April 14, 2015 • ISSUE 47
AT THE MOVIES: FURIOUS 7, HOME, INSURGENT, LITTLE BOY
Q&A ASKS, “IS PAIGE PATTERSON AN ARMINIAN?”
Keith Collier
A Friend Closer Than a Brother ow many friends do you have? No, I’m not talking about the number of Facebook acquaintances. I’m talking about close personal friendships—the people that you talk with at least once every couple of months. It could be neighbors, coworkers, church members or lifelong friends. Now, how many of those close friends are solid, biblically grounded Christians? These are people in whom you see a genuine, vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ. Of course, this criteria likely narrows your pool of relationships. For me, this smaller list includes friends from college and seminary as well as individuals in my church small group. Now, let’s drill down another level. Of these close Christian friends, how many of these relationships go beyond the surface level, past generic discussions about weather, sports, mutual interests, children, etc.? These are people with whom you can share the most personal details of your life, both good and bad. They reflect the type of person referred to in Proverbs 18 when it says, “there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” They encourage you when you’re down and challenge you in your walk with the Lord. Taking it a step further, are there people not just whom you can talk with but whom you actually do talk with about these things? You don’t just have them on speed dial in the event of an emergency, but you are regularly walking in close community with them. I’ll admit that in my busyness, I’ve neglected this deepest level in recent years. Yes, I have good friends in our church small group, and I know most of them would be willing to help at a moment’s notice. But other than a few prayer requests here and there, I haven’t intentionally shared my life with them. I say hello and make small talk on Sundays, but I haven’t personally invested the time and energy into sharing my personal struggles and getting to know theirs as well. Two scenarios have reawakened me to our need as Christians for a few close godly friends.
“BUT WOE TO HIM WHO IS ALONE WHEN HE FALLS AND HAS NOT ANOTHER TO LIFT HIM UP” (ECCL. 4:10) The first is a husband and wife I know who have faced difficulties in their marriage and recently filed for divorce. This came as a shock to friends and family because they never saw it coming. When asked if they had any close Christian friends with whom they’d shared their struggles or who could walk through this with them, offering counsel from God’s Word and praying with them, this couple said “no.” Now these are not fringe church attenders. They are active volunteers in their church and teachers in the children’s ministry. But they have never developed close personal friendships with strong believers in whom they could have shared their marital struggles and received godly counsel and encouragement. The second is a friend who battles with bouts of anxiety and depression. He is a strong Christian and a leader in his church. For a time, he kept his struggles to himself because he was embarrassed and did not want others to think he was “crazy.” Eventually, though, he shared this struggle with a few close friends who were able to listen, pray and encourage. He admits that sharing his weaknesses was difficult but freeing. Now he’s on the road to recovery with friends by his side. I fear that too often in churches the first scenario is more likely than the second. Scores of church members are hurting but have isolated themselves from other believers. Facing financial crises, troubled relationships, spiritual dryness, etc., they slap on a happy face and attempt to fight these issues alone. Maybe that somebody is you. The writer of Ecclesiastes said it well: “But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up” (Eccl. 4:10). We were not meant to walk through life alone. Even in the Garden of Eden, before the Fall, God said it wasn’t good for man to be alone. Yes, this has implications for marriage, but it also demonstrates how we are created for community. Throughout the Bible, God gathers his people in community. If you’re like me, God has already surrounded you with at least a few close personal friends with whom you could dive deeper. Give them a call this week, invite them for dinner or coffee, and open up about your life. You may just find a friend closer than a brother.
CONTENTS
ISSUE
#47 The gospel of Jesus is the solution to America’s racial divisions, speakers said during a Southern Baptist-sponsored leadership summit titled “The Gospel and Racial Reconciliation” in Nashville, Tenn., March 26-27. Black, white and Hispanic pastors and leaders addressed the issue of racial reconciliation at the event conducted by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC).
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SWBTS Q&A answers question, “Is Paige Patterson an Arminian?” At a Grindstone Q&A discussion on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, March 26, Truett Theological Seminary professor Roger Olson attempted to convince Southwestern President Paige Patterson—as well as attending students and faculty—that Patterson is an Arminian. Author of Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities, Olson has devoted more than two decades to clearing up misconceptions about Arminianism, and in the process of doing so, he has asserted that many evangelical Christians, whether they realize it or not, are Arminians.
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Movie reviewer Michael Foust reviews the box-office smash hit Furious 7, the latest installment in the car-chasing Fast & Furious franchise. Other movies highlighted include DreamWork’s animated alien story Home, the soon-to-be-released family film Little Boy, and Insurgent, the second in the Divergent science fiction adventure series.
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TEXAN Magazine is e-published twice monthly by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, 4500 State Highway 360, Grapevine, TX 76099-1988. Jim Richards, Executive Director Gary Ledbetter, Editor Keith Collier, Managing Editor Sharayah Colter, Staff Writer Russell Lightner, Design & Layout Gayla Sullivan, Subscriptions
Contributing Writers Michael Foust, Rebecca Wolford, Erin Roach, Alex Sibley, Kenneth Priest, Tom Strode
To contact the TEXAN, visit texanonline.net/contact or call toll free 877.953.7282 (SBTC).
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The Public Square: Christian Setbacks & Victories
05
SBCLIFE, the journal of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, has compiled a series of religious liberty setbacks and victories since 2012, which include many of the political and cultural junctures that have had an effect on religious liberty and biblical faith in America in recent years.
C O L U M N : The Six Phases
of Church Revitalization
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SBTC Director of Convention Strategies Kenneth Priest outlines what he considers the six stages a congregation and pastor may go through on the path to revitalize a church. While not every church experiences all six stages, churches in decline tend to walk through several of these phases on their path to recovery.
