The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-11/11/2016 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------- VETERANS DAY: At Hanoi Hilton he was POW chaplain by Jim Burton Date: November 11, 2016 - Friday ALEXANDRIA, Va. (BP) -- Dorothy McDaniel knew all about Navy life. The hardships. The sacrifices. The loneliness. The pride a family has for their family member's service. So the day in 1967 a shiny black car pulled into her Norfolk driveway and two uniformed officers emerged, she knew. "Red is down," one of the officers said. Her husband, Navy Captain Eugene "Red" McDaniel, was beginning six years of imprisonment in North Vietnam as a POW -- and de facto chaplain at the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" prison among American detainees. McDaniel was flying his 81st mission on his 35th birthday, May 19, 1967. The career military man had piloted an A-6 intruder jet carrying 13,000 pounds of bombs from the USS Enterprise for about 18 months. He was close to finishing his Vietnam War tour. With his navigator-bombardier partner Lt. James Kelly Patterson, age 27, strapped in beside him, they joined a formation of 23 other aircraft. "We became a team," McDaniel said of his 900 flight hours with Patterson. "We had a real good relationship. He was a man of great integrity and did not indiscriminately drop bombs." The squadron's assignment was an Alpha Strike, which meant the Joint Chiefs of Staff had planned this "maximum effort" against North Vietnam. Their destination was Van Dien, just south of Hanoi, where they would bomb a truck repair center. The Vietnam War had escalated, which led to increased bombing runs into the north. Plus, May 19 was Ho Chi Minh's birthday. This sortie would likely interrupt whatever celebrations Hanoi had planned. Shortly after crossing into North Vietnam at Thanh Hoa while traveling close to the speed of sound, they locked in their Van Dien target even as the North Vietnamese began firing SAMs (surface to air missiles) at the American jets. McDaniel was able to dodge four SAMs, which he could detect and see. But one enemy missile exploded nearby out of his sight, spraying shrapnel into his A-6. The damage took out the hydraulic systems and rendered his controls inoperable. Looking ahead from his burning aircraft as it traveled more than 600 miles per hour, he could see a mountain range. McDaniel and Patterson prepared for ejection, knowing their escape from the aircraft would be jarring at that speed, which was faster than recommended for ejections. Patterson launched first on one side of the mountain. A second later, McDaniel ejected and landed on the other side. He never saw Patterson again. As McDaniel floated to earth, the enemy fired their rifles at him. "You're fair game until you hit the ground," he said. He didn't hit the ground right away. Tall jungle trees entangled his parachute, leaving McDaniel hanging about 40 feet off the ground. He climbed up the parachute to get a better position in the trees and then tried to shimmy down a tree trunk. He slipped and fell, crushing two vertebrae that rendered him partially paralyzed. Twenty-six hours later, eight North Vietnamese -- two military and six locals -- took McDaniel into custody. He was the 200th American prisoner of war whom the North Vietnamese had shot down. Hanoi Hilton reservations The 6'3" McDaniel was a valuable propaganda asset for the North Vietnamese military. Regardless of his injuries, the enemy exploited him by digging holes, putting him in the holes stripped him down to his underwear, and inviting villagers to spit, slap and throw objects at him. "They were using us to rally their people," McDaniel said of how the North Vietnamese treated prisoners. The captors displayed him at two military bases before arriving at the Hanoi Hilton, formally known as Hoa Lo Prison. McDaniel felt relief to be away from the angry mobs. That relief was temporary as two weeks of intense interrogation ensued with torture and body bending. He came out of that first interrogation with dangling hands and nerve damage to his feet. The North Vietnamese moved McDaniel several times, but the bulk of his 2,117 days of incarceration were at the Hanoi Hilton. The 220 American POWs developed a complicated system of communication by tapping. Constant communication kept the men alert and informed. They were also able to build consensus, including the desire to have a worship service. The North Vietnamese said no. But after the American POWs sang at the top of their voices for two and half days, the North Vietnamese relented and allowed the right to worship for 10 minutes per week with a four-man choir. "Do you ever think I'll take lightly the right to worship God?" McDaniel asks today. McDaniel was a sharecropper's son whose family didn't attend church regularly, partly because they couldn't afford "church clothes." When he graduated from high school, he received an athletic scholarship in 1950 to Campbell College in Buies Creek, N.C., which was then a North Carolina Baptist two-year college. That first night, he met Dorothy Howard, whom he married six years later after graduating from Elon College in North Carolina. McDaniel soon accepted Christ as his personal Savior and credits Dorothy for having great influence on his spiritual life. His faith was evident enough at the Hanoi Hilton that his fellow POWs looked to him as their chaplain, which meant he did most of the preaching at their worship services. McDaniel's cell was the hub of the communication between prisoners. When some of the prisoners attempted an escape in 1969, the North Vietnamese suspected McDaniel had facilitated the escape. The enemy's retribution toward him was relentless. He went seven days and nights without sleep as the North Vietnamese beat him five to seven times with fan belts. They also performed rope torture and electric shock while serving him half rations. "They had a battery and would put ropes and wet rags around your arms," McDaniel said. "They would run current for several hours." McDaniel lost between 50 and 60 pounds in those two weeks. But the courageous Navy officer never cracked or finked on his fellow servicemen. His wife wouldn't know if he was dead or alive for three years. "Courage is not the absence of fear," McDaniel said. "It's the presence of faith. I clung to the one thing they could not destroy." He maintained that character throughout his military career where he later commanded two ships and became the Navy/Marine liaison to Congress. That character helped his family when a grandson died last December from an addiction. Another grandson, Michael, was having a difficult time with his brother's death. So his grandfather spoke to him from a well of faith and life experience. "Michael, this is a tragedy and it's hard," McDaniel, now 85, said. "I hurt. You will see good come out of this. I can't explain it, but I promise you that you will see good come out of this." Despite the horrific POW ordeal in North Vietnam, McDaniel harbors no hate. "I have no hatred for the North Vietnamese," the decorated veteran said. "It's their system of communism that makes them what they are." McDaniel and his wife now live in Alexandria near their children and grandchildren. They continue to tell the story of their separation during the Vietnam War, asking the question, "Where is God in our difficulties?" "God is always present," McDaniel said. "He's never far away." -------------------------------------------------------------------- MIA 65 years, Korea veteran draws pastor's gratitude by David Roach Date: November 11, 2016 - Friday CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (BP) -- The return of a Korean War veteran's remains to his hometown of Cambridge, Mass., 65 years after his death in 1951 provided opportunity for local Korean Christians to pay tribute and for pastor Paul Kim to offer a public Gospel witness. U.S. Army Cpl. Ronald Sparks, then 20, was wounded in action and captured by Chinese troops the year after he arrived in Korea to help defend it against a communist advance. Shortly thereafter, his family received notice he was missing in action and presumed dead, his nephew Bob Sparks recounted in The Vineyard Gazette of Martha's Vineyard, Mass., in July. More than 50 years later, in 2005, Ronald Sparks' brother -- and father of Bob Sparks -- still had not located the remains. In his last words before dying of cancer, he told his son, "No matter what you have to do or how long it takes, please bring my brother Ron home." After a decade of working with the Army, Bob Sparks did just that. He received a call in June informing him Cpl. Sparks' body had been identified among the unknown solders buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. Paul Kim, chaplain at a Cambridge American Legion post, became involved with the Sparks family when he received an email from the city's director of veterans' services in early August. Remains of a Korean War veteran killed in action had been identified, the email stated, and were scheduled to be returned home. The city wanted Kim to speak at a ceremony honoring the fallen vet. Kim, pastor emeritus of Cambridge's Antioch Baptist Church, accepted and arranged for other local Korean pastors to be present at the ceremony. He also contacted the South Korean consulate in Boston and helped arrange an official expression of appreciation