
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-12/28/2005

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.


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PHOTO ESSAY: Remembering the tsunami
by Staff
Date: December 28, 2005 - Wednesday

KHAO LAK, Thailand (BP)--On Dec. 26, 2004, a massive earthquake in the Indian Ocean spawned one of the most destructive tsunamis in recorded history. It swept away more than 225,000 lives and left millions of people homeless. One year later, Southern Baptists continue to aid and share God’s love with survivors in South Asia. 

On the one-year anniversary of the devastating tsunami, Southern Baptist workers gathered with other people along Thailand’s southern coast to remember those who tragically were lost. 

An estimated 6,000 people gathered from across the globe at Khao Lak, one of the beaches that was devastated. Men, women and children from different lands and religions, touched by the tragedy —- many of whom had given their time and money in relief efforts that followed —- returned to this beach where so many died. Each was bound together by this tragedy and the response that followed.

The photographs here tell the story of the one-year anniversary gathering.
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CULTURE DIGEST: UCLA study says major media outlets are liberal; Christian colleges enjoy growth spurt
by Erin Curry Roach
Date: December 28, 2005 - Wednesday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A first-of-its-kind look at media bias, which included comparing news stories to congressional speeches, revealed that coverage by public television and radio is conservative compared to the rest of the mainstream media but that almost all major media outlets are liberal.

“While the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal is conservative, the newspaper’s news pages are liberal, even more liberal than The New York Times,” the study found, according to a Dec. 14 news release by the University of California-Los Angeles, which conducted the research. “The Drudge Report may have a right-wing reputation, but it leans left.”

The study, which appears in the latest issue of the Quarterly Journal of Economics, is believed to be the first successful attempt at objectively quantifying bias in a range of media outlets and ranking them accordingly, the news release said.

“I suspected that many media outlets would tilt to the left because surveys have shown that reporters tend to vote more Democrat than Republican,” Tim Groseclose, a UCLA political scientist and the study’s lead author, said. “But I was surprised at just how pronounced the distinctions are.”

Researchers incorporated a method used by Americans for Democratic Action, which tracks the percentage of times that each lawmaker votes on the liberal side of an issue. ADA then assigns a numerical score to each lawmaker, where 100 is the most liberal and 0 is the most conservative. The average ADA score in Congress, which is 50.1, is assumed to represent the political position of the average U.S. voter.

UCLA then enlisted 21 research assistants to examine U.S. media coverage for the past decade and tally the number of times each media outlet referred to think tanks and policy groups such as the left-leaning NAACP or the conservative Heritage Foundation. The same was done with speeches of members of Congress, and the process took nearly three years to complete.

Of the 20 major media outlets UCLA studied, 18 scored left of center, with The Wall Street Journal, CBS Evening News, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times leading the pack, the research indicated. Only Fox News’ “Special Report with Brit Hume” and The Washington Times scored right of the average U.S. voter. Of the print media, USA Today was the most centrist.

News that the Drudge Report was slightly left of center surprised some.

“One thing people should keep in mind is that our data for the Drudge Report was based almost entirely on the articles that the Drudge Report lists on other websites,” Groseclose said. “Very little was based on the stories that Matt Drudge himself wrote. The fact that the Drudge Report appears left of center is merely a reflection of the overall bias of the media.”

For more information, visit http://newsroom.ucla.edu/.

CHRISTIAN COLLEGES RISE IN POPULARITY -- Enrollment has increased 70.6 percent since 1990, from 135,000 to 230,000, at the 102 evangelical schools belonging to the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, according to a report by USA Today Dec. 14.

During the same period, enrollments at public colleges increased by 12.8 percent, and at private colleges the increase was 28 percent.

Alexander Astin, director of the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California-Los Angeles, said the growth marks a turnaround from the 1960s and ‘70s when religious colleges struggled to attract students. About 120 religious colleges closed between 1960 and 1979, USA Today said.

The article suggested students are drawn to the smaller, Christian schools because the large size of many public universities makes it more difficult to develop deep, meaningful relationships with peers. Also, religious students often prefer to study in an environment where their beliefs will be respected rather than criticized or challenged.

“There is a sense that the people who dominate the faculties at secular universities do have an antipathy toward traditional religion,” Naomi Schaefer Riley, author of “God on the Quad: How Religious Colleges and the Missionary Generation Are Changing America,” told USA Today. “It’s nice for &#91;students&#93; to go to a place where they don’t have to always be defending their beliefs.”

USA Today mentioned Cedarville University, a Christian school in Cedarville, Ohio, affiliated with the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio. Richard Chewning of Siloam Springs, Ark., is paying more in tuition than he would for a secular school so that his granddaughter can attend Cedarville.