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ARIZ. ABORTIONISTS FACE NEW CONSENT REQUIREMENT Arizona’s governor has signed into law a bill that prohibits abortion insurance from being purchased through Obamacare’s taxpayersubsidized insurance program. The bill also requires abortionists to inform women that two-step chemical abortions can be reversed. Both legislative houses passed the bill, signed into law March 30, along party lines after a House committee amended it to include the informed consent requirement. The abortion insurance prohibition prevents women from buying taxpayer subsidized abortion insurance except in cases of rape, incest or threats to the health of the mother. Read the story here.
COLORADO REFUSES TO TREAT CHRISTIAN MAN SEEKING BAKING SERVICES THE SAME AS SAME-SEX COUPLE SEEKING BAKING SERVICES While a 2014 decision by the Colorado Civil Rights Division declared that a Christian bakery could not refuse to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, the same agency has denied legal grounding to a Denver man whose request for a Bible-shaped cake was refused at three bakeries. The man, Bill Jack, says it would be wrong for the state to force the bakeries to bake him the cakes but that it is also wrong to mandate that Christian bakeries bake same-sex wedding cakes while allowing other bakeries to decline baking Christian cakes. He plans to continue moving the case through the legal system to point out the contradiction and injustice associated with penalizing some companies base on conscience but not others.
‘PRAY FOR MARRIAGE’ ERLC URGES FOR SUPREME COURT The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is inviting Christians to pray regarding what might be a landmark decision on marriage by the U.S. Supreme Court. The ERLC launched its Pray for Marriage initiative April 7, three weeks before the high court’s April 28 oral arguments involving same-sex marriage. The justices are expected to issue an opinion by late June or early July. Read the story here.
IND., ARK. DIVERGE ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY Religious freedom gained only a split decision in newly enacted laws for Indiana and Arkansas, its advocates say. The governors of both states signed into law April 2 new versions of religious liberty proposals, but they differed significantly in their protection of freedom of conscience. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, both conservative Republicans, acted after their legislatures passed revisions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) in the wake of heavy criticism of earlier measures. Hutchinson signed the law after asking the legislature to revise a bill it had adopted, successfully urging lawmakers to send him a proposal aligned more closely with the federal RFRA. That law—enacted in 1993 by the nearly unanimously approval of Congress and the signature of President Clinton—requires government to have a compelling interest and use the narrowest possible means in burdening a person’s religious exercise. Twentyone states have enacted versions of RFRA. Pence, however, signed into law an amendment of the RFRA he had enacted only the week before—an amendment that failed to protect the conscience rights of business owners. While Indiana’s new language exempts pastors and churches from providing services for same-sex weddings, its prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity offers no such safeguard for photographers, florists, bakers and others whose religious convictions prevent them from serving at such ceremonies. Read the story here.
FLORIST FINED IN GAY-WEDDING CASE, RAISES $100,000 A Washington state great-grandmother, who was ordered to pay $1,001 to the state for refusing to create a flower arrangement for a long-time customer’s same-sex wedding, has raised more than $100,000 from supporters. Meanwhile, a pizza parlor in northern Indiana that received death threats after its co-owner said she would not cater a gay wedding has raised more than $840,000 from supporters, according to news reports. Read the story here.
Read the story here.
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—Briefly section compiled from Baptist Press, other news sources and staff reports
B BAPTISTS SIGN SCOTUS GAY MARRIAGE CASE BRIEF Noted Southern Baptist leaders have signed a Liberty Institute friend-of-thecourt brief defending the freedom of speech of those who support and teach that marriage is between one man and one woman. The brief was filed in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, a consolidation of four individual cases challenging biblically based marriage laws in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. The case could answer questions left standing after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 overturned the Defense of Marriage Act, appearing to leave individual states the right to define marriage within individual state jurisdictions. Liberty Institute filed the brief April 2, naming a religiously diverse list of individuals penalized for conducting themselves in the public square based on their views on marriage, including former Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran, a Southern Baptist; former United States Navy Chaplain Wes Modder, a member of the Assemblies of God; former Georgia Department of Public Health Director Eric Walsh, a Seventh-day Adventist; and five pastors whose sermons were subpoenaed by the City of Houston. Read the story here.
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STUDENTS IN KENYA TO HOLD DAY OF PRAYER
In an attempt to counter the fear, suspicion and anxiety that followed the April 2 terrorist attack at Garissa University in eastern Kenya, Christian students at the University of Nairobi are organizing a day of fasting and prayer on their campus. A Christian worker in Kenya shared his belief that even terrorists can be reconciled to God. “The only way to stop terrorism is by the gospel transforming the would-be attackers,” he said. “As in the case of Paul the Apostle, these men once transformed could turn the world of terror upside down for the glory of God.” Read the story here.
IRAN DEAL UNLIKELY TO PROMPT RELIGIOUS LIBERTY Though Iran and Western nations have agreed on the framework of a nuclear deal, Middle East experts say the final agreement probably will not serve as a catalyst for religious freedom in the Persian nation. “As long as you have Islam and an Islamic regime as the authoritative government and they hold the sword, Christians will be persecuted. Sanctions or no sanctions, Christians in Iran will not have freedom, period,” said Paul Golhashem, a Christian author for Persian World Outreach, a ministry to the 80 million Farsi-speaking people worldwide. Golhashem left Iran in 1995 and now is a U.S. citizen living in Dallas. After weeks of negotiations in Lausanne, Switzerland, diplomats announced the framework of a nuclear deal April 2 that would limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of European Union and U.S. sanctions as Iran complies with demands, The New York Times reported. Read the story here.