for Sparks. At the Aug. 16 civic remembrance event, Kim shared a Gospel message. "What I said there," Kim told Baptist Press, "is that the Korean War is a forgotten war, but the city [of Cambridge] has not forgotten our homecoming hero, Ron Sparks. And the family has not forgotten, and the Korean community has not forgotten. And the Almighty God has not forgotten the missing children who need to come home" to Him. Kim, Asian-American relations consultant for the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, added that God will throw "a homecoming celebration" for any sinner who repents and trusts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In addition to speaking at the civic remembrance ceremony, Kim was with the Sparks family at the funeral home during visitation and attended Sparks' full military funeral. "I'd never seen that kind of funeral," said Kim, who has attended numerous veterans' funerals. "It was such a great honor" for Sparks. Honoring a Korean War veteran came naturally for Kim because of his longstanding gratefulness for the troops who helped keep his native land free. In fact, shortly after arriving in the U.S. in 1967, Kim joined the Army out of appreciation for Korean War soldiers. South Koreans "share a deep appreciation" for Korean War veterans, Kim said, "especially for those who gave their lives. ... Without their sacrifice, we would not have freedom as we have it today because we would be under communist rule." Kim's appreciation for Sparks in particular grew as he learned of ways their lives converged. For one, the Methodist congregation the Sparks family attended allowed the church Kim was pastoring to meet in its facility for nearly a decade. And Kim's wife Rebekah was born in South Korea just six days before Sparks was captured. Rebekah Kim told BP she considers herself "a major beneficiary" of the sacrifice made by soldiers like Sparks. Echoing her husband's sentiments, Rebekah Kim said the Army's "no soldier left behind" motto reminds her of Jesus' teaching in Luke 15 that God leaves no person behind but pursues all sinners with His saving love. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: The urban/rural divide by Barry E. Fields Date: November 11, 2016 - Friday HAWESVILLE, Ky. (BP) -- If the Nov. 8 election has taught us anything, it is the antithesis of Barack Obama's 2004 Democratic National Convention speech that catapulted the then-Illinois state senator to the national radar: The dividing lines are not between Red State and Blue State America, but between urban and rural America. So many from the working class went relatively unaccounted for in both national and state polling, so much so that we've arguably experienced the biggest presidential upset since the infamous "Dewey defeats Truman" headline of 1948. Therein is a lesson for the church as well. I grew up 1.5 miles outside the city limits of Bowling Green, Ky., a city/county/university region of roughly 100,000 people at the time. But I've spent the last nine years pastoring in rural areas, first in agricultural Larue County, Ky. (population 14,000) and currently in industrial Hancock County, Ky., and Perry County, Ind., where we have church campuses (combined population of 27,500). I've met some great people in these settings, folks I consider to be "salt of the earth," but I've also had to adapt much of the city-oriented methodology I've been taught over the years to the context where God has placed me. My situation is not unique. In fact, of the roughly 50,000 churches and missions in the Southern Baptist Convention, the vast majority are in rural areas. Even as people continue to migrate toward the cities at one of the greatest rates in recorded history, the "backbone" of our denomination, including Cooperative Program giving and on-the-ground resources, continue to reside in town and country rather than metros and suburbs. Most of the aspiring pastors graduating from our seminaries likely will spend a significant amount (it not all) of their ministry in these secluded settings. Yet, the availability of educational resources to rural pastors is relatively low. Take a trip to a Lifeway bookstore or browse through Amazon and see how many books or studies offer assistance to the country or county seat church. Pastors' conferences, frequently advertised as "How to Turn Around Your Congregation" or "Ministering Within Your Community," address the needs of urbanites and hipsters while neglecting those serving the rural South and the Rust Belt. While I am incredibly thankful our mission boards are making a major push to infiltrate our cities with a Gospel witness, I'm also concerned that many of the 8 out of 10 churches that are stagnant or in decline in our denomination will be left behind because the tools offered to them don't fit within their respective mission fields. I want to call our pastors, seminary professors and denominational leaders to consider marshaling resources for churches in communities outside the freeways and beltways where there is much untapped potential. Seminary students who are aspiring to move to a church next to a Starbucks (and I get it): Consider the regional impact you can have on a church off the beaten path. If the congregation you pastor can by God's grace experience revitalization, could you not offer assistance to other churches within your association, churches that may not otherwise merit attention? What if God used you to not only shepherd your own congregation, but to offer life support to churches about to close their doors nearby? That's what happened within our context along the Ohio River. A sister Southern Baptist congregation in Perry County, Ind., was about to fold, but the Lord graciously worked a partnership between us so that we were able to relaunch it as the Indiana campus of our Kentucky congregation. We've gone from 12 to 70 in about a year in a county where that church was the only Southern Baptist presence for 19,000 people. There's work like this to be done across our country. Believe me, I understand the appeal of the glamorous lights of the city and the convenience of the suburbs, and there are times when I strongly miss living in that type of setting. When I look to the ministry of Christ in the Gospels, though, most of his shepherding took place in the out of the way, backwoods paths of Galilee. Yet out of those communities disciples were reached who carried the salvific luster of salt and light to the regions beyond. I don't know if there's another Billy Graham out here, waiting to hear that message, but if he is, I intend to find him. God uses people like that to turn the world upside down. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat veteran & wife: from PTSD toward healing by K. Faith Morgan Date: November 11, 2016 - Friday COLUMBIA, S.C. (BP) -- "Do you feel safe in our home?" Kathy Langston asked her husband, Navy Chaplain Mike Langston. "No, I don't," he replied. It was four years after his last tour of duty. Theirs was a family that understood deployment. Mike had been gone a total of nine and a half years during the course of their marriage. But they weren't ready for this; the "best friend" relationship that had defined their marriage had become a distant memory replaced by tension and misunderstanding. Mike's answer to that single question was the catalyst Kathy needed to shift her perspective. "I can tell you exactly where I was standing in the kitchen when it broke through my head down to my heart," Kathy said. "I realized I was wrong. He wasn't angry at me, and I had totally misinterpreted everything." The realization, she said, was "an act of the Holy Spirit." "That was the biggest revelation. This is not aimed at me. He's just reacting. There's nothing personal in it," she said. "I came home from a war environment," Mike said of deployments primarily in Afghanistan and Iraq. "One day I'm on the battlefield; the next day I'm in my living room. How do you turn that off? "Inside, I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't tell anybody because I was ashamed that as a former Marine, as a chaplain who had been on the battlefield helping other people, I was broken. Where does a chaplain go when he needs a chaplain?" Mike was eventually diagnosed with moderate to severe PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). "A governor controls how an engine runs, and if you lose that, you lose that control. PTSD does that to the internal makings of our body. We lose that governor," Mike explained. "I worked with the psychiatrist, and I started learning different techniques and tools to help me be able to ratchet down that intensity. "That started a seven-year trek of moving toward healing and hope," he said. "In that process, I felt like, sometimes, God had abandoned me," Mike acknowledged. "I asked, 'Where are You, God? Why me? What's going on? Where are You in the midst of all this pain and hurt?' After I started therapy, Kathy started educating herself on all the issues of PTSD. "She started becoming my helper alongside of me," Mike said. "She told me that in our marriage vows, it said for better or worse, and she took that literally. She said, 'These were the bad times, and I wasn't going to let you get to the point where you self-destructed.'" A hallmark moment in the healing process came in October 2014 when Mike was asked to speak at a Blue Star Mothers