The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-11/03/2014 DISCLAIMER: Baptist Press should be credited for any reprinted stories that originate with BP. Suggested credit line: Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. Please note that Baptist Press periodically carries stories from other sources by permission. Individuals interested in reprinting non-BP stories should contact the entity where the story originated to seek reprint permission. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Life on Mission resource ready for release by Adam Miller Date: November 03, 2014 - Monday ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) -- Liz Olear says she's learned Christians can't separate faith from other areas of life. Olear served for several months as a missionary through an internship program, called Generation Send, with the North American Mission Board. And through also participating in a NAMB Life On Mission study, Olear says, she's become convinced of how integrated the Gospel should be to all areas of life. In conjunction with Moody Publishers, NAMB launched the Life On Mission book Sept. 1. In November the Life On Mission resource kit will be available. In addition to the book, the kit includes the 3 Circles Life Conversation Guide evangelism resource and the Life On Mission Bible Study Guide, published by LifeWay. There are opportunities every day for a Christian to share their faith, Olear says. "You can't compartmentalize when you choose to be on mission. Life on mission means your life never stops being on mission," Olear said. "Honestly, if you think about why we're here, our reason for being is the Great Commission. So, if we're not setting up our schedules so we can make disciples then what are we doing with our time?" The resource kit provides church leaders and individuals resources for in-depth study of how believers can live a life on mission in the midst of their busy schedules and everyday responsibilities. NAMB president Kevin Ezell said, "We want to help every believer discover the mission God has for them. That will transform our churches and it will transform lives as well." LifeWay's five-week video-driven Bible study for groups walks through God's heart for His mission and what it looks like in a practical way to intentionally share the Gospel. Dustin Willis is NAMB's mobilization and equipping coordinator. He co-wrote the book with Aaron Coe, vice president of mobilization and marketing at NAMB. "These resources were developed out of a desire to see believers empowered to abandon their own mission and embrace the everyday mission of God," Willis said. "We really believe there is nothing more freeing and nothing healthier for the church than for us to see our lives as lived for God's mission in the world." The Life On Mission book is available at Lifeway stores and online at lifewaystores.com. Tablet and phone versions of the book are available at the iTunes and at Google play. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mars Hill Church to dissolve, sell property by David Roach Date: November 03, 2014 - Monday SEATTLE (BP) -- Mars Hill Church, the Seattle-based network of congregations founded by controversial pastor Mark Driscoll, will dissolve, sell all church assets and encourage its 13 campuses to become independent congregations. Dale Braswell, a Southern Baptist church planter in the Seattle area, told Baptist Press the dissolution is both sad and hopeful. "It's sad seeing an organization like Mars that's reached so many people and done so much good working in the Seattle area" dissolve, Braswell, pastor of Lifepoint Church in Lynnwood, Wash., said. "But there's hope in the sense that a lot of new churches are going to be autonomously started. And, Lord willing, those churches are going to start churches ... and the impact can kind of continue." By Jan. 1, each of Mars Hill's campuses must decide whether to become an independent self-governed church, merge with an existing church or disband, according to an Oct. 31 letter posted on Mars Hill's website by primary teaching pastor Dave Bruskas. As part of the transition plan, all of Mars Hill's properties will either be sold or the loans on the individual properties will be assumed by the new independent congregations. The church's corporate headquarters is listed for $7.75 million while three other properties are for sale for a total of $20 million, the Seattle Times reported. All central Mars Hill staff members will be paid and then released from employment, and any remaining funds will be gifted to the new independent congregations, Bruskas wrote. Then the Mars Hill Church organization will cease to exist. "The board of Mars Hill has concluded that rather than remaining a centralized multi-site church with video-led teaching distributed to multiple locations, the best future for each of our existing local churches is for them to become autonomous self-governed entities," Bruskas wrote. "This means that each of our locations has an opportunity to become a new church, rooted in the best of what Mars Hill has been in the past, and independently led and run by its own local elder teams." Driscoll resigned from Mars Hill Oct. 14 after an internal church investigation found that he had been "guilty of arrogance, responding to conflict with a quick temper and harsh speech, and leading the staff and elders in a domineering manner," according to a letter from the church's board of overseers obtained by Religion News Service. Beginning in August Driscoll had taken a break from the pastorate and temporarily suspended speaking engagements and media interviews. Also in August the Acts 29 church planting network, which Driscoll founded, removed him and Mars Hill