The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-11/18/2014 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Missions 'just got personal' for pastor Tony Mathews by Kate Gregory Date: November 18, 2014 - Tuesday EDITOR'S NOTES: This year's Week of Prayer for International Missions in the Southern Baptist Convention is Nov. 30-Dec. 7 with the theme of "One Sacred Effort -- Find your place in God's story" from Matthew 28:19-20 (HCSB). The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions in tandem with Cooperative Program gifts from Southern Baptist churches support approximately 4,800 international missionaries in seeking to fulfill the Great Commission. Gifts to the Lottie Moon offering are received through local Southern Baptist churches or online at imb.org/offering, where there are resources to promote the offering. This year's goal is $175 million. NORTH GARLAND, Texas (BP) -- Tony Mathews had thought international missions wasn't for everyone, that as a pastor his focus should be on the local church. North Garland Baptist Fellowship, where he has served for 22 years, supported Southern Baptist missions and ministries through the Cooperative Program. Members of the Texas church had gone on international missions trips, which the pastor had supported -- from a distance. That changed in 2012 when he went on his first missions trip to help lead activities for children of Southern Baptist missionaries in Africa. Trying to fathom what it was like for them to live away from the comforts and familiarity of home, Mathews asked one of the children if she wanted to live in the United States again to have closer access to places like restaurants and theme parks. The 9-year-old girl said no. When he asked why, she responded: Because my best friend here doesn't know the Lord. Hearing that clarity of purpose from one so young impacted Mathews. While he was still in Africa, he rewrote North Garland's new members packet to re-emphasize missions, "to build it into our DNA, not just in the church but within each member: 'We do missions.'" Talking with the children's parents, the missionaries, face to face also changed how Mathews saw the world, and himself. "I was overwhelmed hearing the missionaries' stories -- hearing about the lives they've touched and going places where others didn't go," Mathews said. Through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, "our pennies, our nickels, our dollars enable them to share. And through that, we're a part of what they're doing." IMB missionary Adam Hailes showed the pastor photos of a people group in Madagascar and told him about the opportunities and challenges of reaching them. It was the same people group, the Antandroy, that Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth had recently adopted. Mathews' church in Garland, a suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth, decided to partner with the Hailes to reach the Antandroy and send ministry teams to Madagascar. When Mathews returned from Africa, he made it his mission to enlist other African-American pastors in missions trips, knowing from personal experience how enriching a pastor's personal involvement in international missions could be to a local church. As a result, Mathews and a group of other Dallas-area African-American pastors began partnering with International Mission Board missionaries Johnny and Donna Maust to reach Afro-Ecuadorians along the South American country's coast. Again, it was that personal connection with a missionary that made missions real for Mathews. "Just getting to know Johnny and to see his heart for the Afro-Ecuadorians is encouraging -- he'll go anywhere and talk with people about the Lord," said Mathews, realizing that willingness is what embodies missions. "Now, I desire that everyone craves to be a part of it," Mathews said. "I want to show my people that God is not only their personal God, but He is also a global God and we need to be there to share that news with others." Read related story "Reaching 'the people of the thorns' in Madagascar" here. Watch Pastor Tony Mathews discuss his church's involvement with missions around the world: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Reaching 'the people of the thorns' in Madagascar by Kate Gregory Date: November 18, 2014 - Tuesday EDITOR'S NOTES: This year's Week of Prayer for International Missions in the Southern Baptist Convention is Nov. 30-Dec. 7 with the theme of "One Sacred Effort -- Find your place in God's story" from Matthew 28:19-20 (HCSB). The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions in tandem with Cooperative Program gifts from Southern Baptist churches support approximately 4,800 international missionaries in seeking to fulfill the Great Commission. Gifts to the Lottie Moon offering are received through local Southern Baptist churches or online at imb.org/offering, where there are resources to promote the offering. This year's goal is $175 million. RICHMOND, Va. (BP)-- Hardly a day goes by without someone telling Adam Hailes, a Southern Baptist missionary in Madagascar, that he's out of place. In the Malagasy dialect that the Antandroy people speak, the term for white means foreigner. Locals address him by that title. The term isn't used out of disrespect. Their attitude of separation is produced by fear. Because of a history of territory conquests and mistreatment by outsiders, "white men instill fear, so already you're limited by the time you get there. "In Madagascar, you're considered either white (a foreigner) or black (a native)," Hailes said. So the Antandroy didn't know quite what to make of a group from North Garland Baptist Fellowship near Dallas, Texas, a predominantly African-American congregation. Because they looked alike, the Antandroy had assumed that North Garland's missions director Barry Calhoun was from their people group until they heard him speak, Hailes recounted. Then they wondered where he came from because he looked like them but didn't speak their language. "'How can you have black people that don't know Malagasy?'" the Antandroy asked. The Antandroy didn't have a specific term to describe someone whose ethnicity is African but whose birthplace and residency aren't. Since their word for white and foreigner is the same, they referred to the missions team as white black people or foreign black people. Perplexing the Antandroy further, the team consisted of both white and black team members -- the North Garland congregation has been multi-racial since its formation 25 years ago. The Antandroy weren't used to seeing blacks and whites interact that closely or be grouped as a team or congregation. North Garland members Anjal Coleman, who's African American, and Julie Cummings, who's Caucasian, taught the locals a praise song, "Most High God." Instead of having the song translated into Malagasy, they taught them the song in English: "Jehovah! You are the Most high. You are the most High God." "More than a year later, I still hear women, while cooking meals, or children, while playing, sing that song," Hailes said. "I think of Garland every time that happens -- the type of little impact you can have after only two to three days." Because fear and separation are entrenched into the local mindset, it's unusual to be able to make a lasting impact that quickly, Hailes