
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-10/10/2005

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Quake in Pakistan: Southern Baptist aid headed toward devastated remote regions
by Erich Bridges
Date: October 10, 2005 - Monday

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--As the confirmed death toll topped 20,000 in remote towns and villages flattened by the worst earthquake in Pakistan’s history, Southern Baptist workers in South Asia moved quickly to find ways to help survivors.

With an initial $150,000 in Southern Baptist emergency relief funds, workers headed into the region Oct. 9 to assess critical needs and buy supplies. The aid likely will include food and medical supplies. Two workers already have entered one of the most heavily damaged areas with a truckload of supplies, and 150 tents have been delivered to families left homeless by the 7.6-magnitude quake. Workers also are investigating the possibility of sending small teams of disaster-trained volunteers into damaged areas in the days to come.

They’re traveling to “areas that were hardest-hit by the earthquake,” said a worker. “The devastation in mountain villages is vast due to landslides caused by the quake. One national believer described his home village as ‘nothing but dust.’ Please pray that the Lord would lead &#91;relief teams&#93; to the places where immediate help is most needed and to places that might otherwise be overlooked.”

Many who were not injured but lost homes and loved ones are seeking shelter and food with increasing desperation.

“Emergency relief is flooding in, but supplies are diminishing quickly and prices are already rising,” the Southern Baptist worker said. “There has been a mob-like rush for the help that has started, which has been difficult for those trying to help. Please pray for patience, love and calmness for the &#91;aid&#93; workers. This is not something that will immediately be solved, so ask that we have the strength to carry out the task ahead. More than anything, we want people to have an everlasting hope. Ask that we be able to see where the Holy Spirit is working and follow Him. Ask that God will break down barriers and provide the words and opportunities for sharing His love and grace.”

The Oct. 8 earthquake struck hardest along Pakistan’s northwest frontier and in the mountainous Kashmir region -- fought over for decades by Pakistan and India. The quake claimed most of its victims in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir but reportedly killed more than 1,000 people on the Indian side. It shook buildings from central Afghanistan to western Bangladesh.

The quake and resulting landslides buried thousands of Pakistani villagers in the rubble of their homes, schools and businesses. Initial rescue efforts were hampered by the remoteness of the region, numerous aftershocks and bad weather. 

In addition to the dead, Pakistani officials estimated more than 43,000 people were injured. They appealed for helicopters, tents, blankets and other assistance. More than 2.5 million people lost their homes in the quake and its immediate aftermath, according to United Nations relief coordinators in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital.

No Southern Baptists serving in South Asia were hurt in the earthquake and its immediate aftermath. But a number of them felt the massive temblor’s force -– including several who were far from the epicenter.

“When the earthquake hit, people ran out of their homes screaming and crying out prayers to God,” a worker in a neighboring country reported.

Another worker, who serves about 1,200 kilometers from the quake zone, said, “Our apartment started swaying. It felt like being in a gently rocking boat, and it went on for a couple of minutes. Most people in our building evacuated for some time, worried about stronger aftershocks.”

A Southern Baptist closer to the devastated region held on as the quake rocked the area.

“I was unsure whether to try to get out of the house or just stand in the doorjamb,” she said. “As soon as we could, we went outside, only to see the surrounding mountains covered with clouds of dust.... We’ve felt aftershocks throughout the day today (Oct. 9) as well. Please pray for those who’ve lost loved ones and homes.”

Other workers in South Asia also appealed for prayer. Their requests include:

-- Pray that survivors buried alive under rubble and landslides will be found and rescued.

-- Pray that aid will reach remote areas.

-- Pray for government leaders and aid workers as they coordinate relief efforts.

-- Pray that the thousands of injured survivors will receive spiritual as well as physical healing.

-- Ask God to show His children in the region how they should respond to people suffering despair, grief and pain. 

-- Pray that survivors will sense the presence of the Holy Spirit as He offers peace through Jesus Christ.

-- Intercede for the millions of South Asians who do not know Christ, but who are asking many spiritual questions in the midst of this disaster. 