event for mothers of servicemen. There, he publicly revealed his PTSD diagnosis for the first time. "I stood up and said, 'My name is Captain Mike Langston. I've been diagnosed with moderate to severe PTSD. I'm undergoing treatment, and I'm moving to healing with a sense of hope in my Lord Jesus Christ.' "Each time I tell my story it's a little easier," Mike said. As the Langstons began to reach out and share more often, they realized there was a gap in Christian resources for those affected by PTSD. They have coauthored the book "A Journey to Hope: Healing the Traumatized Spirit" as a way to bridge that gap, not only for service members and their families, but also for churches. A ministry of healing, Kathy stated, is the responsibility of the body of Christ. "You are able to sit here in church and worship because men and women are over there getting scars and wounds," she said. "We need to provide a safe place where the love of God is shared with those who are wounded. In our world today, we're so busy and we're so clogged up with things that trauma is one of the only ways the Spirit can reach us anymore to bring us into a closer relationship with God. "We are responsible for those around us when they are so traumatized that they have to protect themselves," Kathy added. "That is true of any long-term trauma victim -- whether it's abuse or war or law enforcement or something else. Sometimes it's us on the outside that need to reach in and bring the Spirit to them, so that they do feel safe, and they feel like they can come out of their self-protection. And, in so doing, they can feel the presence of God." Mike, now retired after a 36-year military career that included the position of commanding officer of the Naval Chaplaincy School and Center, is a professor of chaplaincy at Columbia International University's seminary and school of ministry in Columbia, S.C. Kathy is a professor teaching professional communication at the University of South Carolina. Learn more about the Langstons' ministry and PTSD resources at hopethrufaith.com. The North American Mission Board endorses over 1,300 military chaplains in all branches of the armed forces. Learn more at www.namb.net/chaplaincy. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mo. Baptists urge Christian citizenship by Ben Hawkins/Missouri Pathway Date: November 11, 2016 - Friday ST. CHARLES, Mo. (BP) -- Missouri Baptists urged believers to active Christian citizenship and defending biblical views of the sanctity of life and transgenderism during their 182nd annual meeting. A total of 861 messengers and 195 guests from 366 churches gathered Oct. 24-26 at the St. Charles Convention Center, where Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director John Yeats reminded them that they need never be alone. Inspired by the theme of the meeting, "Never Alone," he encouraged them with Christ's words, "I am with you always" (Matt. 28:20), but he also urged them to "belong to a team" that is on a mission. For Missouri Baptists, he said, that is the "Gospel mission of transforming lives and communities with the Gospel. We want to see the people of God compassionately share their convictions in the workplace, the school house, and the state house." Indeed, during their meeting, messengers shared their biblical convictions about cultural issues in three resolutions -- one on Christian citizenship, another on the sanctity of life, and a third on transgender identity. During his address, Yeats also invited Missouri Baptists to welcome the convention's new catalyst for developing leaders, Jim Misloski. Before joining the MBC's missionary staff, Misloski served as state director of missions for the Colorado Baptist General Convention. "God has ordained our churches to be leader-developing institutions," training believers to take the truth of the Gospel into every domain, Misloski said. During the annual meeting, MBC president Neil Franks, pastor of First Baptist Church, Branson, urged Missouri Baptists to see and believe God's reality rather than to focus on what the media and world try to convince them is real. He preached on 2 Kings 6, where Elisha prays that his servant would see the fiery host of angels sent by God. "Things are not falling apart," he said. "They are falling into place. We are ambassadors of another Kingdom. We are having our eyes opened, so that we may see another reality." Convention preacher Ron Ratliff, pastor of Tenth Street Baptist Church, Trenton, exhorted messengers to live Spirit-filled, godly lives. Other keynote speakers throughout the meeting included Steve Gaines, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and K. Marshall Williams, senior pastor of Nazarene Baptist Church, Philadelphia, Pa. Missouri Baptists decided to set the 2017 Cooperative Program goal at $14.8 million. The approved budget sets aside five percent of total CP giving for the "shared expenses" category, which will be allocated for annuity protections and The Pathway. The remaining balance is then split, with 44.5 percent of the CP budget going toward SBC ministries, and 55.5 percent going toward Missouri Baptist ministries. Missouri Baptists also approved the Executive Board's recommendation that the Rheubin L. South Mission Offering goal be set at $710,000 and that the MBC take a special offering Oct. 25, 2016, to benefit St. Louis Metro Baptist Association's Good Neighbor Initiative -- a ministry to refugees in the area -- and in honor of the association's 200th anniversary. The MBC Executive Board also presented Missouri Baptists with the MBC's updated governing documents, which were referred to the Committee for Continuing Review and which will be brought before messengers at the 2017 annual meeting for approval. Messengers also elected new MBC officers. These include: President Ken Parker, pastor of First Baptist, Kearney; First Vice President Jeremy Muniz, pastor of First Baptist, De Soto; Second Vice President Tim Smith, pastor of Aurora Springs Baptist, Eldon; and Recording Secretary Rick Biesiadecki, pastor of LifePointe of Wildwood. Missouri Baptists also approved a recommendation by the Committee on Convention Preacher that Kirk Baker, pastor of First Baptist, Camdenton, preach the annual sermon during the 2017 meeting at First Baptist Church, Raytown. They also recommended Brian Grout, pastor of Beverly Hills Baptist, Independence, as alternate preacher for the 2017 annual meeting. The 2017 annual meeting of the Missouri Baptist Convention is scheduled for Oct. 23-25 in Raytown, Mo. -------------------------------------------------------------------- EDITORIAL: Nuestra Batalla Espiritual by Michael A. Gonzales Date: November 11, 2016 - Friday NOTA DEL EDITOR: La columna First-Person (De primera mano) es parte de la edición de hoy de BP en español. Para ver historias adicionales, vaya a http://www.bpnews.net/espanol. GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP) -- Como creyentes tenemos que reconocer que estamos siempre en una batalla spiritual. Tenemos que estar siempre en alerta porque nuestro enemigo es fuerte y poderoso. Ese enemigo se llama Satanás y tarde o temprano vamos a enfrentarlo en nuestra vida cotidiana. Pablo nos da un buen desafío de vestirnos de toda la armadura de Dios para resistir esos ataques satánicos. "Por lo demás, hermanos míos, fortaleceos en el Señor, y en el poder de su fuerza. Vestíos de toda la armadura de Dios, para que podáis estar firmes contra las asechanzas del diablo. Porque no tenemos lucha contra sangre y carne, sino contra principados, contra potestades, contra los gobernadores de las tinieblas de este siglo, contra huestes espirituales de maldad en las regiones celestes. Por tanto, tomad toda la armadura de Dios, para que podáis resistir en el día malo, y habiendo acabado todo, estar firmes." Efesios 6:10-13 Satanás nos ataca de muchas maneras. Él trata de poner en duda el carácter y la veracidad de Dios. El diablo quiere que dudes: * del poder de Dios * de la gracia de Dios * de la misericordia de Dios * del perdón de Dios * y del amor de Dios. Satanás no quiere que sigas a Cristo con todo tu corazón, cuerpo y alma. Satanás quiere destruir, dividir y matar tu vida. El diablo no quiere que camines y ni que hables con Cristo. Vivir la vida cristiana en nuestros días es difícil y por eso tenemos que serle fiel al Señor continuamente. Tenemos que serle fiel al Señor mostrando al mundo que estamos entregados completamente a Cristo y que estamos caminando permanentemente con Él. Podemos ganar la batalla contra Satanás siguiendo el consejo que Cristo nos da en Mateo 16:24. "Entonces Jesús dijo a sus discípulos: Si alguno quiere venir en pos de mí, niéguese a sí mismo, tome su cruz, y sígame." Si hacemos estas tres cosas Satanás nunca puede ganar en nuestras vidas. Somos llamados: 1. A dejar algo -- hay que negarnos a nosotros mismos. El viejo hombre tiene que morir. "Así también vosotros consideraos muertos al pecado, pero vivos para Dios en Cristo Jesús." Romanos 6:11 Y no debemos hacer provisión a la carne. "sino vestíos del Señor Jesucristo, y no proveáis para los deseos de la carne. Hay que tener nuestra mirada en Cristo Jesús." Filipenses 2:5-8 2. A levantar algo -- hay que tomar nuestra cruz. Vivir como hombres y mujeres muertos pero vivos en Él. "Con Cristo estoy juntamente crucificado, y ya no vivo yo, más vive Cristo en mí." Gálatas 2:20 3. Y a vivir