Texan Magazine • March 10, 2015 • Issue #45

March 10, 2015 • ISSUE 45

Coastal Community ENGAGING THE LOST THROUGH ACTS OF SERVICE

TEXAS SUPREME COURT ISSUES STAY ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGES

TCHIVIDJIAN SAYS LAW/GRACE CONFUSION ENDANGERS CHURCHES

Keith Collier

Brothers, We are Not Brands ast week, Forbes announced that NBA legend Michael Jordan has become the first billionaire professional athlete. Jordan’s net worth certainly can be attributed to his prowess and accomplishments on the basketball court, but what really made him a billionaire is his ownership stake in the Charlotte Hornets and, more importantly, his brand.

Jordan was arguably the first and most successful athlete to leverage his name as a brand. His partnership with Nike to create the Jordan line of athletic apparel was a game changer in its day and has paved the way for a myriad of superstars to follow in his wake.

Today, celebrities, athletes and business professionals alike seek to advance their personal brands and build their platforms in order to increase influence and affluence.

Where entourages used to consist of trainers and accountants, they’ve now been replaced by “brand strategists” and “platform gurus.”

Social media has become one of the primary vehicles to accelerate one’s brand. Twitter and Instagram followers represent influence, and self-promotion is the name of the game. In fact, the very idea of social media carries with it at least a slight hue of narcissistic presumption.

Of course the church is not immune to the cult of personality and the culture of self-promotion. High-profile Christian celebrities and pastors are easily criticized for manipulating book sales, buying Twitter followers and using speaking engagements to promote their brands.

But what if I told you this allure toward pride is not limited just to the big shots? At the root of this is every man’s sinful desire for self-importance. Each of us craves attention, significance and recognition. Even in a wholesome desire to serve the Lord and to make a difference for his kingdom, we can be easily sidetracked to make much of ourselves, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

I don’t think most Christians have a calculated, selfconscious plan to build their brands. At first blush, we recoil at the thought. But the incipient nature of pride works its way into our thoughts and actions quietly. What we think are noble aspirations to build his kingdom can sometimes be tainted with a desire to build ourselves up. It’s a vice we must all fight.

Added to this is the relative newness of social media.

For most of us, we’re still evaluating this phenomenon’s virtues and vices. This article is not a knock on social media.

Social media can be a powerful and helpful tool, even for Christians. As with any tool, we must be wise how we use it.

Simply stated, Christians are not brands. We are disciples.

And as disciples, we should emulate our Lord. In Philippians 2:3-5, Paul exhorts believers to reflect Christ through humility, doing nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.

The Bible is clear that God is the one who raises up individuals to places of influence. In his sovereignty, he often gives us platforms, but they’re to be used for his glory, not our own. I’m always encouraged to see Christians who get this. The Lord obviously has his hand on them and has given them a strategic voice, and they aren’t trying to leverage it for their own glory.

How do we emulate our Savior’s humility across a medium that tempts us toward self-promotion? To some degree, this is a matter of conscience, but here are a few places to start.

Check your motivations. Before you tweet something, stop and consider your goal. Are there any hidden desires to make yourself look good or important?

Take inventory of your social media posts.

Occasionally, I look over the last six months of Tweets, Facebook posts and Instagrams and ask the question, “If someone only knew me by what was posted here, would it be an accurate portrayal of my life, or is it what I want people to think about me?”

Avoid retweeting good things about yourself. If someone posts something nice about you, it’s OK to like or favorite it or even to reply with a thank you. But reposting kudos is self-congratulatory. This includes putting a period in front of the reply or quotes around it followed by “//Thanks” so others will see it.

Beware of the humble brag. A humble brag is when someone publicly pats himself on the back in a seemingly humble way. For example, someone may tweet, “Grateful to give $1 billion of my own money to a local charity.” The line here between thankfulness and false humility can be fuzzy. He may be genuinely thankful, or he may just want to tell everyone how awesome he is.

Honestly, I’ve been guilty of all of these. Pride knows no bounds in our self-conscious, depraved hearts. But by God’s grace we can guard against pride and build the kingdom instead of building our own brands.

CONTENTS

ISSUE

#45

Coastal Community COVER STORY

Church planter revives dying church on Galveston Island

Aaron Sanders, pastor of Coastal Community Church in Galveston, says when it comes to theology, their island church is as conservative as First Baptist Church of Anywhere, USA. But when it comes to methodology, Coastal stands ready to test the waters.

The film Do You Believe? follows the lives of a dozen people as they face their own unique challenges in life and must decide what they believe about God—and then what they’re going to do about it. Written by the same team behind the 2014 surprise hit God’s Not Dead and released by the same studio, Pure Flix, Do You Believe? is a dramatically different type of movie than God’s Not Dead. Other movie reviews include: McFarland USA, Kingsman: The Secret Service and The DUFF.

06

Texas Supreme Court issues stay on same-sex marriages

The Texas Supreme Court issued a stay halting the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples, Feb. 20, less than 24 hours after a Travis County Clerk issued a license to a lesbian couple in Austin. As far as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is concerned, the marriage license issued to the couple Feb. 19 is null and void. However, although the court issued the stay, it did not immediately rule to void the license.

