The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-08/09/2016 DISCLAIMER: Baptist Press should be credited for any reprinted stories that originate with BP. Suggested credit line: Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. Please note that Baptist Press periodically carries stories from other sources by permission. Individuals interested in reprinting non-BP stories should contact the entity where the story originated to seek reprint permission. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Olympics: Diving duo wins silver, gives credit to Christ by Tim Ellsworth Date: August 09, 2016 - Tuesday RIO DE JANEIRO (BP) -- U.S. divers David Boudia and Steele Johnson have known each other for 10 years, since a teenaged Boudia drove the 10-year-old Johnson to practice every day. On Monday (Aug. 9), Boudia teamed up with that "little giggly kid in the back seat," as he remembered Johnson, to win a silver medal in the men's synchronized 10-meter platform event. "It was a successful day for both of us," Boudia said. "Going into it and throughout the competition, I've never felt so content and so calm, and you're at the Olympic Games with millions of people watching you. So it's a pretty good feeling, and we know … that peace comes from God." Boudia and Johnson held second place after each of their six dives. The Chinese pair of Aisen Chen and Yue Lin dominated the event, posting a final score of 496.98 that easily outpaced the U.S. team's 457.11 points. British divers Tom Daley and Daniel Goodfellow won the bronze. The silver gives Boudia the third Olympic medal of his career after he won gold in the men's 10-meter platform and bronze in the same synchronized event in London in 2012. This event was Johnson's Olympic debut, and he credits Boudia with aiding in his development. "He is the embodiment of the word 'mentor' to me," Johnson said. "He's been a solid rock for me in my walk through this Olympic journey and my walk through life outside of the pool. He's gone above and beyond to help me become a man of integrity." Boudia, likewise, gives Johnson credit for helping him rediscover his passion and love for the sport during times over the past four years when he lost interest in diving. "He's been a special guy and a true brother in my life," Boudia said. In an interview with NBC after their competition, both Boudia and Johnson talked about how their faith prepared them to compete. "When my mind is on this and thinking that I'm defined by this, my mind goes crazy," Boudia said. "But we do have to know that our identity's in Christ. We're thankful for this opportunity to be able to dive in front of Brazil and for the United States. It's been an absolutely thrilling moment for us." Johnson echoed Boudia's statement about the importance of remembering that his identity is in Christ and not in the result of a competition. "It just gave me peace," Johnson said. "It gave me ease, and it let me enjoy the contest." -------------------------------------------------------------------- ERLC-led coalition urges defeat of Calif. bill by Tom Strode Date: August 09, 2016 - Tuesday WASHINGTON (BP) -- A Southern Baptist-led, multi-faith coalition has urged California legislators to abandon a bill it says would violate religious freedom in higher education. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) issued a statement today (Aug. 9) calling for members of the State Assembly to oppose Senate Bill 1146. The appeal -- signed by more than 140 religious, academic, legal, policy and media leaders -- says the legislation would especially harm low-income, minority students who seek to attend religious universities and colleges. The measure also would seriously limit the capability of schools to establish standards consistent with their religious beliefs, the endorsers say. In the statement, the signers -- including Southern Baptists and other evangelicals, Roman Catholics, Jews and Muslims --- acknowledge they do not all agree on religious issues but they "all agree that the government has no place in discriminating against poor religious minorities or in pitting a religious education institution's faith-based identity against its American identity." The California proposal has drawn increasing attention and opposition, especially after the Senate passed the bill in late May. The legislation would limit a religious exemption in nondiscrimination law to seminaries and other schools that train students for pastoral ministry, theological teaching or another religious vocation. The Assembly reportedly could vote on the proposal by Aug. 19. One effect of the measure, opponents say, would be to deny Cal Grants -- which provide funds for low-income students, three-fourths of whom are minorities -- to those who decide to attend religiously affiliated, non-profit universities or colleges in the state. SB 1146, foes contend, also would effectively bar Christian and other religious schools from enforcing such requirements as a profession of faith by their students and faculty, standards of sexual conduct, restroom and locker room policies based on biology instead of gender identity and the integration of faith in curriculum. While Sen. Ricardo Lara, the bill's