algo -- hay que seguir a Cristo totalmente. "Porque para mí el vivir es Cristo, y el morir es ganancia." Filipenses 1:21 En Cristo tenemos plena victoria contra Satanás. ¡Comparta el mensaje de Cristo con alguien hoy! -------------------------------------------------------------------- Wyoming Baptists 'Trusting the Lord' by Karen L. Willoughby Date: November 11, 2016 - Friday RIVERTON, Wyo. (BP) -- The 33rd annual meeting of the Wyoming Southern Baptist Convention was a time of celebration and shared commitment to the continuation of God's work in Wyoming and around the world, Executive Director Lynn Nikkel told Baptist Press. With "Trusting the Lord" as its theme, based on Proverbs 3:5, the Nov. 3-4 event at United Baptist Church in Riverton brought together 114 registered messengers from 40 Wyoming churches, out of the state convention's 106 churches and church-type missions. More than 180 people attended the Thursday evening session. "We heard reports of God's activity through church planting, leadership development, the missions activity of our churches locally and globally, plus the great evangelism taking place through our churches and the ministries of our convention," Nikkel said. "The annual meeting had a real celebratory attitude as a result of this great recounting of what God is doing," Nikkel noted. "It was a great encouragement to everybody who was there." Wyoming Southern Baptists opened their annual gathering with a missions banquet Wednesday evening (Nov. 2) and the Pastors' and WMU conferences Thursday morning. Frank S. Page, president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, spoke at the Pastors' Conference and during the annual meeting. Other guests included a couple with Wyoming roots who serve with the International Mission Board in a security-sensitive area. Speakers from Wyoming included Nikkel, Dave Brown, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Rock Springs; David Grace, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Laramie and president of the state convention. Richard Mills and the Set Free Ministries praise team in Riverton, along with the praise team from Hudson Baptist Church in Hudson and, in some sessions, the Wyoming Southern Baptist Convention staff, led in worship. The business session consisted of electing officers, passing a "challenging" budget, and approving a slight revision for clarity to the wording of a bylaw. No resolutions were presented or passed. "More importantly, there is a spirit among us that desires to substantially re-invent ourselves as a convention of churches, to own our ministry and cooperative missions efforts in Wyoming, and to create a workable and sustainable future of cooperation and support," Nikkel told Baptist Press. "From this meeting, we have set a course to be who we need to be so that we achieve our vision to be 'Wyoming churches working together for the expansion of the Kingdom of God by making disciples in our communities, in our state and in our world,' and accomplish our mission 'to serve our churches in their mission and ministries as they fulfill the Great Commission.'" Re-elected were David Grace, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Laramie, president; John Constantine, pastor of Story Community Church in Story, first vice president; and John Larramendy, pastor of Alcova Community Church in Alcova, second vice president. Cheri Mickelson, a member of First Southern Baptist Church in Powell, was elected recording secretary, and Renee' Hanson, pastor's wife and member of Mountain View Baptist Church in Mills, was elected assistant recording secretary. Wyoming Southern Baptists passed a $1,433,958 budget, down $64,084 from last year's $1,497,042. The approved budget maintained, for the sixth year in a row, sending 32.75 percent of the Cooperative Program offerings from churches on to national SBC entities. "Wyoming's support for the Cooperative Program remains strong because we believe in the Great Commission work of Southern Baptists," Nikkel said. "We continue to promote the Cooperative Program through my office, and we encourage churches to increase their giving to missions through CP where they can." The economy statewide is struggling because of energy-industry related challenges, and as a result, church finances are fluctuating more than anticipated when the budget was passed last year, Nikkel said. The coal industry in Wyoming -- which produces about 40 percent of the nation's coal -- saw massive layoffs last spring, according to an April 6 article in Bloomberg News. "Receipts from churches are down," the executive director said. "We passed a challenging budget that includes some adjustments that are hard, but necessary. "Emphasis was given to the need to manage and steward the resources being received through our churches, and a heightening of the need for us all to support Kingdom causes to the best of our ability," Nikkel noted. God's work continues in Wyoming, the executive director said. The church planting team works with 16 ongoing church plants and 16 "seed" -- pre-plant -- congregations, 22 potential church planters, 13 cross cultural planters, nine indigenous planters from Wyoming, and seven church planting apprentices. "God has opened doors for fruitful church planting opportunities … throughout Wyoming that have multiplied our Kingdom impact," reported church planting strategist Don Whalen Jr. "The Bloom Ministry of planter wives has given the ladies opportunity to feel understood and strengthened as the Holy Spirit works in their hearts and lives." Now in its 11th year, the Center for Leadership Development -- in partnership with Gateway Seminary of the SBC -- has 40 students currently enrolled and 55 graduates, reported Fred Creason, the state convention's leadership strategist. Mission Strategist David Schroeder reported on the variety of mission projects underway by local churches in Wyoming and throughout the world. "Ultimately, Wyoming Southern Baptists should continue to grow as participants in mission work, not being recipients only, as in former days," Schroeder said. The Wyoming Rodeo Ministry involved 85 volunteer evangelizers at the National High School Rodeo Finals in Gillette, Wyo., in July, reported evangelism strategist Dale Bascue. As a result, witnessing conversations took place 2,288 times, and 123 people made professions of faith in Jesus. "This has given us a three-year total of 6,247 gospel presentations and 361 salvations through the Wyoming Rodeo Ministry," Bascue said, adding later in his report, "The Great Commission is a task that is too big for any one of us to do without the others. In a spirit of cooperation, we work side by side, sharing resources and responsibilities to reach Wyoming with the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Three of the four state strategists also are regional missionaries -- West, South and North -- as a result of a re-alignment of associations that took place a year ago. "It is a challenge to make disciples, if we intend to make genuine life transformation a reality for the folks we work with," Nikkel said in his report. "Beyond just gathering people, and beyond getting people to join our churches, and even beyond just the beginning of making believers of people, we are called by Christ to make disciples: followers of Christ who don't just try to live for Christ, but who allow Christ to live in and through them by dying to self. … "We are surrounded by a new culture that is very different from our heritage, and radically different in its view toward life, sexuality, governance, relationships and more, and has simply lost its way," Nikkel said. "I believe God still intends for us to be a moral compass in the midst of all this chaos." The 2017 annual meeting of the Wyoming Southern Baptist Convention was set for Nov. 2-3 at College Heights Baptist Church in Casper. -------------------------------------------------------------------- TRUSTEES: IMB celebrates balanced budget by Julie McGowan Date: November 11, 2016 - Friday RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- International Mission Board trustees celebrated a balanced budget, unanimously approving the 2017 budget during their Nov. 10-11 meeting near Richmond, Va. Trustees also appointed 50 new missionaries during a Sending Celebration. "I am pleased to share with you that because of generous giving from Southern Baptist churches to the IMB, disciples have been made and churches have been multiplied over the last year among the nations in truly breathtaking ways," IMB President David Platt told trustees. "Furthermore, we are pleased to be able to present to you a balanced budget request for 2017 that projects growth in both fully supported missionary appointments as well as new pathways designed to see multitudes more men and women taking the Gospel to people who have never heard it." "We have a sense of glad celebration with responsible projections," Platt said. "As we are communicating to churches, we want to say two resounding words: Thank you." The budget presented to trustees represents a reversal in a trend of recent years that has seen a decline of missionaries on the field. The budget proposes an increase in full-time, fully funded missionary appointments for 2017, Platt said, while also opening the door for missionaries to go through other pathways. Rodney Freeman, vice president of support