Telling the story of Arkansas Baptists since 1901
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INSIDE:
l OBU approves budget, revises weapons policy l SBC 2013: Why bother? l Legally use video/music l Ramsey: How evangelism must change l Mental health issues concern for Floyd l New Ark. Christian Parent for summer l Huckabee speaks to pastors in Houston
June 21, 2013
e-publication of the Arkansas Baptist News – www.arkansasbaptist.org
LifeWay finalizes sale of Glorieta
3,000-plus students at Ark. Super Summer Thousands of students from across Arkansas took part in the high school and junior high Super Summer camps held in June at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia. The camps focused on the idea of transformation with the theme “180” and the key verse Mark 1:15. Read more in a future edition of the Arkansas Baptist News.
NASHVILLE (BP) – Trustees of LifeWay Christian Resources have approved the sale of the Glorieta Conference Center to a group dedicated to continuing to use the property as a Christian camp and conference center. The new nonprofit corporation, called Glorieta 2.0, was formed and funded by a group of Christian businessmen and camping professionals. “We are so thankful the Lord has brought together these dedicated believers who are already involved in a similar Christian camp near Rocksprings, Texas, called Camp Eagle,” said Thom Rainer, LifeWay’s president. “We have come to know their deep desire to build on the rich history of Glorieta and provide a path forward that will allow this marvelous facility to reach men and women, boys and girls for Christ.” Rainer said the individuals involved in Glorieta 2.0 are evangelicals with a high view of Scripture and commitment to evangelism and discipleship. LifeWay will continue to hold youth conferences like Centrifuge and
GuideStone OKs Church Health Plan Act DALLAS – GuideStone Financial Resources is encouraging pastors and other concerned individuals to contact their senators and urge them to join as co-sponsors of the Church Health Plan Act of 2013 and work together for the sake of pastors and others in ministry. “For many months, GuideStone has been advocating on multiple avenues related to health care reform, and we continue to do so,” said O.S. Hawkins, GuideStone president. “Now, Congress stands poised to provide fair treatment for church
health care plans. If Congress fails to act, they will be disadvantaging church plans as compared to commercial, secular plans.” The Church Health Plan Act enables pastors and others who receive their coverage through church health plans to access the same premium tax credits provided to participants in secular health plans. Hawkins said church health plans have a robust legacy of providing health care benefits to pastors and others employed by ministry organizations. Church health plans offer
many unique features, among them portability, which allows ministers to take their coverage with them as they move to different places of service. Long before federal mandates, GuideStone’s church health plans, which serve more than 60,000 Southern Baptists, already were providing plans without annual limits and refraining from cancellation of coverage based on high or frequent claims. For more information, visit www. FairnessForPastors.org.
See GLORIETA page 2
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FIRST PERSON
Walk in Moore brings ‘spiritual’ perspective Editor’s Note: The following was written by Doug Lehman about his experiences as a part of group of nine volunteers assisting in tornado recovery efforts in Moore, Okla., in May. Lehman, a member of Cross Church Pinnacle Hills in Rogers, is former pastor of Eagle Heights Baptist Church, Bentonville. I AM OF THE OPINION that every young person should experience a few things early in life. Along with a trip to a jail or prison, it can be life-altering to see a blood-covered sports car in a salvage yard after a teenager lost control after a night of drinking. I would add to that list of expe-
riences the following: a walk through winds. The smell of soured ground, a neighborhood where a tornado mold, wet lumber, natural gas and has had its way on a community. It death make a lasting impression. brings its own kind of perspective. The faces of people reeling from I was reminded of this as I travthe magnitude of the disaster reeled to Moore, Okla., vealed desperaMay 27-28 with a group tion. Many would from Cross Church. talk openly over The scene in Moore a bottle of cool after the recent EF5 water and a good tornado was typical for pack of snacks. this level storm. Strong Stacks of hot winds blowing sand, water sitting on insulation and dirt para parking lot do ticles filled my lungs and Volunteers clear debris from field. little good to reseemed to make the experience a litlieve the pain; but there seems to be tle tougher than normal. Good eye plenty of water for now. I think a protection and a mask were essensemitrailer full of ice chests or refrigtial items to combat the Oklahoma erators would do the trick.
