
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-09/06/2017

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FIRST-PERSON: John the Baptist & The Nashville Statement
by Owen Strachan
Date: September 06, 2017 - Wednesday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP) -- Just days ago, the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood released, in partnership with the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, "The Nashville Statement" on biblical sexuality. The document is truly a landmark in theological history.

In an age when there is little clarity on sexual matters, and a permissive, even pagan, ethic creeps into the church, The Nashville Statement clarifies what sexual fidelity to Christ entails.

The statement, not surprisingly, has received ferocious pushback from non-Christian voices. Even some evangelicals have raised concerns; the statement, they worry, will make it hard to build bridges to unbelievers. Better, it seems to them, to cultivate friendships, engage in conversations and avoid public statements about ethical matters -- keep things personal; refrain from going public.

I understand this concern. There are surely matters, perhaps many, that do not merit a major declaration. But The Nashville Statement does not cover lesser matters.

The Nashville Statement lends invaluable biblical clarity to pastors and Christian leaders who are seeking, with great headwinds in their face, to help sinners pulled by homosexual and transgender identity to find Christ. It engages several of the most vexing and unanswered questions of our day, and it does so with grace and truth in equal measure.

The stance just taken by CBMW and the ERLC, in partnership with warm-hearted, Christ-loving evangelicals across the denominational spectrum, reminds me of another controversial public stance. Two millennia ago, John the Baptist came preaching Christ. His message was the Messiah; his call was to holiness. As John preached, he somehow gained the ear of Herod, a political leader. John had access to Herod, and he had the priceless opportunity to tell him of his need for spiritual salvation. Surely John spoke of these things.

But that was not all he said to Herod.

John the Baptist rebuked Herod for divorcing his wife and marrying his half-brother's spouse, Herodias. Matthew's Gospel gives a succinct record of John's words to Herod: "It is not lawful for you to have her" (Matthew 14:4). We have no extended prologue, no longer record of how the conversation went. Scholar R.T. France notes that John's comments came in the context of "public denunciation" (France, Matthew, 555). It appears that this happened repeatedly; John did not merely warn Herod once but "kept on telling" him that he was sinning, and thus in danger of spending eternity in hell.

If our goal as Christians in a fallen world is to gain access to unbelievers and do all we can to keep it, let us be bracingly honest: John the Baptist did a poor job of it. He angered the governor, got sent to prison where he was chained to a wall, and occasioned his own beheading. Church history suggests that this was not enough for Herodias: she stabbed his tongue with her hairpin.

Here is the point for our considerations: It was not the announcement of the Messiah that ended John's short life. It was the clear declaration of sexual ethics that sent him into eternity. It is a biblical curiosity, rarely preached on, but hugely important for us today in a similarly pagan context: The forerunner of Christ died because he called a wicked governor, a public figure, to repent.

We learn an invaluable truth through John's martyrdom (he is after all the first martyr, killed even before Christ, showing us just how much of a forerunner he was).

We learn that our sexual ethics are not divorced from the Gospel. They are bound up with the Gospel. You could say it this way: The Gospel creates sexual ethics. The Word of God has always done so. In ancient Israel, homosexuality and cross-dressing called for full repentance (see Deuteronomy 22). In the New Testament era, these same sins are condemned (see Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 11),

You cannot follow Christ but keep your eyes blind to your behavior, or others'. The Gospel is a transforming Gospel; Christ is a transforming Savior (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Sexual sin, as with unrighteousness of any kind, merits a loving response, and love of the biblical kind means not that we affirm sin but that we seek the rescue of those in danger of the righteous wrath of almighty God.

The Nashville Statement does not represent a nuking of existing bridges to Christ. Calling sin sinful and urging the wayward to repent and trust Christ is not problematic for Christian witness. It is Christian witness. There is no witness without it. There is no love without it. There is no hope without it. Out of such a biblical conviction, let us build friendships with unbelievers wherever we can. Let us never stop emulating John the Baptist -- let us tell the truth to them, the whole truth.

Let us also count the cost.

Any stance that promotes the Word of God is going to rile the devil, as The Nashville Statement surely has. But we are not people who fear the devil or who fear the world. We love God and we love our neighbor, and so we will walk John's path, and share John's message, and point the lost -- infinitely far from God, just as we once were -- to John's Messiah.