ABORTION BY DISMEMBERMENT BANNED IN KANSAS
CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL’S ROBERT SCHULLER DIES After a life spent emphasizing positive thinking plus Jesus, the Crystal Cathedral’s Robert Schuller has died. He was 88. His unconventional ministry methods have been seen as the beginning of the seeker-sensitive movement and his preaching style as a trendsetter for a goodness of man focus as opposed to a depravity of man focus. Read the story here.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signed a first-in-the-nation law, April 7, that prohibits dismembering the body of an unborn child during an abortion. The intent of the new law is to prohibit late-term abortions in which physicians use “dilation and evacuation.” In 2013, according to Kansas government reports, 585 of 7485 abortions used this procedure, typically during the second trimester of pregnancy. Read the story here.
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MIDWESTERN NAMED AMONG FASTEST-GROWING SEMINARIES Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary ranks among the fastest growing seminaries in North America, according to report published by the Association of Theological Schools. The article by ATS, an accrediting agency, expounded upon “Why 100 Member Schools have Grown,” saying 37-percent of its 273 institutions have grown over the past five years—with 12 of the 100 schools experiencing growth of at least 50 percent. Among these 12 schools in the March 31 report is Midwestern Seminary. “The closer one evaluates this ATS report, the better the news gets for Midwestern Seminary,” said Jason Allen, president of the seminary. “Among seminaries with enrollments totaling 500 or more students, Midwestern Seminary is recognized as the fastest growing institution in North America. Read the story here.
OHIO PASTOR CHAD KECK TO BE 2ND VP NOMINEE Ohio pastor Chad Keck will be nominated for second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention in June, a fellow Ohio pastor announced April 7. Keck has been senior pastor of the Dayton-area First Baptist Church of Kettering since December 2010, having earlier served churches in Florida, Texas and Tennessee during 14 years in the ministry. He also is a former collegiate ministry event coordinator for LifeWay Christian Resources. David Starry, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Vandalia, Ohio, also in the Dayton area, said in relaying the nomination announcement that Keck “has a deep love for the local church, a Great Commission mindset and a strong commitment to personal evangelism.” Read the story here.
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‘SABBATH REST’ SESSIONS HELD AT SOUTHEASTERN In a “Sabbath Rest and Flourishing” conference, the importance of finding rest in a 24/7 world was set forth at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. The two-day conference at the North Carolina campus was held in partnership with Blessed Earth, an organization dedicated to serving God and caring for his creation. Matthew Sleeth, Blessed Earth’s executive director, was the keynote speaker amid five learning sessions, musical worship, discussion time and videos from the “Sabbath Living” curriculum developed by Sleeth. Read the story here.
CP 2.49% AHEAD OF PROJECTION AT MID-YEAR POINT Year-to-date contributions to Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries received by the SBC Executive Committee are 2.49 percent above the year-to-date SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget projection, and are 2.10 percent above contributions received during the same time frame last year, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President Frank S. Page. “This report marks the first time since 2008 that CP contributions have increased over the previous fiscal year’s mid-point,” Page said, “and is the highest mid-year total since March 2012. This should drive us to our knees in gratitude to God and is truly a cause for celebration.” Read the story here.
GLORIETA SUIT DISMISSED; NOTICE OF APPEAL FILED The U.S. District Court for New Mexico has dismissed all claims in a lawsuit against LifeWay Christian Resources, the Southern Baptist Convention and its Executive Committee, and the Glorieta 2.0 ministry that bought Glorieta Conference Center from LifeWay 18 months ago. Federal Judge James O. Browning issued the rulings in a suit filed by an Arkansas couple, Kirk and Susie Tompkins, who had been leaseholders at the conference center. Within hours of the ruling, the Tompkins filed notice of appeal to the U.S. District Court of Appeal for the Tenth Circuit in Denver. Browning’s ruling came in five separate orders totaling 71 pages, including an order last September that dismissed several named defendants. Read the story here.
SOUTHERN SEMINARY STUDENT WINS $34K ON ‘JEOPARDY!’ Years of watching “Jeopardy!” and playing trivia games paid off for Jacqueline Hawkins, a student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, when she won $34,101 over two days on the popular game show, which aired March 25-26. Read the story here.
The public square: Christian setbacks & victories By Rebecca Wolford | SBCLife NASHVILLE The freedom to live according to one’s religious beliefs has been a fundamental right in America since its founding. As the culture changes and those opposed to biblical values become more vocal, it is becoming increasingly difficult to express religious beliefs without being socially ostracized or legally penalized.
SBCLIFE, the journal of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, has compiled a series of religious liberty setbacks and victories since 2012, which include many of the political and cultural junctures that have had an effect on religious liberty and biblical faith in America in recent years. Read the full version of the story, which details the various setbacks and victories, here.
APRIL 14, 2015 TEXANONLINE.NET 5
By Michael Foust
‘FURIOUS 7’: EXCITING CAR CHASES, SHAKY PRO-FAMILY MESSAGE If you were to purchase a ticket for the latest G-rated family movie only to accidentally walk into the final five minutes of Furious 7 instead, you’d be tempted to think you were in the right theater. In fact, there are quite a few scenes in Furious 7—the latest installment in the Fast & Furious action series—that could be taken straight out of a faith-based movie script. But Furious 7 (rated PG-13) is anything but G-rated, despite its fun, creative and enjoyable action scenes. It’s a film that boasts conflicting worldviews and a series of paradoxes, beginning with its depiction of the family. It spotlights the importance of a man settling down to support his family but stumbles by constantly ogling the female anatomy. It gives us a series of likeable heroes who are fighting evil but taints the message by emphasizing vengeance as the primary motive. It boasts more fights and car crashes than you’ll see in a full year’s worth of films but barely shows us a drop of blood in what can only be described as “Looney Tunes” violence. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson and Michelle Rodriquez star in Furious 7, which follows the Furious crew as they try to find and kill their nemesis Deckard Shaw, who already killed one of
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their crew members and is trying to kill them, too. They get help from a man named Frank Petty (Kurt Russell), who is leading a U.S. government operation that is on a separate mission to capture an electronic device called “God’s Eye” and prevent it from falling into the hands of a different bad guy, Jakande. God’s Eye, which looks a lot like a thumb drive, allows the user to see just about anywhere in the world by using security cameras and smartphone cameras without the user even knowing it. There’s a lot to like about Furious 7: cars parachuting out of the sky, car chases galore and even a car leaping from skyscraper to skyscraper to skyscraper in downtown Abu Dhabi. The filmmakers also did a marvelous job of finishing the film after Walker’s death in real life. The tribute to him at the end is a nice touch, too. The movie’s semi-pro-family message has several highlights, including one from tough guy Dominic, whose friend Brian (Walker) has fathered a child with Dominic’s sister Mia. Brian loves cars and guns, but Dominic tells him that one of the greatest things Brian’s done is loving Mia and their son. “What’s real is family,” Dominic says, using street lingo. “Hold onto that.” The final minutes are also poignant, as we
watch Brian, Mia and their son play on the beach. Marriage seems to be in their future. But the Fast and Furious franchise wasn’t built on a pro-family worldview, and this one’s no exception. There are no bedroom scenes, and there is no full nudity, but there are plenty of scantily clad women. There also are at least 30 coarse and profane words, including God’s name being abused at least five times. Good triumphs over evil in Furious 7, and the family unit is uplifted at the end. We just have to walk through a lot of mud to get there.
