The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-09/28/2015 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Dorothy Patterson women's studies chair inaugurated by Southern Baptist TEXAN & Southwestern Seminary Staff Date: September 28, 2015 - Monday FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary inaugurated the Dorothy Kelley Patterson Chair of Women's Studies during a Sept. 16 chapel service and installed assistant professor Candi Finch in the position. The academic endowment was established to honor Dorothy Patterson, wife of Southwestern's president, Paige Patterson, and professor of theology in women's studies at the seminary. Southwestern Executive Vice President and Provost Craig Blaising described Dorothy Patterson's most cherished roles as wife, mother and grandmother before recounting the contributions she has made toward recovering a biblical understanding of womanhood. "As she was a supporting wife to Dr. Patterson and all he has done in theology, it became very apparent to her over the years that this issue of women's studies, this issue of femininity and masculinity in our culture and society, is a critical issue in the churches and must be addressed. And the Lord put it upon her heart to do that," Blaising said. Patterson, along with her husband, were instrumental in establishing women's studies programs at Southwestern and at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where Paige Patterson was president until his election at Southwestern in 2003. Dorothy Patterson was the only woman in the founding of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and has authored, coauthored and/or edited more than a dozen books, including "The Study Bible for Women," which received Christian Retailing's top award in 2015 for devotional/study Bibles; the Old and New Testament volumes of the "Women's Evangelical Commentary"; and "The Christian Homemaker's Handbook." She holds a doctor of ministry degree from Luther Rice Seminary; doctor of theology from the University of South Africa; and master of theology degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Paige Patterson preached a sermon from 1 Corinthians 11 during the chapel service, explaining that the biblical model of womanhood is not demeaning to women, as some have suggested. Just as Jesus is one in essence with the Father yet has a different assignment within the Godhead, Patterson said, women are equal in essence with men yet have been given different roles. "The Bible is the very first book ever written to openly and fully declare the full equality of women with men," Patterson said. "Don't you believe what the press says, that 'You evangelical Christians believe that women are subordinate to men in essence and that they simply ought to sit still, be quiet and say nothing.' "… You read the history of evangelical Christianity, and wherever you find the Gospel preached, you'll find great women serving the Lord magnificently" though their "assignment is not the same," Patterson said. He praised his wife for her desire to fulfill "the highest calling of wife and mother" while also strengthening her academic skills to counter the impact of secular feminism on churches. Patterson said this academic chair "is unheard of -- a chair in the school of theology devoted to women's studies, teaching women so that we meet one of the greatest needs in the church today, [which is] to stop the fluff being taught out there with virtually no scriptural content. And that's exactly what we're doing: We're rearing up a generation of women here who can handle the Word of God and become teachers of women." Two of the chair's benefactors, James E. and Dorothy M. Merritt, were present at the inauguration. James Merritt is a retired vice president of the Steel Heddle Manufacturing Company, and Dorothy is a retired vice president of operations at BB&T Bank. The Merritts became friends of the Pattersons during their service at Southeastern Seminary in North Carolina. The Merritts also have endowed a women's studies scholarship at Southwestern and established a fund at Southeastern for a student in women's studies. Funding for the endowed chair also was provided through the estate of Charles and Doris Kelley, parents of Dorothy Patterson. Doris, who died in 2013, played a key role in teaching Patterson the significance of hospitality as a ministry. Candi Finch studied under Dorothy Patterson during her time at Southeastern and then completed both her master of divinity and Ph.D. in systematic theology at Southwestern. As assistant professor of theology in women's studies at Southwestern, she teaches courses such as Biblical Theology of Womanhood, Feminist Theology, Intro to Women's Studies, Communication for Women, Women in Church History and Girls Ministry. Finch also has contributed to several books, including the Old and New Testament volumes of the "Women's Evangelical Commentary" and "Adoniram Judson: A Bicentennial Appreciation of the Pioneer American Missionary." During a luncheon following the chapel service, Finch shared about her Ph.D. dissertation, which refuted the hermeneutic of feminist theologian Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza. Finch also expressed her excitement to serve alongside other women on faculty who "believe it's important to equip women to have a biblical foundation for whatever sphere of ministry God has called them, to know how to not only handle the Bible correctly and apply it, but [also] help women to understand how to engage the culture for the things that we're facing today." Janice Crouse, executive director of World Congress of Families and a friend of the Pattersons for nearly two decades, attended the inauguration. "I've been so impressed with the way