said. Groups like North Garland "can break some barriers quicker. They aren't as intimating to them" because the people see a similarity in them, he said. Hailes, however, has been able to gain acceptance from the people, Cummings observed. "When he started talking, a hush would come over the people because for one it was amazing to see this white guy all the sudden start speaking their language," she said. "Having that experience has changed financially the way we give," Cummings said of her family of four. "Me actually being there and seeing how the money works," how the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering fund international missionaries, "really changed our family, even the kids." When her daughter or son receive money as a present, they say, "I need to put some aside" for missions. The Antandroy don't have ready access to Bibles in their language, so the missions team shared Bible stories with them orally through translators. After one of the Bible studies, a woman told Calhoun if the team returned to the home the next day, she would invite some friends to hear the stories. "Those are the type of moments that cause me to want to go back and do it again," Calhoun said, "to be able to see where God is working in the life of someone and they're willing to go get their friends … that they know that need to hear the same stories about the message of Christ." Hard road ahead The Antandroy, known as "the people of the thorns," are African ranchers who guard their herds encaged in cattle pins made of tangled thorn brambles. "Androy" means "where there are thorns," and "roy" is the name of a long-thorned plant. The thorns are the fences to keep the cattle in and others out, Hailes said. "Part of the battle is just getting to the people," he said. "The roads are very hard and isolated." The roads are so bumpy that they jolt people up and down in vehicle seats, so violently that a bone in a local man's back was broken by the jarring. So, travel on these roads is slow-going and wearing on tires and their alignment. "You can guarantee that at the end of that journey, the ability to fly up and down the interstate here in Garland, Texas, is something that you will cherish," Coleman said. Cummings had commented to Hailes that "if we're taking this road I can't imagine what the bad roads are like, and he looked at me and he said this is the only road to where we're going." Adding to the isolation is that idle vehicles can be easy prey for bandits, roaming cattle thieves out to steal belongings from stranded motorists. Though the locals are fearful of invasion and theft, their fierce protectiveness is also feared by others. The Antandroy are known as tough, upfront people, Hailes said. They live in a harsh environment subject to drought and famine. Their primary religion is a blend of tribal religions. They believe that objects in nature have souls and try to appease their ancestors to receive blessings and avoid curses. "They will say, yes, they believe in Jesus, but they just add it to the shelf" of gods they worship, said Suzie Hailes, Adam's wife. They also fear that deviating from their ethnic religion will mean they would have to separate themselves from their cherished ethnic identity. The Antandroy people group is unique to Madagascar, with a population of more than 1 million in the southern part of the country. The people group was adopted by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, as part of the Embrace initiative to reach all people groups with the Gospel. North Garland became involved in the missions partnership after North Garland's pastor, Tony Mathews, met Adam at a meeting in South Africa. Mathews, also a SWBTS trustee, heard firsthand from Hailes about the Antandroy. "I was overwhelmed hearing the missionaries' stories -- hearing about the lives they've touched and going places where others didn't go," Mathews says. "Our pennies, our nickels, our dollars enable them to share. And through that, we're a part of what they're doing." Find your place in God's story The Hailes are among the nearly 4,800 Southern Baptist missionaries serving overseas whose presence and ministries there are funded through the Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. Coming from a family of pastors four generations over, Adam had witnessed the struggles and sacrifices of being in the ministry but was eventually drawn to it himself. The Hailes' home state is Texas, where Adam was a pastor before the couple became missionaries three years ago. They were among the prospective missionaries whose appointment was delayed after the economy downturned. Though Adam was the child of missionaries to Argentina and he and Suzie both knew Spanish, Adam says they decided to go to Africa instead because the same opening in Madagascar was still unfilled a year later, he said. "We wanted some place difficult, unreached, where relationship was key," he explained. The Hailes asked for prayer for: -- new believers to grow in their walk with the Lord. -- leaders of new Bible story groups to stay strong, to be encouraged, to continue to pursue God and to forsake former beliefs that don't honor Him. -- family and coworkers to stay healthy. -- the formation of at least two new churches that are underway. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Moore at Vatican: Gospel vital in marriage by Tom Strode Date: November 18, 2014 - Tuesday VATICAN CITY (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention's lead ethicist told international religious leaders Tuesday (Nov. 18) at the Vatican they should defend man-woman marriage for the common good, but Christians also must champion it for the sake of the Gospel. Russell D. Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), provided an evangelical Protestant viewpoint on the complementarity of man and woman during the second day of a Vatican-sponsored colloquium on marriage. About 350 religious, academic and civil society leaders from 23 countries gathered at the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church for the Nov. 17-19 event. Speaking to representatives of at least 15 religions, Moore said he joins them -- despite their theological differences -- in recognizing that marriage and family constitute "a matter of public importance," yet he possesses "an even deeper concern" -- the Gospel of Jesus. "All of us must stand together on conserving the truth of marriage as a complementary union of man and woman," Moore said, according to his manuscript, which he reportedly followed closely in his remarks. Marriage, and the "sexual difference on which it is built, is grounded in a natural order bearing rights and responsibilities that was not crafted by any human state and cannot thus be redefined by any human state," he said. Yet "there is a distinctively Christian urgency for why the Christian churches must bear witness to these things," Moore told the assembly. Marriage and family are "icons of God's purpose for the universe," he continued, adding Christianity teaches that the "one-flesh union points beyond itself to the union of Christ and His church." "Our neighbors of no religion and of different religions do not recognize a call to Gospel mystery," he said. "Marriage is a common grace, and we should speak, on their own terms, of why jettisoning normative marriage