from its membership. At its peak, Mars Hill had 15 campuses in five states with some 14,000 attendees. The congregation does not cooperate with the Southern Baptist Convention. "It's sad for Mars Hill the entity," Braswell said of the dissolution. "But in the scheme of God's Kingdom, I think there's always hope because Jesus promises us that the church is not going to be defeated." -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: Baptists & the gay issue by John Yeats Date: November 03, 2014 - Monday JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP) -- The Wall Street Journal arrives at my office every morning. I read it for a relatively balanced view of cultural trends and financial markets in the U.S. and the world. Needless to say, I was shocked when the Journal ran articles about Southern Baptists and Apple Corporation's Tim Cook on the same page. Interestingly, Cook's "coming out" announcement actually was verification of old news. Running a story about Southern Baptists above the fold was a shock. The headline read, "Southern Baptists Soften Tone on Gays." Really? Unlike the Roman Catholics who change at the whim of a pontiff, Southern Baptists on the whole have changed nothing because our core belief system is based on the unchanging absolutes of God's Word. At the very least, the headline is misleading. Consequently, allow me to list of five simple things to remember about Baptists, especially in the context of the social confusion created by a small minority of American citizens: First, Baptists are people of the Book. The principles of God's Word are neither for sale nor are they negotiable. That makes Baptists a stubborn lot. When Baptists have made mistakes by following cultural prejudices instead of scriptural truths, they on the whole tend to repent and move forward, hoisting high the Word of God as the authority for life, liberty and purposefulness. While biblical principles are for all people everywhere, embracing the Gospel by faith gives individuals the opportunity to enter a personal relationship with the ultimate Author and Teacher of the Word. As a result, Baptists tend to test their worldview by the Word of God and desire that every aspect of life is compatible with its truths. Second, Baptists love people. Collectively, Baptists love people so much they invest millions of dollars in ministries to help people in the United States and around the world. They volunteer for all kinds of helping ministries. They know that being part of a church is more than the number of noses at some church gathering. They are part of a community of believers involved in touching the world with the Gospel. Baptists believe they have experienced the transformational love of God for their personal lives, and as a result they want to communicate God's love to individuals and all cultures. They love people who are broken. After all, they were one of the major players pre-WWII in building hospitals to serve people with medical needs. They love people who lack basic literacy skills by launching educational ministries to teach knowledge and wisdom. Through ministries to children and the sexually exploited, Baptists demonstrate love for people who are abandoned. When calamities strike, it is Baptists with those bright yellow shirts who are some of the first on the scene to help people through the crisis. It is in our spiritual DNA to love people and help them walk through their trials. Our hope is that others see the love of God through us. Third, no Baptist can speak for all Baptists. Someone can speak in a general way about Baptists. Someone can speak to Baptists. But to speak for all Baptists is contrary to our autonomous nature. Beyond Scripture, the closest thing we have to address the sentiments of Baptists relating to moral or social issues are the various resolutions that are passed at annual meetings. Even that is the reflection of thought of the Baptists meeting at that moment in history. Fourth, Baptists trust the transformational Gospel more than psychotherapy. As one media source put it, "reparative therapies aimed at ridding patients of unwanted same-sex attractions" were discussed during the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission's national conference on "The Gospel, Homosexuality and the Future of Marriage" last month in Nashville. While there is a place for the psychologist, Baptists are highly suspicious of that work when it sterilizes the transformational power of the Gospel. ERLC President Russell Moore suggested that instead of looking to psychologists for a cure for same-sex attraction, people need to look to Christ for the power to overcome temptation of all forms. "The Bible doesn't promise us freedom from temptation," Moore said. "The Bible promises us the power of the Spirit to walk through the temptation." Fifth, Baptists are the standard bearers for religious liberty and good public policy. The current debate in our nation is actually whether dichotomous worldviews can exist with equality. While in theory that sounds compelling, in a practical sense it is next to impossible. In the context of religious freedom, the majority worldview must accommodate the minority. Currently, the minority worldview of the LGBT is clamoring for acceptance and does not tolerate the biblical convictions of believers who have influenced this culture for decades. Will Baptists withdraw from the discussion? Not on your life! And do not mistake our compassion for people as acquiescence of our biblical convictions. As part of convictional living, Baptists have a history of promoting justice and the common good. We work for laws that are historically founded and generationally positive. We cannot shrink from the responsibility that God