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Pew: Reformation theology waning among Protestants
by David Roach
Date: September 06, 2017 - Wednesday

<i>EDITOR'S NOTE: This year, Baptist Press is publishing a series of stories leading up to the 500th anniversary of when Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany, Oct. 31, 1517.

Paragraphs 19-22 were added Sept. 7 at 1:30 p.m.</i>

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Five hundred years after the start of the Protestant Reformation, a majority of U.S. Protestants reportedly reject the Reformation doctrines of sola fide (the belief men and women are saved by faith alone) and sola scriptura (the belief Scripture is the only infallible guide for faith and practice).

That's the finding of the Pew Research Center, which also found a majority of western European Protestants reject sola fide and that theological differences between Protestants and Catholics seem to be narrowing in many cases.

"The result of the survey ... in America and Europe is not particularly surprising," said Paige Patterson, a participant during the 1990s in a five-year theological dialogue between eight Southern Baptist leaders and eight representatives of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"Although such surveys have little relevance on the vitality of faith and are often skewed in various ways, there is a sense in which both groups surveyed are correct. Certainly, Catholicism and Protestantism are more alike than any other expressions of religion in the world in their confidence that the Bible is in some sense the Word of God, that Jesus of Nazareth is the center of the Christian faith, in their confidence in the doctrine of the Trinity ... and in their general concept of sin defined as rebellion against God," Patterson told Baptist Press in written comments.

"On the other hand, the survey also demonstrates the extent of biblical illiteracy," said Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Regarding salvation, two separate Pew surveys conducted in the U.S. and Europe and released Aug. 31 found:

-- Less than half (46%) of U.S. Protestants hold the Reformation doctrine that faith alone is needed to attain salvation. More than half (52%) espouse the historically Catholic doctrine that good deeds and faith are required to get into heaven.

-- A full 81 percent of U.S. Catholics say good deeds and faith are required to get into heaven. Just 17 percent of Catholics say salvation comes by faith alone.

-- In Europe, 29 percent of Protestants and 26 percent of Catholics espouse belief in salvation by faith alone.

Contrary to the majority of Protestants in the U.S. and Europe, the Augsburg Confession of Faith -- a classic 1530 Lutheran confession of faith -- stated, "Men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ's sake, through faith."

In contrast, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that while "no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification," humans can "merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for ... the attainment of eternal life."

Concerning the authority of Scripture, Pew found:

-- Just 46 percent of U.S. Protestants believe the Bible provides all religious guidance Christians need. More than half (52%) say believers need guidance from church teachings and traditions as well.

-- Three-quarters (75%) of U.S. Catholics say Christians need guidance from church traditions and teachings in addition to the Bible. Just 21 percent of Catholics say the Bible provides all needed religious guidance.

Protestants traditionally have believed, as stated in the 1646 Westminster Confession of Faith, "The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture."

In contrast, the Catholic Church holds according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the church "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence."

Only 30 percent of U.S. Protestants believe in both sola fide and sola scriptura, according to Pew.

In the western European survey, most Catholics and most Protestants in every nation said they believe the two Christian groups are more theologically similar than different.

R. Albert Mohler Jr., another participant in Southern Baptists' 1990s dialog with Catholic bishops, said the lack of "theological clarity" on "both sides of the Atlantic ... is perhaps the most profound insight from these two studies."

Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, noted Sept. 7 in his podcast The Briefing that "some clarification" of the Pew data "is really important."

"In western Europe and in North America, specifically in the United States, the historic Protestant denominations have overwhelmingly adopted liberal theology, which is to say they are now no longer teaching what their historic confessions based on Scripture have both required and taught. The second great clarification has to do with the fact that the overwhelming worldview now shaping Europe is secular in its orientation," Mohler said.

"We shouldn't be surprised that a secularizing culture in which the churches have responded with theological liberalism has blurred the theological boundaries," Mohler said.

Patterson said "the poll is a source of challenge to Baptists to be sure that we prepare our people adequately in the doctrinal commitments that we have."

The European surveys were conducted via telephone April 11-Aug. 2, with 24,599 respondents from 15 countries. The U.S. survey of 5,198 panelists was conducted online May 30-Aug. 9.