the vision for this women's studies program has developed," Crouse said, adding that she is thankful to link "arm-in-arm in this battle for women to have a clear vision of all the potential they have." Barbara O'Chester, who has led a retreat ministry for women for more than 45 years, was also in attendance. "I'm so thankful for this chair and for what it's going to mean for women's ministry," O'Chester said. "I agree with [Dorothy] totally with regard to submission to authority and the whole nine yards -- I've lived it; I've taught it -- but I also know God uses women in a miraculous way," she said. "To have a place where women can come and learn the biblical principles and see how God can work those out in their lives and their ministries is very exciting." -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: What do you see for the SBC? by Ronnie Floyd Date: September 28, 2015 - Monday EDITOR'S NOTE: Ronnie Floyd is president of the Southern Baptist Convention and senior pastor of Cross Church in Springdale, Ark. This is the message he delivered, titled "What do you see in the future for the Southern Baptist Convention?" during the SBC Executive Committee meeting, Sept. 21-22 in Nashville, including an announcement of 2016 SBC annual meeting theme. For related resources, click here. NASHVILLE (BP) -- Last week I was in the Northeastern region of the United States. On Monday [Sept. 14], I was in Boston, giving the afternoon to meeting with pastors and leaders who are in the Greater Boston Baptist Association. After speaking briefly, I fielded their questions about the Southern Baptist Convention for over an hour. That evening, I walked into a lecture room at the Harvard Law School, speaking to 200 students that filled the room to capacity. I had just received a tour of this historic campus that was founded in 1636 with the purpose to train ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After having dinner in the Harvard Faculty Club, as guests of Daniel Cho and Rebekah Kim, both of whom are chaplains at Harvard and committed Southern Baptist leaders, I went to speak to these 200 students. It was a surreal moment for Jeana and me -- a boy, growing up in a Southern Baptist church of 30 to 40 people in a town of 5,000 people and a girl who was a preacher's kid, whose mom and dad served Southern Baptist churches mostly in West Texas for 50 years. Here we were at the Harvard Law School, walking into a lecture room filled with mostly Asian students from all over the world. Almost all were students at Harvard, but there were also a few from both MIT and Boston University. Many of them had already completed their bachelor's degree and are working on their master's or Ph.D. Why did they want to hear me? One reason alone: prayer and spiritual awakening. When I got up to speak on "Lord, Do It in Our Generation," their computers and iPads opened, and they vigorously took notes, even Googling historic figures I referenced along the way. We ended our time with 200 students and leaders calling out to God for the next great move of God to occur in our land, praying mostly that it would occur at Harvard. Early the next morning, we drove three hours to Bennington, Vt., to speak in the chapel service of Northeastern Baptist College, a newly birthed college now in their third year. One of our own Executive Committee members, Mark Ballard, left a pastorate by faith, following a vision and a dream to begin a college that would equip ministers and laypeople to reach the Northeastern part of the United States for Jesus Christ. All of the capital cities of the New England states are within three hours of the college. Twenty percent of the American population lives within six and one-half hours of their campus. Most missiologists would verify that in the New England states, only 10 percent of the population would testify as fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. According to Mark Ballard, in the state of Vermont alone, that 10 percent could be lower than 2 percent of the population of that state. Within 20 minutes of their campus is Williamstown, Mass. After having lunch with the board of trustees of the Northeastern Baptist College, we drove to Williamstown. Why there? "We can do this, if we will." In 1806, there were five college students who had begun to pray twice a week for a mighty move of God to occur. The second Great Awakening had affected at least one of these five. College student Samuel Mills' father had served as a pastor of a church that had been touched powerfully by this awakening. These five students of the Williams College in Williamstown had come together on a hot Saturday afternoon in August for their prayer meeting. They were going to discuss William Carey's missionary manifesto, "An Enquiry Into the Obligations of Christians To Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens." On their way to their prayer meeting, a major rainstorm began that was filled with wind, lightning, and thunder. They ran to seek shelter and noticed a large haystack, which would provide them an opportunity to seek shelter from the wind, rain, and lightning. It was in that setting after discussing Carey's missionary manifesto they went before God in prayer. College student Samuel Mills proposed they would go on mission to India. While three of the five agreed with Mills to focus on reaching Asia, it was Harvey Loomis who believed deeply they must focus on reaching America first. Listen carefully: From what is now known as the great Haystack Prayer Meeting, two years later in 1808 was the formulation of a group who became known as "The Brethren." These five young men and others focused on praying and missions. After they had graduated, in 1810 they requested that a group send them