and family is harmful." But as a Christian, Moore said he also is impelled to speak of "the conviction of the church that what is disrupted when we move beyond the creation design of marriage and family is not only human flourishing, although it is that, but also the picture of the very mystery that defines the existence of the universe itself -- the Gospel of Jesus Christ." "With this conviction, we must stand and speak not with clinched fists or with wringing hands, but with the open hearts of those who have a message and a mission," he said. Moore was one of two American evangelicals to speak at the colloquium. Megachurch pastor and popular author Rick Warren also spoke Nov. 18. Warren is pastor of Saddleback Church, a Southern Baptist church in Southern California. Warren, who spoke on the "What Must We Do?" told the Orange County Register, "It's great to be with leaders from different streams of Christianity from all over the world." The paper quoted him as saying, "Although we have some differences, we all love Jesus Christ and we all want marriages and families to be healthy and strong." Pope Francis spoke Nov. 17 during the opening session of the conference. The pope affirmed the biblical, traditional definition of marriage; the complementarity of the sexes; and the need for children to have a father and a mother. "Complementarity," which refers to the unique roles of men and women in marriage and a variety of other contexts, is "at the root of marriage and family," the pope said. In his address, Moore said a husband and a wife exist as "one flesh, cooperation through complementarity." God created human beings as "male and female identities that correspond to one another and fulfill one another," he said. "We are not created as 'spouse A' and 'spouse B,' but as man and as woman, and in marriage as husband and as wife, in parenting as mother and as father. Masculinity and femininity are not aspects of the fallen order to be overcome, but are instead part of what God declared from the beginning to be 'very good,'" he said in a reference to Genesis 1:31. A man, Moore said, is made "to be other-directed, to pour himself out for his family. Headship in God's design is not Pharaoh-like tyranny but Christ-like sacrifice." The sexual revolution celebrated in Western culture has not resulted in freedom, he told the assembly. "The sexual revolution is not liberation at all, but simply the imposition of a different sort of patriarchy," Moore said. "The sexual revolution empowers men to pursue a Darwinian fantasy of the predatory alpha-male, rooted in the values of power, prestige and personal pleasure." This sexual revolution "cannot keep its promises," he said. "People are looking for a cosmic mystery, for a love that is stronger than death. They cannot articulate it and perhaps would be horrified to know it, but they are looking for God. The sexual revolution leads to the burned-over boredom of sex shorn of mystery, of relationship shorn of covenant." Christians must reject the call by many to speak in "more generic spiritual terms" on these issues, Moore said. "To jettison or to minimize a Christian sexual ethic is to abandon the message Jesus handed to us, and we have no authority to do this. Moreover, to do so is to abandon our love for our neighbors." Christians, he said, will speak "with the confidence of those who know that on the other side of our culture wars, there's a sexual counter-revolution waiting to be born, again." The full manuscript of Moore's address is available here. The colloquium came at a time when marriage as a permanent union of only a man and a woman is threatened, especially in the United States: Recent 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 threatened. Other speakers during the colloquium included: -- 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. Among the speakers were representatives of Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism and the Sikh religion. Watch highlights of Moore's comments here: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Pastor faced cancer certain of Romans 8:28 by Art Toalston Date: November 18, 2014 - Tuesday HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- David Landrith, who led Long Hollow Baptist Church to be the first Tennessee church to baptize 1,000 people in a year, died of cancer early this morning (Nov. 18). Landrith, 51, battled a rare form of cancer, colorectal melanoma, diagnosed in March 2013. He had been pastor of the Hendersonville church in the Nashville area church since 1997. In a sermon shortly after his diagnosis, Landrith had stated, "As I thought about what was going on, though, it really came to me again that I have preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ now for 25 years and I have shared with people this world is not our home, we're not going to be here forever, we're going to have this beautiful experience of living with the Lord forever and ever in eternity, and I just said, 'You know what? I've got to hold on to all of those things that I know are true and that I've shared with others for so many years.'" Landrith continued, "I'm going to pray, I'm going to fight, I'm not going to give up, I'm going to seek all the medical help we can find, but more than anything else I want to bring glory to Jesus as I walk through this, and I would ask your prayers for me as I go through it." His battle with cancer was widely regarded as courageous during the course of several surgeries and clinical trial medicines when the cancer continued to spread through his body, including his lungs and brain. "I'm absolutely convinced that God will work this for good," Landrith said in a subsequent sermon posted at Long Hollow Baptist Church's website, www.longhollow.com. "It's not theoretical," he said, voicing his conviction "by faith" that "I'm actually convinced now by experience." He referenced Romans 8:28 -- "... we know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose" -- and noted, "It doesn't mean that all in our life is going to be good. It just means that God can take -- because He's sovereign, because He ordains the beginning and the end and nothing catches Him off-guard -- He can take all of these things that we face in a broken, fallen world, and He can bring things out of it that advance the Kingdom and bring glory to Himself. "And it may be that God has called me to be healed, and people will glorify His name. It may be that God has called me to die. ... It may not be realized until after I'm gone. But I am absolutely convinced of the truth of Romans 8:28, that all the things that we're experiencing as Christ-followers, as we respond and walk with Him, that He can bring and work good out of each and every one of those situations." During Landrith's 16 years at Long Hollow, the church grew from one to five campuses while attendance grew from 300 to as high as 7,500 people. In 2013, Landrith's last full year of ministry, Long Hollow became the first Southern Baptist church in Tennessee to baptize more than 1,000 people in one year. The church is on target to exceed 1,000 baptisms again in 2014, Jeff Lovingood, Long Hollow's pastor of spiritual development, told the Baptist & Reflector newsjournal of the Tennessee convention. With Long Hollow's emphasis on reaching youth and children, Lovingood said