“The worst form of destruction for a younger person’s worldview is to take it into an environment where it is laughed at and ridiculed,” Chewning, a retired Baylor University ethicist, told USA Today. An 18-year-old is “like a hot-house tomato. If you stick them in a humanistically oriented university … they’re going to get scorched rather than watered.”

FEWER TEENS USING ILLEGAL DRUGS -- The good news is that more teenagers are avoiding illegal drugs like heroin and marijuana, but the bad news is that they are opting instead to abuse prescription drugs like Oxycontin and Ambien, according to a recent study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Alcohol use and cigarette smoking among teenagers are at historic lows, but sedative abuse is at its highest rate in 26 years, the annual study, released Dec. 19, found.

Researchers noted a cultural shift, according to The New York Times, as today’s teenagers have grown up in a society where prescription pills are the common cure for any problem.

“They become part of our everyday lives,” Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said. “You see an ad for medication the way you see an ad for shampoo, and the message is that it’s just like an everyday thing.”

Add to that the fact that prescription drugs are more widely available than illegal drugs and do not carry the negative stigma that cocaine and heroine have developed. Also, many young people tend to believe prescription drugs are safe because they are legal.

Federal studies estimate that six million American adults abuse prescription drugs, The Times said, so students are simply falling into that trend.

The NIDA study showed an almost 19 percent decline in past-month use of any illicit drug by 8th, 10th and 12th graders between 2001 and 2005, and more specifically, past-month use of marijuana has fallen by 28 percent among 8th graders and by 23 percent among 10th graders.

But the significant increase in non-medical use of prescription medications concerns researchers.

“I’m pleased to see the decreased drug use noted in this survey. However, the upward trend in prescription drug abuse is disturbing,” Elias Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health, of which NIDA is a division, said. “We need to ensure that young people understand the very real risks of abusing any drug.”

For more information, visit www.nida.nih.gov/newsroom.
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With evangelism part of 'culture,' church sees record baptisms
by Erin Curry Roach
Date: December 28, 2005 - Wednesday

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (BP)--When Southern Baptist Convention President Bobby Welch called for a baptism emphasis in churches across the nation to be held Nov. 27, the event happened to coincide with a milestone at a North Carolina church where evangelism has become second nature to most members.

“This church has been evangelistic for many years in that they were one of the first churches to start using the FAITH evangelism training,” Michael Cloer, pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, told Baptist Press.

Cloer explained that the previous pastor died of cancer at age 40, and for eight months the church was without a pastor but still baptized 67 people because they are intentionally evangelistic.

“It has nothing to do with me; it’s what God was doing through them before I got here,” Cloer, who began leading Englewood in August 2000, said.

The church hit its 1,000 mark in total baptisms under the new pastor’s leadership the very day they participated in the baptism emphasis Welch initiated.

“We’ve baptized 22 since then,” Cloer said, adding that the church has about 2,200 members now. “God is doing a work here. The church has doubled in size in the past five years. It’s because of people winning other people to Christ and baptizing them. 

During the past year, Englewood helped start a Hispanic church and an African American church in town, and the three churches are planning a joint baptism service in the city park, which has a large lake. 

The event will be another component of Welch’s “Everyone Can” Kingdom Challenge for evangelism, which seeks to witness to, win and baptize 1 million people throughout the SBC during the coming year. In addition to the in-church baptism Sundays Nov. 27, next Easter Sunday and next Sept. 30, Welch has called for churches to join with other congregations in their communities to hold joint baptism services outdoors as a witness to their neighbors who may not enter the doors of a church.

Cloer said Welch’s evangelism emphasis is “long overdue.”

“I believe God has called Dr. Welch to challenge us as the Book of Esther says ‘for such a time as this.’ If there was ever a time for Southern Baptists to rally around what really makes us Southern Baptists, it’s now,” he said.

The “Everyone Can” slogan and the meaning behind it have been tremendous motivations for the members of Englewood, Cloer said.

“We’re using that as our theme for all of 2006, and we’ve challenged our church membership to baptize twice as many next year as we ever have in the history of the church. We’ve set a goal of 500 people in one year. You see that ‘Everyone Can’ on posters and all of our publications that we send out.”

Englewood, in fact, is adding the word “disciple” to the challenge because they want their church members also to disciple those they lead to the Lord. The idea is for the person to become a mentor to the new Christian for about six months, helping make a disciple while the church provides the training and resources necessary for the task.

Evangelism has been vital to Cloer at least since his seminary days, he said, and that conviction carries on in his work at Englewood.

“I personally have made a commitment to present the Gospel to at least five people every week. I’ve challenged the staff that they each have to be personal witnesses,” he said. “Many of our staff have come from Mid America Baptist Theological Seminary, where that was just a part of our culture that if you were going to go to school there you were going to witness. 