to India as missionaries. The General Association of Massachusetts formed the first official missions organization in the United States in June of 1810. It was called the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. By the way, Adoniram Judson and his wife as well as Luther Rice were some of the first missionaries commissioned and sent across the ocean by this new mission board. It was Judson who became known as the father of Baptist foreign missions. It all began in a prayer meeting under a haystack. We must remember that it really all goes back to the Haystack Prayer Meeting. After praying, these five young men sang a hymn together. It was then that Samuel Mills said loudly over the rain and the wind, "We can do this, if we will!" That moment changed those men forever. Many historians would tell you that all mission organizations trace their history back to the Haystack Prayer Meeting in some way. Yes, these men turned the world upside down. And it all began in a prayer meeting under a haystack. At the place where this meeting occurred, a monument stands today commemorating this historic God moment. At the top of that monument is the phrase, "THE FIELD IS THE WORLD." Underneath those words is the following statement: "The Birthplace of American Foreign Missions. 1806." It all happened from a prayer meeting. This reminds me of the words written in Acts 4:31, "When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak God's message with boldness." Prayer, the power of God, evangelism, and missions all go together. We need to get ourselves back under the haystack! Over the rain, wind, lightning, and claps of thunder when Samuel Mills declared to the other four young men, "We can do this, if we will!" he saw something before anyone else saw it. He saw that THE FIELD IS THE WORLD. What do you see? Let me ask you, "What do you see?" Do you realize that eight different times in Scripture, we read the words: "What do you see?" King Saul asked this question to a woman and seven times, God asked this question to three different prophets. He asked Jeremiah, Amos, and Zechariah, "What do you see?" He asked it to Jeremiah before God's people went into captivity and he asked it to Zechariah after the people left captivity. 1 Samuel 28:13, "But the King said to her, 'Don't be afraid. What do you see?'" King Saul was out of order talking to a medium, but Samuel spoke from the dead to him, telling him that tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. By the way, they were. Jeremiah 1:11, "Then the word of the Lord came to me asking, 'What do you see, Jeremiah?'" Jeremiah 1:13, "Again the word of the Lord came to me inquiring, 'What do you see?'" Jeremiah 24:3, "The Lord said to me, 'What do you see, Jeremiah?'" All three times, Jeremiah saw exactly what God wanted him to see. Amos 7:8, "The Lord asked me, "'What do you see, Amos?'" Amos saw a plumb line and God affirmed what he saw. Zechariah 4:2, "He asked me, 'What do you see?'" Zechariah 5:2, "'What do you see?" he asked me." Both times Zechariah saw what God wanted him to see and then God explained it to him. Why did God ask the question: "What do you see?" Answer: God was going to give a vision to the prophets of God about what He was going to do. This was a simple, clear, concise, and compelling question God asked them. I am convinced this is the question God is asking us as leaders of our convention: What do you see? More specifically He is asking us, "What do you see in the future for the Southern Baptist Convention?" This is a question of vision. Vision is seeing it before you see it! We need to see it with our spiritual eyes before we will see it through our physical eyes. As the president of our Southern Baptist Convention, how would I answer this question: What do I see in the future for the Southern Baptist Convention? I want to share with you some of what I see. It is time to see the need to: 1. AWAKEN AMERICA Over these past 15 months as your president, I have gone from the Atlantic to the Pacific and even across the oceans, calling for us to pray for the next Great Awakening in America in an extraordinary way. While the ideologies and worldviews of our nation collide daily and the morality and character of our nation degrade daily, we must be more than faithful to call out to God for the next Great Spiritual Awakening. While the country sorts out the politics in the present battle for the presidency of the United States of America, we need to be faithful to always remember that our ultimate hope cannot be in the White House, nor the statehouse, nor the courthouse, but only in the work of God in the church house. While each of us need to engage in each of these arenas in a way that honors God and our commitment to Holy Scripture, our greatest hope that we can bring in this hour is for us to see God awaken America. Many of our own would declare us hopeless and doomed. But as God reminded me this past Friday morning in my time with Him, the words of Jeremiah 32:17, "Oh, Lord God! You Yourself made the heavens and earth by Your great power and with Your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!" Before the awakenings and great movements of God in the past, many times God's people have prayed as long as a decade or more before God moved mightily among the people. Therefore, I call upon us to return to the haystack! We need to stop being so content doing ministry without moments under the haystack. We must return to the haystack, calling out to God extraordinarily, experiencing Him supernaturally, and exploding with a robust vision and commitment to advance the Gospel exponentially everywhere. We also need to… Renew our belief and commitment to the power of God! It has always been a mystery to me how Baptists