The water may be plenty, but Fix-a-Flat and canned proteins like tuna and peanut butter is what they can really use. What they don’t need is our out-of-date leftovers, so check the date before you send it. Some folks impacted by the devastation seem to have a story rehearsed and a need to tell it. It is often nervous chatter from those who want to share, while others seem to have little time for people intruding into their lives – even if it’s people trying to help. These folks retreat into what is left of their garages and hide in
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June 21, 2013
OBU approves budget, revises weapons policy Trennis Henderson Ouachita Baptist University ARKADELPHIA – Ouachita Baptist University (OBU) trustees approved a 2013-14 operating budget and a concealed weapons policy, as well as several personnel recommendations, during their June 13 board of trustees meeting. The new operating budget is a slight decrease from the previous fiscal year. The university’s weapons policy was expanded to address a recent law adopted by the Arkansas legislature. Ouachita officials chose to opt out of allowing concealed weapons on campus. The policy prohibits “the use, possession or carrying, concealed or unconcealed, of weapons of any type including but not limited to firearms” and other weapons on university property. The policy applies to all faculty, staff, students and visitors on campus. Among personnel actions, trustees approved one new faculty members and seven new administrative staff members, including: Becky Morrison, assistant professor of music. Morrison has been an adjunct professor of music and communications at East Central University in Ada, Okla. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Oklahoma Baptist University, as well as Master of Music degrees from the University of North Texas and the Boston University College of Fine Arts and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma. Josh Aldridge, assistant football coach. Aldridge is currently a graduate assistant at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo., where he is
pursuing a Master of Arts degree in education. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harding University. Brittany Armstrong, admissions counselor. Armstrong is a 2010 Ouachita graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Christian studies. She will be recruiting prospective students in mid-south Arkansas and the southeastern United States. Stacy Beck, admissions counselor. Beck is a 2013 Ouachita graduate with majors in history, political science and French. She will be recruiting in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Joel Coleman, residence hall director. Coleman, who serves as worship leader at Lake Hamilton Baptist Church in Hot Springs, graduated from Ouachita in May with a Bachelor of Music degree. He will be the hall director in Anthony Hall. Merrilee Greer, residence hall director. Greer, a former Ouachita student, has worked in medical offices, as a teacher in a Christian school and as a certified nursing assistant. She will be the hall director in Gosser Hall. Hannah Pilcher, residence hall director. Pilcher is a May 2013 Ouachita graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish. She will be the hall director in Frances Crawford East and will have additional responsibilities in the offices of alumni and career services. Rickey Rogers, residence hall director and assistant football coach. Roger is a 2002 Ouachita graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education and holds a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Henderson State University (HSU). He has worked
U.S. Army Maj. Johnpaul Arnold, a 1994 Ouachita Baptist University graduate who has served in Afghanistan and Iraq, presents a U.S. flag flown in Afghanistan to Jeff Root, dean of Ouachita’s School of Humanities, at a ceremony held June 7 on the Ouachita campus. Photo by Wesley Kluck as an educational advisor for the TRIO program at Ouachita and in HSU’s Educational Opportunity Center. He also is an associate pastor at Primera Iglesia Bautista. In other business, Ouachita President Rex Horne highlighted several campus updates, including plans to revise the university’s CORE curriculum and reduce the minimum number of hours required for graduation from 128 to 120. He cited current remodeling of the Grant Center for International Education and a Mabee Foundation challenge grant to help fund a proposed new facility for the Elrod Center for Family and Community. Horne said Ouachita graduates continue to maintain a low average student debt total and that the student-led Ouachita Student Foun-
GLORIETA continued from page one
LifeWay trustees have approved the sale of the Glorieta Conference Center to a group dedicated to continuing to use the property as a Christian camp and conference center.
