The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-11/25/2015 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Persecution fails to thwart Gospel inroads in Asia by Laura Fielding Date: November 25, 2015 - Wednesday EDITOR'S NOTE: Nov. 29-Dec. 6 is this year's Week of Prayer for International Missions in the Southern Baptist Convention for workers such as the couple in this story in a "forgotten" country of Central Asia. The Week of Prayer, with the theme "Because of Who He Is" from Psalm 96:3 (HCSB), undergirds the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. The offering, in tandem with Cooperative Program gifts from Southern Baptist churches, supports international workers 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, where there are resources to promote the offering. This year's goal is $175 million. CENTRAL ASIA (BP) -- Christian aid worker Gary Warrior* was sitting on the floor in a Central Asian village with a congregation of about 20 people several years ago, getting ready to share about "the cost of discipleship." Someone made the suggestion to go around the room and share their testimonies. One woman simply said, "Oh, I'm just very blessed and I'm so thankful to be here." Her friend elbowed her: "Explain to him your testimony, tell him what's happening in your life with God." But the woman again said she was "blessed" and just thankful to sing songs and read the Bible together. "You tell him the truth," her friend retorted. "You tell him that every night after you go to these meetings, your husband beats you, and last week he beat you with a hammer!" Tears jumped to Warrior's eyes as he thought, How can I tell these people to go out there and suffer for Christ's sake? "God just grabbed me by the collar and He said, 'You're not asking them, I am.'" People of grief This former Soviet republic was suffering, broken and poor after a five-year civil war when Gary arrived in 1997 with his wife Ann* and four children, two of whom are now adults. Though the Soviets tried to stamp out religion, the country did not lose its strong Muslim identity. But many of these Central Asians feel hopeless and overlooked by the world. "[To] show up here now, in this point in history, and begin to tell them that God loves them -- this is water on dry ground," Warrior says. Despite the people's thirst for truth and love, Christians are persecuted. Not necessarily from the communist government -- Warrior estimates about 30 government-registered churches and 1,000 believers in the country -- but from society. Leaving Islam brings great shame on a person's family. "Persecution comes every time the Gospel is proclaimed here," Warrior says, "but if we're able to do it in the context of families and in communities, we can minimize the effects of that persecution so that people can stand together for the cause of Christ and not be chased out." Physical & spiritual needs Warrior was pastor of First Southern Baptist Church of Grandview, W.Va., before being sent out by the West Virginia Convention of Southern Baptists and the Mountain State Association. They are now part of Park Hill Baptist Church of North Little Rock, Ark. Warrior wasn't planning to focus on human needs work, having earned a music degree and an M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. But after seeing that even numerous aid agencies couldn't respond to the great number of disasters and people suffering in Central Asia, Warrior started a disaster response team of Christian workers and national believers in 1998. He discovered that disaster response "gave us real access to share the Gospel" by being with people in crisis. The next year in that village, Warrior's team planted their first church and baptized 13 people. To extend the Gospel's reach, Warrior's team dubs Christian movies into local languages and gives them to people they encounter. They have dubbed 12 films -- including "The Gospel of John," "Esther" and "Courageous" -- and created worship songs for their Central Asian context. "This is the Gospel presented in the local language in a way that I can't speak it," Warrior says. "It's visually powerful." Well-digging After Warrior's team responded to disasters for 10 years, the country's government became better able to respond, which left him wondering, "What next?" The team visited a Christian friend, Murod*, during one of their last disaster responses. He craved Christian fellowship since he had not seen another believer for two and a half years. The team wanted to support Murod's witness, and they learned that the village desperately needed clean water. People were constantly sick with diseases like typhoid, hepatitis A and giardia from drinking dirty water in polluted irrigation canals and streams -- the only water sources to which many have access. One villager told Warrior that his wife was discouraged, having given birth to three babies in the past three years who had died. "If we can get them clean drinking water," Warrior says, "we can change everything for them." With the help and training of a relief organization, Warrior's team of Christian workers and national believers transitioned to digging wells in 2009. It has been satisfying to "have the opportunity to make the connection between clean drinking water and the Water of Life," he says. Putting a well in Murod's village was difficult -- they had to dig 30 holes to find water -- but today, there are nine wells. All that time spent digging provided many witnessing opportunities in the village. Now, a small church meets at Murod's house. Warrior's team is encouraged by the continual strength and joy of Murod and his wife Muhabbat,* despite the persecution and ridicule they receive from their village. Giving and support Warrior is thankful for the U.S. churches -- like Park Hill Baptist Church in North Little Rock, Ark.; Grand Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Smith, Ark., First Baptist Church in West Monroe, La.; and Morrison Heights Baptist Church in Clinton, Miss. -- that partner with his team to provide support and volunteer teams. "There are people who are followers of Jesus today who wouldn't have been without those volunteers coming," he says. Warrior also is grateful that faithful givers to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and Cooperative Program have "stuck with him" during his 17 years overseas. Although Warrior's team has made about 2,000 Gospel presentations every year for the past three years, it takes a long time for someone to become a Christian. But these are exciting times, he says: "I'm seeing people who are coming to faith in Christ. Not every day, but it's happening." Warrior and his team have planted five house churches that still meet today and have distributed more than 6,000 Gospel DVDs in the past two years. With the assistance of Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and Cooperative Program funding, the well-digging team installed 19 wells and provided clean drinking water for about 10,000 people last year. "God has done that because we've been faithful, and the peoples in the pews back in America have been faithful to keep giving and to keep sending ... and the result is there's a church here, and there wasn't when I came," Warrior says. Pray for: -- More opportunities to share the Gospel, and for the country's key leaders to embrace the truth of the Gospel of Christ. -- Protection on the team of Christian workers and national believers, and that they would keep loving, respecting and supporting each other. -- The Warrior family as they are separated by distance -- their four children live in four different countries. Only their youngest is at home with them. Find resources for churches at imb.org to learn more about and promote the Lottie Moon offering. While Southern Baptists are encouraged to give to the offering through their churches, a Donate Now option is available for individual online gifts. For a related video, "Central Asia: The Gospel is proclaimed here," click here. *Name changed. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Family togetherness uplifts their work in Africa by Marie Curtis Date: November 25, 2015 - Wednesday EDITOR'S NOTE: Nov. 29-Dec. 6 is this year's Week of Prayer for International Missions in the Southern Baptist Convention for workers such as Jim and Teresa Flora and their three daughters in southern Africa. The Week of Prayer, with the theme "Because of Who He Is" from Psalm 96:3 (HCSB), undergirds the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. The offering, in tandem with Cooperative Program gifts from Southern Baptist churches, supports international workers 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, where there are resources to promote the offering. This year's goal is $175 million. A tandem story about the first individual led to the Lord by the Floras in Africa follows this story. LESOTHO (BP) -- When Jim and Teresa Flora think about their ministry in the mountains of southern Africa, they quickly think of how their children are involved. While the Floras rely on the prayers and encouragement of their three grown sons and families in the U.S., daughters Gracie, 17, Anna, 16, and Rebekah, 11, are part of each day's work. "We view our ministry as a complete family job," says Teresa, who was called to missions as a child in Girls in Action. On a typical Saturday when the family heads into a rural village in the country of Lesotho, Gracie reviews the Bible story she will teach, Anna makes sandwiches with the bread she baked Friday night, and Rebekah prepares for the games she will play with children. When they arrive, the daughters engage the children while Jim greets a young pastor and Teresa, a registered nurse, checks on several villagers who have been sick. As worship begins, the family joins the crowd sitting on the ground as Basotho children shove to sit in their laps. When it's the daughters' turn to teach a Bible story, they stand before the crowd with confidence to share God's Word. "They have some of their own ministries," Jim says of the uniqueness in his daughters in