HOME (PG) This mostly-family-friendly DreamWorks animated comedy follows the story of a young friendly alien named “Oh” (Jim Parsons) who befriends an Earth girl named Tip (Rihanna) after Oh’s alien race, the Boov, invades our planet. It seems the Boov had been on the run from
LITTLE BOY (PG-13) in theaters April 24
From the same Metanoia Films team that brought us the 2006 tear-jerker Bella comes another film that may be every bit as inspiring. The 1940s-era Little Boy follows the story of a 7-year-old boy named Pepper who, as the film title implies, is
INSURGENT (PG-13) This is the second installment in the Divergent science fiction adventure series, which is based on author Veronica Roth’s novels set in a post-apocalyptic world where people are divided into one of five classes based on their traits. For example, if you’re selfless, you end up in
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
April 3-5
Source: BoxOfficeMojo.com
their enemies (the Gorgs) and needed a place to live, so they found Earth and relocated the humans to other parts of the world. Tip, though, escaped and spends the rest of the movie trying to find her mom with Oh’s help. But you don’t have to be a science fiction fan to like this one, and the aliens aren’t the ugly, disgusting variety found in
some flicks. Home has plenty of funny moments, and it has some great messages, too. Among them: the need to love others and befriend those who look and act different and the need to persevere. But be warned: There’s plenty of potty humor, although no coarse language.
quite little and who faces ridicule from classmates for his short stature. But what he lacks in size, he makes up for with a big heart and a big faith—faith that his father, who was sent off to World War II, will make it home alive. His faith gets a boost when he hears a Catholic priest tell the congregation that God can move mountains. That sermon,
combined with an amazing magic show in which Pepper actively participates, lead him to believe anything is possible. Of course, we shouldn’t get our theology from magic shows, but if you view the movie through the eyes of a 7-year-old kid, it works—so much so that I was crying by the end.
the Abnegation faction. Athletic and courageous? You’re in the Dauntless class. But one specific woman, Tris (Shailene Woodley), has characteristics of multiple classes. That makes her “Divergent” and difficult for the ruling body (the Erudite) to control. So Jeanine (Kate Winslet) sets out to destroy not only Tris but also Four—who is
also Divergent—and everyone on their side. It’s a fascinating story, but the film is incredibly violent, including execution-style deaths, and also has a bedroom scene implying Tris and Four had sex. There are about five instances of crude or profane language.
Movie
*With information from Common Sense Media
Weekend Gross
Weeks in Theater
1. Furious 7 (PG-13)
$143,623,000
1
2. Home (PG)
$27,400,000
2
3. Get Hard (R)
$12,925,000
2
4. Cinderella (PG)
$10,289,000
4
5. Insurgent (PG-13)
$10,000,000
3
6. It Follows (R)
$2,465,000
4
7. Woman In Gold (PG-13)
$2,004,000
1
8. Kingsman (R)
$1,700,000
8
9. Do You Believe? (PG-13)
$1,500,000
3
10. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (PG)
$1,000,000
5
APRIL 14, 2015 TEXANONLINE.NET 7
STORY
BY
TOM
B A P T I S T
The gospel of Jesus is the solution to America’s racial divisions, speakers
said during a Southern Baptist-sponsored leadership summit titled “The Gospel and Racial Reconciliation” in Nashville, Tenn., March 26-27.
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STRODE
P R E S S
Black, white and Hispanic pastors and leaders addressed the issue of racial reconciliation at the event conducted by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). Longtime civil rights leader John Perkins, 84, told the audience of about 500, “I think that we are putting reconciliation back where it belongs—within the gospel itself.”
“I want to preach a gospel that is stronger than my black interests. I want to preach a gospel that is stronger than my economic interests. I want to preach a gospel that can burn through these racial barriers and bring blacks and whites into the kingdom.”