Church in trouble because of confusion between law and grace, Tchividjian says

08

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, Bonnie Pritchett, Jared Wellman

To contact the TEXAN, visit texanonline.net/contact or call toll free 877.953.7282 (SBTC).

sbtexan

texanonline.net

12

15

Christians must avoid the theological misstep of confusing God’s law and God’s gospel, Tullian Tchividjian told attendees to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s 2015 Empower Conference at First Baptist Euless Feb. 24. Tchividjian, pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said law and gospel are both essential aspects of the Christian walk but have become muddled together in sermons and therefore in the lives of Christians.

C O L U M N : What Does

Homosexuality Have To Do With Abortion?

16

Mission Dorado Baptist Church Pastor Jared Wellman explains how two of the most volatile issues in America today share a commonality in that both attack the “creation mandate” established in Genesis 1.

B

B R I E F LY +

W O R L D

NETANYAHU: IRAN POSES WORLD’S ‘GREATEST DANGER’

365 DAYS: PRAYER WARRIORS STAND ON KNEES IN UKRAINE As the sun topped the horizon of Kharkiv’s central square March 2, a group of people huddled together on their knees, praying for their city.

While the moment passed without celebration or fanfare, it marked the 365th consecutive day the group has gathered.

They came from different parts of the city and were a mix of evangelical denominations and Orthodox believers, but they focused on one goal—to pray for peace in their city, which is located very close to the region where Ukrainian soldiers and pro-Russian separatists battle for control over eastern Ukraine.

Read the story and watch the video here.

Militant Islamists with nuclear weapons would be the likely result of an agreement the United States may sign with Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a joint meeting of Congress March 3.

“The greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons,” said Netanyahu, who joined Winston Churchill as one of two foreign leaders to address Congress three times. “To defeat ISIS and let Iran get nuclear weapons would be to win the battle but lose the war.

We can’t let that happen.”

Approximately 50 House and Senate Democrats did not attend Netanyahu’s address, The New York Times reported. Some protested House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation of the Israeli leader without consulting President Obama, who also was not in attendance.

Read the story here.

N. KOREA: U.S. AMBASSADOR ATTACK ‘JUST PUNISHMENT’ North Korea called the knife attack on the U.S. ambassador to South Korea on Thursday “just punishment” for U.S. military exercises with its southern neighbor. Ambassador Mark Lippert was slashed in the face early Thursday while speaking at a breakfast forum in Seoul.

Referring to the weapon as the “knife of justice,” North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said the attack was a valid “expression of resistance.”

Lippert was cut on the right cheek by a man wielding a blade, according to witnesses. He was in stable condition after surgery at a hospital in Seoul.

Read story here.

2 TEXANONLINE.NET MARCH 10, 2015

SAME-SEX PARENTS: ‘POSSIBLE,’ NOT ‘MORAL’ Same-sex couples could soon have their own biological children by utilizing a reproductive technology being developed by researchers at Cambridge University and Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science.

But Christian bioethicists have classified the potential new technology as rife with moral problems.

Exuberance over such technologies is “all expressed in terms of what the adults want and desire,” Paige Cunningham, executive director of the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, told Baptist Press. “I would like someone to say, ‘What about the children?’ They don’t have any voice in how they are constructed. They don’t have any voice in how they are the subject of an experiment like this.”

Read the story here.

ISLAMIC JIHAD, IN MANY FORMS, ‘GAINING GROUND’ Many in western democracies are blind to radical Islam’s threat to their security and cultural values, speakers said at a day-long discussion of Islam during the National Religious Broadcasters International Christian Media Convention.

“The majority of Muslims are peaceful and good citizens,” Robert Edmiston, a member of Britain’s House of Lords from the Conservative Party, said at the Feb. 24 event in Nashville. “But there are some that are extremists, and they are gaining ground.”

The threat Islam poses stems not merely from a radical fringe but from central doctrines of the Muslim faith, some of the speakers said.

“Moderate Islam is to Islam what nominal Christianity, cultural Christianity is to Christianity,” said William Lane Craig, a professor of philosophy at Houston Baptist University who has studied Islam for 30 years. “It is a mere cultural set of mores that one has adopted, but it isn’t representative in either case of the fundamental teaching of the original book of that religion, whether the Quran or the Bible.”

Read the story here.

—Briefly section compiled from Baptist Press, other news sources and staff reports

B +

N AT I O N A L

FRANKLIN GRAHAM WARNS OBAMA’S SYMPATHY TOWARD ISLAM MAY ENDANGER AMERICANS In an interview with The 700 Club’s Gordon Robertson, Franklin Graham said that President Obama is “very sympathetic to Islam.” He said the president and his foreign policy are being influenced

by Muslims and that Jews and Christians may bear religious persecution in the United States because of it.

Read the story here.

+

B R I E F LY

R E L I G I O U S

BIBLE MUSEUM TO BE TOPPED WITH GLASS ARK The Museum of the Bible, being constructed in Washington D.C. and set to open in 2017, will include a zinc-and-glass ark on the top of the building, according to a Yahoo news article and the museum’s website. Inside, the museum will include biblical artifacts such as cuneiform tablets and fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls, among other items.

Read the story here.

BILL TO SLASH SLAVERY GAINS QUICKLY IN SENATE A new effort to help end human trafficking and slavery worldwide has quickly gained momentum in Congress. The End Modern Slavery Initiative Act received approval from a Senate committee Feb. 26, only two days after it was introduced by Sen. Bob Corker, R.-Tenn. The Foreign Relations Committee, which Corker chairs, forwarded the bill with a unanimous vote.