To contribute financially to relief efforts, send gifts designated for “South Asia Earthquake Relief” to P.O. Box 6767, Richmond, VA 23230. All funds will go 100 percent for relief aid. Southern Baptists trained in disaster relief work can e-mail southasiavim@wigtake.org for more information about possible volunteer needs.
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To view or download a two-minute video about Pakistan and its people, select one of the links below.
To view streaming video:
Http://imb.org/ASX/gh/GHFall2005/Pakistan_large.asx
Http://imb.org/ASX/gh/GHFall2005/Pakistan_medium.asx
Http://imb.org/ASX/gh/GHFall2005/Pakistan_small.asx
To download:
Http://media1.imbresources.org/downloads/GHFall2005/Pakistan.mpg
Http://media1.imbresources.org/downloads/GHFall2005/Pakistan_full.mov


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LIFE DIGEST: SBC's Land seeks suspension of RU 486 sales; Ark. clinic offers free abortions for hurricane evacuees
by Tom Strode
Date: October 10, 2005 - Monday

WASHINGTON (BP)--Southern Baptist public policy specialist Richard Land and seven other pro-life leaders have called on Congress to act soon on legislation that would suspend sales of the abortion drug RU 486.

Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, and his allies wrote Rep. Joe Barton, R.-Texas, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, urging him to hold a hearing on the RU 486 Suspension and Review Act, H.R. 1079, and to schedule a vote by the panel. The legislation would remove RU 486 from the market while a review is conducted of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug.

The pro-life leaders acted after it was acknowledged more women had died following use of RU 486 than had been previously reported.

Danco Laboratories in New York revealed in July that two California women had died, one in 2004 and the other in 2005, after using the two-step drug regimen to abort their unborn children. Danco, which markets the drug in the United States, had previously reported two other California users of RU 486 died in 2003 and a Canadian woman died after its use in 2001. Other reports have cited additional deaths by RU 486 users -- three in Europe, one in the Philippines and another in the United States.

“&#91;W&#93;e believe that the growing body of evidence suggests that RU 486 is dangerous to the women who use it,” the Sept. 26 letter to Barton said. “The effects of RU 486 on women’s health have never been adequately assessed. H.R. 1079 is a logical response to the acknowledged role of this drug in the deaths of a number of women and to the mounting concern that this drug poses significant health risks to every woman who uses it.”

Joining Land on the letter were Tom Minnery, vice president of Focus on the Family; Beverly LaHaye, chairman of Concerned Women for America; Phyllis Schlafly, president of Eagle Forum; Paul Weyrich, national chairman of Coalitions for America; Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee;
Mariam Bell, public policy director for Prison Fellowship, and Connie Mackey, vice president of Family Research Council.

The bill is known as Holly’s Law in memory of Holly Patterson, 18, who died of a systemic infection in 2003 after obtaining RU 486 from a Planned Parenthood clinic in Hayward, Calif.

The House bill has 77 cosponsors, while a Senate version, S. 511, has only 11 cosponsors.

RU 486, or mifepristone, is used as the first part of a process normally occurring in the first seven weeks of pregnancy. That initial action causes the lining of the uterus to release the embryonic child. A second drug, known as misoprostol, is taken two days after mifepristone and causes the uterus to contract, expelling the baby.

FORCED EVACUATIONS -- An Arkansas abortion doctor has offered free abortions for pregnant women who evacuated their homes because of Hurricane Katrina.

Jerry Edwards, medical director of Little Rock Family Planning Services, said he had performed six free abortions as of Sept. 27, the Associated Press reported. According to its website, the clinic’s regular charge for a first-trimester abortion is between $525 and $650. To qualify for an abortion at no charge, a woman must have an identification card showing she is a resident of one of nine parishes in Louisiana or of three counties in Mississippi.

“If we didn’t provide it now, they would get it later -- a late-term abortion that would give greater risk to the mother’s health,” Edwards told Little Rock television station KTHV, according to AP.

Lanier Swann, Concerned Women for America’s director of government relations, said hurricane evacuees need “encouragement, not more devastation.”