believe in the supernatural, miraculous experience of personal conversion; but after this occurs, we operate in our own power and knowledge naturally. I call upon every Southern Baptist tonight, including our entity leaders, state convention leaders, pastors, church leaders, and our laypeople to renew our belief and commitment to the power of God! It is past time that we repent from our sophistication and pride and get back under the haystack. It is past time that we live and lead empowered by the almighty power of the Living God! We not only need to pursue God, entreating Him with our all daily to awaken America, but we also need to: 2. REACH THE WORLD Where is the vision to reach our own villages, towns, and cities in America? This is the world we live in now. Sometimes we conduct ourselves like a bunch of theological Universalists who believe it will all work out okay for everyone. We must begin to believe in lostness again. People need the Gospel of Jesus Christ beginning in our own villages, towns, and cities. Our pastors need to be injected with a vision and strategy to reach their own villages, towns, and cities. According to missiologists, we live in a nation where three out of four people do not have a personal relationship with Christ. We live in a world with 7.275 billion people. Of these 7.275 billion people, just over 3 billion of these people are unreached. There is an additional 1.25 billion of these people who are engaged nominally. If we even come close to understanding the spiritual condition of our world and the need for the Gospel, we are facing a daunting challenge. This is why we need to return to the haystack and come out from underneath it with a renewed belief and commitment to the power of God. Without His power, the task is overwhelming. Without His power, our insufficiency is exposed to the world. It is time we emerge from underneath the haystack again and with the vision: THE FIELD IS THE WORLD. It is time we emerge from the haystack again with convictional, God-inspired leadership that declares as Samuel Mills did in 1806: "We can do this, if we will!" With God's power, we can reach America's villages, towns, and cities. With God's power, we can reach the world, penetrating the darkness of lostness globally. The field is the world… We can do this, if we will! Imagine with me for a moment that someone walked up to you and told you that they wanted to give you $7 billion over the next 10 years so you can do whatever it takes to reach the 7.275 billion people in the world … reaching them for Jesus Christ. You respond, "Now you are telling me that you are going to give me over the next 10 years, $7 billion to do whatever it takes to reach the 7.275 billion people around the globe?" This person says, "Yes, but I am also telling you, I have the money committed to it already. It is in the bank and I will allocate it to you annually. And, as God provides and if you are effective in reaching the world for Christ, there may be more money I give you toward this vision, perhaps another billion or so. I also want to reinforce to you that all these monies must be used for this singular purpose of doing all it takes and whatever it takes to reach the world for Christ." Now you are thinking, "Ronnie, you have lost it out there on the road. This would never happen." Oh really? It has already happened and prayerfully will continue to happen. Did you know that over this past decade and hopefully in the decade to come, through the Cooperative Program, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, and the Annie Armstrong Offering for North American Missions, our 51,094 churches and congregations have given just over $7 billion? They have entrusted just over $7 billion to our state conventions and our Southern Baptist Convention telling us just that: All this needs to go to reach the world for Jesus Christ! Whatever it takes, we trust you to allocate it where the need is greatest and it all must be allocated to the singular vision of reaching the world for Christ. They are telling us they believe that we must present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world and make disciples of all the nations. Listen very carefully to what I am about to say to you: Yes, our laypeople and pastors must give more personally; in fact, each of us need to practice giving no less than 10 percent of all God has entrusted to us annually, giving it through our local church. To give less is disobedience to God. God has called us to love Him, not rob Him; He has called us to be generous, not greedy. Pastors, stand in your churches and call your people to obeying God's Word about giving the first-tenth and beyond to the Lord. Additionally, our churches must give more collectively. Southern Baptists believe in the autonomy of the local church and cannot dictate what a church gives to the work of the Great Commission through the Cooperative Program. However, if we want to change the trajectory of bringing 600-800 missionaries home and begin aggressively deploying a new wave of missionaries, then our churches must find a way to give more money than ever before through our Cooperative Program. But state convention leaders and Southern Baptist leaders, I say to you in all honesty the following words: While tithing and generosity of our people to our churches needs to increase dramatically and our churches must learn again what it means to give sacrificially, we need to be humbled by the reality that our churches, at the pace of their giving today, are entrusting at least $7 billion to us already to truly reach the entire world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And I personally believe when we get our heart right, our vision focused, and our leadership both strategic