“There was a report hour every Tuesday at that school,” he recalled. “I graduated 30 years ago, and it’s still a practice of mine ever since then. Even among our staff, that’s how we begin our staff time every week. We pray for each of those who have come forward in a service by name and then we report on our witnessing.”

To Cloer, baptism is a natural next step once someone has understood the basic meaning of the Gospel and has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

“One of the distinctives of Baptists is baptisms. We do this as an identifying mark,” he said. “I think baptism is to a Christian what a wedding band is to a married person. It is a public symbol of a personal commitment. It doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than wearing a wedding ring would make you a married person, but I would have questions about a married person who would refuse to publicly be identified when they belong with somebody.”

When someone comes forward to make a public profession of faith at Englewood, a church assistant immediately begins to follow up on that person and schedule him or her for baptism, Cloer said. The assistant also asks the new believer to write out a brief testimony, which is read at the baptism so that others can know the work God is doing in the person’s life. That way, every person has publicly professed faith in Christ not just visually but verbally, he said.

“There have been times when so many testimonies were being read and you could just sense God was doing something in the congregation and we went ahead and gave an invitation right then before the service went any further, and people have come forward to receive Christ,” the pastor said.

Among the testimonies the church shared with Baptist Press was one from Denise Boykin.

“Before I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, my life was one disaster after another,” she said. “I was feeling hopeless, worthless and lonely. My life was total confusion. In all this confusion and chaos, I tried to take my own life. But Jesus had plans for me and He gave me a second chance. A friend invited me to Englewood Baptist Church. She also invited me to a support group called ‘Conquerors’ &#91;at the church&#93;. 

“Jesus opened my eyes,” Boykin continued. “He got my attention, and that’s when I realized it was time to completely turn my life over to Him. It is an awesome feeling to know Jesus was seeking me so strongly at a time I needed Him so desperately. I can never thank Him enough for saving me and placing such wonderful people in my life.”

Another testimony of God’s grace came from Stew Sherrick.

“Even though I had been raised in a Christian, loving environment, several years ago I went through a period in my life where I was not sure I believed in the existence of God,” he said. “Driving home one afternoon, God spoke to my heart in a way that was so clear and unmistakable that there was suddenly no doubt of His existence. I knew that I desperately needed Him.

“In what could only be explained as a Father’s unconditional and all-knowing love, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and He formed a bond with me that would help me through a series of life changing events,” Sherrick added. “People often asked me how I could manage, but the answer was always clear to me: It was only through God’s loving grace. Though I don’t understand why, He continues to bless me -- through my boys, special friends and through unmistakable signs that He is listening and cares for me. While it’s been a long, painful journey, the knowledge that God is in control of my life has brought me to a place of comfort, happiness and peace.”

While anyone might suspect the preaching at the church is a major factor in whether people accept an invitation to choose Christ, Cloer insists he is not the one responsible for so many changed lives.

“I don’t think I’m any different than anyone else. We always make an appeal at every message. &#91;During&#93; everything we do at Englewood, we give an invitation, and we’re intentional about it,” he said. “At every event -- if we have a sportsmen’s event or a ladies’ event, sports programs, anything -- everything is geared toward intentional evangelism where we give an invitation and ask people to make a commitment. It’s not a written rule, it’s just the culture here that everything we do we give an invitation.”

And as long as Englewood members keep inviting and God keeps working, they’re likely to play a large role in Welch’s attempt to see 1 million baptisms across the convention by next October.
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Christmas Eve Bethlehem service traces history of chosen city
by Erin Curry Roach
Date: December 28, 2005 - Wednesday

BETHLEHEM, Israel (BP)--It was not by accident that Jesus Christ, the “Bread of Life,” was born in Bethlehem, a town whose name means “bread of life,” Eugene Merrill, a renowned Old Testament scholar, told a group from Jerusalem Baptist Church that had gathered across from Manger Square in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve.

“This is not coincidence. This is part of the outworking of the eternal purpose of God, that He should become incarnate in this place, in this place which is so significant throughout biblical history,” Merrill, distinguished professor of Old Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, said during his sermon. “I’m going to take us on a little tour of the history of Bethlehem in the Bible.”

Merrill, who also began serving as distinguished professor of Old Testament interpretation this fall at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, was the featured speaker for Jerusalem Baptist Church’s annual Christmas Eve service, held near the site where historians believe Jesus was born.

About 100 church members and their friends traveled on two buses from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, where they dined at the Casa Nova Orient Palace Hotel across from Manger Square on Christmas Eve. Their plan had been to hold a worship service on the grass in the square, but heavy rainfall caused them to remain at the hotel, according to Bruce Mills, a deacon at the church.

