por David Raúl Lema Jr.
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

NUEVA ORLEANS (BP) -- Robert Amaya, una de las estrellas en la película "Courageous," fue uno de los conferencistas en el evento "Avance Hispano SBC" el 18 de junio; hubo 200 pastores y líderes hispanos provenientes de 20 estados y varios países. La reunión tuvo lugar antes de la junta anual de la convención en Nueva Orleans. 

Amaya, líder de alabanza y drama en Miami´s University Baptist Church y quien actuó el papel de "Snake King" en Courageous, dirigió una de las conferencias de la reunión patrocinada por varias entidades bautistas del sur, incluyendo a LifeWay Christian Resources, la Junta de Misiones Norteamericanas NAMB, la Junta de Misiones Internacionales IMB y GuideStone Christian Resources.

Luis López, director de LifeWay Español, expresó su entusiasmo "al ver la manera en que Dios está obrando en nuestro pueblo usando a una persona como Roberto Amaya para servir como un modelo positivo ante nuestros niños, jóvenes y adultos."

La estrella de cine no tardó en ser descubierta.

Mientras caminaba por el pasillo hacia la conferencia en el Centro de Convenciones Ernest N. Morial en Nueva Orleans, una mujer acompañada por su hijo adulto se acercó a Amaya y comenzó a llorar mientras lo abrazaba.

Marlene Mayer, una miembro de la Iglesia Bautista Buenas Nuevas en Slidell, La., le dijo a Amaya que la película Courageous cambió la vida de su hijo Antonio. "Ha cambiado tanto que hoy él está acompañándome aquí," le dijo al actor. 

Antonio Mayer confirmó las palabras de su madre.

"El mensaje de la película fue tan poderoso que cambió mi vida," dijo Antonio a Amaya. "Me guió más cerca de Dios y me convertí en un mejor padre y esposo."

Amaya posó para tomarse fotografías con los participantes después de dictar una conferencia sobre Cómo Impactar la Cultura a través del Testimonio Cristiano. Amaya dijo en la conferencia que los cristianos necesitan ser genuinos en su cultura y quitarse todas las máscaras del pecado.

"No dejen que se termine este día," les retó Amaya, "sin que le hayan dado la espalda al pecado. Vivan la Verdad."

Patrick Regalado, consultor de LifeWay en Español, dictó una conferencia sobre los nuevos materiales en español, para iglesias y líderes, que LifeWay tiene a su disposición a través del internet. Para obtener más información sobre éstos, visite www.lifeway.com/espanol.

Joshua del Risco, director de evangelismo hispano con la Junta de Misiones Norteamericanas, dictó una conferencia sobre Evangelismo y Crecimiento Efectivos. Basado en el libro de Hechos, Del Risco enumeró unas "maneras efectivas de manejar siete grandes barreras que impiden el evangelismo efectivo." 

La Junta de Misiones Internacionales estuvo representada por Jason Carlisle, director de movilización hispana en dicha institución, y quien dirigió una conferencia titulada Convirtiéndose en una Iglesia sin Fronteras.

"Este es el siglo hispano," dijo Carlisle. "Esto no significa que los hispanos serán los recipientes del ministerio si no que los hispanos serán los instrumentos usados por Dios para alcanzar a los no alcanzados, en una manera milagrosa y maravillosa.

"Más de 100 misioneros hispanos en la IMB están marcando una diferencia en el mundo hoy en día," señaló Carlisle. "Los hispanos son misioneros muy efectivos en los países musulmanes, en la India, en el sureste de Asia, debido a las similitudes entre las culturas e incluso en el color de la piel."

Carlisle dijo que los nuevos recursos de la IMB en español están ya disponibles en el internet visitando http://hispanos.imb.org.

El representante de GuideStone, Miguel Pérez, contestó las preguntas de los participantes con respecto a las inversiones y la jubilación, respondiendo en inglés y en español. Se distribuyeron materiales promocionales de GuideStone traducidos al español. 