and optimistic, there may be another billion or more they will entrust to us in the future, IF we are truly reaching our world here in America in our own villages, towns, and cities, and advancing the Gospel across the entire globe. Yes, we could play number games with how much more we would receive from our churches if the individual members walked in personal obedience, practicing both tithing and generosity. We could continue to play number games, talking about how much more churches ought to give and yes, we should. But let's start where we are right now. God is entrusting at least $7 billion to us over the next decade to reach the world for Christ. All evangelical and mainline denominations and other mission ministries in America wish they could say that. Therefore, let's be overflowing with gratitude to God, thanking our churches, but also challenging Christians to practice tithing and generosity and churches to give more now than ever before. What if we had a renewal in teaching biblical stewardship to our people, calling them boldly to 10 percent giving through their church and move forward beyond this onto the ramp of generosity? What if we had churches give more sacrificially than ever before, starting this as soon as possible annually, and give more each year through the year 2020? And what if each state convention went to 50-50 before the end of the year of 2020 or even before the end of this year? For the state conventions at this level already, what if you increased your giving at least 1 to 2 percent through the national Cooperative Program before the end of 2020? If we did these specific things simultaneously, I submit to you that we would see a mission explosion both nationally and internationally. THE FIELD IS THE WORLD! We would be sending more missionaries across the world aggressively. Listen carefully: "We can do this, if we will!" I really believe if you give Baptists a choice of losing 800 staff members from our churches and state conventions and Southern Baptist entities versus losing 800 missionaries from the foreign mission field, they would choose losing personnel here versus there. Therefore, what God has given to us biblically and missionally, we need to refuse to lose it financially. Yes, we need God to awaken America. Yes, we need to reach the world for Christ. And because of these great needs, there is one more thing we must do more than ever before. We need to: 3. GATHER OUR SOUTHERN BAPTIST FAMILY IN ST. LOUIS ON JUNE 14-15, 2016 Within hours of the conclusion of our 2015 Columbus convention, shots rang out in a church in Charleston, S.C., taking the lives of nine people. Within nine days of the conclusion of our 2015 Columbus convention, the United States Supreme Court redefined marriage. When you think of all that has occurred in our nation since these two tragedies, we do not even live in the same America that existed while we were in Columbus. The entire landscape has changed. This is why we must gather more people than we have gathered in many years to our upcoming convention in St. Louis. We need to do all we can with all we are and all we have to gather them by the thousands. With all that is at stake in America in 2016, from the ongoing battles we face regarding religious liberty, to the approaching United States presidential election, to the reality that over 74 percent of our own churches are plateaued or declining, to the deep need for revival in the church, to the racial violence in our nation, to the tragic killing of the unborn that has now been exposed publicly, to the persecuted Christians around the world, to the tragic growing refugee crisis globally with an estimated 7.6 million displaced in Syria and northern Iraq alone over the last five years, to the depth of the lostness of the world, and to the decreasing of our own mission force across the world in this most urgent hour, we need Southern Baptists to come to St. Louis. It is time to gather the family like never before. We are in a crisis and we must come home. I cannot and will not walk away from continuing a strong call and leading forward toward the need for the Third Great Awakening in our nation and to reach the world for Christ. Therefore, our theme for the 2016 Southern Baptist Convention will be: "Awaken America, Reach the World." Yes, we need to also: "AGREE … UNITE … PRAY." The logo for our 2016 Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis is done in midnight blue, indicating the midnight hour that we find ourselves in today and the urgency to see God Awaken America and Reach the World! You are thinking that this is very similar to last year's theme. You are correct. It is. I am convinced it is God's heart for us and we must agree, unite, and pray for God to Awaken America and that we will Reach the World for Christ. Our Scripture for the 2016 Southern Baptist Convention is Acts 4:31, "When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak God's message with boldness." On Monday, Aug. 10, I met with approximately 200 pastors and leaders in Ferguson, Mo., for the purpose of casting the vision for our upcoming 2016 St. Louis convention. This was one day past the anniversary of the death of Michael Brown. This Monday was the very day that a state of emergency was declared in Ferguson and in all of St. Louis, but the pastors still came from across the region. Later that afternoon, after touring the convention center, we shot a brief video that I hope each state convention, association, and SBC entity will show their trustees and others, calling them to St. Louis. Please help us. We need to show this video in every Southern Baptist church. Please help us get it out there on social networking. The call needs to be issued now all the way to June. The video and link will go on our own SBC website tonight and also on the website tonight at ronniefloyd.com. I submit this entire presentation to you humbly. I surrender it to God fully. This is what I see. With this, I conclude. Pray for St. Louis. I will see you in St. Louis. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Pro-life rally held to 'do something' to end abortion by Southern Baptist TEXAN staff Date: September 28, 2015 - Monday FORT WORTH (BP) -- Hundreds gathered for a multi-church, community-wide pro-life rally after six women decided they had to "do something" tangible to stand for life. The event, organized by the group Locals for Life, was hosted at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. The group, led by Ella Bullock and Rachel Miller of Birchman Baptist Church in Fort Worth, include stay-at-home moms, a first-grade teacher, a part-time political office employee and a writer. The women describe themselves as "average, everyday Americans" who want to put feet to their vocal stance for the sanctity of life. The rally, held Sept. 23 in SWBTS' MacGorman Chapel, prompted several local churches to cancel their mid-week services in order to attend. The event focused on praying for a revival in hearts that would lead to a nation of people willing to protect life at all stages. Birchman Senior Pastor Bob Pearle, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Professor Evan Lenow and Wedgwood Baptist Church Pastor Emeritus Al Meredith led the crowd in directed prayer times. "Our Father, our hearts are broken over the callousness of our country," Pearle prayed. "... Lord we pray for those in our elected offices. ... And where those officials have been cowardly and have not voted for life, Lord I pray that you would so convict them that they would not be able to rest until they get their hearts and lives right with you." Lenow, who teaches ethics at the seminary and serves as director of the Richard Land Center for Cultural engagement, directed the crowd to pray for expectant parents. "Lord we pray for these mothers, these fathers, these families and extended families," Lenow prayed. "We pray that their choices would be choices of life. We pray that you would direct their hearts to recognize your handiwork. And in places where they cannot provide for these children, may you bring others into their lives who can. We pray that ... our city be a city of life." Meredith asked the Lord to forgive the church for not fighting more diligently to protect life. "Oh, Father, this is so egregious that it hurts to talk about," Meredith prayed, "that we should snuff out the lives of millions of precious ones before they have a chance to take their first breath, and it happened on my watch. Father, forgive the silent Christians who stand by and say nothing while this holocaust of infants goes on. ... Change our hearts, we plead in Jesus' name." In addition to the time of prayer, those gathered heard from Sen. Konni Burton (R-Colleyville); State Rep. Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth); and The Village Church Fort Worth Pastor Anthony Moore, a SWBTS doctoral graduate. Krause, a politician who comes from a family full of Southern Baptist pastors, recalled a recent experience in which he walked out of the Capitol after having voted for life and was met with protestors advocating for abortion rights. "They were shouting, 'Shame on you,'" Krause said. "But I hope my heavenly father is looking down saying, 'Well done.' "It is never okay to end the life of an unborn baby on purpose. Am I right?" Krause asked. His comments were met with enthusiastic applause. Moore, in a message from Genesis 4, reminded attendees that, yes, they "are their brothers' keepers," explaining that Christians must be willing to suffer with and help parents who cannot care well for the children they bear. SWBTS President Paige Patterson shared his own testimony of choosing the life of his son in the face of what doctors told him was a hopeless situation. Choosing to give the child a chance despite the grim prognosis, the Pattersons' prayers were answered affirmatively, and their baby was born completely normal. Yet, Patterson noted, so many children do not get that chance. "Just stop to think about it for a moment," Patterson said. "Can you believe that we have aborted in the wombs of mothers probably eight or 10 of the finest preachers who might ever have lived? ... We may well have aborted somebody who would have discovered the cure for cancer. And yet we have gone on and on with this program. God forgive us for what we have done." Bullock, a leader of Locals for Life, shared a personal testimony in a moment that many called the most moving portion of the entire rally, evidenced by a standing ovation and teary faces across the auditorium. Standing on the stage with two women -- her biological mother and her adoptive mother -- Bullock and her mothers shared about God's perfect plan for their imperfect situation. What was an unplanned, crisis pregnancy for Bullock's biological mother allowed Bullock's adoptive parents' desire to grow their family possible. A visibly emotional Bullock told the crowd that in God's economy, there is no such thing as an "unplanned" life. "To be surrounded by 500 people ready to stand for life was just another fulfillment of the perfect plan [God] put in motion 28 years ago when a 17-year-old found herself pregnant and chose life," Bullock said after the rally. Rachel Miller, a co-leader of Locals for Life, reminded the audience of the reason for the gathering. "Here we are tonight because our God is a God of life," Miller said. "He cares about each life because he made every one of them. We join him when we say what he did is good and worth fighting for." Just