using their gifts, like Gracie who took the initiative to learn and then teach simple sign language to the church family of a deaf girl. "They do some discipling with teenage girls, they do storying in the village and they do a lot of baby holding and playing games," Jim says of Gracie, who was adopted from India, and Rebekah, adopted as a baby from Haiti along with her biological sister Anna. The daughters also are helpful when church teams come from the U.S. The logistics of hosting short-term groups is extensive, but Jim and Teresa say that they couldn't reach these mountains for Christ without the support. The Floras are from Hamlin Memorial Baptist Church in Springfield, Mo., and their long-term partnering churches include First Baptist Church in Perryton, Texas; First Baptist Church in Clarendon, Texas; and River Oak Church in Chesapeake, Va. The girls' faces light up as they greet volunteers and spend the days beside them in ministry -- assisting in medical clinics, serving as guides in the villages and helping their new friends from the States navigate Lesotho's harsh living conditions. Some days, that means helping set up tents to camp in remote villages or encouraging a reluctant volunteer to ride a horse up a steep mountain trail. "We want to model for them doing things that you think you can't do," their mom says, "stretching yourself, being in the uncomfortable places and letting God bail you out. We want to encourage them to see God working that way in their lives." Lesotho just might be the perfect place for Jim and Teresa to teach such lessons to their daughters. The family lives four hours from the nearest grocery store. Trips to a city for supplies take all day, or sometimes several days if they get stopped at the border between Lesotho and South Africa. Roads are often flooded and some villages become inaccessible. Visiting rural villages means hauling camping equipment to stay the night. Teresa has held babies as they took their last breath, and the whole Flora family has grieved the loss of friends. Starving children continue to break their hearts. Violence against women is a constant concern. Teresa confesses that a few moments have led her to say, "Lord, can we keep doing this?" Yet the Lord continues to sustain them and renew their call, Jim says. "We understand that time is short" in a nation with one of the world's highest HIV and AIDS rates, Jim says. "[There] are people that we share the Gospel with from day to day that will not be here next year. So we work hard to be good stewards of the Lord's time that He has given us on this earth because we do believe that it's unacceptable that there are people who have not heard the story of Jesus." Jim and Teresa both confess that the hardest part of living in Lesotho is being far from family in the U.S., which now includes six grandchildren. But neither feels reservations about raising their daughters in a remote part of Africa. They are careful in their daily life but they do not live in fear. They say their faith is strong that they are exactly where God intends for them to be, and they know their daughters are part of God's plan. "God gave them to us for a purpose, and we believe that part of that purpose is reaching the nations," Jim says. For their family, going was the only option. "Our prayer is this, that we could teach them more by going than we could ever teach them by staying." The Floras give thanks to God for Southern Baptists' faithful giving to the yearly Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the year-round Cooperative Program, as well as the continued prayers of hundreds of churches. But they also want to encourage more churches to send out missionaries and teams to join in the work. "We're praying in 2015 and the years to come as we serve God in the mountains that there will be more Southern Baptists who come to put their boots on the ground," Jim says, "so that we can get the message to every village and to every person so that they would have the opportunity to accept Christ as their own." Find resources for churches at imb.org to learn more about and promote the Lottie Moon offering. While Southern Baptists are encouraged to give to the offering through their churches, a Donate Now option is available for individual online gifts. For a related video, "Africa: Sending the gospel to Lesotho," click here. --30-- Marie Curtis is a writer and editor for IMB. Her faith shines amid rearing 5 grandchildren By Marie Curtis LESOTHO (BP) -- Deep in the mountains of Lesotho as day breaks, Me' MaTumo rises from the cot she shares with two of her grandchildren. Three others sleep on mats next to hers. She takes the blanket that covered her during the night and wraps it around her waist. Later she might use the same blanket to hold a grandbaby on her back. The family lives together in the small, round dirt home called a rondaval. On one side of the room is a stack of mats they spread on the floor at night. On the other side is a meager collection of metal pans and plastic buckets for cooking over an open fire. In her late 50s, she is raising her five grandchildren, two of whom have HIV. Her adult daughters left the children behind in Lesotho to find work in neighboring South Africa. This is a common practice among the African nation's Basotho people, but makes it difficult for women like Me' MaTumo. Now caring for five grandchildren, she also worries about her daughters. She has not heard from one of them in three years. Her day will be hard. She will prepare what little food she has for her grandchildren, sometimes choosing not to eat so there will be enough. When crops are growing, she will work in the fields with others from her village. In winter, she will wait out the bitter cold days wrapped in her blanket by the fire and pray that her dwindling food supply does not run out. Me' MaTumo was the first person led to the Lord by missionaries Jim and Teresa Flora when they started their ministry in Lesotho. They have watched her develop into a woman of great faith who never complains or questions God about her difficult circumstances. "She has nothing, and yet she asks for nothing," Teresa says. "She trusts God to provide." After she became a Christian, the Floras asked her if they could hold a Bible study for the village outside her home. Many from the village accepted Christ and now join the "tent church" in worship each Sunday. Through the ministry of the church, she's been taught to make handcrafts that she sells to help support her family. "Me' MaTumo is such an encouragement to us. She has so much joy, despite her circumstances," Teresa says. When night falls on the little village, Me' MaTumo will check on each grandchild and cover them with their own blankets. Then she will give thanks to God for another day's provision, unwrap her blanket from her waist and settle under it for another night's rest. -------------------------------------------------------------------- THANKSGIVING: A healthy heart by Vicki Heath Date: November 25, 2015 - Wednesday CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Don't you love it when science and medicine catch up with the Bible? Health- and exercise-conscious people have been saying for years there is a connection between a healthy body and a healthy spirit. Now there is clinical proof alongside the Bible's affirmation of people who give thanks and praise to God. Psalm 103:1-5 says: Praise the LORD, O my soul; / all my inmost being, praise his holy name. / Praise the LORD, O my soul, / and forget not all his benefits — / who forgives all your sins / and heals all your diseases, / who redeems your life from the pit / and crowns you with love and compassion, / who satisfies your desires with good things / so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's (NIV). I have been meditating on this psalm in recent weeks. What sparked my interest is the phrase from verse 2 "praise the Lord O my soul, and forget not all his benefits" and the connection to verse 5 "who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." A number of studies in recent years have shown how gratefulness indeed can enhance your health in a variety of ways. The peer-reviewed Heart International journal, for example, published a study revealing that heart patients who had a positive and thankful outlook on life had much better results than those who did not. The study suggested that grateful people tend to make more money, sleep better, adhere to exercise commitments and are less likely to get infections. Another fascinating study, in the peer-reviewed Journal of Happiness Studies, said this is also true for children and adolescents. The study surveyed 1,035 high-school students and found that teenagers who were most thankful had more friends and higher GPAs. Just the opposite was true of those showing materialistic values. They had lower grades, less satisfaction with their life and higher levels of envy and jealousy. Wow -- a really good reason to get your kids to tell you at least one thing they are grateful for before they get out of the car. For me personally, an attitude of gratitude is something I have to practice daily, not just during the week of Thanksgiving. We know we should take time and thank God for His many blessings and "forget not." The catch is I don't think gratefulness comes naturally. We have to train ourselves to be thankful. Here are a few disciplines encouraged by the First Place 4 Health wellness ministry of which I'm a part: Write it down Listing the things we are grateful for will help us remember to be thankful. We tend to forget His benefits and blessings. Just the very act of putting pen to paper does something to cement the act of thanksgiving in my heart. Keeping a journal may be what you need to boost your health and lower your blood pressure. Use your words My son Mark took a while to speak. He really did not have any need for words since his two older siblings spoke for him. We finally got to the point that his pointing and funny sign language was not enough. I started telling him to use his words. The words were in his mind, and