Juan Pérez, pastor bi-vocacional de la Iglesia Bautista Jesucristo Rey de Reyes en Miramar, Florida, dijo que está agradecido por haber podido asistir a la conferencia y a la Convención Bautista del Sur en Nueva Orleans. Y está agradecido con Dios por darle una oportunidad que no abrumó financieramente a su iglesia. 

"He trabajado horas extra en un proyecto de construcción de un techo para así ganar el dinero necesario para venir," dijo Pérez. "Valió la pena."
--30--
David Raúl Lema Jr. es un corresponsal de Baptist Press en Miami.

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Los hispanos oran por la CBS durante la Conferencia para Pastores
by Por David Raúl Lema Jr.
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

NUEVA ORLEANS (BP) —- Varias docenas de pastores y líderes hispanos se reunieron en el Salón de Oración de la Convención Bautista del Sur para orar durante la sesión vespertina del 18 de junio de la Conferencia para Pastores. 

La reunión anual de oración está patrocinada por la Confraternidad Nacional de Iglesias Hispanas Bautistas del Sur. Los líderes dijeron que su creencia en el poder de la oración los motivó a reunirse por casi dos horas para orar por la reunión anual de la CBS, el 19 y 20 de junio en Nueva Orleans. 

Elías Bracamonte, plantador de iglesias hispanas, proveniente de Topeka, Kansas, y actual presidente de la confraternidad, dijo que está contento que el grupo haya seguido reuniéndose para orar.

"Fue una oportunidad para ser una bendición para la CBS al cubrir con oración los eventos y la gente," dijo Bracamonte. "Como dice la Biblia en 2 Crónicas 7:14, si nos humillamos y oramos, Dios contestará y nos bendecirá.

"Bendecimos a la CBS y nosotros mismos fuimos bendecidos a través de la experiencia de la oración y al ser obedientes a la Palabra," dijo Bracamonte.

Humberto Medina, pastor de la Iglesia Bautista Cristo Redentor, en Mandeville, La., describió el tiempo de oración como uno personalmente significativo.

"Fue una gran bendición orar para que nuestras vidas reflejen la gloria de Dios y muestren nuestra dependencia en Cristo," dijo Medina quien cree que "siempre habrá una necesidad de oración ferviente por la CBS, las iglesias, los líderes y todo el pueblo."

Héctor Méndez, pastor de la Iglesia Bautista Central en Fort Worth, Texas, describió el tiempo de oración como "una experiencia hermosa."
 	"Tuvimos un buen tiempo de convivencia espiritual en oración," dijo.

Méndez también dijo que cree que el tiempo juntos no sólo fortaleció a los pastores hispanos, si no que les permitió expresar su necesidad de "más ánimo y fuerza en el ministerio para todos los pastores y líderes de la CBS."

Mientras los líderes hispanos estaban orando por Fred Luter Jr., el conferencista que cerró la Conferencia para Pastores, algunos de ellos señalaron que fue algo "providencial" que Luter estuviera predicando ahí antes de ser electo el 19 de junio como el nuevo presidente de la Convención Bautista del Sur. 
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David Raúl Lema Jr. es un corresponsal de Baptist Press en Miami.

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Wade Watts, ex misionero en Perú, muere
by Por Maria Elena Baseler
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (BP) -- El ex misionero bautista del sur Wade Watts, quien milagrosamente sobrevivió varias lesiones cerebrales en una colisión frontal en Perú en 1996, murió el 6 de junio en su hogar en Memphis, Tennessee. Tenía 56 años. 

Wade Watts

Miles de bautistas del sur oraron por Watts, su esposa Nancy y sus hijos Joshua y Marcus durante los siguientes meses a que ellos sufrieran lesiones en un accidente automovilístico el 1º de febrero de 1996, en una sinuosa carretera de las montañas de Perú. Nancy y Joshua sufrieron fracturas pero se recuperaron completamente. Sin embargo, el accidente dejó a Wade y a Marcus, entonces de nueve años en coma; los médicos no esperaban que sobrevivieran.