before leaving, attendees were asked to look under their seats. Those who found paper hearts taped to the seats were asked to stand. More than half of the people in the room stood up and held their pink and blue paper hearts in the air. Those standing represented the number of children who were aborted during the time the rally took place. High school junior Melissa Manning said the paper hearts challenged her to do more to stand for life after leaving the rally. "I feel more confident," said Manning, who volunteered at the rally along with about 60 others. "I feel like I can go out, reach more people, and be educated about it. I want to go do something. I don't want to just stand back. I want to do something and reach out to those girls who are my age and show them how important life is." More than a dozen pro-life organizations from the area were on hand to provide attendees with information on how to support pregnancy help centers, how to become adoptive parents and how to affect legislative change that will protect life in America. The Locals for Life team founded their group in such a way that it can be reproduced in cities around the nation. The group can provide artwork files and other support to help any interested communities and can be contacted at fwlocalsforlife@gmail.com or through www.localsforliferally.org. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Online-designed T-shirts boost charitable causes by Aaron Earls Date: September 28, 2015 - Monday NASHVILLE (BP) -- When she discovered her cousin Melanie had cancer, Kristi Parker wanted to help. Using a new service named LifeWay Shares, Parker raised more than $1,700 to provide financial assistance -- all by selling T-shirts online. Melanie's husband designed a butterfly for the T-shirt and they selected a favorite Bible verse. Through selling the shirts, Parker helped Melanie and her family with medical bills and other costs. "It's a great program," Parker said, "and a true blessing to my cousin during her fight with breast cancer." Those are the type of stories that drive Cathy Brown and others working on LifeWay Shares, a funding program from LifeWay Christian Resources. "It is an amazing feeling to offer a service that brings someone to tears because they were able to help their cousin with cancer," Brown said. In addition to campaigns to assist with medical costs, Brown said other individuals and groups have used LifeWay Shares to help with mission trips, adoptions, the purchasing of a church bus and building projects. Ministries also are using it to benefit women released from jail who are looking for jobs and to provide aid to refugees seeking an escape from ISIS in the Middle East. As manager of LifeWay Shares, Brown said the service uses custom-designed T-shirts to garner both donations and attention to a cause. She said the only thing fundraisers need to do is promote their individual online site where supporters can purchase the shirts. A commercial for sports fundraising sparked the idea for Brown. "It began as we were looking for new ways to help ministries and churches," she said. After discussing the T-shirt idea with a screen printer, they were able to launch LifeWay Shares. Those raising funds have no out-of-pocket costs. They can customize their T-shirt by choosing from LifeWay Share's design collection or by uploading their own art. A website is created for each T-shirt with Facebook ads sent to help publicize the event. Anyone can go to the site, buy a shirt and have it mailed directly to their home. At the end of the campaign, the fundraiser is mailed a check for the difference between the total amount raised and the minimal cost for each T-shirt. While Brown is pleased with those features, the causes they have been able to help are the greatest part of the experience, she said, noting, "We are able to impact communities through these sites." For more information, visit LifeWayShares.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ERLC panel: Planned Parenthood videos have helped by Tom Strode Date: September 28, 2015 - Monday WASHINGTON (BP) -- The shocking, undercover videos providing evidence of Planned Parenthood's trade in baby body parts have produced some positive effects, Southern Baptist ethicist Russell Moore and other pro-life leaders said in a Capitol Hill panel discussion. Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, and his fellow pro-lifers addressed the sanctity of human life issue in light of the Planned Parenthood videos during the ERLC's second Capitol Conversations event Sept. 23 in Washington. The inaugural Capitol Conversations, which was held in July, focused on same-sex marriage and religious liberty. The Center for Medical Progress, which released in mid-July the first of what are now 10 videos, showed in its undercover investigation Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of organs from aborted children. The videos, recorded secretly by hidden camera, also featured Planned Parenthood executives acknowledging their willingness to manipulate the abortion procedure to preserve organs for sale and use. They also offered evidence of the dissection of a living child outside the womb to procure an organ. The videos have resulted in crystallization of the abortion issue, a "rejuvenated pro-life movement" and an opportunity for pro-lifers to discuss the controversial subject with those who disagree, Moore told the audience of about 110 people. "I think what the videos have done is to put on the table what we are really talking about when we are talking about the issue of abortion," he said. "We're talking about not some amorphous, abstract question. We're talking about something that harms vulnerable people, vulnerable women, vulnerable children. "[E]ven