three-fourths of the baptisms have been in that age range, aiming to lead their families to faith in Christ and to disciple young believers into adulthood. "I've never known a pastor so loved by the people he serves," said Lance Taylor, Long Hollow's executive pastor. "He had a God-given ability to keep people together," said Taylor, a former college roommate with Landrith. "In all the growth and changes through the years, God used him to keep our church moving together in the same direction. In the 16 years I served alongside of David at Long Hollow, we enjoyed exceptional unity because of his leadership." Randy C. Davis, executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, expressed on behalf of the state's Baptists "our prayers for a hurting sister church." Davis said Landrith "was a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ that God used in an extraordinary way. He was the epitome of a godly gentleman and also was a loving, visionary pastor and an uncompromising preacher of the Word of God." Davis recalled that Landrith was the first pastor to come by his office after he (Davis) became the Tennessee convention's executive. Landrith was "used of the Lord to disciple new believers who have become some of the most effective Great Commission leaders in our state," Davis said. "Heaven's great gain is Tennessee's great loss. We will miss this dear brother, but we will see him again. That's the hope the Gospel gives us." Landrith was a member of the Calvinism advisory team appointed by SBC Executive Committee President Frank S. Page. He addressed the SBC Pastors' Conference in 2010 and 2007 as well as various other conferences, such as the Women's Ministry National Leadership Training Forum in 2008 and 2007. He is survived by his wife Jennifer; three children, Rachel, 25, Sam, 20, and Josh, 18; his parents, Horace and Shirley Landrith; and his brother Hal. Landrith was born in Klamath Falls, Idaho, but moved frequently throughout his childhood with his father's work for the U.S. Forest Service. He became a Christ-follower as a child at First Baptist Church in Lilburn, Ga., but always considered First Baptist Church in Cleveland, Tenn., as his home church, where he spent his teenage years, when he began dating his future wife Jennifer. A basketball scholarship led Landrith to Belmont College in Nashville, where he majored in history, an ongoing passion throughout his life. Sensing God's calling to vocational ministry, Landrith earned a master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He also became a chaplain for both the Army and Air Force, a ministry that would continue throughout his life. Despite his original desire to serve as a youth minister, Landrith felt God's leading to pastor a church as he finished seminary. In his first pastorate near Cleveland, Tenn., Candies Creek Baptist Church grew from 60 members to nearly 500 under his leadership. Landrith became Long Hollow's pastor with a unanimous vote in 1997. "He was a pastor everyone could relate to," said Lovingood, a childhood friend of Landrith. "He was also a friend that challenged you to be all that God made you to be." At the 2007 women's forum, Landrith had noted, "God delights in pushing us out of our comfort zones so we learn to trust Him and be flexible." The "real challenge," he said, is to "maintain the posture of 'God, You tell us here to go and we will follow You.'" Landrith also told the women, "Anything worth doing is going to have costs. Keep pushing forward and follow God until He releases you from what you are doing." Watch part of David Landrith's message on Romans 8:28 here: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Iowa Baptists approve 50/50 CP split by Jon "Ole" Olsen Date: November 18, 2014 - Tuesday DES MOINES, Iowa (BP) -- During their Baptist Convention of Iowa annual meeting in Des Moines, messengers voted to increase the percentage of Cooperative Program funds forwarded to national Southern Baptist Convention causes from 20 percent in 2014 to 50 percent of all CP receipts in 2015. This represents an increase from $99,000 given to the SBC CP in 2014 to $300,000 in 2015. Messengers approved a 2015 budget during the meeting of $1.75 million dollars, anticipating a 21 percent increase in Cooperative Program giving by Iowa churches to $600,000. More than 200 messengers and guests representing 51 churches attended the Nov. 8 meeting. Worship music was provided by Nick Powell, Dirk Wiese, and Jordan Prescott from Redeemer Church in Cedar Falls. Executive Director/Treasurer Tim Lubinus told messengers during his address, "Next year our convention will be 20 years old. We want to continue to do our part in reaching the world for Christ. A sign of this maturing of our convention isn't measured by our independence of our national mission agencies, but by the strength of our support for them. "Because of this we would like our 20th year to become the year that we become a 50/50 convention and increase our support for national mission agencies from 20 percent to 50 percent of our receipts," he said. "These funds go to the International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, our six seminaries, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and other vital ministries. While the dollar amount may not be as large as many state conventions, Lubinus acknowledges, he hopes the 50/50 split shows Iowa Baptists' commitment to supporting national and international missions. He noted the Baptist Convention of Iowa (BCI) is moving away from funding its staff for church planting and moving toward funding church planters. BCI has reduced funding for church planting BCI staff from 36 percent of the church planting budget to 13 percent. Lubinus noted this frees church planting funds up for where the need is greatest: new churches. These changes will allow the BCI to increase the church planting budget by 25 percent in 2015, increasing church planting funds from $400,000 to $500,000. In 2014, nine church planters were approved for church planting funding across the state, with church planting initiatives on the move in another nine locations. "We are grateful for the progress in church planting in Iowa and pray for continued growth in 2015" he said. During the annual meeting, Lubinus said creating a system to support and encourage pastors was his first priority when he started in his role March 2014. "We now have around 18 groups of pastors meeting across the state to encourage, support, pray and learn from one another," Lubinus said. "John Shaull announced his retirement effective September 30th, but I asked him to continue on staff to support pastors on the western half of the state. Ed Gregory returned to Iowa, and is on BCI staff to support pastors on the eastern half of the state." The BCI intends to add a new staff position to specifically support churches' discipleship and small group ministries. This position will be the third staff position that will directly relate to supporting, developing and encouraging churches. Discussing other BCI ministries, Lubinus shared with the messengers and guests that Frank McCrary was hired as the state's disaster relief director with the task of strengthening and expanding the Iowa disaster relief program. Lubinus also showed photos of a 21-foot shower trailer that has been purchased