Student Life at the facility east of Santa Fe, N.M., while Glorieta 2.0 will add day camps, family camps, high adventure wilderness programs, and church and individual camping options. Most of the programming will be based on Camp Eagle’s outdoor adventure model. Camp Eagle was established in 1999 by a Texas-based nonprofit board of directors whose mission statement is to “Inspire Christ-like change through outdoor adventure, authentic relationships and Biblical Truth.” The organization’s belief statement affirms biblical inerrancy, the deity of Jesus Christ and His redemptive mission, the deity and work of the Holy Spirit and Christ’s saving work for sinful man. Nearly two years ago, LifeWay’s board of trustees authorized the organization’s administration to pursue viable options for the disposition of the Glorieta campus due to changes in church practices, rising costs and a volatile economy. Southern Baptist Convention entities and Baptist state conventions were offered the opportunity to take over the ministry, but significant financial challenges to operate the 2,400-acre facility prevented an agreement until now.
dation raised a record of more than $100,000 for student scholarships. Trustee Frank Hickingbotham opened the quarterly board meeting with a brief devotional based on Micah 6:6-9. Citing Micah’s instruction “to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God,” He said, God simply tells His followers, “I want you to walk with Me.” Hickingbotham said when believers walk with God, they have the opportunity to talk with God, thank God and trust God. “When I come on this campus, I see every reason to be thanking God,” he said. “You see how God has blessed this great university. … When we trust God and walk with God ...” Trennis Henderson is vice president for communications at OBU.
Jerry Rhyne, LifeWay vice president and chief financial officer, said the agreement with Glorieta 2.0, which is purchasing the campus for one dollar, does not include 140 acres across Interstate 25, nor three acres and buildings formerly used by Glorieta Baptist Church, which has disbanded. Rhyne said one of the most important requirements for any sale of Glorieta was that new owners provide options that are fair, reasonable and prudent for individuals and churches that lease land at Glorieta for residential homes and small group facilities. A motion to transfer the property to Glorieta 2.0 was sent to trustees from LifeWay’s trustee executive committee by email June 10, and trustees returned their votes by electronic mail. News of the pending sale of Glorieta, one of Southern Baptists’ two national training centers, first surfaced in 2011 when LifeWay announced it was scaling back operations and would be sold when conditions merit. The aging conference center has struggled to meet its budget for two decades, and LifeWay decided to no longer subsidize the operation. In November 2011, LifeWay reduced the conference staff from 23 to seven; changed its focus to a summer-only facility for church student groups, Centrifuge Camps and Collegiate Week, and permanently closed the LifeWay bookstore. Changes in church practices, rising fuel and utility costs, Glorieta’s remote location, an aging infrastructure and a failing economy were blamed.
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SBC 2013: Why bother with the SBC? J.D. Greear Guest writer DURHAM, N.C. – I spent three days in Houston this month at the Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference and Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Annual Meeting. The SBC is always a great time of year, as I get to reconnect with old friends and hear about what God has for our future. I’m often asked, “Why even bother with something like the SBC? Aren’t the days of denominations over? Can’t we be just as effective on our own? Why deal with all the red tape, bureaucracy and the sometimes crazy people who claim to speak in the SBC’s name?” Cooperating with the SBC offers a fair number of challenges: We are not a perfect people by a long shot. For many, the easiest solution seems to be to sever ties and just do their own thing and not deal with the baggage. Yet, cooperating together for the mission of God, however challenging, is biblical, expedient and personally beneficial. Recently I read Tim Keller’s book “Center Church” in which he dis-