Nueve meses después, Marcus se recuperó en un 90 por ciento. Pero Wade permaneció en coma mientras los bautistas del sur -- y los creyentes nacionales en el amado Perú de Watts -- oraban por otro milagro. 

Dios contestó.

Cerca de un año después del accidente, Watts salió del coma y comenzó a hablar. Una de las primeras cosas que expresó -- en un habla poco entendible debido a sus lesiones -- fue su deseo de regresar a Perú como misionero. 

Cuando los bautistas peruanos escucharon esas noticias, "fue una especie de impacto," dijo Kevin Shearer, ex misionero de IMB en Perú, ahora pastor bautista en Mississippi. "Ellos se quedaron sorprendidos de que alguien que había pasado por lo que Wade pasó quisiera volver a Perú y continuar haciendo su ministerio. Los peruanos se unieron a él en una oración muy emotiva pidiéndole a Dios que permitiera que eso sucediera algún día."

Luego Watts recobró algo de su movilidad y mucha de su capacidad mental pero nunca logró su sueño de regresar a Perú. Sin embargo, siguió siendo misionero de corazón, dijeron amigos y familiares. Aunque quedó confinado a una silla de ruedas, encontró nuevas maneras de servir al Señor en su ciudad natal de Memphis.

"Wade tenía un gran corazón para las misiones," dijo su esposa, Nancy Tate de Memphis. "Él siempre quiso hacer la voluntad de Dios. Aunque no pudo ser misionero en el campo de misión después del accidente o moverse lo suficiente como para hacer actividades misioneras aquí, aun así quería que Dios lo usara. Y Dios lo hizo."

Watts aconsejaba a los peruanos por internet, hizo proyectos de traducción español inglés y compartió su fe con otros. Fue un fiel intercesor orando diariamente por los líderes de su país, los misioneros bautistas del sur en sus cumpleaños y muchas otras necesidades de oración.

También trabajó con el programa de educación misionera para chicos Embajadores Reales (RA por sus siglas en inglés) de los bautistas de Tennessee, un ministerio del que había sido voluntario antes de su servicio en Perú. 

Karl Wallace, misionero de IMB en Colombia y que había servido con Watts en Perú, contó sobre la participación a través de Skype con Watts y algunos chicos que asistían a un evento de RA de los bautistas de Tennessee hace dos años. 

"Tuvimos una grandiosa teleconferencia. Los chicos hicieron múltiples preguntas acerca de nuestro trabajo en Colombia," dijo Wallace. "Claramente recuerdo a uno de ellos cuando dijo que quería crecer para ser un misionero como el señor Watts."

Watts también animaba a sus hermanos miembros de la Iglesia Bautista Bartlett Hills de Bartlett, Tennessee. A pesar de sus incapacidades, él y Nancy trataban de asistir a la iglesia cada domingo, y eso en sí inspiraba a otras personas. Así lo hacía también la actitud positiva de la pareja. 

La pareja tomó la decisión de no amargarse por el accidente sino "ser una bendición para otros," dijo su pastor, John Finley, durante un servicio memorial para Watts el 9 de junio en Memphis. 

"Nunca se escuchó una palabra negativa &#91;de Wade y Nancy&#93; acerca del accidente," dijo Frank Green especialista de RA de los bautistas de Tennessee. "Era sorprendente cómo mantenían el espíritu misionero. Ellos continuaron siendo misioneros aun después de regresar a Memphis. Solamente cambiaron el enfoque."

Colegas misioneros que trabajaron con los Watts en Perú lo describieron como amable, paciente, gentil, llevadero, amigable y buen oyente. 