to help give Iowa Baptists an additional option in responding to crisis and need. Lubinus also encouraged churches to get involved with the ministries of the Friendship Baptist Center. "The Friendship Baptist Center is located in an area in Des Moines that is heavily impacted by poverty," he said. "In a neighborhood overrun by drugs, gangs, unemployment and a lack of adequate English skills, the center meets the physical needs of area residents while displaying the love of Christ." Lubinus noted that Jon and Mindy Jamison are now employed by the BCI to help Iowa churches develop or expand their own community ministries. Officers elected at the annual meeting were: Lloyd Eaken, president, pastor, Fairview Baptist Church, Anamosa; Ken Livingston, first vice president, pastor, First Grace Baptist Church, Sheffield; Ken Kraft, second vice president, pastor, New Life Baptist Church, Kingsley; Jerome Risting, secretary, member, Temple Baptist Church, Mason City. Messengers recognized new pastors and their wives during the annual meeting. Those recognized included Cory and Carla Gonyo, First Baptist Church, Bettendorf; Scott Hill and Anita Hill, Heartland Baptist Church, Stuart; Cody and Kim Hinton, Redemption Church, Council Bluffs; John and Terri Janke, Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids; Tom and Kara Ogston, Redeemer Church, Cedar Falls; Ricky and Melanie Rohrig, Crossroads Community Church, Red Oak; Donovan and Aubrey Santamaria, Redeemer Church, Cedar Rapids; Garrett and Hannah Warfield, Redeemer Church, Cedar Rapids; David and Gayle Williamson, First Baptist Church, Dunkerton. BCI Executive Director Emeritus Jimmy Barrentine delivered the annual sermon preaching from John 14:1-6. The 20th Annual Meeting of the Baptist Convention of Iowa is set for November 7, 2015 at the Holiday Inn and Suites Northwest in Des Moines. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Minn.-Wisc. Baptists focus on revival by David Williams/Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Date: November 18, 2014 - Tuesday CAMBRIDGE, Minn. (BP) -- At their annual meeting Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptists gave nearly $4,000 for Ebola relief in Liberia and increased the amount of Cooperative Program funding they forward to Southern Baptist Convention causes by 2 percent. With a theme of "O Lord, Revive Your Work," 78 messengers and 43 guests gathered at Cross Pointe Church in Cambridge, Minn., Oct. 31-Nov. 1 for the 31st annual meeting of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention. Drawing from Habakkuk 3:2, three MWBC pastors interpreting the meeting's theme urged Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptists to review, renew and rejoice: review the works of the Lord, call out to Him for renewal and -- regardless of the circumstances -- have faith and rejoice in the Lord. "God came and communicated with Habakkuk that the future was going to be even worse than the past, but that life is not about circumstances. What matters is faith in the Living God," Chris Reinertson, pastor of Southtown Baptist Church in Bloomington, Minn., said, focusing on the "review" facet of the theme. "Rewind, replay, remember the fame of God regardless of the circumstances." Speaking on the "renew" part of the theme, Larry Creamer, pastor of Valley Baptist Church in Appleton, Wis., said "the prayer for renewal has always been the heart of every movement of God" and that revival starts in the hearts of believers. "Revival starts here," he said. "Are we ready to pray for revival in us? Can we move to where we are not angry over the sin in others, but instead broken over it?" Jackie Hill, pastor of Roseville (Minn.) Baptist Church, addressed the "rejoice" focus of the theme. "Rejoicing isn't about the circumstance we find ourselves in," he said. "It's not about what but about who. We rejoice in the Lord." He called on Christians to rejoice even though the culture is changing and even though terrorists like ISIS and diseases like Ebola threaten them. "Rejoice in the Lord! They'll say you're crazy, and you will say, 'Yes, I'm crazy about Jesus!'" Delivering the convention message, Fue Chee Her, pastor of Gospel Hmong Baptist Church in Roseville, Minn., challenged Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptists to "embrace the tough times." He urged believers to be as committed to Christ as a soldier is to his commander. In his executive director's report, Leo Endel presented a two-prong strategy of "prayer and people." Endel's commitment to prayer was demonstrated in a pre-convention prayer meeting he led before the first session. Acknowledging that some leaders are "task oriented" while others are "people oriented," Endel said Jesus removed the dilemma by making people the task of Christians. Endel showed "five smooth stones" he had picked up from the Elah Valley in Israel where David killed Goliath. "We remember David for the courage and faith he exercised when he engaged the giant," Endel said. "But all too often I feel more like Israel's soldiers, standing on the sidelines overwhelmed by fear and the obstacles we face. How can a small family of churches in Minnesota and Wisconsin really make a difference?" Then, holding up one of the stones, Endel said, "We can pick up our stone and engage the battle. God will accomplish His purposes, even with the weak -- especially with the weak." During his report, Endel introduced Daniel Goba, pastor of Hope of Christ Assembly in Madison, Wis., and a Liberia native, and invited Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptists to participate in the Love Liberia offering that the MWBC is gathering "to help our Liberian brothers and sisters fight the suffering Ebola has brought to Liberia." Goba told about the death and destruction that Ebola has caused in Liberia, including in his own family when his youngest brother died of the disease. The Love Liberia offering generated $1,323 and messengers voted to add $2,500 from MWBC reserve funds. They also voted to ask MWBC churches to receive their own Love Liberia offerings. Endel ended his report by introducing Tom Hellams, vice president of denominational relations for Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Daniel Patz, president of Northland International University. Northland has recently gifted Southern Seminary with its campus in Dunbar, Wis., to be used as an extension of the seminary and its undergraduate school, Boyce College. Endel presented a check for $5,000 from MWBC to Patz as a partnership gift to Northland. All 2014 officers were re-elected to serve in 2015: president, Rick Schulze, pastor of Graceway Fellowship in Green Bay, Wis.; vice president, Martin Knox, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Rochester, Minn.; second vice president, Paul Fries, pastor of Blue River Valley Church in Muscoda, Wis., and Muscoda Church in Richland Center, Wis.; recording secretary, Wes Shemwell, a member of Midvale Baptist Church in Madison, Wis.; assistant recording secretary, Jim Gress, a member of Southtown Baptist Church in Bloomington, Minn. Messengers approved a $1,970,008 budget for 2015, one percent higher than the 2014 budget. The MWBC anticipates receiving $440,000 from the churches through the Cooperative Program. Other sources of income include the North American Mission