During the worship service, Merrill relayed four points about the Bethlehem story, noting that the “nondescript little village,” mentioned in Micah 5:2 but hardly anywhere else in the Old Testament, would become the birthplace of a king that would precede the King of kings.

“There’s nothing in the town of Bethlehem biblically to commend it to our attention,” he said. “Oh, it’s mentioned in line with the inheritance of the tribe of Judah. It’s just mentioned in passing with several dozen other names as one place among many. And the town never achieved any kind of notoriety or significance until King David was born in this very place. Then of course from then on the town of Bethlehem became significant politically and certainly theologically.”

Merrill said the Bethlehem story begins and ends with a birth narrative. He said the first time Bethlehem was mentioned in the Bible was in Genesis when Rachel died and Jacob set up a marker on her grave.

“It was somewhere a few miles from where we sit this evening that the setting of this narrative took place; that Rachel died in giving birth,” he said.

The story culminated when Mary gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem, and “whereas Rachel died brokenhearted, Mary was giving birth to a child with indescribable joy and yet wonder and mystery,” he said.

Second, the Bethlehem story magnifies grace and redemption, Merrill said, lamenting the fact that in the United States and elsewhere in the world, people today are caught up in the festivities of Christmas and “the secularism seems to be robbing Christmas of its significance.”

“Yes, it’s true, Jesus could not have gone to the cross, He would not have been resurrected from the tomb had He not been born,” he said. “That follows very logically, doesn’t it? So we cannot minimize the significance of Christmas. It’s the incarnation, God in the flesh.”

Merrill pointed to the story of redemption recorded in the Book of Ruth, where Ruth -- who lived in Bethlehem -- was redeemed from poverty by Boaz and from their marriage descended King David.

“So we have these two women. We have Ruth, who gives birth to a son because of her own redemption. And Mary gives birth to a son who will be her own redeemer,” Merrill said. “Isn’t it something that only God can do, that the child that she should bear would be the means of her own salvation, and not just her but the salvation of all who will believe? That’s the second act of the Bethlehem story.”

Bethlehem also declares the provision for human need, Merrill said, referring again to Ruth and how she fled Bethlehem because, ironically, there was a famine in the town known as “the bread of life.” He noted that Boaz instructed his servants to leave behind some grain so that Ruth could come along and pick it up. 

“Boaz goes beyond the law. Did you notice that? There’s more than law there,” he noted. “He doesn’t just offer up a normal, legal principle and leave some of the scattering. He says, ‘Leave it deliberately.’ ‘Leave the grain behind,’ he says to his workers, ‘so that she can come along and pick up not just what the law requires but what grace permits.’ So she’s the beneficiary of the wonderful grace of Boaz and in a sense, of course, of the wonderful grace of God.

“... Jesus Christ Himself then doesn’t leave just the scatterings. He doesn’t keep just the law. But He goes beyond,” Merrill said. “And in a matchless act of grace, He gave not just the kind of bread that is made from wheat and barley, but Jesus Christ gave of Himself, and in a mysterious sense His very body is bread, and we take of that bread every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.”

The story of Bethlehem centers on a king and his dominion, Merrill concluded, referring to how God chose King David not because of his outward appearance or abilities but because of his heart. He set David apart, and from David descended Jesus, the Savior of the world. Both were promised ones, and both were given royal authority. Yet Jesus far surpassed those before Him, Merrill said.

“What we celebrate tonight is just the beginning of the text of the message that we find in Revelation 19,” he said. “He came as a helpless baby. And to me that’s one of the great mysteries of the incarnation, that the almighty, everlasting God should become so helpless, that He was absolutely dependant on this teenage girl and her boyfriend. Can you imagine God putting Himself in such jeopardy? That tells me one thing. It tells me that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

After hearing Merrill’s message, members of Jerusalem Baptist Church distributed evangelistic tracts and DVDs to the thousands of people who had gathered in Manger Square.

“There are many people that come and they don’t know exactly why they are in Manger Square in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve,” Mills told Baptist Press. “And they don’t have anyone to tell them. It’s a great witnessing opportunity to explain, and usually the best way to do it is to open up by saying, ‘Oh, where are you from?’ and then saying, ‘What do you think about Bethlehem? Do you think God became Incarnate?’ It lends itself to asking, ‘Who is Jesus Christ? Was He born in a manger? Was He God? Did He die for our sins?’

“So the people that come already are sympathetic to some degree because why would they be in Manger Square on Christmas Eve?” Mills said.
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'Adopt-a-Faculty-Member' joins SEBTS, NOBTS seminaries
by Kyle Smith
Date: December 28, 2005 - Wednesday

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)--Southeastern College at Wake Forest professor Logan Carson knows the power of having fellow believers pray for him in the midst of a crisis.

Two years ago, when Carson lost his wife, Glenwood, friends from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and his church were diligent to lift him before the Lord.  