The legislation, S. 553, would establish a centralized effort to thwart trafficking and slavery at a time when an estimated 27 million people are enslaved globally. It would create a Washington, D.C., non-profit foundation designed to use federal, foreign and private sector funds to reduce slavery by a measurable 50 percent.

Read the story here.

L I B E R T Y

‘I WOULD HUG HIM,’ SAYS FLORIST OF GAY ACCUSER A Southern Baptist florist does not regret her nine-year friendship with a homosexual man who won a lawsuit against her after she refused to design floral arrangements for his gay wedding, she told Baptist Press.

“If Rob [Robert Ingersoll] walked in the store today, I would hug him and catch up on his life,” Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, Wash., told BP. “The same faith that tells me that I can’t be a part of Rob’s wedding is the same faith that tells me to love him as Christ does.”

JUSTICES DEBATE RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN WORKPLACE

Read the story here.

SURVEY: 81% FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ON MARRIAGE VIEWS Contrary to the “inevitability” narrative most Americans have accepted of same-sex marriage, a new survey released Feb. 24 finds broad support for traditional marriage and protection of those who hold such views.

The survey, commissioned by Family Research Council in partnership with National Religious Broadcasters, found that 81 percent of Americans agree that government should “leave people free to follow their beliefs about marriage as they live their daily lives at work and in the way they run their businesses.”

Additionally, 61 percent support the right of states and citizens to uphold traditional marriage, affirming the statement: “Supreme Court should not force all 50 states to redefine marriage.” The survey also found 53 percent of Americans agree marriage should be defined only as the union of one man and one woman.

The U.S. Supreme Court grappled with the responsibility of employers to know about and accommodate the religious practices of potential employees in oral arguments Feb. 25.

The justices considered the contrasting views of a federal agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Abercrombie & Fitch regarding the refusal of a store in the clothing retailer’s chain to hire a young Muslim woman who wears a headscarf.

Read the story here.

Read the story here.

MARCH 10, 2015 TEXANONLINE.NET 3

B

B R I E F LY +

S O U T H E R N

B A P T I S T

PLATT UNVEILS ‘RESET’ OF IMB STRATEGY, STRUCTURE

International Mission Board President David Platt proposed streamlining the mission agency’s strategy and structure—in keeping with his desire for IMB to exalt Christ and work more effectively toward accomplishing the Great Commission—during IMB’s Feb. 24-25 trustee meeting in Houston.

CP 4.81 PERCENT AHEAD OF PROJECTION Year-to-date contributions to Southern Baptist Convention national and international missions and ministries received by the SBC Executive Committee are 4.81 percent above the year-to-date budgeted projection, and are 2.97 percent above contributions received during the same time frame last year, according to SBC Executive Committee President and CEO Frank S. Page.

Read the story here.

CHURCH GROUP JOINS SWBTS ‘SECOND MILE’ EFFORT, SEES 3 PROFESSIONS OF FAITH A group from Kaufman’s Calvary Baptist Church joined a Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary evangelism team in “Going the Second Mile,” Feb. 5, and together they led three people to Christ. Pastor Robert Webb, along with fellow members of his church, decided to join Southwestern’s teams in order to encourage and be encouraged

by the students’ and faculty’s evangelistic zeal. Like Southwestern, Calvary has placed special emphasis on evangelism over the last several years, and as a result, members of the church have knocked on every door in Kaufman three times.

Read the story here.

BGCT TRANSGENDER RESOLUTION: GENDER IS ‘GIFT OF GOD’ A resolution on transgender issues, declaring gender is determined biologically, not psychologically, was adopted by the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ Executive Board during its Feb. 23-24 meeting in Dallas.

The resolution was considered at the request of several Texas Baptist university presidents who stated the need to apply for a Title IX exemption from the U.S. Department of Education in dealing with accommodations for transgender students. Their application would be strengthened with a statement from the BGCT addressing the issue, the presidents had noted.

Read the story here.

Trustees unanimously voted to approve the plan.

“We want to empower limitless missionary teams to make disciples and multiply churches among unreached people,” Platt said. “We need a strategy that doesn’t cap our number of missionaries merely based upon how much money we have.”

Read the story here.

SBC PRESIDENTS SEND OPEN LETTER TO OBAMA In an open letter, Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd, along with the support and signatures of 16 former SBC presidents, called on President Obama to “take the necessary actions now” against ISIS terrorists.

“Since ISIS is a continuing threat to world peace in a way unknown to us since the Nazis of World War II, we humbly call upon you to use the influence and power of your distinguished office to take the necessary actions now in this urgent hour to bring an end to these human atrocities,” the March 1 letter said.

Read the story here.

FIRST-PERSON: PAIGE PATTERSON - 40 YEARS OF LEADERSHIP IN HIGHER EDUCATION Some figures in history accomplish the work of multiple lifetimes within a single life. Like the resplendent Martin Luther in the 16th-century Reformation, some leaders function at a capacity that wearies the rest of us just in the thinking of it. Yet, scores of lives have benefited from 4 TEXANONLINE.NET MARCH 10, 2015

what these great men did with the time that was given to them.

When a future history is written of the triumphs and travails of the Southern Baptist Convention of the late 20th and early 21st century, there is no debate whether the name Paige Patterson will have a sizable

number of entries in that volume’s index.

For at the time when this convention of churches was undergoing a theological crisis, God provided many timely leaders, and one of the giants among them was Patterson.