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Abortion clinics' post-Harvey offer called 'heinous'
by David Roach
Date: September 06, 2017 - Wednesday

HOUSTON (BP) -- A chain of Texas-based abortion clinics has announced it will provide "no-cost abortions" during the month of September "for those affected by Hurricane Harvey."

Whole Woman's Health -- which operates Texas clinics in Austin, Fort Worth, McAllen and San Antonio -- announced its free-abortion campaign in a Sept. 1 blog post stating, "The need for abortion care does not stop for natural disasters." Supported by abortion-assistance funds, including the Lilith Fund and the Stigma Relief Fund, Whole Woman's Health will offer free travel and lodging as part of its campaign.

Pro-life advocates called the offer "heinous" and "callous."

"The promotion of this heinous no-cost service is riddled with fallacies because abortion is never free," said Melissa Conway, director of external relations for Texas Right to Life. "There is always a cost to abortion. Women are not free from the emotional toll that ensues after abortion and the child is certainly not free to live another day. Abortions, just like the catastrophic effects of a hurricane, are never free and we, as a community, pay the price for their needless destruction.

"As so many are living in the tragic remains of Harvey," Conway told Baptist Press in written comments, "now more than ever is the time to protect the most vulnerable among us and combat the predatory schemes of big-business abortion attempting to victimize women and terminate the lives of their preborn babies."

Followers of Jesus must "be the hands and feet of Christ" following Harvey, Conway said, especially to "women who are pregnant and in crisis." Such women should be referred to pregnancy care centers that will care for them and their unborn children, she said.

Tom Billings, executive director of the Houston-area Union Baptist Association, told BP in written comments, "It's ironic after so many heroic efforts to save pets during the recent floods in Houston that anyone would be so callous with the life of an unborn child."

Whole Woman's Health stated in its blog post, "Unfortunately, we know all too well that abortion can be difficult to access in some parts of the country, especially in Texas. There are already so many barriers to access this necessary procedure, and natural disasters stand in the way of women getting to their appointment and/or being able to afford care.

"During Hurricane Harvey, many of the clinics in Houston had to close temporarily, leaving women with very few options. Continued political attacks on abortion access make an unwanted pregnancy particularly stressful in Texas -- add that to the stress of dealing with hurricane aftermath," the blog post stated. 

Abby Johnson, a pro-life advocate and former director of a Texas Planned Parenthood clinic, said her former employer made a similar free-abortion offer following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Though the idea seemed "fantastic" at the time, Johnson said according to LifeNews.com, "I now realize that we were preying on these families in their most desperate time of need."

Johnson continued, "We didn't offer to help them find housing, food, clothing, or anything else ... just a way to kill their unborn child at 'no cost.' Sick."


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'Buckets for Harvey' readied for hurricane survivors
by Tammi Reed Ledbetter
Date: September 06, 2017 - Wednesday

GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP) -- Even a 2-year-old can help the flood survivors in Houston and southeast Texas. That's the plan at Kristin Leonard's home, where her family is packing cleaning supplies for Hurricane Harvey survivors.

When Normandale Baptist Church in Fort Worth announced plans to collect "Buckets for Harvey," she saw it as an opportunity for her family to get involved. 

"My 2-year-old will love putting things in a bucket, and our 5-year-old will have some understanding of what happened and why people need these things," Leonard told the Southern Baptist TEXAN. "We looked at the list and it's all manageable, so I sent out a Facebook message to see if other people wanted to help."

The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention is asking churches and individuals to collect five-gallon buckets with lids and pack them with 18 items such as respirator masks, eyeglass protectors, work gloves and cleaning supplies. Together, the supplies will cost $50-$75.

After Church at the Cross in Grapevine alerted members of the project, Staci Taylor invited neighbors on her street to a Sunday night packing party. "Join us to help meet a very practical and essential need for our Texas families," she wrote in a Facebook post to friends. 

"We want to be a people of action in this situation to shine light in the darkness," wrote Geoffrey Bertram, minister to life groups at Church at the Cross, which provided the buckets for families to fill with supplies.

Mitch Kolenovsky, an SBTC field ministry strategist, still remembers how grateful he was to a local church that showed up with cleaning supplies nearly two decades ago when his home in Seguin, Texas, flooded.