Board, LifeWay Christian Resources, special missions offerings and interest. The MWBC will forward 17 percent of CP funds received to the SBC for national and international missions and ministries, up from 15 percent in 2014. Eighty-three percent will be designated for MWBC missions and ministries. The MWBC does not designate any CP funds as shared expenses with the SBC. Messengers also approved a single comprehensive resolution presented by the resolutions committee composed of chairman Glen Slaats, Julie Schulze and Vicki Slaats. The resolution: -- expressed gratitude to Cross Pointe Church for hosting the meeting; -- celebrated the association of Northland International University with Southern Seminary; -- rejoiced in the fact that God is asking Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptists to join Him, to deepen their relationship with Him and to have joy in Him regardless of circumstances; -- pledged encouragement, support and prayer to MWBC leaders and staff, convention officers and board members, pastors, churches and servants of God "across our country and throughout the world"; -- expressed a prayer that "before we meet again ... we will witness a great revival and renewal throughout our two-state convention." The 2015 annual meeting will be Oct. 23-24, 2015, at Midvale Baptist Church in Madison, Wis. The 2016 annual meeting will be Oct. 28-29, 2016, at North Center Baptist Church, Brooklyn Park, Minn. The MWBC includes 175 churches with 9,892 members. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: The gauntlet thrown by William Perkins Date: November 18, 2014 - Tuesday JACKSON, Miss. (BP) -- Knights, gauntlets and duels may be relics of the past, but Mississippi Baptists figuratively received just such a challenge in a more modern context when the Human Rights Campaign threw down a virtual gauntlet by announcing that people of faith -- and Baptists in particular -- will be the targets of a $310,000 multimedia project to convince us that LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) citizens of the state are deserving of "equal rights." Will Baptists pick up the gauntlet? According to a press release from the Human Rights Campaign on Nov. 10, "All God's Children [the name of the HRC project] was built to test a replicable model that can be used to move people of faith on LGBT issues throughout the South. According to Gallup, Mississippi is the most religious state in America, and it's believed that an estimated 55% of its population is Baptist." Baptists in other states should take note of the phrase "replicable model" for potential use across the South. You have been warned. Over the course of four weeks, All God's Children will utilize television advertisements, direct mail, phone bank operations, telephone town halls, billboards, online advertising and door-to-door canvassing to get their message across, the press release stated. The advertising blitz features Stan Wilson, pastor of Northside Baptist Church in Clinton, and Mary Jane Kennedy of Florence, who is identified as a Baptist. HRC promotional material says of Wilson, "For his congregation, all LGBT people are welcomed into his church. Pastor Wilson knows that his faith encourages him to speak up for the dignity of all people and that no one should deny LGBT people a place at God's table." The same promotional material describes Kennedy as a Southern Baptist who "has taught Bible study and Sunday School at her church. She's also a stay-at-home mother who has lived in Mississippi for most of her life. Through deep personal prayer and reflection, she believes that her faith compels her to love her fellow human beings and value the worth of all." Media-savvy and well-funded, HRC has challenged Mississippi Baptists to a duel over the values and principles of our state including even the very definitions of morality and marriage -- a battle likely to extend well into the future. There is at least one fact that cannot be ignored: The vast majority of the 2,149 cooperating churches in the Mississippi Baptist Convention would fall within the parameters of the Baptist Faith and Message of the Southern Baptist Convention which states, "In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose ... all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography" (Section XV). The Baptist Faith and Message also states, "Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime" (Section XVIII). It would be difficult for anyone to misinterpret those passages to depict most Mississippi Baptists as anything but fully opposed to the HRC's efforts in this state. $310,000 is a lot of money to spend. Their goal is clear. What should our response be? Contained within the militant overtones of the beloved hymn of old, "Onward Christian Soldiers," there is the line, "Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before." Whenever we are called into battle, as we have been in this instance, we must keep the cross of Jesus in front of us so we don't lose our way. We will likely be baited, mischaracterized, insulted, ignored, offended, marginalized and possibly threatened. Even so, we must conduct ourselves as Christians in the midst of the battle. That's one of the meanings of the line from the hymn. May they know us by our love and unshakable concern for their eternal souls (Matthew 28:18-20). After what our Savior did for us, it's the least we can do for Him. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE STATES: Ala., Fla., Ky. evangelism/missions news; '... We expect every member to find a way to serve' by Staff Date: November 18, 2014 - Tuesday Today's From the States features items from: The Alabama Baptist Florida Baptist Witness Western Recorder (Kentucky) AL church launches Major Missions Projects initiative By Carrie Brown McWhorter BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (The Alabama Baptist) -- From Alabama to Maine, Asia and Africa, Dawson Memorial Baptist Church in Birmingham is expanding its missions reach further than ever in an effort to raise up a new generation of missions volunteers. At a business meeting Oct. 5 the church voted unanimously to accept the Major Missions Projects plan, a five-year missions strategy consisting of five projects that will require roughly $5 million. Plans for the Major Missions Projects initiative have been in the works for several months, according to Ben Hale, evangelism and missions pastor at Dawson. In fact the idea for a missions campaign in addition to the church's regular Cooperative Program (CP) giving has been around since 2007, though plans for the newly adopted program began in earnest about two years ago. "The missions (committee) began to discuss specific ideas about how the church might be challenged to go over, above and beyond for missions, which led to the Major Missions Projects," Hale said. Acts 1:8 strategy The five projects fit within the church's Acts 1:8 missions strategy. To reach the local community, Dawson will create a ministry center to meet physical and spiritual needs in Birmingham. Dawson also will partner with the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and the Maine Baptist Association to plant at least five new churches and provide training for existing churches and ministries in Maine, which is considered one of the least Christian states in