Democratic sponsor, says his goal is to protect gay and transgender students from discrimination at private schools, SB 1146 "results in its own form of discrimination by stigmatizing and coercively punishing religious beliefs that disagree on contested matters related to human sexuality," the ERLC-initiated statement says. ERLC President Russell Moore said the primary difficulty with the bill is "it seeks to suppress and undermine dissent, harming students along the way." "Applying legal or political pressure on institutions that disagree with the cultural majority of the moment is not merely unwise or unfair -- it is un-American," Moore said in a news release that accompanied the release of the statement. "A healthy American culture is one in which ideas can freely be discussed and debated, in good faith, among people who, though they disagree, would defend the right of the other to participate." While many of the statement's signers disagree theologically and some disagree about sexuality and gender identity, "we all agree that our country is better when dissenters are protected, not prosecuted," Moore said. "We stand opposed to legislation that attacks these institutions' right to self-definition and free exercise." The signers call in the statement for Assembly members not only to pull their support of SB 1146 but to "disavow similar intrusions in the future." "Opposition to this bill is not grounded in the protection of religious liberty only, nor for the special pleading of one religion in particular, but for the protection of American society and American democracy," they say. Among Southern Baptist leaders signing the statement were Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, and the six theological seminary presidents -- Southern's R. Albert Mohler Jr., Southwestern's Paige Patterson, New Orleans' Charles Kelley, Gateway's Jeff Iorg, Southeastern's Daniel Akin and Midwestern's Jason Allen. From the state, the Southern Baptist signers include Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California; Fermin Whittaker, executive director of the California Southern Baptist Convention; Ronald Ellis, president of California Baptist University; Roger Spradlin, pastor of Valley Baptist Church in Bakersfield; and A.B. Vines, bishop of New Seasons Church in Spring Valley. Several presidents of universities and professors at seminaries and universities were among other Southern Baptists to sign. Other signers include Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals; Alan Sears, president of Alliance Defending Freedom; Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family; Jerry Johnson, president of the National Religious Broadcasters; Richard Land, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary; Marvin Olasky, editor in chief of World magazine; Robert George, Princeton University professor; Douglas Laycock, University of Virginia law professor; Michael McConnell, director of the Stanford Constitutional Law Center; Barry Corey, president of Biola University in La Mirada; and Hamza Yusuf Hanson, president of Zaytuna College, a Muslim, liberal arts school in Berkeley. Though SB 1146 -- which reportedly would impact more than 40 universities and colleges in California -- would not explicitly prohibit faith-based policies, it would leave institutions exposed to lawsuits for alleged discrimination. It also would require schools to disclose to current and prospective students, faculty and employees their reasons for claiming a religious exemption under the state's higher education law. Representatives of California's religious universities and colleges have met with Lara, the bill's sponsor, and his staff to propose amendments to safeguard the current religious exemption while protecting gay and transgender students, but their efforts have yet to succeed. The statement and current list of signers is available at http://erlc.com/resource-library/statements/protecting-the-future-of-religious-higher-education. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: Scoffers -- then & now by David Crosby Date: August 09, 2016 - Tuesday NEW ORLEANS -- The church has been reminded throughout the ages by the apostle Peter that "in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires" (2 Peter 3:3). Scoffers are generally sitting down. As the psalmist notes, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers...." (Psalm 1:1). They are deriding those who are trying. They are on the sidelines ridiculing the person who is running the race. They do not have a solution. And they follow their own evil desires. They have thrown away the reality of eternal, objective truth in the universe. They have embraced the idea that truth is whatever one things it is. They have conveniently decided that their own impulses should rule the day. According to the proverb of the 1960s, "If it feels good, do it." Every generation has endured scoffers. They were there when Noah heard God's call to build the ark. They were there when Abraham heard God's call to go to a land yet unidentified. Joseph's brothers scoffed at his visions. Goliath scoffed at David and his measly sling. They will ridicule you because you display self-control, discipline and