has called us to lead people to repentance and faith in Christ. Remember, the law is to be a tutor to show people what unrighteousness looks like. As Baptists living in a representative form of government, we promote laws for better health for women and the lives of children in the womb. We encourage legislators to protect the aged from social engineers who devalue the life of those who no longer make a recognized contribution to society. We oppose elected officials who abuse the power of their office by rewriting policy and by failing to enforce constitutional measures the citizenry has overwhelmingly adopted. We applaud statutes that protect minors from abusive persons. The list of good practices that promote the common good is huge, and Baptists are involved with a history of being convictional people more than culturally relevant. As I wrote this article, additional news broke about the 276 school girls who were kidnapped by the Boko Haram terrorist group in Nigeria. The leader, Abubakar Shekau, dashed hopes for a prisoner exchange to get the girls released. He boasted that these young girls were married off as the spoils of war. Such a notion is anathema where biblical Christianity flourishes. If anyone questions the importance of Baptists being Baptists, point them to the tragedy of a culture that exists for the whims of human deviance. Let us continue to be convictionally compassionate and diligent intercessors so "that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good acceptable in the sight of God our Savior" (1 Timothy 2:2-3). -------------------------------------------------------------------- 'I Stand Sunday' draws 6,000-plus in Houston by Bonnie Pritchett/Southern Baptist TEXAN Date: November 03, 2014 - Monday HOUSTON (BP) -- As pastors embroiled in a lawsuit against the city of Houston rallied thousands Sunday for the cause of religious liberty and with chants of "Let the people vote," their cohorts in the battle also were crying out for the church to repent for its retreat from the public square and its role as the public conscience. Part revival meeting, part civics lesson, the "I Stand Sunday" rally Nov. 2 in Houston drew more than 6,000 people to Grace Community Church, led by one of five ministers subpoenaed for their role in a legal fight against city hall. An additional 765 churches and more than 7,500 home groups logged into the live stream webcast. "We are in this place in America today not because of the mayor of Houston. It is not because of what she did. It is because of what so many people in our churches have failed to do," Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas and a former Baptist pastor, told the audience. The lack of civic participation on the part of Christians has resulted in cultural conflicts arising throughout the nation, with Houston as a flashpoint in the national clash between religious liberties and government policies. And though Mayor Annise Parker has directed city attorney Dave Feldman to withdraw subpoenas against the five ministers, the mayor's critics called the court order an act of political intimidation that could not be undone with the removal of the subpoenas. For the pastors, and more than a dozen speakers gathered on their behalf, the primary issue remained -- the city administration's unauthorized dismissal of thousands of signatures on a referendum that thwarted the residents' right to vote on the issue. The ordinance that sparked the legal battle was passed by Houston's city council in May to give civil rights designation to individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. More than 50,000 signatures were gathered on a referendum to put the ordinance to a vote in Houston. And though enough signatures were verified by city secretary Anna Russell to put the measure on the Nov. 4 ballot, Feldman disqualified thousands of pages of signatures for reasons not prescribed in the city charter. The coalition sued the city to have the signatures certified and the ordinance put to a vote by the city's residents. As part of their defense, the city subpoenaed five ministers, calling for their sermons, speeches and other communications with their church members. "It's not about the issue of transgender rights. It's about the fundamental issue: Do all citizens have equal rights? And those rights include the right to vote," Huckabee said in a news conference prior to the rally. The issue is all the more profound for three of the five subpoenaed pastors. As immigrants or the child of immigrants to America, they spoke passionately about fleeing the abuses of communism and enjoying religious and civil liberties as Americans. Khanh Huynh, senior pastor of Vietnamese Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist church, was among the 2 million "boat people" refugees seeking asylum in America in the 1970s. "The freedom of speech and freedom of religion were among the first to be lost in Vietnam. And now I'm facing the same marching boots of tyranny right here where I live," Huynh told the audience. Magda Hermida, founder of Magda Hermida Ministries, told how she and her husband left Fidel Castro's Cuba nearly 50 years ago where they lived under the scrutiny of a police state. "We never thought we would see what is happening -- that is now happening in this country -- here in Houston, in our beloved America," she said. The son of South American immigrants, Hernan Castano, pastor of Iglesia Rios de Aceite, said pastors should be able to speak about the issues of society from a biblical perspective without being afraid "to be condemned, to be subpoenaed, or to be intimidated." "I stand here today so that no government will abuse the power that people gave it to come against the church," Castano