cusses the interplay between movements and institutions. He points out something that is easy to ignore – that both need each other. It’s easy to see how institutions without movements (and by “movement,” I mean that sense of shared excitement, led by charismatic leaders with a compelling vision) quickly die. What we often forget, however, is that movements without institutions lack both staying power and the teeth to accomplish their agenda. For example, we at the Greear Summit Church are involved in several church planting networks. Many of them are genuine movements, led by charismatic visionaries who compel a lot of enthusiasm and engender a lot of support. Yet very few of them churn out more than 100 new church planters a year (and that’s being generous). In contrast, last year SBC seminaries graduated nearly 2,000 students. Even if you wanted to eliminate half of those (as underqualified or not headed into pastoral ministry), that still leaves 1,000 qualified graduates every year. Together, as Southern Baptists, we have nearly 5,000 missionaries serving overseas, in almost every na-
tion in the world. Because of our cooperation, they have the training structures, care structures and a multimillion-dollar budget to support them. We have gospel-centered, culturally savvy presence in Washington (though housed in Nashville) called the ERLC (Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission), led now by my friend Russell D. Moore, that speaks out on issues of truth and justice in our culture. These are just a few of the things for us to be excited about in our partnership with other Baptist churches. So yes, it is easier for us to be involved in a movement without the messiness of institutions, but it is not nearly as effective. In the end, our final allegiance is not to the SBC, but to Christ. The SBC is not what we live and die for. And what various members of the SBC say is not always representative of how we, as a local church body, feel. But we’re glad to stand together with like-minded brothers and sisters in unity, dreaming collectively about the shared future God has promised His Church. Editor’s Note: This article by J.D. Greear, lead pastor of Summit Church in Durham, N.C., was reprinted on Bapitst Press with permission.
SPIRITUAL continued from page one the shadows. All whom we spoke to were glad for prayer on their behalf. Genuine concern, a listening ear and simple, appropriate questions most always seem to engender a sincere response. The spiritual work of lay people – lay chaplains if you will – as they walk through the rubble can do the best work in my opinion. It’s spiritual work being done right alongside the physical work of clearing debris. To be out there with the people in the neighborhoods brings a feeling of authentic ministry. While many victims may give a curt or all-too-honest answer to your questions at first, a deeper response comes when you ask, “Now, how are you really doing, and how may we best pray for you?” That’s a real prayer request – loving people just like Jesus loved children and all people. It was amazing to see the former home of a 92-year-old man in a wheelchair who rode out the storm in the middle of his bathroom. His frame house was a pile, but by God’s grace, he lived. It will be hard to forget the piece of steel girder that was carried a half mile or so from the IMAX theater in town across the Interstate. It now lies in a street amid a block of homes. It will be hard to forget the woman coming to the donation
The front of a damaged house reads, “He is our shelter in time of storm! God bless Moore, OK.” tables with visible sores from apparent meth use on her face and arms, or a man walking with his children, eyeing piles of rubble, looking for something to sell. It was a pleasure to serve beside Samaritan’s Purse, Convoy of Hope, Feed the Children, the North American Mission Board and Southern Baptist disaster relief teams from nearby states, as well as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Serve Moore, colleges and the myriad of churches from Texas – all in their color-coordinated T-shirts! Thank God for the companies who have paid their employees and sent them with time off to help for a day or two. My heart was full when I watched contractors who brought their own front-end loaders at their own expenses – not for a profit, but just to give back. I remember one fella who pulled up and had 20-plus nails in just one tire with a smile on his face and undeterred. What a joy it was to witness a
“mom-and-pop” barbecue-type restaurant serving food from the back of their pickup truck. Their food was hot and offered blessings to the workers right beside the Red Cross and Salvation Army. What a joy to see busloads of volunteers from Albuquerque to Wisconsin and the New York Fire Department work together to lend a helping hand. It was especially heartwarming to see parents bring their older children to work together to clean off a field filled with debris. Everyone should experience it. It will change you – much like a mission trip to a Third World country. It brings perspective – personally, materially and most of all spiritually. A cup or bottle of cool water and heart of compassion from a good believer wins the day for me. I encourage you to get out of your office and routine and make this trip. We all need this kind of perspective.