the United States, according to a Gallup poll taken earlier this year. The remaining three projects will involve partnerships with International Mission Board (IMB) representatives. In North Africa, Dawson will assist Baptist missionaries in their efforts to plant churches and disciple believers. In Tanzania, Dawson will construct and equip a pediatric wing for the Kigoma Baptist Hospital and send medical teams to help at the hospital. A second building project will provide funds for construction at a Baptist hospital and a middle school in Southeast Asia. In selecting the projects the Dawson missions team considered the church's vision statement, the church's people and financial resources and existing relationships with IMB and NAMB representatives, Hale said. The projects will supplement CP efforts and will be fully funded by offerings and pledges given in addition to regular tithes and offerings. Supporters will fund the missions campaign between January 2015 and May 2018 but the projects will begin according to finances and needs, Hale said. He added that no debt will be incurred to support the projects. Michael Lytle, a deacon at Dawson and chairman of the church's finance committee, said the process has truly been a team effort. He added that the unanimous approval of the projects reflects church members' excitement about the plan. "The plan was really born out of (the vision) to take missions into every level of our congregation, as well as around the world," Lytle said. "Whether someone can give an hour, a week or a month, drive across the street or fly around the world, we want everyone to be able to get involved." One of the goals for the projects is to be good stewards of the financial resources God has provided and to involve the Dawson church family in missions, according to Pastor Gary Fenton. "Dawson is not a good spectator church, in that we expect every member to find a way to serve," Fenton said. "We seek to provide strategies that give people an opportunity to do the will of God through local and international missions." In the past Dawson members have participated in short- and long-term missions projects in Birmingham and other places around the nation and world, Fenton said. The Major Missions Projects is a way to further engage church members in the Great Commission, he said. "We are seeking to teach that doing missions is a Christian moral imperative and intentionally teaching that missions is not doing good for God, but the inevitable response of a person who has received God's grace," Fenton said. The Major Missions Projects initiative will stretch the Dawson church family in both giving and volunteering, Fenton said, especially since the church does not plan to reduce any of its ongoing missions and ministry projects. Fenton calls the plan a "risk-taking adventure with God." "The church is not naïve about this. We are fully aware that we cannot do this but that God can," he said. "I think this is the most exciting chapter in the church's history." --30-- This article appeared in The Alabama Baptist (thealabamabaptist.org), newsjournal of the Alabama Baptist Convention. Carrie Brown McWhorter is a correspondent for The Alabama Baptist. ********** More than 600 walk the aisles at Calvary Baptist in Clearwater, FL By Keila Diaz CLEARWATER, Fla. (Florida Baptist Witness) -- Unfortunately, it's not every week that a church invitation makes news. But that happened recently at Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater. About a month ago, more than 600 people came forward at the end of services preached by senior pastor Willy Rice. A week later, more than 100 of those people were baptized. "It was a very intentional effort that went back to the spring," said Rice, who came to Calvary Baptist about 10 years ago after serving at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Pensacola. Rice says he read an article in the Florida Baptist Witness about the late Forrest Pollock from Bell Shoals Baptist in Brandon baptizing hundreds of people at one time. "I had never heard of something like that being done before, so I got in touch with the pastor there," he said. What Rice learned was that Pollock would devote some Sundays to preach exclusively on baptism. After the sermon on what it meant to be baptized, there would be an invitation and the response was often overwhelming. Rice implemented a similar approach at Calvary with similar results, and then wondered if the approach would work with membership. After conducting surveys of the Calvary congregation, Rice noticed that there was a significant gap in the number of people who attended Sunday worship and served in ministries, and the official membership count. While membership at Calvary is required to lead a ministry and teach a class, it is not required to belong to a ministry. The church reported average attendance of 2,696 in its 2012 church year and 3,478 for its 2013 church year, according to data in the Annual Church Profile collected by the Florida Baptist Convention. "What I did was take the membership classes and interwove them [into] a Sunday morning series," said Rice. That series lasted four weeks and covered what it meant to be a member and how to become one. "The last week of that we had invitation cards inside the worship cards," said Rice. At the end of the morning services everyone who wanted to become a member was invited to place those cards in bins at the front of the church. "The aisles were flooded with people," he said. Rice says they were not expecting so many people to answer that call, and it is a testimony to what God can do. "For our area, I have never heard about anything like that happening," said Ervin L. McWilson Sr., director of the Suncoast Baptist Association. "I'm very excited to hear that he would take the time to prepare a sermon [about membership] for people to understand what belonging to a group means and extending that opportunity." --30-- This article appeared in the Florida Baptist Witness (gofbw.com), newsjournal of the Florida Baptist Convention. Keila Diaz is a reporter for the Florida Baptist Witness. ********** KY Baptists minister to Filipino brethren By Debbie Davenport BOSTON, Ky. (Western Recorder) -- A team of Kentucky Baptists brought healing and hope to hundreds of Filipinos still recovering from Typhoon Pablo, a devastating storm that struck the island nation two years ago. The six-member team, including members of Rolling Fork Baptist Church in Boston, provided medical exams and treatment to nearly 900 people in the Philippines between Aug. 24 and Sept. 2. They also held several worship services and led two pastors' conferences. Rolling Fork pastor Bruce Nichols said much work remains for the people trying to rebuild. "Some of the areas still are wiped out," he said. "It will take time. They'll just have to work at it a little at a time." Typhoon Pablo was a Category 5 super typhoon with sustained winds reaching 175 mph. Some 1,900 people died as the December 2012 storm wiped out bridges, caused mudslides, flattened entire villages, and left thousands homeless. Despite the slow recovery, Nichols said Filipinos seemed resilient. At the hard-hit Cateel Southern Baptist Church where only the tile floor remains where the pulpit once stood, local church members worship under a makeshift pavilion. They