he might have been thinking "thank you" but he needed to learn to say it out loud. And so do we. I stopped a stranger in the restaurant the other day wearing a "Vietnam Veteran" hat. My dad served two terms in Vietnam and did not receive much of a thank you when he returned. I took time and thanked this gentleman for his service to our country. I could tell it surprised and blessed him. It did not take much effort on my part. Don't let grateful thoughts go unspoken for another minute. Call that friend. Write that letter or card you have been putting off. Words have the power to bring hope but have to use them. Choose gratefulness We have more control over our thoughts than many of us realize. Even in the hardest times we can find a reason to be grateful. Being grateful is a decision you make, not necessarily something you might feel. I have a longtime pastor's wife friend who is always smiling. Someone asked her once "why are you always smiling?" Her answer? Because I decided to. Pray The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (NIV). It certainly is not easy to give thanks in the mist of hard times, but the more we practice giving thanks in the good times, it will certainly come quicker in the hard times. Thank You Lord, thank You Lord, thank You … . I want to have a happy healthy Thanksgiving. I want to focus on my friends and family and not so much on the food. I want to express genuine gratitude to our Lord. The health benefits are just a bonus! Proverbs 17:22 is true, "A cheerful heart is good medicine …" (NLT). -------------------------------------------------------------------- Bible Study: Nov. 29, 2015 by Staff/LifeWay Christian Resources Date: November 25, 2015 - Wednesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, LifeWay publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups. This week's Bible study is adapted from the Explore the Bible curriculum. Bible Passage: Genesis 24:1-17 Discussion Questions: Which do you think is more important: doing the task well or completing the task on time? What factors determine if you are a success in your work? Food for Thought: When most of us get a job assignment, we begin to work through a set of questions in our minds. We will want to know deadlines, who else is involved and when we can start on the assignment. We will want to know how success will be defined. Does success mean we completed the task or that we did it the way the person assigning it would do it? We will probably want to know about the resources available to us for completing the task. We may also wonder who we can call on for assistance if needed. Enter Abraham’s servant. We are not told his name when the assignment was given, but we are told his assignment. Isaac was now in his thirties and unmarried. Abraham wanted Isaac to marry a woman not influenced by the pagan worship that dominated Canaan at the time. He called on his senior servant to go to Haran, Abraham’s family home, to find a wife for Isaac. The servant had a variety of questions, including what would happen if the woman he selected refused. The servant made his way to Haran, praying for God to direct him as he went (Genesis 24:10-14). God would answer the prayers of the servant when he met Rebekah at a well. Fast forward to today. We receive assignments all the time at work. We may not be asked to find a wife for our boss’s son, but just showing up implies that we have a task to complete. We know what is expected and how to complete the task in general. The task may be mundane and tedious, requiring the simple execution of a set of actions. But what if we approached that simple task with prayer? What would happen if we asked God to show us how to complete our assigned task? How differently would we approach and attack that task? What if we saw the completion of a task as an answer to prayer? Abraham’s servant asked God to help him, and he found the perfect wife for Isaac. Imagine what God might do through us if we begin to include prayer as the first step towards completing every task we are assigned in our work. Explore the Bible Explore the Bible is an ongoing Bible study curriculum that helps groups dig into the key truths of each Bible book, while keeping the group on pace to study through the Bible books in a systematic way. More information can be found at LifeWay.com/ExploreTheBible. Other ongoing Bible study options for all ages offered by LifeWay can be found at LifeWay.com/SundaySchool. -------------------------------------------------------------------- LifeWay completes sale of downtown Nashville campus by Art Toalston Date: November 25, 2015 - Wednesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- LifeWay has completed the sale of its 14.5-acre campus in downtown Nashville. "Although this momentous event is cause for thanksgiving, it is also bittersweet," Thom S. Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, wrote in an email to the Southern Baptist entity's trustees and employees Nov. 24 after the sale was announced around 5 p.m. "LifeWay has served the bride of Christ from this property for more than 100 years," Rainer wrote. "Those of us who serve today continue an unbroken line of tens of thousands of employees who have stewarded the responsibility to produce trustworthy Christian resources for the church. And, we will continue to do so into the future, but from a new location." The sale was announced in a joint news release from LifeWay and Southwest Value Partners, a private real estate investment firm based in San Diego. The news release noted that LifeWay "will continue to occupy a portion of the campus over the near term until it determines the permanent location of its corporate headquarters." A sale price of $125 million cash was stated by an attorney for Southwest Value Partners to The Tennessean daily newspaper, but the joint news release did not disclose a purchase price. According to the news release, the LifeWay campus "is broadly entitled for mixed-use purposes that may include hotel, entertainment, commercial and creative office, and residential." Rainer, in the news release, stated, "I am confident Southwest Value Partners will continue to steward this campus in a way that is most beneficial to downtown Nashville and those who live, work and visit here. "We have found their leaders to be professional, thorough and possessing the highest integrity," Rainer wrote. "The addition of Southwest to the downtown community will be great for Nashville. LifeWay hopes to keep our headquarters in downtown Nashville, so I am excited about having Southwest Value Partners not only as stewards of our current campus, but as neighbors moving forward." LifeWay reopened its search for a new location Nov. 16 when it stepped away from the purchase of a 1.5-acre site owned by Nashville's Metro Development and Housing Agency across the Cumberland River from Nissan Stadium, home of the NFL Tennessee Titans. In a letter to LifeWay employees, Rainer noted at the time, "The property is a great downtown location, and would be an exciting place for our new building. But, we have concluded it's not the best location for LifeWay. … We simply have found other potential downtown properties that are a better fit for LifeWay's future." LifeWay was named the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention when it was established by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1891 after the SBC's annual meeting in Birmingham, Ala. It has used LifeWay as its corporate name since 1998. With a total workforce of more than 4,000 employees in 29 states, LifeWay provides Sunday School literature and discipleship resources to churches throughout the SBC. Its other services include LifeWay Research; B&H Publishing Group trade and academic books; various online services to churches; 186 LifeWay stores across the country; and a national conference center in Ridgecrest, N.C. LifeWay stated in July that its new headquarters would encompass 216,000 square feet in facilities best suited for the ministry's future. The property sold by LifeWay, located near Nashville's historic rail lines, encompasses nine buildings with more than 1 million square feet of office, warehouse and parking space. About 1,100 of LifeWay's employees work in the downtown offices, utilizing about a third of the workspace. The 1914 Frost Building on the campus, named for founder J.M. Frost, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Other key parts of the campus are the Sullivan Tower (named for James L. Sullivan, the Sunday School Board's president from 1953-75), built in phases from 1941-53; Draper Tower (named for LifeWay's president emeritus, James T. Draper Jr., formerly called the Centennial Tower), opened in 1991 for the entity's 100th anniversary; and the LifeWay Plaza entrance, opened in 2002. Cary Mack, one of the co-managing partners who will oversee Southwest Value Partners' development of the site, said in the joint news release with LifeWay, "It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with Dr. Rainer, LifeWay and many others in Nashville to complete our purchase of the LifeWay campus. It is an exceptional site with a valuable legacy and enormous potential, and we are excited to be a part of its transformation into an excellent environment that respects the authenticity and character of Nashville." Mark Schlossberg, the other co-managing partner, stated, "We have long respected Nashville as a great market with great people, and over the past weeks have spent many hours working with some of Nashville's finest professionals and stakeholders to understand the opportunities and best use of the LifeWay site. We have learned much about what Nashville needs and wants, and look forward to sharing our plans and milestones. It's a great project, and we are fully committed to its success." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Study: Thankfulness still priority at Thanksgiving by Aaron Earls Date: November 25, 2015 - Wednesday EDITOR'S NOTE: This article about a LifeWay Research study on Americans' views of Thanksgiving first appeared in Baptist Press on Nov. 12 of this year NASHVILLE (BP) -- For Americans, Thanksgiving is about faith and family, and not much else, a new study shows. More than half (56 percent) tell LifeWay Research the most important part of the annual holiday is "being thankful to God for my blessings." Nearly 4 in 10 (39 percent) say "time with family and friends" tops their Thanksgiving priorities. Times of prayer and thanking God for the harvest stretch back to the Protestant Reformation in Europe and continued as Pilgrims and Puritans settled in America. While Abraham Lincoln tried to establish a settled day for the holiday, Thanksgiving was not set as the fourth Thursday of November until 1941. Since then, the holiday has developed several other traditions like the extravagant meal, football games and the start of Christmas shopping. But eating, football and shopping each garnered only 1 percent of Americans who say it is the most important aspect of Thanksgiving. "In a nation that prides itself on personal independence, Thanksgiving priorities are a noticeable contradiction," Scott McConnell, vice president LifeWay Research, said. "Rather than focusing on a feast or football, most Americans relish the holiday to acknowledge the hand of God in their success and many others cherish the time with loved ones." Unsurprisingly, Christians are more likely to value thanking God above the other parts of Thanksgiving than anyone else. More than 2 in 3 Christians (68 percent) point to thankfulness to God. They aren't the only ones thanking God, however. Close to half of adherents of other religions (46 percent) and more than a quarter of the nonreligious (28 percent) say the same. Among Christians, Protestants are more likely than Catholics to choose thanking God over time with family and friends as the most important part of Thanksgiving -- 71 percent to 56 percent. At 75 percent, self-identified evangelical Protestants are the religious group most likely to place the emphasis on being thankful for blessings. The more frequently someone attends church the more likely they are to say thanking God is the most important part of Thanksgiving. That's selected by more than 3 in 4 of those who attend about once a week (77 percent) compared to 57 percent of those who attend once or twice a month. Along with religion, gender, geographic region and age play a role in deciding the most important aspect of Thanksgiving. Women are twice as likely to say being thankful to God (64 percent) than spending time with family and friends (32 percent). Men, meanwhile, are evenly split. Forty-eight percent say thankfulness, while 45 percent say family and friends. Southerners are the most likely to value thanking God (65 percent) and least likely to say spending time with family and friends (32 percent). Those in the Northeast (45 percent) and the West (44 percent) are most likely to choose spending time with family and friends as the most important. This question also exposed a clear divide between millennials and other generations. The majority of young adults chose spending time with friends and family over thanking God. Older millennials (25-34) select fellowship instead of faith 53 percent to 44 percent. Younger millennials (18-24) are even more likely to say the time with others versus being thankful -- 57 percent to 39 percent. "A generation starving for relationships sees Thanksgiving as a relational respite," McConnell said. "To many millennials, reserving a whole day to thank God on Thanksgiving is as backward as mailing a thank you card instead of instant messaging 'thx' and a praying hands emoji. But following the busiest travel day of the year with an upward focused pause may be a tradition some warm up to with age." The tendency of millennials to choose time with friends and family is not simply because the youngest adult generation is the least religious. Even among Christians, 44 percent of millennials chose spending time with friends and family as the most important part of Thanksgiving. Only a quarter (25 percent) of non-millennial Christians do the same. Methodology: The phone survey of Americans was conducted Sept. 14-28, 2015. The calling utilized random digit dialing. Fifty percent of completes were among landlines and 50 percent were among cell phones. Maximum quotas and slight weights were used for gender, region, age, ethnicity and education 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 or minus 3.6 percent. Margins of error are higher in subgroups. LifeWay Research, based in Nashville, is an evangelical research firm that specializes in surveys about faith in culture and... [Expand Bio] matters that affect the church. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ANALYSIS: God in Thanksgiving proclamations by David Roach Date: November 25, 2015 - Wednesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- Each fall since 1863, the sitting U.S. president has issued a proclamation declaring a national day of Thanksgiving. Though perhaps viewed by some as merely a pro forma holiday ritual, these proclamations evidence the rich American tradition of government leaders' officially invoking God's guidance and care. Without violating the First Amendment's prohibition of establishing an official American religion, these proclamations highlight the validity of official and public appeals to God. They provide a corrective to those who seek to remove Scripture from courthouse walls, expunge "in God we trust" from money or disallow prayer in public schools. Consider the following: -- Every president to issue a Thanksgiving proclamation since 1863 has mentioned God. Before 1863, there were occasional thanksgiving proclamations from the president and Congress. But the annual tradition of setting aside a Thursday for thanksgiving began with Abraham Lincoln's 1863 declaration. After that, James Garfield didn't live long enough in office to issue a Thanksgiving proclamation, and some presidents, though mentioning God, opted not to thank Him explicitly in their proclamations. Despite media reports to the contrary, President Obama's 2009 proclamation was not the first to omit explicit thanks to God. Herbert Hoover (1930), Dwight Eisenhower (1960) and Jimmy Carter (1978) were among those to reference God without directing their thanks explicitly to Him. And Gerald Ford's 1975 statement did not mention God apart from a vague reference to "a dynamic spirit that will continue to nurture and guide us." -- All U.S. presidents to issue Thanksgiving proclamations since Ulysses S. Grant have called on Americans to attend worship gatherings. While "places of worship" seems to have been the preferred presidential term, in 1909, William Howard Taft called Americans specifically "to repair to their churches and unite in appropriate services of praise and thanks to Almighty God." -- On at least 15 occasions since 1863, presidents have quoted the Bible in their Thanksgiving proclamations. Psalms appears to be the book most frequently quoted, with Franklin Delano Roosevelt quoting Psalm 23 in its entirely in 1942 and George H.W. Bush quoting all but one verse of Psalm 100 in 1989. Roosevelt told Americans before quoting Psalm 23, "I recommend that all of us bear in mind this great Psalm." Turning to the New Testament, Woodrow Wilson quoted Luke 2:14 in 1913, and Grover Cleveland's 1885 proclamation referenced James 1:17. Cleveland (1885) and later Taft (1909) utilized the phrase "wars and rumors of wars" from Matthew 24:6 and Mark 13:7. Harry Truman referenced Acts 20:35 in his 1947 proclamation. -- At least two presidents have made explicit reference to Christianity in their proclamations. Cleveland, in 1896, said, "Let us, through the mediation of Him who has taught us how to pray, implore the forgiveness of our sins and a continuation of heavenly favor." Four years later, William McKinley referred to "Christian charity." -- At least once, a president articulated a specific prayer in which he recommended all Americans join him. Seventy-five years later, Americans would do well to once again heed Franklin Roosevelt's advice, "On the same day, in the same hour, let us pray: "Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless our land with honourable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogancy, and from every evil way. "Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in Thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in Thee to fail; Amen." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Prosecutor faces pastor's 'provocative question' by Luana Ehrlich Date: November 25, 2015 - Wednesday YUKON, Okla. (BP) -- As a prosecutor for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, attorney Travis White was familiar with asking probing questions and trying to ascertain the truth. However, White wasn't prepared for "a very provocative question" from Chris Smith, teaching pastor at Yukon Church in Yukon, Okla. Smith had come by White's home after the attorney attended Yukon Church the previous Sunday. At the end of the visit, Smith asked White about his relationship with the Lord. "If you were to die tonight," Smith asked, "do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt you would go to heaven?" Even though White answered that question in the affirmative, in reality, he had no such assurance about heaven. "As a prosecutor, I deal with burden of proof, so having to prove beyond a reasonable doubt really struck a chord with me," White said. "From that point on, I began to have an ulcer-like experience, which can only be explained by the Holy Spirit bringing conviction on someone." White had experienced conviction about his spiritual condition before. It had happened often in his childhood, even though he grew up in a home where no one talked about the church or the Bible. "Growing up, I went to all kinds of churches with my friends. Walking down an aisle was like a rite of passage, and the first time I did it, I was 12 years old." He recounted, "Nothing in my life changed after that, and I didn't have any direction because I wasn't a regular member of any church anywhere. I visited