“There has already been enough loss of life at the hands of Katrina and Rita, and the victims don’t deserve abortionists adding to the casualty list,” Swann said in a written statement. “Abortionists should be ashamed of this behavior at a time when Americans are working to bring hope to the hopeless. In the midst of heroic efforts throughout the hurricane-ravaged areas, the abortionists’ bizarre attempt at offering ‘aid’ stands as a distraction from the worthwhile good deeds performed each and every day in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and beyond.”

HE WOULD TERMINATE -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is no pro-lifer, but he has threatened the death penalty for anyone who would take one of his teenage daughters for an abortion without his knowledge.

“I wouldn’t want to have someone take my daughter to a hospital for an abortion or something and not tell me. I would kill him if they do that,” Schwarzenegger told The Sacramento Bee.

The star of such movies as “The Terminator” and “Predator” told The Bee he was not serious about the death threat, but his reaction as a father provided insight into his thoughts on the purpose of a state ballot initiative that would require parental notification for a minor’s abortion.

“It will be the ultimate of being outraged about it and angry about it,” he said Sept. 20 of a teen’s abortion without parental knowledge. “They call me when my daughter falls off the jungle gym in the school and they say, ‘What do you want us to use? Can we put a Band-Aid on it? Do you want to come in? She’s crying a little bit.’ They call us about everything. I don’t want them in that particular incident not to call us.”

Schwarzenegger, who has two teenage daughters and two preadolescent sons, told The Bee he agrees with the principle of the ballot measure but is uncertain if he will endorse it.

The initiative, Proposition 73, would require a 48-hour waiting period after notice is given to a parent or legal guardian before a doctor can perform an abortion on an underage female. The measure would permit a young woman to seek a bypass from a judge of the notification requirement.

COMA AWARENESS -- An Italian man diagnosed as being in a deep coma for two years awoke recently to report he had heard everything that was said in his presence during that time span.

Salvatore Crisafulli, 38, a father of four, said through a brother, “The doctors said that I wasn’t conscious, but I understood everything and I cried in desperation,” Reuters News Service reported Oct. 7.

Crisafulli came out of a coma about three months ago but began speaking only recently, according to the report. His brother, Pietro, called Crisafulli an “Italian Terri Schiavo case,” Reuters reported. Schiavo, 41, was the brain-damaged Florida woman who died in March nearly two weeks after the tube that provided her with food and water was disconnected at a state judge’s order.

“My brother speaks and remembers,” Pietro Crisafulli told the Corriere della Sera newspaper, according to Reuters. “I don’t expect that he will be like he was, but it’s already a miracle.”

SILENCE FOR UNBORN -- Students from hundreds of North American campuses will participate in a day of silence Oct. 25 to express their opposition to abortion.

As of Oct. 10, students on more than 500 campuses in the United States and Canada plan to participate in the Students Day of Silent Solidarity, according to Virginia-based Stand True Ministries, the sponsoring organization. Participants plan not only to remain silent but to wear red armbands and/or red duct tape on their mouths. Home-schooled students also plan to participate by distributing educational materials about abortion in public areas. 

About 4,000 babies in the United States “are permanently silenced every day by the violent act of abortion,” said Bryan Kemper, president of Stand True. “This day is in honor of those children, and we will stay silent as an act of solidarity with these innocent victims.”
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Mayor says gambling key to reviving New Orleans economy
by Staff
Date: October 10, 2005 - Monday

NEW ORLEANS (BP)--Though he said he is not particularly keen on the practice and would prefer another solution, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is proposing the implementation of Las Vegas-style gambling in order to jumpstart his city’s economy after Hurricane Katrina.

“I know of no other way,” he said at a news conference Oct. 7, according to the Associated Press, adding that gambling is “an incredible opportunity to accelerate growth.”

Nagin’s plan would call for a large-scale gambling area in the city’s central business district, mostly along the well-known Canal Street. Gambling should only be allowed in hotels that have more than 500 rooms, Nagin said, and probably five or six of the nine eligible establishments would take advantage of the offer.

“Now is the time for us to think out of the box,” Nagin said. “Now is the time for some bold leadership, some decisive leadership.”

Joe McKeever, director of missions for the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans, mentioned his thoughts on the mayor’s proposal in his ongoing Hurricane Katrina log, posted at www.joemckeever.com.

“This week Nagin was quoted in the paper citing Scripture, amazingly the 2 Chronicles 7:14 passage about repenting and turning from our evil ways to get God's healing. Now he calls for widespread gambling,” McKeever wrote Oct. 9. “Gambling -- the last corrupt idea of a dead brain cell. ‘Oh? We can't get any legitimate businesses going? I know -- let's gamble.’ Thankfully, in the Sunday paper, city council leaders were saying it's the first they've heard of it and that it's truly a bad idea.”

Louisiana Senate President Don Hines, a Democrat, said it isn’t likely the plan will pass in the state legislature.

“I’ll listen to it, but I’m not too excited about it at this stage of the ball game,” he told AP. “We’re pretty well saturated with gaming in this state already.”

Video gambling already is allowed in about half of the state’s 64 parishes, and Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. operates a full-scale, land-based casino in New Orleans. Three dockside riverboat casinos draw money from New Orleans patrons as well, AP reported.

Even so, Hines said gambling hasn’t been a major draw for New Orleans and he doesn’t expect the addition of other casinos to generate much business.

On the other side, Rep. Danny Martiny, a Republican and chairman of the House Criminal Justice Committee, said the gambling proposal stands a good chance of passing given the extreme circumstances under which it would be implemented.

“I think the whole attitude toward gaming is going to change,” Martiny said, according to AP. “A lot of people voted against it &#91;in the past&#93; because it was morally wrong. I think the whole landscape has changed. Nagin has to find some kind of engine to kick-start the economy. I’m not saying that’s the solution, but it needs to be discussed.”

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, campaigned against expanding gambling and has so far not returned requests for comment on Nagin’s proposal, AP said.

In order for New Orleans hotels to win the right to open casinos, the legislature and voters must approve it and Harrah’s would have to consent to the measure. Currently, Harrah’s owns a state-granted monopoly on land-based casinos in New Orleans in exchange for paying a minimum of $60 million each year in state gambling taxes. But Harrah’s has been closed in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.

Both the Mississippi House and Senate have already approved a proposal to rebuild the state’s 13 casinos on land after years of floating on the coast before Katrina. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has agreed to sign the legislation.

Nagin, in a letter to Blanco, mentioned the need to compete with the Mississippi casinos in order to gain business and workers, AP reported.

“With the Mississippi Gulf Coast gaming industry also in recovery, the race would be on to capture their reported 28,000 casino workers and estimated $150 million in taxes,” he wrote.

But Martiny said he doesn’t expect Blanco to take up the issue swiftly.

“I don’t think the governor is going to call a special session next week and ask us to pass Nagin’s proposal,” he told AP Oct. 8. “Some people will say that’s not the solution, but I don’t see a lot of Fortune 500 companies looking at us right now.”
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Kelley: Flooded seminarians ‘working to heal one another’
by Sherri Brown
Date: October 10, 2005 - Monday

NEW ORLEANS (BP)--It’s the hardest thing he’s ever done, said Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Seminary.

“This is something no one could imagine. There’s no book for this, no path for this,” Kelley said after returning to the campus to help students and faculty dig through flooded houses and mud-covered possessions.

“Driving through this city is like driving through a Hollywood science fiction set,” he said.

Kelley, whose house on campus was not flooded, returned Oct. 5 when the campus first opened to faculty and students wanting to return to salvage what they could from their campus houses. He spent the next several days, dressed in a T-shirt and work pants, walking from house to house.

“I’m just walking into the homes of students and faculty and hugging on them, crying with them and praying for them,” he said.

All of the faculty houses -- 40 of them -- were flooded and about 45 percent of the student housing was flooded.

“But I’ve never been prouder of them,” Kelley said of the flood victims. “They’re handling this well, working to heal one another and help one another.”

About 75 percent of the 2,000 students who started classes two weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit have continued with some form of coursework.

Classes have been restructured to enable students to continue. Some classes are continuing online, while some are having intensive workshops to finish the coursework, with Kelley describing it as “probably the greatest example of innovative, creative teaching in Baptist academic history.”

The Executive Committee, acting ad interim on behalf of the Southern Baptist Convention in September, approved a funding formula freeze undergirding New Orleans Seminary. Southern Baptists' six seminaries receive different levels of funding based on a rolling three-year average of their enrollment under a "full-time equivalent" (FTE) enrollment formula. For 2003-04 New Orleans Seminary had 1,823 students based on the FTE formula. This figure will apply to the 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 budget years to allow the seminary to recover from any loss in enrollment from Hurricane Katrina.

“The Executive Committee has already voted to freeze the Cooperative Program &#91;funding formula&#93; for the next three years so we will have budget stability,” Kelley said. “They also voted that we will receive 50 percent of the CP surplus at the end of the year. We’re so grateful for the support.”

The Executive Committee voted unanimously to allocate one-half of beyond-the-budget Cooperative Program contributions for SBC national causes, received for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, to aid faculty and students in recovering from losses and to help rebuild the campus. Contributions exceeded the approved budget by $12,496,728.55. Beyond the NOBTS allocation, one-fourth was allocated to the three state conventions most affected by the hurricane (to keep ministers in the field and to assist churches in recovery) and one-fourth to the North American Mission Board (to support the extensive hurricane disaster relief operations).

Additionally, the Executive Committee voted to follow the same formula for beyond-the-budget receipts for the Cooperative Program Allocation Budget during the first quarter (October, November, December) of the new fiscal year.

“We have to continue &#91;classes&#93;. We have students ready for December graduation. They’re ready to get out and serve God and we’re going to see that that happens,” Kelley said.

Through permanent records, the dean of students is calling every student from temporary offices in Atlanta. Every professor also is calling every student on his or her roll.

“They’re making sure students are safe and they’re asking how we can help them finish their degrees,” Kelly said.

The seminary currently plans to reopen in January with a partial slate of on-campus classes. A full schedule -- and a return to “normal” -- should be offered in August 2006.

His job is difficult these days, but Kelley knows he has the prayers of thousands of Southern Baptists supporting him.

“You could say I’ve got a hard job right now. But there’s not been a single moment that I haven’t had calm and peace in my soul. That’s not a result of any spirituality on my part, that’s the result of the prayers. 

“This has not stopped the work of the Kingdom of God. Southern Baptists need to know we’re thinking opportunity, not disaster.”
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Prof: Flood damage at residences ‘impossible to comprehend'
by Sherri Brown
Date: October 10, 2005 - Monday

NEW ORLEANS (BP)--Instead of heading for the library to study for classes, Justin Langford and his wife, Melinda, spent the weekend sorting through the mud and mold in their New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary apartment, trying to salvage pieces of their lives.

The couple moved into their first-floor apartment in the seminary’s Georgia apartment building just two weeks before Hurricane Katrina blew through the city. It was more than a month before they were allowed to return to see if anything could be salvaged. But even before they could see their former apartment, the couple were met at the seminary gates by volunteers requiring them to sign a waiver acknowledging they knew the dangers of entering the campus.

Melinda Langford spent the day in her apartment wearing a face mask, sterile gloves and bright yellow boots decorated with orange flowers -- they were just $10 at the Payless shoe store. Most everything the couple had managed to gather in their 18 month marriage was destroyed. She pointed out the new mattress they had bought and slept on for just three nights before evacuating. It is now soaked and stained with mud with telltale signs of black mold.

She picked up her bridal bouquet -- white flowers with mold spots popping up from the center like black pollen gone mad.

“You know, most everything we owned was his stuff or my stuff. I guess now it will all be our stuff,” she said as she tossed her bouquet on top of a garbage heap. Just down the street from the student housing, faculty members cleared out their houses as well.

“It’s worse than I thought it would be,” admitted Bob Stewart, professor of philosophy and theology who lived in a two-story faculty house.

“I figured some things might have turned over &#91;during the flooding&#93; but I didn’t expect the slime and grime everywhere. The amount of destruction -- the rust, mold, goop -- it is impossible to comprehend.”

His wife, Marilyn, made sure she was as prepared as she could be. “I looked at every picture I could find on the Internet so I would be prepared,” she said.

It was still difficult, especially when she saw two antique dressers she had just refinished by hand before the hurricane.

“It’s hard, but we’re very, very grateful that what we have is not counted by our possessions. We own things that are more important than what’s in the kitchen or bedroom,” Marilyn Stewart said.

Down the street, faculty member Christi Gibson was clearing out her family’s possessions to take them to the Wichita Falls, Texas, home where they are now living. Gibson, who teaches women’s ministry classes at the seminary, and her husband, John, a communications professor, spent several days digging out of the mud.

“I’m through crying for the stuff,” she said, but each visit with a former neighbor “makes me cry,” she said.
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Land, on ‘Meet the Press,’ says he trusts Bush in court pick
by Dwayne Hastings
Date: October 10, 2005 - Monday

NEW YORK (BP)--He is unequivocal in his support of Harriet Miers’ nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, Richard Land said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” Oct. 9.

The president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission predicted that Miers, if confirmed, and new Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts “will disagree about 1 percent of the time” over the next five years. President George W. Bush has nominated Harriet Miers, who now serves as White House counsel, the chief legal adviser to the office of the president, to replace Associate Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who is retiring.

Land was joined on the news program by syndicated columnist and television commentator Pat Buchanan, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2000 on the Reform Party ticket and failed in two earlier bids to secure the Republican presidential nomination. Buchanan has called on President Bush to withdraw Miers’ nomination. This was Land’s third appearance on Meet the Press.

“We want Supreme Court justices who will understand their client is the Constitution and they’re going to interpret the law; they’re not going to try to write the law from the bench,” Land told Meet the Press host Tim Russert. “I’ll make a prediction for you: When she’s confirmed, over the next five years, she and John Roberts will disagree about 1 percent of the time,” Land added.

Land expressed confidence in the Bush pick, while admitting he does not know how Miers will vote on specific cases. “&#91;Miers&#93; was very much involved, intimately involved, in the vetting process for the stellar list of nominees the president has put forward, again and again and again,” he said, noting the judicial nominees have been “strict constructionists” and “original intent jurists.”

Buchanan told Russert the president “ducked the fight” in nominating Miers. “The president has recoiled from greatness. He has retreated from Reaganism into the old politics of compromise and consensus on what for us was the greatest issue of his second term,” Buchanan said. “I think, in a minor matter, he has probably risked his legacy. But more important, he has risked what some of us have fought for for 40 years since I was with Richard Nixon.”

Land disagreed, saying “even in the face of an unprecedented filibuster under &#91;Senators&#93; Daschle and Leahy, &#91;Bush&#93; never backed down.”

The Miers nomination has drawn praise from many in the conservative community, but scorn from others. The National Right to Life organization, Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice and James Dobson of Focus on the Family, among others, have voiced support for the nominee. Yet those expressing concern with the nomination include former presidential speech writer Peggy Noonan, columnist George Will and Robert Bork, whose own nomination to the high court was rejected by the Senate in 1987.

Land suggested some of the opposition had the “scent and whiff of elitism about it.” Miers earned her bachelor and law degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

“I’m a graduate of Princeton &#91;University&#93; and I just want to say, you don’t have to go to an Ivy League school to be on the Supreme Court,” Land said. “I think this woman is a woman of enormous accomplishment. I think she’s going to do an excellent job in the hearings. People who know her that I knew in Dallas, when I lived there, say she’s one of the most impressive women they know. She overcame a great deal of sexual prejudice to get to where she’s gotten to in life. She has the president’s absolute confidence.”

Given the president’s track record, Bush “deserves better from the conservative community than he's getting in terms of trust,” Land said.

“I think the president has picked the person that he believes will most reflect his judicial philosophy and is least likely to be influenced by the Eastern establishment, by The New York Times opinion of them over the next 20 years,” Land said.

Buchanan said Bush passed over some of the “finest jurists in the country” in tapping “his personal attorney” for the court seat. He called the nomination a “faith-based initiative.”

“We were on the precipice of victory in the battle to return the Supreme Court to constitutionalism,” Buchanan said. “And the president of the United States picks a woman with no known judicial philosophy who has never taken a stand on any of these great questions, who has never written or said anything about Supreme Court rulings, and we have been told to take it on faith.”

Land said he is confident in placing his faith in Bush. “I don’t know Harriet Miers. I know George W. Bush. And I’m trusting George W. Bush. He understands -- we all understand -- his legacy depends on this nomination.

“George W. Bush, if he’s anything, is a man of his word,” Land continued. “And if there’s any issue that he’s earned the trust of conservatives on, it’s this issue. He has held steadfast and put up stellar nominees in the face of unprecedented opposition from the &#91;former Sen. Minority Leader Tom&#93; Daschle-led clack in the Senate and never backed down, never blinked, never flinched. He picked a person he’s known for 15 years, and I believe he picked her because he knows her that well and he knows that she will vote the way he would want her to vote,” he said.

When Buchanan questioned the president’s resolve in seeing the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Land said he was “absolutely certain” the president wants to see the controversial 1973 court ruling that effectively legalized abortion struck down.

“I know how he feels about abortion,” Land said. “I’ve talked to him about it. I’ve seen the look in his eyes. I’ve seen the anguish in his face, the pain in his heart. This, for him, is not just a moral issue. It is a deep issue of conviction. And he wants to see this decision returned to the people of the United States.”

While some on the right have signaled that Miers’ evangelical faith is a plus for her possible role on the bench, Land said a judge’s faith should not come into play in the decision-making process. “I think that John Roberts’ devout Catholicism and Harriet Miers’ strong evangelical beliefs should be irrelevant when it comes to judging cases before the Supreme Court,” Land said.

“In politicians, in governors and senators and congressmen, it’s very important,” he continued. “They have a right to bring their faith convictions to bear on public policy. But when it comes to judges, they must set aside their personal convictions and rule based on the law.”

Russert asked Land and Buchanan if Miers would be confirmed. Land said yes; Buchanan said no, suggesting the nomination may be withdrawn.
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Community Marriage Policy affirmed in 197th U.S. city
by Kay Adkins
Date: October 10, 2005 - Monday

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (BP)--Memphis has become the 197th U.S. city to embrace a Community Marriage Policy.

More than 175 faith and community leaders at Shelby County’s Second Annual Healthy Marriage Summit affirmed their commitment to equip “individuals, couples and families for healthy, successful relationships,” as stated in the Mid-South Community Marriage Policy.

The goal of the policy is to reduce both the rate of divorce and the number of children born out of wedlock in Shelby County by 20 percent by 2010.

Families Matter, an outreach of Christ Community Health Services, hosted the Sept. 30 summit to unify and challenge the faith community in promoting healthy marriages and families and in fostering a network to share resources.

The audience was racially and spiritually diverse, with representatives from several faith-based social service organizations in attendance along with ministers from Baptist, Assemblies of God, Catholic, Church of Christ, Church of God in Christ, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian and non-denominational congregations.

Families Matter’s faith coordinator, Howard A. Griffen, pastor of Mt. Olive African Methodist Episcopal Church, introduced the day’s program, sharing the key issues facing Shelby County. “In our area we have one of the highest divorce rates in the country, and 62 percent of babies born here are born into single-parent homes and grow up without fathers,” Griffen said.

Keynote speaker Mike McManus, co-chair of Marriage Savers and originator of the Community Marriage Policy (CMP), predicted that Memphis and Shelby County will begin to see what many other cities have seen as a result of similar commitments. “From this day forward,” he said, “you will begin to see the number of divorces decline in Shelby County.”

Results from an independent study revealed that over a seven-year period divorce rates in 114 CMP cities fell 17.5 percent compared to a 9.4 percent decline elsewhere in the country -- and cohabitation rates fell 13.4 percent compared to a 19 percent rise in cities without such a policy. The study by the Institute for Research and Evaluation, published by the journal Family Relations in October 2004, is posted at McManus’ Marriage Savers website, www.marriagesavers.com.

While results have varied among the CMP cities, some cities have realized significant declines, such as five-year averages in El Paso, Texas, where the divorce rate fell 48, and Kansas City, Kan., where divorces fell by a third, according to the Marriage Savers website.