"Things like bleach and sponges are real necessities because mold and mildew become a huge problem in the aftermath of any flooding that takes place. You need to be able to kill that out as soon as possible," Kolenovsky said.

As of Sept. 6, 19 churches across the state were serving as collection sites for the buckets. 

Providence Church in Frisco will make their delivery Sept. 11 while a team from Normandale Baptist will head out with buckets the following week. Other sites have a longer time frame with late September deliveries.

Churches planning to receive and distribute the buckets include Houston's First Baptist Church, Sportsman's Church in Victoria and First Baptist Church in Beaumont.

Each five-gallon bucket should contain 18 items:

-- Terry towels (4-pack or buy in bulk and separate, thin not thick)
-- Trash bags (roll of 25, may need to buy in bulk and separate)
-- Mold and mildew control, spray bottle
-- Dish soap
-- Cleaner with bleach, spray bottle
-- Wonderbar pry bar, 12-3/4"
-- Small first-aid kit
-- Duct tape roll
-- Scrub brush
-- Leather work/palm gloves (3-pack)
-- Disposable gloves (2-pack)
-- Utility knife
-- Sharpie permanent marker (2-pack)
-- 3M eyeglass protector
-- Small hygiene kit (or use feminine napkins/pads purchased in bulk then separate)
-- 11" zip ties/cable ties (100 pack or similar)
-- Respirator masks (2-pack)
-- Sponges (3-pack, pack these last under the lid)

For further information, visit sbtexas.com/harvey and click on "Buckets for Harvey."

Watch a video outlining the process:


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Judge rejects churches on abortion coverage
by Tom Strode
Date: September 06, 2017 - Wednesday

WASHINGTON (BP) -- Three evangelical Christian churches have suffered a setback in their challenge of a California requirement that they must cover abortions through their health insurance plans.

Federal judge Kimberly Mueller dismissed a suit by the southern California congregations in an Aug. 31 order, ruling that the churches had failed to state an adequate claim. She granted the congregations -- Foothill Church in Glendora, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Chino and The Shepherd of the Hills Church in Porter Ranch -- 21 days to file an amended complaint.

The churches sued the state in response to 2014 letters from the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) that informed their private health insurers they could not prohibit or restrict coverage for elective abortions. The churches said they "believe and teach that abortion destroys an innocent human life" and "participation in, facilitation of, or payment for an elective abortion is a grave sin," Mueller said in her order. 

Pro-life advocates denounced the decision.

"The state has no authority to dictate to the consciences of churches or religious organizations about abortion," said Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. "Forcing citizens to subsidize the destruction of human life and the exploitation of families and communities is a moral and political tragedy. 

"I pray that this mandate would be struck down quickly and that yet another attempt to trample religious conscience would be thwarted," Moore said in written comments for Baptist Press.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represents the churches, charged that the order "ignores the longstanding freedom of faith communities to act consistently with their religious mission."

"California has no right to dictate what pastors or churches believe on moral and cultural issues," said Jeremiah Galus, ADF legal counsel. "Yet, with the stroke of a pen -- and without consulting the public -- the state mandated that churches must pay for the taking of innocent human life."

"If the state can force &#91;churches&#93; to pay for the very thing they counsel against, in violation of their constitutionally protected religious beliefs, then no American is secure," Galus said in a written statement.

The churches contended in their suit against DMHC Director Michelle Rouillard that the letters violate their rights under the religious free-exercise clause of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

In her order, however, Mueller said the letters are facially neutral because they "do not refer to any religious practice, conduct, belief or motivation on their face."

The churches "have not alleged sufficient facts to make it plausible that &#91;Rouillard&#93; has selectively applied the law to target the &#91;churches'&#93; religious beliefs," she wrote. "&#91;The churches&#93; have not now alleged that any plan has been rejected based on religion."

Pro-lifers protested in June 2016 when the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under President Obama rejected complaints that California had violated federal law by requiring the health plans of churches to pay for elective abortions.

The federal law in question is the Weldon Amendment, an annual rider since 2004 to the HHS appropriations measure that bars funds for a federal program or state or local government that "subjects any institutional or individual health care entity to discrimination on the basis that the health care entity does not provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions." The amendment is named after Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., a former, seven-term congressman who sponsored it.