the courage of your convictions. They will make it all sound so silly. And it gets worse as the end draws near. As Peter writes, "They will say, 'Where is this coming he promised?'" (2 Peter 3:4). No matter, the second coming of Jesus is well beyond the scoffers' touts. It remains a fundamental teaching of Jesus and His church. It is not a throw-away doctrine. This truth is a part of all the ancient confessions of the church and of our own Baptist confessions. Versus what scoffers may claim, the return of Jesus is not a story made up by false prophets. It is not a way to calibrate human calendars, nor is it about any person's date-setting agenda. The second coming of Christ to this planet is not a doctrine for kooks and clowns. It is an essential part of our view of the world and human history. It is at the heart of what we believe about the nature of God, the nature of humans, and the nature of this universe. This is how it reads: -- The people of God have confessed through the generations that planet Earth and the far-flung universe do not belong to humans -- it all belongs to the Father in heaven. All things find their culmination in the will and purpose of God. -- Human history is linear. It began in the heart of God and that is where it will find its completion. We are not spinning around in senseless and eternal circles. We have a beginning, as all science now confesses, and we will have an ending that will entail the falling of God's judgment on this rebellious human race that has so loudly and profanely resisted His will at every turn. God is going to break into human history again as He did when He sent His Son and our Savior. The only way to prepare for the inevitable end both of human history and of your own personal history is to confess Jesus Christ, God's one and only Son, as Lord and Savior. The closer we get to the actual end of the world, the louder the scoffers will get. Hold on to the truth of God's conclusion to all this mess we are in. Jesus is coming. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE STATES: Va., Ky., Ala. evangelism/missions news; '... God has multiplied our efforts ...' by Staff Date: August 09, 2016 - Tuesday Today's From the States features items from: Procalimer (Virginia) Western Recorder (Kentucky) The Alabama Baptist ********** Va. churches reach Hispanic neighbors with 'Soul Food' By Staff WOODSTOCK, Va. (Proclaimer) -- Looking over the harvest field of thousands of Spanish-speaking people in the vicinity of Woodstock, Va. (12 percent of the town's population), Pastor Banks Swanson's heart became burdened. He wondered how his predominately Anglo congregation at Shenandoah Community Fellowship could reach them with the Gospel. Pastor Banks shares, "I would hate to stand before God knowing that our church did not do something to reach these people with the love of Jesus." In January of 2012, Shenandoah Community Fellowship began Soul Food Ministry. God gave church member Kara Miller a desire to help feed the hungry beyond the church's annual Christmastime outreach. Kara explains: "Over the past four years, the Soul Food Ministry has grown from serving 35-50 meals once a month at the church to delivering 400 meals twice a month to folks in need! Through the gifts to the SBC of Virginia Vision Virginia Offering, God has multiplied our efforts to minister to our community. "While we were on deliveries to these lower income neighborhoods, it became apparent that though there was a great need for physical food, there was an even greater need for spiritual food for one particular group in the community -- the Hispanic population. The food that we delivered twice a month was simply a key to open a door to a greater purpose -- being the hands and feet of Jesus and showing the world His love." A burden for the Hispanic community drove not only Pastor Banks but other SBC of Virginia pastors in the Shenandoah area to join in prayer. They prayed for six months that the Lord of the harvest (Luke 10:2b) would send a Hispanic man of God to partner with them to reach Spanish-speaking people with the Gospel. God answered their prayer through a family from the Shenandoah area who had met a godly Cuban couple 13 years prior while on mission in that country. Through a number of amazing circumstances, God brought Manuel and Yuneisy Ferradas to the United States and eventually to the Shenandoah area. Pastor Manuel recalls, "We started thinking about coming to the U.S. in 2013, but the impossibility in human eyes was big, [but] God gave us the visas when human hands were short and the impossibility was huge." The Lord led Manuel and Yuneisy to join Shenandoah Community Fellowship, where they immediately became involved in the Soul Food Ministry, helping deliver meals. Pastor Banks and the church family embraced this precious couple as their own family and supported their call to plant a Hispanic church. After completing the immigration process, Manuel and Yuneisy launched Valle de Dios Iglesia Bautista Hispana (Valley of God Hispanic Baptist Church) on the afternoon of Sunday, April 12, 2015 at Shenandoah Community Fellowship. By knocking on doors with Pastor Banks, Pastor Manuel was able to meet Spanish-speaking people, build