Read the article by Midwestern Seminary Provost Jason Duesing here.

B +

B R I E F LY

M E D I A

CHRISTIAN MEDIA OPPOSE FCC INTERNET RULING Christian media representatives are encouraging voters to ask Congress to overturn a Feb. 26 Federal Communications Commission ruling regulating broadband Internet services.

The FCC voted 3–2 to reclassify broadband Internet access as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act, with the purported intent of protecting open Internet, according to an FCC press release.

Both the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Board of Directors, composed of 100 key leaders among Christian communicators, and the Christian Film & Television Commission (CFTVC), a non-profit ministry aimed at redeeming the values of entertainment media, say the change will hamper free speech and oversteps the bounds of democracy.

Read the story here.

BENHAM BROTHERS TAKE STAND ‘WHATEVER THE COST’ Growing up in the home of a noted pro-life activist taught David and Jason Benham that standing up for one’s faith came with a price, one they are paying after losing their TV show, “Flip It Forward.”

The Benhams made national headlines last May after Home and Garden Television (HGTV) cancelled the show before its planned premiere in the fall of 2014 after the network discovered the brothers to be “anti-gay, antichoice extremists,” according to USA Today.

The Benhams have now authored a book about their experience, Whatever the Cost.

Read the story here.

‘OCTOBER BABY’ ACTRESS PENS BOOK ABOUT OWN ABORTION, DRUG USE Shari Rigby who played the mother of an abortion survivor in 2011’s October Baby, has written a book about her struggle through teen marriage, pregnancy, adultery, drug use and the way the Lord transformed her life. The book, published by BroadStreet Publishing, became available March 2.

Read the story here.

MARCH 10, 2015 TEXANONLINE.NET 5

‘DO YOU BELIEVE?’ IS POWERFUL FOLLOW-UP TO ‘GOD’S NOT DEAD’

By Michael Foust

What’s the best evangelistic movie ever? By that, I mean the best film that has, at its core, the gospel—and one that makes the message of Christ the film’s theme.

I have a new nomination, and it comes out in theaters March 20.

The film Do You Believe? follows the lives of a dozen people as they face their own unique challenges in life and must decide what they believe about God—and then what they’re going to do about it.

Written by the same team behind the 2014 surprise hit God’s Not Dead and released by the same studio, Pure Flix, Do You Believe? is a dramatically different type of movie than God’s Not Dead. Although it has a different theme and direction, many moviegoers will walk away saying it’s a better movie. I know I did—so much so that I watched it twice.

Producer David A.R. White of Pure Flix told the TEXAN that the idea for Do You Believe? came after God’s Not Dead, when he and some business partners were praying about their future direction.

“We were trying to figure out how to follow up God’s Not Dead,” White 6 TEXANONLINE.NET MARCH 10, 2015

said. “We felt like we established the existence of God in God’s Not Dead, so what’s the next step? We all came up with the power of the cross and the relevancy of it. The theme of this movie: Is the cross still relevant in today’s society?”

White didn’t release the budget but acknowledged it’s “much bigger” than its predecessor.

Do You Believe? has a cast of several well-known actors and actresses, including Golden Globe winner Cybill Shepherd (Moonlighting), Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite), Screen Actors Guild winner Sean Astin (The Lord Of The Rings, Rudy), along with Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man, The Fall Guy) and former pro football player Brian Bosworth.

The film is fast-paced and wellproduced, boasts solid acting, and has an amazing musical score. The first third and final third of the movie are particularly impressive, with an ending that has enough surprises that you won’t be making any bathroom runs.

Do You Believe? is a movie made for non-Christians and Christians alike. It forces non-Christians to ask, “Do I believe?” but urges

Christians to consider, “I believe, but now what will I do?”

Like God’s Not Dead, it has a few “that-would-never-happen-inreal-life” moments, but it is, after all, a movie.

Do You Believe? succeeds in part because we all can relate to at least one of the characters.

As their lives intersect, they must all deal with the same question that a street preacher presents at the beginning: Do you believe?

The majority of critics, no doubt, will trash it, partially because it is more overtly evangelistic than any successful faith-based theatrical movie in recent history. But I’m guessing moviegoers will like it.

I found this movie inspiring and convicting. The movie opens in more than 1,200 theaters nationwide, March 20, and is rated PG-13 for thematic elements, an accident sequence and some violence. It contains no language or sexuality.

White, the producer, said the Pure Flix team already is working on its next project, God’s Not Dead 2, which is scheduled for release in March 2016.

For more on the movie, visit DoYouBelieve.com.

MCFARLAND USA (PG) This uplifting Disney movie recounts the true story of a predominantly Latino high school that is a loser in every sport until a newcomer coach launches a cross-country team that wins the state championship. Kevin Costner plays Coach Jim White, who recently moved to town to teach P.E. and is amazed by

KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE (R) I enjoy action adventures, spy movies, films set in Britain and comedies. Kingsman: The Secret Service is one of those rare movies that fits all four genres, but, no, I can’t recommend this one, despite its clever plot. It has enough F-words (more than 100) that even James Bond

THE DUFF (PG-13) The modern era of filmmaking contains very few examples of high school-themed comedies that also could be considered family friendly (Napoleon Dynamite being an exception).