every church in the area where we lived, but it was done very haphazardly." White was still under conviction about his relationship with the Lord by the time he got to high school. "When I was 15, I went through the process of responding to the invitation again, but I had no real understanding of what I was doing. The Spirit was definitely pulling on me," he said, "but I had no context, no way of understanding what was happening to me." When he went to college, "I went in the opposite direction. I became the pagan everyone was trying to correct. Finally, I decided I needed to change the course of my life, and I sought out a girlfriend I had dated in high school who was very spiritual." Hillary, who later became his wife, was a member of Chisholm Heights Baptist Church in Mustang, Okla. "I felt drawn to her," White said, "because I didn't want to take the same path in life my parents had taken." Not long after Travis and Hillary married, they both agreed they should get involved in a church. When a friend invited them to a church that was just getting started in a community center in Yukon, White was surprised when he went there. "I didn't feel like an outsider. In fact, I felt more like an insider, like I was part of the church staff. They asked everyone to help out, to participate, and I really liked that." The White family began attending Yukon Church regularly. Wrestling with Smith's question about his eternal fate, White said, "I thought in order to be closer to the Lord, I needed to start going to church on Sunday, and I needed to start doing things at the church." It wasn't long before White realized his salvation had nothing to do with his own actions. "Within a short amount of time, I was a participant and a contributor to the church, and the result of that was that I began to be exposed to the Word and prayer. For the first time in my life, I was hearing the truth, and I realized salvation wasn't me doing something." He discovered the truth of Ephesians 2:8-9, a verse Smith introduced to him: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." A few months after Smith's visit to his home, White went to pastor Keith Hinson and asked to be a candidate for baptism. "What I thought about salvation had to be completely rebuilt in my mind," he said. "It really has nothing to do with what I do." White began to experience a change in his life -- "a real change in my compassion for people and how I dealt with life's challenges in general. I had a great desire to know more. I wanted to understand as much as I could possibly understand about the Word of God." Today, White teaches a Bible study class at Yukon Church and seeks to reach out to others who have a story like his own. "I love the verses in the book of Acts about the early church," he said. "One of the most significant things impacting my walk with the Lord is the church." White said Joshua 1:7 has become his favorite verse because it deals directly with his role as a prosecutor: "Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go." "I used to be so concerned about what I should be doing, and I would pray and ask God what I should be doing," White said. But now, he has realized that God isn't as concerned with "what I'm doing" as whether "I'm doing it for Him." -------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Thank You NYPD,' Staten Island church declares by Jim Burton Date: November 25, 2015 - Wednesday STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (BP) -- Crossroads Church pastor Ray Parascando didn't like the unfolding narrative of those who were maligning police officers in New York City and across the nation in rallies, marches and even riots. The revolt against law enforcement was casting all officers as bad people. "It's one thing to have people boo you, another to have people chant 'death to cops,'" Parascando said. "Our culture is heading down a wrong road. I think we're facing a moral cliff that is disastrous." The community and police officers needed an antidote to the spewing of negativity, so Parascando and Crossroads sponsored a Police Appreciation Day on Wednesday, Nov. 4. What began as an event sponsored by the congregation of 300 mushroomed to include the community and even received a proclamation from Staten Island Borough President James Oddo. "Thankfulness raises all boats in the harbor," the pastor said. Since planting Crossroads in September 2001, Parascando has led the Southern Baptist congregation to be proactive in meeting community needs. "We have a pulse on our community in terms of what needs to happen," said Parascando, who grew up on Staten Island, home to one of the nation's largest concentrations of Italian-Americans. Parascando meets regularly with community leaders to get their perspective on current needs. "There are legitimate needs," he noted, "and we represent the one with legitimate answers." On Police Appreciation Day, Crossroads and the community fed Staten Island NYPD officers from morning until the last midnight shift "like an Italian Sunday dinner." Local restaurants cooked and donated most of the food, valued at around $8,000. As they learned about officers who had done outstanding work, Crossroads recognized them in a mid-afternoon "Thank You NYPD" awards ceremony. One had saved a drowning baby and another had helped a kid with cancer. No one had told their stories. Children from Crossroads' Sunday School and local schools made scores of cards for the officers, which they received that day. For officers on midnight duty, food was transported to the NYPD's four Staten Island precincts, and Parascando went to the one nearest the church for roll call. He again personally thanked the officers and then prayed for them. "It was powerful to pray over these guys," Parascando said. Long-term community engagement Police Appreciation Day was not an anomaly for Parascando who has frequently engaged in public affairs. He strongly opposed former Mayor Michael Bloomberg's edict to disallow churches the use of local schools. Crossroads was meeting in one at the time. The irony of Crossroads' expulsion from their meeting place was that the church regularly volunteered to paint cash-strapped New York City public schools in the summers, an initiative started in the Bronx shortly after 9/11 by the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and Metropolitan New York Baptist Association (MNYBA). By 2006, New Hope New York, the Strategic Focus City initiative of NAMB, MNYBA and the Baptist Convention of New York sponsored "Paint the Town" and mobilized volunteers from throughout the U.S. to paint New York City public schools. Crossroads has continued these projects with some assistance from NAMB since 2007 in all five of New York City's boroughs. At the time of Bloomberg's directive, Crossroads was the only church renting a school on Staten Island. When local media asked if the church would continue painting schools after their eviction, the answer was yes. The church gladly painted the schools because they loved the people in those schools. Today, Crossroads rents a theater for its services. Just before Hurricane Sandy barreled up the East Coast in 2012, Staten Island had a rash of "train jumpers," people who were committing suicide. Crossroads started counseling services to address the crisis that subsequently dovetailed into Hurricane Sandy response counseling. During Hurricane Sandy recovery, the church sponsored a community "Night of Hope" on Oct. 30, 2013, hosting 174 first-time guests. Mickey Caison, interim executive director for Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, has worked extensively with Parascando since Hurricane Sandy. "Being a native of New York City, he understood the families and helped them deal with their needs quickly," Caison said. "He has a heart of compassion and worked hard to make sure Crossroads provided care for the community." Parascando calls Staten Island a salad bowl of nationalities and cultures. Planting churches there has been challenging due to what he describes as "spiritual oppression and darkness" including drug abuse. "We're constantly praying against evil on our island," Parascando said. People who come to Crossroads know that the church is going to "throw the ball down the field. We want to score. We do things like this all the time," he said. Next year, they want to expand the Police Appreciation Day to all five boroughs. "We didn't just want to be another church in the phone book," Parascando said. "We wanted to model the Great Commission." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Con Gloria, el equipo de AD reporta 55 profesiones de fe by Por Kevin Parker/Baptist New Mexican Date: November 25, 2015 - Wednesday ALBUQUERQUE (BP) -- Traigan a alguien que hable español. Esa era una faceta clave de la petición de la Convención Bautista de Nuevo México para enviar un equipo de remoción de lodo al Valle Río Grande después de que los remanentes del huracán Patricia inundaron la ciudad de 35.000 personas a finales de octubre. En el equipo de ayuda en desastres: Gloria Maestas de High Rolls, Nuevo México. Los ocho voluntarios de Nuevo México salieron el 7 de noviembre para Weslaco, Texas, donde más del 80 por ciento de los residentes hablan español. El equipo requirió de 12 días en su destacamento de dos semanas para reportar los resultados de su trabajo. Habían quitado los paneles de yeso de ocho casas; habían limpiado tres casas con un químico comercial desinfectante; habían completado dos trabajos de emergencia de techos y un trabajo de revestimiento. Pero "la principal razón del llamado," reportó Ira Shelton, director de ayuda en desastres de la convención de Nuevo México, "fue reportar las 55 profesiones de fe." La respuesta espiritual a la conversación del equipo con residentes fue sin precedentes, dijo. Aunque Dios usa el trabajo de todo el equipo para crear oportunidades de conversación, "en el proceso de hablar con dueños de casa, Dios se apropió de Gloria," relató Shelton. Ella guió 54 de las 55 decisiones se seguir a Jesús. El líder del equipo, Larry Schmidt de Ruidoso, Nuevo