relationships with them, and show them Christ's love. Prior to the first service at Valle de Dios, he had more than 80 contacts with whom he was sharing the Gospel. Although this infant church may only have 12–25 in attendance on a Sunday afternoon, the miracle of salvation has already come to this small congregation. In early 2016, all four members of the Rodríguez family confessed Jesus as Lord and were baptized by Pastor Manuel. Miranda Rodríguez shares her family's story: "We met this church through the granddaughter of Pastor Banks Swanson and began a friendship with them. After the arrival of Manuel and Yuneisy, we came and began to hear the teachings of the Gospel. Although we had heard it on other occasions, it was not until now that we took the step of commitment in our faith accepting Christ as our Lord. "We like to go to the church family on Sunday because we are filled with joy to hear the Word and share in giving thanks to God for all the things He has done for us. It is a great joy to go to [Valley de Dios] Hispanic Baptist Church. It doesn't matter that we are just a few in number, we are still in the presence of God." The Rodríguezes are growing and sharing their faith with others where they work, live, and play. "Every Spanish speaker in Woodstock knows Manuel," says Pastor Banks. Shenandoah Community Fellowship and Valle de Dios have gained the reputation in the area as "the ones who deliver food" and care for their community. God is glorifying Himself through this miracle in the harvest fields of the Hispanic population in Woodstock. Please join Shenandoah Community Fellowship and Valle de Dios in praying that harvest will continue. PRAY that the Lord will continue to expand the Soul Food Ministry. PRAY that Valle de Dios Iglesia Bautista Hispana will continue to make disciples. PRAY that the Lord will multiply the two churches' efforts through new small groups being planted to reach the Hispanic population in the Shenandoah area. If you are burdened over the ethnic population outside the doors of your church and desire a partnership to reach them with the Gospel, contact Larry Black, SBC of Virginia's church planting people group strategist (lblack@sbcv.org). --30-- This article appeared in The Proclaimer (sbcv.org/articles/category/proclaimer), newsmagazine of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia. ********** Ky. church seeks to reach South Asian neighbors By Cary Donnell LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Western Recorder) -- Hurstbourne Baptist Church could tell their neighbors next door were hurting and in need. But it wasn't a need for food, clothes or shelter. It was far greater. "Several years ago the Missions Team from Hurstbourne gained a burden for the hundreds of South Asians that live near our church campus and began a strategic work," said Cameron Debity, senior pastor of the Louisville congregation. "A key phrase that the leaders have rallied around is, 'A healthy church reflects the community in which it is a part of,'" he said. "So, many of our folks began to long for an ethnically diverse congregation, filled with individuals from our immediate community." The church began an outreach mission to reach a nearby -- perceivably lost -- community of Indian immigrants, who are living in an apartment complex near the church. The mission specifically arose from a vision from the senior pastor to make the congregation more diverse and look more like the vision of heaven in Revelation. "I believe our church has become a place of peace and a conduit for friendship-building for our South Asians," added Debity. "They are an incredibly communal people so we provide many opportunities for them to connect with one another and for our faith family to connect with them." The ministry is led by Prasad Aghamkar, a doctoral student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who is originally from Mumbai, India. He has been serving as a South Asian ministry catalyst at Hurstbourne since 2014. "I was praying that God should show me a new way in which to reach out to the Indian community," said Aghamkar. "Hurstbourne Grand Apartments, adjacent to Hurstbourne Baptist Church, has a very large Indian population. God answered my prayer of reaching out to these people by giving me this unique idea, which is culturally relevant and non-threatening to these people." The ministry, called the Aashirwad Asian Fellowship, meets every month in the church's fellowship hall. People from many different nationalities, backgrounds and faiths gather and hear the Gospel proclaimed through devotionals, music and testimonies. The ministry also includes a social aspect, where Indians visit and talk over free tea every Thursday in the church parking lot from 5:30-8 p.m., a time strategically selected because many are out for their evening walk. On average, about 25-30 people show up to the "Tea Stall" each week. "Indians are very fond of tea or 'chai.' It's part of our culture to have tea and talk," continued Aghamkar. "Our main goal is to build relationships to have dialogue and discussion so that we can ultimately share the Gospel with them." The church understands that patience is necessary to see how the