Sadly, The DUFF doesn’t deviate from the norm. Like most teen comedies, it contains frank examples of “cliques,” rejection and bullying that could be discussion-starters for teens who

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

Feb. 27-March 1 Source: BoxOfficeMojo.com

the long-distance running skills of the students, the children of farm workers. He’s even more shocked that the school doesn’t have a cross-country team. What follows is a clash of cultures, along with lessons in adversity and teamwork. (We also see the team kneel in prayer.) This is a mostly family friendly movie with fewer than five crude or profane words, and while it may not be

appropriate for small children, it is a good film for older children to launch into a biblical talk about a number of significant themes, including racism (members of an opposing team make stereotypical remarks at a meet). I am always heartened by movies that cast minorities in a positive light, and Disney is to be applauded for putting its money behind this one.

would blush and enough James Bond-like sexuality, too. There’s also plenty of violence. Directed

by Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class) and starring Taron Egerton (who plays Eggsy) and Samuel L. Jackson (Valentine), the comic book-based movie tells of a super-secret spy organization—headquartered in a men’s luxury clothing store (the “Kingsman”) and unaffiliated

with the government—that hauls in a young unrefinedbut-promising recruit (Eggsy).

Soon, the youngster must help put down a global threat from a villain (Valentine). Humans have a “God-shaped vacuum” that makes us naturally attracted to these types of films with largerthan-life heroes seeking justice, but that’s a topic for you and your unbelieving friends.

do watch it, although I certainly wouldn’t want my kids watching it. There simply is too much sexual material, “fooling around,” and language throughout, and that’s a big reason it’s rated PG-13, not PG. The plot focuses on Bianca (played by Mae Whitman), who hangs out with the “in crowd” at her school but is devastated to learn she’s her group’s “DUFF” (designated ugly fat friend). Supposedly, every group of attractive people

has one. So Bianca asks a jock friend (Robbie Amell) to help her become prettier so she can catch the eye of her crush.

There’s a good biblical message in the The DUFF (love others, practice the Golden Rule and reject stereotypes), but there’s too many unbiblical messages (among them: promiscuity is acceptable) for me to give this even one thumb’s up.

Movie

Weekend Gross

*With information from Common Sense Media

Weeks in Theater

1. Focus (R)

$19,100,000

1

2. Kingsman: The Secret Service (R)

$11,750,000

3

3. The SpongeBob Movie (G)

$11,200,000

4

4. Fifty Shades Of Grey (R)

$10,927,000

3

5. The Lazarus Effect (PG-13)

$10,600,000

1

6. McFarland, USA (PG)

$7,797,000

2

7. American Sniper (R)

$7,700,000

10

8. The DUFF (PG-13)

$7,150,000

2

9. Still Alice (PG-13)

$2,695,000

7

10. Hot Tub Machine 2 (R)

$2,400,000

2

MARCH 10, 2015 TEXANONLINE.NET 7

Coastal Community CHURCH PLANTER REVIVES DYING CHURCH ON GALVESTON

Story by Sharayah Colter Photos by Andrew Pearle

Aaron Sanders, pastor of Coastal Community Church in Galveston, says when it comes to theology, their island church is as conservative as First Baptist Church of Anywhere, USA. But when it comes to methodology, Coastal stands ready to test the waters.

GALVESTON

8 TEXANONLINE.NET MARCH 10, 2015

“Theologically, we’re very conservative,” Sanders said. “In terms of our methodology, we’re willing to experiment in order to reach our community. That’s allowed us to have some genuine relationships and conversations with unchurched people.”

Sanders says Coastal desires to be a “church for the unchurched.”

The congregation has set its sights on those islanders who would likely never step foot inside a traditional church. Rather than drawing new members to Coastal away from the already established churches in Galveston, Sanders set about building the church by bringing new Christians into the body.

“We did a survey last spring where we found out a snapshot of people’s backgrounds,” Sanders said. “Roughly 30 percent of our church members come from an unchurched background. Fiftyfour percent were churched, but new in town, moving here for work or school. Only 16 percent of our church came from other churches in the Galveston community. We feel like those are pretty good percentages. It’s been cool to see that our growth has not come at the expense of other churches in Galveston. The measuring stick for us is not just about how can we grow a big church; it’s, ‘How can we reach the island for Christ?’”

The church has grown from 40 people to about 500 since launching on Easter Sunday, 2012.

(Above) Tommy Brauer and other volunteers from Coastal Community Church paint the second story of the ADA House, an inpatient drug and alcohol treatment facility for women.

(Right) Coastal Community Church Pastor Aaron Sanders explains the goal behind Servolution to volunteers at a rally before the event.

When describing the Coastal atmosphere around town, Sanders simply tells people that he preaches in flip flops.

“That one statement alone communicates that we’re casual in our approach,” Sanders said.

“It also connects to the saltwater soul of Galveston.”

While “casual” appropriately describes the “look and feel” of

“It’s been cool to see that our growth has not come at the expense of other churches in Galveston.

The measuring stick for us is not just about how can we grow a big church; it’s, ‘How can we reach the island for Christ?’”

the church, it says nothing about the congregation’s heart and hands in the community. A fierce passion for evangelism, missions and service colors every aspect of ministry at Coastal.

Sanders said that even though he had previously served on staff at a church before becoming pastor at Coastal, his life shifted to a much more missional focus upon moving his family to the gulf.

Even though his former church was largely outward focused, his personal time had been invested in ministering to and equipping his volunteer leaders, thus leaving him and his wife little time to spend with lost people.