That’s one reason why Carson, an avid prayer warrior, was eager to enlist his support as soon as he heard about a new program recently launched by administrators at Southeastern Seminary to minister to members of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary faculty, some of whom lost homes and almost all of their belongings to Hurricane Katrina. 

The effort, known as the “Adopt-a-Faculty-Member” program, pairs up a NOBTS professor with one from Southeastern. Southeastern faculty members will send their New Orleans counterparts handwritten notes and e-mails of encouragement over the course of the next year, pray for them daily and support them in any other way they may choose.

The idea is part of Southeastern’s Operation G.R.A.C.E. initiative, instituted by President Daniel Akin as a comprehensive plan to aid not only its sister seminary in New Orleans but the entire Gulf Coast region that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

When Akin announced the program in a Southeastern faculty meeting, Carson was all for it.

“When I heard about (the program), the first thing I said was, ‘Let’s do it. Give me two (names),’” said Carson, who has already sent two prayer e-mails to one of his adopted NOBTS professors and received grateful responses. “It’s because I love to pray. It’s a joy. I get such anticipation out of talking with the Lord. The reason I do this is because I love to communicate with the Lord. I love to take other people’s problems to the Lord, and I love to see the results.”

Akin said that the new “Adopt-a-Faculty-Member” program is the perfect way for Southeastern professors to express their support for their colleagues in New Orleans.

“Southeastern has a special relationship with all of her sister seminaries,” Akin said. “When one hurts, we all hurt. To have the opportunity to reach out in a personal way and express our love and concern is actually our privilege. Anything we can do at this time to encourage the wonderful faculty of New Orleans Seminary is our honor, and it lets them know we are behind them and beside them 100 percent during these challenging days.”

Southeastern faculty members received an e-mail from Waylan Owens, Southeastern Seminary's vice president for planning and communication, listing the names and positions of all the New Orleans Seminary faculty members from which to select one or more members to support.

According to Owens, the response by the members of the Southeastern faculty was immediate and overwhelming.

“Our faculty has been excited and thrilled,” Owens said. “We have received nothing but positive thank-yous. I have had virtually the entire faculty respond in almost a single day to claim names. I do not know of any faculty member who knows about (the program), who is in town, who hasn’t claimed names. And many of them claimed names within mere minutes of finding out what was going on. 

“… There have been some on the faculty who have claimed multiple people. It has been overwhelming.”

Owens reflected on the devastation that members of the NOBTS faculty have experienced, adding that it is hard for anyone who has never been through a similar situation to appreciate fully what they have endured.

“There has been a tremendous upheaval in the lives of the faculty at New Orleans,” said Owens, himself a New Orleans Seminary graduate. “It has been terrible for them. Some have lost all of their family videos and pictures –- things that can’t be retrieved –- and personal belongings. 

“The way I describe it to somebody is, ‘It’s like a house fire.’ Except when you have a house fire, you go to church and you go to your friends, and they console you and love you and lift you up and take care of you. Except the problem is here, everybody had a ‘house fire.’ The whole city ‘burned down.’ There’s nobody to turn to, to care for you. And so it’s been devastating, and we just think that the natural relationships between people who have the same mission and the same calling would build bonds of support that perhaps couldn’t be built other ways.”

Owens said that his prayer for the partnership is that as a result of it, professors from both Southeastern and New Orleans seminaries will walk more closely with the Lord.

“I think God is working on (the New Orleans professors) and is doing some powerful things in their lives,” Owens said. “And I think by our engaging them, identifying with them, supporting them and knowing them, it will have a spiritual impact on us as well. I hope to provide genuine support, and I hope there comes a time in the future that there is a bond and connectedness that develops … That can prove nothing but beneficial in the long haul for the kingdom and for the (Southern Baptist) Convention. However, my first goal is just to provide some support, encouragement and love for people who are really suffering.”
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Midwestern names new vice president of development
by Staff
Date: December 28, 2005 - Wednesday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)--Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has named Marty R. Harkey as vice president for institutional advancement. Harkey, who previously served as the director of property management and as Northwest area manager for The Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma, will oversee alumni affairs and development efforts at the seminary beginning Jan. 3.

“Marty Harkey is a man of many skills and abilities. Most of all, he is marked by a determination to contribute to the growth of the Kingdom of God,” Midwestern Seminary President R. Philip Roberts said. “These qualities will make him a wonderful addition to the work of the Lord here. We welcome him to the Midwestern Seminary family.”

Harkey, 47, said he looks forward to the opportunity of serving at Midwestern.

“The opportunity to participate in helping men and women fulfill their calling from God is exhilarating,” said Harkey, who has studied at both Oklahoma Baptist University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. “And working with the generous donors whom God has touched to benefit the Lord’s work at Midwestern is a double benefit.”