fruits of their labor will pay off. "This is definitely a long-term ministry effort," stated Debity. "For the foreseeable future, it seems that we will be neighbors to one of the largest South Asian populations in the city. We believe that God has strategically placed our church in close proximity to this people group for such a time as this." The goal is to see the community of Indian immigrants come to faith in Jesus. "We hope to continue to build relationships and to build trust, so that we can give a credible witness," said Debity. "As one pastor said, 'We want to be a church who does good deeds, to foster good will, so that we can share the good news of the Gospel.' We are praying for that first Indian family to turn to Christ as Savior and Lord." --30-- This article appeared in the Western Recorder (westernrecorder.org), newsjournal of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. Cary Donnell writes for the Western Recorder. ********** Global Impact Alabama seeks to reach immigrants in state with gospel By Grace Thornton MONTGOMERY, Ala. (The Alabama Baptist) -- A lot could change if we'd be willing to just go in a grocery store and strike up a conversation with the people who work there. At least that's what Alan Cross says. "Imagine if you moved to South Asia. You would want to know somebody local in the community. It just makes your life better." And Alabama Baptists can make that happen here for someone else by being willing to befriend the South Asian -- or immigrant from any other country -- here in our state. "It's amazing how much first-generation immigrants are open to having relationships with Americans," said Cross, president and executive director of Community Development Initiatives and former pastor of Gateway Baptist Church, Montgomery. "If we just got to know people and built relationships with them, what a vehicle that could be for the gospel." That's the thought behind Global Impact Alabama, an effort to reach out to immigrant populations around the state with the Gospel, he said. Gaining traction A spinoff of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions' (SBOM) Impact Alabama effort, the new initiative focuses on gaining traction specifically in multihousing developments, he said. It's a joint project with SBOM and the North American Mission Board and it's something near and dear to Cross, who works with immigrant and refugee ministry and advocacy across the Southeast. "We are trying to plant missional communities ... in apartment complexes, mobile home communities and housing projects ... in the 12 largest Alabama cities," he said. "If there are people here in our community from other countries, then it's our privilege and opportunity to share Christ with them." Unreached people groups For example in Montgomery, one apartment complex is host to a large population of Mixtec people, an unreached people group from southern Mexico, he said. "We had a couple who went in and rented an apartment there and took on tangible ministry helping with schoolwork and English classes," he said. In Tuscaloosa a group has started reaching out to an apartment complex with 900 immigrants from Guatemala, Cross said. And he and others are praying about sending a church planter to the Huntsville and Madison area, where about 15,000 Hispanics live with no Baptist church of their own to serve them. "It's just journeying alongside people and finding out how we can love them," Cross said. The project is in its initial stages, he said, noting that at the moment they are just trying to "look at these pockets of people" and get a handle on what's already happening around the state. It's just conceptual for the moment, but Global Impact Alabama is hoping to harness a lot of resources for the sake of the Gospel among the state's immigrant population -- like partner with churches already running English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, or connect with International Mission Board missionaries returning from overseas. Kristy Kennedy, state missionary who leads ESL ministry efforts for SBOM, said, "We want to find the ministries and churches that are already doing it really well and be able to connect other churches with them to learn how they're doing it. A lot of exciting things are happening and people are coming to know Christ. We have a lot of good stories already and we just want to see it grow." Gift from God Kennedy said it's a gift from God that these immigrants have come to our state, and Cross agreed. "We should be going toward people instead of running away from them," Cross said. "As Christians that's what we should be about." For more information or to share about ministries happening in your area, email Kristy Kennedy at kkennedy@alsbom.org. --30-- This article appeared in The Alabama Baptist (thealabamabaptist.org), newsjournal of the Alabama Baptist Convention. Grace Thornton is assistant editor of The Alabama Baptist. ********** EDITOR'S NOTE: From the States, published each Tuesday by Baptist Press, relays news and feature stories from state Baptist papers and other publications on initiatives by Baptist churches, associations and state conventions in evangelism, church planting and Great Commission outreach, including partnership missions. Reports about churches, associations and state conventions responding to the International Mission Board's call to embrace the world's 3,800 unengaged, unreached people groups also are included in From the States, along with reports about church, associational and state convention initiatives in conjunction with the North American Mission Board's call to Southern Baptist churches to broaden their efforts in starting new churches and satellite campuses. The items appear in Baptist Press as originally published. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Widow's trust in the Lord shown in Mission:Dignity by John Ambra Date: August 09, 2016 - Tuesday DALLAS (BP) -- Sandra McGill never dreamed she'd be a pastor's wife. When she and Joe married in 1954, he hadn't told her about his call to preach while operating a plow on his family's farm. His revelation several years later would be the beginning of more than three decades cultivating fields of a different kind. Joe and Sandra's journey took them from their native South Carolina to New Orleans where Joe enrolled in seminary. While there, he pastored a small church on the west bank of the Mississippi River. It was a very poor section of town and primarily Roman Catholic. The local people called him "Father Joe" or "The Baptist Priest." A family who lived across the street from the McGills had a little boy named Pat who was a couple of years younger than their sons but liked coming over to play. Eventually, Pat was saved at the church's Vacation Bible School and would go to church with the McGills. However, his family never had an interest in the Gospel. When the McGills were about to move away, little Pat asked Sandra to take him with them. Years later, when the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting was held in New Orleans, the church hosted a dinner for all the pastors who had served there. Joe and Sandra met Pat's older brother, who had since been saved and was serving in the church. He told them Pat was now married, had two children and was a deacon in a church across the river. "Everywhere we've been, there have been people that said they would never go to church," Sandra recalled, "but they got saved. We were real thrilled over that." That is just one of many memories Sandra cherishes since Joe died in March 2005. After his passing, she has been helped by the Mission:Dignity ministry of GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. "We had an interesting life together," Sandra said. "We pastored quite a few churches, in four different states, and all but a couple were little country churches that were barely scraping by. "At one particular church, we made $200 a week and paid $200 a month for house rent. We had one child still at home. One Sunday night during a business meeting, this man got up and said, 'I think we need to cut the pastor's salary.' Of course it didn't go. We had barely enough to live on, much less to put something into any kind of savings or annuity. "We just depended on the Lord." Even today, with just a small widow's benefit from GuideStone and a modest Social Security check, Sandra continues to depend on the Lord for everyday needs and has experienced the generosity and kindness of her Southern Baptist family through Mission:Dignity. "After Joe died, I got a letter saying Mission:Dignity would supply me with $200 a month if I needed it," Sandra recounted. "There were several times that I would have this bill and wouldn't know how to pay it. The Lord just blessed. He multiplies things. If it hadn't been for that extra money, I would not have been able to have dental work done. There are times that I had to use it for car repair. Sometimes an extra unexpected emergency would come up." Mission:Dignity assists nearly 1,800 retired ministers, church workers or their widows, distributing about $7 million annually, with most of the funding coming from direct gifts of individuals, Sunday School classes and churches. One hundred percent of gifts are used for the well-deserved monthly grants, with operating expenses provided by GuideStone. Undated resources to inform churches about Mission:Dignity -- available at Mission:Dignity Sunday -- include free bulletin inserts, promotional posters and a DVD with several brief testimonies of people assisted by the ministry, including Sandra McGill. GuideStone estimates that a record-high 8,274 Southern Baptist congregations participated in this year's Mission:Dignity Sunday, slated in June each year on the SBC calendar, though the resources can be used at any time. "The Lord has just provided for me so much," McGill said. "I just ask Him to bless the people that make Mission:Dignity possible, that He will give them special blessings and continue to bless them as they bless me." -------------------------------------------------------------------- 9/11 prayer outreach spotlights 'critical' year by Diana Chandler Date: August 09, 2016 - Tuesday CLEVELAND, Tenn. (BP) -- On the 15th anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history, Southern Baptists are being urged to join hundreds of thousands of Christians from many denominations and ethnicities in praying for a