services and IMB treasurer, led trustees through a review of the 2017 Fiscal Resources Strategy Plan during their sessions and in the Support Services committee meeting. He recapped the budget proposal during the Nov. 11 plenary session. The 2017 budget request is balanced with receipts and expenses both projected at $270,000,000. Freeman noted the budget proposal reflects short-term financial responsibility and long-term organizational stability. Key factors presented with the budget include the following: -- The budget relies on the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. -- LMCO giving projections for the 2016 calendar year are on pace to be the largest offering in IMB history, with projections the offering could exceed the 2015 record giving by 10 percent. -- The 2017 budget proposal projects growth in fully funded missionaries plus new pathways that take the Gospel to all peoples. Additional personnel IMB projects appointing 451 new personnel in 2017, which represents a 3 percent net increase in total field personnel (100 additional field personnel). Of those newly appointed, 351 will replace personnel who retire, complete a mid-term assignment or transition through resignations or other departures. In 2016, 310 missionaries were appointed, bringing IMB field personnel to 3,651. "We are very excited to have these funds in the budget to send additional personnel, and these funds will only be used to send additional personnel," Freeman told trustees. Freeman also reported that IMB contingency reserves are projected to be at five and a half months of operational expenses in 2017. The figure falls within SBC Executive Committee guidelines, which allows for a maximum of six months of operational expenses in contingency reserves. Platt reminded trustees what the budget numbers represent: 40,000 Southern Baptist churches partnering together through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering to send and support missionaries around the world. Trustees also voted to affirm a revised mission statement for the organization, which states: The International Mission Board partners with churches to empower limitless missionary teams who are evangelizing, discipling, planting and multiplying healthy churches, and training leaders among unreached peoples and places for the glory of God. Scott Harris, missions minister at Brentwood (Tenn.) Baptist Church, presided over the meeting. The appointment of 50 new missionaries highlighted the meeting during a special Sending Celebration broadcast to churches, families and individuals via live stream. The service recognized both the new personnel and the churches sending them as Southern Baptist missionaries to take the Gospel to the nations. Platt shared a video of the Cregg Family taking the Gospel to the people of South Asia looking for hope and light. The video represents the upcoming Dec. 4-11 Week of Prayer for International Missions, which launches the 2016 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering emphasis. Find resources here to promote the offering in your church. See related video on how giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is helping change lives. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Election sparks hope for liberty & life causes by Tom Strode Date: November 11, 2016 - Friday WASHINGTON (BP) -- Republican Party electoral victories for the White House and Congress have given social conservatives hope for progress on religious freedom and pro-life issues. Donald Trump's upset of Hillary Clinton for the presidency -- paired with the GOP's preservation of its majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives -- has suddenly encouraged conservative evangelical Christians and their allies to think they will be able to roll back some harmful policies and to advance some helpful ones. The president-elect, who will be inaugurated Jan. 20, could produce some of those changes on his own. For instance, Trump could act to reverse the Obama administration's abortion/contraception mandate and its sweeping transgender directive to schools. The Senate and House can back up some Trump executive actions by making them permanent through legislation. In addition, he can work with the Senate to place justices on the Supreme Court who interpret the Constitution by its original intent and cooperate with Congress to defund Planned Parenthood and ban late-term abortions. The success of such efforts will depend on Trump's follow-through on his campaign promises and Republicans' willingness and ability to move those policies forward. "Every Election Day brings with it a new balance of power and, with it, new possibilities," said Travis Wussow of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). "As it does, we look forward to working with elected officials across the branches of government to continue our pursuit of legislation that promotes religious freedom, human dignity, family stability and other issues that serve both our churches and our country," Wussow said Nov. 10 in written comments for Baptist Press. Wussow, who has been serving as the ERLC's director of international justice and religious liberty the last 15 months, recently was named the entity's vice president for public policy as well as general counsel. Domestically, many of the Obama administration's attacks on religious freedom "can be rectified in the very first days of a Trump administration," said Ryan Anderson, a senior research fellow who specializes in marriage and religious liberty for the Heritage Foundation. In a Nov. 9 post, Anderson said Trump can: -- Direct his secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to furnish strong religious freedom protections in the abortion/contraception mandate, a rule implementing the 2010 health-care law that requires employers to provide their workers with coverage for contraceptives with mechanisms that can potentially induce abortions. -- Instruct his secretary of education and attorney general not to interpret the word "sex" in federal education law to include gender identity, thereby reversing a May letter from the Departments of Education and Justice that directed public schools and universities to permit transgender students to use the restrooms and locker rooms of their gender identity instead of their biological sex. -- Tell his HHS secretary also to interpret "sex" as Congress intended, which would rescind the department's July directive that requires doctors to perform gender transition procedures or treatments even on children. -- Overturn Obama's executive order prohibiting federal contractors and foreign recipients of American aid from discriminating on the basis of "sexual orientation and gender identity." -- Issue an executive order that protects individuals and institutions from being penalized by the federal government for acting in support of their belief marriage is only between a man and a woman. Congress and Trump can work together to enact laws that will provide permanent religious freedom protections on these issues, Anderson said. Among the measures would be repeal of the health-care law and passage of the First Amendment Defense Act, which would help protect those who believe in only man-woman marriage. "Donald Trump promised that he would make America great again," Anderson wrote. "If he is to make good on that promise, he'll need to start by robustly restoring our first freedom: the free exercise of religion. "Trump should commit to protecting the free exercise of religion for all Americans of all faiths." Even before the election, the ERLC's Wussow and Matthew Hawkins, the entity's coalitions director, proposed ways for the next president to boost global religious liberty. In a Nov. 3 column for the Religious Freedom Institute, they called on the next White House occupant to: -- Enact the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act if it does not become law this year. The bill, already approved by the House, would strengthen the Department of State's capabilities regarding religious liberty overseas. -- Encourage bipartisanship between Democrats and Republicans to protect the free exercise of religion internationally. -- Promote new arguments for the advancement of religious liberty around the world. "Those of us who advocate for our brothers and sisters in Christ -- and for imperiled members of any faith or none at all -- pray that we will find a fellow advocate in the Oval Office," Wussow and Hawkins wrote. Regarding abortion, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, described the post-election landscape as a "historic moment for the pro-life movement." "We are poised to make the biggest executive, legislative and judicial advances for the protection of unborn children and their mothers since Roe v. Wade was decided," she said in a written statement. The 1973 Roe ruling by the Supreme Court legalized abortion throughout the country. Four goals are within reach for the pro-life movement, Dannenfelser said: "[E]nding painful late-term abortions, codifying the Hyde Amendment, defunding Planned Parenthood, and appointing pro-life Supreme Court Justices." The Pain-capable Unborn Child Protection Act would prohibit abortions on babies 20 weeks or more after fertilization based on scientific evidence that a child in the womb experiences pain by that point in gestation. The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act would institute a government-wide ban on federal funding of abortion by standardizing prohibitions on such funds that now exist in various federal programs, thereby making the Hyde Amendment permanent. Planned Parenthood -- the scandal-ridden, leading abortion provider in the country -- receives more than $500 million annually in government grants and reimbursements. As of 2 p.m. EST Friday, Republicans held majorities in the Senate by 51-48 and in the House by 238-193. The winners in one Senate race and four House races remained undetermined. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Presidential transition prompts calls for prayer by David Roach Date: November 11, 2016 - Friday WASHINGTON (BP) -- Prayer for a smooth presidential transition and thankfulness for the American tradition of peaceful leadership transfer are among Southern Baptists' prescriptions for the 73 days between Election Day and Donald Trump's inauguration as America's 45th president. "Through history, transitioning political power has usually been bloody [and] involved great social upheaval, destruction of property and personal uncertainty," said Daniel Heimbach, a Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary professor who served in the George H.W. Bush administration. "And those who lose power have usually been killed, banished or at least ostracized. "The exceptional achievement and enormous blessing of transitioning power in the American governing system has been to do so without bloodshed, recrimination, banishment, destruction of property or social division," said Heimbach, who began his service to Bush as deputy executive secretary of the Domestic Policy Council and ended as deputy assistant secretary of the Navy. Other Southern Baptists, including Maryland pastor Ken Fentress and Boyce College dean Matthew Hall, cited history and Scripture to underscore the unique blessing of America's history of peaceful transitions. Around the nation, reaction to Trump's election has been mixed. Protests have occurred in several major cities, with an outburst of vandalism in Portland, Ore. Meanwhile, President-elect Trump and President Obama -- who have criticized one another harshly at times -- met for 90 minutes at the White House Nov. 10. Following the meeting, Obama told Trump, "We now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed." Trump said "it was a great honor being with" Obama. Trump's general election opponent Hillary Clinton said in a Nov. 10 concession speech she had "congratulated Donald Trump and offered to work with him on behalf of our country." Heimbach, who was involved in two executive branch transitions, said between now and January 20, Trump appointees to political positions "will start sitting in with their counterparts," being briefed and assisted by outgoing officials. While "top positions" will turn over to Trump appointees on Inauguration Day, Heimbach told Baptist Press, lower-level Obama political appointees "will not leave their jobs until new Trump appointees arrive to take their place ... So for the first months of 2017, lower-level political jobs will be filled by a mixture of Obama and Trump appointees." A smooth transition can be thwarted by a lack of cooperation among people in either administration, Heimbach said in written comments, noting, "Prayer for national leaders is as essential during this time of transition as it is leading up to a presidential election." Heimbach, senior professor of Christian ethics at Southeastern, added, "The time between being elected president ... and taking office ... is a time of great national vulnerability, administrative fluidity and one of the greatest leadership challenges a president ever faces because he must in just [over] one month fill all positions most essential to running the most powerful nation on earth." Fentress, an Old Testament scholar and pastor of Montrose Baptist Church in Rockville, Md., told BP examples of leadership transition in Scripture should caution and instruct the president and president-elect. The smooth transition between Moses and Joshua is "a priceless example for any leader in any period of history," Fentress said, in part because Joshua was faithful to God's Word, courageous and fearless. The transition from Samuel's leadership to Saul's, on the other hand, should give pause to those zealous for change at all costs. Saul's rise to the throne, stemming from Israel's demand for a king like the surrounding pagan nations, Fentress said, demonstrates "that sometimes the change that the people want is not what is most pleasing to God or what is best." The history of violent leadership transitions in the Old Testament stands in contrast to God's blessing of peace in American transitions, Fentress said, noting the violent rises to power of the Assyrians and Babylonians. "Even though there are people protesting the results of the election in the streets," Fentress said of Trump's election, "as Christians we should be thankful because" peaceful transition "is a priceless thing that God has graciously given to us, especially after such a rancorous political campaign season. The fact that things are as peaceful as they are ... is really owing to God's grace to us." Fentress, an African American, said it is acceptable for Americans of color to be "concerned" due to past comments by Trump that appear to be racially insensitive. But believers should never be "afraid," and they should pray for their leaders. "My prayer always for whoever occupied the Oval Office," Fentress said, "is that God will cause them to do what He wants them to do even if they're not trying." Hall, a historian and dean of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary's undergraduate school, cited "resilience" following divisive elections as "the extraordinary thing about the American democratic experiment." "As we witness the peaceful transfer of power in our own nation, we should never take it for granted and should instead give thanks for one more manifestation of God's common grace," Hall told BP in written comments. Among presidential elections to leave "parts of the American electorate frustrated and angry" were Thomas Jefferson's victory in 1800 and Abraham Lincoln's in 1860, said Hall, who teaches church history, American history and American government courses. "In spite of great trauma and a nation at times deeply divided, our common life has grown stronger, not weaker," Hall said. "At the end of the day, Americans have rejected the coups and juntas that have plagued other democratic regimes in much of the world. "Our constitutional protections are well tested, proving that if the electorate is disappointed, it will always have a chance in the not-too-distant future to make its voice heard and to effect real change," Hall said. Following Trump's election, Hall said, Southern Baptists "have a real opportunity in American public life to be among those who demonstrate, in their words and deeds, that our trust is not in chariots or horses, but in the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:7)." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Victoria sorpresiva de Trump motiva llamado a la oración y la gracia by Por Tom Strode Date: November 11, 2016 - Friday WASHINGTON (BP) -- Donald Trump consiguió una sorprendente victoria con el apoyo de cuatro de cada cinco votantes blancos que se identificaron como cristianos evangélicos, y los líderes bautistas del sur llamaron a orar por el presidente electo y por gracia hacia otros. Trump -- multimillonario, y célebre hombre de negocios -- llevó a cabo su inesperado ascenso en el partido republicano y en el electorado estadounidense para derrotar a la favorita demócrata Hillary Clinton el martes (8 de noviembre), sorprendiendo a los encuestadores y a la mayoría de los observadores en el proceso. Aunque rezagado en el voto popular, Trump sobrepasó los 270 votos necesarios en el Colegio Electoral y tuvo una delantera de 279 a 228 sobre la nominada demócrata hasta las 3 p.m. hora del este del miércoles (9 de noviembre), de acuerdo al New York Times. El ganador en tres estados -- Arizona, Michigan y New Hampshire -- tenía que ser denominado. Los republicanos no solamente recuperaron la Casa Blanca, sino que defendieron su mayoría en ambas cámaras del Congreso. Una división entre los bautistas del sur y otros evangélicos marcó la rencorosa campaña presidencial. En las semanas y meses que llevaron a la elección, algunos dejaron en claro su intención de votar por Trump mientras que otros declararon que no votarían ni por Trump ni por Clinton debido al carácter y/o a asuntos políticos. Los hispanos y los negros especialmente se opusieron a la candidatura de Trump. El día de la elección, el 81 por ciento de los votantes que se identificaron como "blancos evangélicos o blancos cristianos nacidos de nuevo" dijeron en encuestas de salida que escogieron a Trump, reportó el Times. Ambos candidatos posteriormente llamaron a la unidad. "Ahora es tiempo de subsanar las rupturas de la división," dijo Trump, de acuerdo al Times, después de que Clinton admitiera su derrota el miércoles temprano. "Es tiempo de que nos reunamos como un pueblo unido. Es tiempo." Trump describió eso como "muy importante" para él. Más tarde el miércoles, Clinton dijo que espera que Trump se convierta en "un presidente provechoso para todos los