"Wade era el hombre con más mentalidad de siervo que yo haya conocido entre nuestros misioneros," dijo Dan McLaughlin, ex misionero de IMB en Perú, ahora ministro de música en Missouri. 

"Él siempre estaba activo buscando nuevas maneras de compartir el evangelio," dijo Ken Bowie, ahora misionero de IMB en Chile. "Nunca veía la mitad vacía del vaso, siempre veía la mitad llena."

"Siempre que hablamos de Wade y Nancy, recordamos historias simpáticas de ellos; era un gozo estar alrededor de ellos," añadió Shearer. "Siempre nos sentimos en casa con ellos." 

Colegas también dijeron que Watts era profundamente respetado por los bautistas peruanos, tanto que lo invitaron a ser el director de misiones y dirigente del trabajo de los Hombres Bautistas de la Convención Bautista Peruana.

"Entre los muchos misioneros que han servido en Perú, yo pondría a Wade entre los primeros cinco en cuanto a relaciones con los hermanos nacionales se refiere," dijo Gary Crowell, ex misionero de IMB quien ahora es parte del personal de la Asociación Bautista del Condado de Tarrant (Texas). "Cuando Wade llegó a Perú, los peruanos lo adoptaron como uno de los suyos. Nunca conocí a un peruano que no simpatizara con él. No había nada en Wade que no agradara."

Muchos peruanos bautistas estuvieron en contacto con los Watts después del accidente y continuaron orando por ellos a través de los años.

Bowie recordó haber visitado a la familia Watts en Memphis hace 12 años acompañado por el líder bautista peruano David Trigoso. A los dos hombres se les había dicho que Watts tenía algunos problemas de memoria debido al accidente, así que no estaban seguros qué esperar. 

Durante la visita, "Wade comenzó a hacerle a David docenas de preguntas específicas, todas en español, acerca de pastores y laicos… de todo Perú," recordó Bowie. 

Luego cuando dejaron la casa, las lágrimas corrieron por el rostro de Trigoso. "Ellos dijeron que &#91;Wade&#93; podría no recordar muchas cosas," le dijo Trigoso a Bowie, "pero él podía recordar todo acerca del ministerio que Dios le dio en Perú."

Los Watts fueron designados como misioneros de IMB en Perú en 1986. Wade primero sirvió como maestro de los hijos de misioneros (MKs) en Trujillo pero rápidamente se involucró en evangelismo e iniciación de iglesias. Él y Nancy también ministraron a través de su iglesia local en Trujillo, donde Wade enseñó cursos de discipulado. Una creyente que él discipuló fue una joven peruana llamada Armida, quien luego se casó con Mark, el hermano de Wade. 

"El hermano Wade nos amaba &#91;a los peruanos&#93; como Jesús nos ama," dijo Armida durante el servicio memorial de Watts. "Él trabajó fuerte en muchos lugares de Perú caminando, tocando puertas, involucrándose en nuestra cultura peruana… Oro para que todos seamos fieles a Dios y seamos un ejemplo cómo lo fue él." 

"Wade fue un hombre de Dios que siguió a Dios hasta el mismo final," dijo Wallace en una carta.

"Él nunca se dio por vencido," dijo McLaughlin.

Antes de su designación como misionero, Watts enseñó en la escuela secundaria en West Memphis, Arkansas, y sirvió como miembro del personal en un campamento de RA auspiciado por la Convención Bautista de Tennessee. Él y Nancy también sirvieron nueve meses como voluntarios en Burkina Faso a través de un compañerismo bautista de Tennessee. 

Además de su esposa Nancy, a Watts lo sobreviven sus hijos Marcus de Memphis y Joshua de Pensacola, Florida.
--30--
Maria Elena Baseler es una editora/escritora de la Junta de Misiones Internacionales que vive en las Américas.