hope to raise enough money for a new building soon. Nichols, having completed his fourth trip to the region, said he again was struck by the faithfulness of the Baptist islanders. "In Cateel, the congregation has next to nothing in terms of resources," he said, "but they have such energetic worship. Even in the areas where the persecution is, they're still standing firm in the faith." Nichols said the ones serving on the mission trip, especially the first-timers, always return home forever changed by the experience. "They realize all the things we take for granted (in the United States)," he said, and many come home with a different perspective after seeing how people live in other parts of the world. Eric Allen, missions mobilization team leader for the Kentucky Baptist Convention, said short-term missions always proves to be eye-opening for Americans. "I can't encourage these kinds of short-term mission trips strongly enough," Allen said. "In every instance, they benefit our churches as much as they benefit the people they're reaching out to. I appreciate that Rolling Fork and Redeemer Fellowship are so willing to reach out with the gospel in their local communities as well as to the uttermost part of the world." Nichols said the mission trip has made him grateful as well. He expressed thanks for Kentucky Baptists' prayers and financial support. "Most of all, I am very thankful that God would use people like us to carry out a mission as big as this one was," Nichols said. --30-- This article appeared in the Western Recorder (westernrecorder.org), newsjournal of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. Debbie Davenport writes for the Kentucky Baptist Convention. ********** EDITOR'S NOTE: From the States, published each Tuesday by Baptist Press, relays news and feature stories from state Baptist papers and other publications on initiatives by Baptist churches, associations and state conventions in evangelism, church planting and Great Commission outreach, including partnership missions. Reports about churches, associations and state conventions responding to the International Mission Board's call to embrace the world's 3,800 unengaged, unreached people groups also are included in From the States, along with reports about church, associational and state convention initiatives in conjunction with the North American Mission Board's call to Southern Baptist churches to broaden their efforts in starting new churches and satellite campuses. The items appear in Baptist Press as originally published. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Study: pastors support immigration reform by Bob Smietana Date: November 18, 2014 - Tuesday NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Many of the nation's Protestant senior pastors want the U.S. government to mix justice with mercy when it comes to immigration reform, a LifeWay Research survey shows. Most say it's the government's job to stop people from entering the country illegally. They also support reform that includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country. And they believe Christians should help immigrants, no matter what their legal status. Those are among the findings of a new survey of 1,000 Protestant senior pastors. The survey was conducted prior to the mid-term elections. Scott McConnell, vice president of Nashville-based LifeWay Research, said pastors don't approve of illegal immigration. But they want to help illegal immigrants make things right. "This is one of many cases in which Christians can look at those around them and say, 'I don't agree with what got you to this place in life, but I will love you while you are here,'" McConnell said. Nearly 6 in 10 Protestant senior pastors (58 percent) agree with the statement: "I am in favor of immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for those who are currently in the country illegally." About a third (34 percent) disagrees. Seven percent are not sure. Most African-American pastors (80 percent) agree, as do a majority of white pastors (59 percent). Two-thirds (68 percent) of mainline pastors and more than half (54 percent) of evangelical pastors also favor a path to citizenship. Pastors of mid-sized churches are more likely to agree than those from small churches. Two-thirds (66 percent) of pastors of churches with between 100 and 249 attenders agree. About half (54 percent) of pastors with less than 50 people in their congregation agree. Two-thirds (63 percent) of pastors under age 45 favor a pathway, as do a little over half (55 percent) of those ages 45-54. Churches want to lend a hand LifeWay Research also found pastors want to help their immigrant neighbors, no matter what their legal status. Caring for immigrants can be "an opportunity to show people who Jesus is," McConnell said. About half (47 percent) of Protestant senior pastors say their church currently helps immigrants. And most (79 percent) agree with the statement: "Christians have a responsibility to assist immigrants, even if they are in the country illegally." One in 6 (17 percent) disagree. More than three quarters of evangelical pastors (77 percent) and most mainline pastors (86 percent) agree. Most pastors under 45 (83 percent) and those in churches with 100 or more attenders (82 percent) agree. The new study parallels the findings of a 2013 LifeWay Research survey, In that poll, 58 percent of pastors supported immigration reform. And about half (51 percent) said reform would help their church or denomination reach Hispanic Americans. Other recent polling found that people in the pews have similar views to their pastors on the issue of immigration reform. A 2014 Pew Research poll found that about two-third of Protestants (69 percent) support reform that would allow undocumented immigrant to stay in the country if they meet certain conditions. Three-quarters of Catholics (77 percent) also support reform. Pew also found that less than half of Protestants (46 percent) say it is important that reform happens this year. Pastors want the government to do its job Protestant pastors of all kinds want the government to do a better job preventing people from entering the country illegally. Almost 9 in 10 (87 percent) agree with the statement: "The U.S. government has the responsibility to stop illegal immigration." Most evangelical (91 percent) and mainline pastors (82 percent) agree. Pastors in the Midwest (38 percent) are less likely to agree than pastors in the South (89 percent) and West (90 percent). Pastors under age 45 are less likely to agree (82 percent). "Justice, love, and mercy are all intrinsic to the Christian faith," McConnell said. "It appears pastors see the need to end illegal immigration as an issue of justice. They also want to show love and mercy while the legal problem is addressed." Methodology: The phone survey of Protestant pastors was conducted Sept. 11-18, 2014. The calling list was a stratified random sample drawn from a list of all Protestant churches. Each interview was conducted with the senior pastor, minister or priest of the church called. Responses were weighted by region to more accurately reflect the population. The completed sample is 1,000 surveys. The sample provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus 3.1 percent. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.