Harkey is a 1985 graduate of the University of Tulsa, completing a bachelor of arts degree in religion.

Prior to joining the Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma staff in 2000, Harkey served as pastor of First Baptist Church of Crescent, Okla., for more than five years. Ordained to the Gospel ministry in 1981 at Parkland Baptist Church in Tulsa, Okla., he has ministered for more than 23 years in churches throughout Oklahoma, and since coming to the Foundation, has led several churches as interim pastor.

In denominational life, Harkey served as the assistant recording secretary for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma from 1996-2000 and on several committees of the convention. 

He has training in estate planning through Resource Development Institute of Springfield, Mo., and is a member in good standing with the National Committee on Planned Giving.

Additionally, Harkey has served as a police chaplain for agencies in Oklahoma. He is a CLEET (Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training )-certified reserve officer and presently serves as chaplain and reserve police officer with the Crescent Police Department (Okla.), where he holds the rank of lieutenant.

He and his wife, Teresa, have three daughters. 
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Book examines rise of Baptists, others in Latin America
by Gregory Tomlin
Date: December 28, 2005 - Wednesday

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--A new book by missiologist Justice Anderson traces the history of Baptists in Latin America and their role in a global shift in Christianity.

“An Evangelical Saga: Baptists and their Precursors in Latin America” analyzes the explosive growth of the denomination in the region, but also examines the waning of Roman Catholicism and the rise of Pentecostalism. Growth among Baptists and other groups has led to what Anderson sees as a significant paradigm shift with Christianity’s “center of gravity” moving rapidly away from North America.

A retired missionary and former professor of missions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, Anderson sees the roots of a genuine Latin-American Reformation.

In the foreword to the book, James Leo Garrett Jr., distinguished professor of theology emeritus at Southwestern Seminary, called Anderson’s book an “informative venture in reading” for those “whose interests have not spilled over the parapets of Old Christendom.”

Keith Eitel, dean of the Roy Fish School of Evangelism and Missions at Southwestern and a former missionary to Africa, said Anderson’s new book is full of historical detail. 

“It is a must-read for those interested in Latin American history in general, but especially for specialists in Baptist missionary history,” Eitel said.

Eitel cited the book's account of missionary Luther Rice landing in Brazil as he returned to the United States from India. 

“Rice scouted out the possibilities of a viable mission station being set up there. That, of course, would be one of the earliest Protestant missionary contacts with Latin Americans,” Eitel said.

Anderson previously published a three-volume history of Baptists in Spanish. He served as a missionary-professor at the International Baptist Seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for 17 years, serving as vice president of the Argentine Baptist Convention in 1962 and 1965. After returning from Argentina and while teaching at Southwestern Seminary, Anderson taught courses in homiletics, church history and missions in Colombia, Peru, Spain, Russia, Ukraine and Nigeria.
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"An Evangelical Saga: Baptists and their Precursors in Latin America" can be purchased online at www.LifeWayStores.com


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FIRST-PERSON: The culture of pornography
by R. Albert Mohler Jr.
Date: December 28, 2005 - Wednesday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--"For most of my life, I gave little thought to pornography. It was not something I considered relevant to me, nor did I consider it -- in the daunting spectrum of social, cultural, and political problems -- a particularly pressing issue facing this country," recalls Pamela Paul, author of "Pornified: How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families." Her new book is likely to attract attention as it represents one of the few comprehensive reports on how pornography has transformed American culture.

Paul, a contributor to TIME magazine and other major journals, developed her interest in the cultural impact of pornography when she was asked to write about the subject for TIME. 

"Like many Americans, I believed pornography was no big deal," she explains. Nevertheless, her experience writing about pornography for TIME changed everything. "My eyes were blown open," Paul now remembers. 

What Pamela Paul discovered was that pornography is not merely a major player in the economy. Now, it has become an engine for transforming the entire culture -- and corrupting countless lives.

"Pornified" is really an extension of Pamela Paul's investigative work for TIME magazine. The book is more a journalistic report than a sociological analysis. In one sense, that's what makes this book all the more significant in terms of impact. Paul has filled her book with anecdotes drawn from her interviews with hundreds of porn users and analysis drawn from a massive study on pornography's effects, done in partnership with Harris, Interactive. 

Paul begins by recalling a conversation with an elderly couple. Explaining that she was writing a book on pornography, the wife responded: "It's ruining this country. Just terrible. Pornography everywhere. Not like it was when we were young." Then she asked her husband, "Do you remember your uncle Joe?" Her husband was instantly reminded of his uncle's collection of "wolf cards" -- playing cards that featured explicit sexual images. At least, the images were considered sexually explicit for that day. "But it was so much tamer than what's out there today," the wife explained. 