MARCH 10, 2015 TEXANONLINE.NET 9

“When we moved here, we had to become much more missional ourselves,” Sanders said. “I didn’t just preach about being evangelistic in your lifestyle; I had to become evangelistic. Personally, we’ve been able to develop genuine relationships with unchurched people [here].”

Coastal is now in the third year of an effort they call “Servolution,” through which church community groups serve other already established ministries and organizations on the island.

Instead of reinventing the wheel by starting projects that other groups have already begun, Coastal members simply come alongside those groups to serve and help in any way they can.

“Servolution has ripple effects.

It establishes goodwill with local organizations that later leads to evangelistic opportunities.”

“Servolution has ripple effects,” Sanders said of the effort Coastal adopted from other churches’ models. “It establishes goodwill with local organizations that later leads to evangelistic opportunities.”

One of those partnerships has been with ADA House, a drug and alcohol abuse treatment center for women in South Texas. The church 10 TEXANONLINE.NET MARCH 10, 2015

has worked on the center’s facility, and over time, a relationship has blossomed between the two. While ADA House is not a Christian-based facility, its leadership allows women being treated there to attend church at Coastal and even provides transportation to the church.

“In the past year, I will have baptized about 12 ladies who live at the ADA House or who are there for a season,” Sanders said. “We’ve seen a lot of life change take place.

The ladies live all around.

Some of the ladies who are from Galveston are now active parts of our church.”

The church, a re-plant effort between University Baptist Church in Galveston and Brazos Pointe Fellowship in Lake Jackson, has become a picture of a successful partnership between a dying church and a church sensing the call to plant a new congregation.

Sanders cannot say enough about the graciousness of University Baptist Church members in their willingness to lay down their congregation’s DNA in order to birth a new DNA that could make a fresh start in reaching the island for Christ. He says being clear about the fact that Coastal would not be a merger of two churches or of old ways and new but a clean slate and a new identity made the transition seamless and ultimately a more effective gospel witness in the community.

“It wasn’t like, ‘Hey, how do we transition this older,

HE WATCHED AS SHE BURST INTO TEARS AND LEFT THE ROOM, LATER EXPLAINING TO HIM THAT SHE HAD BEEN PRAYING FOR THAT DAY FOR SO LONG—A DAY WHEN THE CHURCH WOULD THRIVE AGAIN AND SEE MARVELOUS WORKS OF THE LORD AS ISLANDER AFTER ISLANDER ACCEPTS CHRIST AND STIRS THE FIRES OF REVIVAL IN GALVESTON.

dying church?’” Sanders explained. “We made it clear that it doesn’t really matter how things were done in the past. ... We had a clear picture of who we wanted to be as a church. It wasn’t harsh, but we were just very clear about that.”

Sanders recalls one Sunday early in the rebirth of the church when the auditorium was so packed that they were bringing in chairs from his office and then finally reaching standing-room only. Sanders saw, sitting in the back, an older Filipino woman who had been a part of the original church and who had been serving that morning as a greeter. He watched as she burst into tears and left the room, later explaining to him that she had been praying for

that day for so long—a day when the church would thrive again and see marvelous works of the Lord as islander after islander accepts Christ and stirs the fires of revival in Galveston.

She didn’t care that it was happening under a new name, he said. She was just so grateful to the Lord that the day for which she had prayed had come.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Sanders said. “It’s a trade she would be willing to make a hundred times over.”

While the church has outgrown the original church building and now meets at a local school, Sanders says eventually they will look for a new, permanent location. But for now, the casual, offsite parking islander feel fits like a sandal.

MARCH 10, 2015 TEXANONLINE.NET 11

Texas Supreme Court issues stay on same-sex marriages

By Bonnie Pritchett The Texas Supreme Court issued a stay halting the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples, Feb. 20, less than 24 hours after a Travis County Clerk issued a license to a lesbian couple in Austin.

As far as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is concerned, the marriage license issued to the couple Feb. 19 is null and void. However, although the court issued the stay, it did not immediately rule to void the license.

Theresa Farfan, deputy press secretary for the attorney general, told the TEXAN Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir issued the marriage license for Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant of Austin in violation of Texas law and statutes. Those violations alone void the license, but Paxton asked the Texas Supreme Court for an expedited ruling on the case. Additionally he asked the high court to reaffirm the existing stay on the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples and hold rogue judges to account.

Texas’ marriage law is presently under review by the U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit.

In two unrelated cases last week, Travis County judges ruled in favor of lesbian appellants asking for relief from the Texas marriage restrictions.

On Tuesday, Feb. 17, a probate judge declared the Texas marriage law unconstitutional. Two days later Judge David Wahlberg of the 167th District Court in Travis County delivered a

AUSTIN

12 TEXANONLINE.NET MARCH 10, 2015

similar ruling and issued a temporary restraining order on the enforcement of the law so Goodfriend and Bryant could marry.

Wahlberg ordered county clerk DeBeauvoir to ignore Texas’ “unconstitutional” law prohibiting same-sex marriage and to immediately issue the marriage license, waiving the requisite 72-hour waiting period.

According to Austin news reports DeBeauvoir gladly accommodated the court order.

In his Feb. 19 order, Wahlberg wrote, “The Court finds that unless the Court immediately issues a Temporary Restraining Order, the unconstitutional denial of a marriage license to Plaintiffs will cause immediate and irreparable damage to Plaintiffs, based solely on their status as a same-sex couple.”