Christian awakening in the nation. The Sept. 11 Cry Out America prayer outreach of the Awakening America Alliance and Center for Spiritual Renewal, an 8-year-old cooperative initiative encompassing more than 150,000 churches, ministries and parachurches in North America, is increasingly popular this year as more Christians recognize the nation's deep spiritual need, Awakening America executive director Kay Horner told Baptist Press. "I think that the nation is beginning to wake up and recognize the desperation that we are going to have to have for God to hear from heaven and heal our land. There's just this increasing recognition that we're desperate for God," Horner said. "This is also such a critical year with the election and all of the security issues, the need for racial reconciliation. We anticipate a much larger increase in the churches involved, because of it being on a Sunday." Immediate past Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd is among leaders issuing a 9/11 prayer call this year. Most recently, Floyd issued the call during a July 17th sermon and in an Aug. 5th blogpost, asking churches to denote at least 11 minutes and up to an hour to prayer in Sept. 11 worship services. "With great conviction, I want to ask each pastor and church in America to allocate the day to praying for our nation," Floyd said of 9/11. "The churches of America need to pray for our country in our worship services. Not just mention it, not just pray, but pray extraordinarily." The stakes are especially high this year, Floyd blogged. "Prayer brings the walls down! Prayer crosses over the perceived barriers of ethnicity, race, and generations, bringing down the walls that divide us. Let the walls fall down!" Floyd wrote. "Our sinful choices have built these walls, but Jesus' work on the cross has brought them all down." He asked churches to decide for themselves how much time to give to prayer on the anniversary, encouraging between 11 minutes and an hour of prayer. Horner expressed pleasure at Floyd's emphasis on 9/11 prayer, part of the Cry Out America movement that began in 2008 on the steps of courthouses in the nation's 3,143 counties and has spread to include schools, churches, and parachurch and marketplace ministries, with a presence in all 50 states. "We like to use the terminology of Christ awakening, because you can have spiritual awakening through a number of things. But we really are encouraging people to pray for a Christ awakening and for revival in the nation," Horner said. "Cry Out America has always involved people from different denominations and races and cultures and government, education. It's been a unified effort. It's much like the fall version of National Day of Prayer, that people put aside their tribes, their logos and their egos and they come together to just seek God." Horner included a link to Floyd's sermon in a letter to 150,000 pastors encouraging participation in the emphasis. The letter included an exhortation from Jeff Farmer, president of the near 30,000-church strong Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA), asking churches to pray at least 11 minutes. "This challenge issued by PCCNA President Dr. Jeff Farmer echoes the plea of Dr. Ronnie Floyd and other denominational leaders in the nation," Horner wrote. "It should stir all of us to consider the importance of engaging in fervent, united prayer and action. "History reveals that Great Awakenings are only birthed through extraordinary prayer. Although committing an entire morning worship service to prayer is not unusual for some congregations, for others eleven minutes of prayer would be extraordinary." Among those receiving the letter were the 40,000 pastors in the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference led by Samuel Rodriguez, who has broad appeal as one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in The World" in 2013, and Awakening America cabinet member Mark Dance, associate vice president, LifeWay Pastors at LifeWay Christian Resources, Nashville, Tenn. In addition to Farmer and Dance, Awakening America's cabinet includes Ted Baehr, chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission of Camarillo, Calif.; Robert O. Bakke, senior teaching pastor of Hillside Church in Bloomington, Minn.; O.E. Battaglia, founder and president of Renaissance Communications, Wyckoff, N.J.; Sterling Brackett, co-chair, vice president of corporate affairs and COO of The Foursquare Church, Los Angeles; Billye Brim, founder of Billye Brim Ministries, Kirbyville, Mo.; Dave Butts, chairman of the National Prayer Committee and president of Harvest Prayer Ministries, Terre Haute, Ind.; Paul Cedar, chairman and CEO of Mission America Coalition, Palm Desert, Calif.; David Ferguson, co-chair of the Great Commandment Network of Intimate Life Ministries in Austin, Texas; Jim Garlow, senior pastor of Skyline Church, La Mesa, Calif.; Harry Jackson Jr., chairman of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, Beltsville, Md.; Michael Obi, director of the African Strategic Leadership Prayer Network, Cleveland, Tenn.; Tom Phillips, vice president of The Billy Graham Library, Charlotte, N.C.; Doug Stringer, founder and president of Somebody Cares, Houston; and Jeremy Story, co-founder and president of Campus Renewal Ministries, Austin. Free Sept. 11 prayer resources and promotional materials are available at http://awakeningamerica.us/cry-out-america-resources/. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Roy Moore to stand trial for gay marriage order by David Roach Date: August 09, 2016 - Tuesday MONTGOMERY, Ala. (BP) -- With Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore set to stand trial next month on charges he defied federal court rulings on same-sex marriage, a legal adviser to Alabama Baptists' public policy auxiliary has called the allegations against him unmerited. At issue in Moore's case is a Jan. 6 administrative order in which he stated Alabama's 68 probate judges had "a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage licenses contrary to" the state's ban on same-sex marriage until the Alabama Supreme Court clarified the relationship between state law and the U.S. Supreme Court's decision legalizing same-sex marriage. The Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) alleges in a 293-page complaint that Moore "failed to respect and comply with the law," citing the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell ruling among other cases. The JIC seeks to have Moore, a Southern Baptist, removed from office. Yesterday (Aug. 8), the Alabama Court of the Judiciary, a state panel that disciplines judges, denied both a motion from the JIC to remove Moore from office immediately and a motion by Moore to dismiss the complaint. A trial is set for Sept. 28, when a nine-judge panel will decide whether Moore violated judicial ethics and, if so, what penalty to impose. Eric Johnston, an attorney who advises the Alabama Citizens Action Program, an auxiliary of the Alabama Baptist Convention, told Baptist Press, "By and large, most people in Alabama would agree with Moore on his position. I think it's real clear that the marriage issue and his stand on it is what brought this [complaint] on. It's almost like it's vengeance by those that won the marriage issue in Alabama." If Moore is removed from office, it will be his second time to face that penalty. After being elected chief justice for the first time in 2000, he was removed from office in 2003 for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Judicial Building. He was elected chief justice for a second time in 2012 but, according to a state constitutional provision, is serving an automatic suspension from the bench pending the outcome of his case. The current complaint against Moore has drawn involvement from organizations on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a nonprofit legal group that defends so-called homosexual rights among other causes, filed the initial complaint against Moore earlier this year. The JIC then hired John Carroll, a former SPLC legal director, as co-prosecutor of the case. Carroll also is professor of law at Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, affiliated with the Alabama Baptist Convention. During an Aug. 8 hearing before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary, Carroll said Moore has engaged in "repeated refusal to follow the law," the Associated Press reported. The chief justice abused his power in service of a personal agenda that opposes same-sex marriage, Carroll said. Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit legal group that defends religious liberty, is representing Moore. At yesterday's hearing, Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver argued Moore's administrative order merely provided clarification to probate judges, AP reported. The order did not tell probate judges to violate a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Liberty Counsel argued in a news release. The order explicitly stated, "I am not at liberty to provide any guidance to Alabama probate judges on the effect of Obergefell on the existing orders of that Alabama Supreme Court." Staver stated according to the release, "The Judicial Inquiry Commission abused its authority when it filed charges against Chief Justice Roy Moore. The charges should never have been filed and must be dismissed. The JIC knows that it has no case and refuses to face the reality of the four-page administrative order, which any plain reading reveals did not direct the probate judges to disobey the U.S. Supreme Court. The JIC's charges are full of colorful adjectives and lacking in substance." Johnston, adviser to the Alabama Citizens Action Program, which receives the bulk of its funding through the Cooperative Program, said the legal merits of the 2003 complaint against Moore may cause casual observers wrongly to conclude he has violated the law again. "I've looked at the law and so forth, and I believe that he was doing what he, as a judge, would probably normally be doing" by issuing the administrative order, Johnston said. "He violated no court orders. He violated no ethics. And that's not something you would remove a judge from office for." Even if Moore, 69, remains in office, he will be ineligible for reelection in 2018 because of a state law precluding the election of circuit, appellate and Supreme Court judges over age 70.