Paul quickly takes her reader into the real-life world of modern pornography. In "pornographied" America, millions of men are like the husband described by a 38-year-old woman from a Chicago suburb. "He would come home from work, slide food around his plate during dinner, play for maybe half an hour with the kids, and then go into his home office, shut the door, and surf Internet porn for hours. I knew -- and he knew that I knew." 

Paul describes contemporary American culture as "pornographied" because porn is now literally everywhere. The users are no longer just fraternity boys and those written off as "dirty old men." Now, the users of virtually unrestricted porn include children, teenagers and adults of all ages. The victims include not only those whose lives, marriages, relationships, careers and sexuality are corrupted, but also everyone involved in the vast pornography industry at every stage. 

A sense of historical development adds credibility to Paul's analysis. She recognizes that some forms of pornography have been a part of human culture since antiquity. A quick look at the various sculpture galleries in the British Museum should be sufficient to prove that point. Nevertheless, she recognizes that today's pervasively pornified culture represents something new. Even in her own life span, Paul can note the development. 

"Men and women who came of age during the sixties, seventies, or eighties, or whose experience with pornography dates to those eras, think of pornography in terms of gauzy centerfolds, outre sexuality, women's liberation, and the Hugh Hefner lifestyle. Back then, the lines between softcore and hardcore pornography were clear and distinguishable." 

We now face a very different reality. 

"Today, pornography is so seamlessly integrated into popular culture that embarrassment or surreptitiousness is no longer part of the equation." 

As she observes, millions of today's teenage boys would simply roll their eyes when confronted with what would have been considered explicitly pornographic just a few years ago. 

Paul's analysis looks at the impact of pornography on both men and women. While increasing numbers of women are involved with pornography in various ways -- as producers, users, distributors and victims -- the major users of sexual pornography are men, both young and old. 

The statistics are truly frightening. According to industry studies, 70 percent of 18- to 24-year-old men visit pornographic sites in a typical month. These young men represent something like one-fourth of all visitors to pornography sites on the Internet. The next largest group of users are young men in their twenties and thirties, 66 percent of whom report being regular users of pornography.

The appeal of pornography to teenage boys and young men is clear. Highly interested in sex, young males find their way into patterns of sexual excitement and arousal by being introduced to what, for most boys, are soft-core pornographic images -- at least at first. Before long, pornography becomes a sexual whirlpool, pulling users into deeper and deeper habits and into more and more extreme versions of pornography.

The pornography industry understands that pornographic images desensitize viewers over time. Therefore, regular users of pornography -- especially on the Internet -- fuel their patterns of arousal and sexual excitement by expanding their "menu" of pornographic subjects and images. 

Today's average teenage boy is likely to have seen thousands of explicit sexual images, ranging across the spectrum of sexualities and perversions. Many of these boys and young men are driven by sexual fantasies that previous generations of young men would not even have known to imagine. In the language of contemporary academic jargon, the "transgressive" has become the normative. 

The economic incentives are a big part of the pornography industry, Paul understands. Today, Americans rent more than 800 million pornographic videos and DVDs per year -- about 20 percent of all rentals. At least 11,000 pornographic videos are produced annually, amounting to revenue for the adult film industry estimated at between 5 and 10 billion dollars per year. 

The pornography industry also includes cable and satellite television, where pay-for-view pornographic programming is big business. 

Paul also documents the profit incentive that has attracted the hotel industry. 

"Television pornography also pays off big in the travel industry for chains such as Holiday Inn, Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, and Sheraton," Paul reports. "Given that half of all hotel guests order pornographic pay-per-view movies, the industry is hot for porn. Such films on pay-per-view compromise 80 percent of in-room entertainment revenue and 70 percent of total in-room revenue."

The latest new "delivery system" for pornography is cell phones. The cell-phone pornography industry is expected to reach 1.5 billion dollars in Europe this year. "America is scrambling to catch up," Paul explains. "Now, with more cell phones featuring color display screens, digital cameras, and Web browsers, technology firms are offering more sophisticated ways to provide pornographic content."

Parents will be especially interested by Paul's finding that libraries, including both public libraries and school libraries, have become a major conduit for getting pornography to teenage boys. Stephen Jones, a 14-year-old boy from Washington State, complained to his hometown newspaper: "I love to read. I love the Internet service the library provides; but we have a problem. Pornography is available through the library Internet. The library has filters, but as it stands now anyone over the age of twelve can have the filters taken off." 

We can be sure that many parents are unaware of these policies. David Burt, a public librarian concerned about the trend, cited a librarian in Washington who told him: "On Monday of last week a group of about eight to ten teenage boys came to the library and asked if they could get pornography on the Internet. I replied that they could. … Later that afternoon one of the younger boys (elementary age) said that the big boys had shown some dirty pictures on the computer. … When I applied to work at the library, running a porn shop was not in the job description. … We are supplying pornography to minors without their parents' permission or knowledge."