trends Important information to know
Legally use video/music in your church service WITH CHANGES in the way we utilize music and video in our churches, we need to understand how to abide by the law. This article is intended to provide you an overview of Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) licenses available so you can be compliant with the law. CCLI License: Every congregation that prints lyrics in bulletins or projects lyrics for congregational use needs a CCLI license. The license fee is based on the regular attendance at the main service(s) of your church. The CCLI license also allows you to record your worship services (audio/video) provided that you only record live music. Accompaniment tracks cannot be utilized on recordings. This license also doesn’t cover any photocopying or duplication of print music. CCLI is intended for congregational singing. For more information, visit www.ccli.com. CVLI License: This license will allow selected movie clips to be used to illustrate a point in a sermon. With this license, churches can host special event movie nights as well. The license doesn’t cover charging an admission fee. It is important to understand this license doesn’t give blanket coverage to show all movies or movie clips. Many Christian films are not covered by CVLI, and an individual license must be obtained for these films. A list of movies can be found at www.cvli.com. CCLI Church Streaming and Podcast License: This license allows you to stream or podcast your live worship service music on your church’s website or other streaming services. The songs covered are the same as those covered under the CCLI license. The Streaming and Podcast license doesn’t cover secular songs nor does it cover the use of tracks for accompaniment. For more information, visit www.streaming. ccli.com. CCLI Church Rehearsal License: This license allows worship leaders to legally copy commercial audio recordings and share audio files. This license doesn’t cover recording the songs yourself and then burning to CDs. Read the list at www.rehearsal.ccli.com. For more information, email Larry Grayson at lgrayson@absc. org. Grayson is the ABSC music and worship consultant. This article originally appeared at www.absc.org.
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June 21, 2013
Ramsey speaks to COSBE members
How evangelism must change in the 21st century
HOUSTON (BP) – Three things that are changeless are “the man, the message and the mission,” and three that must change are the “mindset, methods and motives,” the president of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists (COSBE) said at their annual meeting in Houston. Eric Ramsey, president of Tom Cox World Ministries based in Mountainburg and columnist for the Arkansas Baptist News, recapped the message that must not change: that Jesus was fully God and fully man and is the only way to salvation. “He is the Creator, who loved us so much He paid the death penalty for our sins,” Ramsey told the crowd of about 200 assembled for a COSBE-led worship service in Houston June 9 prior to the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting June 11-12 in Houston. Ramsey said 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 is the gospel in a nutshell: “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” Ramsey said the message that Jesus Christ died and rose again is
Ramsey speaks at the COSBE meeting. changeless, as is the unchanging mission to make disciples according to the Great Commission in Matthew 18:19-20. The phrase, “As you are going,” is the grammatically correct way to understand the “go therefore” verbiage in the passage, Ramsey said. “It is assumed we are already going. As we go, we are to make disciples.” The process of discipling is “first we learn, then we emulate and then we become a multiplier – someone who goes and makes disciples,” Ramsey said. What Christians must change is their mindset. He referred to Philippians 2:5-9, Ramsey said, noting that Jesus was obedient unto death on a cross and thus, “a believer’s mind-
set does not need to reflect self-centeredness.” “Do you spend more time talking about yourself than about Jesus?” Ramsey asked. Expressing appreciation for those who stand against the encroachment of godlessness in American culture, Ramsey said Christians “must be careful about how much we present Christ against the culture and begin to represent Christ in the culture.” “If I set myself up to represent Christ against culture, then it keeps me from being effective for Christ in our culture,” he said. “We need to be louder about Jesus Christ than we are about societal issues because Christians are not the change agents; Jesus Christ is.” A mindset change includes knowing the culture in one’s own neighborhood, Ramsey said, but that does not mean the Christian message changes. “How we communicate that message does change?” he asked. “We don’t need to begin with ‘You are a big sinner,’” Ramsey said, because , “the wall immediately goes up because so many don’t know what sin is.” Many in America define sin as
breaking one’s own moral code, he said, “and many church members believe this.” Jesus knew His culture, Ramsey said, noting that Jesus talked about fishing with fishermen, sheep with shepherds and crops with farmers. “We must know the audience in our culture and speak their language to keep the mission on point,” he said. Christians’ evangelistic methods must change, too, because they “can take on a life of their own,” Ramsey said. The gospel is successful by itself, and “as we get so broad, the gospel loses its central message of Christ dying for our sins and that God wants to transform our lives.” Speaking to motives, Ramsey said if “we work for the rewards of men, then we have our reward.” “If we are trying to please people, we are not pleasing God, and the gospel is not effective,” he added. “Then the church will plateau and become ineffective.” “When we are willing to humble ourselves ... with our lives, then God will exalt us,” he said. Compiled from Baptist Press and Arkansas Baptist News reports.