said to a standing ovation. There were many such ovations during the rally. The lead sponsor of I Stand Sunday, the Family Research Council, demonstrated through videos and speakers the growing conflict between Christians living out and speaking of their faith in the public square and government policies and social pressures that seek to silence them. The images were stark, but the church is not held blameless for the state of affairs. "In this country that means we have not just the right to vote but, if we love God, we have a responsibility to vote and to be the salt and the light for our nation. And we have failed," Huckabee said. Dave Welch, executive director of the Houston Area Pastor Council and one of the subpoenaed ministers, noted that just over 10 percent of eligible Houston residents voted in the 2013 mayoral election. Less than a month after Parker's re-election, she began development of the Equal Rights Ordinance. "We cannot blame the people who do not love God," Huckabee said. "We'd better look inwardly and say, 'It's because we've told our people that they could effectively be wonderful Christians just going to church and reading their Bibles and praying, and voting wasn't that important." Prominent Southern Baptist pastors drove that message home calling on Christians to repent of their apathy and to recognize that cultural change does not happen at the ballot box but in the hearts of those who call on Christ in faith. Ed Young, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Houston, said, "This gathering will be construed by a lot of people as a political gathering [saying], 'They were here mad and militant and violent,' but we are here as worshippers of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." Young added that Christians pray for those in leadership, including Parker. SBC President Ronnie Floyd, drawing his comments from Revelation 3:22, asked what the Spirit of God is saying to the church of America. He concluded, "It is time for the church in America to look at its own sin, to repent of our own apathy. … It is time for us to wake up from our slumber. It is time for us to understand that our greatest problem is not in the White House, nor is it in the statehouse, but it is in the church house of Jesus Christ. We must get our lives right with the Lord." And with that Floyd called on the audience to take a posture of prayer, leading them in a prayer of repentance and revival "to do only what God can do." "That our heartbeat would not be simply to see a culture changed but to see millions and millions and millions of lives changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because that is our hope." Also among the rally's speakers: Phil Robertson, patriarch of "Duck Dynasty" fame, and his son, pastor Alan Robertson; brothers David and Jason Benham; Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Erik Stanley; pastor Willie Davis, a plaintiff in the lawsuit against Parker; FOX News commentator Todd Starnes; and Vision America President Rick Scarborough. Tony Perkins, president Family Research Council, said just one person contending for the faith in the face of political and societal scorn can encourage others to do the same. What to do with the political opposition that seeks to silence and even punish Christian voices? "We need to lift up the Word of God with one hand and the love of God with the other," Floyd said. "And we need to stand unwaveringly, unapologetically, but always compassionately with those who choose to disagree." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Cancer patient Maynard ends own life by Staff Date: November 03, 2014 - Monday PORTLAND, Ore. (BP) -- Terminally ill cancer patient and right-to-die advocate Brittany Maynard ended her own life Nov. 1 at her Portland, Ore. home, taking a lethal prescription administered under Oregon's Death with Dignity Act. "Today is the day I have chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness, this terrible brain cancer that has taken so much from me … but would have taken so much more," was Maynard's Facebook post on the day she died. "The world is a beautiful place, travel has been my greatest teacher, my close friends and folks are the greatest givers. I even have a ring of support around my bed as I type … Goodbye world. Spread good energy. Pay it forward!" The 29-year-old died in her bed at home 11 months after being diagnosed with gioblastoma multiforme. Her oncologist told her in April she had about six months to live. Maynard's decision to take the deadly prescription stands in sharp contrast to 13-year-old cancer victim Ethan Hallmark of Midlothian, Texas, who died Sept. 26 after a four-year battle with an aggressive form of Neuroblastoma, a pediatric cancer. Before his death, Hallmark recorded a message proclaiming faith in God, and exhorting others to trust in our Lord. "Keep putting your faith in God and always remember he is with you even in the depths of suffering," Hallmark said in a video. "He's good." Hallmark encouraged others through his suffering. "Even though my cancer's been a lot of bad stuff, it's been a lot of good stuff too," the teenager said. "I met friends I would have never met. I've grown closer to God; my family has. I wouldn't trade my relationship with God for anything." Hallmark's story is captured in a 45-minute video that can be viewed on the I Am Second website, at http://www.iamsecond.com/seconds/ethan-hallmark/. Maynard had described her pending death as a relief, aimed at avoiding the disease's symptoms that would have included loss of bodily functions. Already, she suffered seizures and extreme headaches and neck pain. "I can't even tell you the amount of relief that it provides me to know that