John M. Perkins (right) is
People make a “big misinterviewed by Russell Moore on “The Civil Rights Movement take” in pushing “reconafter 50 Years” during the Ethics ciliation out of the gospel,” & Religious Liberty Commission’s out of being a part of con“Gospel and Racial Reconciliation” version that is understood summit. PHOTO BY ALLI RADER as a Christian is discipled, Perkins said in an interview with ERLC President —JOHN PERKINS, FOUNDER OF “It was beginning, but I Russell Moore. THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY went back there really beThere is “no room in the DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION lieving that the gospel could gospel that minimizes its burn through racial and power [to reconcile],” he cultural barriers and even said. “That’s supposed to reconcile us to God.” be that ongoing miracle. Probably the best way for racial reconciliation They will know we are Christians by our love. to be addressed from a gospel perspective, Perkins “I want to preach a gospel that is stronger than told attendees, “is to develop multicultural churchmy black interests,” said Perkins, founder of the es and be absolutely intentional.” Christian Community Development Association. “I don’t think we can go back,” Perkins said. “I want to preach a gospel that is stronger than my “I think it’s too clear. We held down the truth in economic interests. I want to preach a gospel that order to practice bigotry. ... can burn through these racial barriers and bring “And if we go back, it’s going to be an absolute blacks and whites into the kingdom.” shame because it means we didn’t live by faith.” Perkins returned in 1960 to his native Mississippi after his conversion to Christ while living in California. He “went back not looking for the civil rights MOORE SEES ‘ANOTHER CHANCE’ movement,” Perkins said. Speaking on the second anniversary of his elec-
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Black, white, Asian and Iranian pastors and leaders addressed racial disunity March 26-27 during the 2015 Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Leadership Summit in Nashville. Pictured is a panel including (left to right) Russell Moore, Frank Page, Fred Luter Jr., and K. Marshall Williams. PHOTO BY ALLI RADER
“The gospel is a matter of our adoption as children of God. It’s a matter of God ripping us out from one kingdom [and putting us] into another kingdom.” —RUSSELL MOORE
A panel discussion on “Key Issues in Racial Reconciliation: Poverty, Fatherlessness, Criminal Justice and Urban Ministry” featured (left to right) Walter Strickland, Dhati Lewis, Kevin Smith, Tony Evans and Dean Inserra during the “Gospel and Racial Reconciliation” summit sponsored by the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. PHOTO BY ALLI RADER
tion as ERLC president, Moore said Christians must realize racial reconciliation is about the gospel. “The reason that we are here today is that these are not simply cultural issues, although they are. These are not simply political issues, although they are. These are not simply social issues, although they are. Above everything else, these are gospel issues,” Moore said. “The gospel is a matter of our adoption as children of God. It’s 10 TEXANONLINE.NET APRIL 14, 2015
a matter of God ripping us out from one kingdom [and putting us] into another kingdom.” The ERLC announced in December it was changing the theme of its 2015 leadership summit from pro-life ethics to racial reconciliation in the wake of grand jury decisions in the police killings of black men that provoked widespread protests and a nationwide discussion. The shift in plans followed refusals by grand juries in St. Louis County and New York City to
indict police officers in the high-profile deaths of African-American men. It appears God is “giving us another chance to get this right, but in order to do that, we must repent, not just rebrand,” Moore told the audience. Moore addressed the Southern Baptist Convention’s history, noting this year is the 20th anniversary of the SBC’s racial reconciliation resolution. That 1995 statement expressed repentance for the convention’s past racism and asked African-Americans for forgiveness. “We baptized the Southern way of life full immersion,” Moore said. “That’s still here with us, and I’m not just talking about the people whose bed sheets have eye holes. “We are not the state church of the Confederate
“We are not the state church of the Confederate States of America. And the cross and the Confederate battle flag cannot coexist without one setting the other on fire.”
States of America. And the ought to be able to see it cross and the Confederate within the church. The battle flag cannot coexkingdom of God is not about ist without one setting the coexistence. The kingdom of other on fire.” God is about reconciliation. While there are things And that reconciliation is worth conserving, Moore within the church. —RUSSELL MOORE said, “If what we are con“The problem is that serving is 1950s Dixie, then Sunday morning when we we’re conserving something are signifying to the rest of other than the gospel of the world, ‘Here is a picture Jesus Christ. And we will be of the kingdom of God,’ we fighting God, and we will not win.” gather with the same people we would gather with Speaking from Ephesians 3:1-13, Moore said the if Jesus Christ were still dead,” Moore said. mystery being unveiled in that passage is not only At the close of the opening message of the sum“a gospel that you hear but a gospel that you see.” mit, Moore invited attendees to the front to pray The apostle Paul isn’t calling for Jewish churches for racial reconciliation. Most of the audience knelt and Gentile churches, he said. at the front or in the aisles of LifeWay’s Van Ness Paul is saying “the church is a living representaAuditorium to pray. tion of the kingdom of God,” Moore said. “If you Watch Moore’s conversation with Perkins here. want to know what the kingdom looks like, you Watch Moore’s opening address here. APRIL 14, 2015 TEXANONLINE.NET 11
PHOTO BY ALLI RADER
CREATE MULTIETHNIC CULTURE, NOT PROGRAM, PANEL SAYS By Erin Roach A panel including Texas pastors Josh Smith and Juan Sanchez gave practical guidance regarding the church and multiethnic ministry at an Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission leadership summit on racial NASHVILLE
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reconciliation in Nashville, Tenn., March 26. “This conversation is a vital one because at the end of the day the battles related to racial reconciliation are going to be fought on the ground in local churches,” said David Prince, the panel’s moderator and pastor of
Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky. In addition to Smith, pastor of MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church in Irving, and Sanchez, pastor of High Pointe Baptist Church in Austin, the panel included H.B. Charles, pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist
Church in Jacksonville, Fla., and D.A. Horton, executive director of ReachLife Ministries. “We have to create a culture, not a program. I think there’s a big difference,” Sanchez said. “One of my concerns is that multiethnic ministry will become the next evangelical fad—people trying to create diversity just for the sake of diversity.” Something practical High Pointe has done, Sanchez said, is to have regular conversations about how to move forward as a multiethnic congregation. They set aside occasional Sunday nights to allow people to ask questions. “The principles are really simple. This is not rocket science,” Sanchez said. “God is gathering a multiethnic people, and we’re all to function as one. It’s as simple as that. We’re to live together as one and display the glory of God as we live life together as a family.” Smith said the goal is less about building multiethnic churches and more about building churches that reflect the community. “I’m not building a multiethnic church because it’s trendy. It’s because I live in a non-white community. It’s the reality of what we have to do if we’re going to be a faithful witness in that (context),” Smith said, adding, “The question is, ‘Do you look like your community?’” Charles, who has led a merger between
“We have to create a culture, not a program. I think there’s a big difference. One of my concerns is that multiethnic ministry will become the next evangelical fad—people trying to create diversity just for the sake of diversity.” —JUAN SANCHEZ, PASTOR OF HIGH POINTE BAPTIST CHURCH IN AUSTIN
predominantly black and predominantly white congregations, said doing life together has a way of “exposing things, correcting things and strengthening good things.” “I have been encouraged that many of the issues of what we prefer, what we are used to, have been laid aside, and we believe that God is in this. Our focus has been on the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Charles said. Horton led a multiethnic congregation in Kansas City for five years and realized, “I don’t care where you’re from, where you were raised, what ethnic language you speak, everybody can get down with some food.”