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COMPENDIO CULTURA: Petición busca vender 'Cosmo' solamente a adultos
by Por el Personal
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- La nieta del fundador de la Corporación Hearst se ha unido a la petición que solicita a la Comisión Federal de Comercio (FTC por sus siglas en inglés) que estipule que la revista Cosmopolitan se venda solamente a adultos.

Victoria Hearst contactó a la Corporación Hearst, editor de Cosmopolitan, para expresar su opinión -- respaldada por dos psicólogos -- de que el contenido de la revista es pornográfico y dañino para las chicas. A pesar de su nombre, Hearst no recibió respuesta de la corporación.

Recientemente, Hearst añadió su apoyo a una petición iniciada por la ex modelo Nicole Weider de Proyecto Inspirado en Woodland Hills, California, quien, en una divulgación noticiosa del 27 de junio, enumeró los temas gráficos presentados precisamente en el último ejemplar de la revista. 

La petición, la cual tiene más de 33.000 firmas, dice que Cosmopolitan es la revista para mujeres más vendida, lo que la pone a disposición de chicos y chicas de cualquier edad. Además, la revista agresivamente apunta a las chicas con material que es inapropiado para su desarrollo, dijo Weider.

"Únanseme en la pelea para obtener que Cosmopolitan se venda en una bolsa plástica no transparente donde esté disponible para adultos mayores de 18 años, y que nuestra juventud no esté sujeta a este vulgar material," escribió Weider. "Permítanme reiterar mi meta: Que nadie menor de 18 años vea la portada de la revista Cosmopolitan en puestos de revistas o en supermercados y que nadie menor de 18 años pueda legalmente comprar la revista Cosmopolitan."

John Leibowitz, presidente de la Comisión Federal de Comercio, le dijo a Weider que su oficina investigará el asunto solamente si cree que es una amenaza para la sociedad. "Esto significa que necesitan más quejas -- esto es, firmantes de esta petición," dijo Weider.

"No le estamos pidiendo a Cosmopolitan que cambie el contenido," dijo Weider. "Simplemente queremos que sea responsable de él 

"Ellos dicen que es para adultos, así que permitámosles que se la vendan solamente a adultos. Sobre esto es que estamos en comunicación con la FTC. Si ellos van a imprimir imágenes y artículos sexualmente explícitos, no debe ser mercadeada y vendida a niños. Es así de simple," dijo Weider.

Para firmar la petición, visite anticosmomission.com pero esté advertido de que un enlace de ese sitio a la petición incluye una foto de una portada de Cosmopolitan.

MUJERES SE CUBREN CUANDO ENFRÍA -- Los trajes de baños se comercializan bajo nombres como HydroChic (Hidro Chic), Wholesome Wear (Ropa Sana), Simply Modest (Simplemente Modesto) y Divine Modestee (Modestee Divina) -- atuendos para piscina y playa que típicamente cubren desde la rodilla hasta el cuello, con variaciones intermedias.

Lo que los trajes tienen en común es un mercado de mujeres cristianas, judías y musulmanas que desean cubrirse el torso, las caderas y el pecho mientras disfrutan de un chapuzón en la piscina. Pero espere, de acuerdo a reportes de noticias, los trajes también disfrutan de popularidad entre mujeres no guiadas por la religión.

Chantelle Thomson, dueña de Divine Modestee comercializada para mujeres mormonas, dijo el Huffington Post que estimaba que el 30 por ciento de su negocio de este año está controlado por mujeres que "no tienen afiliación religiosa. Un mundo que adopta la moda está ahora adoptando la modestia sin siquiera saberlo." Thomson predice que el negocio de su compañía este año aumentará un 50 por ciento y ha vendido cerca de 75.000 trajes las primeras tres semanas de junio.

También son populares los estilos retro que recuerdan los 1950s, incluyendo estilos de una pieza y partes de abajo hasta la cintura, vendidos por gigantes de la moda como Marc Jacobs, Norma Kamali, Michael Kors, Missoni, Urban Outfitters y Spanx.