more than ever, the pro-life movement is united and wanting to be actively engaged in these issues and to speak persuasively to people who don't agree with us right now," Moore said. Conversations among pro-life and pro-choice advocates are occurring on Facebook and at school bus stops as a result, he said. Casey Mattox, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, said the most encouraging result from the videos is "we have this middle group of people now who are at least open to the possibility that maybe there's something" they need to know about Planned Parenthood. "What these videos have done is soften the hearts of America, and people are able to hear that information anew and actually be interested in the truth," he said. As a result, the pro-life community has been able to "push out a lot of things that we've always known," Maddox told the audience. Those newly learned truths that will last, he said, include: (1) Planned Parenthood does not perform mammograms; and (2) many federally qualified health centers -- more than 9,000 -- exist that are unaffiliated with Planned Parenthood. The reaction to the videos has been "really encouraging to me," said Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, "first to see that people have reacted in horror, but also I think it has been a tremendous moment for the pro-life movement," producing unity and progress. After more than 40 years of legalized abortion, "there has been a deadening of the American conscience," she said. "And the only reason that abortion persists in our country is we willfully look away." Her longtime concern "has been the prospect of having something as horrific as the sale of human organs," she said, adding "the only thing worse is the prospect of having Americans continue to look away from it." The release of the videos has encouraged Rep. Diane Black, R.-Tenn., as well. When the videos began coming out, Black -- a nurse for four decades -- said she thought, "Finally, finally the American people are going to see the deception" foisted on young women for more than 40 years: "'This is just a blob of tissue. This is not a baby.' Well you don't get a heart, a lung, a brain, a liver from a blob of tissue. That's called a baby. "This is our opportunity to finally have the American people to see the truth of what's going on, and we can't stop here," Black told attendees. "We've got to continue to talk about this." Black is sponsor of the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, which the House of Representatives approved Sept. 18. Its chances in the Senate appear dim, and President Obama has promised to veto it. The Senate fell short in an attempt to approve a similar measure in August, when senators voted 53-46 to bring such a bill to the floor. While a majority of senators favored consideration of the proposal, the attempt to invoke cloture, as it is known, fell short of the 60 votes needed to begin debate on the legislation and establish a path to its passage. The Defund Planned Parenthood Act would place a one-year moratorium on federal money for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its affiliates while Congress investigates the organization. The Sept. 23 panel discussion took place one week before the end of the federal government's fiscal year amid questions of whether there might be a government shutdown over funding Planned Parenthood. "I don't want to shut down the government. I want to shut down Planned Parenthood," Black told the audience. Eliminating Planned Parenthood from a continuing resolution would not be especially effective, Black said. The organization -- the country's leading abortion provider -- only receives about 20 percent of its budget from discretionary funds, which is all a continuing resolution covers, she said. "You're not really defunding the organization by closing down the government over a continuing resolution," Black said. Also, shutting down the government enables President Obama to decide what is necessary and what is unnecessary in spending, she said. "I don't think that helps our cause," Black said. She wants to get her bill to the president's desk, she said, "because by putting it on the president's desk, you show this president is in love with Planned Parenthood. He doesn't care about life. He cares about Planned Parenthood." Four congressional committees are investigating Planned Parenthood. Among those is the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which will hear from Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards during a Sept. 29 hearing. The mainstream news media "do not want to talk" about the Planned Parenthood video, said Mollie Hemingway, senior editor of The Federalist. The media's coverage has been marked by "reluctance, self-censorship, extreme delay," as well as "wholesale adoption of Planned Parenthood's talking points," she told the audience. When Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina commented on the videos at the Sept. 16 debate, the media accused her of lying, Hemingway said. The media see this as a story "that would make them question their own assumptions and their own biases," she said. It might require years for people to change their view on the abortion issue, Moore said. Pro-lifers need to provide a picture of what it will look like "to be in a world that is post-abortion," he said. "What that is going to mean is not simply that we don't have Planned Parenthood clinics but we have the sort of society that cares for vulnerable women, that cares for vulnerable children." Pro-life Christians can demonstrate that through adoption, foster care and welcoming pregnant women into their homes, Moore said. "Love is risky." Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP).