
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-10/20/2005

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Despite insurgency, Secretary of State Rice cites progress toward stability in Iraq
by Erin Curry
Date: October 20, 2005 - Thursday

WASHINGTON (BP)--The nation of Iraq was founded across fault lines of ancient civilizations, among Arabs and Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites, Muslims and Christians, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reminded the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Oct. 19.

“No one can solve this problem for them,” she said in testimony before the committee. “For years these differences were dealt with through violence and repression. Now Iraqis are using compromise and politics.”

Rice said the United States has accomplished the goals of overthrowing a brutal dictator, liberating a nation, defeating the regime’s military forces, transferring sovereignty to an Iraqi government, organizing international support and holding two national elections in Iraq.

The objective for 2005 was a political transition to a permanent, constitutional democracy and a security transition to greater reliance on Iraqi forces, she said. When more than 9 million Iraqis voted on the referendum Oct. 15, a landmark in the process was accomplished.

Other signs of progress include the fact that in August 2004, five Iraqi regular army battalions were in combat, Rice said, and today, 91 Iraqi regular army battalions are in combat. A year ago, no American advisers were embedded with these battalions, but now all of them have American advisers to help expedite the process of independence.

U.S. troops and their Iraqi counterparts have been successful at securing areas of the country neighborhood by neighborhood, she said, and a stark difference exists in the status of places like Baghdad’s Sadr City, downtown Mosul, Najaf and Fallujah compared to a year ago.

“Security along the once-notorious airport road in Baghdad has measurably improved,” Rice told the senators. “Najaf, where American forces fought a major battle last year, is now entirely under independent Iraqi military control.”

The ongoing plan to assure victory in Iraq, the secretary of state said, is to “clear, hold and build: to clear areas from insurgent control, to hold them securely and to build durable, national Iraqi institutions.” All of this is to be done alongside the Iraqi government, she said.

Within those three objectives are the goals of breaking the back of the insurgency, keeping Iraq from becoming a safe haven for Islamic extremists, demonstrating positive potential for democratic change and turning the corner financially and economically, Rice said.

“Now, of course, to achieve this, we must know who we are fighting. Some of these people are creatures of a deposed tyrant, others a small number of homegrown and imported Islamic extremists,” she said. “They feed on a portion of the population that is overwhelmed by feelings of fear, resentment and despair.”

Enemy forces have never won a platoon-size battle against U.S. troops, Rice said, but their tactic has been to shake the will of America, Britain and other coalition countries through random acts of violence.

“Let us say it plainly: The terrorists want us to get discouraged and quit. They believe we do not have the will to see this through. They talk openly about this in their writings and on their websites,” Rice said.

But through an integrated civil-military partnership, Americans and Iraqis are clearing away insurgents and threatening their downfall.

“As one terrorist wrote to another: ‘If the government extends its control over the country, we will have to pack our bags and break camp,’” Rice recounted.

The past two years have seen three temporary governments in Iraq, making the building of solid national institutions even more difficult, she said, but when a permanent government is elected in December, Iraqis will “finally set down real roots.”

Rice acknowledged further obstacles to reconstruction, giving the electricity problem as an example.

“In the transition phase, we concentrated on capital investment, adding capacity to a system that had deteriorated to the point of collapse. But, with freedom, the demand for electricity has gone up by 50 percent and the capability we have added is not being fully utilized because of constant insurgent attacks,” she said.

Her comments came days after a report by USA Today said about 25 cents of every reconstruction dollar now pays for security, causing the cost of rebuilding projects to soar. The article cited security as the largest obstacle to rebuilding Iraq.

Rice said Iraqis have made it clear that they want the multinational military coalition to remain in their country, and in the future the military efforts must be matched by diplomatic, economic and political support from the entire international community. NATO has led the way by opening a training mission near Baghdad, she said.

The United States is in the process of restructuring a portion of its mission in Iraq, she said.

“Learning from successful precedents used in Afghanistan, we will deploy Provincial Reconstruction Teams in key parts of the country. These will be civil-military teams, working in concert with each of the major subordinate commands, training police, setting up courts and helping local governments with essential services like sewage treatment or irrigation,” she said. “The first of these new PRTs will take the field next month.”

It is hard to imagine a decisive victory in Iraq when violent men continue to wage attacks on Iraqis and Americans, Rice said, but the end result will be worth the sacrifice.

“A free Iraq will be at the heart of a different kind of Middle East. We must defeat the ideology of hatred, the ideology that forms the roots of the extremist threat that we face,” she said. “Iraq’s struggle -- the region’s struggle -- is to show that there is a better way, a freer way, to lasting peace.”
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Volunteers sought for cleanup at New Orleans Seminary
by Staff
Date: October 20, 2005 - Thursday

NEW ORLEANS (BP)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary will launch a major volunteer cleanup initiative Oct. 31, giving Southern Baptists an opportunity to assist with the restoration and renewal of on-campus housing at NOBTS.

Bob and Linda Jackson, new directors of the seminary’s MissionLab program, will coordinate the initiative which will involve scheduling 50 volunteers per week from Oct. 31 until the job is finished.

“God has put before us a task too big for us, but not too big for Him,” Bob Jackson said. “Southern Baptists have an opportunity to come bring the message of love to the city of New Orleans.”

Jackson said the enemy is busy at work in New Orleans –- Bourdon Street is already open for business. Jackson hopes Christian volunteers will help the seminary get back to campus as soon as possible to be witness in the city.

Volunteers will assist in a comprehensive cleanup and restoration of all second- and third-floor apartments on campus. The seminary’s insurance will only reimburse NOBTS for restoration work on the contaminated first floors of campus residences. These first-floor apartments, contaminated with mold and mildew, are currently being professionally sanitized and restored.

The plan includes three phases: cleanup of remaining items in apartments; cleaning and repainting; and restoring apartment flooring.

During Phase One, volunteers will conduct walk-throughs of every upper-floor apartment. Items left behind by students after the recent campus move-out Oct. 5-9 will be removed.

This first phase also will include a sorting of items left behind. Any items discarded by students that may be deemed salvageable will be gathered and placed in storage in future hopes of helping others in the New Orleans area as repopulation begins.

Phase Two will include a thorough cleaning and painting of all upper-floor apartment units. The seminary will supply the cleaning supplies and painting equipment used by volunteers

Phase Three will conclude the initiative with the refinishing of floors and final cleanup, with the goal of each unit being ready for habitation as the fall 2006 semester begins.

NOBTS will provide two meals per day and drinking water for volunteers. A sleeping area also be provided, but volunteers must bring bedding, towels, a daily change of clothes (washers and dryers are not available) and breakfast snacks.

Volunteers must be 18 and older and insurance is required. The seminary has arranged an insurance provider for volunteers; coverage can be purchased for a few cents per day. Details can be found at the website for Adams and Associates Insurance www.aaintl.com.

Volunteers also should have an up-to-date tetanus shot, and flu and hepatitis shots also are recommended.

Limited space is available each week –- groups must schedule in advance. To contact Bob and Linda Jackson at MissionLab, call at (404) 226-9367 or e-mail bob@missionlab.com.

Jay Adkins, pastor of the New Orleans-area First Baptist Church of Westwego who is assisting in the cleanup initiative, noted, “One of the greatest blessings of being Southern Baptists is the cooperative spirit that has been planted and nurtured in each of our local congregations.

“Now is the time to put that spirit into action to help our future pastors, student ministers, missionaries, worship leaders, counselors and education directors in their greatest time of need,” said Adkins, who also is enrolled in NOBTS classes. “We, the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary family, need our brother and sister Baptists now like never before.”
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Rainer, in transition to LifeWay, bids farewell to Southern
by David Roach
Date: October 20, 2005 - Thursday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Thom Rainer came to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1994 as founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth, where he anticipated staying until his retirement.

But this year, God led in a new direction when Rainer was elected president of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. On Oct. 12 Rainer bid farewell to Southern in a chapel sermon as a part of the Louisville, Ky., seminary’s annual Heritage Week.

"I think about the incredible opportunity that &#91;Southern Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr.&#93; gave me as God called me to come to start a school," Rainer said. 

“And these 11-plus years, almost a dozen now, have gone like the blink of an eye. I came here as a man in my 30s, and now I am 50 years old. I came here intending for this to be the last ministry stop. I planned to retire here. So I hope that you hear the heart and the heritage that I want to share with you.”

Preaching from Acts 16, Rainer spoke of principles that have motivated him to have a passion for evangelism -- principles he offered as parting advice for students. Evangelism, he said, must begin with an urgent compassion for lost people.

“As we send students out, we send them … with a great compassion -- a compassion for those with physical needs, a compassion for those with social and emotional needs, a compassion for those who are hurting, a compassion for those who are lost,” Rainer said.

Christians must accompany their compassion with a great conviction that the Bible is true and that believing the Gospel is the only way to be saved, he said.

Rainer recounted how as a student at Southern Seminary in the mid-1980s, he had questions about the truthfulness of the historic Christian faith. But through conversations with fellow students, Rainer firmed up his doctrinal convictions, and those convictions drove him to devote his life to reaching lost people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he said.

“We cannot love others until we love God, and we cannot love God unless we believe His Word totally, completely, without error,” he said.

When believers have compassion and conviction simultaneously, a commitment to the Great Commission will follow, Rainer said.

“If we love the Lord, if we believe His Word, if we truly have a great compassion and a great conviction, we cannot help but speak about that which we have seen and heard,” he said. 

“If we truly say we believe the Word of God and we get into our deep theological discussions and we look at the nuances of theology that we rightly should discuss but do not leave this place and share the Gospel, &#91;then&#93; we are missing the point.”

Sharing the Gospel must be accomplished with urgency because life is short and Christians never know when God might call them home, Rainer said.

“If there is a central theme that I would carry through this about the great compassion, the great conviction and the Great Commission, it is this: It’s urgent,” he said. “Time is growing so very short.

“I wish I had the sense of urgency when I sat where many of you students sit when I was a man in my 20s and 30s at Southern Seminary. I wish I had that same urgency that is growing within me even as I am a middle-aged man of 50.”

Rainer pleaded with students to take advantage of the gift of life by proclaiming the Gospel to lost men and women.

“Life is a precious gift,” he said. “There are no certainties. We are so fragile and time is escaping so fast. Please, for the sake of the Gospel, for the glory of God, treat each day as a gift and share the great compassion, hold firm in your great conviction and share Christ in the Great Commission.”
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Law enforcement as a calling underscored at officers’ summit
by Polly House
Date: October 20, 2005 - Thursday

RIDGECREST, N.C. (BP)--Cops and church people both have a skewed view of the world.

“Cops look at the world and think about 90 percent of people are bad; church members look at the world and think about 90 percent are good,” said Jack Poe, chaplain with the Oklahoma City Police Department. “Neither view is accurate, but we all base our actions on our perceptions.”

Poe joined other chaplains, officers and spouses at a Law Enforcement Summit sponsored by and held at LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center near Asheville, N.C., Oct. 4-6. The conference center is owned and operated by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.

“For a law enforcement officer, it’s hard to not look at everyone with suspicion,” Poe said, since that can mean survival on the job. Church members, however, look at people and “want to give them the benefit of the doubt and wonder why cops have to be so harsh.” 

The public may look at law enforcement officers as rough, tough and hard, Poe said, “but based on my years of involvement with the police department, I think I am accurate in saying that there is a higher percentage of Christian law enforcement officers than Christians in other fields. They almost have to have that spiritual connection to survive.”

Poe told the officers that law breaking began with Adam and Eve. “They only had one rule -– one rule -– and they broke it,” he said. “It started there. People still want to break the laws and regulations they are given. But without these laws and regulations, we descend into chaos.” 

OFFICERS’ CALLING

Tim Eldred, chaplain for the Rutherford County (Tenn.) Sheriff’s Office, joined Poe in talking with the officers about the calling of a law enforcement officer.

“You are called to your job as much as I am called to mine,” Eldred said.

Using the picture of sheep and shepherds, Poe compared law enforcement officers to the sheepdogs. “In God’s purpose, we are sheepdogs of an assigned flock of sheep, aware and trained to look out for and protect those that the wolves intend to destroy or devour,” he said. “We are the sheepdogs, the warriors, out there to sacrifice ourselves, if necessary, to protect those sheep.”

Billy Perry, a detective and SWAT team leader from the Jacksonville (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office, continued with the sheepdog metaphor. “The first defense is our presence. Just us being there can deter the wolves.”

He noted two things officers have to remember as sheepdogs. “First, don’t let the wolves get to the sheep when you’re in charge. We need to use our bark first, but we have the teeth, the bite, and will use it when necessary. Second, don’t turn on the sheep you are required to protect.”

Poe said the law enforcement officer’s job is to stand in the gap between the public and those who want to hurt others. “For people, their safe place is behind us. Romans 13 tells us that we are the warriors ordained by God.”

OFFICERS AS SAMARITANS

Using the story of the Good Samaritan, Poe compared the officers to the Samaritan. “The Good Samaritan stayed focused on his task, but don’t you know he also counted the cost?” Poe said. “I’m convinced that at some point, he must have been tempted to dump the victim off his donkey and just walk away. Have you ever been tempted to dump someone off your donkey? Someone that just wouldn’t listen to you, who kept doing the same stupid thing over and over? Sure!

“But the Samaritan was moved by compassion and he made the right choice,” Poe said. “And we have to make the right choices. Our destiny is not a matter of chance; it’s a matter of choice.”

OFFICERS AS PROTECTORS

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and author of the newly published book, “Imagine! A God Blessed America” published by Broadman & Holman, spoke to the officers for a second straight year.

Land told the officers that they fill a crucial role in society. “I don’t have the right to take justice into my own hands. You are the protectors. &#91;When there is a problem,&#93; I expect you to come and put &#91;the lawbreakers&#93; in jail. Then I expect the government to execute justice.”

The problems of America are of the heart, he said, and too often law enforcement officers are forced to deal with the result of troubled homes. “Eighty percent of the people in prisons come from fatherless homes. Boys who grow up in fatherless homes are 300 percent more likely to get in trouble with the law.”

OFFICERS’ FAMILIES

Tim Hawsey, a career law enforcement officer who served as moderator of the summit, and his wife, Diana, led a conference for officers and their spouses on the stresses of being a law enforcement family.

“We don’t have the most physically dangerous job, but emotionally, we have the most dangerous job in the world,” said Hawsey, assistant police chief in Flomaton, Ala., who also serves as minister of music and youth at First Baptist Church in Bratt, Fla., just across the state line. The pressure is multiplied, he said, because the officer’s family can’t help but be a part of the job, especially in a small town.

“You get the officer’s children going to school with the children of a drug dealer the officer arrested,” he said. “You may have a SWAT team member who had to kill the father of some of his children’s friends. At the grocery store you might see someone you arrested and who threatened you or your family.”

It’s in the nature of an officer to want to be where the action is, Hawsey said. “It’s always a temptation to run out and work that wreck or robbery when you aren’t on duty, or work more hours for the overtime, but you need to have someone in your life who will stop you and remind you to have a responsibility to your family. You need that quality time at home.”

Next year’s Ridgecrest Law Enforcement Summit will be Oct. 3-5. For more information, go to www.lifeway.com/ridgecrest.
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Officer sees summit as safe place to relax
by Staff
Date: October 20, 2005 - Thursday

RIDGECREST, N.C. (BP)--Rest doesn’t come easy to Lt. Debra Yokley.

Yokley has been with the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina for 14 years. She has attended the Ridgecrest Law Enforcement Summit for three of the four years it’s been held.

“This is just a great time of Christian fellowship with other officers,” she said. “It’s a time of rest and renewal for me. I feel comfortable around other officers. They can sympathize with my needs.”

She called the summit, sponsored by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, “a safe place to rest. At home, you’re always on guard. Even when I go to the grocery store, I’m likely to see someone I have arrested. You always have to pay attention. It’s hard to just relax.” 

Yokley said it’s meaningful that all the conferences are directed to some aspect of law officers’ lives. “Everything here applies to us and what we go through,” she said. “The leaders understand that our lives are different.”
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The next Ridgecrest Law Enforcement Summit will be Oct. 3-5, 2006. For more information, go to www.lifeway.com/ridgecrest.



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Churches can support law enforcement officers
by Staff
Date: October 20, 2005 - Thursday

RIDGECREST, N.C. (BP)--Law enforcement officers are members of the police department, sheriff’s office and the FBI. They are school resource officers and in the military. What can a local church do for these men and women who protect us?

Suggestions drawn from the recent Ridgecrest Law Enforcement Summit include:

1. Sponsor an officer and spouse for the 2006 Law Enforcement Summit at LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center. If you don’t have an officer in your church, there are other ways to help:

-- Offer to sponsor an officer and spouse from another church. 

-- Contact the head of your local law enforcement agency and offer to sponsor an officer and spouse. 

-- Contact Ron Pratt at ron.pratt@lifeway.com and donate money to pay the fees for an officer and spouse who might otherwise not get to attend. 

2. Honor local law enforcement officers with a special time of recognition in a worship service.

3. Pray for law enforcement officers -- for their safety, health, courage and character. Pray for their families. Find out specific requests and pray for those.

4. Support a chaplain. Officers need the special ministry a chaplain provides, but many smaller law enforcement agencies don’t have chaplains. A group of churches can pool resources and support a fulltime chaplain or pay for training for an existing chaplain. 

The next Ridgecrest Law Enforcement Summit will be Oct. 3-5, 2006. For more information, go to www.lifeway.com/ridgecrest.
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After 37 years, Jack Terry to retire from Southwestern
by Brent Thompson
Date: October 20, 2005 - Thursday

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Jack Terry Jr., vice president of institutional advancement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, announced during the fall meeting of seminary’s trustees Oct. 18 that he will step down from his position at the end of the year.

Terry said he would assume a “semi-retired” status Dec. 31 and will continue to work for the seminary part-time. He will remain chairman of the seminary’s centennial celebration committee, which is preparing events for Southwestern’s anniversary in 2008.

“Barbara and I thank you,” Terry said. “It has been a great, exciting journey.”

Seminary President Paige Patterson lauded Terry’s contribution to Southwestern as a teacher, dean, administrator and vice president.

“There is not an anthill in the U.S. where Jack is not on a personal, first-name basis with some of the ants, and has tried to get them to contribute to Southwestern,” Patterson said. The seminary community will “throw a gala celebration” for Terry in March, Patterson said. “We can never pay back all the generosity and contributions to this institution in his 37 years of service,” he said.

Once the dean of the religious education school at Southwestern, Terry moved into the role of vice president and began fundraising for several building projects, including the construction of the Ray I. Riley Alumni Center and the Jack W. MacGorman Conference Center, home of Southwestern’s Center for Leadership Development.

This summer, Fort Worth Business Press recognized Terry as one of Fort Worth’s outstanding mentors. Greg Tomlin, director of public relations at Southwestern, said Terry has exhibited the qualities of a godly leader in his various roles at the seminary.

“When you look at Jack Terry’s life, you see all of these churches he has had his hand in from East Texas to Kaiserslautern, Germany,” Tomlin said. “Each one of them has benefited from his ministry, even as he was serving at Southwestern in some capacity. He is a true church leader, a gifted communicator and a trusted friend.”

Terry will continue to raise funds for the seminary, including plans for a 3,500-seat chapel. Trustees were shown a digital “fly over” of the new building, which will serve as the center of campus life, with Patterson noting that the new chapel is “essential to our future growth.” Southwestern is one of the few theological schools in the country, he said, that still has no freestanding chapel.

Trustees approved the process allowing the seminary administration to pursue the full architectural design and funding for the new chapel. Vice President of Business Administration Greg Kingry said there is a “sense of urgency” to get the new chapel well underway by the seminary’s centennial celebration in 2008.

In other business:

-- Trustees elected Craig V. Mitchell as assistant professor of Christian ethics, effective immediately. Mitchell, who has been serving at Southwestern under presidential appointment for three years, is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. During his military career, he tested air and spacecraft at sites across the United States. He holds three master’s degrees and a Ph.D. from Southwestern Seminary. Mitchell is a research fellow with the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

-- Trustees voted to award the seminary’s B.H. Carroll Award to Steve and Kathy Spotts of Euless, Texas. Steve Spotts is president and CEO of Pathology Partners, Inc., a specialty laboratory company based in Irving, Texas. The company specializes in cancer diagnostics and detecting gastrointestinal diseases. Spotts often speaks to secular business leaders on the how to run successful operations according to biblical principles. The B.H. Carroll Award is given annually.

-- Patterson announced that the seminary would soon bring a recommendation to trustees to enhance its program of study in biblical archaeology. George Kelm, a retired Southwestern Seminary faculty member, will assist in the development of the program. 

Patterson said the goal of the program would be to have at least two professors in the program so a Ph.D. in archaeology could be offered. Southwestern already is home to the Tandy Archaeological Museum, which houses a collection of Israeli antiquities from Tel Batash or Timnah, a Philistine city described in Judges 14. 

Patterson also announced that the seminary would soon bring a recommendation to trustees that the school develop an Anabaptist study center in honor of longtime professor William R. Estep.

-- Kingry reported on the extensive investigation his office conducted to assess the best direction the seminary should take with respect to insurance coverage, comparing fully funded with self-funded programs, and also responding to a referral from the Southern Baptist Convention.
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SWBTS opens German extension center to train future leaders
by Benjamin Hawkins
Date: October 20, 2005 - Thursday

BORNHEIM, Germany (BP)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson and Executive Vice President and Provost Craig Blaising joined more than 1,000 German Baptists, Anabaptists and Mennonites in Bornheim, Germany, Oct. 3 to inaugurate the first semester of Southwestern’s extension center in nearby Bonn.

The inauguration included a formal announcement of Southwestern’s master of arts in theology degree program on the campus of Bibelseminar in Bonn. The program offers a concentration in pastoral ministry.

Bibelseminar was founded by ethnic Germans who migrated back to West Germany from the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Due to cultural and theological differences with indigenous German denominations, these Baptist, Anabaptist and Mennonite immigrants planted their own churches. Bibelseminar was established to train pastors and missionaries, offering an undergraduate education in biblical studies.

Southwestern Seminary partnered with Bibelseminar to implement a program for post-graduate studies. The first class at Southwestern’s extension center entails eight men who recently completed their studies at Bibelseminar.

Bibelseminar director Heinrich Derksen said the new master’s degree program is an important development in training future leaders of Baptist and Mennonite churches at an advanced level. The need for trained leaders is great among the 100,000-plus Baptists in Germany.

At the convocation services, Blaising introduced the Bonn center’s two fulltime resident faculty members, Friedhelm Jung and Helmuth Pehlke.

Jung is professor of systematic theology and director of the master’s degree program. He has served as a professor at Bibelseminar and as a pastor of First Baptist Church in Bornheim. He earned his doctorate in theology at the University of Marburg.

Pehlke is professor of Old Testament. He served as a chair at the Freie Theologische Akademie in Geissen, Germany, for more than 20 years. He earned the master of theology and doctor of theology degrees from Dallas Theological Seminary.

Both men signed Southwestern Seminary’s book of confessional heritage, confirming their agreement with the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.

Greg Kingry, vice president of business affairs at Southwestern Seminary, said that signing a religious confession of faith was a new experience for the supporters of Bibelseminar. Therefore, the overflow audience listened intently when President Patterson explained the development and meaning of the Baptist Faith and Message. Jung and Pehlke publicly examined the confession of faith before signing.

“There was a sense that when they signed this, there really was a respect for what they were doing,” Kingry said. “It became something to them that was significant; it wasn’t just a matter of signing a document and becoming a faculty member.”

Patterson, Blaising and Kingry were encouraged by the faith of the German believers.

“They are strong in their foundational beliefs and their core orthodoxy,” Kingry said. “And they’re evangelical.... It’s not a stale faith at all. It’s very much alive.”
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Theology must lead to love of God, neighbor, Mohler says
by Jeff Robinson
Date: October 20, 2005 - Thursday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Pursuing a correct knowledge of biblical doctrine must lead Christians to a deeper love of both God and their neighbor, or else they will have missed the point of studying theology, R. Albert Mohler Jr. said Oct. 11 during a Heritage Week address at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. 

Preaching from Matt. 22:34-40, Mohler warned those who study theology to be on guard against "missing the forest for the trees." Authentic Christianity is comprised both of correct biblical doctrine and a love for God and neighbor, the seminary president said.

“There are persons whose focus is so small they miss the big picture, not only the forest but even the tree,” Mohler said. “We are those who know that every single word of Scripture is true. We know that every doctrine is important, that all truth is God’s truth and for this reason, all truth is to be honored and cherished and received. There are no minor truths. 

“But it is possible to miss the big picture. It may be important for us in humility to recognize that this may be a temptation that those who would seek to be orthodox and conservative and right and true may need to be especially mindful of.

“We do not apologize for seeking to get doctrine right. There is no excuse for theological sloppiness. There is no excuse for theological accommodationism. There is no excuse for dismissing or sidestepping God’s truth, but there is no excuse for missing the big picture.”

Mohler pointed out that orthodoxy in the early church once hanged on the proper understanding of a syllable of a single word. Thus, he said, Christians must carefully study the Scriptures and formulate doctrine in accord with God’s Word. 

But accurate understanding of doctrine must lead the theologian or student to obey the greatest commandment -- to love God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength -- and to keep the second great commandment which demands that one must also love his neighbor, Mohler said.

However, love to God and love to neighbor must not be defined by mere sentimentality, but by Scripture, Mohler said. 

“Everything comes down to this,” Mohler said. “Here we find our center of gravity. … We are so confused about love in our culture we are not even sure how to use the word and how not to use the word. When we are speaking about the love of God, this reminds us that there is emotion and there is the experiential level of this. This is not some kind of esoteric mysticism. 

“This is the robust Christian love which is the devotion of everything that we are and everything that we have and everything that we hope focused upon the one true and living God. If the end result of our theological education is not that we love God more deeply, more powerfully, more authentically, more truly, then we have missed the point.   

Love to God and love to neighbor manifests itself in the life of a believer through a fervent commitment to evangelism, Mohler said.

“If we love God we would love &#91;the love God has&#93; for His own glory in seeing sinners saved by the blood of the Lamb,” Mohler said. “And love of God and love of neighbor will lead us to want to know more, to get theology right and to be more passionate about evangelism. 

“Then we will love like God loves and we would love to see what God loves to see and we would love to be a part of what God loves to happen. We would certainly be more mission-minded because we would no longer be blinded by the limitations of race and ethnicity and we would have the incredible vision of the book of Revelation. We would long to see what God wants us to long to see, and that is people of every tongue and tribe and nation declare His glory through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.” 
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Southern Seminary receives $1 million endowed chair
by Jeff Robinson
Date: October 20, 2005 - Thursday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Calling it “a hallmark in the history” of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, President R. Albert Mohler Jr. announced Oct. 12 a fully funded $1 million endowed professorship, named in honor of late Alabama Christian statesman Albert Lee Smith Jr. 

Mohler announced the creation of The Albert Lee Smith Jr. Chair of Christian Leadership during a chapel service that was part of Southern Seminary’s annual Heritage Week. Smith served Alabama’s 6th District in the United States House of Representatives during the 96th session of Congress from 1981-1982. 

“These endowed chairs are so very important to us because they really are the heart of the financial security of this institution going forward, and they are also a way of honoring one who is rightly to be honored,” Mohler said. 

“The proceeds will help to fund the salary of a professor and the cost of providing instruction. This kind of investment helps keep tuition as low as possible. This is a down-payment on the future so that generations yet to come will have greater opportunities than what are represented by this institution even now.” 

Smith joined the Jefferson Pilot Life Insurance Company in 1956 and worked for 41 years as a chartered life underwriter, winning several professional and service awards. 

As a congressman, Smith demonstrated Christian concern for the strength of American families by sponsoring the Family Protection Act. In 1985, President Reagan appointed Smith to the National Council on Aging, an appointment subsequently confirmed by the U.S. Senate.  

Smith, who died in 1997, served for many years as a deacon at First Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., and also as chairman of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs. His wife, Eunie, who was present during the announcement of the endowed chair, serves on the board of trustees for the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the SBC. 

“Albert Lee Smith Jr. left a lifetime legacy of Christian commitment as a husband and father, churchman, friend and national leader,” Mohler said. “He served as a role model and mentor for many –- demonstrating his skill as a leader in the fight for truth and the cause of Christ as a defender of the Christian faith.

“His legacy has been perpetuated in the lives of so many, and now in a very special way, everyone in this institution will be touched by his life.”

The Albert Lee Smith Chair of Christian Leadership is Southern Seminary’s 18th endowed chair. 
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Köstenberger: Authority of Scripture key to ‘every issue we face’
by James Streicher
Date: October 20, 2005 - Thursday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)--Acknowledging how debates about inerrancy weigh heavily on the authority of Scripture, Andreas Köstenberger challenged students to hold true to the Word of God during the annual Sizemore Lectures at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo.

Köstenberger, professor of New Testament and Greek and director of Ph.D. and Th.M. studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., spoke on three topics during the Oct. 4-6 lectures: “The Moral Vision of John,” “The Biblical Framework for Marriage,” and “The New Testament Pattern of Church Government.”

“The practical and relevant issues of Jesus’ ethic, marriage and church government are all of interest for the church,” Köstenberger said. “It is my conviction that the Bible must be our common foundation and authoritative source for every issue we face as the church of Christ and as Southern Baptists.”

On his first topic, Köstenberger turned to the 13th chapter of John to focus on the heart of Jesus’ ethic. He said that even though Scripture does not give an exhaustive approach to such issues as abortion, cloning or stem cell research, the church can rely upon God’s Word.

“Emphatically there is only one reliable source and authority for our ethical reflections and formulations -– God’s inspired and inerrant Holy Word,” Köstenberger said.

“Scripture provides a sufficient compass, an ethical framework for decision-making that postmodern man ignores at his great peril,” he said.

Speaking on marriage on the second day of the lecture series, Köstenberger said, “Our current cultural crisis is symptomatic of a deeper-seeded spiritual crisis that continues to gnaw away at the foundation of our one shared societal values -– marriage and family.”

The cultural crisis concerning the traditional Judeo-Christian view of marriage and family leads to grappling with human rights, self-fulfillment and pragmatic utility, Köstenberger said.

“If the cultural crisis is symptomatic of the underlying spiritual crisis, then the solution likewise ought to be spiritual and not merely a cultural response,” he said.

God’s Word doesn’t rest on man’s approval nor does it remain silent on the vital issues affecting men and women in marriages today, Köstenberger noted; Scripture indeed provides wholesome instruction and appropriate answers to vital issues of marriage and family, such as parenting, and also on the single lifestyle as well as homosexuality.

In his final lecture, Köstenberger addressed the highly debated pattern of New Testament church government. The Pastoral Epistles of the New Testament, he noted, shed helpful insight on particularly controversial topics such as women deacons.

Köstenberger, following a lengthy discourse from biblical text concerning non-teaching and non-leading women deacons, said that the church can provide a good opportunity to recognize the ministries for women just as men are recognized.

“We &#91;conservatives&#93; are not against women in ministry as our &#91;liberal&#93; opponents sometimes allege,” he said, referring to the debate on women in the ministry. “We do not discriminate against women who are involved in significant ministry.”

But as with any other matter, churches and its leaders must rely upon Scripture as their ultimate authority, Köstenberger said.

“The church must continue to wrestle with the scriptural teachings as to what constitutes church government, church leadership and qualifications for leadership,” he said. “The church must commit itself to abide to what the Scripture teaches and hold to it rather than follow personal preferences or church tradition.”

Midwestern President Dr. R. Philip Roberts said, “It was a wonderful honor for Midwestern to have hosted a world-class scholar like Andreas Köstenberger. Southern Baptists can be proud to have biblical exegetes of his caliber on our campuses.”

Köstenberger said the lectures also were an encouragement to him. “To follow a long line of distinguished biblical scholars such as Darrell Bock, D.A. Carson or Howard Marshall who have delivered the Sizemore Lectures in the past, it was certainly a high honor to present this year’s lectures,” he said. “President Roberts and the Midwestern community are to be commended for nurturing the vision of God-honoring, biblically grounded, life-changing scholarship that searches and expounds the Scriptures for the greater glory of God and the greater good of his people.

“I have appreciated the warm hospitality, the stimulating interaction and the collegial atmosphere that pervades the Midwestern campus,” Köstenberger said, “and I am convinced that God will use Midwestern to continue to train many godly leaders for God’s Kingdom in the years to come.”

Midwestern’s Sizemore Lectures were established in 1976 in honor of Burlan A. Sizemore, Jr. who was tragically killed in an automobile accident in March 1976. Sizemore served as professor of Old Testament and Hebrew from 1968 to 1976 at Midwestern.
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Adopt An Annuitant participants receive post-hurricane aid
by Staff
Date: October 20, 2005 - Thursday

DALLAS (BP)--As people begin to rebuild their lives in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, two dozen retired ministers and widows have qualified for emergency grants -– ranging from $500 to $2,000 -- from GuideStone Financial Resources’ Adopt An Annuitant program.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, GuideStone staff began contacting Adopt An Annuitant recipients to check on their situation and offer help.

“We’ve provided extra assistance to about 25 people,” said John Ambra, GuideStone’s director of development. “That support has helped them in meeting insurance deductibles, replacing lost food, cleanup assistance and replacing shingles on the roof. In fact, we paid for metal sheeting that ripped off one of our participant’s roofs.”

“The best news is none of the annuitants we currently help have lost their lives,” Ambra said. 

One of the annuitants assisted by GuideStone’s emergency financial aid was Mary Hodges of McComb, Miss. During Katrina’s landfall and deluge on her home in southwest Mississippi, Hodges said she went from room to room in her house praying God would protect her property and her church.

“The Lord was with me and I did not get afraid,” she said. “And not a limb fell on the house. It was miraculous.”

Hodges’ home received some roof damage from the winds -– not to the point of leaking, she noted -– but food in her refrigerator and freezer spoiled during the power outage in the days following Katrina.

“The check makes the difference in what I am able to eat, compared to what I could have without it,” she said, adding that the difference in the supplemental income she receives through the Adopt An Annuitant program means the difference between eating beans or eating meat.

Hodges said that her neighborhood and city are beginning to rebound. A group from Missouri came down and cut up fallen tree limbs and trucks carted off the debris.

“We’re getting in good shape,” Hodges said. “It’s starting to look like people live here instead of a war zone.”

Ambra said the Adopt An Annuitant program has been able to provide emergency grants to recipients like Hodges because of the generosity of Southern Baptists who give to the Adopt An Annuitant program.

The program provides financial support for nearly 2,500 retired Southern Baptist ministers or their widows whose income is insufficient to meet their daily needs. Qualifying individuals receive $200 a month and qualifying couples receive $265 a month. The Adopt An Annuitant program can accept a gift of any amount, and nothing is taken out for administrative costs –- 100 percent is used to help someone in need.

“The faithfulness of our donors is the reason we are prepared to respond in emergency situations,” Ambra said. “Because of that support, we’ve been able to provide additional funds to help with the unexpected needs our recipients have faced, and we’ve had the privilege of being able to give some comfort to folks who were dealing with tough circumstances.”
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Additional information on the Adopt An Annuitant program is available at www.GuideStone.org or by calling 1-800-262-0511.


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North American missionaries selected for 2006 Week of Prayer
by Debbie Sills
Date: October 20, 2005 - Thursday

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--The North American Mission Board has announced the selection of missionaries to be featured during next spring’s Week of Prayer for the 2006 North American Missions Emphasis.

The 2006 theme, “Tell His Story,” is based on Mark 16:15 to undergird Southern Baptists’ awareness of the need to support those who are sharing the Gospel on the North American mission field. 

Eight NAMB missionaries or missionary couples are selected each year to represent the work of 5,200 missionaries across the United States and Canada. The work of the missionaries selected in 2006 includes starting new churches, student evangelism on college campuses, inner-city Baptist center ministries, associational missions, interfaith witness evangelism and ministering in resort settings.

The 2006 Week of Prayer missionaries are:

--Chet and Michelle Cantrell of East St. Louis, Ill., who direct the Christian Activity Center and minister to children and youth facing a 60 percent school dropout rate, crime-ridden streets and a life of poverty.

--Kevin and Alicia Madden of British Columbia, Canada, church planting missionaries in Canada. Kevin serves as senior pastor of The Potter’s House Community Church, a ministry offering a safe place for people to hear the Gospel.

-- Mary L. Gore of Zwolle, La., a resort missionary who shares the Gospel with children and adults through various campground ministries in the popular Toledo Bend Lake area.

-- Randy and Denise Chestnut of Cleveland, Ohio, where Randy serves as the associational missionary for the Greater Cleveland Baptist Association. Randy and Denise use creative methods to share the Gospel where there is only one Southern Baptist church for every 46,000 people.

-- Andrew and Edith Chan of Arcadia, Calif., church planters focusing on predominantly Chinese areas of California.

-- Larry and Joanne Woods of East Lansing, Mich., Mission Service Corps missionaries reaching students for Christ on the campuses of Michigan State University and Lansing Community College. Larry is legally blind.

-- Dave and Debbie Howeth of Helena, Mont., associational missionaries and church planters for Treasure State Baptist Association, an area encompassing 40,000 square miles. Dave works to encourage and motivate pastors as they share Christ in sparsely populated areas of Montana.

-- Reggie and Anna Robbins of Decatur, Ga., who direct Set Free Memorial Drive Ministries and Sanctuary Shelter which provides a safe, Christ-centered environment for drug and alcohol addicts to move toward a new life in Christ.

To assist Southern Baptist churches, a free promotion packet emphasizing the Tell His Story theme will be mailed to every church in mid-January. Week of Prayer missionaries are featured throughout the packet, in video segments on a DVD (VHS available on request), in a daily prayer guide and on missionary prayer cards available for purchase.

The North American Missions Emphasis includes three aspects:

-- The annual Week of Prayer, which is March 5-12, 2006, when churches focus on praying for the eight missionaries and their areas of service.

-- The North American Mission Study, which is designed to involve all age groups in a study of the Tell His Story theme and spark a desire to tell His story in North America.

-- The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, which supports more than 5,200 North American missionaries and their ministries. The 2006 goal is $56 million, 100 percent of which is used for missionary support.

More information about the Week of Prayer for North American Missions and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering is available at www.AnnieArmstrong.com. North American mission study materials (lesson plans and supportive material) will be added in January.
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Alaska convention marks 60 years of ministry in frontier state
by Staff
Date: October 20, 2005 - Thursday

JUNEAU, Alaska (BP)--Alaska Baptists celebrated their 60th annual meeting by emphasizing the need to reach more of their friends and neighbors with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The meeting’s theme was “Light Up Alaska,” which during the past two years has emphasized missions and prayer and church development and this year emphasizes evangelism.

The Alaska Baptist Convention has four associations encompassing 74 churches and 28 missions, according to David Baldwin, the state convention’s executive director.

Messengers approved a 2006 budget of $1.88 million, down from $1.96 in 2005. The budget includes anticipated giving of $693,857 from affiliated churches plus additional funds from the North American Mission Board and LifeWay Christian Resources. The convention will continue to allocate 33 percent of Cooperative Program receipts to national and international missions and ministries.

Alaska Baptists reported 513 baptisms for the year, down from 649 in 2004 and 643 in 2003. Total membership in Alaska churches is more than 16,000.

Bruce Rowell, pastor of First Baptist Church in Palmer, was re-elected president for 2006. Gary Cox, pastor of University Baptist Church in Fairbanks, was elected first vice president; Herb Johnston, pastor of Sunset Hills Baptist Church in Anchorage, elected second vice president; and Colleen Cannon, a member of First Baptist Church in Anchorage, recording secretary.

Because nearly 4,000 military personnel left Alaska the week of the convention to join the American forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, messengers passed a resolution vowing to covenant together to support their troops through prayer and encouragement, both for the military personnel and their families who have stayed behind.

Attendance for the Aug. 16-17 sessions at Glacier Valley Baptist Church in Juneau included 76 messengers and 35 guests.

The convention’s 2006 annual meeting will be Aug. 15-16 at First Baptist Church in Fairbanks.
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FIRST-PERSON: A political world
by Penna Dexter
Date: October 20, 2005 - Thursday

DALLAS (BP)--Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was confirmed 98-0 in 1986. He recently told NBC’s “Today” audience that he’s not sure he would be confirmed in today's Senate and he wouldn’t want to go through the process. 

One year after Scalia’s confirmation, Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork was “borked” and the process has been broken ever since. A “fix” that began to take shape earlier this year would have allowed the Bush administration to avoid disappointing a large section of its base over his nominee, Harriet Miers. But a group of senators, led by Arizona Republican John McCain, stopped that from happening. President Bush was ill-served by this attempt to avoid a battle over the filibuster of his judicial nominees. 

Many “movement” conservatives were furious at the nomination of Harriet Miers to the highest court in the land. The White House calculated that choosing her would avoid the fight conservatives have wanted for two decades. But the administration underestimated the depth and strength of conservative passion to change the courts. 

Former Bush speechwriter David Frum explained his frustration with the Miers nomination in his National Review Online diary from Oct. 7: “George Bush has again and again called on conservatives to sacrifice for the success of his presidency.” It’s true. They were asked to hold their fire as Bush supported a budget-busting prescription drug plan, constitution-busting campaign finance reform, and when he called Islam a “peaceful religion”. Peggy Noonan, a former Reagan speechwriter, says this nomination is evidence that the president feels “free to stiff conservatives.” In Human Events Oct. 6, Ann Coulter revealed her fury that Bush ignored the “farm team of massive legal talent on the right” that has been nurtured and developed since the Bork battle by the likes of former Attorney General Ed Meese, Justice Scalia, and even Robert Bork himself. In the same publication Pat Buchanan lamented that Harriet Miers has “never declared herself with courage and conviction on any of the great issues.” There’s been much discussion of her “thin record” and the fact that her cases, for the most part, did not involve questions of constitutional law and many were settled out of court.

We can hope that the president’s close relationship with Harriet Miers and the fact that she’s evangelical and pro-life mean that she’d be a better vote on the court than Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. President Bush’s selection of lower courts judges who are proven strict constructionists and constitutional originalists is encouraging. But conservatives, hoping for a nominee with a track record of constitutional restraint with Roberts-esque firepower and persuasiveness, do not feel the president gave the court the best the country has to offer. They are correct.

The White House, though surprised at the strength of the opposition, must have anticipated the disappointment. So, why do this? Some say the appointment was made from weakness. It was not. President Bush may be embattled at the moment but he is not weak. He is a warrior who considered the weapons in his arsenal before deciding whether to undertake the battle conservatives wanted over this seat on the Supreme Court. 

Unfortunately he lost his most powerful weapon during the spring when the "Gang of 14" senators -- seven Republicans and seven Democrats -- made a deal that took the "nuclear option" off the table and left intact the rule allowing the filibuster of judicial nominees. If Senate leaders had won that rule change, the groundwork would have been laid for a smooth confirmation of Supreme Court nominees. Instead the filibuster remains a weapon in the Democrats’ arsenal to be used in whatever circumstance they define as ‘extraordinary.’ The White House calculated that the nomination of Harriet Miers, with her non-revealing record, could never be defined that way. 

Harriet Miers was not the ideal nominee. But the ideal was not a possibility given the composition of the Republican majority in the Senate. There are not enough reliable votes to overcome the filibuster of a nominee with a conservative or pro-life track record. The moderate Republicans are needed to support the President in any battle to get rid of the filibuster, and they cannot be counted on. The president could have put a “short-lister” out there, anticipating perhaps a year of delay, filibuster, and maybe even a first-round loss. But with some key cultural cases coming before the courts, it’s crucial that O’Connor is replaced soon. Call it misstep or miscalculation. But that’s the political decision this White House made.

In a perfect world we would be able to rely on a 55-45 Senate to approve a strong originalist to the Supreme Court. But we live in a political world. 
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Dexter is a conservative activist and a former co-host of Marlin Maddoux's Point of View syndicated radio program. She currently serves as a consultant for KMA Direct Communications in Plano, Texas, and as a producer for Washington Watch Weekly, a broadcast of the Family Research Council.