Mental health issues a concern for Floyd ern Baptist family. He recalled a reHOUSTON – In a motion on cent tweet by California pastor Rick mental health, Arkansas Pastor Warren, who lost his own son to suiRonnie Floyd called on Southern cide. Warren tweeted: “Why is it if Baptist Convention (SBC) entities any other organ in your body breaks, to work cooperatively to create and you get sympathy, but if your brain identify resources available to indibreaks you get secrecy and shame.” viduals and churches that minister Floyd said the church must anto those who suffer from mental swer this question. health challenges. Floyd is pastor “We can no longer be silent about of Cross Church, Springdale. this issue,” he said. “We must cease “Jesus called us to care for the in stigmatizing those with mental suffering, to care for the least of health challenges.” these. We often overlook them. He noted that when disasters At times their lives are so disruptoccur, Southern ed and severe Baptists do a “phethey require nomenal job” in inter vention. These people ABN online relieving the suffering. and their famiView more SBC meeting “Now is the time lies are isolated, stories and a photo gallery online at we do as great a job stigmatized and www.arkansasbaptist.org/sbc2013 in our churches rejected,” Floyd and communities said. demonstrating He cited stacompassion to the emotional level tistics that 58 million Americans that can be piled high in the people and 450 million persons worldand families that deal with mental wide suffer from mental disorders health challenges,” he said. and 1 million die from suicide an“It’s time for the SBC to be on nually. These chronic conditions the front lines of mental health chalmust be managed, not cured, he lenges.” explained. The motion was referred to the Churches and communities SBC Executive Committee and all are filled with people who need SBC entities for study, with their reSouthern Baptists to minister to ports to be provided to messengers them and their families, he said. at the 2014 annual meeting in BalFloyd referred to recent mass timore. shootings and other “disturbing Compiled from Baptist Press and Arevents that left us stunned,” as kansas Baptist News reports. well as suicides within the South-
“It is time that the Southern Baptist Convention be on the frontline of the mental health issue,” Floyd tells messengers at the SBC Annual Meeting June 11.
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Opinion
New Ark. Christian Parent out for summer LITTLE ROCK – The phenomenal success of the first-ever Arkansas Christian Parent magazine has prompted the Arkansas Baptist News (ABN) to publish a summer 2013 edition. “The reception of Arkansas Christian Parent surprised us all,” said Tim Yarbrough, ABN editor. “When the magazine debuted at the 2012 Arkansas Baptist State Convention Annual Meeting in Cabot, we had no idea that 13,000 would be distributed at the meeting alone. In all, 35,000 copies were distributed across Arkansas.” Churches are encouraged to provide copies to families in the church, as well as distribute copies in local businesses throughout their communities. “Perhaps never before has the influence of a Christian parent been more important,” said Yarbrough. “That’s why the ABN is making a resource like Arkansas Christian Parent available. It is published as a resource for parents to help them make sense of the world that surrounds their children growing and
maturing in the 21st century.” Yarbrough added, “As society continues to shift away from traditional Judeo-Christian values, the family that looks to the unchanging Word of God can provide stability and the assurance of salvation found only in Jesus Christ.” The summer edition of Arkansas Christian Parent addresses a number of important issues such as sending children into the world, raising
compassionate children, discussing today’s headlines with children, helping bring simplicity and clarity to a stressful world, preparing financially for your children’s futures and much more. “The only way we can provide Arkansas Christian Parent free of charge to churches is through the generous support of our advertisers,” said Yarbrough. “I enourage Arkansas Baptists to support our advertisers and be sure to tell them that you saw their ad in Arkansas Christian Parent.” Yarbrough said Arkansas Christian Parent is made available free of charge to churches requesting copies. However, copies cannot be mailed and must be picked up in Little Rock at the ABN offices or in the following ways: – Through Arkansas Baptist State Convention staff who are assisting with distribution as they travel the state and visit churches. – At Baptist association offices located throughout Arkansas. The summer edition is expected to be available at the end of June.