I don't have to die the way that it's been described to me that my brain tumor would take me on its own," she said in a Brittany Maynard Fund video. "I hope to enjoy however many days I have left on this beautiful earth and spend as much of it outside as I can surrounded by those I love. I hope to pass in peace. The reason to consider life and what's of value is to make sure you're not missing out. Seize the day. What's important to you? What do you care about? What matters? Pursue that, forget the rest." Many Christians and pro-life advocates had discouraged Maynard's decision. "I understand she may be in great pain, and her treatment options are limited and have their own devastating side effects, but I believe Brittany is missing a critical factor in her formula for death: God," author, disability advocate and quadriplegic Joni Eareckson Tada wrote in a Religion News Service article. "The journey Brittany –- for that matter, all of us –- will undertake on the other side of death is the most important venture on which we will ever embark. So it must not be disregarded or brushed aside without thinking twice about the God who alone has the right to decide when life should begin and end." Right-to-die advocates will likely use Maynard's story to promote their cause, pro-life attorney and euthanasia expert Wesley Smith said after Maynard's death. "Expect suicide advocates to now use her death to stoke emotions even higher around the assisted suicide debate," Smith told Lifenews.com. "But emotionalism is the last approach that should be taken in pondering such a radical, culturally transforming agenda and the threat legalized assisted suicide poses to the most weak and vulnerable among us." "But, of course, I am saddened," Smith said. "Who wouldn't be? Her cancer and death, if the report is accurate, are a terrible tragedy. I wish her husband, family, and friends nothing but the best." Oregon became in 1997 the first U.S. state to establish aid-in-dying laws, and has since been joined by Washington, Vermont, Montana and New Mexico. In Oregon, Washington and Vermont, the patient must take the fatal drug themselves, but in Montana and New Mexico, laws allow assisted suicide. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Moore to speak at Vatican conf. on marriage by Tom Strode Date: November 03, 2014 - Monday NASHVILLE (BP) -- Lead Southern Baptist ethicist Russell D. Moore will speak at a Vatican-sponsored, inter-religious conference on strengthening marriage and family life, it was announced Monday (Nov. 3). Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, will present an evangelical Christian perspective during the international colloquium, which is about the "complementarity of man and woman" in marriage. The event will be Nov. 17-19 at Vatican City, which is located within Rome and is home to the Roman Catholic pope. While evangelicals and Catholics have "real and ongoing differences" on salvation and the church that will remain after the conference, Moore said he is privileged to have the opportunity to speak about marriage at the event. "In a day in which marriage is increasingly marginalized and attempts are made to redefine it, I'm honored to present the biblical view that marriage is a picture of Christ and His church to this diverse group of religious leaders," Moore said in a written statement. "Even though we disagree on many things, I hope to speak to God's design for human flourishing as rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Moore said he is grateful the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith "decided to convene this gathering on such an important issue." "I hope that the conversation that we have together will underscore the significance of the complementarity of man and woman for marriage and for the common good," he said. Moore's hope for the colloquium is that its participants will "stand in solidarity on the common grace, creational mandate of marriage and family as necessary for human flourishing and social good," he said in a Nov. 3 blog post. "I also hope that we can learn from one another about where these matters stand around the world. And I hope that those of us from the believers' church tradition can represent well our views of how marriage is more than just a natural good (although it is never less than that), but is a picture of the Gospel one-flesh union of Christ and His church." Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and popular author, will join Moore as the two American evangelicals to speak at the colloquium. Pope Francis will speak during the opening session of the conference. Other scheduled speakers include: -- N.T. Wright, popular Christian author and professor at the University of St. Andrews. -- Charles Chaput, Catholic archbishop of Philadelphia. -- Jonathan Sacks, professor at both New York University and Yeshiva University and former chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the United Kingdom. Other scheduled speakers include representatives of Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism and the Sikh religion. The colloquium comes at a time when marriage as a permanent union of only a man and a woman is threatened, especially in the United States: Judicial rulings have set the stage for same-sex marriage to be legal in 35 states; the percentage of American adults who have never married is at an all-time high; and cohabitation and divorce are problems in the culture and the church. In addition, the religious freedom of Americans who decline to provide their services for same-sex weddings based on their convictions increasingly is imperiled. Moore's blog post may be accessed at http://www.russellmoore.com/2014/11/03/why-im-going-to-the-vatican/.