McManus encouraged the Memphis leaders to require rigorous premarital counseling before agreeing to perform marriage ceremonies. He also suggested that marriage mentorship programs be implemented in each congregation. “Some of our young people have no idea what a healthy, successful marriage looks like,” McManus said.

A panel of pastors, counselors, business leaders and community officials discussed ways to partner with the justice system, the school system, and the media to help Shelby County families stay intact.

The formal signing of the Community Marriage Policy took place at noon. Those signing the policy agreed to educate individuals and couples on “the covenant nature of marriage as ordained by God.” They also agreed to provide opportunities for couples “to be mentored by seasoned married couples” and to “foster restoration of troubled marriages, fragile families, and broken lives.”

Married couples and parents who affirm the policy commit to provide classes, conferences, workshops and resources to enhance family relationships. They further agree to influence the community by equipping faith leaders and relationally healthy couples and individuals to be advocates for healthy marriages and families.

Mark Dougharty, associate pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, was the final speaker on the program, sharing about how his salvation experience changed his life and saved his marriage. “I believe there are certain things you cannot do on your own,” Dougharty said. “You cannot save yourself. You cannot save your marriage just by trying harder. Change has to take place on the inside. That is what happened to us and the Lord has blessed our marriage, and we are here today to testify to that.”

Of the CMP initiative, Dougharty said, “I think what they are doing is terrific. What they are trying to do is get churches to sign an agreement that we all support fundamental principles of premarital counseling, so that couples who go to one church will face the same requirements &#91;for marriage&#93; at the church across the street. We are a very biblically based church, and we felt like the things they are espousing are biblical.”

Southern Baptist-affiliated pastors endorsing the Community Marriage Policy included Dougharty, Adrian Rogers (Bellevue’s pastor emeritus), Ben Wilkins of Highland Heights Baptist Church, Richard Talley of Lamar Terrace Baptist Church, D.C. Cobb of Speedway Terrace Baptist Church and James Henderson of Zoe Baptist Church.
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Kay Adkins is a freelance writer based in Mountain View, Ark. For information on establishing a Community Marriage Policy, go to www.marriagesavers.com.


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FIRST-PERSON: What WE should do when tragedy strikes
by Henry Blackaby
Date: October 10, 2005 - Monday

ATLANTA (BP)--Last month I asked “Where God is in the midst of tragedies?” This month I will address “What should we do when tragedy strikes?” How should we respond, in the midst of tragedy such as death, loss, financial or marriage crises?

Several Scriptures come to my mind immediately. At the heart of them all is James 2:17: “... faith, if it does not have works, is dead.” In other words, inaction or noninvolvement is not acceptable when tragedy strikes.

In 1 John 3:18, John urges, “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth....” The verse that precedes this concise statement reads, “... whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need &#91;often with great tragedy&#93;, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” Tragedy, in another’s life, must bring an immediate and meaningful involvement in sharing a “solution” to their tragedy.

James is even more specific about the necessity of our involvement. He takes us back to Abraham as his example:

“... do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?” (James 2:20-22).

He concludes that “... as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.... Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 2:26; 4:17).

When tragedy or need is present, we must respond with real deeds of love, even as Jesus does with our lives. Paul was aware that when God saved him God put His Love in him, and it was impossible for him not to love others, or for God not to be loving others in their times of need -– through Him. Paul says: “... by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Paul was aware that God Himself was working in and through and around his life. Therefore, knowing God was working so thoroughly, Paul labored significantly, even more than those around him. God had shaped his life and given him a heart to love as he had been loved. He did not receive such grace of God “in vain” but responded immediately so that he was in a place where his life could make a difference to others.

This is the pattern for each of us. In the workplace, in the church, in our family, and in our community we will always become a part of “tragedy.” When we do, we must respond with the love of Christ to alleviate the hurt, pain and loss of others. It is a choice we make, and God is observing how we are choosing to respond. May He be pleased with what He sees!
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For more information about Henry Blackaby's ministry and travel schedule, visit his website at www.blackaby.org, or contact Blackaby Ministries International, P.O. Box 16338, Atlanta, Ga. 30321; (404) 362-9500.