Huckabee speaks to pastors in Houston Caleb Yarbrough Arkansas Baptist News
crowd tonight, there are men that are called to be pastors to little girls like Ashley,” Huckabee said. HOUSTON – Mike Huckabee, forHe said there once was a time mer Arkansas governor, encouraged when being a pastor was a respected pastors to “feed their sheep” during position, yet it no longer is. the final session of the 2013 South“The contempt that people have ern Baptist Convention Pastors’ for the gospel of Jesus Christ, please Conference June 10. understand, is not a Huckabee spoke contempt for you or for of the importance of me, for those who call pastors in the lives of ourselves followers of children. Sharing a Jesus. It is a contempt story about a little girl for Him,” he said. named Ashley, whom Huckabee spoke he met while speaking from John 21. He said, at George Elementary as Christ told Simon School in Springdale Peter, “The single most Huckabee makes a point. while governor, Huckimportant role is to abee said, “The sad thing is that she feed, then to lead and then to be has got a world that she is going to prepared to bleed. … Three times grow up in that is anything but easy Jesus tells Peter to feed His sheep, and simple. And the challenges that and I believe He is talking about she is going to face will be nothing good food, good biblical food.” short of phenomenal. And I believe “Little girls like Ashley need that even more than she needs a govsomebody to lead them,” said Huckernor or a president or a senator, I abee. pray that she has a pastor.” “I would never suggest that you “I know that out here in this great would turn your pulpit into some
political podium. But I would urge that the pulpit would be a powerful, prophetic and purposeful punch in the gut to a culture that is ungodly and unholy,” Huckabee said to applause from the crowd. “And the pulpit ought to challenge the culture in which we live, which has turned its back on God.” “The greatest mission in the world is the mission that God has entrusted to you – to feed, to lead, to sacrifice and, if necessary, to bleed for those sheep to whom He has entrusted you,” Huckabee told pastors. “It is an honor and it is a privilege, and God bless you for doing it.” Before entering politics, Huckabee served as pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, Pine Bluff, and Beech Street Baptist Church, Texarkana. He was also president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. Huckabee hosts “Huckabee” on the Fox News Channel and the syndicated radio program “The Mike Huckabee Show.” Contact Caleb Yarbrough at caleb@ arkansasbaptist.org.
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5 NOTEWORTHY
Office Ministry University June 27 in Little Rock LITTLE ROCK – Office Ministry University (OMU) will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 27 at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) building located at 10 Remington Drive, Little Rock. OMU is a one-day course designed to “help ministry assistants achieve excellence,” according to organizers. Ministry assistants will learn the following principles during four “blocks” of topics: •Beginning with Vision. How did you get to the church office? Why have you stayed so long? How did the church start? Where do Southern Baptists come from? How are we organized and why? Answers to these questions and more will be reviewed in this session. •Growing as an Exceptional Assistant. Attributes that define an exceptional ministry assistant will be discussed and you will see how you measure up. •Event Planning. No matter what size event you are planning, the principles are the same. Learn steps for planning a successful event. •Creating Policies for Continuity. We all depend too much on our memories and mindset of “We have all the time in the world” right after we say, “We believe we have no assurance of tomorrow.” However, our office mentality says the opposite. Everything we do, everything we know and how we do things are simply in our heads! OMC will help attendees learn how to write and execute good policies and procedures. The cost of OMU is $25 and includes lunch and materials. It is sponsored by the ABSC leadership and worship team. For more information, contact Denny Wright at 501-376-4791 or 800838-2272 (in state), ext. 5114.