“So what we did was say, ‘Express your heritage. Bring a dish.’ We had Nigerian food, Mexican food, Puerto Rican food. ... It allowed people to sit at the table and begin a dialogue,” Horton said. “It fostered that attitude of togetherness.” Sanchez warned leaders in the movement toward multiethnic churches to be careful not to frustrate pastors who are ministering in monoethnic contexts— those whose communities are not ethnically diverse. “Diversity is not just ethnic. I think socioeconomic diversity is an even harder barrier to overcome,” Sanchez said. “So I think the key is the mission hasn’t changed. We’re to take the gospel, beginning right where we’ve been placed. ... Pray that whatever the demographic is, our church will reflect the community.” Smith advised not to target a specific kind of person to reach. “The reality is, we’re going to be a church in this community, and whoever comes, we’re going to lead them to Christ,” Smith said. “If you go in with a specific desire—‘I want to reach this kind of person’—that’s no different than saying, ‘I just want to be a white church.’ “... You’ve just got to say, ‘We’re going to preach the gospel. We’re going to go out and get people, and whoever comes to Christ comes to Christ,’” Smith said. Watch the full panel discussion here.
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TONY EVANS: CHURCH AT FAULT FOR AMERICA’S DIVISION
PHOTO BY ALLI RADER
By Erin Roach
When Jesus spoke with the woman at the well, he reversed more than 800 years of racial discord in less than 24 hours, Tony Evans said at an Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission leadership summit on racial reconciliation. 14 TEXANONLINE.NET APRIL 14, 2015
“I do not believe that the racial problem is as nearly complex or difficult to resolve as we have made it,” said Evans, president of The Urban Alternative and pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas. “It is my suggestion that it has only become difficult because the church refuses the authority of Christ and the authority of Scripture.”
Though Jesus and the Samaritan woman were from different racial backgrounds, he met her on common ground by choosing Jacob’s well for the spiritual appointment, Evans said at the summit that addressed “The Gospel and Racial Reconciliation” March 26-27 in Nashville, Tenn.
“He met her at a place of “Truth is an absolute agreement. Jews didn’t standard by which reality like Samaritans, and is measured. Black is only Samaritans didn’t like beautiful when it’s biblical, Jews, but since they both and white is only right loved Jacob, that’s where he when it agrees with Holy stopped,” Evans said. Writ,” he said. Jesus didn’t cease being Despite their vast who he was to reach the differences, when God That is, our woman, though, since she saves sinners, he makes illegitimate division identified him immediately them part of one body, as a Jew, said Evans, author Evans said. “So when along racial, class of Oneness Embraced, a book you split the body and cultural lines on race. illegitimately, you have is saying, ‘God, stay “God is not asking you to offended the gospel and stop being who you are to you have kicked the truth away even though reach somebody different in the teeth.” we’re inviting than who you are. God is An illegitimate division you to come,’” not asking blacks to be in the church has kept whites or whites to be God at bay, Evans said, —TONY EVANS blacks. He’s asking both to and God will not function be biblical,” he said. in an environment of Believers must put their disunity because it is color and their culture in against his nature. the right frame, Evans said. “The division in America “To say you are a black is being controlled by the Christian or a white Christian church. That is, our illegitimate makes black or white an adjective. division along racial, class and It makes Christian a noun. The cultural lines is saying, ‘God, stay job of an adjective is to modify a away even though we’re inviting noun,” Evans said. “... If I say I’m a you to come,’” Evans said. black Christian, I’ve got to always The racial divide in America reshape Christian to look black.” doesn’t have to take years to For too long, Americans have overcome, he said. Jesus did it in defined Christianity by their less than a day, as evidenced by culture, Evans said, and that has Samaritans inviting him to say led to the racial confusion that overnight in their community. plagues the nation. “Jesus was about his Father’s “[God] is not asking you to be business. He wasn’t trying to me or me to be you. He’s just please this group and that group saying both of us need to be like and trying to make everybody him, and so the point of reference happy. He was taking a stand is different,” Evans said. based on the authority of God’s Jesus gave the Samaritan woman in John 4 the Word, and when you do that, it doesn’t take long,” truth of the gospel, which surpassed the cultural Evans said. norms handed down to her, Evans noted. Watch Evans’ message here.
“THE DIVISION IN AMERICA IS BEING CONTROLLED BY THE CHURCH.