estadounidenses," reportó el Times. "Le debemos una mente abierta y una oportunidad de dirigir," dijo ella. Steve Gaines, presidente de la Convención Bautista del Sur, citó la Biblia para instar a los cristianos a orar por Trump, así como por todos los líderes del gobierno, y "a honrar a todas las personas, inclusive a aquellos con los que no estamos de acuerdo." "Si no estamos de acuerdo con la opinión de alguien, debemos hacerlo sin atacar a la persona," dijo Gaines en comentarios escritos para Baptist Press. "Ha habido mucha retórica inflamatoria de parte de líderes cristianos a lo largo de esta elección. Esa clase de discurso es divisivo, vergonzoso, fuera de lugar y pecaminoso." Gaines, pastor de la Iglesia Bautista Bellevue en la suburbana Memphis, dijo que "la mayor necesidad de EE.UU. es que los cristianos se arrepientan y regresen a Jesús. Que nosotros como bautistas del sur lideremos el camino orando como si importara, compartiendo a Jesús como si importara, haciendo discípulos como si importara, dando como si importara, amando como si importara y predicando el evangelio como si importara. Estas disciplinas son cosas con las que todos los seguidores de Jesucristo deben estar de acuerdo." Byron Day, presidente del Compañerismo Nacional de Afroamericanos de la CBS, reconoció que la elección "resultó en gozo para algunos y en desilusión para otros. Ahora que la retórica y las acusaciones pasaron, es tiempo de que la nación se junte." Day, pastor sénior de la Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel en Laurel, Maryland, también instó a los cristianos a seguir la enseñanza de la Biblia de orar y apoyar al presidente electo. En comentarios escritos para BP, animó a "todos los bautistas del sur, sin tomar en cuenta la afiliación política, a orar por la sanidad de nuestra nación y por el despertar espiritual. Los bautistas del sur deben tomar el liderazgo en sanar una nación que está dividida en muchos frentes. Jesús es la única respuesta a nuestra nación de almas enfermas de pecado." Russell Moore, presidente de la Comisión de Libertad Religiosa y Ética, dijo en una publicación de blog del miércoles: "Muchos de nosotros tenemos profundas diferencias con nuestro nuevo presidente, y no nos interesaría cuál candidato hubiera salido electo, pero debemos orar que tenga éxito en dirigir nuestro país con sabiduría y justicia." La elección presidencial muestra que los evangélicos conservadores "están políticamente desamparados," dijo Moore. En los movimientos que dominan ambos partidos políticos, "los intereses morales -- ciertamente el carácter personal y los asuntos de estabilidad familiar -- están marginalizados. Ahora tenemos una política de revolución sexual a través de la junta." Los bautistas del sur y otros evangélicos conservadores, escribió, deberían "mantener una claridad profética que esté dispuesta a llamar al arrepentimiento todo lo que sea injusto y esté contra Cristo, sea la cultura del aborto, la cultura del divorcio, o la cultura del racismo." Además, "no importa cuáles sean las divisiones étnicas y raciales en EE.UU. podemos ser iglesias que demostramos y encarnamos la reconciliación del reino de Dios," dijo Moore. "Nos pertenecemos los unos a los otros porque le pertenecemos a Cristo." Frank S. Page, presidente del Comité Ejecutivo de la CBS, dijo que los bautistas del sur orarán por Trump "para seguir los caminos de la rectitud. Animaremos y hablaremos a su vida lo mejor que podamos." Page dijo en una declaración escrita que continuará orando por Trump y animándolo a: -- "Mantener su palabra de proveer libertad religiosa a todas las religiones. -- "Proteger la vida del nonato además de la del nacido. -- "Proteger el matrimonio entre un hombre y una mujer. -- "Nominar jueces a la Suprema Corte que protejan la Constitución y no las agendas activistas." "Los bautistas del sur y los cristianos evangélicos continuarán testificando al perdido, ministrando al lastimado, albergando al desposeído y desplazado, siendo el primero en reaccionar en tiempos de crisis nacional y local, y continuarán hablando fuerte del camino del Señor," dijo Page. Muchos bautistas del sur y otros evangélicos se opusieron a Clinton no solamente por los problemas éticos que la han plagado sino por sus posturas políticas, particularmente su defensa del derecho al aborto sin restricciones. Otros rehusaron a apoyar a Trump por lo que describen como sus inclinaciones autocráticas, retórica abusiva, estilo de vida inmoral y por no ser confiable en asuntos morales y de libertad religiosa. A pesar de todos los asuntos de ética, carácter y moral involucrados, la economía y la demografía étnica resultaron "muy decisivos en esta elección," dijo Scott McConnell, director ejecutivo de Investigación LifeWay. "Nuestra investigación de pre elección mostró que la economía -- no la creencia religiosa -- era el interés más apremiante que dirigía a los votantes con creencias evangélicas. "También encontramos una clara brecha entre los sectores étnicos y los partidos políticos en medio de los estadounidenses con creencias evangélicas," dijo McConnell. "Los estadounidenses blancos con creencias evangélicas favorecían a Trump, como lo hicieron los republicanos con creencias evangélicas. Los afroamericanos, asiático americanos e hispano americanos con creencias evangélicas favorecieron a Clinton, como lo hicieron los demócratas con creencias evangélicas. Esas brechas son poderosas en EE.UU. hoy, y están profundamente atrincheradas en la iglesia." -------------------------------------------------------------------- El Crossover de la CBS en Phoenix añade la cruzada de Greg Laurie by Por Tobin Perry Date: November 11, 2016 - Friday PHOENIX (BP) -- A medida que los bautistas del sur del área de Phoenix se preparan para la reunión anual de la CBS del próximo verano, oran para que una nueva adición a las actividades del Crossover pueda guiar a un fruto espiritual de larga duración. Por invitación de la Junta de Misiones Norteamericanas, el evangelista y pastor del sur de California Greg Laurie ha programado su alcance nacional Harvest America (Cosechen EE.UU.) en el Estadio de la Universidad de Phoenix para el 11 de junio de 2017, la cual coincidirá con los esfuerzos de Crossover de los bautistas del sur. PHOENIX (BP) -- A medida que los bautistas del sur del área de Phoenix se preparan para la reunión anual de la CBS del próximo verano, oran para que una nueva adición a las actividades del Crossover pueda guiar a un fruto espiritual de larga duración. Por invitación de la Junta de Misiones Norteamericanas, el evangelista y pastor del sur de California Greg Laurie ha programado su alcance nacional Harvest America (Cosechen EE.UU.) en el Estadio de la Universidad de Phoenix para el 11 de junio de 2017, la cual coincidirá con los esfuerzos de Crossover de los bautistas del sur. La cruzada Crossover, que será transmitida nacionalmente, incluirá un mensaje del evangelio de Laurie y música de artistas cristianos muy reconocidos. Más de 225 iglesias locales y líderes con ministerios de apoyo participaron en una reunión de lanzamiento el 6 de octubre donde Laurie compartió su visión para la cruzada. Harvest America y NAMB tendrán otras seis reuniones preparatorias en noviembre. "Creo firmemente que el Señor está trabajando de una manera poderosa a través de Greg Laurie," dijo Noé García, pastor sénior de la Iglesia Bautista North Phoenix. "Solo miren cómo Dios lo ha usado en el pasado. Me emociona cómo lo está usando acá en Phoenix, especialmente en un lugar que desesperadamente necesita a Jesús y necesita restauración. Estamos emocionados como iglesia de animar eso, apoyar eso y ser parte de lo que Dios está haciendo acá en Phoenix." García sirve en el equipo asesor local de Harvest America Arizona. Los bautistas del sur que quieran participar en Crossover Phoenix serán alentados a llenar roles voluntarios muy necesarios en la cruzada, de acuerdo a Joel Southerland, director ejecutivo de evangelismo de NAMB. "Greg Laurie y su equipo han probado que los eventos de la cruzada todavía pueden funcionar y son una magnífica manera de que la gente conozca a Jesús," dijo el presidente de NAMB, Kevin Ezell. "Cientos de iglesias bautistas del sur se han unido con la Cruzada Harvest a través de los años, y estamos emocionados por la unión con ellos para este evento." Desde 1990, los eventos de Harvest de Laurie han atraído a más de 5.7 millones de personas. Otros 1.9 millones han asistido a los eventos "virtualmente" a través de internet. Harvest America llama las cruzadas el alcance evangelizador anual más antiguo en la historia de EE.UU. "Nunca en la historia estadounidense la iglesia cristiana y el mensaje del evangelio han sido probados como hoy para confirmar sus valores y lugar en nuestra cultura," dijo Laurie. "Si no abordamos los retos de nuestro tiempo, temo que las consecuencias puedan ser devastadoras paras las generaciones venideras. Es por esta razón que nos estamos uniendo a la Junta de Misiones Norteamericana y a las iglesias bautistas del sur en toda la nación en un intento por elevar el evangelio." Los bautistas del sur locales ya han estado organizando y orando que Dios use de gran manera la cruzada. "Creemos que este evento podría resultar en el más grande impacto evangelizador que nunca hayamos visto en Arizona," dijo David Johnson, director ejecutivo de la Convención Bautista del Sur de Arizona. "Estamos