Paxton said both judges acted without authority in unilaterally declaring the Texas definition of marriage unconstitutional. Additionally, Texas statute requires judges contesting the constitutionality of a law notify the Attorney

General’s office and allow for a response. The judges did neither.

Those violations rendered the marriage license void at its issuance despite the couple’s public nuptial ceremony in front of the Travis County Clerk’s office located on a busy Austin thoroughfare. Paxton also reminded all state judges the Texas marriage law is still in force even as it is being challenged in appellate courts.

“The law of Texas has not changed, and will not change due to the whims of any individual judge or county clerk operating on their own capacity anywhere in Texas,” Paxton said in a Feb. 19 statement. “Activist judges don’t change Texas law, and we will continue to aggressively defend the laws of our state and will ensure that any licenses issued contrary to law are invalid.”

In his request to the Texas Supreme Court Paxton called the judges’ actions “an abuse of discretion” and called on the high court to “declare void any invalid marriage licenses issued in reliance on the trial court’s improper order.”

MARCH 10, 2015 TEXANONLINE.NET 13

Petition fails in effort to repeal pro-LGBT Plano city ordinance

By Bonnie Pritchett PLANO A petition drive seeking to repeal a controversial proLGBT Plano city ordinance has failed dramatically due to its noncompliance with municipal and state codes. City officials said irregularities in the document prohibited City Secretary Lisa Henderson from even beginning a count of voter signatures.

Petition organizers balked at the dismissal but would not say if they intend to press the issue in court or seek repeal by other means.

After only one public hearing on the proposed Equal Rights ordinance, which extends protected characteristic status to people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, Plano City Council passed the Equal Rights Ordinance last December. A coalition of pastors

and area legislators immediately began the referendum process and, within 30 days, turned in a 7,000-signature petition calling for the ordinance’s repeal.

In a Feb. 20 press release, Steve Stoler, Plano director of media relations, said the petition failed to meet three criteria for compliance and coalition leadership failed to take corrective measures when warned of the problems in a Dec. 30 email, three weeks prior to the petition’s deadline.

“The city made a good faith attempt to avoid dispute and facilitate accuracy,” Stoler stated.

According to the city, the petition failed to accurately cite the role of the Equal Rights ordinance, attach a copy of the ordinance being challenged, and indicate the county of residence for each signer.

But coalition members—who received support from Austin and

Houston advocates—called the dismissal a blatant disregard of the will of the people.

“While we are shocked that the city has so little regard for its citizens, we remain committed to advancing religious liberty and challenging this ordinance that clearly violates laws protecting religious freedom,” said Jeff Mateer, general counsel for the Liberty Institute, a religious liberty advocacy organization in Plano.

Jonathan Saenz, an attorney and president of Texas Values Action, which assisted in the petition drive, would not say if the coalition will continue to press for repeal.

Frustrated by the city’s actions, he said the “average citizen” should not be blamed for document’s shortcomings.“At the end of the day they did the best they could,” he said.

SWBTS TO HOST ‘STAND FIRM’ APOLOGETICS CONFERENCE

WHITESBORO CHURCH TO HOLD SPECIAL PRAYER SERVICE FOR PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary will host its Stand Firm apologetics conference March 2021, with featured keynote speaker J.Warner Wallace, author of Cold Case Christianity. Breakout sessions will address faith and science, natural theology, and cultural engagement and be led by William Abraham, professor of philosophy and theology at SMU; Barry Creamer, president of Criswell College; Dave Sterrett, author of Why Trust Jesus? and Aborting Aristotle; Allen Hainline, founder of Reasonable Faith chapter at UT-Dallas; and five philosophy and ethics professors from Southwestern. Pre-registration is $30 ($20 for students), and cost at the door is $35 ($25 for students).

Registration includes lunch on Saturday. For more information and to register, visit swbts.edu/standfirm.

Prayer for persecuted Christians will be the focus of a March 26 service at North Hills Baptist Church in Whitesboro starting at 7 p.m. Pastor Tim Robinson said the congregation is calling churches of North Texas to come together in unity to pray.

“Religious leaders must begin praying and educating congregations how they can respond in prayer to the growing worldwide war against Christianity,” Robinson said. The church has designed a bookmark that participants can take back to their congregations to help them develop a prayer strategy centered on I Tim. 2:1-6.

The church is located at 400 Hwy. 377 North in Whitesboro. For more information contact Robinson at 940-206-9796 or visit northhillsbaptist.com.

14 TEXANONLINE.NET MARCH 10, 2015

Church in trouble because of confusion between law and grace, Tchividjian says “Failure to distinguish between law and gospel always means the abandonment of the gospel …”

By Sharayah Colter EULESS

Christians must avoid the theological misstep of confusing God’s law and God’s gospel, Tullian Tchividjian told attendees to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s 2015 Empower Conference at First Baptist Euless Feb. 24.

Tchividjian, pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said law and gospel are both essential aspects of the Christian walk but have become muddled together in sermons and therefore in the lives of Christians. Preaching from Romans 7, he said that while he hates to sound alarmist, he believes the church is in trouble because of this confusion.

“I’m convinced the church is in trouble,” Tchividjian said, “and the reason the church is in trouble is because pulpits are in trouble,

and the reason pulpits are in trouble is because preachers fail to distinguish ... between God’s law and God’s gospel.”