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RICHARDS: RACISM HAS NO PLACE IN BIBLEBELIEVING CHURCH By Sharayah Colter Not only is racial reconciliation biblically based, but it is biblically mandated, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Executive Director Jim Richards said at the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission’s leadership summit, March 27. As one of nearly 40 speakers at the summit, Richards called for a commitment to intentional efforts toward racial reconciliation for the sake of the gospel. “As we show our love one for another, the world—a lost and dying world that is in need of the gospel and in need of Jesus Christ—will see that Jesus and our love for each other, and because of that our testimony will even be stronger,” Richards said, pointing out that Jesus said the world will recognize his disciples by their love, one for another. With a desire to help churches portray that love without respect to skin color and to undergird a reflection of the diverse throne room of heaven in earthly churches, Richards said SBTC launched its Look Like Heaven campaign in 2013. “When the Look Like Heaven campaign came up, we definitely had to have a biblical basis,” Richards said, pointing to
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Revelation 7:9-17, which served as the foundation of the effort. “In that passage of Scripture you find the biblical basis for our churches to look like heaven. In that passage we see that there are nations and people and tribes and languages around the throne of God worshiping God and giving him glory and exalting his name.” Those heavenly realities need earthly applications, Richards said. He explained that despite physical differences, humans share the same creator, are saved by the same Christ, share the same struggles and are to serve in the same calling of preaching the gospel to all nations. The gospel, he said, should be the commonality that causes people to flock together— not skin color or ethnicity. Reflecting that heavenly unity on earth, he said, requires intentionality. “That means we have to get out of our comfort zones and engage those that perhaps we don’t know,” Richards said. He offered several practical steps churches and individual Christians can take to move toward racial reconciliation including repenting of
So, it is a constant work that we’re committed to on this journey together to use the gospel to bring about racial reconciliation so that we can help our churches look like heaven.” —JIM RICHARDS
racism, diversifying church leadership and observing racial reconciliation Sunday each year, among other things. “I grew up in the segregated South,” Richards said. “God saved me, called me to preach, and he has allowed me to see miracle after miracle after miracle in race relations. But it’s never going to end this side of heaven. So, it is a constant work that we’re committed to on this journey together to use the gospel to bring about racial reconciliation so that we can help our churches look like heaven.” Watch Richards’ message here.
Find Look Like Heaven resources at sbtexas.com/looklikeheaven.
PHOTO BY ALLI RADER
HOUSTON WOMAN’S REFUSAL TO HATE BASED ON RACE LED TO PASTOR’S SALVATION By Sharayah Colter Afshin Ziafat, a Frisco pastor whose family disowned him when he renounced Islam to follow Christ as a teenager, was among dozens who spoke at the Ethics & Religious Liberty Committee’s
leadership summit on racial reconciliation. In his 30-minute address, Ziafat told attendees his salvation is thanks to a Christian woman in Houston who loved him, gave him a Bible and told him to read it despite his being Iranian. The woman, whom Ziafat’s family
paid to teach him to read English during elementary school, did indeed teach him to read. She also taught him the value of being willing to love and take the gospel to everyone—even enemies. “[For me] it all goes back to one lady who understood the gospel
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and said I’m going to love this Iranian kid when it’s en vogue to hate people from Iran,” said Ziafat, who serves as lead pastor at Providence Church. “When we step out, and we cross divides, and we go out with the message of reconciliation to people who don’t look like us, who don’t talk like us, who don’t dress like us, who are separated from us, we are living out the gospel. Why? Because the greatest divide isn’t a racial divide; the greatest divide of all time is the divide between holy God and sinful man.” Ziafat said that because of that great divide and the solution Christ provided to appease that divide by dying once for sin and rising from the grave, those who follow Christ and who have been reconciled to God have been given the ministry of reconciliation. That ministry, he said, is to be taken to every race and ethnicity. “Truly racism and any kind of racial superiority is an affront to God because it strikes against the very heart of the gospel, which tells us that we’re all sinners separated from God and that God is redeeming and reconciling a people to himself from every tribe, tongue and nation,” Ziafat said. “Racial reconciliation is not just a good idea because racial equality is
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“Racial reconciliation is not just a good idea because racial equality is a politically correct idea but because the message of the gospel is at stake. THE NAME OF JESUS IS AT STAKE. The Bible tells us that it’s by grace alone that we can be restored to God—not by our own effort and certainly not because of our lineage or skin color.” —AFSHIN ZIAFAT
a politically correct idea but because the message of the gospel is at stake. The name of Jesus is at stake. The Bible tells us that it’s by grace alone that we can be restored to God—not by our own effort and certainly not because of our lineage or skin color.” Ziafat said that as tension and hostility between Muslims and Americans mounted during his childhood, so it does today in a post-9/11 world watching the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. That situation, he said, is similar to the one to which the Lord commanded Jonah to minister. Jonah did not want to see the Lord have mercy on his enemy, but the Lord was calling Jonah to offer
that exact thing to them in exchange for their repentance. Ziafat said when he remembers that Christ loved him when he was an enemy of God, he must love his own enemies for the sake of the gospel. Many of those enemies, he said, are moving into American neighborhoods, presenting Christians with a challenge and an opportunity to present the gospel. “The gospel calls me to step out of my comfort zone and go out to people who don’t look like me, who don’t dress like me, who don’t talk like me, who are not of my skin color, but on top of that especially those who are my enemies who I am expected to hate. When I show them love, the Gospel is revealed,” Ziafat said. Watch Ziafat’s message here.
Watch all the videos from the “The Gospel and Racial Reconciliation” summit at erlc.com/
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SWBTS Q&A answers question, “Is Paige Patterson an Arminian?” By Alex Sibley | SWBTS At a Grindstone Q&A discussion on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, March 26, Truett Theological Seminary professor Roger Olson attempted to convince Southwestern President Paige Patterson—as well as attending students and faculty—that Patterson is an Arminian. Author of Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities, Olson has devoted more than two decades to clearing up misconceptions about Arminianism, and in the process of doing so, he has asserted that many evangelical Christians, whether they realize it or not, are Arminians. The discussion began with Olson justifying his position that Patterson is an Arminian. He explained that he defines Arminianism, along with every other theological category, by what he calls “prototypes”— that is, founders of movements rather than the most recent people identifying themselves with the movements. In the case of Arminianism, Olson 20 TEXANONLINE.NET APRIL 14, 2015
Southwestern Seminary President Paige Patterson discusses the Arminian view of salvation with Truett Theological Seminary professor Roger Olson during a Q&A forum on Southwestern’s campus, March 26. SWBTS PHOTO
appealed to Jacob Arminius himself. After meticulously researching Arminius’ writings, Olson defined an Arminian as “a Protestant Christian who believes that God graciously grants us the opportunity and the ability, in spite of our radical fallenness, to freely accept his offer of salvation or turn it down.”