animando a todas nuestras iglesias en Arizona a participar e involucrarse sea desafiando a su gente a orar, invitar, asistir y traer a otros con ellos o sirviendo como voluntarios o siendo una iglesia que trabaje en el seguimiento -- ¡o todas las anteriores!" La cruzada se traslapará con la primera noche de la Conferencia de Pastores de la CBS 2017, y los organizadores de la conferencia instan a las iglesias locales de la CBS a participar en el alcance. "Esperamos que los pastores locales congreguen a sus iglesias, inviten a los extraviados y lleven tanta gente como sea posible a las cruzadas," dijo Dave Miller, pastor de la Iglesia Bautista Southern Hills en Sioux City, Iowa, y presidente de la Conferencia de Pastores de la CBS 2017. "No quisiéramos nada mejor que ver a miles de residentes de Arizona conociendo a Jesús a través de este evento." Ezell cree que las dos reuniones pueden funcionar en armonía la una con la otra. "Ha sido una bendición trabajar con Dave Miller en esto y creo que estos eventos pueden coincidir bien," dijo Ezell. "La cruzada está enfocada en alcanzar la comunidad de Phoenix." Phoenix representa un campo de misión crítico para los bautistas del sur. Es una de las 32 ciudades donde NAMB enfoca sus recursos a través del esfuerzo de plantación de iglesias Envía Norteamérica. De acuerdo con el Centro de Investigación Misional de NAMB, solo hay una iglesia bautista por cada 19.338 personas en el área metropolitana de Phoenix. "Necesitamos que cada pastor de Arizona tenga a su iglesia detrás de esta cruzada," dijo Ezell. "Esta es una oportunidad increíble para que los miembros de la iglesia inviten a los compañeros de trabajo, a miembros de la familia y a amigos que no se congregan a un evento donde van a oír el evangelio." Para obtener más información acerca de cómo participar en la cruzada, sea en Phoenix o vía transmisión simultánea, visite www.HarvestAmerica.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------- De ser miembros de la pandilla de las Cobras a ser seguidores de Cristo by Por Lisa Falknor/Arkansas Baptist News Date: November 11, 2016 - Friday SPRINGDALE, Ark. -- El año pasado, varios tiroteos sacudieron a la comunidad de Springdale, Ark. Después de la muerte de dos jóvenes asesinados en un tiroteo entre pandillas, los anonadados residentes respondieron con una marcha por la paz para mostrar estar en contra de la violencia entre pandillas. Mientras la multitud hizo una breve pausa para guardar silencio, un ex miembro de una pandilla tuvo tiempo para agradecerle a Dios el haberlo rescatado -- junto con 14 miembros de su familia -- de esa cultura pandillera. "Si no hubiera conocido a Cristo, yo estaría cumpliendo una sentencia de por vida en la cárcel, o estaría muerto," dijo Gilbert González, de 28 años de edad. "Cuando estás dentro de ese estilo de vida, tus modelos a seguir son las personas que trafican drogas y los asesinos, como Al Capone o la gente de la mafia." De los 16 a los 21 años, González vivió una vida de adicción a las drogas y al alcohol, la violencia y huir de la policía. Su madre y sus tíos, tías, primos y hermanos pertenecían a la pandilla del Rey Cobra, originaria de California. Mudarse a Springdale significaba la oportunidad de un nuevo hogar, aunque con el mismo estilo de vida. "Nos convertimos en la segunda generación de miembros de una pandilla," dijo González. Finalmente, González tocó fondo. Después de haber sido atacado con un cuchillo por segunda vez, un viaje al hospital para rescatar a un pariente cercano víctima de una sobredosis de drogas, sentía que lo seguía una gran pesadumbre por tener que pelear en cualquier lugar al que iba, luchar con sus adicciones a las drogas y al alcohol, y sintió el deseo de hacer lo que pocos hacen: salir de la pandilla. En el 2013, él y su entonces novia y futura esposa Karen, fueron a la iglesia. Él se bautizó dos semanas después de que ella fuera bautizada. Entonces Dios le dio una carga por su familia. Primero, su madre se convirtió al cristianismo y después su padre. Su hermano mayor Robert, sin embargo, no se iba a rendir tan fácilmente. "Cuando era niño, me influenciaron las pandillas y las drogas (totalmente lo opuesto de quienes somos ahora)," dijo Robert, de 30 años de edad. "Luego mi hermano Gilbert -- el peor de todos nosotros -- cambió. Lo vi muy diferente. Seguía hablando de Jesús. Yo le dije, 'No quiero escuchar eso.' No hablamos por un par de meses." Al pasar el tiempo, Robert fue a la iglesia, dijo, solamente para quitarse de encima a su hermano, su madre y su padre. 'El aceptó a Cristo. "Gilbert no me dejó," dijo. "Y estoy contento por eso." Hoy en día, los cuatro hermanos González y sus esposas, los dos hijos de Robert, su hermana y su novio son miembros de First Baptist Church en Fayetteville. Durante años -- excepto este verano pasado cuando tres de sus hermanos fueron a un viaje misionero internacional -- la familia González ha remplazado con un estudio bíblicos sus fiestas con cervezas los sábados por la noche. Durante el estudio bíblico de agosto, la familia discutió la Gran Comisión en la casa de Robert en Springdale. Anthony González, de 27 años de edad, un rapero trabajando en un CD cristiano, les contó sobre su experiencia de estar en el escenario en un campamento bíblico en Ecuador. "Dios me dio la oportunidad de cantar rap frente a más de 200 personas; Dios me dio la confianza en mí mismo," dijo. "Fue una experiencia maravillosa cantar rap sobre el Evangelio." Después del estudio bíblico, la cuñada de Anthony dijo que Dios obró en la familia González incluso desde el 2009, tras las rejas de la prisión -- a través de las oraciones de su padre encarcelado -- así como fuera de las paredes de la prisión -- a través del ejemplo y testimonio de Gilbert y Karen. Sentada a la izquierda de su padre, la cuñada tradujo el testimonio de su padre, "El primer día que llegué a la prisión me hablaron de Dios," dijo. "Seguí asistiendo a las reuniones de los creyentes, y dos semanas después acepté a Jesús." Mientras cumplía su sentencia de cinco años, Dios le dio una misión: orar por la familia González y ser de testimonio para ellos una vez que saliera de la prisión. Él se "preocupaba" por ellos. "Antes de ir a la cárcel, ninguno de los González era cristiano." Pero, para cuando ganó su libertad física (hace dos años), la familia González ya tenía la libertad espiritual. Actualmente, la pandilla Rey Cobra sigue activa en California, pero no así en Springdale porque "ahora todos somos creyentes." -------------------------------------------------------------------- EDITORIAL: Nuestra Batalla Espiritual by Por Michael A. Gonzales Date: November 11, 2016 - Friday GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP) -- Como creyentes tenemos que reconocer que estamos siempre en una batalla spiritual. Tenemos que estar siempre en alerta porque nuestro enemigo es fuerte y poderoso. Ese enemigo se llama Satanás y tarde o temprano vamos a enfrentarlo en nuestra vida cotidiana. Pablo nos da un buen desafío de vestirnos de toda la armadura de Dios para resistir esos ataques satánicos. "Por lo demás, hermanos míos, fortaleceos en el Señor, y en el poder de su fuerza. Vestíos de toda la armadura de Dios, para que podáis estar firmes contra las asechanzas del diablo. Porque no tenemos lucha contra sangre y carne, sino contra principados, contra potestades, contra los gobernadores de las tinieblas de este siglo, contra huestes espirituales de maldad en las regiones celestes. Por tanto, tomad toda la armadura de Dios, para que podáis resistir en el día malo, y habiendo acabado todo, estar firmes." Efesios 6:10-13 Satanás nos ataca de muchas maneras. Él trata de poner en duda el carácter y la veracidad de Dios. El diablo quiere que dudes: * del poder de Dios * de la gracia de Dios * de la misericordia de Dios * del perdón de Dios * y del amor de Dios. Satanás no quiere que sigas a Cristo con todo tu corazón, cuerpo y alma. Satanás quiere destruir, dividir y matar tu vida. El diablo no quiere que camines y ni que hables con Cristo. Vivir la vida cristiana en nuestros días es difícil y por eso tenemos que serle fiel al Señor continuamente. Tenemos que serle fiel al Señor mostrando al mundo que estamos entregados completamente a Cristo y que estamos caminando permanentemente con Él. Podemos ganar la batalla contra Satanás siguiendo el consejo que Cristo nos da en Mateo 16:24. "Entonces Jesús dijo a sus discípulos: Si alguno quiere venir en pos de mí, niéguese a sí mismo, tome su cruz, y sígame." Si hacemos estas tres cosas Satanás nunca puede ganar en nuestras vidas. Somos llamados: 1. A dejar algo -- hay que negarnos a nosotros mismos. El viejo hombre tiene que morir. "Así también vosotros consideraos muertos al pecado, pero vivos para Dios en Cristo Jesús." Romanos 6:11 Y no debemos hacer provisión a la carne. "sino vestíos del Señor Jesucristo, y no proveáis para los deseos de la carne. Hay que tener nuestra mirada en Cristo Jesús." Filipenses 2:5-8 2. A levantar algo -- hay que tomar nuestra cruz. Vivir como hombres y mujeres muertos pero vivos en Él. "Con Cristo estoy juntamente crucificado, y ya no vivo yo, más vive Cristo en mí." Gálatas 2:20 3. Y a vivir algo -- hay que seguir a Cristo totalmente. "Porque para mí el vivir es Cristo, y el morir es ganancia." Filipenses 1:21 En Cristo tenemos plena victoria contra Satanás. ¡Comparta el mensaje de Cristo con alguien hoy!