Tchividjian said God’s Word comes in two forms: demands (law) and deliverance (gospel). Both are important and necessary, but they have vastly different roles. He said a focus on law over grace leads Christians to believe that somehow, if they try really hard, they can attain the level of sanctification and holiness that pleases God by following his laws and commands.

The problem with this mindset, he said, is that since God’s standard is perfection, no one can rise to that level of excellence. The role of the law is to show people just how badly they need grace, highlighting the unending ways they fall short of God’s expectations.

“The focus and the foundation of the Christian faith is not living for God,” Tchividjian said. “The focus

of the Christian faith is that God in Christ gloriously lived for us. That foundation produces fruit, but the root of the Christian faith is not living for God. It’s the fact that God in Christ is living for us.

“Failure to distinguish between law and gospel always means the abandonment of the gospel because the law gets softened into helpful tips for practical living, while the gospel gets hardened into a set of demands that we have to live out.”

Tchividjian said sermons should point out the severity of man’s sinfulness, which shows people “that they are a lot worse than they think they are.” Then, he said, sermons should explain the infinite, unimaginable reality of God’s grace.

God’s law, Tchividjian said, is for those that think they are good.

His grace is for those that know they are bad. Both are equally important, he emphasized.

But also crucial is the church’s commitment to allow both law and grace to have their own distinct jobs and roles in the life of Christians.

“This is a game changer, in my opinion,” he said.

MARCH 10, 2015 TEXANONLINE.NET 15

Jared C. Wellman

What does homosexuality have to do with abortion?

W

hat does homosexuality have to do with abortion, besides the fact that they are two of the most vitriolic sins of our day? To answer this, we need to consider God’s very first command to Adam and Eve: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28).

Peter Enns calls this the “creation mandate” and writes that humanity’s participation in it “is a sign of God’s presence and blessing” (The NIV Application Commentary on Exodus, 41). The Genesis creation account divulges that mankind is God’s crown jewel of creation. No other piece of creation was created in God’s “image.”

That God commands mankind to “be fruitful and multiply” is his way of allowing humanity to participate in his creation. In the briefest of definitions, it is God’s blessing on mankind to reproduce. But it’s not just the act of reproduction; it’s the reproduction of the life that was made in God’s image.

When people reproduce people, it testifies of the existence of God and his love for human life. Anything that intentionally assaults this is a threat to the most elementary principle of life itself.

This consideration establishes a platform for the argument that the sins of homosexuality and abortion are cut from the same cloth because both undermine the preeminent command (and glorious responsibility) for what it means to be human.

Homosexuality A homosexual couple cannot participate in the creation mandate. A man and a man cannot reproduce another person, and a woman and a woman cannot reproduce another person. It is only by the seeds of two people of the opposite sex that another person can be reproduced. This is an underlying principle in the creation mandate and the backdrop against 16 TEXANONLINE.NET MARCH 10, 2015

which all of Scripture is written. It’s why individuals like Matthew Vines are flat-out wrong in their attempted arguments to fuse homosexuality and Christianity. Vines is the author of God and the Gay Christian, a book that attempts to prove from Scripture that God is okay with homosexuality so long as the individuals are in a loving and committed relationship.

James M. Hamilton Jr., in his contribution to the book God and the Gay Christian?: A Response to Matthew Vines, offers an illustration that showcases the importance of the creation mandate’s influence on the totality of Scripture: Authors communicate by showing and telling. Once they have told, they don’t have to re-tell when they go on to show. In other words, as a writer introduces his audience to the world in which his story is set, if he tells them that world includes the earth’s gravitational force pulling objects toward itself, he does not have to reiterate that explanation when he shows a plane crash (29-30).

This demonstrates how the creation mandate functions in the Bible. Homosexuality rejects the creation mandate because it ignores the gravitational force, if you will, by which life is pulled.

And like gravityless space, homosexuality causes life to float into the abyss of nothingness.

Abortion Abortion is a direct attack on the creation mandate, too. One biblical example is that when Pharaoh saw God’s blessing upon the ancient Israelites, via the creation mandate, that he said, “Behold, the … sons of Israel are more and mightier than we” (Exodus 1:9).

In response, Pharaoh interjected two laws. The first was enslavement, “appointing taskmasters ... to afflict them” (Exodus 1:11). When this didn’t work (because Israel honored the creation mandate), he commanded the midwives to kill the Hebrew sons upon birth. When this didn’t work (again because of the creation mandate), he decreed that all Hebrew boys were to be “cast into the Nile” (Exodus 1:22).

With these commands Pharaoh antagonized life at its most fundamental level. This is precisely what our country did in 1973 with the Roe v. Wade decision, and it’s what we’re seeing today with same-sex marriage. In so doing, we set ourselves up as taskmasters and executioners over life itself.

The Importance of the Creation Mandate The creation mandate is of the utmost importance in Scripture. It’s not only what God commanded Adam and Eve to do in Genesis but also Noah after the Flood (Genesis 9:1). It’s also present in the promise God gave Abram in Genesis 15:5: “Now look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able … So shall your descendants be.”

God wanted to display his glory, via the mandate, through Abram’s descendants. They became the nation of Israel, a nation that survived men like Nebuchadnezzar and Hitler, men who summoned Pharaoh’s antagonistic methods against Israel.

As followers of Jesus, this teaches us the importance of life, something that homosexuality and abortion attack. They may seem like two different issues, but they are cut from the same cloth, a cloth that denies its Tailor.

—Jared Wellman serves as pastor of Mission Dorado Baptist Church in Odessa.