La ex modelo de tallas grandes Tulin Reid le dijo al Post, "Mi fe no es una influencia en la elección de traje de baño. Yo practico el paddleboard y los aeróbicos acuáticos. Me permiten ser atlética y activa sin preocuparme" de tener todo cubierto.

Sin embargo no todas las mujeres están escogiendo cubrirse. En los eventos preliminares del concurso Miss Utah, a las concursantes que se les dio la elección de escoger atavíos de una o dos piezas en la competencia en traje de baño abrumadoramente escogieron mostrar el abdomen. Los organizadores del concurso dijeron que ninguna mujer ha ganado el certamen de Miss America en un traje de baño de una pieza en largo tiempo.

El investigador de mercado IBISWorld indica que los estilos de dos piezas darán cuenta del 68 por ciento de los $2.6 billones en las ventas de trajes de baño en EE.UU. este año.

COMITÉ DE LA CASA VOTA PARA PREVENIR FINANCIACIÓN DE ABORTOS -- Un comité de la Casa de Representantes de EE.UU. ha actuado para proteger a los contribuyentes de financiar abortos.

El Comité de Designación de Partidas votó el 20 de junio a favor de una enmienda que extiende una prohibición actual de cobertura a los abortos a los programas interestatales de seguros de salud establecidos bajo la ley de reforma del cuidado de la salud 2010 comúnmente conocida como "Obamacare." El panel también rechazó una enmienda para liberar la prohibición de financiamiento del gobierno a abortos en el Distrito de Columbia.

El comité votó 28-20 por una enmienda del representante Alan Nunnelee, republicano de Mississippi, que aplica la prohibición existente a la cobertura de abortos por el Programa de Beneficios de Salud de los Empleados Federales a los nuevos programas interestatales. El panel adjuntó la enmienda a la factura de gastos de Servicios Financieros y Gobierno General, el cual fue aprobado por el comité.

"Este comité ha tenido una larga historia de acuerdo bipartidista de reconocimiento de que a los contribuyentes no se les debe pedir que paguen los abortos electivos, ni los contribuyentes deben pagar los planes de salud que realizan abortos electivos," dijo Nunnelee.

El panel votó 26-21 en contra de la propuesta de la representante Barbara Lee, demócrata de California, que habría aplicado una prohibición a la financiación de abortos en D.C. solamente a dinero federal, de acuerdo a LifeSiteNews.com. Los partidarios pro-vida han hecho notar que tal lenguaje carece de sentido en su efecto, debido a que los fondos federales y locales están combinados para el distrito. Como resultado, el gobierno de D.C. puede especificar como local el dinero usado para financiar abortos.
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Compilado por Tom Strode, Erin Roach y Diana Chandler de Baptist Press.

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EDITORIAL: Las misiones y la diversidad
by Por Octavio J. Esqueda
Date: June 29, 2012 - Friday

LA MIRADA, Calif. (BP) -- La Convención Bautista del Sur, es la denominación cristiana más grande de los Estados Unidos y quizá del mundo entero. Dios ha bendecido a este grupo de creyentes y les ha permitido ser un agente esencial en la misiones nacionales e internacionales. El celo evangelístico que tradicionalmente ha caracterizado a los bautistas ha sido usado por el Señor de maneras increíbles para que miles de personas en todo el mundo conozcan las buenas noticias de la salvación por la gracia de Dios a través del sacrificio de nuestro Señor Jesucristo. 

El programa cooperativo de los Bautistas del Sur se ha convertido en el medio más eficaz para que las iglesias puedan unirse en el servicio al Señor y en la proclamación del evangelio. Cada iglesia o congregación de creyentes es independiente, pero voluntariamente colabora con otras iglesias bautistas para que unidas puedan hacer mucho más. Un gran porcentaje de las ofrendas de las iglesias se une y se destina a la obra misionera. De esta manera, miles de misioneros bautistas pueden concentrarse totalmente en el servicio a Dios sin tener que preocuparse por conseguir dinero para su sustento. 