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Irma puts Bapt. DR on alert amid Harvey aid
by Brandon Elrod and Diana Chandler
Date: September 06, 2017 - Wednesday

NASHVILLE (BP) -- The second major hurricane threatening the U.S. within two weeks has Southern Baptists and their partners actively preparing to respond to Hurricane Irma, even as Harvey recovery efforts hunker down for the long haul.

With flood waters still standing in some parts of Texas, and Category 5 Irma churning, President Trump has declared states of emergency in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Southern Baptist disaster relief teams are preparing to meet the challenge of responding to both storms.

"Everyone is stretched thin in this," David Melber, North American Mission Board (NAMB) vice president for Send Relief, told Baptist Press. "But this is causing us to come together and function at a much higher level due to the magnitude of what happened in Texas and what is looming in the Caribbean."

Irma's 185-mph winds could threaten lives and cause catastrophic damage to the Florida Peninsula and the Florida Keys as early as this weekend, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said today (Sept. 6).

A NAMB team member is already representing Southern Baptist Disaster Relief at the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) National Response Coordination Center in Washington. NAMB is working alongside FEMA, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army to map impending needs.

NAMB also has a representative coordinating recovery efforts in Florida alongside the Florida Baptist Convention. FBC Executive Director Tommy Green assured the public of the convention's readiness and encouraged supporters to pray.

"Our disaster relief teams are already prepared and staging to meet the disaster needs quickly and expeditiously in the case of landfall of Hurricane Irma," Green said in a video message at flbaptist.org. "We are grateful for our partners with the North American Mission Board and other state conventions who are already staging to come beside us in the event of that need."

While actively bracing for Irma, Florida Baptists are prayerful and thankful for volunteers participating in Harvey recovery efforts, Green said.

"We continue to pray, we continue to give, we continue to be faithful in the Gospel ministry God has given us in Florida," he said. "We continue to pray for those who have been impacted by Hurricane Harvey and for those responding to their needs."

NAMB will continue to work alongside state leaders as Southern Baptists cooperate to send disaster relief resources where they are needed most, Melber said. Florida Gov. Rick Scott and South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster have both declared a state of emergency.

Irma powered ashore islands in the Caribbean Sea early today, first striking Barbuda, St. Barthelemy and St. Martin before biting portions of the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, the NHC said. Winds surpassed just over 184 mph as the NHH issued a hurricane warning for the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, the southeastern Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos, and portions of Haiti.

The path could change, but forecast models have the storm hitting Puerto Rico this evening, reaching Haiti and the Dominican Republic Thursday evening (Sept. 7), making landfall in Cuba Friday evening (Sept. 8) and traveling across Cuba through Saturday (Sept. 9).

If Hurricane Irma strikes the U.S., it will likely hit south Florida near Miami on Sunday (Sept. 10) afternoon or evening. It is still too early to tell precisely when and where the storm will strike. Miami-Dade County and other area governments are setting up shelters and planning evacuations.

Disaster relief and community development group Baptist Global Response (BGR), a Southern Baptist partner, is focusing primarily on relief efforts outside the U.S., BGR CEO Jeff Palmer told BP.

"We are in initial conversations with NAMB and the Florida Baptist Convention (representatives) who have work/ministry assignments for Puerto Rico, Hispanola, etc.," Palmer told BP. "We are trying to find the best ways to work to maximize resources for the needed Caribbean response."

In Puerto Rico, the loss of power is one of the biggest fears. If Irma knocks out the island's power, officials expect that it would take weeks or months to restore, which would make recovery efforts extremely difficult.

Puerto Rico's governor, Ricardo Rosselló said through CNN affiliate WAPA, "The magnitude of this storm ... has never been seen before in Puerto Rico."

NAMB and various state convention teams are already active in robust efforts to help Texas and Louisiana areas impacted by Hurricane Harvey, projected to extend long-term.

Harvey first struck Corpus Christi, Texas, Aug. 25 as a Category 4 hurricane. Weakened by land, the massive storm reentered the gulf, strengthened and made landfall again. Harvey poured record-setting rainfall over Houston and flooded large portions of the city before moving east and doing the same in a path through eastern Texas and parts of western Louisiana.

Harvey's death toll was last calculated at 63, but might rise as recovery efforts continue.