Put simply, porn is now considered cool. As Paul argues, "Pornography is wildly popular with teenage boys in a way that makes yesteryear's sneaked glimpses at Penthouse seem monastic. For teenagers, pornography is just another online activity; there is little barrier to entry and almost no sense of taboo. Instead pornography has become a natural rite and acceptable pastime."

Paul goes on to report that if pornography is popular among high schoolers, when boys get to college, "Pornography is more than accepted -- it's exalted." On some campuses, young men are known to leave notes on their doors that read: "Leave me alone, I'm watching porn." 

Pamela Paul functions as a reporter in this book, and her report should send a message of alarm throughout the culture. Regrettably, her book may find a chilly reception in a society increasingly given over to the titillation, perversion and profits offered by pornography.

Christians cannot afford to be seduced by this complacency. God's gift of sexuality is being trampled underfoot and grotesquely corrupted by the commercialized debasement of sexuality. The wreckage left in the wake of pornography reaches many Christian homes, schools, churches and countless Christian lives. Some pastors report that pornography is now the leading cause of marital distress and breakup. This crisis calls not only for Christian concern, but for a bold Christian response. 
--30--
This column was adapted from Mohler's website at www.albertmohler.com. Mohler is president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. For more articles and resources by Mohler, and for information on The Albert Mohler Program, visit www.albertmohler.com.


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FIRST-PERSON: Rescuing the perishing
by Ted Stone and Philip Barber
Date: December 28, 2005 - Wednesday

DURHAM, N.C. (BP)--The message in the large advertisement across the bottom of page 13A in The Brunswick Beacon Dec. 8 clearly identified the readers for whom it was intended. “LOSERS WANTED!!,” the bold headline proclaimed.

The unusual church advertisement that belonged to Open Door Baptist Ministries in the small coastal town of Shallotte, N.C., identified those invited to a series of special weekend services further: “Attention all drug addicts, alcoholics, and ex-cons. Wanted: the hopeless, broken-hearted and lonely ….”

The ad promised: “There is hope for you!”

The small congregation meets in a remodeled store, led by Pastor Larry Shreve and music director David Phipps, both of whom possess hearts of compassion for needy people. They and the other dedicated church members are determined to reach out to hurting and broken people across the beach community, regardless of circumstances or backgrounds.

We had just arrived when the pastor pointed us to a small room that housed his desk (a small table) and three chairs. Soon a young man and his concerned father entered, and another tale of crack addiction was unfurled. It was an obvious opportunity to witness about how Jesus had rescued us, and this we did, pointing out our deep shame for our previous mistakes, but also sharing how His grace had been sufficient to rescue us from our dark, sinful pasts. The young man was at church the next morning, and now is waiting for admission to a Christ-centered treatment facility in the mountains. On Christmas, he called just to say thank-you, and assure his listener that he remains committed to walking in the steps of Jesus.

In reflecting on the efforts of the weekend, Shreve noted that some of his church leaders formerly were drug addicts or alcoholics. Their dedicated Christian lifestyle, he said, allowed them privileges of service.

We have often told our audiences, “It’s not who we used to be that counts with the Lord; it’s who we are today that really counts!”

God can use any of us, if we are only willing to surrender totally to Him and His will for our lives. We are all sinners, but thank God many of us have been saved by His shed blood on that cross. We have been washed as white as snow and we are new creatures in His sight.

How we wish that every congregation would open up the doors to the heart so that the perishing could be rescued. It is the task to which God has called us. Sadly, we who are members of His church are sometimes tempted to follow the examples of those in the lost world by doing only the things that make us feel good, such as associating only with those who look and act like us. But that is not the way of Jesus. During His brief three-year ministry he surrounded Himself with those who were broken and in need, seeking to make a difference in their lives.

As representatives of Jesus on this earth, we must never forget that His church exists to bring hope to those who are hopeless, to reach down and lift up those who are helpless, to feed the hungry, to mend the broken-hearted ones, and to provide company to the lonely. If we truly share His Good News, all of these miracles can become reality! And the family of God will be enlarged, and our Lord will be pleased with those who claim His name.

That little church in Brunswick County, so alive with a burning desire to be a lighthouse for those in need, has shown us all the way! 
--30--
Ted Stone and Philip Barber are Southern Baptist ministers who provide leadership to churches and individuals seeking avenues of hope for those involved in drug abuse. For information about speaking engagements or about the anti-drug HIS Way program, contact Ted Stone, Ted Stone Ministries, P.O. Box 1397, Durham, N.C., 27702, or telephone 919-477-1581.     