Desde sus inicios, los Bautistas del Sur han hecho de las misiones su mayor fortaleza. Por ejemplo, en el siglo XIX la misionera norteamericana más importante y de gran influencia fue sin lugar a dudas Charlotte (Lottie) Moon. Lottie Moon (1840-1912) se convirtió en 1872 en una de las primeras mujeres misioneras de los Bautistas del Sur cuando inició su ministerio en China en donde sirvió por cuarenta años. A través de muchas cartas y artículos Lottie Moon influenció a los bautistas para que redoblarán sus esfuerzos para obedecer la Gran Comisión que Jesús le dejó a sus seguidores en Mateo 28. Lottie Moon falleció el 24 de diciembre de 1912 cuando su barco estaba anclado en Japón ya que intentaba regresar a los Estados Unidos debido a sus enfermedades crónicas. Desde 1888 los Bautistas del Sur tienen una ofrenda especial para las misiones mundiales que ahora lleva el nombre de Lottie Moon y que ha pasado de tres mil dólares en su primer año a 146.8 millones de dólares en el año 2011. 

A pesar de su éxito misionero, la mayor debilidad de los Bautistas del Sur ha sido su racismo histórico. El origen tormentoso de esta denominación se debe a su deseo de afirmar la esclavitud de los afroamericanos y su rechazo a concederles libertad. Este sentimiento ignominioso y claramente contrario a las enseñanzas de Cristo, hizo que en 1845 los bautistas del sur de los Estados Unidos formaran su propia denominación y se desligaran de los bautistas del norte que estaban en contra de la esclavitud. En los últimos años los Bautistas del Sur se han arrepentido de sus acciones en el pasado y han afirmado la igualdad de todos los seres humanos sin importar su color de piel. Sin embargo, no fue sino hasta este año que los Bautistas del Sur han dado un paso gigantesco hacia delante al elegir a su primer presidente afroamericano en su historia.

La reciente elección de Fred Luther, pastor de Franklin Avenue Baptist Church en la ciudad de Nueva Orleans, como presidente de la convención es quizá uno de los acontecimientos más significativos en la historia de los Bautistas del Sur. Por primera vez una persona no "blanca" representa a esta denominación. La elección unánime del pastor Luther es un destello esperanzador para los que deseamos que los Bautistas del Sur seamos fieles representantes del cuerpo de Cristo en este mundo. 

Los afroamericanos han sufrido mucha segregación a lo largo de su historia. A pesar de que la esclavitud se abolió hace muchos años, la discriminación y desigualdad aún forman parte de la cotidianidad para muchos de ellos y para muchos otros grupos minoritarios en este país. Por lo tanto, para los creyentes afroamericanos la justicia social se ha convertido en unos de sus valores principales. Muchos de ellos enfatizan correctamente que el mensaje de Cristo debe ser integral y, por lo tanto, que su luz debe reflejarse en todos los sectores de la sociedad. La fe en Cristo no es solamente algo "privado" que transforma "individuos" sino una fe "pública" que transforma "sociedades." ¡Los creyentes bautistas tenemos mucho que aprender de nuestros hermanos afroamericanos!

Es mi deseo que los Bautistas del Sur así como eligieron a Fred Luther como su presidente, también "elijan" las prioridades y pasiones de los creyentes afroamericanos. En el cuerpo de Cristo hay unidad en la diversidad y es importante que todas las voces sean escuchadas para que juntos podamos verdaderamente reflejar al Cristo que nos une. 
--30--
Octavio Javier Esqueda es profesor en los programas doctorales en educación en Talbot School of Theology de la Universidad Biola en La Mirada, California. Es miembro de la iglesia bautista Green Hills en La Habra, California y ha tenido la oportunidad de enseñar en diferentes países, instituciones y niveles académicos.