“So I don’t believe that Arminianism is first of all belief in free will,” Olson said. “It’s belief in freed will by prevenient grace—by the grace of God that frees the will from the bondage to sin and enables the hearer of the gospel to either accept or reject the offer of God’s grace.” Olson asserted that when
“THANK YOU, DR. OLSON, FOR RESCUING ME FROM THE ARMINIAN CHARGE, BECAUSE I DO EMPHATICALLY BELIEVE IN THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS— OR AT LEAST THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAVIOR. ARMINIUS HAD NOT MADE UP HIS MIND; I HAVE MADE UP MY MIND.” Arminianism is defined by Arminius and his earliest followers, Patterson should have no problem identifying himself as an Arminian. Patterson questioned why he cannot simply identify himself as a Baptist, electing not to identify with either position. Although Olson acknowledged that such labels are indeed unimportant, he noted that when Christians discuss such matters as soteriology, election and atonement, they tend to fall into one camp or the other, whether they realize it or admit it. “So of course you can choose not to adopt these labels,” Olson said. “I would argue [however] that there are certain issues where it’s either/or. Either Christ died for everyone, or Christ died only for
the elect. I don’t see how you can believe both or neither. So I would say that, whether you know it or not, if you’re an evangelical Baptist and really think about soteriological issues, you lean one way or the other.” Over the course of the nearly 90-minute discussion, which involved a time for Q&A with the audience, Patterson, in spite of Olson’s argument, maintained that he is not an Arminian. One particular point with which Patterson took issue is Arminius’ lack of conviction regarding the perseverance of the saints, or eternal security. Arminius, as well as his earliest followers, never expressed certainty regarding eternal security. When Olson related this information, Patterson said with a laugh, “Thank you, Dr. Olson, for rescuing me from the Arminian charge, because I do emphatically believe in the perseverance of the saints—or at least the perseverance of the Savior. Arminius had not made up his mind; I have made up my mind.” At the end of the evening, Patterson noted to the audience that the preceding discussion is proof that people of opposing viewpoints can “carry on a decent discussion” and may even learn something. Among people of faith, he said, “there is no excuse for not having conversations like this.” To watch video of the entire session, visit theologicalmatters.com.
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Kenneth Priest
The Six Phases of Church Revitalization
I
n working with churches in revitalization, I have observed some attitudes that are outlined below as six phases of revitalization or six stages a church and pastor may go through on the path to revitalization. Not every church will go through all six phases, and some will spend longer in one phase than others. A church in decline does experience several of these phases on their path to recovery. PHASE 1: DISBELIEF I often hear from pastors, “We are not in decline; God is simply pruning us for future growth.” The Gospel of John is clear on God’s pruning work, but I usually ask, “How long do you think God needs to prune?” I’m no horticulturist by any means; however, I understand pruning happens during a particular time of the season. Once pruning has occurred, progress happens during that plant’s growing season. In Southern Baptist Convention life, we simply look at the Annual Church Profile of the congregation to see the “years of pruning.” If this period has lasted more than five years, the pastor and church need to acknowledge this is probably more than a season of pruning; it’s likely a church in decline. PHASE 2: ANGER Anger is also known as the blame game. The pastor blames the congregation for not being missional and open to the community. The congregation blames the pastor for “not doing his job and witnessing to the community.” It does not matter who is at fault here, action is needed. Anger and blaming one another accomplish very little. Pastors and congregations need to focus on the unity of the church and come together to address the present issues. PHASE 3: DEPRESSION This begins the “emotional slump” that is experienced. Sometimes “depression” sets in
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over the pastor and members, impairing their ability to see light at the end of the tunnel. Looking over the few people left, they ask, “How will anything ever get accomplished?” This emotive slump leaves many in the church feeling a sense of hopelessness and sometimes a desire just to limp along for as long as they can. PHASE 4: ACCEPTANCE This phase truly begins the revitalization mindset that starts with the pastor acknowledging there is a problem and analyzing options for recovery. The pastor researches factors in the decline and determines a path to overcome the obstacles without placing blame. He begins discussions with key leaders to acknowledge the situation and develop executable steps for change and growth. PHASE 5: RESOLVE In this phase, the pastor and church decide they will do whatever it takes to see the church turn around. This is the most difficult phase of revitalization. When it comes to doing whatever it takes, some are simply not willing. Sometimes past efforts were unsuccessful, or they feel too old and too tired to continue. There could be any variety of factors. However, if a pastor does not lead his church to adopt the mindset of doing whatever it takes, then the church will not be revitalized. PHASE 6: REVITALIZATION In this phase, the church moves forward on a strategic process to see new life. Determining if a church is revitalized is subjective at best. I have worked with churches that did not see numerical shift but have seen culture shift, which is more important. I believe longevity is the key to determining a revitalized situation. Even if there is not any present numerical shift, if the culture shift is becoming more missional, it will ultimately result in a numerical increase. Some churches experience numerical growth, but without a coinciding culture shift, the future of the church may have a shortened life expectancy. A strong leader can step in and grow a church, but church growth and church revitalization are different. This culture shift is the key. If the church only grows, and the culture does not change, then when the strong leader is called to another church, the present church will likely experience decline again. —Kenneth Priest serves as the Director of Convention Strategies for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. This article originally appeared in the March/April issue of The Church Revitalizer Magazine.