México, guió a la otra persona a Cristo. La singularidad del alcance del equipo, dijo Shelton, se extendió más allá del gran número de decisiones: Maestas ha estado luchando con cáncer. "Realmente no estaba seguro de enviarla a ella," dijo Shelton. Pero "Dios motivó a Gloria y tomó el control sobre ella y la guió a la gente. Es estrictamente 'algo de Dios.'" Como reflejo del cuidado del equipo de Nuevo México por la gente además de los esfuerzos de ayuda en desastres, el seguimiento era una preocupación ya que los voluntarios pronto se irían. Shelton contactó a Terry Henderson, director estatal de ayuda en desastres de Hombres Bautistas de Texas, para discutir las necesidades del seguimiento. El equipo proveyó información completa de contactos de los nuevos convertidos -- nombres, direcciones y números telefónicos -- para el uso de las iglesias del área de Weslaco, la asociación bautista local y el ministerio del río de la Convención Bautista General de Texas. Las organizaciones se están "intensificando para llegar a los nuevos convertidos y asegurarse de que no se pierdan en la reorganización, " dijo Shelton. Cuando él habló con el servicio de noticias de los bautistas de Nuevo México, acababa de estar hablando por teléfono con Henderson. Después de que los dos hablaron, Shelton indicó la respuesta de Henderson: "No hay manera de que esto vaya a suceder," queriendo decir que se aseguraría de que el seguimiento tuviera éxito. Los coordinadores de AD de Hombres Bautistas de Texas (TBM por sus siglas en inglés) quedaron 'boquiabiertos' con la cantidad de trabajo que el equipo logró y las decisiones para Cristo, dijo Shelton. "Fue un destacamento fenomenalmente bueno para nosotros." TBM ha requerido el regreso del equipo el 30 de noviembre porque otras 70 casas en Weslaco todavía necesitan ayuda. En la acometida del huracán Patricia en la región de Río Grande, aunque no fue cubierta por las noticias nacionales, Weslaco y otras comunidades recibieron casi 25 centímetros de lluvia, según el relato de un periódico. Las alcantarillas rebosaron, y las advertencias de inundación pasaron a ser serias inundaciones cuando los aguaceros continuaron, dijo Shelton. Para complicar las cosas, la gente trataba de manejar a través de la inundación camionetas grandes que creaban considerables olas que empujaban la inundación hacia bien adentro de las casas. La Cruz Roja abrió albergues, y la ciudad evacuó a los residentes de los vecindarios más fuertemente golpeados. Una vez que la inundación se retira, Shelton dijo que el peligro puede pasar pero los residentes enfrentan el rigor de la recuperación. Muchas casas, posesiones y vehículos están dañados y deben ser descartados o reemplazados. Algunas veces, los materiales de construcción adentro de las casas deben ser removidos. El moho puede crecer rápidamente dentro de las paredes empapadas y debajo de los pisos anegados, dijo. Muchos residentes no saben cómo tratar adecuadamente las demandas de la recuperación de la inundación. Ellos necesitan ayuda. Todo esto fue el caso en Weslaco, dijo Shelton. -------------------------------------------------------------------- NAE e Investigación LifeWay definen 'evangélico' by Por Lisa Cannon Green Date: November 25, 2015 - Wednesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- La Asociación Nacional de Evangélicos (NAE por sus siglas en inglés) e Investigación LifeWay divulgaron una investigación de la definición de creencias evangélicas el 19 de noviembre para un uso exacto y consistente entre los investigadores. NAE inició el desarrollo de la investigación hace más de dos años. En asociación con Investigación LifeWay, la definición fue creada, revisada y probada para su validez. Numerosas encuestas buscan capturar las opiniones y prácticas de los evangélicos en los Estados Unidos. Desde el comportamiento en cuanto al diezmo hasta las inclinaciones políticas, los evangélicos son regularmente identificados en investigaciones y encuestas. Debido a que los investigadores usan diferentes herramientas para identificar a los evangélicos, los resultados varían de encuesta a encuesta. Inclusive los números estimados de evangélicos estadounidenses van de 23 por ciento a 35 por ciento de los estadounidenses adultos. "Los evangélicos han sido malentendidos y categorizados incorrectamente muy frecuentemente, mayormente debido a la inconsistente identificación en la investigación," dijo Leith Anderson, presidente de NAE. "Ahora tenemos una manera de medir la creencia evangélica con confianza." La definición de NAE/Investigación LifeWay incluye cuatro declaraciones con las cuales los encuestados están de acuerdo fuertemente para ser categorizados como evangélicos: -- La Biblia es la máxima autoridad de lo que yo creo. -- Es muy importante para mí personalmente animar a los no cristianos a confiar en Jesucristo como su Salvador. -- La muerte de Jesucristo en la cruz es el único sacrificio que puede eliminar el castigo por mi pecado. -- Solamente aquellos que confían solo en Jesucristo como su Salvador reciben el regalo de la eterna salvación. La junta de directores de NAE adoptó la definición de la investigación de las creencias evangélicas en su reunión del 15 de octubre. Prueba para su validez Los investigadores típicamente han usado dos métodos para identificar a los evangélicos: la autoidentificación y la afiliación a la denominación. En algunas encuestas de investigación, sin embargo, los evangélicos son identificados más por demografía política que por características religiosas. Aunque la población protestante afroamericana es abrumadoramente evangélica en teología y orientación, por ejemplo, frecuentemente es separada de las encuestas que buscan identificar las preferencias políticas de los evangélicos. "Los evangélicos son personas de fe y deben ser definidos por sus creencias, no por su política o su raza," dijo Anderson. NAE e Investigación LifeWay buscó identificar a las personas que sostienen creencias evangélicas sin tener en cuenta su afiliación o su comportamiento. El esquema provee un tercer método válido para los investigadores que típicamente definen a los evangélicos como autoidentificados o por su membresía en una denominación. "No estamos diciendo que estos sean los únicos evangélicos, sino que estamos diciendo que esto definirá a alguien que tiene una creencia evangélica," dijo Scott McConnell, vicepresidente de Investigación LifeWay. Con aporte de un diverso grupo de sociólogos, teólogos y líderes evangélicos, Investigación LifeWay designó y probó 17 preguntas que fueron finalmente reducidas a un set de cuatro. Las declaraciones estrechamente reflejaron la definición clásica de cuatro puntos del evangelismo del historiador David Bebbington, pero con un énfasis en creencia en vez de comportamiento, dijo Ed Stetzer, director ejecutivo de Investigación LifeWay. "La afiliación y el comportamiento pueden ser medidos además de las creencias evangélicas, pero esta es una herramienta que los investigadores que miden las creencias de los evangélicos -- como las determinó NAE -- creen que es mejor para definir el movimiento. Y, así como los nativos estadounidenses pueden definir mejor quien es nativo estadounidense, creemos que los evangélicos pueden definir mejor a los evangélicos," dijo Stetzer. Investigación LifeWay confirmó que las declaraciones son estadísticamente válidas, y forman una escala válida probándolas en encuestas en línea y por teléfono. Las personas que fuertemente están de acuerdo con una de las declaraciones tienden a fuertemente estar de acuerdo con las otras lo que indica que las declaraciones miden un "paquete teológico" de creencias evangélicas, dijo Stetzer. "Este es un set simple de cuatro preguntas que confiadamente disciernen a aquellos que comparten creencias evangélicas de aquellos que no," dijo Stetzer. Identidad versus creencia En una encuesta telefónica a 1.000 estadounidenses, Investigación LifeWay encontró un acuerdo generalizado con las creencias evangélicas tradicionales. Cincuenta y dos por ciento concuerdan fuertemente con que la Biblia es su máxima autoridad, y 58 por ciento concuerdan fuertemente con que la muerte de Jesús es el único sacrificio que puede eliminar el castigo por el pecado. Casi el mismo número concuerdan fuertemente con que es importante para ellos animar personalmente a los no cristianos a confiar en Cristo (49 por ciento) y que solo aquellos que confían únicamente en Jesús serán salvos (48 por ciento). "El mayor desafío al definir a los evangélicos es que muchas personas quieren afirma las creencias, al punto que se puede terminar con un porcentaje poco realista -- nadie piensa que la mayoría de los estadounidenses sean evangélicos," dijo Stetzer. Cerca de 3 de cada 10 estadounidenses calzan en la definición estadística de NAE/Investigación LifeWay en lo que contaría como evangélico por creencia. Ese número cambiará un poquito debido al formato del cuestionario y al margen de error, pero también se alinea con otros estudios que usan otros métodos, dijo Stetzer. Por ejemplo, 35 por ciento de los estadounidenses se describen como "nacidos de nuevo o cristianos evangélicos," de acuerdo al Estudio 2014 EE.UU. del Panorama Religioso de Investigación Pew, y 25 por ciento se identifican con iglesias evangélicas. Investigación LifeWay encontró superposición pero no una perfecta correlación entre aquellos que se identificaron como evangélicos, aquellos que asisten a iglesias evangélicas y aquellos que sostienen creencias evangélicas. Solamente el 59 por ciento de los protestantes que se identifican como evangélicos concuerdan fuertemente con las cuatro declaraciones. "Identidad, creencia y comportamiento son tres diferentes cosas cuando se trata de ser evangélico," dijo McConnell. "Algunas personas hacen realidad la escuela evangélica de pensamiento pero puede que no adopten el término; y lo opuesto también es verdad." Las diferencias fueron particularmente aparentes entre los afroamericanos. Solamente el 25 por ciento de los afroamericanos que sostienen creencias evangélicas se consideran cristianos evangélicos, comparado con el 62 por ciento de los blancos y el 79 por ciento de los hispanos. "Los cristianos afroamericanos históricamente tienen altos niveles de creencias que se alinean con las creencias evangélicas pero tienden a no usar ese término," dijo Stetzer. "Y un porcentaje de personas concuerdan fuertemente con las cuatro declaraciones, pero no se identifican como cristianas, lo cual es fascinante," dijo. "Esas son profundas creencias cristianas." Los investigadores pueden combinar las declaraciones de creencia evangélica de NAE/Investigación LifeWay con preguntas adicionales que miden la pertenencia evangélica y el comportamiento para obtener una gráfica completa del mundo evangélico en EE.UU., dijo McConnell. Anderson dijo: "Los evangélicos son personas de las 'buenas nuevas.' Apreciamos la investigación y queremos aprender más de los investigadores sobre nuestra comunidad. Este nuevo método ayudará a que obtengamos todo en la misma página acerca de quiénes son evangélicos." Metodología: La encuesta telefónica a los estadounidenses fue conducida del 8 al 21 de septiembre de 2015. La llamada utilizó la marcación aleatoria. Cincuenta por ciento de las efectuadas fueron a teléfonos fijos y 50 por ciento a teléfonos celulares. Cuotas máximas y peso ligero fueron usados para género, región, edad, etnicidad, educación y preferencia religiosa para que reflejaran más acertadamente la población. El muestreo completo es de 1.000 encuestas. El muestreo provee 95 por ciento de confianza de que el error de muestreo es de más o menos 3.7 por ciento, incluyendo los efectos de peso. Los márgenes de error son más altos en los subgrupos. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Refugiados sirios: balanceando la compasión y la seguridad by Por David Roach Date: November 25, 2015 - Wednesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- Con al menos 31 de los gobernadores de los EEUU en oposición al reasentamiento de los refugiados sirios en sus estados, luego de los ataques terroristas en París, los cristianos han tenido que discutir el balance apropiado entre la seguridad y la compasión en la política migratoria. Varios medios de comunicación reportaron por lo menos un sospechoso terrorista en París que entró a Europa entre una oleada de inmigrantes el mes pasado, al identificarse falsamente como un refugiado sirio. Solamente 1,500 refugiados sirios han sido aceptados en los Estados Unidos desde el 2011, según reportó CNN, pero la administración de Obama ha acordado permitir 10,000 más en el 2016. Entre los gobernadores en contra del reasentamiento continuo de sirios en sus estados están por lo menos dos bautistas del sur: Robert Bentley de Alabama y Nathan Deal de Georgia. Bentley tuiteó que él "no será cómplice de una política que pone en peligro a los ciudadanos de Alabama." Deal dijo en una carta del 16 de noviembre dirigida al Presidente Obama, "Aunque tenemos empatía por las adversidades que gente inocente enfrenta en Siria, los ataques terroristas en París nos concientizaron de la necesidad de escrutinio adicional de aquellos que clamen tener estatus de refugiado." La última vez que la Convención Bautista del Sur habló sobre inmigración fue en el 2011, cuando una resolución "sobre inmigración y el Evangelio" solicitó compasión por los inmigrantes y seguridad fronteriza. Los mensajeros presentes en la reunión anual de la CBS en Phoenix ese año adoptaron la resolución con el apoyo de un 70-80 por ciento de la mayoría, según calculó Baptist Press. La resolución señaló que "nuestro Señor Jesucristo vivió su infancia como un inmigrante y refugiado" y subrayó las admoniciones en las Escrituras donde dice "mostrar compasión y justicia para el peregrino y el extranjero entre ustedes." La declaración también "pid[ió] a nuestras autoridades gobernantes que den prioridad a los esfuerzos para asegurar las fronteras." De forma preeminente, los mensajeros "solicita[mos] a nuestras iglesias que sean la presencia de Cristo, en proclamación y ministerio, para todas las personas sin importar su país de origen o estatus migratorio." La resolución concluyó diciendo, "Afirmamos que aunque los bautistas del sur, como otros estadounidenses, pudiéramos estar en desacuerdo en la manera de lograr objetivos de política pública justos y humanos en relación con inmigración, sí estamos de acuerdo en que, si se trata del Evangelio de Jesucristo y de Su iglesia, el mensaje, en cada lengua y para cualquier persona, es para todo "el que quiera, venga" [Apoc. 22:17] Paul Jiménez, presidente del Comité de Resoluciones de la CBS 2011, dijo a BP que los cristianos deben evitar las respuestas no bíblicas hacia los refugiados sirios, basadas en "miedo, enojo y aislamiento" por una parte y por la otra la "asistencia humanitaria sin la vigilancia debida." Los cristianos deben "felicitar y someterse al gobierno que ejecuta la justicia en contra del mal y protege a su pueblo," dijo Jiménez, pastor de First Baptist Church en Taylors, C.N., en unos comentarios por escrito. "No en vano lleva la espada, pues está al servicio de Dios para impartir justicia y castigar al malhechor (Rom. 13:1-7). Mientras tanto, el amor de Cristo debe obligarnos a demostrar nuestra compasión por los individuos y familias asolados por la guerra. Nuestros actos de misericordia muestran el fruto del Evangelio en nosotros y un deseo de ver que el Evangelio alcance a todo pueblo. "En tiempos como estos, las líneas de este marco son borrosas. Pero, debemos subrayarlas en colores fuertes para que el mundo vea nuestra fe en el Padre y refleje Su amor por la gente," dijo Jiménez. A inicios del mes, la Convención Bautista de Carolina del Norte adoptó una resolución para "impactar la perdición espiritual entre los inmigrantes." La resolución del 3 de noviembre observó que "los bautistas de Carolina del Norte pueden no estar de acuerdo con las respuestas especificas de la política pública" ante las crisis migratorias, pero señaló la unidad en el "llamado a extender el amor y la compasión hacia aquellos que son vulnerables y alcanzar a todo pueblo con el Evangelio de Jesucristo." Jarrod Scott, un pastor de Carolina del Norte quien propuso la resolución, dijo a BP que la respuesta de los Estados Unidos ante los refugiados sirios debe lograr el balance entre la protección de los residentes de los EEUU contra el terrorismo y el amor por los refugiados que huyen de la guerra y el genocidio. "Necesitamos más consideración antes que haya una reacción rápida, brusca para detener el reasentamiento," dijo Scott, pastor de Green Pines Baptist Church en Knightdale, C.N. Clarificó que no estaba acusando a ningún gobernador de haber tenido una reacción inapropiada ante los ataques de París o los refugiados sirios. Los cristianos nunca deben "operar solamente con base en el miedo," dijo Scott. "Es un tanto inconsistente para nosotros como una iglesia estar enviando misioneros a lugares donde están en riesgo, por la causa del amor y de compartir el Evangelio," dijo Scott, "y luego… no estar dispuestos a recibir un grado del riesgo de alcanzar, en algunos casos, exactamente al mismo pueblo" cuando buscan un estatus de refugiados. Scott reconoció, sin embargo, que los individuos, las iglesias y los gobiernos juegan diferentes papeles en el manejo de los refugiados. Robert Jeffres, pastor de First Baptist Church en Dallas, está de acuerdo. Dijo a BP que "hay mucha confusión entre los cristianos sobre la respuesta correcta ante los refugiados sirios ya que mucha gente no entiende que aunque nosotros como cristianos tenemos una responsabilidad individualmente, el gobierno tiene otra responsabilidad." Los individuos, dijo Jeffress, deben "mostrar compasión por estos refugiados," apoyar organizaciones de ayuda en crisis y llamar al gobierno a combatir el grupo terrorista ISIS. "Pero el gobierno tienen otra responsabilidad, y esa es la de asegurar nuestras fronteras." Citando Hechos 17:26, Jeffress dijo "tener una frontera segura no es un sentimiento anti cristiano. Y aunque nuestro gobierno ahora dice que podemos confiar en él para revisar a los refugiados que vengan a nuestro país desde Siria, muchos estadounidenses, como yo mismo y otros gobernadores, no creemos que el gobierno tenga la capacidad o esté dispuesto a hacer eso." Un video del 15 de noviembre en YouTube muestra a Jeffress respondiendo ante los ataques terroristas y fue visto más de 78,000 veces durante los primeros tres días en línea. En el video, él identificó al islam radical como la causa de los ataques y distinguió entre las responsabilidades de los individuos y de los gobiernos. Russell Moore, presidente de la Comisión de Ética y Libertad Religiosa de la Convención Bautista del Sur, llamó a los cristianos a "recordar la dignidad humana" sin negar la seguridad fronteriza apropiada. "El escrutinio de los refugiados es un aspecto crucial de seguridad nacional y debemos insistir que se haga," dijo Moore a BP en unos comentarios por escrito. "Al mismo tiempo, los evangélicos debemos ser quienes llaman al resto del mundo a recordar la dignidad humana y la imagen de Dios, especialmente para aquellos que huyen de los asesinos yihadistas islámicos radicales. Debemos recordar la historia del Siglo XX, de los refugiados judíos del Holocausto y los refuseniks de la Unión Soviética que fueron ampliamente ignorados por la comunidad mundial. "Podemos tener discusiones prudentes y desacuerdos sobre cómo mantener la seguridad," continuó Moore. "Lo que no podemos hacer es ser demagogos ante este asunto, como muchos políticos lo están haciendo ahora mismo. Una generación completa de quienes huyen del genocidio estará preguntándose si hay una alternativa a la tóxica religión que han visto. ¿Escucharán a los evangélicos decir 'Jesús te ama' o '¿Quién es mi prójimo?' Hay implicaciones masivas para ambas respuestas." Mientras las naciones debaten la respuesta política apropiada ante los refugiados sirios, la Junta de Misiones Internacionales continúa compartiendo el Evangelio entre ellos, y las organizaciones de ayuda en crisis como Baptist Global Response trabajan para ayudar a satisfacer las necesidades físicas de los refugiados. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Proyecto de ley para proteger los derechos de los defensores del matrimonio, atrae el apoyo de los bautistas by Por Tom Strode Date: November 25, 2015 - Wednesday WASHINGTON (BP) -- El especialista en ética y defensor de la libertad religiosa de la Convención Bautista del Sur se ha unido a otros líderes eclesiásticos para avalar una legislación revisada para prevenir la discriminación de parte del gobierno federal en contra de los estadounidenses que objeten el matrimonio del mismo sexo. Russell Moore, presidente de la Comisión de Libertad Religiosa y Ética, y otros nueve endosaron la última versión de la Ley de Defensa de la Primera Enmienda (FADA por sus siglas en inglés) en una carta del 13 de noviembre al auspiciador del proyecto de ley, el senador Mike Lee, republicano de Utah, y al representante Raúl Labrador, republicano de Idaho. La propuesta legislativa busca proteger la libertad religiosa luego de la legalización en junio del matrimonio del mismo sexo por parte de la Corte Suprema. Esa decisión y la incertidumbre en su secuela han dejado los derechos de conciencia de los cristianos y otros defensores del matrimonio tradicional bíblico susceptibles a la potencial discriminación federal. En su carta, Moore y otros firmantes dicen que la promulgación de FADA es necesaria para evitar una colisión entre "el gobierno federal y las personas de fe." El proyecto de ley protegería el libre ejercicio de la religión y la creencia de que el matrimonio es solamente entre un hombre y una mujer, dijeron. "En nuestra sociedad pluralista e inclusiva esta creencia merece protección, al asegurar que a aquellos que no estén de acuerdo se les niegue cualquier beneficio o servicio bajo la ley federal a la cual tienen derecho" dice la carta y FADA "hace ambos." FADA "es una ley de sentido común que provee la protección necesaria a millones de estadounidenses que tienen sinceras creencias religiosas acerca del matrimonio y la sexualidad," dijo Moore en comentarios escritos para Baptist Press. "La necesidad de un proyecto de ley así se ha vuelto obvia cuando los fallos legales y la confusión sobre la legislación de libertad religiosa existente han dejado a muchos estadounidenses vulnerables a que el gobierno federal se sobrepase." El proyecto, dijo, "ayudará a proteger los derechos de conciencia de todos y asegurará que las decisiones de la corte o el cambio cultural no alienten al gobierno a excluir la convicción religiosa de la plaza pública." La legislación busca asegurar que el gobierno federal no discrimine en contra de una persona -- como tampoco de una organización religiosa o familia dueña de un negocio -- porque él o ella "cree, habla o actúa de acuerdo a una sincera creencia religiosa que sostiene la convicción moral de que el matrimonio es o debe ser reconocido como la unión entre un hombre y una mujer, o que las relaciones sexuales están apropiadamente reservadas como tales para el matrimonio." La discriminación prohibida por la FADA incluiría la revocación de la exención de impuestos y la negación de una deducción por una contribución de caridad basada en la creencia de la definición del matrimonio como solamente una unión heterosexual. También excluiría acciones discriminatorias tales como rehusar subvenciones federales o beneficios, además de negar acceso a instituciones educativas, con base en la misma convicción. Lee y Labrador introdujeron FADA originalmente en junio, pero presentaron un lenguaje revisado en septiembre después de trabajar por meses con expertos en libertad religiosa para aclarar que la intención es solamente prohibir la discriminación federal en contra de personas e instituciones que limitan el matrimonio a un hombre y una mujer dijo Lee. La legislación revisada añade lenguaje clarificador, incluyendo una definición de "personas" protegidas por la medida para excluir "entidades comerciales que cotizan públicamente ," trabajadores federales que actúan dentro del rango de su empleo, contratistas federales comerciales que trabajan como parte de su contrato e instituciones médicas con respecto a visitación y toma de decisiones en cuidado de la salud. Moore dirigió una coalición de 30 líderes de iglesia para respaldar la legislación original en una carta de julio a los líderes del congreso. Entre los firmantes estaban varios bautistas del sur, incluyendo los presidentes de los seis seminarios de la convención. La carta del 13 de noviembre de Moore y sus aliados citó funestos comentarios del procurador general Donald Verrilli ante la Suprema Corte sobre la exención de impuestos durante los argumentos orales en marzo en el caso del matrimonio. Cuando se le preguntó que si un colegio comunitario o universidad perdería su exención de impuestos por oponerse al matrimonio gay, Verrilli dijo: "... va a ser un problema." Además de Moore, otros firmantes incluidos en la última carta fueron Samuel Rodríguez, presidente de la Conferencia Nacional de Liderazgo Cristiano Hispano; William Lori, arzobispo de Baltimore y presidente del Comité ad-hoc para la Libertad Religiosa de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de EE.UU. (USCCB por sus siglas en inglés); y Matthew Harrison, presidente de la Iglesia Luterana del Sínodo de Missouri. Otros firmantes de la carta incluidos fueron los representantes de la Iglesia Anglicana en Norte América y la Iglesia Luterana de Norte América. -------------------------------------------------------------------- EDITORIAL: El día de Acción de Gracias by Por Oscar J. Fernandez Date: November 25, 2015 - Wednesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- Para la mayoría de los que nacimos fuera de los Estados Unidos, este importante día festivo no tiene raíces en la cultura de nuestros países de origen. La razón es bien simple: Esta es una festividad norteamericana que también se celebra en Canadá. Hoy día, debido a la globalización y a la influencia de la cultura y sociedad norteamericanas, también se celebra en otros países, aunque no como una fiesta nacional ni dándole la importancia que esta fiesta tiene. Desde el año 1863, el Día de Acción de Gracias se celebra en los Estrados Unidos de América en el cuarto jueves del mes de noviembre como una fiesta nacional. En ese año, el Presidente Abraham Lincoln, en medio de la Guerra Civil, estableció oficialmente ese día para dar gracias y alabar a nuestro Padre Celestial. Anteriormente, en 1789, el Presidente George Washington había proclamado el Día de Acción de Gracias como un día de fiesta oficial para toda la nación, dedicándolo a alabar y agradecer a Dios sus muchas bendiciones. Tenga presente que "oficialmente", los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica, aún son: "Una Nación bajo (regida por) Dios". A lo menos todavía, en algunos lugares oficiales se puede leer un letrero que dice: "En Dios confiamos". También en algunos documentos y en las monedas y billetes que circulan dice lo mismo. En la práctica, en la mayoría de los casos, las acciones están bien lejos de validar este postulado. Probablemente, algún día no muy lejano, alguien va tratar y quizás logre, eliminar esta mención que en definitiva no significa mucho, si tomamos en cuenta el giro que ha tomado nuestra sociedad. Casi todos los historiadores coinciden en afirmar que la primera vez que se celebró el Día de Acción de Gracias en el Nuevo Mundo, fue en el año 1621. Los peregrinos usaron la ocasión para dar gracias a Dios, alabar Su nombre y festejar. Para ello, usaron los productos que tenían a su alcance, entre otros el pavo. Estos alimentos se convirtieron en los elementos "tradicionales" para la celebración de la cena familiar de ese día tan especial. Siempre, a través de la historia, el centro y el énfasis se fijaron en Dios. En dar gracias y alabar Su nombre en familia y no en lo que se iba a poner en la mesa para comer, ni en la manera en la que se decoraría la casa para la ocasión. Pero con el paso de los años, la sociedad norteamericana se ha ido secularizando y comercializando, apartándose de Dios y desviando el centro de atención de esta celebración del Creador hacia algunas de las cosas creadas. Recuerdo haber escuchado una acalorada discusión entre dos cristianos acerca de si se debía consumir otro alimento que no fuera el pavo tradicional en esta fecha. Claro está que lo que hace al Día de Acción de Gracias no es lo que se come, sino a quién se alaba y se le dan gracias. Los cristianos que nacimos en otras tierras, tenemos que aplicar el viejo refrán español, y en este caso, remontándonos a los orígenes de la festividad poner en práctica y hacer válido que: "Donde fueres, haz lo que vieres". De la misma manera que llamarle a la Navidad "Fiestas", llamarle al Día de Acción de Gracias día del pavo, es una abominación. Celebremos este día para agradecer y alabar a Dios, usando la ocasión para testificar de Cristo. Esta es una buena oportunidad para invitar a otros que tal vez no tienen familiares cerca, a venir a nuestra casa y compartir con ellos nuestra mesa. Este día nos da un motivo especial para ir temprano en la mañana a algún centro de ancianos u otro lugar, en el que los que se encuentran allí, muchas veces han sido olvidados por sus familiares, para tocarlos con un gesto que deje ver nuestro agradecimiento a Dios. Mostremos con nuestros actos, cuan agradecidos estamos por las bendiciones que Dios derrama cada día sobre nosotros. Pienso que una buena manera de mostrar con hechos nuestro agradecimiento al Creador, es compartiendo con otros Su amor incondicional. Sin dudas, el Día de Acción de Gracias es un gran día que debemos celebrar y una oportunidad que debemos usar. Dice un viejo himno: "Brilla en el sitio donde estés"… Hoy estamos aquí, en esta gran Nación, por la misericordia de Dios para con nosotros o para con nuestros padres o abuelos. Celebremos con entusiasmo y reverencia el Día de Acción de Gracias y mostrémosle al mundo no creyente que toda la prosperidad y riqueza que disfrutamos hoy, ha sido un regalo de la misericordia de Dios para con nosotros y para con este gran país que se fundó reconociendo la autoridad de Dios y sometiéndose a Él.